BY LOFTUS HILLS, M.B.E., M.SC. 135 



The state of Tasmania is further indebted to this inves- 

 tigator by reason of the bequests made by him to the Royal 

 Society of Tasmania of his valuable collection of minerals. 

 This collection, which is the best collection of Tasmanian 

 minerals in existence, and in many particulars quite unique, 

 is now to be seen in the Tasmanian Museum, Hobart. 



In addition to this publication, which deals specifically 

 with the subject of mineralogy, there has appeared a wealth 

 of detail as to varieties and some new species in the various 

 publications of the Geological Survey of Tasmania. In re- 

 gard to one mineral species a special publication was is- 

 sued as Geological Survey Record No. 2, entitled "Stichtite — 

 "a New Tasmanian Mineral." 



An interesting and important discovery was that made 

 by the Geological Survey in 1913 of the occurrence of osmiri- 

 dium in the parent serpentine rock. Since that date the two 

 varieties of that mineral have been definitely determined— 

 siserskite and nevyanskite. Some very valuable work has 

 recently been carried out by A. Mcintosh Reid and W. D. 

 Reid, of the Geological Survey Staff, on the composition of 

 osmiridium and several minerals of the platinum group, 

 including one probably new species. 



The most valuable contributions by the Geological Sur- 

 vey since the last edition of the "Catalogue of the Minerals 

 "of Tasmania" in 1910 are those dealing with the paragenesis 

 of the mineral components of cur ore deposits rather than 

 with the identification of new species. This type of investi- 

 gation is in accordance with the recent development of the 

 subject of mineralography, and the application of the latest 

 methods of investigation has already thrown much light on 

 the inter-relationships of the component minerals of our ore- 

 bodies, and promises to be of even greater utility in the near 

 future. The studies made by L. L. Waterhouse of the con- 

 tact metamorphic deposits of Stanley River and Heemskirk 

 are valuable contributions to our knowledge of the mineral 

 paragenesis of this type of ore deposit. The complete para- 

 genesis of the complex zinc-lead sulphide ore deposits of 

 Read-Rosebery has been demonstrated by the writer, who 

 is at present engaged on similar investigations in connection 

 with the geological survey of the Mount Lyell field. In this 

 connection it must be noted that Gilbert and Pogue, of the 

 American National Museum, have carried out a mineralogra- 

 phic study of some of the ore of the Mount Lyell field for- 

 warded to them by Mr. R. C. Sticht. 



