May 24, 1888] 



NATURE 



75 



identical distribution of Himantopus melanopterus and 

 Recurvirostra avocetta, H. mexicanus and R. americana, 

 it would seem as if they had long ago been separated as 

 distinct generic forms, as they would have no business 

 to occupy the same areas, if Mr. Seebohm's theory were 

 true. Is it not possible that they were developed as 

 Avocets and Stilts in very remote times, and that similar 

 causes have driven them to occupy the same areas of 

 distribution ? And may not both have had a southern 

 instead of a northern origin ? Thus Cladorhynchus in 

 Australia, Himantopus andinus in the Andes (apparently, 

 from Mr. Seebohm's illustration, belonging to a distinct 

 genus), and the various species of Stilts in Australia, New 

 Zealand, and Brazil, would remain as isolated species of 

 a former stock, which probably inhabited a continuous 

 area in the South Atlantic and South Pacific Oceans. 

 Where circumstances were favourable to their stay, some 

 may not have migrated northwards, and the differences 

 in some of the southern species could be accounted for 

 by their subsequent isolation, rather than by their incon- 

 sequent flight from Chili to New Zealand, as Mr. Seebohm 

 supposes. 



Besides the woodcuts of heads, tails, &c, and other 

 specific characters, the present volume is crowded with 

 woodcut illustrations by Mr. John Millais, Mr. Lodge, 

 and Mr. Holding. They are mostly extremely well done, 

 but Mr. Millais seems a little inclined to fashion his Waders 

 on the model of a peg-top. 



R. BOWDLER SHARPE. 



THE MINERALS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 



The Minerals of New South Wales, Sr'c. By A. Liver- 

 sidge, M.A., F.R.S., Professor of Chemistry and 

 Mineralogy in the University of Sydney. (London : 

 Triibner and Co., Ludgate Hill, 1888) 



TT was a very happy thought of Prof. Liversidge to 

 J- celebrate the centenary of the foundation of the 

 colony of New South Wales by the publication of this 

 handsome and comprehensive volume. Giving, as it 

 does, a very clear account of what is known of the mineral 

 resources of the oldest of the Australian colonies, it 

 brings clearly before the mind of the reader how much 

 has already been accomplished in developing the subter- 

 ranean resources of an important part of the British 

 Empire, and how large is the promise for the future. 

 The term " mineral," we may mention, is not employed 

 in this work in its narrower scientific sense ; coals and 

 oil-shales, and even mineral waters, receiving a due 

 amount of notice in it. 



The basis of the present work is found in a paper pub- 

 lished by the author in the Transactions of the Royal 

 Society of New South Wales, in 1874, of which memoir 

 a second edition was published by the Mining Depart- 

 ment of the colony in 1882. Prof. Liversidge has added 

 very largely to his original memoir ; and the numerous 

 analyses of minerals and rocks, made by himself, Mr. W. 

 J. Dixon, F.I.C., and the Government Analyst of the 

 Mining Department, greatly increase the value of the 

 book. Owing to the absence of the author from the 

 colony during the past year, the work has been printed 



and issued in this country ; but, as a proof of the manner 

 in which the book has been brought fully up to date, 

 we may note the statement, on p. 185, of the dis- 

 covery, by Mr. T. W. Edgworth David, of the Geological 

 Survey of New South Wales, of the sparsely distributed 

 mineral leucite in the Australian colony, the fact having 

 only been announced to the Mineralogical Society so 

 recently as October in last year. 



A considerable amount of space is naturally devoted 

 to discussions concerning the occurrence of the precious 

 metals — the account of gold occupying 34 pages, and that 

 of silver 13 pages. The interesting series of assays of 

 New South Wales gold, and an account of the chief 

 nuggets found in the colony, are of much interest. In 

 connection with this subject, we have in the work before 

 us a very clear and concise, but very carefully drawn up, 

 statement concerning the often-disputed question of the 

 original discoverer of gold in Australia. The author states 

 his facts and sources of information, taking great care to 

 give references in all cases, and those interested in the 

 question will have little difficulty in arriving at a decision 

 as to the relative merits of the claims which have been 

 put forward on behalf of Count Strzelecki, the Rev. W. 

 B. Clarke, Sir Roderick Murchison, and other less known 

 individuals, to whom the discovery has been ascribed. 

 One of the most interesting and instructive among the 

 many' tabular statements in this work is that which in- 

 dicates the number of minerals which have yielded, on 

 assay, larger or smaller quantities of gold and silver. 

 This table seems to indicate that, even should the alluvial 

 washings and quartz-reefs be exhausted of their auriferous 

 contents, there still remain in Australia many available 

 and very valuable sources of the precious metals. 



Still more important in its bearing on the future wel- 

 fare of the colony is the account of the common metallic 

 ores, and of the coal, lignite, and oil-shale deposits. 

 There are few, if any, of the metals used in the arts, of 

 which abundant sources of supply are not found within 

 the limits of the colony. The coal-fields are said to cover 

 about one-half the area of those of Great. Britain, and 

 numerous analyses and other details enable us to judge 

 of the quality of the fuels which they yield. In the dis- 

 cussion of this important question, Prof. Liversidge's great 

 knowledge and experience as a chemist invest his opinions 

 with the highest value. 



Although the book is not a technical mineralogical 

 treatise alone, mineralogists will find very careful descrip- 

 tions of all the minerals, including the gem stones, which 

 have been found within the colony. Their study of the 

 subject will be much facilitated by the large coloured 

 map which forms a frontispiece to the volume. 



In concluding this notice we cannot but congratulate 

 the author upon the enterprise and energy which have 

 enabled him to prepare such a treatise as the present 

 one. The objects aimed at in such books as Zepharovic's 

 " Mineralogisches Lexicon fur das Kaiserthum Oester- 

 reich " may seem at first sight incompatible with those to 

 which works like Mr. Albert Williams's " Mineral Re- 

 sources of the United States" are devoted ; but Prof. 

 Liversidge has shown that this is by no means the case, 

 and he has achieved the feat in the case of a young and 

 rising colony, where the difficulties of the undertaking 

 must have been more than usually great. The colony, 



