a 
=. 
_ V.P., in the chair. 
Y, I 
| SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 
LonDON 4 
‘ 
Geological Society; Nov. 6,—Prof. Ramsay, F.R.S., 
A Report by F. T. Gregory, Mining Land 
Commissioner in Queensland, on the recent discoveries of Tin- 
ore in that Colony. According to this report, the district in 
_ Queensland in which tin-ore has been discovered is situated 
about the head-waters of the Severn river and its tributaries, 
comprising an area of about 550 square miles. The district is 
described as an elevated granitic table-land intersected by ranges 
of abrupt hills, some attaining an elevation of about 3,000 feet 
above the sea. The richest deposits are found in the beds of the 
streams and in alluvial flats on their banks, the payable ground 
varying from a few yards to five chains in extent. The aggregate 
length of these alluvial bands is estimated at about 170 miles, 
the average yield per linear chain of the stream-beds at about ten 
tons of ore (cassiterite). Numerous small stanniferous lodes have 
been discovered, but only two of much importance, namely, one 
near Ballandean Head Station on the Severn ; and another in a 
reef of red granite rising in the midst of metamorphic slates and 
sandstones at a distance of about six miles. The lodes run in 
parallel lines bearing about N. 50° E. ; and one of them can be 
traced for a distance of nine or ten miles. The ore, according 
to Mr. Gregory and Mr. D’Oyly Aplin, is always associated with 
red granite, zc. ‘‘the felspar a pink or red orthoclase, and the 
mica generally black ; but when crystals of tin-ore are found zz 
situ, the mica is white.” The crystals of tin-ore are generally 
found in and along the margins of quartz threads or veins in 
bands of loosely aggregated granitoid rock, but are sometimes 
imbedded in the micaceous portions. The report concludes with 
some statements as to the present condition and prospects of the 
district as regards its population.—Observations on some of the 
recent Tin-ore discoveries in New England, New South Wales, 
by G. H. F. Ulrich. The district referred to by the author 
is in the most northern part of the colony of New South 
Wales, almost immediately adjoining the tin-region of Queens- 
land described in the preceding report. It forms a hilly 
elevated plateau, having Ben Lomond for its highest point, 
nearly 4,000 feet above the sea-level. The predominant rocks 
are granite and basalt, enclosing subordinate areas composed 
of metamorphic slates and sandstones; the basalt has generally 
broken through the highest crests and points of the ranges, and 
spread in extensive streams over the country at the foot. The 
workings of the Elsmore Company, situated on the north-west 
side of the Macintyre river, about twelve miles E. of the town- 
ship of Inverell, include a granite range of about 250 feet in 
height, and nearly two milesin length. The granite of the 
range is micaceous, with crystals of white orthoclase, and is tra- 
versed by quartz veins which contain cassiterite in fine druses, 
seams, and scattered crystals, and by dykes of a softer granite, 
consisting chiefly of mica, and with scarcely any quartz, in which 
cassiterite is distributed in crystals, nests, and bunches, and also 
in irregular veins of several inches in thickness. This granite 
yields lumps of pure ore up to at least 50 Ibs. in weight. The 
quartz veins contain micaceous portions which resemble the 
** Greisen ” of the Saxon tin mines. The deepest shaft sunk in 
one of the quartz veins was about 60 feet in depth. The author 
noticed certain minerals found in association with the tin ore, and 
the peculiarities of the crystalline forms presented by the latter. 
In conclusion the author referred to the probability that a 
deficiency of water may prove a great obstacle to the full de- 
velopment of the tin-making industry in this district, but stated 
that ‘‘it seems not unlikely that the production of tin ore from 
this part of Australia will reach, if not surpass, that of all the 
old tin-mining countries combined.”—‘‘ On the included Rock- 
fragments of the Cambridge Upper Greensand.” By W. Johnson 
Sollas and A. J. Jukes-Browne. The occurrence of numerous 
subangular fragments in the Upper Greensand formation was so 
far remarkable that it had already attracted the notice of two 
alate observers (Mr. Bonney and Mr. Seeley), who had {both 
riefly hinted at the agency of ice. While ignorant of the sug- 
gestions of these gentlemen, the authors of this paper had been 
forced tothe same conclusion. A descriptive list had been pre- 
pared of the most remarkable of the included fragments, The 
infallible signs of the Upper Greensand origin consisted in in- 
crustations of Plicatula sigillum, Ostrea vesiculosa, and ‘* Copro- 
lite,” without which, it was stated, the boulders would be undir- 
tin; uishable from those of the overlying drift. The following gene- 
.and the fauna of the succeeding Chalk. 
subangular ; some consist of friable sandstones and shales, w hich 
could not have borne even a brief journey over the ocean bed. 
