Reviews — Brief Notices. 229 



puzzling anomalies of a species of these genera with an ease and 

 certainty hitherto quite impossible. 



One criticism Mr. Woods must allow us to make, if only for the 

 guidance of the editor; that is, that in these days of accurate 

 collecting, it is essential that the name of the collector should he 

 inserted after the name of the locality, whenever known. It would 

 add very greatly to the value of such a monograph as this to know 

 that Dr. Blackmore, for instance, was responsible for the statement 

 that Ostrea semiplana occurred in the zone of Act. quadratus of East 

 Harnham. In the present case such proof is not forthcoming. We 

 congratulate and thank Mr. Woods for the valuable work he has 

 completed. ~ 



IX. — Brief Notices. 



1. Southern Rhodesia. — The Report of the Director of the 

 Geological Survey, Mr. H. B. MauCe, for 1911 (1912), records 

 the wide distribution of tin-beariug rocks; notes that the majority 

 of the productive gold-mines do not lie in the schist-belt as is 

 generally thought, hut in a peculiar granitic mass, named the 

 Mont d'Or granite; and refers to the important chrome iron-ore 

 deposits which occur in a mass of serpentine and talc-schist. 



There are special reports (1) on the geology of the country 

 around Selukwe, by Messrs. A. E. Y. Zealley & B. Lightfoot, with 

 a general introduction by the Director ; (2) on the geology of the 

 Victoria Tin-field, by the Director; (3) on the asbestos quarries, 

 Victoria District, by the Director; (4) on the claims of the Great 

 Sabi Coal Syndicate, Victoria District, by Mr. Lightfoot; (5) on 

 claims pegged for aluminium near Selukwe, by Mr. Zealley ; and 

 (6) on a traverse from Gwelo to Bulawayo, by Mr. Zealley. With 

 regard to the asbestos Mr. Maufe observes that it consists of the 

 fibrous form of serpentine, known as ' chrysotile asbestos'. 



2. Meteoric Iron from Perrtville, Missouri. — The block, which 

 weighed about 17|- kilograms, was found in an open field, about 

 three-fourths buried in the soil. It is described by Mr. G. P. IMerrill 

 (Proc. U. S. jSTat. Museum, xliii, December, 1912), who records, 

 among ordinary constituents, traces of iridium, palladium, platinum, 

 and ruthenium. The author states that so far as he knows this is 

 the first authentic instance of the occurrence of ruthenium in a 

 meteoric iron. 



3. Underground Waters of Poitou. — In "Spelunca" (Bulletin 

 et Memoires de la Societe de Speleologie, ix, September, 1912), 

 Professor Jules Welsch records the results of his detailed studies of 

 the " Hydrologie souterraine du Poitou calcaire", in the Departments 

 of Vienne, Deux Sevres, and Vendee, which together coincide 

 closely with the old province of Poitou. After describing the general 

 physical features and geological structure of the region, he deals in 

 particular with the areas of Jurassic limestones from the Lias to the 

 Corallian, etc. (Rauracien-Sequanien). Water-bearing horizons occur 

 tliroughout the series, but they are most copious in the Bajocian and 

 Bathonian. The sources of the waters, their circulation as affected 

 by dislocations, folds, faults and fissures, the caverns, swallow-holes, 



