March 2, 1896.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



40 



ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE 



.ITERATyfflL 



LONDON : MARCH 2, 1896. 



CONTENTS. 



^ PACE 



The Transvaal ; Its Mineral Resources. By Peof. J. 



LoGiy LOBIEY. F.G.S. (Illustrated) {Map) 49 



Waves. — III. The Force of Sea Waves. By Taughax 



COEXISH. M.Sc. (Illustrated) ' 52 



Our Fur Producers.— II. Sable, Mink, Ermine, and 

 Raccoons. By K. Ltdeekee, B.A.Cantab., F.R.S. 

 [Illustrated) ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 55 



Photograph of the " Crab' Nebula, Messier 1 Tauri 



By Isaac Roberts, D.Sc, F.R.S. (Plate) 5s 



Another Dark Star. By Hiss A. M. Clebke v:t 



Photography of Invisible Objects. Bv J. J. Stkwaet. 



B.A.Cantab. B.Sc.Lond. (Illustrated) ' 61 



Letters:— G. F. Chaitbebs.F.R.A.S.; ItoF. II. Care-Gkegs; 



I. G. OrSElET; H. J. ilACKINDEB; IlrGH ROBEKT iltLL 6.3 



Notices of Books 6t 



Protective Resemblance In Birds. By Haery F. 



WiTHEEBY. (Illustrated) (Plate) ... ... 66 



The Limbs of Trilobites. Bv Philip Lake, JI.A., F.G.S. 



(Illu.itrnted) " 68 



The Face of the Sky for March. By Hebbeet 



Sadlee, F.R.A.S 70 



Chess Column. By C. D. Locoes, BA.Oxon 71 



THE TRANSVAAL : ITS MINERAL 

 RESOURCES. 



By Pkof. J. Logan Lobley, F.G.S. 



THE second half of the nineteenth century has been 

 prolific in remarkable discoveries and develop- 

 ments, but, if for no others, it will always be a 

 memorable epoch from the enormous additions it 

 has given to the world's stock of gold from three 

 continents. Its earliest years witnessed the development 

 of the goldfields of C'aUforuia and Australia, then just 

 discovered, with the sensational finding of large nuggets 

 of gold in surface deposits ; and its later years have been 

 marked by the discovery of extraordinary auriferous rocks 

 in South Africa. 



A testimony to the African continent having for a long 

 time been productive of gold is afibrded by the name " Gold 

 Coast," and many believe that much of King Solomon's 

 golden store was derived from Eastern Africa, while there 

 are undoubted remains of ancient gold workings both 

 north and south of the Equator on the eastern side of the 

 continent. The reputation of Africa as a gold-producing 

 continent will, however, be chiefly based upon the recent 

 discovery of the auriferous rocks of the South African 

 Republic. 



■This portion of South Africa, commonly called the 

 Transvaal, is an extensive region extending northwards 

 from the Vaal River (by which it ia separated from the 



Orange Free State) to the Limpopo River. Bechuanaland 

 lies on the west, and the Lobombo Mountains and Portu- 

 guese possessions separate the Transvaal from the Indian 

 Ocean on the east. Its greatest length is from the south- 

 west to the north-east, and its eastern boundary is within 

 forty miles from the sea at Delagoa Bay. 'VS'ith a very 

 irregular boundary, the Transvaal has an extreme length 

 and breadth of six hundred miles and five hundred miles 

 respectively, and a total area of about one hundred and 

 seventy thousand square miles, all lying between 22' and 

 29- south latitude and 2.5' and 33" east longitude. 



In this extensive region gold has been found in many 

 places since its discovery by Edward Button in the Klein- 

 letaba in the year 1869. In the northern portion, between 

 Olifant's River and the Limpopo, the widespread Zout- 

 pansberg goldfields have been long worked, and, later, 

 those of Lydenberg and the De Kaap Valley, in the east of 

 the area ; while, far to the west, and near the Bechuanaland 

 frontier, there is the less important Malmaui goldfield. 

 The southern portion of the Transvaal, however, lying 

 between the Vaal River and Pretoria, has proved by far the 

 richest auriferous region, from the occurrence in it of rocks 

 running east and west along which are several series of 

 parallel outcropping beds, called " reefs," which have been 

 found to be, speaking generally, continuously gold bearing. 

 The elevated district containing these auriferous rocks con- 

 stitutes the now world-famous Rand, or Witwatersrandt, the 

 gold-yielding character of which was discovered in l.sSo ; 

 and the town of Johannesburg was founded on the Rand, 

 at an elevation of five thousand six hundred feet above sea- 

 level, in the following year. But besides the Witwatersrandt 

 proper there are in this part of the Transvaal, moreover, 

 the goldfields of Klerksdoorp to the west-south-west, Venter- 

 skroon to the south-west, near the Vaal River, and the 

 Nigel and Heidelberg gold districts to the south-east of 

 the Rand. 



The enormously preponderating importam-e of the 

 Witwatersrandt district, as well as the relative yield of 

 gold in the other districts, may at once be seen from the 

 following statement fi-om the State Mining Engmeer's 

 report on the gold production of the Transvaal for the 

 year 1894 :— 



Gold. 



Of this great aggregate production of gold in the 

 Transvaal for one year, only B(i()G ounces, of the value of 

 fl2,s06, was alluvial gold or that obtained from super- 

 ficial deposits. These auriferous alluvial deposits are at 

 Blauuwbank in the Witwatersrandt, at Barberton and 

 Kaapsche Hoop in the Ue Kaap gold district, and at places 

 in the Zoutpansberg and Lydenberg goldfields. The 

 number of gold claims registered on the 31st December, 

 1894, was 3929. 



The greater portion of the southern part of the Transvaal 

 is occupied by a plateau of high land called the Hooge 

 Veldt, or High \eldt, which extends generally east and 

 west, but trends towards the south-west ; and from these 

 uplands flow the streams that feed the Vaal and Limpopo 



