July 29, 1922] 



NA TURE 



145 



sulphuric acid in the manufacture of superphosphate. 

 The book discusses some general problems which are 

 not usually dealt with in geological text-books ; thus 

 there is a chapter on the world production of minerals, 

 the capital value of the mineral reserves, and the 

 political and commercial control of minerals. The 

 last chapters deal with the relation of the geologist to 

 the exploration and development of mineral deposits, 

 the valuation and taxation of minerals, and mining 

 law. 



The discussion on this question includes the author's 

 opinion of the much controverted Apex Law, wherein 

 the mining laws of the United States and Rhodesia 

 differ from those of the rest of the world. Mr. Leith 

 says of the American geologists and engineers that 

 " almost to a man they favour either modification 

 or repeal of the law " ; but he recognises that as it 

 has been in force for 50 years, so large a body of 

 vested interests has been established under it that it 

 would now be difficult to make serious changes in it. 

 He remarks on the objections to the present system 

 of the use of expert evidence in law courts and the 

 apparent advantage of selection of experts by the 

 Court instead of by the contending parties ; but he 

 thinks the present system on the whole preferable, 

 as the Court might find a sound selection impossible. 

 The intense competition in such inquiries leads to the 

 most intensive study of the problems. The author 

 considers that few scientific treatises on economic geo- 

 logy contain facts better established than the reports 

 of the great cases that have been rendered necessary 

 in America by the imperfections of the Apex Law. 



The author's conclusions as to the conservation of 

 mineral resources are that little is to be feared from 

 the actual shortage of supplies, but that the difficulties 

 will arise in their extraction and distribution at a 

 rate adequate to meet the future demand. He explains 

 the use of geology in the late war and discusses the 

 international problems based on mineral resources, 

 which he represents as now in such confusion that it 

 will take the combined efforts of the various govern- 

 ments many years to bring them into order. He says 

 the entire European coal situation is in a state of 

 chaos, and that, " unless there is a miraculous recovery 

 and development of Germany's coal industry, im- 

 possible conditions have been imposed." 



The volume concludes with chapters on the training 

 of the economic geologist and on the ethics of his 

 profession. The author recommends that the intensive 

 I study of geology should be a post-graduate course, 

 that the universities should not give degrees in economic 

 geology, but should leave the maintenance of a high 

 standard, both of knowledge and conduct, to the pro- 

 fessional societies connected with geology and mining. 

 NO. 2752, VOL. I io] 



Our Bookshelf. 



British Labour : Replacement and Conciliation 1914-21 : 

 Being the Result of Conferences and Investigations 

 by Committees of Section F of the British Association. 

 Part 1, on Replacement, Co-ordinated and Revised 

 by Miss L. Grier and Miss A. Ashley ; Part 2, on 

 Conciliation, Edited by A. W. Kirkaldy. Pp. 

 xxxv + 266. (London : Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, 

 Ltd., 1921.) 10s. 6d. net. 



An attempt has been made in the volume under notice 

 to " sum up and co-ordinate " the various reports, 

 issued between 1915 and 1920 by the Economic 

 Section of the British Association, and relating to 

 problems of labour during war-time. 



In the first part of the volume, Miss Grier and Miss 

 Ashley have succeeded admirably in their rather 

 difficult work of collation, and the result is to present 

 in small compass a concise history of the industrial 

 adventure of women during the period of the war. The 

 outlines of the story are by now sufficiently familiar : 

 the value of the present contribution lies in the rich 

 store of material, partly statistical, which it offers, and 

 in the conclusions it reaches regarding the future of 

 women in industry. The moral of the story is that 

 while war-time experience has left women more ready 

 to offer their services in production, there has been 

 little permanent modification of industry which would 

 make it possible to utilise those services. 



Part 2 of the volume, dealing with conciliation in 

 British Labour, 1914-1921, is somewhat inchoate. It 

 is practically a reprint of reports on the promotion of 

 industrial harmony and on industrial unrest, which had 

 already been published elsewhere, and there is little 

 evidence of selection from the papers and speeches 

 which make up the original reports. Some excision 

 and co-ordination would have added to the permanent 

 value of this section. 



The last forty pages of the volume contain a sym- 

 pathetic discussion of works committees by Mr. C. G. 

 Renold, who deals, with much breadth of vision, with 

 the problems of industrial management involved in the 

 growth of these committees. 



Royal Society. Reports of the Grain Pests (War) 

 Committee. Nos. 1 to 10 (in 1 volume). Pp. 23 + 

 48 ( + 11 plates) + 18 + 20 + 10 + 51 + 52 + 28(+ 11 

 plates) + 52 + 16. (London: Harrison and Sons, 

 1918-1921.) 



The Grain Pests (War) Committee was appointed by 

 the Council of the Royal Society in June 1916, as the 

 result of correspondence with the Board of Agriculture, 

 in which the Board requested the Royal Society to 

 appoint a committee " in relation to the damage done 

 to grain by insects." When established, the committee 

 at once took very active measures to carry out the 

 work allotted to it, and published the results of the 

 investigations which it initiated in a series of valuable 

 reports. Most of the latter have already been noticed 

 in our pages and need no further comment. These 

 reports have now been issued in book form, together 

 with a final brochure (Oct. 1920), drawn up by the 

 chairman, Prof. W. A. Herdman, who has summarised 

 the results of the researches and puts forward certain 



