1918.] The N.Z. Journal of Science and Technology. 
187 
an area of one square foot, when the difference in temperature between the 
two sides of the layer is one degree Fahrenheit. A full review of the work 
of previous investigators is given, their results being reduced to a uniform 
standard in terms of the above unit. The apparatus they employed con¬ 
sisted of a cubical box with double walls of thin copper, the inner box being 
6 in. by 6 in. by 5 in., and the space between the walls 1 in. thick. This 
space was carefully packed with the material to be investigated, and the 
inner space filled in different experiments with ice and steam; the con¬ 
ductivity of the material being determined by the amount of water melted 
in the one case and condensed in the other. Full details are given of the 
method and the results, of which the following table is a summary 
Marine fibre .. 
Silicate wool . . 
Cork 
Compressed cork 
Sawdust 
Magnesia 
Charcoal 
Pumice 
Asbestos 
Blast-furnace slag 
Sand 
B.Th.U. per Hour. 
Freezing Temp. 
Steam Temp. 
. . 0-35 
0-56 
.. 0-33 
0-61 
.. 0-35 
0-51 
. . 0-37 
0-58 
.. 0-48 
0-72 
• • • • 
0-68 
.. 0-58 
0-91 
.. 0-61 
0-79- 
.. 0-73 
l-OG 
.. 0-89 
1-35 
2-18 
L. B. 
Fishes of Australia and their Technology, by T. C. Roughley, Techno¬ 
logical Museum, Sydney. Technical Education Series, No. 21, 296 pp., 
with 59 figs, and 70 coloured plates. Sydney, 1917. 
The New Zealand Institute for many years past has urged upon the 
Government the desirability of having a catalogue of New Zealand fishes 
prepared and printed. The work under review goes further than this ; 
it not only gives a systematic description of each fish, accompanied by 
coloured plates in seventy cases, but it brings together much that is known, 
concerning the geographical distribution, habits, food, edible qualities, and 1 
methods of capture and supply for each species. In addition there are 
chapters on trawling, other methods used or recommended for the capture 
of fish, the utilization of fish in applied art, and the Australian aboriginal 
fishing. Such a work, being largely a compilation, must be unequal in 
treatment, and it is perhaps stronger on the artistic than the scientifie 
side, but it cannot fail to be of great service in the development of the 
fisheries of New South Wales. Nor can it be neglected by those interested 
in New Zealand fisheries, since some twenty of the species treated of are 
stated to extend into New Zealand waters. The New Zealand reader, 
however, must beware of accepting these statements without reserve, as 
the scientific names employed differ considerably from those given by Waite- 
to New Zealand fish. J. A. T. 
The Problem of the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary in South America 
and the Stratigraphic Position of the San Jorge Formation in 
Patagonia, by A. Windhausen. Am. Journ. Sci.. ser. 4, vol. 45, 
pp. 1-53, 1918. 
South America, like New Zealand, has had its Cretaceo-Tertiary problem, 
and for reasons not altogether dissimilar. In each there are locally occurring 
