26 SEPTEMBER 1914, Page 24

The Age of the World. By J. Logan Lobley. (R.

Ashley. 5s. net.)—The late Professor of Physiography in the City of London College points out that various estimates of the age of the earth as a habitable globe differ very widely. Archbishop Ussher's chronology, accepted till within the nineteenth century, allowed only six thousand years since the Creation. Lord Kelvin thought that twenty-six million years was the longest period allowed by physical considerations. Geologists hold that at least a hundred million years have elapsed since first the hills in order stood. Biologists demand no less than four hundred and fifty million years for the evolution of life. Probably they are nearest the truth.