November 24, 1910] 



NATURE 



121 



compelled in the struggle for existence to sacrifice 

 important parts of their organisation, while a more 

 favoured collateral branch, in quiet progressive evolution, 



i-^veloped into a human race. 



By a new kind of diagram Klaatsch endeavours to 

 -elucidate the distribution of the human races and the 

 anthropoid apes. The femur of Pithecanthropus fixes its 

 position in the neighbourhood of the eastern group. The 



himpanse is in many respects further removed from the 

 :orilla than from the Neanderthal man. The African 



ices exhibit some affinities with the Neanderthal t\-pe. 

 \s to the eastern people, the similarities between the 



<ulls of young orangs and the skulls of Javanese, which 



npressed certain authors, require further investigation. 

 With the help of his new theor>", Klaatsch promises us 

 a new interpretation of single pieces of the diluvial find 

 of Krapina, some of these apparently belonging to the 

 Aurignac t>pe and others the Neanderthal type. 



Of all earlier finds, the skeletal remains from Galley 

 Hill, Kent, have the greatest affinity- with the Aurignac 

 man. Less certain are the affinities of the skull from 

 Engis. .A new comparison of the other diluvial and early 



-ehistoric finds from the point of view of the new theory 



jpears to be highly desirable. 



Richard N. Wegner. 



MINERAL PRODUCTION OF INDIA.^ 



'T'HIS quinquennial review of the mineral output of 

 India is probably the last official publication of Sir 

 Thomas Holland in his capacity as Director of the Geo- 

 logical Survey of India, and it is especially appropriate 

 that this should be so, seeing not only that he originated 

 this most useful form of publishing the records of Indian 

 mineral production, but that he has been the first of all 

 the directors of the Survey to recognise that the chief 

 dut>' of this survey is to assist and encourage the develop- 

 ment of the mineral resources of the country. It is an 

 undoubted fact, to which the present report bears eloquent 

 witness, that the mineral production of India increased 

 during Sir Thomas Holland's directorship at a rate with 

 which no previous similar period of Indian history can 



'jw any comparison. 



-A glance at the records before us shows that the last 

 five years have continued the energetic de\-elopment of the 

 mineral resources of the peninsula ; as pointed out by the 

 authors, it is practically impossible to set up any un- 

 exceptional standard of valuation, so that accurate com- 

 parisons cannot well be looked for; yet, even alkiwing 

 for this fact, an increase in the estimated value of the 

 output from 3.455,565^. in 1898 to 5,047,201/. in 1903, and 

 from this figure, again, to 7*880,832/. in 1908, is a clear 

 proof of a steady rise in the exploitation of these important 

 resources of our Indian Empire. Of the total value thus 

 assigned to the production, about two-thirds are made 

 up of two items, gold and coal, the latter being now bv 

 far the more important ; in 1903 the value of the gold was 

 nearly twice that assigned to the coal, whereas in 1908 

 the latter figure was about 50 per cent, greater than the 

 former. The gold output has, in fact, remained just 

 about stationary during the period under review, the great 



tI*''-'* coming, as hitherto, from the Mysore mines. 



The important increase in the coal production is perh.ips 

 one of the most satisfactory features indicated in this 

 report; from li million tons in 1884, the output rose 

 steadily to 8^ millions in 1905, and then more rapidlv to 

 nearly 13 millions in 1908. About 90 per cent, of' the 

 entire output comes from Bengal, and about 50 per cent, 

 from a single coalfield, namelv, Jherria, which is now 

 the leading coalfield, having gone ahead of Ranigunj 

 since 1906. A very interesting statement is here published 

 concerning the geological age of these Bengal coalfields; 

 they occur in the Damuda series of the Gondwana system, 

 which has always been looked upon as of Mesozoic age. 

 the Lower Gondwanas being classed as probably of 



^ "Q"inquennial Review of the Mineral Pr.-dnction of India dnrine the 

 Years 1904 to 1008. ■ By Sir Thomas H. Holland, K.CI.E.. FRSTand 

 Ln. L. Leigh Fermor. Records of the Geoloeiral Survey of India vol 



pluI^nJ^ '^"rti ^^"\ <^!™"=' '■ Geological Survey : London: Kegan 

 raui and Co., Ltd., igto.) Price 2 rupe«>s. 



