Revieivs — Mineral Resources of Great Britain. 37 



this country. The forthcoming volumes will be awaited with much 

 interest, and we may' be allowed to hope that a volume or volumes 

 on lead and zinc are now on the way. 



E. H. R. 



Special Reports on the Mineral Resources of Great 

 Britain, Vol. VIII. Iron Ores ; Hematites op West 

 Cumberland, Lancashire, and the Lake District. By 

 Bernard Smith, M.A. Mem. G-eol. Surv. pp. 182, with four 

 plates and 29 text-figures. 1919. Price 9s. net. 



ALL geologists who are in any way interested in economic 

 questions in general and in iron-ores in particular will rejoice 

 at having at length an authoritative and complete account of the 

 hsematite deposits of north-western England. This is a subject of 

 very great geological and technical importance, as to which reliable 

 information has been singularly lacking, especially as regards 

 later developments. Mr. J. D. Kendall's work on the subject 

 was published over twenty years ago, and since then very little 

 seems to have appeared in connexion with the geological aspects 

 of this great industry. 



The Geological Survey is to be congratulated on having found 

 in Mr. Bernard Smith an author who is capable of dealing effectively 

 with all sides of a large and complicated subject, He gives an 

 interesting sketch of the early history of the iron-mines, beginning 

 with the impetus given to commercial enterprise by the foundation 

 of the great abbeys in the twelfth century and gradually leading up 

 to the industrial revolution of 100 years ago, when blast furnaces 

 using coal and coke replaced the primitive bloomeries of the Middle 

 Ages, and eventually led to the establishment of such gigantic 

 enterprises as the Barrow Haematite Steel Company, Limited, 

 and the Hodbarrow Mine, with its output of 400,000 tons of ore 

 per annum. 



It is, of course, well known that the great importance of this 

 haematite ore lies in its remarkably small proportion of phosphorus, 

 which causes it to be eminently adapted to the manufacture of 

 steel by the acid Bessemer j^rocess, and so long as the supply lasts 

 the demand for this high-grade ore will inevitably continue. 

 Fortunately there is every reason to believe that great reserves 

 still remain untouched under the Duddon Sands and elsewhere. 

 By the very nature of the case, such irregularly shaped and sporadic 

 masses as these must be difficult to locate, the only means available 

 being actual boring or sinking ; purely geological reasoning is not 

 of much avail, though a detailed study of the stratigraphy such as 

 is here given is of much practical value in pointing out likely localities 

 for such experiments. 



Geologists will read with much interest Mr. Bernard Smith's 

 lucid exposition of the facts and arguments which have led him to 



