I 62 



NATURE 



[December 15, 1904 



A comprehensive memoir on the geology and ore-deposits 

 of the Bisbee Quadrangle, Arizona, by Mr. F. L. Ransome, 

 appears as one of the " professional papers " of the United 

 States Geological Survey (1904). This district became 

 famous for its production of copper-ore in 1880, and was 

 connected with the railway system as recently as 1902. 

 Hence Mr. Ransome has found himself obliged to invent 

 names — and pleasing ones of Spanish origin — for several 

 topographic features. His plates show how the geological 

 structure of the country can be read on many of the hill- 

 sides with the clearness of a diagram ; in several respects 

 they remind one of the bare dry landscapes in the Mesozoic 

 areas of the Basses Alpes. The fossiliferous beds include 

 Middle Cambrian, Devonian (apparently conformable on 

 these), Lower and Upper Carboniferous (both marine), and 

 Cretaceous, resting unconformably on the preceding beds. 

 The affinities of the strata are with those of Texas. The 

 paper concludes with a discussion of the origin of the copper- 

 ores, in which stress is laid on their concentration from 

 cupriferous iron-pyrites, deposited in metamorphosed lime- 

 stone. 



In the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria (vol. 

 .xvii., n.s., part i.) Messrs. F. Chapman and G. B. 

 Pritchard commence an article on the fossil fish-remains 

 from the Tertiaries of Australia. They deal with the de- 

 scription, range in time, and distribution of the sharks, and 

 they observe that .^steracanthus, hitherto known only from 

 Secondary strata, extended beyond question into the Tertiary 

 seas round southern Australia. In other articles the 

 Silurian Ostracoda and Phyllocarida, and the Tertiary 

 Polyzoa and MoUusca of Victoria receive attention. Prof. 

 J. \\'. Gregory contributes a paper on the antiquity of man 

 in Victoria, and concludes (contrary to his previously ex- 

 pressed opinion) that, however ancient the Australian 

 aborigines may be, there is no evidence of the long occupa- 

 tion of Victoria by man. 



We have received the annual report of the Geological 

 -Survey of Canada for the year 1900, issued in 1903 ; it is 

 accompanied by geological maps, dated 1904, of parts of 

 British Columbia (Atlin Gold-fields), Labrador, Saskat- 

 chewan, and Quebec. 



A revision of the Palaeozoic Pateechinoidea, with a 

 synopsis of all known species, has been contributed by 

 Mary J. Klem {Trans. Acad. Science, St. Louis, vol. xiv.. 

 No. i). She remarks that the prevailing characters which 

 may be taken as a basis for classification are: — (i) number 

 of columns in the ambulacra ; (2) position and number of 

 the ambulacral pores ; (3) ornamentation of the plates ; 

 (4) imbrication of the plates ; (5) apical system ; (6) general 

 shape of the bodv ; and (7) geological position. 



.An interesting article on the occurrence and distribution 

 of copper in the United States, by Mr. \V. H. Weed, appears 

 in the Mining Magazine (New York, September). Nearly 

 700 million pounds of metallic copper were produced in the 

 States during 1903, and in the previous year nearly 300 

 million pounds were obtained from an area a mile long 

 and half a mile wide at Butte, in Montana, where the 

 Anaconda Mine produces more copper than any other mine 

 in the world. The ores occur in well defined veins in quartz- 

 monzonite, associated with white granite or aplite, which 

 forms dykes and small masses. Dykes of quartz-porphyry 

 also occur, and seem to have some genetic association with 

 the ore-bodies. Several mines are 2200 feet deep. 



The Geological Survey of Queensland has commenced the 

 issue of Records. In No. i Mr. B. Dunstan, the acting 

 Government geologist, contributes notes on the occurrence 

 of gold nuggets near Mount Morgan, on phosphate-bearing 

 rocks, asbestos, oriental rubies, &c. Mr. R. Etheridge re- 

 cords the occurrence of Halysites in the Chillagoe lime- 

 stones. We have received also Publications Nos. 191 and 

 192, on the tin, copper, and silver mining in the Stanthorpe 

 district, by Lionel C. Ball, and on the Herberion tin field, by 

 Mr. W. E. Cameron. 



