178 



NA TURE 



[June 24, 1897 



with a large photographic spectroscope, deprived of its 

 collimator, for use in Brazil. In this instrument we had 

 two prisms of 60°. The object-glass was a Dallmeyer 

 portrait lens 5D, aperture 3*25 inches, with a focal 

 length of 19 inches. With this he was able to secure 

 a second series of photographs. 



The most important results recorded in 1893 may be 

 stated as follows. We not only determined the wave- 

 lengths with considerable accuracy of some 400 lines in 

 the spectra of the chromosphere and prominences, and 

 studied the distribution of the gases and vapour which 

 gave rise to them, but the separation of the spectrum of 

 the corona from that of the chromosphere was made 

 perfectly clear. J. Norman Lockyer. 



{To be continued.) 



WORK AND PROGRESS OR THE GEOLOGICAL 

 SURVEY} 



T HE _ first remark that will naturally occur to a 

 geologist into whose hands this Report may come, 

 will probably be one of satisfaction that the account of the 

 work of the Geological Survey for the past year should 

 have been brought out so early, and in a separate form in 

 which the pubhc can purchase it at a low price. But his 

 pleasant surprise will soon be changed into feelings of 

 another kind when he opens the volume and finds it 

 printed, as heretofore, on poor, flimsy paper and in small, 

 close type, so that the perusal of its pages becomes 

 wearisome to the eyes. There could hardly be a stronger 

 contrast to this style of production than that in which the 

 Reports of the United States Geological Survey are issued. 

 These, alike in paper, type and printing, are truly sump- 

 tuous publications placed alongside of the miserable 

 efforts of our Stationery Office. Even Canada can afford 

 to present the Reports of its Geological Survey in a form 

 ■that should make our authorities blush. It is lamentable 

 to see so much excellent scientific work offered to the 

 world in such miserable guise. The Canadian Reports 

 are not only better printed on better paper than ours, but 

 ithey are actually sold at cheaper rates. Wliy cannot the 

 inother-country afford to keep up to the level of her 

 transatlantic colony ? 



The present Annual Report of the Director-General is 

 the longest and most detailed which he has yet issued. 

 It presents a clear picture of the activity of the Geological 

 Survey over all th'e fields on which the staff is engaged, 

 and enables the pliblic to follow intelligently the progress 

 of the work in ^he three kingdoms. The volume, or 

 pamphlet of ratheir more than 100 pages, is divided into 

 three sections, one'jdealing with the Geological Survey itself, 

 one with the PaUisiontological Department, and one with 

 the Museum of Practical Geology in Jermyn-street. The 

 section that treats, of the Survey consists of two portions, 

 the first of which is devoted to the general statistics and 

 administration of! the three branches of the' service in 

 England, Scotland, and Ireland. It is interesting to 

 notice in this, as lin former Reports, the large extent to 

 which the work of the Geological Survey is made use of 

 for practical purposes. In different ways geology affords 

 valuable information with regard to water-supply, reser- 

 voirs, drainage, soils, lines of railway, sites of houses, 

 nature of building materials, and many other questions 

 •of daily life. The offices of the Geological Survey have 

 become the recognised headquarters for information of 

 this nature respecting the British Islands. The various 

 Government Departments apply freely for assistance and 

 advice, while the general public continues to make daily 

 inquiries in regard to matters which involve a practical 

 knowledge of geology. 



1 Annual Report of the Director-General of the Geological Survey of the 

 United Kingdom for 1896. London : Pri 

 Office, 1897. Price 6rf. 



NO. 1443. VOL. 56] 



London : Printed for her Majesty's Stationery 



, The scientific results obtained by the Survey during 

 the past year occupy the greater part of the Report, and 

 are full of interest. The narrative of them is arranged 

 jin stratigraphical order, beginning with the oldest rocks. 

 |We are first taken into the district of Charnwood Forest, 

 and shown the excellent work done there recently by Mr. 

 W. W. Watts. We are then transported into the north-west 

 'of Scotland, and watch the labours of Messrs. Peach, 

 Home, and Clough among the mountains of Assynt and 

 the hills of Skye. The wonderfully complex structure' of 

 the country between Cape W^rath and the southern pro- 

 montory of Skye has now been worked out in detail, 

 most of the maps of that region are published, and we 

 may before long expect a full account of the whole belt 

 of complication from the able band of surveyors who, 

 amidst all the inclemencies of that boisterous climai:e, 

 and all the physical difficulties of rugged mountain and 

 shaking bog, have so skilfully unravelled the details of 

 one of the most interesting and difficult geological dis- 

 tricts in Europe. 



In the northern, central and southern Highlands satis- 

 factory progress continues to be made. In the far north 

 Mr. Home and Mr. Gunn have been at work among the 

 "Moine schists" of Sutherland and Ross-shire. Mr. 

 Barrow and Mr. Cunningham Craig are to be found 

 among the glens and corries of the higher Grampians. 

 Mr. Hinxman is busy among the rocks of Strathspey. On 

 the west side of the country a chain of observers is 

 stationed from the flanks of Ben Nevis to Loch Awe 

 and the hills of Lome. Mr. Grant Wilson is engaged 

 among the schists and limestones of Loch Linnhe. Mr. 

 Hill has continued his investigation of the metamorphic 

 series around Loch Awe. Mr. Symes has made progress 

 with the volcanic district of western Argyllshire ; while 

 Mr. Kynaston has been laying bare the secrets of Ben 

 Cruachan. The work of each of these investigators is 

 succinctly summarised by the Director- General, and 

 attention is called to the more important results obtained 

 in the examination of the younger or Dalradian schists 

 of the Highlands. The mapping is likewise in progress 

 among the metamorphic rocks of the Western Isles, Mr. 

 Wilkinson having now completed the survey of I slay ; 

 while Mr. Gunn is prosecuting that of ,A.rran. 



One of the most important problems now engaging 

 the attention of the Survey in the Scottish Highlands is 

 connected with the position and relations of a belt of 

 comparatively unaltered strata, wedged in between the 

 schistose rocks and the Old Red Sandstone which has 

 been faulted down against them. These strata, from 

 their lithological characters, their sequence, and their 

 including certain radiolarian cherts, are regarded as 

 probably the equivalents of the closely similar rocks 

 which lie in the Arenig division of the Silurian rocks of 

 the Southern Uplands of Scotland. If such should 

 eventually be proved to be their true age, they will have 

 an important bearing on the age of at least the latest 

 movements to which the Highland rocks owe their con- 

 torted and puckered structure. The problem, however, 

 seems to become more difficult the longer it is studied. 

 Last year Mr. Clough, who is engaged on its investigation, 

 has found that no satisfactory line can be drawn between 

 the presumably Lower Silurian strata and the general 

 mass of the rocks of the southern Highlands. If any 

 portion of these rocks should prove to l)e of Palaeozoic 

 age, it would be a notable discovery in British geology. 

 In the meantime we must patiently await the result of 

 the continuation of further research along the Highland 

 border. 



The mapping of the Cambrian rocks of the north-west 



of Scotland has now been completed by the surveys in 



Skye made last year by Mr. Clough. One of the most 



singular features of these ancient deposits is the per- 



, sistence of the same lithological bands for a distance of 



