April 13, 1905J 



NA TURE 



571 



of the square shield, very long spear, and sword of the 

 present inhabitants. These men are provided (Fig. 3) 

 with a small round shield and three javelins, thus proving 

 that thev are " Libyco-berber " productions. 



A. C. H. 



THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF CANADA. 



'T'HE publications of the Geological Survey of Canada nave 

 long been characterised by the want of promptness 

 of publication. This defect is, however, to a large extent 

 removed by the new departure made by the section of mines 

 under the direction of Mr. E. D. Ingall. It consists in 

 issuing a series of bulletins, giving in condensed and popular 

 form information regarding the mineral resources of the 

 Dominion, together with particulars of similar occurrences 

 in other countries, which may be of use to mining engineers 

 in Canada. We have received tnirteen of these bulletins, and 

 from the information given it is evident that the mineral 

 resources of the Dominion are of a most \'aried character, and 

 that the mineral industry is in a healthy condition. The 

 subjects dealt with are platinum, coal, asbestos, infusorial 

 earth, manganese, salt, zinc, mica, molybdenum and tung- 

 sten, graphite, peat, apatite, and copper. 



So far the production of platinum has been obtained from 

 placer workings on the Similkameen river in British 

 Columbia. At Sudbury, Ontario, it is found in situ in com- 

 bination with arsenic and associated with the nickeliferous 

 pyrrhotite deposits. The yield of platinum in Canada has 

 been falling off for some years past and is now insignificant. 

 The bulletin on coal covers sixty-four pages, and contains 

 a collection of analyses of typical coals and a valuable 

 bibliography of the subject. In 1902 the output of coal in 

 Canada exceeded seven million tons. The principal areas at 

 present worked are the Nova Scotia coalfields with rocks of 

 Carboniferous age, and the Cretaceous coalfields of Van- 

 couver island, and of the Crow's Nest Pass, British Columbia. 

 Anthracite is mined in Alberta, and lignite is mined in the 

 Souris river district, Assiniboia, and in the Yukon district. 



The asbestos industry of Canada is of considerable im- 

 portance, the production having increased from 380 tons in 

 i88o to 40,000 tons in 1902. Canada now furnishes about 

 88 per cent, of the world's supply. The deposits are found 

 in serpentine. In i8q6 the manufacture of asbestic was 

 begun. This is a finely-ground serpentine in which there is 

 a small amount of very fine fibre disseminated, and the re- 

 sulting product is specially adapted for fine plaster for walls 

 and interior decoration. Its value per ton is low, but as its 

 preparation involves little extra expense, it is claimed that a 

 profit results from its manufacture. 



Infusorial earth was produced in Canada in 1902 to the 

 amount of 1000 tons, valued at 3300/. It is mined at Bass 

 river lake, and St. .Ann's, Nova Scotia, and is sold chiefly in 

 the United States. The uses to which it is put are varied. 

 Formerly it was largely used in the manufacture of dynamite, 

 but it has now been replaced by cheaper absorbents, such as 

 wood pulp. It is now chiefly used as a polishing material 

 and as a boiler covering. It can also be used in the manu- 

 facture of bricks when great lightness is required. 



Although Canada has not yet taken a prominent place 

 among the manganese-producing countries of the world, this 

 is not due to lack of deposits of the ore. The extent of the 

 production depends on the development of steel manufacture, 

 and. as Canada is now making great strides in this direction, 

 its deposits will probably soon assume greater importance. 

 The ores represented comprise pyrolusite, nianganite, psilo- 

 melane, and wad. and as some of the Canadian deposits con- 

 tain a large proportion of the first-named mineral, the ore is 

 specially adapted for chemical manufacture. 



.At present Ontario is the only province producing salt, the 

 output in 1902 having been 64,000 tons. The country's chief 

 resources consist of the rock salt beds underlying some 2500 

 square miles on the eastern shores of Lake Huron. The 

 amount of salt imported into Canada is at present double the 

 amount produced in the country, owing to the fact that salt is 

 produced more cheaply in England, whence the bulk of the 

 imports come. 



