22 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS — SECTION B. 



by the rocks of this country, As research advances, fresh 

 problems appear. Indeed, some of the problems that first 

 attracted the attention of South African geologists still await 

 solution. There is much work to be done before the correlation 

 of the formations in the different regions of South Africa can 

 be completed. This is especially the case with respect to the older 

 rocks of the country. There is still considerable mystery sur- 

 rounding the origin of the South African diamonds. The origin 

 of the gold in the banket is still an open question, though the 

 investigations of the last few years have confined it to narrower 

 limits. 



That the last-mentioned controversy has lingered so long on 

 the stage is worthy of some comment. No other ore-deposit in 

 the world affords such facilities for .study as does the banket. 

 It is exposed along its strike for more than forty miles, and on 

 the dip to depths as great as five thousand feet. Why, then, has 

 the history of the rock, including that of its contained gold, not 

 been fully made out by this time? In the first place, notwith- 

 standing the apparently simple character of the banket, on careful 

 investigation it is found to have undergone manv remarkable 

 changes, which have obliterated certain features which the rock 

 must have originally possessed. In the second place, it is essential 

 that the manner of distribution of the gold in the banket should 

 be known. Sufficient data for the elucidation of this have been 

 acquired, but they remain locked up in the assay plans of the 

 various mines. An analysis of these would involve great labour, 

 such as would not readily be undertaken by any individual. It 

 is unlikely, too. that the Geological Survey, with its present 

 inadequate staff, would care to embark on a task demanding 

 so large an expenditure of its time and energy. However, fail- 

 ing the Government, perhaps our enlightened Chamber of Mines 

 might consider itself justified in spending money on the investi- 

 gation of a matter which lies so close to them, and which is of 

 absorbing theoretical interest and, at the same time, of con- 

 siderable practical importance. 



I shall now revert from what must appear to you to be a 

 lengthy digression to my original theme, and mention briefly 

 certain respects, not yet referred to, in which the conditions of 

 geological work in South Africa show great improvement. 



Our early geologists found themselves mentally isolated. 

 They were regarded as cranks, and their interest in the geology 

 of the country was looked upon as an idiosyncracy. Besides, 

 they could find no suitable avenue in South Africa for the publi- 

 cation of their work. Even those geologists who were temporarily 

 engaged by Government usually found their employers unwilling 

 to go to the expense of printing their reports in full. Now we 

 have a public, a comparatively small one it is true, interested in 

 geological work. The geological reports yearly issued by the 

 Government are worthv of the country. For the private worker 



