BOOK REVIEWS
105
the execution of their writing. This is a factor that also affects the quality of the article, and it seems that the editor has little room for making his choice. Possibly for the same reason, the statistical unit is inconsistent; even within the same article one can find both the metric and the English systems. The application of some current terms also shows a lack of unity. For example, "undeveloped land" and "marginal land" are quite different things in land use, yet in this book they are used interchangeably in certain places. The assumption that eighty per cent of the land of Hong Kong is undeveloped might very possibly mislead the reader. Again, the first line on page 50 runs: "At the end of 1947 the estimated population of Hong Kong was 1,800,000", yet the fourteenth line from the bottom of page 55 says: "In post-war years the population of the Colony rose from less than 600,000 in 1947 to nearly 3,000,000 in 1961".
Part II is composed of twelve articles dealing with mineral deposits, and of these, seven are related to Hong Kong, with Professor Davis being the author of five and a half of these. I believe that Professor Davis is the unchallengeable authority on things underground in Hong Kong. I am still a new arrival here, unfamiliar even with things on the surface of the ground in Hong Kong. It is therefore inappropriate for me to make any academic comment in this respect.
The first article in this Part, "Mining in Hong Kong", serves as a general introduction to the mining industry in Hong Kong. It is followed by two striking articles: "Some Economic Aspects of Mining Processing" and "Tectonics and Ore Deposits". Then, tungsten, lead, and iron are treated in turn. The last paper is "Dissolved-in-water Type of Methane Gas Resources of Japan" by Dr. Kaneko, the former director of the Geological Survey of Japan. I admit that this article is rich in reference value, yet considering the title of the book, it seems to have overstepped the area under particular treatment by the book.
Maps are the most favored tools employed in modern geography. They can tell what words fail to say. To the author and especially to the editor, however, they are a great burden. There are forty-two maps in this book, mostly simple indicating maps. Some do not seem to have been properly designed, and some are reduced to such a degree as to present a blurred view.