204 



NA TURE 



[December 28, 1905 



forays, the Muruts, when not thus engaged, struck 

 the author as being exceedingly gentle and extra- 

 ordinarily peaceful in their home life, so much so, 

 indeed, that during the whole of her sojourn among 

 them not a single " family jar " was witnessed. 

 Although, like most Malays (in the wider sense of 

 that term), the Muruts are somewhat indolent in their 

 nature, yet they collect considerable quantities of 

 camphor, and grow such agricultural and garden 

 produce as is required for all their wants, inclusive 

 of material for clothes, while they are accomplished 

 hunters and fishermen. 



We have directed special attention to the account 

 of the Muruts, as being the most interesting in the 

 volume; but all the chapters, including those relating 

 to the west coast of Africa, are well worthy of perusal, 

 and the book may be heartily commended to all our 

 readers. R. L. 



REPORT OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



w 



J E are glad to welcome the annual report of the 

 director of the Geological Survey upon the 

 work carried on by his staff and himself during the 

 year 1904. It gives not only an account of the areas 

 surveyed and the maps issued, but affords an insight 

 into the new methods of research rendered possible 

 and necessary by the advance of scientific knowledge. 

 It is clear that, although maps showing the distribu- 

 tion of the rocks over the whole of the British Isles 

 have been published, the survey is by no means com- 

 plete, nor do we see that it can ever be considered as 

 complete until all the resources of scientific investi- 

 gation can be pronounced to be at an end. With 

 regard to the maps themselves, much of the earlier 

 work was put upon maps published as far back as 

 1819. Chemistry and physics, the appliances at the 

 disposal of the petrologist, and the knowledge acquired 

 by the palaeontologist are all advancing with rapid 

 strides, and we see on reading such a work as the 

 annual report of the director of the Geological Survey 

 how they are all brought to bear upon the economically 

 important questions of identification of strata and 

 utilisation of the resources buried in the earth. 



One cannot often walk over the ground and detect 

 at once what is of value in it, but a knowledge of the 

 association of minerals may tell one that a certain 

 vein may lead to a metalliferous lode. Hard earned 

 experience and a well trained eye recognise a band 

 of rock containing certain varieties of plants or 

 animals. It may be itself of no use commercially, 

 but yet be of the greatest value economically if it has 

 been ascertained that it occurs in constant relation 

 to some other stratum which is of value. Thus we find 

 on p. 5 of the summary that " the search for coal 

 beneath the Triassic rocks of the Midlands which 

 has been going on for many years and is likely to 

 continue, has brought into great prominence the 

 importance of an accurate knowledge of the sub- 

 divisions of the upper unproductive measures"; and 

 again, p. 11, " A seam of coking coal has been worked 

 to the south-east of Alton. The depth and other 

 details have not yet been ascertained, but fossils, 

 similar to those got by Mr. Wedd in the brickpits at 

 Bullbridge, Ambergate, have been obtained from the 

 tip heap, and it is hoped that their distinctive 

 character may enable this seam to !>.- traced over a 

 considerable area." 



When we bear in mind that the discovery of one 

 good seam of coal would probably repay the country 

 the cost of maintaining the survey for many years, 



1 "Summary of Progress of the Geological Survey of the United 

 kingdom and Museum of Practical Geology for 1904." (London : Printed 

 for H.M. Stationery Office by Wyman and Sons.) Price is. 



NO. 1887, VOL. 73] 



let us hope that it will be one of the last institutions 

 affected by any policy of retrenchment. 



The first object in founding the survey, and the 

 school and museum then wisely connected with it, 

 was the promotion of scientific research with a direct 

 aim at economic and practical results, and every 

 page of the report before us tells how admirably 

 this object is being carried out. The survevors note 

 the occurrence and character of the various building 

 materials met with — the stone, brick, and cement pro- 

 duced in various localities ; they record where road 

 metal may be procured and discuss the sources of 

 water supply, a subject which, having regard to its 

 importance, might well have a strong staff told off 

 for its investigation. 



We find in the text or in an appendix useful analyses 

 of various rocks and minerals, descriptions of methods 

 of dressing ores, and a discussion of the conditions 

 which affect the search for coal-bearing strata which 

 are covered over by immense deposits of later date 

 and irregular occurrence. 



It is clear that no one can tell beforehand what 

 will be directly productive of economic results in such 

 investigations as lie before the geologist, and the 

 country demands the encouragement of scientific re- 

 search and the pursuit of knowledge even where no 

 one could foresee any practical results. We find that 

 the survey does take cognisance of the physical geo- 

 graphy of each district examined, its ancient lines of 

 drainage, its raised beaches, and also investigates 

 many difficult questions of chemical, thermal, and 

 mechanical metamorphism, and the petrology and 

 palaeontology of rocks not obviously productive of any- 

 thing of commercial value. The treatment of all these 

 questions is arranged first of all geographically, so 

 that anyone may turn to the description of his own 

 district, and then stratigraphically, and the names of 

 those who are responsible for the different statements 

 are given in the margin. When we realise that this 

 is the report of one year's work, we may look forward 

 to the development of the summary into valuable 

 treatises of great practical and scientific value. 



NOTES. 

 At a meeting of the RSntgen Society on Thursday next, 

 January 4, Prof. F. Soddy will deliver the presidential 

 address upon " The Present Position of Radio-activity." 



The death is announced of Mr. F. W. Burbidge, curator 

 of the botanical gardens of Trinity College, Dublin. From 

 a short obituary . notice in Wednesday's Times we learn 

 that Mr. Burbidge was born in Leicestershire in 1847, 

 and, after studying horticulture at Chiswick and at Kew, 

 afterwards combined a good deal of experience as a prac- 

 tical gardener with some adventurous journeys to Borneo 

 and the East Indies as a collector of birds and orchids, 

 lie was appointed in 1.879 to be the curator of the gardens 

 at Lansdowne Road, Dublin, which belong to the Board 

 of Trinity College, and are attached to the scientific side 

 of the college. He filled his office with distinguished 

 success, and made many important contributions to the 

 literature of his subject, on which he was a recognised 

 authority. He was a member of the Royal Dublin Society 

 and of the Royal Horticultural Society, and in 1889 the 

 University of Dublin conferred upon him the degree of 

 Master of Arts, honoris causa. In addition to many 

 articles in periodicals, Mr. Burbidge was the author of 

 several books upon horticultural subjects. 



At a recent meeting of the Wellington Philosophical 

 Society, as reported in the Wellington Evening News of 

 November 4, an important discussion took place with re- 



