112 
THE ESSEX NATURALIST. 
REVIEW. 
The Evolution of the Essex Rivers and of the Lower Thames, by J. W. 
Gregory, D.Sc., F.R.S., Professor of Geology at the University of Glasgow, 
1922, demy octavo, 68 pp., 10 illust. Colchester : Benham and Company 
Limited, 2s. 6d. net. 
In this little volume Professor Gregory adds one more to the many 
attempts that have been made to determine the relative ages of our various 
Essex gravel patches. He accepts the view that the larger Essex river 
valleys and their older terrace-gravels are pre-glacial, and postulates the 
existence, in late Oligocene or early Miocene times, of an east to west river 
across mid-Essex, coming from the head-waters of the Ouse, linking on 
with the upper course of the Lea, and emptying into the Blackwater estu¬ 
ary ; in this way he accounts for the introduction of Buckinghamshire 
detritus (Rhaxella chert) into our Roding gravels. 
Professor Gregory gives some important new facts concerning the oc¬ 
currence of Pleistocene foraminifera in Glacial deposits, supporting the 
view of the marine deposition of these beds as against the more generally 
accepted opinion that they were formed by land-ice, which he regards as 
unconvincing. “ That the Essex Boulder Clay was deposited in water 
and not on land under a sheet of ice seems to agree best with the available 
evidence.” 
Whether the author’s deductions satisfy all the puzzling facts of the 
distribution of the various constituents of the Gravels of our County 
remains open to debate, but his hypothesis is at least a plausible one, and 
is worked out with considerable ingenuity and with local knowledge. No 
student of our Essex drift deposits can afford to neglect this suggestive 
book.—P.T. 
WILLIAM COLE, A.L.S, F.E.S 
It is with deep regret that we announce the death, on June 
27th, 1922, in his 79th year, of William Cole, Founder and for 42 
years principal Honorary Secretary of our Club. A full biographi¬ 
cal notice, with portrait, of the deceased will be given in the 
next issue of the Essex Naturalist. For the present it suffices 
to record the great sense of personal loss which his fellow-officers 
of the Club, who have worked with him for so many years, feel 
at his death. 
Requiescat in pace. 
