i6o SCIENCE PROGRESS 



The Elements of Engineering Geology. . By H. Ries, Ph.D., and T. L. 

 Watson, Ph.D. [Pp. v + 365, with 252 figures.] (New York : 

 John Wiley & Sons. Price 22s. net.) 



In recent years the acquirement of a knowledge of geology has become 

 an essential part of the training of an engineer, for, in practically all branches 

 of engineering, problems necessitating such a knowledge are encountered. 

 Not only are the general principles of the subject of gre-^-t value in such 

 work as roadmaking, water-supply, and so forth, but there has also sprung 

 up a special branch of geology dealing with those peculiar properties which 

 are responsible for the utihsation of particular rocks for specific purposes. 

 Methods have been devised for the grading of materials, for the determina- 

 tion of the resistance of the materials to abrasion and to impact, for the 

 determination of permeabihty to water, and for the investigation of other 

 properties ignored to some extent in general geology. 



Some years ago the authors of the book under review issued a com- 

 prehensive work on Engineering Geology ; the present book has been 

 written in order to meet a demand for a more elementary treatment of the 

 same subject. The following chapter headings will give some idea of the 

 scope of the work : The Important Rock-making Iklinerals ; Rocks and 

 their Relations to Engineering Work ; Structural Features and Meta- 

 morphism ; Rock-weathering and Soils ; Development, Work, and Control 

 of Rivers ; Underground Water ; Landslides, Land Subsidence, and their 

 Effects ; Relation of Wave Action and Shore Currents to Coasts and Har- 

 bours ; Origin and Relation of Lakes and Swamps to Engineering Work ; 

 Origin, Structure, and Economic Importance of Glacial Deposits ; Road 

 Foundations and Road Materials ; Ore Deposits ; Geologic Column. 



In each case the subjects are considered from an engineering point of 

 view, emphasis being laid on those aspects of the phenomena and properties 

 of the materials which are of engineering importance. The descriptions 

 throughout are clearly expressed and well illustrated by an excellent series 

 of photographs, diagrams, and maps, while at the end of each chapter refer- 

 ences to the more important papers on the subject are given. If the book 

 has any fault, it is that of brevity ; the omission of certain physical data 

 and of descriptions of the methods of testing is to be regretted, but, in view 

 of the professedly restricted nature of the book, not unexpected. 



A. S. 

 BOTANY 



Fungi. Ascomycetes, Ustilaginales, Uredinales. By Dame Helen Gwynne- 

 Vaughan (formerly H. C. I. Eraser), D.B.E., LL.D., D.Sc, F.L.S. 

 Professor of Botany in the University of London and Head of the 

 Department of Botany, Birkbeck College. [Pp. xi + 233, with 196 

 illustrations.] (Cambridge : At the University Press, 1922. Price 

 35s. net.) 



This is the third volume of the Cambridge Botanical Handbooks issued so 

 far. The author describes in the special section of this work the morphology, 

 cytology, and relationships of the Ascomycetes, Uredinales, and Ustilaginales. 

 She has previously contributed a series of memoirs dealing with the difficult 

 problem of the sexuality of the former two groups, and here she sums up 

 the evidence against the very plausible view of Claussen that in the Ascomy- 

 cetes there is but one fusion — that in the ascus, and that previous to this only 

 a nuclear association in pairs occurs. Preceding this critical survey is an 

 historical summary of the earlier investigations into the origin of the ascocarp 

 from the times of BuUiard onwards to the De Bary-Brefeld controversies. 



The essential features of each family are described and bibliographies 

 given supplementary to those given in De Bary's Morphology of the Fungi 

 Mycetozoa and Bacteria. As regards the origin of the Fungi and their inter- 



