Editorial Notes. 195 



Owing to the unprecedented demand for houses, a large amount of 

 indiscriminate building -will take place in the immediate future. 

 A recent issue of the Observer contains a most timely article, signed 

 " Silex", on the necessity for geological advice and control in these 

 matters. There are few subjects on which more nonsense is talked 

 and written than on the question of the suitability or otherwise of 

 various soils for residential districts. The general public has 

 acquired some vague ideas as to the advantages of gravel soils and 

 the supposed evil effects of clays, but the importance of taking into 

 account other conditions as well is hardly ever realized. The man 

 in the street is by no means aware that a gravel site in a hole, such 

 as the Thames Valley, may be infinitely wetter and more unhealthy 

 than a clay site on a hill, and similar instances might be multiplied 

 indefinitely. It is highly desirable that local authorities before 

 giving their consent to building schemes, at any rate on a large 

 scale, should consult an expert as to the suitability of the area 

 suggested for the special purpose in view, and that they should 

 refuse their consent in the case of an unfavourable report. Neither 

 municipalities nor the State can afford to allow the health of the 

 people to be endangered or money tc be wasted in unprofitable and 

 possibly injurious enterprises, when this can be prevented by sound 

 scientific and technical advice. 



a- * # # * 



Me. T. Sheppard has again earned a debt of gratitude for a 

 remarkably interesting sketch of Martin Simpson and his career. 

 He provides a pedigree, bibliography, and detailed description of 

 his books and a variety of personalia now difficult to obtain, a 

 facsimile of his writing and the well-known portrait. The paper 

 appears in the Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, 

 xix (4), 1918. 



s? * ■%■ a- # 



Dk. H. S. Washington contributes to Art and Archeology, vii (7), 

 August, 1918, 256-63, a description and figures of a medal he 

 acquired in Rome. Of Leonello Pio, Count of Carpi, it is cast in 

 lead, and dates from about 1500. The artist is unknown. The 

 special interest of this medal lies in the fact that it represents 

 a volcanic eruption, with " lightning - charged " clouds, falling 

 bombs, and lava-flow in realistic fashion, and Washington, from 

 a most careful and elaborate investigation, thinks that it must 

 represent the eruption of Vesuvius of 1500, described by Ambrosio 

 Leone in La Storia di Nola, 1514, which contains the oldest known 

 figure of Vesuvius. If that is so, then the medal is probably 

 a little earlier in date than the book. The legend on the reverse, 

 surrounding the design of the mountain, reads MELIUS PUTATO> 

 which Washington interprets as "more powerful (or active) than 

 I have been thought to be", and he further points out that as the 

 records of earlier eruptions are 1036, 1049, and 1139, the motto 

 would be appropriate to the popular idea that the volcano was then 

 extinct. 



