Miscellaneous Intelligence. 423 



the present report are : 78 analyses of clays by W. S. Chapman, 

 a small-scale reproduction of the geologic map of the State, and 

 a useful contour map on which isohyets are also shown. A com- 

 parison of this topographic map, — the first one issued for South 

 Australia,— with the geologic map shows the profound denuda- 

 tion to which the country has been subjected. H. B. G. 



5. Eleventh Annual Report, Geological Survey of New Zea- 

 land; P. G. Morgan, Director. Pp. 18, 4 maps, 1 plan, 1917.— 

 In most countries the great war has stimulated geologic research ; 

 in New Zealand the opposite effect has been produced. The 

 Survey staff has been depleted, the facilities for publication 

 decreased, and its appropriations cut to the point where "it is 

 threatened with extinction." If this unsound policy is con- 

 tinued, science in general and New Zealand in particular will 

 suffer great loss. 



In spite of unfavorable conditions a number of areal and 

 economic investigations have been made and are summarized in 

 the Annual Report. Two important paleontologic bulletins 

 were published during 1917: The Cretaceous Faunas of the 

 North Eastern Part of the South Island of New Zealand, by 

 Henry Woods (pp. 41, 20 pis. or figs.) ; New Tertiary Mollusca 

 Occurring in New Zealand, Part I, by Henry Suter (pp. 93, 13 

 pis. or figs.). Studies of New Zealand Mesozoic fossils, by C. T. 

 Trechmann, have appeared in the Geological Magazine for 

 February and July, 1917. h. e. g. 



6. Popular Oil Geology; by Victor Ziegler. Pp. 144, 62 

 figs. Golden, Colo., 1918' (C. BE. Merrifield).— The demand for 

 petroleum has resulted in a world-wide search for deposits and 

 enlisted the services of professionals and amateurs, alike. The 

 failures have outnumbered the successes because of the ignorance 

 of the geologic principles involved in commercial exploitation. 

 Professor Ziegler 's well -written and well-illustrated book is 

 designed to present these principles in terms intelligible to the 

 layman and to serve as an introduction to the author's forth- 

 coming "Principles of Oil Geology." The topics discussed 

 include the origin, properties, and mode of accumulation of oil, 

 the use of maps, methods of prospecting, and oil investments. 



H. E. G. 



III. Miscellaneous Scientific Intelligence. 



I.- Soil Conditions and Plant Growth; by Edward J. Rus- 

 sell. Third edition. London and New York, 1917 (Longmans, 

 Green and Co.). Pp. viii -\- 243. (Monographs on Biochem- 

 istry) . — Three editions within five years testify to the usefulness 

 of this well-written monograph. The innovations in the present 

 edition include particularly a new chapter on the colloidal prop- 

 erties of the soil. The limitations of present-day soil analysis 



