310 



NATURE 



[January 4, 1 ^u 



print 



Ucd. nnd iho nt-w iilutitrations are all excellent; 

 but a few of the old figures taken from the Survey 

 rr|)ort»i. such as Fifj. 72, iniKht have been omitted 

 :iN unworthy of place beside the new figure!;. Prof. 

 Park's work not only shows what has been done, but 

 dirtcts attintion to the problems which are still 

 matters of vigorous controversy in New Zealand, and 

 to various concl"-"">">; f'"' which the evidence is still 

 unconvincing. 



The author is i" »»< llMl^l.ltulated on many features 

 of the stratigraphical classification adopted. Thus 

 the Maitai serifs is now referred to the Carboniferous, 

 a conclusion for which the evidence appears ^adequate, 

 for the supposed Inoceramus, which led to the refer- 

 ence of the series to the Meso/oic, turns out to be 

 an inorganic structure. The famous Cretaceo-Tertiary 

 system of Hector has finally disappeared. It was 

 based upon the comminfjlinj^ of fossils from two dis- 

 tinct horizons ; and Prof. Park describes one of the 

 beds to which some of these fossils were attributed as 

 quite unfossiliferous. The volume includes a valuable 

 note by Mr. F. Chapman on the correlation of the 

 Oamaru series, which, with their .Australian equiva- 

 lents, he assijjns to the Miocene. One may be excused 

 for suspectinji^ whether a stratigraphical difficulty in 

 repard to the Kaihiku series is not duo to another 

 mixture of fossils. 



Prof. Park's identification of the Maniototo series, 

 the lowest part of the Manipouri system, as Cambrian 

 appears to be the most doubtful point in his classifica- 

 tion. The lithological characters of the Maniototo 

 rocks are characteristically .Archean, and though they 

 are overlain by the graptolitic Kakanui series, 

 which is Ordovician, far more convincing evidence 

 than any yet forthcoming will be needed before 

 the underlying gneisses can be safely accepted 

 as Cambrian. The author is disposed to take a per- 

 haps somewhat extreme view as to the range of the 

 Pleistocene glaciation in New Zealand. His discus- 

 sion and photographs of the well-known Taieri 

 moraine give more satisfactor>- evidence of its glacial 

 origin than any previously published. Prof. Park 

 r.dmits that the explanation of the Taieri moraine is 

 still incomplete; that moraine is very far south 

 and the evidence that glaciers reached sea-level further 

 to the north is less satisfactory. He gives an in- 

 teresting account of the glaciers and glacial deposits 

 around the peaks of the North Island, and his account 

 of the Tarawera eruption, with the exception of his 

 recent paper in The Geographical Journal, is the 

 best account of it yet written. 



Prof. Park gives a ven,- interesting account of the 

 .'ault system of New Zealand, and admits the great 

 influence faults have played on the existing geography 

 of the country. He thus justifies the concluskins of 

 Mackay, which were once so discredited in New- 

 Zealand. The account of the economic geolog>- of 

 New Zealand is of especial importance ; but the author 

 appears to be unnecessarily alarmist as to the ap- 

 proaching exhaustk)n of the world's stores of iron. 

 " In two centuries or less," he says. " the battleships 

 will be beaten into ploughshares and the ploughshare 

 will be treasured by each family as a priceless heir- 

 NO. 2201, VOL. 88] 



loom." He makes the very sound proposal (p. 2\f~, 

 that some of the coalfields should be reserved for 

 naval purposes; for since much of the power requir'"* 

 on land can be derived from water, he holds that i 

 tories and domestic consumers should not be allow- 

 to exjiaust the fuel, which he thinks will always 1. 

 indispensable for use at sea. Prof. Park makes no 

 reftrtnce to the oilfields of New Zealand, to which 

 prominent attention has recently been directed e! 

 where. J- W. G 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



The British Journal Photographic Almanac and 

 grapher's Daily Companion, 1912. Edited by » i 

 Brown. Pp. 143b. (London: Henry Green and C 

 n.d.) Price is. dd. net. 

 Olr readers are so familiar with this bulky i 

 dispensable accessory to the photographic studio thai 

 the mere announcement of the new issue is enough 

 to make them obtain their copy. With 1436 pages 

 the b(X)k is a veritable mine of information, and not 

 only is it now almost a standard book of reference, 

 but it is instructive in a host of ways. This year the 

 editor contributes a ven.' valuable article on lantern- 

 slide making, and as this subject is a very popular 

 one to-day, it should find a great numl>er of readers. 

 No less instructive is the admirable way Mr. C. H. 

 Hewitt tells us how both in- and out-door portraiture 

 may be successfully accomplished without any special 

 appliances, and with the ordinary camera and lens : 

 the article is also well illustrated with eleven examji' 

 of sf>ecimen work. 



The " Epitome of Progress," by the editor, is full 

 of interesting material, hints, and dodges, and the 

 method of obtaining the effect of a portrait having 

 been taken in a high wind is a good illustration of 

 the last mentioned. In the section devoted to '' 

 recent novelties in apparatus, the editor occuji 

 about eighty pages, so numerous are the articles to 

 which reference is made. " How to do it " is the 

 title of the section which gives 120 hints in picture 

 form. Each picture is a hint showing how to select 

 a hand or stand camera, use a tripod, carrA- r'- 

 camera on tour, copy drawings or pictures, &c. Th 

 is little doubt but that this section will be consideral-.^ 

 enlarged in the next issue. Mention need only be 

 made of the lists of formulae, tables, miscellaneoii'S 

 information, &c., and other distinguishing featu 

 which go to make us this useful volume. 



While the book contains numerous diagrams and 

 other illustrations, we may perhaps direct special 

 attention to the very excellent three-colour print by 

 Willfried Deyhle, of Berlin, from a photograph bv 

 F. Leiber. entitled " Kongsbay on Spitsbergen," tal: 

 with a Zeiss-Tessar f/4'^, eauivalent focus 5 J incV 

 The book concludes with full indices of the t» -^ 

 advertisers, and the goods advertised. 



Alpine Plants of Europe, together with Cultural 

 Hints. By H. S. Thompson. Pp. xvi + 287. 

 (London : G. Routledge and Sons. Ltd. ; New A'ork : 

 E. P. Dutton and Co., n.d.) Price 75. 6d. net. 



.A VALID claim for originality is preferred by the author 

 on the ground that this volume contains descriptions 

 of plants from all ranges of the .Alps, and it may be 

 .added, that a few species of extra-alpine habitat are 

 included, as Ibcris gibraltaica. The altitudinal signi- 

 fication of the work "Alpine" is also implied, so that 

 for the most part the species noted find a congenial 

 home at a higher elevation than 5000 feet. Inclusion 

 of all the alpine species growing within the area has 



