SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK
( Notice in this column does not necessarily preclude subsequent review.) GEOLOGY OF THE TERTIARY AND QUATERNARY PERIODS IN THE NORTH-WESTERN PART OF PERU. By T. 0. Bosworth. (Macmillan. 45s. net.)—There are not many parts of the world to-day which offer a virgin field to the geologist. Dr. Bosworth, however, was fortunate enough to discover such a tract in the desolate northern coast of Peru. He spent several years, between 1912 and 1918, in conducting an elaborate geological survey of this region. The results of his work are clearly set forth in this well-illus- trated volume, which is a valuable contribution to the regional geology of the world. The rocks are rich in fossils, and chapters on palaeontology have been contributed by Mr. Henry Woods, Dr. Herbert L. Hawkins, Dr. T. Wayland Vaughan and Dr. J. A. Cushman. Some of the rocks are also rich in oil, and in the last section of the book Dr. Bosworth gives a succinct description of the oil-fields in the provinces of Tumbes and Payta, which have yielded, up to the end of last year, about thirty-four million barrels—roughly, one three-hundredth part of the total production of petroleum in the world.
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