Reviews 



West Virginia Geological Survey. Vol. I. By I. C. White, State 

 Geologist. 



The Geological Survey of West Virginia was established, with a 

 small appropriation, by an enactment of the legislature of that state 

 passed in February, 1897. Dr. I. C. White was appointed state 

 geologist and he entered upon the active duties of his office Jan- 

 uary 1, 1898. The present volume is the first publication of the sur- 

 vey and in it is incorporated a part of the results of investigations 

 prosecuted during 1898. 



The report is a paper covered octavo volume of 392 pages and con- 

 sists of four parts. Part I (pp. 1-26) is a "Report of the State Geo- 

 logical Commission to the Legislature, containing an account of the 

 operations of the survey during the years 1897 and 1898." Part II 

 (pp. 27-53) i s entitled "Levels above Tide." It is a compilation of 

 the elevations of the several stations on all the principal railroads of 

 the state, the data for which were contributed by the officers of the 

 roads. 



Part III (pp. 54-122) upon the "Variation of the Magnetic Com- 

 pass " and " True Meridian Lines in the Several Counties of the State " 

 was prepared by R. U. Goode, Geographer, United States Geological 

 Survey in cooperation with the state survey. Meridian monuments 

 were placed in the county seats of each county in the state, and 

 detailed descriptions of the location of the monuments are given in 

 this paper. 



The major part of the volume (Part IV, pp. 123-378) is devoted to 

 a report on "Petroleum and Natural Gas" by the state geologist. 

 The report is opened with a historical sketch which is followed by an 

 account of the geology of petroleum and natural gas. A large amount 

 of information which will be of great value to the oil and gas industry 

 of the state is here published. 



It is unfortunate that the volume should contain no index, but, as 

 stated by the state geologist, it had to be omitted because of the 



426 



