346 



NA TURE 



[August lo, 1905 



arise and that a progressive and ever-improving con- 

 cern would be tlie result. There was a great deal 

 in what Dr. Nichols said in his presidential address 

 to the Society of Chemical Industry — the quotation 

 is from memory — " Never put up duplicate plant; no 

 plant is so perfect that it cannot be improved ; after 

 a plant has boon in use a short time certain points 

 in which it m.-iy be imjjroved are sure to be dis- 

 covered. " 



-So if we are to compete with foreign competition 

 no process should be worked year after year bv rule 

 of thumb, otherwise manufacturers will find their pro- 

 duct being pushed out of the market bv a similar but 

 improved product in which the brail! lias been the 

 motive power for the thumb. 



It is very much to be hoped that now that the 

 matter has been thoroughly threshed out the Govern- 

 ment will step in and — while safeguarding its own 

 interests and the sobriety of the workers — it will 

 aid manufacturers by all means in its power b\" 

 enabling them to use a class 

 of alcohol which will be suit- 

 able to their special needs. 

 F. MoLLWo Perkin. 



ample recognition is given to A. G. Bain, the father 

 of South African geology, and also to Stow. More 

 recent workers cannot complain that their investi- 

 gations have been neglected. 



The book is divided into five parts. Part i. deals 

 with the pre-Karroo rocks, in which those of southern 

 Cape Colony are described in section i., and those of 

 northern Cape Colony, the Transvaal, &c., in 

 section ii. This separation into sections becomes 

 necessary owing to the want of similarity in the 

 succession of the pre-Cape rocks in the two regions. 



The authors naturally give somewhat more space 

 to the sequence in the Transvaal, more especially to 

 a description of the upper division of the W'itwaters- 

 rand system, which includes the famous " Banket." 

 It is interesting to find that the stratigraphical posi- 

 tion and age of this well known deposit remain un- 

 solved, except that the authors consider the age to be 

 vastly newer than the .\rchaean rocks and greatly 

 ilder than the T.iblc .Mountain .Sandstone. 



THE GEOLOGY OF 

 SOUTH AFRICA.' 

 T^OWARDS the end of last 

 -'■ century it appeared as 

 if England had lost her well 

 earned supremacy in geologi- 

 cal research in .\frica. In 

 Germany, elaborate treatises 

 dealing sometimes with her 

 own .African colonics exclu- 

 sively, and sometimes with 

 that of neighbouring British 

 territory, monthly and almost 

 weekly appeared. French 

 geologists, too, produced 

 essay after essay on their 

 African colonies and posses- 

 sions. Meanwhile, England 

 was apparently content to lag- 

 behind. 



It is fitting that the visit of 

 the British Association to one 

 of our most famous and most 

 remote .\frican colonies this 

 year should witness the publi- 

 cation of two geological 

 works, of the highest scien- 

 tific standing, written bv our 

 own countrymen. Early this 



year, the comprehensive" treatise by Mr. A. W. Rogers 

 on the geology of Cape Colony made its appearance. 

 Now, a few months later, we have presented to us 

 the philosophic risitmi^ of the geologv of South Africa 

 as a whole by Messrs. Hatch and Corstorphine. 



Both volumes supply a long-felt want. In their 

 method and conciseness both are equally British. 



In a work irciiiiig with the richlv metalliferous 

 regions of the Tr.iiisvaal it might have been expected 

 that questions of economic interest would occupy 

 manv pages. It is an agreeable surprise to find that 

 this is not the case. On the contrary, the geology 

 of South Africa is here described in' a thoroughly 

 scientific manner, clearly and concisely worded. ' Ail 

 essential details are brought within a compass of 312 

 pages of text. 



In the opening chapter, on the history of research, 



1 "Th- Geology nf Sruth Africa." By F. H. Hatrl, .,nrl G. S '~oT^,ar. 

 Phinf. ,'p. xiv+336. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ud., 1905) Price 



-Com. 



:d tland, Hospital Hill Slate, Show Yard, Johannesburg. From " The Geology ...f 

 South Africa," by F. H. Hatch and G. S. Cor.storphine. 



The complicated nature of the stratigraphy of South 

 .Africa, other than that of the peninsula, will be 

 gathered from the following tables : — 



NH 1867, 'V'^L. 72] 



North of Cape Colony 



Dwyka Conglomerate 



Unconforntity 



Matsap .Seiies 



Unconformily 



Griqua Town, 



Campbell Rand and Keis 



Series 



Unconfoi mity 



Volcanic Series 



Uiicoiifot mily 



Namaqualand Series 



Transvaal 



Dwyka Conglomerate 



Uuconjoriiiilv 



Waieibetg Strries 



Uiiconfiniiity 



Prcloiia Seiies 



Dolomite ai d Black Reef 



Series 



Uncotiforniily 



Ven'eri-dorp Seiies 



Unconformity 



Witwatersrand Stries 



Untonfoiiiiily 



Swaziland Series 



This table opens up a vista of infinite possibilities. 



The Karroo rocks are adequately dealt with in 

 part ii., but in this and elsewhere Rhodesia, 



