451 



REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 



SOME NEW BOOKS GEOLOGY. 



Several useful geological hooks ha\e recently been published, some of 

 particular interest to northern readers. 



Geology in the Field, edited by H. W. Moncliton ami R. S. Merries has 

 been issued by the Geologists' Association in commemoration of its recent 

 jubilee. It is issued in four parts at 5/- net each, and these contain 

 900 pages in all, with several plates and illustrations. In 1891 this society 

 issued its ' Record of Excursions,' under the editorship of T. V. Holmes 

 and C. D. Sherbom, which is still a useful book of reference. The present 

 work, like the preceding, is divided into districts, and specialists have 

 written the accounts of the geology of each. In some cases the best 

 authority possible has been secured ; in others, the editors have not been 

 quite so successful. The whole of England and Wales is not covered by 

 the volume ; and some of the contributions do not refer to a particular 

 area as a whole, but deal with certain aspects of it. For example, Mr. 

 H. H. Arnold-Bemrose describes the lower Carboniferous Rocks of Derby- 

 shire ; but otherwise that county is neglected ; Mr. F. \V. Harmer des- 

 cribes the Pliocene and Pleistocene deposits of Eastern England, whilst 

 there is nothing on the more solid rocks of Norfolk, Suffolk, etc. East 

 Yorkshire is dealt with by Mr. R. S. Herries ; there is no reference to the 

 rest of the county. There also seems to be no uniformity as to the length 

 of the chapters : the description of East Yorkshire takes up as much space 

 as almost half of that devoted to Wales. The same lack of uniformity 

 applies to the quality of the contributions. Some are excellently written ; 

 others are decidedly weak. The illustrations, too, are sometimes very 

 good ; at others, bad ; in fact we should not be surprised if some of the 

 blocks were not applied for to be placed in the antiquarian section of a 

 certain museum. The sections of the Yorkshire coast (plate XVIII.), 

 attributed to Blake and Herries, look remarkably like tracings from 

 Phillips' sections in his well-known Geology of Yorkshire ; though it is 

 odd to read that ' the apparent dislocation of the strata at Runswick Bay 

 is due to an error in drawing.' As the ' drawing ' is not a creditable one, 

 we think the editors would have been wise in omitting it. However, a 

 volume that contains contributions by Lapworth, Marr, H. B. Woodward, 

 Watts, and a host of others, is one that will commend itself to all field 

 geologists, for whom very largely it has been prepared. The Society is 

 certainly to be congratulated upon the way it has celebrated its jubilee. 



Fossil Plants. A Text-book for Students of Botany and Geology, by 

 A, C, Seward, M.A., F.R.S. Vol. II., 1910. Cambridge. xxii.-i-624 pp., 



15/- net. 



So long ago as 1898 Prof. Seward published the first volume of this work* 

 It contained nine chapters, viz. : Historical Sketch ; Relation of Pala?o- 

 botany to Botany and Geology ; Geological History ; The Preservation 

 of Fossil Plants ; Dilficulties and Sources of Error in the Determination 

 of Fossil Plants ; Nomenclature ; forming the first section of the volume ; 

 and then chapters on the Thallophyta ; Bryophyta ; Pteridophyta ; 

 Equisetales ; and Sphenophyllales. 



The volume was written with Prof. Seward's characteristic care and 

 regard for accuracy of detail. Also, as is almost essential in a work of this 

 kind, it was profusely illustrated, many of the figures being specially drawn 

 by Mrs. Seward. As a frontispiece is an excellent view of the well-known 

 Conboniferous forest at Mctoria Park, Glasgow, right on the top of which 

 were living trees. This work at once took its place amongst students of 

 Paleobotany, w^ho have waited patiently for its successor. 



* 452 pp., 10/-. 

 1910 Dec. 1. 



