138 Remeivs — Blake ^ Whitaker — Water Supply of Berkshire. 



proportion of the Tertiary fishes are known only from detached 

 otoliths, suffices to indicate the extreme imperfection of the geological 

 record in their case." 



The comparatively meagre materials, where so much was to be 

 expected, lead the author to say further that "Palaeontology has, 

 indeed, hitherto revealed as little concerning the origin of the 

 dominant Tertiary fishes as of the Tertiary mammals." 



This seems a somewhat extreme view after Dr. Smith Woodward 

 has shown us so many affinities between the Cretaceous and more 

 modern fishes, and is perhaps to be read rather in the light of his 

 own larger expectations than as a conclusion to be drawn from the 

 premises he has himself laid before us in these volumes. To make 

 the cases of the Fishes and the Mammals parallel, the gap between 

 the Tertiary and Mesozoic fishes should have been at least as 

 great as that between Teleosteans and Sharks. But whatever may 

 be our views as to the light thrown by Cretaceous fishes upon the 

 origin of the more highly developed forms of the Tertiary period, 

 there can be but one opinion as to the extreme value of the work 

 accomplished by Dr. Smith Woodward among fossil fishes, the 

 results of which are embodied in these four volumes. 



Of the 19 plates which illustrate this volume 18 have been drawn 

 by Miss G. M. Woodward, v^ith the usual excellent result. There 

 are perhaps no more difficult objects to draw than fragmentary fossil 

 fishes, and an examination of these plates shows the extreme care 

 which has been bestowed upon them. We are told that the 

 instructive restorations in the text are by the same lady's hand ; 

 but there are other text figures the origin of which is not stated. 

 The figures on plate xvii are evidently reproductions from photo- 

 graphs, and are admirable representations of the fossils. 



In the preface, which old friends will be pleased to see signed 

 by Dr. Henry Woodward, we are told that already there is a necessity 

 for a supplementary volume. E. T. N. 



II. — The Water Supply of Berkshire prom Underground 

 Sources. By the late J. H. Blake, F.G.S., with contributions 

 by William Whitaker, F.R.S. Memoirs of the Geological 

 Survey. 8vo ; pp. 115. (London : printed for H.M. Stationery 

 Office, 1902. Price 3s.) 



TWO years ago attention was drawn to the publication of a memoir 

 on the Water Supply of Sussex, and the present work may 

 be regarded as a companion volume. There is a general account 

 of the strata, with special reference to their water-bearing capacities; 

 there are records of numerous borings in Berkshire, and some 

 analyses of the waters are given. The work should prove of great 

 service to those in search of a supply of water in the county, and even 

 ' diviners ' might find the information not without value. The records 

 of the borings will also prove useful to those who are studying the 

 varying characters and thicknesses of the strata, and the underground 

 geology so far as it is known. Nowhere at present have Palasozoic 

 rocks been reached in Berkshire. 