2. Many are of large size, especially when compared with the fine 
silt in which they were imbedded ; the stones and silt could not 
have been borne along by the same marine current. 3. The 
stones are of various lithological characters, and might be re- 
ferred to granitic, schistose, volcartic, and sedimentary rocks, 
probably of Silurian, Old Red Sandstones, and Carboniferous 
age. Such strata are not found iw si¢z in the neighbourhood, 
and the blocks must have come from Scotland or Wales. Numer- 
ous arguments were adduced in favour of their Scottish derivation. 
The above considerations, that numerous rock fragments, some 
of which are very friable, have been brought from various locali- 
ities and yet retain their angularity, were thought sufficient 
evidence for their transportation by ice; the majority showed 
no ice scratches, but the small proportion of scratched stones in 
the moraine matter borne away on an iceberg, and the small per- 
centage of ice-scratched boulders in many deposits of glacial 
drift, show that the absence of these strice is not inconsistent with 
the glacial origin of the included fragments. Besides this the 
stones of the Greensand consisted of rock, from which ice marks 
would readily have been removed by the action of water, The 
authors stated, however, that they had found more positive evi- 
dence in a stone which was unmistakably ice-scratched, consist- 
ing of a siliceous limestone, and preserved in the Woodwardian 
Museum. The fauna, so far as it proved anything, suggested a 
cold climate; though abundant, the species were dwarfed, in 
striking contrast to those of the Greensand of Southern England 
The authors concluded 
that a tongue of land separated the Upper Greensand sea into 
two basins, the northern of which received icebergs from the 
Scottish-Scandinavian chain ; the climate of this was cold, that 
of the southern basin much warmer. 7 
PARIS 
Academy of Sciences, Nov. 4.—M. Faye, President.— 
The first paper read was by M. Becquerel, on the solar origin of 
atmospheric electricity. A large portion of the paper was pre- 
liminary, and contains a sketch of modern solar discoveries ; the 
subject is to be continued.—M. Pasteur then read a note on the 
production of alcohol by fruits. His remarks referred to some 
experiments by M. Lechartier, who has found that alcohol is de- 
veloped in fruit on simple keeping.—Another note by the same 
author followed, replying to some of M. Fremy’s late assertions. 
To this M. Fremy replied, and was immediately answered by M. 
Pasteur, who demanded the appointment of a commission to 
examine his experiments, when M. Fremy arose and proposed 
that he, M. Pasteur, and M. Trécul should work in common. 
M. Dumas then stated that the Academy should grant the request 
of M. Pasteur. M. Wurtz supported M. Pasteur’s demand, 
and M. Pasteur then asserted that he would not agree to M. 
Fremy’s proposed joint work, and urged the appointment of a 
commission to examine the contested experimental evidence. 
After this the discussion dropped.—Another of MM. Favre and» 
Valson’s papers on crystalline dissociation was then read. The 
authors described a new method for the investigation of the “ co- 
ercive ” action of a salt on water at any temperature.—M, Faye 
then read a paper on Mr. L. Rutherfurd’s lunar photographs. 
—Next came a report on a memoir by Dr. Dufossé on the 
noises and sounds which the sea and freshwater fish of 
Europe can hear. The report recommended that the thanks 
of the Academy should be awarded to the Doctor for his dis- 
coveries. M. Max Marie then presented a paper on the elemen- 
tary theory of Integrals of any order, and of their periods. M. _ 
Becquerel then presented an addendum to M. E. Jannettaz’s late 
note on the coloured rings of gypsum. The note by M. Jan- 
nettaz contained some additions to and corrections of his former 
communication.—M. D. Colladon then presented a note on the 
effects of lightning on trees, which was referred to the Light- 
ning Conductor Commission. MM. Becquerel and Edm, 
Becquerel made some remarks on this paper in relation to the 
change in colour of stricken trees and flowers.—M, C. Dareste’s 
third part of his paper on the osteological types of the osseous 
fishes followed, and was sent to the Anatomical and Zoological ~ 
section.—M. Sainte-Claire Deville then presented a memoir by 
M. F. Fouqué on some new processes for the proximate analysis 
of minerals, and on their application to the lavas of the late 
eruption of Santorin.—The //y//oxera Commission next received 
a proposal from M. de Wissocq, proposing calcic sulphide and 
ralisations were then put forward :—1. The stones are mostly | hydrosulphuric acid as remedies for the diseased vines.—M. 
