The Scottish Naturalist. 51 



of auriferous quartzites. These indications are such as to 

 justify a careful search for gold in the matrix."* .... 

 " Quartz mining has not been permitted, though the occasional 

 discovery, unlooked for, of fragments of auriferous quartz, as 

 as well the granular or angular character of the gold, point to 



the probable existence of gold in situ Such is the 



confidence of the diggers themselves in the auriferous character 

 of the drifts and quartzites, that they are ready to embark capital 

 in proper mining operations. "t 



In 1870, at the Perthshire Society of Natural Science, I 

 made reference to " gold in situ in its matrix in the Quartzites, 

 which penetrate the schists of the Breadalbane and other High- 

 land districts" (p. 39). I mentioned several isolated finds of gold- 

 quartz, as well as of nuggets, as "of importance in reference to 

 the existence not only of auriferous drifts, but of auriferous 

 quartzites in the Highlands of Perthshire " (p. 44). % 



And, lastly, so lately as the beginning of 1874, I re-asserted 

 that " there is good ground for encouragement in the search for 

 auriferous Quartzites throughout the Silurian area of Scotland § 

 (p. 13), and that " auriferous Quartzites, containing a much 

 larger per centage of gold [than those of Bute, according to 

 Mr. Cameron, which contained J oz. per ton] will probably 

 be found in Scotland, as they have been found in other auri- 

 ferous countries, when properly looked for (p. 7). . . • The 

 general result of my own observation and inquiry on this subject 

 is that auriferous Quartzites, are to be looked for throughout 

 the whole Silurian area of Scotland" (p. 12). 



Now it has so happened that, while the correctness of my 

 opinions has been far more than verified as regards both the 

 auriferous quartzites and drift of New Zealand) as may be seen 

 by reference to the " Official Handbook of New Zealand," pub- 

 lished at the beginning of the present year) ; and while the now 

 well-known Sutherland gold diggings of 1869 bore me out in all 

 my anticipations regarding drift gold in Scotland, it is only lately 



* Article on "The Gold-field and Gold-diggings of Kildonan," in the 

 "Northern Ensign" of September 16, 1869. 



+ Paper on "The Sutherland Gold-diggings, as a scientific and social 

 experiment," presented to the British Association at Exeter in 1869, and 

 reported at length in the "Northern Ensign" for January 13, 1870. 



X Presented in January, 1870, and published in the Society's Proceedings 

 for that year. 



§ In an article on "Recent Gold Discoveries in Scotland," in the 

 "Perthshire Constitutional" of February 18, 1874 : Reprint of 15 pp. 



