Revieirs — Whitaker s Water Supply, Surrei/. 569 



fossil plants figured some indication of the particular structure 

 represented. Are we to regard the omission of an index as an 

 indication that the publisher intends the book to be learnt by heart? 



VI. — The Water Supply op Sueeey, from Undergeoitnd Sources, 



WITH. Records of Sinkings and Borings. By William Whitaker, 



B.A., F.R.S. ; with contributions on the Rainfall by H. R. Mill, 



LL.D. 8vo ; pp. V, 352, with rainfall map ; cloth. London, 1912. 



Price 7s. 



QINCE his retirement, some years ago, from the public service, 



O Mr. Whitaker has not ceased to devote much time in the 



interests of the Geological Survey, and his volume of the Water 



Supply of JTent {noticed in the Geological Magazine for 1909, p. 180) 



has now been followed by a volume nearly as extensive and quite as 



exhaustive on the Water Supply of Surrey. 



The old county division is retained, consequently the records 

 include those relating to the boroughs of Wandsworth, Battersea, 

 Lambeth, Camberwell, Southwark, and Bermondsey, that are now 

 part of the county of London. The geological formations which are 

 water-bearing comprise the Drift gravels and sands, Bagshot Beds, 

 Blackheatli Beds, Thanet Sand, Chalk, Upper and Lower Greensand, 

 and Hastings Beds. 



Accounts are given of the various springs which issue from these 

 formations, including the mineral waters, of which those of Epsom 

 are the most noted. A short description follows of swallow-holes, and 

 full particulars are then given of the inteimittent streams or bournes. 

 The Mole has always attracted much attention. When the stream is 

 full, as in winter-time, some of the water finds its way into swallow- 

 holes in the Chalk by the side of the stream; in dry times, as in 

 summer, the stream enters the Chalk tract from the south; but as the 

 underground water-level sinks below the level of the river-channel in 

 places, the stream water is largely absorbed, and the channel becomes 

 dry here and there with occasional pools. Records of the famous 

 Croydon Bourne are given mainly on the authority of Mr. Baldwin 

 Latham, supplemented by personal and other observations. 



Remarks are made on the effect of pumping on wells and springs, 

 and on the subject of contamination. The public and private supplies 

 of water taken from springs are few, nearly all the water being 

 obtained from wells and borings, except in the north-eastern part of 

 the county, which is supplied by the Metropolitan Water Board. 



Of the wells and borings the deepest is atOttershaw Park, Chertsey. 

 It was carried through Bracklesham Beds to the base of the Gault, 

 and Lower Greensand was reached at a depth of 1,556 feet. From 

 this formation water overflowed at the surface at the rate of 

 132,000 gallons a day. The occurrence of the Lower Greensand 

 below ground at this locality strengthens the view of the author that 

 the formation on this westerly side of the London Basin may be 

 continuous to the northern outcrop. 



Details of wells and borings occupy 185 pages (including some 

 addenda). Numerous analyses of "Waters are given, and in a section 



