May II, 1905] 



NA TURE 



41 



districts in this part of America, a discovery of the 

 occurrence of this substance in large masses has been 

 recently made in the Cretaceous deposits of Kreischerville, 

 -Staten Island, N.Y. The amber, which is being ex- 

 tensively worked for commercial purposes, occurs in a bed 

 containing layers and masses of vegetable debris, together 

 with lignite and pyrite. The bed appears to be lens- 

 shaped. Some at least of the amber is presumed to be 

 the product of sequoias, but it is possible that a species 

 of Pinus, and perhaps a representative of the Austro- 

 Malayan genus Dammara, may have contributed to its 

 production. The remaining articles include one by Prof. 

 Hallow on the structure of the vascular cylinder in hybrid 

 catalpa trees ; a second, by Messrs. Cushman and Hender- 

 son, on fresh-water rhizopods from New Hampshire ; and 

 a third, by Dr. F. W. Carpenter, on the behaviour of a 

 fruit fly under certain stimulants. 



A DESCRIPTION of the large diamond found recently in 

 the Premier Mine, Transvaal, is given in the Geological 

 Magazine (April) by Dr. F. H. Hatch and Dr. G. S. 

 Corstorphine, with reproductions of four photographs 

 which represent the diamond in its actual size from four 



by E. H, 



■different points of view. One of these pictures is here 

 given (Fig. 1), and it conveys a good idea of the size and 

 shape of the crystal. The stone is bounded by eight sur- 

 faces, four of which are faces of the original crystal, and 

 four arc cleavage surfaces, which are distinguished from 

 the original octahedral faces by greater regularity and 

 smoothness. For a large stone the crystal is of remark- 

 able purity, and the colour approaches that of a blue- 

 white. The complete crystal appears to have been a dis- 

 torted octahedron, with dodecahedral faces developed on 



the edges ; and the portions missing probably amount to 

 more than half the original crystal. The stone, which 

 has been named the Cullinan diamond, weighs 9600-5 

 grains troy, or 1-37 lb. avoirdupois; this is more than 

 three times the weight of the largest diamond previously 

 Icnown. 



SOiME account of the Mount Morgan Gold Mine, Queens- 

 land, is given by Mr. E. J. Dunn (Proc. Royal Soc. 

 Victoria, vol. xvii., part ii.). The hill, which rises to a 

 height of 580 feet, is formed mainly of igneous rocks, 

 within which are enclosed masses of decomposed rock, 

 made up of siliceous and ferruginous material, and over- 

 lying these is a plug of Desert Sandstone, nearly 100 feet 

 thick in places. The sandstone occupies a hollow in loose 

 sandy beds overlying a ferruginous layer, and these beds 

 yielded the rich secondary ore for which Mount Morgan 

 has been celebrated. No naturally formed gold is known 

 that more nearly reached chemical purity. At a much 

 lower depth, in what is known as the sulphide zone, the 

 gold is much alloyed with silver. The silver was got rid 

 of in the transference of the leached ore to the enriched 

 zone. The state of subdivision of the gold in this zone 

 was so extreme that rich samples, in some cases those 

 carrying 50 oz. per ton, showed no traces of gold that 

 could be detected by the naked eye. The author attributes 

 the formation of the secondary ore to the mechanical and 

 chemical action of sea-water on the sulphide ore, there 

 being evidence of considerable local erosion before the 

 horizontal beds of Desert Sandstone were laid down. 



The Canadian Department of Marine and Fisheries has 

 published the meteorological results obtained at the mag- 

 netical observatory at Toronto for the year 1904, with 

 remarks, in a handy and useful form. The monthly means 

 are in most cases compared with an average of sixty-four 

 years, and are consequently of considerable value. The 

 mean temperature of the year 1904 was 42^.2, being 2°-2 

 below the average. The maximum daily mean was 78°.9, 

 on July 18, and the coldest day — 8°.5, on January 14. 

 The rainfall measured 30-04 inches (3-05 inches above the 

 yearly average) ; this amount does not include 56-5 inches 

 of snow, which is measured quite separately from rain. 



.\n important step for the promotion of New South 

 Wales meteorology is recorded in the U.S. Monthly 

 Weather Review (vol. xxxii.. No. 11, p. 518). It seems 

 that the principal newspaper of the colony, the Daily 

 Telegraph, has commenced the publication of a daily 

 weather chart. The origin of this step is stated in the 

 following brief extract from the first number of the paper 

 which contained this new information, a more complete 

 account of which is inserted in the Weather Review re- 

 ferred to above : — " The inclusion of meteorology in the 

 new public schools syllabus has directed special attention 

 to consideration of weather conditions. Correspondents, 

 including a number of public school teachers, have applied 

 to the Daily Telegraph for amplified daily information on 

 this subject, and the meteorological branch of the Sydney 

 Observatory also has been requested to furnish details of 

 the weather conditions and atmospheric pressures, the in- 

 formation upon which the weather forecasts are made. 

 The Daily Telegraph has arranged to publish daily a chart 

 showing the principal features of weather conditions, in- 

 cluding the high and low pressure isobars. Where possible 

 the rainfall area will be indicated and conditions on the 

 coast will also be given. . . . The publication of isobaric 

 charts will enable students with their local knowledge of 

 physical surroundings to anticipate in detail their probable 

 weather more completely than is possible at the central 



NO. 1854, vol.. 72] 



