494 



NATURE 



[September 24, 1903 



THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE 

 FRENCH COLONIES. 

 Les Produits Coloniaux d'Origine Minirale. By Prof. 

 Laurent. Pp. viii + 352. (Paris : Bailliere, 1903.) 

 Price 5 francs. 



THIS little work forms one volume of the " Colonial 

 Library," which is a small series of four-shilling 

 books dealing with the animal, vegetable, and mineral 

 products of the French colonies, as well as with the 

 question of hygiene. It is divided into two chapters ; 

 the first briefly describes the geology of each colony 

 and enumerates its various mineral products ; in the 

 second, each useful mineral is taken in its turn, and 

 the sources of supply in each colony are discussed. 



The book would have been improved by a summary, 

 giving at a glance a general idea of the mineral wealth 

 of the French possessions. This I have endeavoured 

 to supply so far as official information is available. 



the mining district, and it is expected that the output 

 for 1903 will be about 300,000 tons. The phosphatic 

 beds occur in rocks of Lower Eocene age ; the prin- 

 cipal seam now being worked at Gafsa is 11 ft. 6 ins. 

 thick, and contains 60 per cent, of tribasic phosphate 

 of lime. 



In spite of being full of valuable information, Prof. 

 Laurent's book is unsatisfactory, because he has intro- 

 duced much matter which is entirely out of place under 

 the title chosen for the volume. But in his preface 

 he tells us that the book is a risumi of his lectures to 

 young men who propose to go to the colonies, and that 

 he wishes them to know something of the modes of 

 occurrence and methods of treatment of minerals in 

 other countries, so that they may be able to take 

 advantage of the possible resources of new districts. 

 He consequently enters into details which make parts 

 of the book Into a jumble of geology, mineralogy, pro- 

 specting, mining, quarrying, dressing, smelting, salt- 



Mineral Outtut of the French Colonies and frotec /orates, 1901. 



The total value of all the minerals produced by the 

 French colonies Is about 2 millions sterling, of which 

 Algeria claims more than one-third. The mineral 

 wealth of this colony is derived mainly from its iron 

 ore and phosphate of lime ; French Guiana is the 

 largest gold producer; New Caledonia is famous for 

 its nickel ore; and Tunisia is coming Into notice on 

 account of its phosphatic deposits. 



The growing importance of the phosphate industry 

 of northern Africa is worthy of notice, indeed, this 

 mineral comes second In order of value In the table. 

 The author gives some Interesting details concerning 

 the phosphatic beds at Gafsa, from which nearly all 

 the phosphate of Tunisia is obtained. The mineral 

 was not discovered at Gafsa until 1885, and the con- 

 cession for working it was not obtained until 1896. 

 Since that date the French have constructed a railway 

 156 miles long, from the port of Sfax to the centre of 

 NO. 1769, VOL. 68] 



making, &c. There Is no royal road to learning, and 

 the attempt to teach In one course of lectures what In 

 reality requires at least four separate courses should 

 certainly be discouraged. And there are other grounds 

 for complaint; the figure of a sulphur-still Is very 

 antiquated, and, if my memory serves me aright, it 

 appeared in my French lesson books half a century 

 ago. I doubt very much whether this old form is ever 

 used now; at all events, it Is very different from the 

 " dopploni " which were employed for treating the 

 sulphur rock In the Romagna In the early 'seventies. 

 The picture of the modern kiln does not give the pro- 

 portions of an ordinary Sicilian " calcarone. " Other 

 second-hand figures have been picked up and inserted 

 here and there with little advantage to the reader. 

 Nothing could well be worse than the figure of a blast- 

 furnace, and a student unacquainted with Blake's 

 stone-breaker would fail to understand its action by 



