SUCAR IIKET IX SULTIl AFRICA. X'J'J 



in the (irahamstown Chemical l^aijuratory chiefly hy Mr. 1'^. V. 

 Flack; those connected with Mr. Edmeades's experimental culti- 

 vation were performed in the Capetown Lal)orator\- hy Mr. G. 

 F. Britten. 



TRAXSACTIONS OF SOCIETIKS. 



Geologic.vl .Society of South Africa. — Monday, July 31-d ; P. A. 

 VVagner, B.Sc, Ing.D., President, in the chair.— ".-/» interesting outlier of 

 Karroo rocks to the north of Olifantsfontein Station, on the Germiston- 

 Pretoria Railway": Dr. P. A. Wagner. The outlier appears to have 

 completely escaped previous notice by geologists, and, apart from its 

 geological interest, is of great economic importance in containing w^liat 

 are perhaps the most valuable clay deposits hitherto discovered in South 

 Africa. These clays are characterised physically by great refractoriness, 

 and are tire-clays in the strictest sense of the term, the purest of the 

 deposits being equal in hre stability to the very best English and American 

 clays. 



Monday, September nth: P. A. Wagner, B.Sc, Ing.D., President, in tlu- 

 chair. — '' Notes on the geology of Xatal " : Prof. E. H. L. Schwarz. The 

 correlation of red arkoses and micaceous sandstones of Natal with the 

 Table Mountain sandstone was discussed. The author considered it 

 advisable for the present to regard the red sandstones of Natal as a 

 separate formation, which he proposed to name the Clairwood sand- 

 stones. Dwyka conglomerate overlies all the older beds, granite, gneiss, 

 marble, and sandstone as a boulder clay, with well-marked glaciated 

 boulders, lying in considerable numbers round Port Shepstone. Imme- 

 diately overlying the Dwyka conglomerate are beds which the author 

 termed Ecca shales, although they have nothing in common with the Ecca 

 beds of the Cape Province ; in fact, the Karroo beds of the Cape Province 

 proper suffer a distinct change to the East of the Kei River, and when 

 dealing with those eastern deposits, the terms Umsikaba, Kentani, and 

 Idutywa beds may well be substituted for Ecca, Lower and Upper 

 Beaufort beds. 



South African Society of Civil Engineers. — Wednesday, July 12th : 

 W. Craig, M.I.C.E., Vice-President, in the chair. — 'Notes on raihway con- 

 struction during the 1914-1915 campaign in German South-West Africa": 

 Major A. J. Beaton. The author explained the organisation of the 

 Reconstruction Section of the South African Engineer Corps, and then 

 proceeded to outline the work performed by the corps during the cam- 

 paign. The methods adopted for landing rolling stock, rails, and 

 sleepers were tirst described. A short account was next given of the four 

 classes of railways in German South-West Africa and the British terri- 

 tory at Walvis Bay at the commencement of hostilities. Then the nature 

 and extent of damage done to the permanent way and bridges by the 

 enemy was described, and the method of repairing these damages was 

 explained. The author also dealt with the conversion of gauge of the 

 Otavi Railway, 418 miles in length, and gave an account of the new 

 railways which were constructed in order to facilitate the military opera- 

 tions, recounting the difficulties of water supplies and sand dunes that 

 had to be overcome, and the land mines which had been laid by the 

 enemy. — '' The survey and construction of the Prieska-Kalkfontein Rail- 

 zvay": X. K. Prettejohn. The construction of the line was decided on 

 as "a military necessity shortly after the outbreak of war. The distance 

 covered is 315 miles, together with 20 miles of sidings. The survey was 

 started within a fortnight of the outbreak of war, and staking was proceeded 

 with at the rate of 3.4 miles per day. The construction of the entire 

 length of line was completed in a little over ten months. — " Notes on plate- 

 laving and ballasting on the Volksrust-Hcidelberg Section of the Charles- 

 toivn-Johannesburq' Raihi.<a\" : A. J. Humby. The construction was 