NO. 2143, VOL. 85] 



j Triassic and the Upper Gondwanas as probably of Jurassic 

 ! age, thus making the coal-bearing formations much younger 

 ' than those of Europe. On palaeontological evidence, it is 

 now possible to assert that the Lower Gondwanas are 

 ! Palseozoic, and " certainly not younger than the Upper 

 Carboniferous. Thus the Indian Coal-measures are not 

 j much younger than, and may even be of the same age as, 



those of Europe." 

 j The only other point of especial importance is, in 

 I contradistinction to the first one, a purely economic one,, 

 i namely, the fact that within the period under review the 

 j first battery of bye-product coke ovens has been erected on 

 j an Indian coalfield, namely, at Giridih. 

 I During the five years to which this report refers the 

 i number of persons engaged in coal-mining has increased 

 ; from 92,740 to 129,173, the numbers of those at work 

 underground being respectively 64,969 and 83,164. The 

 ) output has thus risen more rapidly than the number of 

 ; persons employed, showing an increase in efficiency in the 

 ! workers. The output per person employed has risen from 

 88-6 tons in 1904 to 98-8 tons in 1908, and per worker 

 underground from 126-4 tons in 1904 to 1535 tons in 1908.^ 

 j The efficiency of the Indian worker is thus approximately 

 I one-third of that of the worker in the United Kingdom; 

 ' as is correctly pointed out in the report, this figure does 

 not properly represent the ratio of labour efficiency, because 

 in India a great deal of work is done by hand which in 

 the L'nited Kingdom is done by machinery, simply on- 

 account of the cheapness and abundance of labour in the 

 peninsula. The death-rate from accidents has shown a 

 marked tendency to increase during the last five years, 

 but it is not possible to say whether this fact is due to 

 the increasing depth of the mines or to accidental circum- 

 stances ; its average over the five \-ears 1904-S is 0-98 

 per 1000 persons employed, or 10-2 per 1,000,000 tons of 

 coal raised ; the corresponding figures for the United 

 ! Kingdom in 1906 were 1-29 and 437 respectively. 

 ! .Another mineral that now bulks largely in the mineraF 

 i production of India is manganese ore. the output of which 

 shows a very marked increase, namely, from 150.190 tons 

 in 1904 to 674,315 tons in 1908. The output in this Litter 

 } year was about 228.000 tons less than that of the previous 

 ' 3'ear, the falling off being due to market conditions, and" 

 i in no wise indicating that the productive capacity has 

 reached its zenith and is commencing to decline ; on the 

 contrary, it may be confidentlv anticipated that the generaF 

 ■ expansion above indicated will continue. The interesting 

 ! economic question is raised whether it would not be pre- 

 j ferable to smelt a considerable proportion of this ore on 

 I the spot, and thus export ferro-manganese instead of 

 I manganese ore ; seeing that about one-fourth of the sell- 

 ing price of the ore represents the cost of freight, it is 

 1 obvious that the possibilit)' exists of effecting a very con- 

 ! siderable saving, and the question should well merit 

 investigation at the hands of the producers of manganese 

 I ore. 



I India is of great importance as a producer of mica, 

 ! the Indian output being well over one-half of the world's 

 j total production. Here again a great increase is to be 

 i noted, namely, from 22,164 '^^'^- •" *904 *<> 53t543 cwt. 

 i in 1908. 



The production of petroleum, still almost entirely from 



Burma, has also shown an increase, namely, from 



I 118,491,382 gallons in 1904 to 176.646.320 gallons in 1908; 



i even this latter figure is insufficient to supplv the needs 



of the country, which imported about 70 million gallons 



in 1908. 



It may be fairly said that the above comprise the 

 mineral products of most importance ; there are, of course, 

 numerous others, and in most cases these show a marked 

 increase in output. It is gratifying to find that the exer- 

 tions of a scientific institution like the Geological Survey 

 are having such a beneficial effect upon the economic 

 development of the peninsula ; and whilst congratulating 

 Sir Thomas Holland upon the success in this direction that 

 has attended his tenure of the directorship of the Geo- 

 k)gical Survev. we may express the hope that this ex- 

 pansion of the material interests of the country will 

 continue to be the first care of his successors, with the 

 same gratifying results. 



H. Louis. 



