4S4 Dr. W. T. I'.l;. nf..,,l. '/'/,, /A\/, ,;,/;,(, ,>f 



tropic, aiid a <lianio!i<l.* Mr. S]>encer think- tli.a the .,,]. .nrless 

 binfringent fragments arc perhaps uptically uniaxial, and that they 

 may very well he corundum.! The ln-<i\vner grains he suggests are als4> 

 diamonds. In favour of this identification is the fact that -mall 

 diamonds occur at the Xewlands Mine (I have seen some in Mr. Tru- 

 benbach's hands), rathei 1 ovoid in shaj>e, with a roughened surface, 

 some a yellowish-brown, some colourless. But against it we may urge 

 that they aj)]K i ar to have leen destroyed during the second treatment.* 

 He this as it may, Sir W. Crookes \\^< -ucreeded in showing that micro- 

 scopic diamonds <lo occur in the eclogite, which contains those of larger 

 >i/e. 



To conclude : in addition to this residue from the eclogite we have 

 ascertained (1) the existence, in some quantity and variety, of pre- 

 tria--ic dialja-e,.^ (:>) the abundant development of a microscopic brown 

 mica in the ground mass of the so-called kimlxjrlite ; (3) the presence 

 in it, as tnie IwuMers, of at least four more species of holocrystalline 

 rock. The last fact acquires an additional importance, localise, since 

 the publication of my former paper, the boulders therein described 

 have been claimed as " concretions " in the so-called kimberlite.|| 

 With this matter I have dealt elsewhere,*! but the identification of 

 seven species or strongly-marked varieties of holocrystalline rocks, 

 peridotites, eclogites, &c., in which the minerals at the surface are 

 worn as if by the action of water, not to mention the general structure 

 of the so-called kimberlite, must, I think, otter insuperable difficulties 

 even to the most enthusiastic advocate of concretionary action. 



" The Distribution of Vertebrate Animals in India, Ceylon, and 

 Burma." By W. T. Bi.AXFoiin, LLD., F.K.S. l.'e.-.-iv.-d 

 December ">. Read December !.", 1000. 



(Abstract.) 



Several contributions on the subject of the distribution of Verte- 

 brata, or geographical Zoology, in India and the neighl>ouring countries 



* On rt-exauiining tin' specimen, now tliat Mr. SpMicer has kindly mounted it in 

 a better position, I agree with this determination. 



+ On a final examination of the slides, I find among them one if not two -mall 

 grains which I strongly suspeet to be diamonds. 



J A final examination and comparison with some bits of " bort " given me by 

 Mr. Trtibonbach lias not made me more favourable to my original identification 

 with rutile. 



That is, at any rate, older than the time when the Karoo series was deposited. 



j| Professor Beck, 'ZeiUchrift fur Praktische Geol.,' December, 1899. 



f Geol. Mag.,' 1900, p. 2 10. 



