114 W. WHITAKEE — ADDRESS: GEOLOGICAL 



being ' ' that the Chalk Rock was laid down between the depths of 

 about 100 and 500 fathoms, . . . probably . . . some- 

 what nearer the former than the latter limit, although the depth 

 must necessarily have varied in different places." 



We have to be thankful for the appearance of the second edition 

 of that great work, by our esteemed member. Sir J. Evans, "The 

 Ancient Stone Implements, Weapons, and Ornaments of Great 

 Britain." * We are interested in the general descriptions of the 

 various kinds of implements and in the remarks on the antiquity 

 and origin of the River Drift, on the formation of valleys, on the 

 climate of the Palaeolithic Period, and on the fauna with which 

 Palaeolithic implements are associated. 



Over forty localities in Hertfordshire are noted in the Topo- 

 graphical Index. A Palaeolithic implement from Hitchin is figured 

 on p. 537, and another, fi'om Wheathampstead, on p. 601. 



I am glad to call your attention, as I have called the attention 

 of other folk, to an interesting Geological Survey Memoir, by 

 Mr. H. B. Woodward, entitled " Soils and Sub-soils fi'om a Sanitary 

 Point of View; with especial reference to London and its Neigh- 

 bourhood." As it includes within its scope the southern part of our 

 county, up to St. Albans, I can the more readily advise our 

 members to acquire it. They will see from it the importance of 

 geologic considerations in many matters of every-day life, and they 

 are sure to be pleased with the capital coloured map, in which the 

 ordinary stratigraphic arrangement is subordinated to one governed 

 by the character of the beds. 



After the inevitable Introduction, with its geology, the soils and 

 subsoils are described, gravels and sands being grouped together, 

 then mixed soils, and then clays. The subjects of sites for houses, 

 of water-supply and drainage, of general sanitary considerations 

 (meteorologic especially), and of cemeteries, are treated of, and an 

 Index of a most ingenious kind winds up the work, giving not only 

 the pages where places are referred to, but also the principal 

 heights of places, and, by means of a series of letters, the geologic 

 formations. 



Mr. A. RoYLE, in a " Report to the Local Government Board on 

 Prevalence of Diphtheria in Watford and Bushey," notes the 

 following facts : — 



(p. 2) "As regards the older dwellings many drains were found 

 to be defective, allowing drain air to escape into the dwellings." 



" The town of Watford is supplied by the Urban District Council's 

 AVaterworks with water obtained from deep wells sunk in the Chalk." 



* pp. xviii, 747, two foldiug- plates. Svu. Loudou. 