Some Upper Devonian fish-remains, obtained by Dr. 

 Whitman Cross from Colorado, are described by Mr. C. R. 

 Eastman (Amer. Journ. Sci., October). The remains belong 

 to the genera Bothriolepis and Holoptychius. In the same 

 journal a number of fossil turtles belonging to the Marsh 

 collection in Yale University Museum are described and 

 figured by Mr. O. P. Hay. Many of the specimens are 

 from the Laramie deposits of Wyoming. 



NO. 1833, VOL. 71] 



SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH L\ THE 

 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



HTHE occupation of the Philippine Islands by the United 

 States has been quickly followed by the establishment 

 of laboratories, and already a large amount of scientific 

 work has been done, and several valuable reports have been 

 issued. • 



The report ' under review deals with the year ending 

 September, 1903. The permanent buildings of the Govern- 

 ment laboratory at Manila were completed last .April, and 

 comprise a serum laboratory for the preparation of thera- 1 

 peutic sera and vaccine lymph with attached paddocks and t 

 animal houses, a chemical laboratory, a biological depart- I I 

 ment for the prosecution of pathological, entomological, and ' 

 botanical research, a marine biological station, a bureau of 

 weights and measures, and a library. 



-About one-third of the volume is occupied with a report 

 on trypanosomiasis by Dr. Musgrave and Mr. Clegg, with 

 special reference to the existence of surra among the horses 

 in the Philippines. At the same time a very complete re- 

 view of our present knowledge of trypanosomiasis is given, 

 the various species are described, and the symptomatology 

 and prophvla-xis are discussed. The report, which is a very 

 valuable one, is copiously illustrated wnth excellent photo- 

 graphs, temperature charts, &c. Several other papers of 

 pathological interest are included in the volume ; also ani 

 account of rinderpest inoculation. 



Another valuable report is on the gutta-percha industry 

 and 'the various gutta-percha-producing trees, and is illus- 

 trated with a number of photographs of species of Pala- 

 quium and Payena, methods of collection of the gutta- 

 percha, maps of geographical distribution, &c. 



The final third of the volume contains the report of Mr. 

 Charles Banks, the Government entomologist, and gives an 

 account of the insect pests attacking the cacao. This, like 

 the rest of the papers, is copiously illustrated with excellent: 

 photographs. 



The volume reflects the greatest credit on the staff of the 

 laboratory, but the complete omission of a tabte of contents 

 and an index should be remedied in future issnes- 



R. T. Hewlett. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



B1RMINGH.IM. — A chair of music has been established by 

 an endowment of 10,000/. given for that purpose by Mr. 

 Richard Peyton, of Birmingham. The chair has been 

 accepted by Sir Edward Elgar ; but the intention of the 

 university authorities is by no means to interfere in 

 any way with his work as composer, and he will be left 

 free to develop the chair gradually and on such lines as he, 

 in consultation with other members of the Senate, may 

 think fit. 



Dr. -Arthur Robinson, of King's College, London, has- 

 been elected to the chair of anatomy, vacated by the appoint- 

 ment of Dr. Windle to the presidency of Queen's College, 

 Cork. The new professor will assume office in January. 



A new chair of electrical engineering has been estab- 

 lished as a supplement to the lectureship in the same sub- 

 ject held by Dr. D. K. Morris. The first occupant of the- 

 chair will be Mr. Gisbert Kapp, now lecturer at Charlotten- 

 burg- He is not expected, however, to return to this 

 countrv until the autumn of next year, and his appoint- 

 ment will not take effect until October, 1905. Meanwhile, 

 and sub-sequently, Dr- Morris and his staff will continue 

 their work as before. The new and large buildings for the 

 department will be ready by that time. A competent 

 assistant will have to be elected to assist Prof- Kapp in the 

 drawing office for dynamo and central station design. 



Prof. Burstall will continue to occupy his chair, the title 

 of which will be changed to " Mechanical Engineering," 

 and he will have control over a great engineering block 

 and the power station. 



It is not improbable that a special chair of civil engineer- 

 ing in the narrower sense will be established. 



1 Report of the Superintend:nt of Government Laboratories in the 

 Philippine Islands for the Year ended September i, IQ03,. 



