REVIEWS 165 



undoubtedly delineate eras rather than periods. Previously the foreshore 

 of Gondwanaland, New Zealand may be said to have begun an inde- 

 pendent existence with the post-Hokanui deformation. 



There is a stratigraphic and paleontologic break between the Upper 

 Cretaceous and the Tertiary. Tertiary rocks occupy a considerable 

 area on the North Island. The Tertiary periods in New Zealand are 

 noted for their intense vulcanism. The later volcanic rocks contain 

 quartz veins which have yielded many million ounces of gold and silver. 



A. H. B. 



Phytopaldontologie und Geologie. By Dr. W. Deecke. Berlin: 

 Verlag von Gebriider Borntraeger, W35, Schoneberger Ufer 

 12a, 1922. Pp. 97, 



Professor Deecke is not a specialist in paleobotany, but writes from 

 a general paleontological point of view. The book summarizes our 

 present knowledge on the geological importance of fossil plants rather 

 than attempting to approach any of these problems on the basis of inti- 

 mate familiarity with paleobotany. 



In spite of this drawback, the book is useful to anybody who wishes 

 a summary of such questions as the importance of marine algae, or the 

 influence of plants on rock formation, or the relative importance of 

 autochthony and allochthony, especially with reference to the formation 

 of coal seams. Another problem, the importance of plants as climatic 

 indicators, has been so much discussed in the last years, that very little 

 can be said about it without constant repetition of familiar ideas. 



An interesting chapter is the discussion of plants as index fossils, 

 and Deecke comes to the conclusion that plants are not suitable for a 

 general classification of formations, but rather for the differentiations of 

 horizons in a few periods like the Carboniferous. Plants are especially 

 valuable for index fossils in the determination of local horizons, and have 

 been properly used for such purposes in the Upper Cretaceous and Upper 

 Miocene as well as in the Coal Measures. 



Deecke has used extensively the German, Scandinavian, French, 

 English, and American literature. It is only natural that the latter three 

 literatures should not have been fully utilized for the last eight years 

 since, during the war and even after the war, such literature was not 

 always accessible to German scholars, first, on account of their isolation 

 during the hostilities, and afterward, on account of the difficulty of buying 

 foreign hterature with devaluated marks. 



A. C. NoE 



