March i6, 1905 J 



NA TURE 



471 



modification in the numerical coefficients, if not in the form 

 of the relation. 



The data for making such an investigation are not yet 

 in an available form. .\ comparison has been made between 

 autumnal rainfall for "England, East," and the average 

 vield for the counties of Cambridge, Essex, Norfolk, and 

 Suffolk, which shows a similar relation but a magnified 

 effect of autumnal rainfall upon the crop, and also two 

 exceptional years which have not yet been investigated. 



GEOLOGICAL NOTES. 



PROM the Geological Survey we have received a memoir 

 "'■ on the water supply of Lincolnshire from underground 

 sources, with records of sinkings and borings, edited by 

 Mr. H. B. Woodward, with contributions hv Mr. W. 

 Whitaker, Dr. H. F. Parsons, Dr. H. R. .Mill, and Mr. H. 

 Preston. In the introduction a description is given of the 

 various geological formations with especial reference to the 

 water-bearing strata. The bulk of the work is taken up 

 with records of borings, among which we note particulars 

 of a new boring in progress at Boultham for the supply 

 of Lincoln ; many records from the prolific locality of 

 Bourn, where from one bore-hole five million gallons of 

 water a dav have been obtained ; and other records from 

 Scunthorpe,' Skegness, Woodhall Spa, &c. Many analyses 

 of water are given, and Dr. Mill contributes a useful 

 section on rainfall, with a colour-printed map. 



The Geological Survey has issued a memoir on the 

 geology of West-Central Skye, with Soay, in explanation of 

 sheet 70 of the geological map of Scotland. Tho memoir is 

 written by Mr. C. T. Clough and Mr. Alfred Harker. The 

 area is mainly occupied by the Tertiary igneous rocks of 

 the Cuillin Hills, but it includes also some Torridonian 

 rocks, and small tracts of Trias, Lower Lias, and Cre- 

 taceous. The occurrence of Cretaceous strata, probably cf 

 L'pper Greensand age, is of especial interest. The Glacial 

 and post-Glacial accumulations, the physical features and 

 scenery are duly described. The memoir, in short, is in a 

 handy form (pp. 59, and price is.), well suited as a guide 

 on the ground, and as an introduction, as regards the 

 volcanic rocks, to the larger work by Mr. Harker (lately 

 noticed in N.vture) on the Tertiary igneous rocks of Skye. 



Another memoir issued by the Geological Survey is on 

 the geology of the country around Bridgend, being part vi. 

 of the " Geology of the South Wales Coal-field," by Mr. A. 

 Strahan and Mr. T. C. Cantrill, with parts by Mr. H. B. 

 Woodward and Mr. R. H. Tiddeman. The district here 

 described includes the V'ale of Glamorgan, for the most 

 part an area of Lias with irregular scatterings of Drift ; 

 an agricultural district, famed also for its Blue Lias lime, 

 . so well known in old times at Aberthaw, and now largely 

 manufactured at Bridgend. The basement portions of the 

 Lias at Sutton and Southerndown, conglomeratic in char- 

 acter, are duly described, as well as the littoral portions of 

 the Keuper and Rhaetic Beds. A small tract of the main 

 coalfield enters the area, bounded by Millstone Grit and 

 Lower Carboniferous Rocks, and the Old Red Sandstone 

 appears in inliers. The bulk of the work is. taken up with 

 a description of the Keuper, Rhjetic Beds and Lias, which 

 furnish many points of interest. 



The fifteenth report by Prof. W. W. Watts on photo- 

 graphs of geological interest in the United Kingdom (Brit. 

 Assoc, Cambridge, 1904) is of a most satisfactory character. 

 A clear profit of 130/. has been made. This shows that the 

 work of collecting and storing typical photographs of 

 geological features and phenomena, and of supplying copies 

 to teachers and others in various parts of the world, has 

 proved a great success, and a distinct service to geological 

 and perhaps also to geographical science. This success is 

 due to the indefatigable energy of Prof. Watts. 



In his address to the Liverpool Geological Society, Mr. 

 T. H. Cope took as his subject types of rock-flow in the 

 Ceiriog valley and their analogies with river structure 

 {Proc. Liverpool Geol. Soc, vol. ix., part iv.). The author 

 points out the evidence of flow structures and other terres- 

 trial movements in igneous and metamorphic rocks, and 

 compares them with the known movements of water. 



We have received No. 37 of vol. v. of " Spelunca " 

 {Bulletin and Mt'moires de la Soci^t^ de Sp^l^ologie). 

