406 



NA TURE 



{March 5, 1885 



tute the congenial country and not the deposit worked ; 

 whilst the Skutterud fahlbands, which are simply cobalt- 

 iferous quartzite and mica schist, deserve a place aimng 

 the stratified deposits quite as much as the magnetite of 

 Arendal or Philipstad. 



In Part II. we consider that Mr. Phillips does good 

 service by giving statistics of the production of ores, in 

 addition to the descriptions of their modes of occurrence. 

 As stated by him in the preface, " This appears to be 

 the only way of accurately expressing the relative import- 

 ance of different metalliferous regions." This feature of 

 Mr. Phillips's book, apart from anything else, at once 

 renders it more valuable than the works of von Cotta, 

 Grimm, and von Groddeck. 



The United Kingdom is so rich in minerals that a large 

 amount of space is very fairly allotted to it, and, though 

 Cornwall receives the lion's share of attention, it must be 

 recollected that it is the birthplace of British mining and 

 the school from which a set of hardy and intelligent 

 miners have been dispersed among all parts of the globe. 



Speaking of an issue of carbonic acid gas from the lode 

 at Foxdale Mine in the Isle of Man, the author says 

 (p. 212) : " At the present time (1883) in the eastern end 

 of the 185-fathom level, the amount of gas is so large that, 

 although volumes of compressed air are continually being 

 poured in from two air-pipes, the men experience the 

 greatest difficulty in working ; and, as candles will not 

 burn, the value of the end can only be determined by the 

 ore brought out." This account is somewhat overdrawn. 

 The gas has been troublesome at times, but not to the 

 extent stated, for we are led to infer that the men worked 

 in the dark. Even a Manxman is scarcely capable of 

 driving levels without a light. 



The small value of the metalliferous ores raised in 

 France is remarkable, and the prosperity of the Belgian 

 metal mines appears to be on the wane, as the value of 

 the metalliferous minerals decreased from 563,080/. in 

 1872 to 148,720/. in 1881. 



The famous mines of the German Empire at Commern, 

 in the Upper and Lower Harz, the Mansfeld district and 

 the Erzgebirge are described at as great a length as the 

 space available in a general treatise will admit, and many 

 interesting and important details are given concerning 

 the mines of Austria, Hungary, Italy, Greece, Scandinavia, 

 Spain, and Russia. The statement, " Spain takes the 

 lead of all other countries in the amounts of lead and 

 quicksilver which it produces," is scarcely accurate, unless 

 Mr. Phillips is referring solely to Europe. The United 

 States are now the greatest producers of lead, and 

 the Californian quicksilver mines have for several years 

 surpassed those of Almaden in productiveness. How- 

 ever, as far as the output of quicksilver last year is con- 

 cerned, Mr. Phillips is doubtless correct, for statistics 

 published within the last few weeks show that the yield 

 of California in 1884 was only 1089 statute tons, which is 

 less than the average amount produced by Spain. 



The account of the metalliferous minerals of the Austral- 

 asian colonies will be read with interest. Though the 

 output of gold is on the whole decreasing, tin ore has 

 within the last ten years become a great source of wealth. 

 An important discovery is that there are deep leads, i.e. 

 old tin-bearing alluvia, of Miocene age, and the figure 

 representing the deposit worked by Wesley Brothers at 



Vegetable Creek, New South Wales, gives a good idea of 

 this mode of occurrence. It is startling to learn that 

 Queensland produced 106,488 tons of tin ore, worth 

 2,168,790/. in 1 88 1 ; unfortunately for the colony, but 

 luckily for Cornwall, the output of the following year was 

 only 27,312 tons. 



It was certainly no easy task for Mr. Phillips to com- 

 press into 65 pages an account of the principal metal- 

 liferous regions of the United States : but he has suc- 

 ceeded in furnishing a very useful re'sumi; the only fault 

 of which is the meagreness with which it has been illus- 

 trated. The metal mines of the United States deserve 

 more than seven woodcuts, and we should like to have seen 

 figures to explain the wonderful deposits at Leadville and 

 on the shores of Lake Superior. 



It is to be regretted that apparently there is so little 

 available information concerning the mines of Mexico, a 

 country so highly favoured as far as mineral wealth is 

 concerned. South America, too, has to be treated very 

 summarily. 



Excepting for having followed a beaten track in his 

 classification, the author deserves much praise for his 

 work. The descriptions of the metal-mining districts are 

 very good, being based upon personal knowledge and the 

 latest published accounts ; both Mr. Phillips and his 

 assistant, Mr. Brough, must be commended for the care 

 with which they have ransacked all sorts of British and 

 foreign publications relating to mining. The references 

 are very full and complete, and much vigilance has been 

 exercised in correcting for the press. Finally, we must 

 congratulate the author upon his excellent index, occupy- 

 ing no less than twenty-five closely-printed pages. This 

 adds greatly to the utility of the book, which will doubtless 

 become the standard work upon ore deposits. 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



Madagascar and France ; with some Account of the 

 Island, its People, its Resources, and Develop/naif. 

 By George A. Shaw, F.Z.S. (London : Religious 

 Tract Society, 18S5.) 

 The incident connected with Mr. Shaw's imprisonment 

 on board a French war-ship at Tamatave will be 

 remembered — an incident for which the French Go- 

 vernment had to make substantial amends. Mr. Shaw 

 has been a missionary in Madagascar for many years, 

 and has thus had ample opportunity of gaining a 

 knowledge of the interesting island. To those familiar 

 with the literature of Madagascar the volume will not 

 present much of novelty ; it is, however, interesting read- 

 ing, and contains some of the results of Mr. Shaw's own 

 observations. On the physical geography and ethnology 

 of this country there is nothing new, but Mr. Shaw 

 presents the results of previous investigations clearly and 

 briefly. He in the main adopts the generally-accepted 

 conclusions as to the Malay origin of the bulk of the 

 Malagasy people, though we suspect that the aboriginal 

 Vazimba are greater, and the intercourse between the 

 mainland and the island of much older date than he is 

 prepared to admit. He gives many interesting details as 

 to the industries of the people, their social habits, the 

 progress of Christianity and education, the past history of 

 the island, and other points. A large portion of the 

 volume is occupied with the history of the relations be- 

 tween France and Madagascar, in which he tells the story 

 of his own imprisonment. To the scientific reader the 

 concluding chapters on the fauna, flora, and meteorology 

 of the island will prove useful ; they summarise what is 



