424 Reviews — Iron and Steel Industry, United Kingdom. 



the Pole than the locality in Greenland which has hitherto been its 

 most northerly recorded station (lat. 70° N.). 



Professor Nathorst follows his account of Ginkgo adiantoides by 

 a general review of the Mesozoic Ginkgopbytes of Spitsbergen. He 

 points out that genera belonging to this group are abundantly repre- 

 sented in beds between the Jurassic and the Cretaceous, equivalent to 

 the Wealden and uppermost Portlandian. He draws attention to the 

 singular fact that the Wealden beds of Europe display no corre- 

 sponding richness in Ginkgopbytes, which, on the contrary, have here 

 passed through their period of abundance in the Khsetic and Lower 

 and Middle Jurassic. Why, he asks, do the Ginkgophytes reach 

 their maximum in the Polar regions later than in Europe? He does 

 not propose any answer to this riddle, but points out that its solution 

 is bound up with the problems of climatic changes and plant 

 migrations. 



A. A. 



IV. — The Iron and Steel Industry of the United Kingdom under 

 War Conditions. By F. H. Hatch, Ph.D. pp. xii -f- 167, 

 with plates and diagrams. Privately printed, 1919. 

 rPHIS handsome and well-illustrated volume, which has been 

 1 privately printed for Sir John Hunter, K.B.E., is described on 

 the title-page as a record of the work of the Iron and Steel 

 Production Department of the Ministry of Munitions. Out of the 

 ample material at his disposal Dr. Hatch has constructed a 

 remarkably interesting story of well-directed enterprise and success 

 in the face of overwhelming difficulties of all kinds. It is not easy 

 for the non-technical reader to grasp the magnitude and complexity 

 of the task to be faced by the band of self-sacrificing and courageous 

 men who undertook to evolve order out of chaos, to reconcile 

 conflicting interests, and to carry out schemes which not only 

 contributed in the highest possible degree to the military and naval 

 successes of the Allies at the moment, but also kept in view the 

 needs of the future, so that after the War, in spite of everything, the 

 iron and steel trades of the country might be in a stronger position 

 than they were before. It is that wise and statesmanlike foresight 

 that forms, perhaps, the most remarkable feature of the fascinating 

 story unfolded by Dr. Hatch in these pages. 



When the formation of the Iron and Steel Production Department 

 was undertaken by Sir John Hunter the demand for steel was 

 growing rapidly, while the supply of raw materials from abroad 

 was seriously curtailed : the demands of the military authorities on 

 labour were urgent, and in many places industrial unrest was making 

 itself felt. It was necessary to balance all these conflicting factors 

 so as to obtain the best possible results with the means available. 

 Home resources of material had to be utilized to the full, and 

 methods modified to suit their special characters, while labour-saving 

 devices of every possible kind were introduced. Prisoner labour was 

 also utilized to some extent, but with not very satisfactory results. 



The most remarkable feature of the whole scheme was the 

 immense increase in the production of steel from phosphoric ores by 



