86 
NATURE 
[Wov. 24, 1881 
exactly the same character. Its appearance in the living 
form may be explained by the hypothesis of a reversion 
similar to that by which from time to time a horse is 
born with three toes, due to its descent from a three-toed 
ancestor. W. Boyd DAWKINS 
- THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ITALY 
yao GST the numerous signs of renewed life which 
characterise United Italy, the rapid spread of scien- 
tific research must take important rank. In its old homes 
at the world-famous universities, science, not often entirely 
neglected, is now once more largely cultivated. New 
Museums are springing up in many of the more important 
towns, and old ones are everywhere remodelled and 
enlarged. : 
Geology has its full share in this scientific revival, as a 
glance at the annual volumes of the Geological Record 
will show. The establishment of the Geological Society 
of Italy, to which we referred a fortnight back, will do 
much to encourage the study of this science. 
The Geological Survey of Italy was established in the year 
1868 ; since that date it has gradually developed, and has 
now accomplished some very important work. The Survey 
is at present a branch of the Corps of Mining Engineers, 
but we speak of the service in the phrase best known. in 
England for similar organisations. Since 1870 twelve 
volumes of the Bollettino del Ro. Comitato Geologico have 
been published. These contain memoirs of various dis- 
tricts, often well illustrated, by members of the Survey or 
by other workers whose essays are considered to be worth 
publishing at the public expense. Probably many me- 
moirs of the latter class will in future find their way into 
the Geological Society’s volume, and the Bo/lettino be 
more purely official. 
The organisation of the Survey is somewhat peculiar, 
and exhibits an amount of divided responsibility which 
can hardly conduce to its success. The service is partly 
under the control of a committee of eleven members and 
a secretary. Of this committee Prof. J. Meneghini of 
Pisa is president. Seven of the members are nominated 
by the King, chiefly from amongst the professors at the 
universities. These give their services gratuitously, only 
the actual travelling expenses being paid by the Govern- 
ment. The remainder are official members, and some of 
them are in other ways connected with the Survey. 
Each member of the committee has a certain amount 
of influence in the control of the Survey within his own 
district ; he is supposed to be consulted upon all ques- 
tions relatinz to classification, naming of fossils, &c., but the 
surveyors are really responsible to the official chief of the 
Survey, M. G. Giordano. Three members of the Scien- 
tific Committee take the chief share in the direction. 
These are Prof. J. Meneghini for Tuscany and Rome; 
Prof. G. Cemmellaro of Palermo for Sicily; and Prof. J. 
Capellini of Bologna, whose advice and assistance is 
always freely at the disposal of the Survey. This dual 
government might have been desirable in the early 
stages of the Survey; but now that Italian geology has 
made such progress, the staff so well trained, and the work 
so far advanced, it will probably be desirable to re- 
organise the Survey upon its own basis, giving the sole 
responsibility to its own official chief. 
The surveying staff is part of the Corps of Inspectors 
of Mines (Ingegneri delle Miniere), the Chief Inspector of 
which is also the Chief of the Survey. Italy is divided 
into eight mineral districts—Turin, Milan, Vicenza, Flo- 
rence, Ancona, Naples, Caltanissetta, Iglesias (Sardinia). 
The Inspectors of Mines have duties very similar to those 
of officers holding a like position in England. They visit 
and report upon mines in cases of accidents, and when 
any important changes take placein the working of the 
mines they may be called on for advice. The engineers 
are chosen from students trained in one of the seven 
engineering schools of Italy (Turin, Milan, Padua, Bo- 
logna, Pisa, Naples, Palermo). They then go for two 
years to a foreign mining school (Berlin, Freiberg, 
London, or Paris). Those engineers who are to serve 
on the Geological Survey Staff receive additional in- 
struction for this purpose. Till now this extra train- 
ing has generally been obtained from the Geological 
Survey of England, so that we may regard the Italian 
Survey as in a certain sense related to our own. Of the 
officers thus trained in England we may mention M, 
Anselmo, L. Baldacci, L. Mazzetti, R. Travaglia, De 
Ferrari, and E. Cortese ; to the last named of these we 
are indebted for much information here given. 
The basis of every geological survey must be a good 
topographical map. The Austrians published a map of a 
great part of Italy on the scale of 1: 75,000; this however 
is not satisfactory. An entirely new topographical survey 
is now in progress ; commenced in Sicily in 1862, it is 
gradually advancing to the north. The general map of 
Italy is on the scale of 1 : 50,000, with contour lines at 
every Io metres. The more important mineral districts 
are published on the scale of 1: 25,000, with contour 
lines at every 5 metres; a very beautiful map of Rome 
and the surrounding country is now published on the 
larger scale, as also are Sicily and parts of the N.W. 
Apennines. There is a smaller map, on the scale of 
I ; 100,000, with contours at every 50 metres. 
The small sum voted annually by the Italian Parliament 
has hitherto been spent in surveying only, and none of 
the maps have yet been published. They were however 
all exhibited at the Geological Congress at Bologna. It 
is expected that a larger grant will now be made, and the 
Survey be placed on a more satisfactory footing. The 
Central Survey office at Rome, hitherto lodged in the 
Piazza S. Pietro in Vincoli, will shortly be transferred to 
the handsome buildings lately erected for the Ministry of 
Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce. 
The whole of the Island of Sicily has been geologically 
surveyed on the largest scale. This district is of com- 
mercial importance from its great yield of sulphur, 
amounting to 250,000 tons per year. The entire map of 
Sicily on the scale of 1 : 50,000 was exhibited at Bologna; 
this is a very beautiful work, and will be of great service to 
all students of that most interesting region. The Apennines 
north of Pisa are also surveyed on the scale of I : 25,000. 
This district is of great importance from the marble 
quarries of Carrara, Massa, &c., the yield of which is 
150,000 tons per year. Great uncertainty has long been 
felt as to the geological age of the Carrara marble ; it 
contains no fossils, and its exact relation to adjacent for- 
mations has hitherto been doubtful. It has at various 
times been referred to many different geological horizons; 
but now the geological surveyors seem definitely to have 
fixed its position in the Trias. The mineral districts of 
Sardinia and the Campagna of Rome have also been 
surveyed on the scale of I : 25,000. 
The complete geological survey of a country is a work 
of some time, and many years must elapse before that of 
Italy is finished and its maps published. In the mean- 
time the Survey has done a most useful work in preparing 
a general geological map of Italy on the scale of 1: 500,000. 
For this purpose all previously published information has 
been utilised; the geological notices scattered through 
various scientific journals, Italian and foreign, have been 
collected and arranged by M. Giordano and his colleagues. 
The numerous blanks have been filled up by special re- 
searches ; and the result is a valuable and beautiful map, 
which will shortly be published. It was desired to issue 
a reduction of this on the scale of 1 : 1,000,000, but as no 
topographical map on this scale exists, a French map 
was adopted, engraved on the scale of 1: 1,111,111 (or 
1 decim. to a degree). This map was corrected where 
necessary, and was published in time for the meeting of 
the Congress at Bologna. The map is issued in two 
