Miscellaneous Intelligence. 683 



explorers, should devote their attention to this series of well 

 planned meteorological observations. h. e. g. 



6. Deio -Ponds : History, Observation and Experiment ; b}^ 

 Edw. A. Martin. Pp. 208, 12 ills. London, 1914 (T. W. Laurie). 

 — Many shallow ponds on the chalk downs of England, situated at 

 moderately high levels, retain a supply of water during the driest, 

 hottest weather, when similar water bodies at lower levels and 

 apparently more favorably situated are dry. Under the term 

 "Dew-Ponds" these supposedly nwsterious phenomena have re- 

 ceived much attention in archeological, geographical and geolog- 

 ical literature. When field study replaced deductive reasoning the 

 " mystery " disappeared. Mr. Martin finds the annual deposit of 

 dew in the region under discussion to be "77 inches, and that on 

 only five occasions in three summer months was the water in the 

 ponds below dew point. The " dew-ponds " are supplied by rain. 

 During the dry season they decrease in size and occasionally dry 

 up. In some instances the downland fogs make good the unequal 

 relations existing between rainfall and evaporation. An analysis 

 of the water reveals the presence of salt brought from the sea and 

 salt particles serve as nuclei for the condensation of moisture in 

 the downland air. h. e. g. 



7. Union of South Africa, Department of Mines and Indus- 

 tries. Annual Reports for 1913 ; Part V, Geological Survey, 

 1914. Pp. 119, 3 figs., plates I-IX, including 4 maps. — During 

 the year 1913 the Geological Survey of South Africa issued two 

 sheets of the Geological Map, viz : Lydenburg and Pienaars 

 River (revision). The Pilandsberg and Olifants River sheets 

 are ready for publication. The field work for the year included 

 detailed studies of the Witwatersrand by E. T. Mellor, and a con- 

 tinuation of the survey of the Rustenburg district by H. Kynas- 

 ton, Director. Areal mapping resulted in the following reports: 

 The Geology of the Country north-east of Carolina, by A. L. Hall 

 (pp. 31-80);" The Geology of Portions of the Piet Retief, Wakker- 

 stroom, and Utrecht Districts, by W. A. Humphrey (61-68); The 

 Geology of a Portion of the Ngotshe Division of Northern Natal, 

 by W. A. Humphrey (69-78); Summary of a Geological Survey 

 of Part of Namaqualand, by A. W. Rogers (79-82); The Geology 

 of Mount Currie and Umzimkulu (Cape) and Alfred County 

 (Natal), by Alex L. duToit (83-102). h. e. g. 



8. Fossil Birds in the Marsh Collection of Yale University ; 

 by R. W. Shufeldt. Trans. Connecticut Acad. Arts and Sci., 

 vol. xix, pp. 1-110, pis. i— xv, 1915. — Doctor Shufeldt has made a 

 very notable contribution to our knowledge of fossil birds by the 

 careful and painstaking way in which he has studied, figured and 

 described the accumulation of avian material in the Peabody 

 Museum. Bird fossils are very rare and almost always fragmen- 

 tary, or, if a whole bone be present, it may be the sole represen- 

 tative of a skeleton, so that at best their study is a rather 

 thankless task. Doctor Shufeldt has placed this material, which 

 represents no fewer than thirty-two genera and forty-nine species, 

 in the best possible condition as a basis for future reference. The 

 Yale collection w T ill therefore remain a standard of comparison 

 for years to come. E. s. l. 



