March i6, 1876] 



NATURE 



383 



from 30 to 150 miles, runs the Cordilleras range of 

 mountains — sometimes serrated, at others tabulated — 

 and reaching elevations of 6,000 or 7,000 feet. " The 

 highest point in all Australia," is at the head of the Murray 

 River and near the boundary with Victoria, being, 

 according to Strzelecki, 6,500 feet above the sea, but 

 according to the later observations of Clarke 7,175 feet. 

 From the base of this range the country extends in a 

 spacious plain to the sea margin, and on the west into 

 the great central wilds of South Australia, and the 

 regions watered by the Darling, the Lachlan, and the 

 Murrumbidgee Rivers. The central tract from the 

 coast to the Cordilleras is occupied by the Sydney coal- 

 field, having a sea-board of about 200 miles, and an 

 area of over 15,400 square miles — as estimated by Mr. J. 

 Mackenzie, F.G.S., Examiner of the Coal-fields — richly 

 stored with coal, and, along its western margin, with iron. 

 Newcastle in Australia is a coal-shipping poit, as well as 

 the Newcastle in the old country, and from the number 

 of projected lines of railway communicating with it, 

 it is clear that the neighbouring collieries are destined to 

 distribute mineral fuel into the far interior, as well as to 

 the ocean steamers and coast towns. 



Another point of similarity between the mother-country 

 and her daughter, dates from the far-off ages of Geologic 

 time ; for Mr. Clarke and other geologists have clearly 

 demonstrated that the coal-beds of New South Wales 

 and of Britain were elaborated in Nature's workshop 

 during the «ame Geological period ; and on comparison it 

 will be found that the general succession of the members 

 of the Carboniferous series in the North of England and 

 Scotland have their equivalents, as nearly as possible, at 

 the Antipodes. This may be accidental, but it is at any 

 rate a striking illustration of the prevalence of similar con- 

 ditions over wide areas of the globe during the Carbonif- 

 erous period. 



The general succession of the Upper Palaeozoic series 

 of New South Wales and their possible British represen- 

 tatives is as follows : — 



Great Britain. 



(e) Possibly 

 Beds. 



Permian 



((/) Upper Red Sandstone 

 of the Glasgow dis- 

 trict. 



{c) Upper coal-measures 

 of Scotland, with 

 Millstone Scries at 

 base. 



New South Wales. 



{e) Wiananiatta Series. — Shales, with 



fish {Palaoniscus), fresh-water 



shells, and plants. 500 feet. 

 (d) Hawkesbury Series. — Chiefly sand- 

 stones, with ferns (Glossopteris 



browniana). 1,000 feet, 

 (r) Upper Coal-measures of New- 

 castle, &c., with plants — as Glos- 



sopteris, Sphenopteris, Conifers — 



with sixteen coal-seams over three 



feet in thickness. 480 feet. 

 ' Upper MarineBeds. — Shales,sand- ^ 



stones with coal-seams, &c., with 



numerous Lower Carboniferous 



shells {Spirifera, Froducii, Cri- 



noidal stems. 350 feet. 

 Lower CoR-measures. — Shales, 



sandstones with similar fossils. 



100 feet. 

 [fi) Lepidodendron Beds. — Shales and 



sandstones, with Carboniferous 



plants [CycloptorL', Knorria, Si- 



gUlaria, Lepidodendron) resting 



unconformably in Devonian beds. 



Though Prof. M'Coy considers, on palasontological 

 grounds, that the upper beds of the above series may be 

 of Mesozoic age, we are unable to concur in that view. 



{h) 



W. 



Lower coal-measures 

 of Scotland of the 

 Carboniferous Lime- 



I stone age. 



(a) Calciferous Grit Sc- 

 ries. 



and consider Mr. Qarke's demonstration of their Palaso- 

 zoic age conclusive. The whole series, with the exception 

 of the Wianamatta shales, are conformable throughout, 

 and the differences in the flora and fauna between the 

 Upper and Lower series are not greater than those be- 

 tween the Upper and Lower Carboniferous beds of Great 

 Britain. 



The quantity of coal raised in 1874 amoimted to 

 1,304,567 tons, and the returns of the out-put since 1829 

 show a steady annual increase. The demand in the future 

 is likely to exceed the supply ; but collieries are being 

 rapidly opened up where means of transport to the 

 markets are available. 



Amongst the most valuable products of the coal-fields 

 are the " Kerosine shales," a kind of oU-shale or cannel, 

 of which 96,141 tons were raised in 1874 from three 

 mines. These beds resemble the oil-cannel of Torbane 

 Hill in Scotland, and the associated shales from which 

 the celebrated paraffin oil is extracted. Some of these 

 seams are exceedingly rich, and are used for the produc- 

 tion both of petroleum and gas. Beds of clay-ironstone, 

 besides large veins and masses of brown haematite, occur 

 towards the base of the Carboniferous rocks in seveial 

 places, amongst which those of Wallerawang are likely to 

 become of the highest importance. A detailed account 

 of the various ores has been drawn up by Prof. Liver- 

 sidge, accompanied by chemical analyses, which show 

 that the ores are rich, containing from 40 to 56 per cent, 

 of metallic iron. Other iron-producing works have been 

 established at Lithgow Valley and Berrinia, but space 

 forbids fuller reference. For the accounts of the gold, 

 silver, and precious stones, including the diamonds of 

 Inverell and Armidale, we must refer to the pages of the 

 book itself, which, though full from cover to cover of 

 valuable information, suffers much from the want of a 

 good index. 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



Geological Sketches. By L. Agassiz. Second Series. 

 8vo. pp. 229. (Boston, James R, Osgood and Co. ; 

 London, Triibner. 1876.) 



No better idea can be given of this little book than is 

 obtained from the first few words of the preface. " This 

 edition of the ' Geological Sketches ' offers nothing new 

 to the pubhc. Taken in connection with the former one, 

 it only presents in a permanent form and in their original 

 sequence all the geological and glacial papers contributed 

 by Prof Agassiz to the Atlantic Mojithly during a number 

 of years." It consists, in fact, of five chatty papers on 

 glacial phenomena in various parts of the world, written 

 in that kind of personal manner that makes them read 

 like a book of travels or a chapter of an autobiography. 

 It is perhaps chiefly from this latter point of view that 

 this collection is interesting. Whatever may be Agassiz's 

 position with respect to the interpretation of the phe- 

 nomena of recent glaciers, there can be no question but 

 that to him is due the first recognition of their former 

 existence and extent in this country and elsewhere where 

 they now no longer exist. From the day of that discovery 

 in 1840, " Glacial Geology," now a department by itself, 

 has been steadily growing, till investigations into the 

 work of ice has been carried into almost every part of the 

 globe, not excluding the Tropics, Agassiz has therefore 

 a fair right to the title of Father of Glacial Geology. He 

 gives us here an interesting sketch of his first opening up 

 this ground by his visit to Scotland, and puts in a popular 



