218 BOOK REVIEWS section examination of unconsolidated re- golith. In a book that claims to cover petro- graphic methods there should be some con- sideration of embedding unconsolidated sed- iments or volcanic ash, and preparation of thin sections for examination of microsedi- mentary structure and fabric. Admittedly this is a specialised area which is treated in some soils books but there should be at least refer- ence to the technique, and preferably some basic methodology. As this book seems to be intended as an extended laboratory manual there should have been careful attention to instruments used. In the section on examination of the refractive index of heavy minerals, the use of a "seeker" is indicated. However, this item is neither described, illustrated or referenced. The "seeker" picks up grains. There are a number of micromanipulators for micro- scopes but the seeker should be clearly de- scribed. The coverage of topics is variable. Gravel and till are treated in detail but other areas are less well covered. In one section the topic of fire is briefly introduced. It is con- tained under the broad heading of magnetic susceptibility. However, the example which is given stems from south-eastern Australia where the evidence was derived from char- coal counts from sediments, not from mag- netic susceptibility. Charcoal counting meth- ods are ignored. The index is very poor. Under "A" there are only eight entries. Topics such as algae (in lakes), Artemia (brine shrimp) occur in the text but not the index. None of the heavy minerals in one of the appendices is listed in the index, while a fairly unlikely topic "chem- ical solutions - swallowing" is listed. Quaternary Sediments is a well produced book which covers selected topics admirably. However, these are mainly of a Northern Hemisphere emphasis while many areas of interest to Quaternary scientists are omitted or poorly addressed. Perhaps if you are start- ing out on terrestrial studies in the temper- ate north, or are an antipodean quaternarist who wishes to transfer to the Northern Hemisphere to work on glacial sediments, this book could be helpful. If on the other hand you work on non-glacial, non-gravel sediments, then you would be better off with a methods book on sedimentology. P.G. Ladd, Murdoch, Qld. Palaeontology K.W. Barthel, N.H.M. Swinburne and S. Conway Morris, 1990. Solnhofen: A Study in Mesozoic Palaeontology. Cambridge Univer- sity Press, 235 pp. Price £35, ISBN 0 521 33344 X (hardback). In 1978, one year before his untimely death, K.W. Barthel's book entitled: "Solnhofen: Ein Blick in die Erdgeschichte" was published. It remained the only compre- hensive account of this world famous fossil bonanza until now, 13 years later, N.H.M. Swinburne and S. Conway Morris published the translated second edition. Considering that our knowledge of Solnhofen Limestone as a Fossil-Lagerst~itte and as a complex la- goonal environment has increased remark- ably since the 1970's, a simple translation of Barthel's book without incorporating these new data would have been inadequate. N.H.M. Swinburne and S. Conway Morris therefore did not simply act as translators, but rearranged and updated the book and added new parts. Still, they claim to have preserved the spirit of the first edition, some- thing that has to be seen. Barthel's long introduction on the princi- ples of palaeontology and earth history (part one of the first edition, mainly addressed to amateurs) has been completely omitted. In the first chapter of the second edition the authors introduce us to the Solnhofen Lime- stone and its economic use in historic and modern times and narrate the Odyssey of some of the most famous Solnhofen fossils such as Archaeopteryx. In the next chapter