In eastern Canada mica occurs in large and important de- 

 posits, the mining industry being chiefly confined to the 

 provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The merchantable mica 



NO. 1850, VOL. 71] 



is always associated with intrusive masses and dykes of 

 pegmatite-granite and pyroxene, which cut the gneiss and 

 crystalline limestone. The mica produced is chiefly used 

 for electrical purposes. 



Apatite is widely distributed in Canada in deposits in the 

 crystalline rocks, and in fossiliferous strata of Cambrian age. 

 In 1889 the province of Ontario produced as much as 3547 

 tons, but since then, owing to the competition of the cheaply 

 mined phosphates of Carolina, the output has rapidly de- 

 creased. Graphite is widely distributed in the gneiss and 

 crystalline limestones of Canada, the output in 1901 having 

 been 2210 tons. Zinc ore is produced at one mine in Olden 

 township, Ontario. The ores of molybdenum and tungsten 

 are of frequent occurrence in Canada. Copper ores have 

 been known in eastern Canada for nearly a century, and large 

 amounts of capital have been expended in developing what 

 appeared to be promising localities, but little economic suc- 

 cess has as yet resulted. 



The Canadian peat resources are dealt with by Dr. R. 

 Chalmers in a bulletin of forty pages. The peat bogs in the 

 eastern provinces are attracting attention in view of the de- 

 pletion of the forests and the increasing prices of coal, and 

 attempts are being made, in manv cases with poor success, 

 to utilise them in the production of fuel, coke, and moss- 

 litter. 



In connection with this valuable series of bulletins of the 

 Geological Survey, reference may be made to a memoir in 

 the Ottawa Nattiralist on the marl deposits in Ontario, 

 Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, by Dr. R. W. 

 Ells, the author of most of the bulletins mentioned. The 

 chief value attributed to this shell-marl was supposed 

 to be confined to its use as a fertiliser for soils deficient 

 in calcareous matter. Recently it has been found to be 

 specially adapted for the manufacture of the best grades of 

 Portland cement, when mixed with a proper proportion of 

 clay ; and large manufacturing establishments have been 

 established at several points, more especially in the province 

 of Ontario. 



The latest publication of the Geological Survey of Canada 

 is an exhaustive report by Dr. A. E. Barlow on the origin, 

 geological relations, and composition of the immense nickel 

 and copper ore deposits of Sudbury, Ontario. Details of 

 the mining, smelting, and refining methods are given, and 

 reference is made to the character and extent of all the 

 more important nickel ore deposits in other countries. With 

 a production of 6253 tons of metallic nickel in 1903, valued 

 at 5,002,204 dollars, Sudbury is the largest producer of 

 nickel in the world ; and this monograph of 236 pages, with 

 numerous plates and maps, summarises all the previous 

 original investigations and supplies the most detailed and 

 accurate information regarding these important deposits yet 

 available. 



THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SuCIETV} 

 T^HE history of the Royal Horticultural Society has been 

 chequered to an extent probably exceeding that of 

 any other society. .At one time fashionable, it enjoyed a 

 fictitious prosperity. We say fictitious, for horticulture, 

 especially scientific horticulture, was neglected, and, as a 

 consequence, the wave or waves — for there were several — 

 of prosperity broke on the shores of adversity, with the 

 result that the gardens were curtailed, the expenditure was 

 reduced in all directions, the valuable collections were sold 

 or destroyed, the herbarium and the library were dispersed. 



It is, however, not our purpose now to dwell on ancient 

 history, but rather to point out the satisfactory progress in 

 recent years of which the journal before us affords evidence. 

 Some foreshadowings of that progress date back to the year 

 i86b, when an international horticultural exhibition on a 

 very large scale was held on the ground where the Natural 

 History Museum now stands. The exhibition itself differed 

 from others mainly in its extent and in the larger participa- 

 tion of foreign exhibitors. It was organised and managed, 

 not by the society, the financial position of which at that time 

 precluded it from embarking on such an enterprise, but by 

 a special committee presided over by the late Sir Went- 

 worth Dilke, to whose organising faculty and strenuous 

 labour the success obtained was largely due. 



1 The/OTovia/of the Royal Horticultur.il Society, vol. x.tix., parts i.. ii.. 



