Stather : Dr, Roive on the Yorkshire Chalk. 205 



the collector. This is sufficiently manifest from the fact that 

 Dr. Rowe got a g-eneral idea of the fossil contents of the beds 

 between High Stacks and Sewerby 'in five hours.' 



A glance round Mr. Mortimer's Driffield Museum or any of 

 the smaller private collections of fossils from the Chalk is 

 sufficient to show that Yorkshire differs widely from the 

 southern counties, and we were not prepared for the extreme 

 surprise expressed by Dr. Rowe on this point. He says : ' It 

 is impossible to institute any valid comparison between this 

 marvellous coast and any of the sections which we have 

 previously described. For, alike in the hardness of the rocks, 

 in the peculiar lithological conditions of the beds, in the paucity 

 of the fossils, in their deplorable state of preservation, and in 

 their strange and unwonted distribution, we have no parallel to 

 it on our English shores. It is unique — a thing apart.' But 

 in his endeavour to put this point vividly before his readers 

 Dr. Rowe has somewhat overstated his case and thereby done 

 himself an injustice. For in our opinion the great value of the 

 paper lies in its careful proof that the fauna of the Yorkshire 



Chalk can be brought approximately into line with that of the 

 south country. Of this part of Dr. Rowe's work it is impossible 

 to speak too highly. It is a model of assiduous and intelligent 

 collecting from every reasonably accessible section around the 

 headland from Speeton to Sewerby. The result is a comprehen- 

 sive and detailed account of the fauna of the Middle and Upper 

 Chalk of Yorkshire of the greatest possible interest. And now, 

 not only have local workers a reliable basis from which to con- 

 tinue their investigations, but in many instances the direction is 

 indicated in which further work is necessary and where it is 

 most likely to succeed. In a word, the paper marks the 

 beginning of a new era in Upper Cretaceous geology in York- 

 shire, and we believe it cannot do otherwise than help and 

 inspire our East Riding geologists in their work, and cause 

 many a section formerly regarded as stale and hopeless to be 

 attacked with renewed zeal. 



The difficulties met with by Dr. Rowe when he applies his 

 southern zonal formulae in Yorkshire, appear to be of a similar 

 kind to those encountered by the vendor of ready-made clothing 

 in his attempts to suit all customers. The garments only fit in 

 a general sort of way, and a good deal of pulling and pinching 

 and contriving are necessary to make them pass muster. At 

 the same time we are compelled to admit that Dr. Rowe's skill 

 in this direction is unsurpassable. 



1904 July I. 



