196
THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
BOOK NOTICES.
The Geology of the Country around Romford: Geological Survey Memoir,
1925. Illustrated, 1s. 6d. nett. Romford: Sheet 257 (geological
map, colour-printed). Drift edition, 1925. 2s. net.
The long awaited memoir, and revised map, of the Romford district,
which take in the whole south-western portion of Essex as far east as
Billericay and Mucking, have now been issued, and Essex geologists may
congratulate themselves on having at last up-to-date information on the
geological features of the district.
The Claygate Beds are now for the first time described and mapped
as a separate entity: a photograph of the fine section of these Beds at
Shenfield Brickyard, which our Club visited in September last, is given
in the memoir.
A commendable new feature in the map, as in others issued recently
by the Survey, is the separate mapping of the Boyn, Taplow, and Flood-
plain Terraces of the Valley Drift, wherever these are determinable;
this should prove invaluable to prehistorians in accurately dating palaeo-
lithic implements obtained from these terraces.
The "solid geology" underlying the various Glacial and Alluvial
deposits is indicated by signs and approximate boundaries in the map.
These innovations all tend to increase the usefulness of the publications.
The accuracy of the determination as Glacial of some of the isolated
gravel patches at high levels, such as, for instance, those on the Epping
Forest ridge, will probably remain a matter of dispute between individual
workers.
The above publications may be obtained from H.M. Stationery Office,
Adastral House, Kingsway, W.C.2, or 28, Abingdon Street, S.W.I.
Marvels of Reptile Life, by W. S. Berridge, F.Z.S., Thornton Butterworth,
Ltd. 1926. 6s. net.
This is a very readable if popular account of snakes, lizards, turtle.
and amphibians the world over, embellished by a number of excellent
photographs taken by the author from living specimens.