Current Literature
THE SETTLEMENTS AND ROADS OF SCOTLAND A STUDY IN HUMAN GEOGRAPHY. By Grace Meikle- john, M.A. (Oliver and Boyd. 12s. 6d.)-Miss Meiklejohn's, work is in all respects worthy of the distinguished school of Scottish Geographers to which she belongs, and her book, the title of which sufficiently indicates its scope, is accurate, enlightening, and singularly patient in detail. The world at large does not perhaps .recognize how greatly, even how overwhelmingly, human life is conditioned by geography ; the development of a town, the productivity of an agricul- tural region, the directiori of a road or railway are not acci- dents ; all are controlled by the geographical factor. It was not accident which brought into being the shipbuilding industry of the Clyde ; the coincidence of high agricultural fertility in East Lothian and elsewhere with areas of Red Sandstone is no accident either ; and the traffic importance , to Scotland of the Garry)-Tay valley is immense. • Volcanic soil has given Forfarshire its high farming, and long vanished glaciers have left clay for brick-making. Evft our araltse- ments spring from geography-7-our. grouse-shooting from uneultivatable moorland, and our golf from the sand-dunes raised by the sweep of the waves and the on-shore winds. Miss Meiklejohn's book will interest every intelligent reader.
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