 NO. 1846, VOL. 71] 



This contains a number of articles on caves and on under- 

 ground waters, on prehistoric remains from caves, on the 

 present subterranean flora, on contamination of waters, and 

 on the use of fluorescence in detecting the flow of under- 

 ground streams. A report on the sources of the water of 

 .\rcier, with special reference to the water-supply for the 

 town of Besan(jon, is contributed by Prof. E. Fo'urnier to 

 the same periodical (No. 38;, and 'he concludes that the 

 supply from Arcier must at all costs be abandoned. The 

 subject has excited much controversy owing to the fact that 

 the probable sources of contamination through porous and 

 fissured limestones are at a distance from the outlet of the 

 stream at .Xrcier. 



In the ninth report of the periodic variations of glaciers 

 by Dr. H. F. Reid and M. E. Muret {Arch, des Sc. phys. 

 ct nat. Geneve, xviii., 1904), the general record is one of 

 decrease. 



The records of the Geological Survey of India (vol. xxxi. 

 part iii.) contain an article by Mr. R. D. Oldham on the 

 glaciation and history of the Sind Valley, Kashmir, a 

 subject illustrated by six excellent photographic views, 

 which exhibit features produced respectively by glaciers and 

 by rivers, and afford support to the view of the author of a 

 diversion of the drainage since the glaciers attained their 

 greatest dimensions. 



A report on the Jammu coal-fields has been written by 

 Mr. R. R. Simpson, mining specialist to the Geological 

 Survey of India {Mem. Geol. Surv. India, vol. xxxii. 

 part iv.). The coal-fields lie in a mountainous country, 

 varying from three thousand to nine thousand feet above 

 sea-level, and the strike of the coal-bearing rocks does not 

 conform to any of the main natural features. The prospects 

 of working the coal with profit are not considered good, in 

 present circumstances, as the expenses would be great on 

 account of the inclined and broken character of the rocks, 

 the possibility of landslips, and of trouble from water. 

 Otherwise a fairly good steam-coal may be obtained. 



A geological map of Cyprus, by Mr. C. V. Bellamy, has 

 been issued by Mr. Stanford (price 6s.). It is accompanied 

 by a key or short e.xplanation, in which the author 

 describes the physical features and the various geological 

 formations which range from Cretaceous to Pliocene and 

 Pleistocene. Between the Oligocene and Pliocene there is 

 a break, marked by the occurrence of basic igneous rocks, 

 which have baked and altered the Oligocene (Idalian) lime- 

 stones. These igneous rocks, which comprise serpentine, 

 variolite, gabbro, &c., form a broad belt of mountainous 

 ground in the south-central portion of the island. The 

 map, which is produced on a scale of 55 English miles to 

 one inch, is printed in colours, and clearly shows the extent 

 of the main geological divisions. It will be a useful guide 

 to those interested in the geology, whether from a scientific 

 or practical point of view. The economic products include 

 building stones, marble, pottery clay, gypsum, &:c. 



Our knowledge of the geology of South Africa proceeds 

 apace. We have received vol. vii., part iii., i:f the Trans- 

 actions of the Geological Society of South Africa, which 

 contains among other articles an essay by Dr. F. H. Hatch 

 and Dr. G. S. Corstorphine on the petrography of the 

 Witwatersrand conglomerates, with special reference to 

 the origin of the gold. The original explanation was that 

 the Rand conglomerates were ancient placer deposits, in 

 which the gold was as much a product of denudation as 

 the pebbles which accompany it. The authors show that 

 the theory of the subsequent infiltration of the gold is most 

 in accordance with the facts. The gold is practically con- 

 fined to the matrix of the conglomerate, and occurs there 

 in crystalline particles in association with other minerals of 

 secondary origin. 



Mr. E. Jorissen, in the same Transactions, deals with 

 some intrusive granites in the Transvaal, the Orange River 

 Colony and in Swaziland. These old granites, mostly grey 

 in colour, penetrate the crystalline schists which are re- 

 garded as of .'\rch3ean age, but they do not intrude into 

 the Witwatersrand series. Mr. J. P. Johnson contributes 

 further notes on some pigmy stone implements from Elands- 

 fontein No. i. They are regarded as scrapers belonging 

 to the Neolithic stage of culture. 



In his address to the South African Association for the 

 .Advancement of Science (Johannesburg meeting, 1904), Dr. 

 Corstorphine took for his subject the history of strati- 



