NATURE 
457 
THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 1904. 
NEW WORK IN THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. 
Reisen in den Molukken, in Ambon, den Uliassern, 
Seran (Ceram) und Buru. Geologischer Theil. By 
Prof. K. Martin. Pp. x+296. (Leyden: Successors 
of E. J. Brill, 1903.) 
VER since Dr. A. R. Wallace revealed the organic 
treasures of the Malay Archipelago, zoologists 
have found in this or that island a rich and fascinating 
field. Following the path indicated by the master- 
pioneer, they have made these relics of equatorial land 
serve as a“‘ public park ’’ of philosophical zoology. The 
geologists, though often appealed to, have been forced 
to move more slowly, since the very vegetation which 
preserves the fauna has effectually concealed the junc- 
tions of the various types of rock. 
(Nature, vol. Ixvii. p. 506) had occasion to discuss the 
arduous researches of Molengraaff among the forests 
and water-ways of Borneo. Prof. Martin meets with 
similar difficulties in the smaller isles of the Moluccas. 
He remarks that the rivers are often known only by 
their mouths; and, while he walks across some of the 
central ridges, he can rarely study what lies to right 
or left. 
on his traverses from coast to coast, and in the case 
of Buru (p. 215), an island larger than Kent, he has 
added a good deal to the previously known topography. 
Work of this kind has naturally been spread over 
some years, and the first part of the volume is reprinted 
from that published in 1897. This might, we think, 
have been shown upon the title-page, so as to prepare | 
the reader for comments and corrections inserted in | 
the later portion. From p. 49 to p. 54, for example, 
considerable stress is laid on the recently volcanic 
character of Wawani, in Amboina, in which Wallace 
also believed. Prof. Koté, of Tokio, criticised our 
author’s conclusions so far back as 1899 (Journ. Coll. 
of Science, Tokio, vol. xi. p. 96), and on p. 281 of the 
present work the supposed evidence of an eruption’ in 
1674 is withdrawn. Some modification of p. 64 also 
occurs, and the prolongation of the volcanic line of 
the Talaur Islands and Ternate into Amboina is re- 
jected. So far as the relations of the lines of present 
eruption and of earth-folding are concerned, we are 
left, it seems, with Kot6é’s general map as our most 
recent guide. 
In working out the specimens collected, Prof. Martin 
has had the help of Dr. Schroeder van der Kollk for 
the petrography, and of Dr. Riist for the interesting 
radiolarian series. The book opens with a description 
of Amboina and its eastern neighbours, a region 
occupied more than once by England, and ceded again 
to Holland as recently as 1814. While largely com- 
posed of volcanic material, these islands have been 
raised above the sea in late Tertiary or Quaternary 
times. The cracks in the peridotites of Amboina con- 
tain modern sandstone with marine remains, while 
coral-limestone occurs high and dry inland. Even the 
natives (p. 37) have included this material, with its | 
surface bored and roughened by solution-hollows, under 
NO. 1794, VOL. 69] 
We have recently | 
His maps show what lies along the shore, or | 
the name ‘‘ Karang,’’ which they apply to the lower 
masses so familiar to them along the coast. Here 
and there only loose blocks remain to prove the former 
continuity of the reefs across their volcanic basis. 
“ Karang ’’ occurs in the peninsula of Leitimor at a 
height of 480 metres above the sea. In Saparua (p. 48) 
there is some evidence of an upward movement at the 
present day. The main uplift appears, indeed, to have 
occurred after the reefs had completely buried the 
earlier masses, since detritus from the latter is not 
found in the inland ‘‘ karang.”’ 
Prof. Martin believes, moreover, that the eruptions 
along this east-and-west line were originally sub- 
marine, the rapid cooling of the lavas furnishing an 
unusual amount of glass. In this matter we find an 
interesting parallel with Mr. Guppy’s conclusions as 
to the Fijis (NaTure, vol. Ixix. p. 31). The volcanic 
rocks consist of various types of andesite and dacite, 
including at times patches of quartz, cordierite, and 
garnet, which Dr. Ferdinand von Wolff (p. 102), with 
great probability, considers to be derived from the 
cordierite-gneisses that occur among the basal rocks 
of the Moluccas. Prof. Martin points out (pp. 21 and 
93) that the discovery of rolled blocks of gneiss and 
schist in any given island may be due merely to the 
carrying up of portions of the old ground in the volcanic 
masses that broke through it. 
The author relies too much on the nature of his 
igneous rocks in assigning to them a geological age, 
especially when (p. 37) he determines a radiolarian 
| limestone as Tertiary because it is later than ‘‘ Neo- 
voleanic’’ lavas. This classification was, however, 
common at the time when he started on his labours. 
While adding greatly to our knowledge of these rocks, 
he is able to correct Wallace in regard to Buru, 
| Tomahu, and some other islands, in which he is unable 
to recognise a volcanic character. Hot springs still 
arise in Nusalaut, accompanied by deposits of 
aragonite. The considerable extent of the author’s 
researches is to be seen in Map iii., from Nusalaut to 
the west of Amboina, where his conjectures are dis- 
tinguished by shading from the ground actually 
observed. 
The second part of this handsome memoir deals with 
Seran (Ceram) and the little north-western island of 
Buano. Ichthyosaurus is already known from Seran, 
and Prof. Martin regards certain globigerina lime- 
stones and flinty deposits as Mesozoic (p. 141). The 
latter, rich in radiolaria, are probably representatives 
of Molengraaff’s Danau series in Borneo, and also of 
deep-sea origin. The associated fragments of cal- 
careous algae may have come from shallower marine 
banks, and prove nothing as to the nearness of a shore 
(p 138). 
Besides these fossiliferous deposits, considerable 
interest attaches to the mica-schist and mica-slate 
which form the prevalent rocks of the hills of southern 
Seran, and which at times determine its surface 
features by their strike. Cordierite- occurs both in the 
schist and in the associated gneiss. A massive 
““ srauwacke ”’? formation represents in part the in- 
terval between these rocks and the limestones. 
The concluding section describes Buru, an island 
x 
