22zl 



NA TURE 



[Jan. 6, 1 88 1 



ments of a high order, cultivate their lands with great 

 intelligence, are skilful workers in metals, and betray 

 extreme taste in their decorative art. In the Tour du 

 Monde for May 15, 1880, Dr. Harmand figures two native 

 pipes and a quiver of a Stieng tribe, whose forms and 

 arabesque designs are supremely beautiful (see Figs. 11, 

 12, and 13). " Their artistic instincts," this observer re- 

 marks, " are more developed and especially more original 

 [than those of their Laos neighbours]. From them I have 

 procured various objects betraying a refined taste, and 

 woven fabrics with simple designs aod well-harmonised 

 colours " Amongst them there is prevalent a curious 

 system of writing, at first sight somewhat suggestive of 

 the Irish Ogham, but of a far more primitive character. 

 It consists of a series of notches, varying in size and 

 number, cut on both edges of a bamboo plancheitc, 

 which is generally set up as a sort of public notice at 

 the entrance to the villages. Thus a row made up of 

 eight large, eleven medium-sized, and nine small notches 

 was explained to mean : " Our village contains eight men, 

 eleven women, and nine children." It is evident that in 

 a system of this sort as wide a scope must be left to the 

 imagination as in the hypothetical primitive speech, in 

 which broken utterances are largely supplemented by 

 signs and gesture. A. H. Keaxe 



( To bi- CO ;i tinned.) 



GEOLOGY OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA ■ 



AMID the conflict of political parties, the jealousies of 

 rival powers, the rumours of renewed dispeace 

 among the nations, and the smouldering embers of w.ir 

 that seem ready at any moment to burst forth into re- 

 newed conflagration, it is a relief to turn to a volume in 

 which the Austrian Government has just shown to the 

 world one of the first uses to which she has put her new 

 acquisitions in the East. Nothing could have been more 

 quietly and unostentatiously done, and nothing could 

 show a more enlightened and humanising policy than the 

 action which is modestly described in the volume before 

 us. The story is briefly told by the Ritter von Hauer in 

 an introductory note. It appears that immediately afier 

 the pacification of the occupied provinces of Bosnia and 

 Herzegovina the Director of the Geological Institute at 

 \'ienna addressed to the Minister of Public Worship and 

 Instruction (under whom the Geological Institute is pliced) 

 a letter in which he pointed out the desirability of ex- 

 panding the pacific mission on which the country had 

 entered in these provinces by organising a geological 

 survey of them under the guidance of the Geological 

 Institute. His representations were acceded to, and on 

 March 9. 1879, he received instructions to commence a 

 geological reconnaissance of the provinces with detailed 

 investigation of such localities as might be found of 

 sufficient importance. The task was to be undertaken 

 conjointly by the Geological Institutes in Vienna and 

 Buda-pest. The Director was requested as soon as 

 possible to submit a plan of survey with proposals as to 

 the number of geohigists to be detailed and the individuals 

 most co:iipetent for the exhaustive discharge of the duties 

 required ; and he was further instructed to put himself in 

 direct relations with the Hungarian Geological Institute 

 with a view- to a proper sub-division of the work. Ritter 

 von Hauer had no difficulty with one part of his instruc- 

 tions. Two of his staff. Dr. E. von Mojsisovics and Dr. 

 E. Tietze, had already signified their wish to under- 

 take the work, and Dr. Bittner expressed his desire to 

 share in it. After some delay the Hungarim Institute 

 made known its inability, from want of a sufficient staff, 

 to take part in the intended survey. At last, on March 



' Jahrbnch der k k. CeologiscUcn Rckksanstalt. B.ind xxx. Heft ii., 

 containing " Grundlinien der Geologic von Bosnien-Hercegovina." vun IV. 

 E. V. Mojsisovics, Dr. E. Tietze. und Dr. A. Bittner, mit Beitragen v.n Dr. 

 M. NeumajT und C. v. John. Vienna. iSSo. The work is also piibl.s'ied 

 separately by Holder of Vienna, n ith a preface by Fr. v. Hauer. 



23, Director Von Hauer was able to announce to the 

 Ministry that he was ready to begin operations. He 

 proposed that as the work would naturally fall into two 

 sections, (i) the preparation of a geological sketch-map 

 of the whole occupied Provinces, and (2) a special de- 

 tailed investigation of localities affording indications of 

 salt, coal, or ores, it would be desirable to arrange the 

 officers employed into two divisions. For the prepara- 

 tion of the map he suggested that four geologists should 

 be employed, which, estimating the area to be surveyed 

 at 1030 square German miles, would give 250 square 

 miles to each surveyor. He recommended for this duty 

 the three gentlemen above-named, and added the name of 

 Prof. Homes of Graz as the fourth, should the Hungarian 

 Geological Institute have no other to propose. It was of 

 course impossible that these officers, intmsted with the 

 task of rapidly traversing the country and seizing on the 

 salient features of its geological structure, should have 

 time to halt anywhere long enough to make detailed 

 investigations for useful minerals. This part of the 

 duties however was one in which the services of the 

 Hungarian Geological Institute might be especially useful, 

 seeing that the distribution of ores in the Hungarian terri- 

 tory bore the closest analogy to that in Bosnia. The 

 name of Herr F. Herlich of Klausenberg was accord- 

 ingly suggested as one of the most competent persons to 

 be intrusted with this part of the survey. It was further 

 represented that the interesting and important coal and 

 salt-spring region of Dolnj-Tuzla would be most fittingly 

 explored by Herr Bcrgrath K. M. Paul, well known for 

 his intimate acquaintance with the mineral tracts of 

 Slavonia, Croatia, and the northern slopes of the Car- 

 pathian Mountains. Some further suggestions as to 

 additional assistants were made. At last on April 7, 

 1S79, the scheme of operations received the sanction of 

 the Minister of Public Worship and Instruction. 



By the beginning of May Herr Paul had broken ground 

 in Bosnia. Before the end of the same month Herren 

 von Mojsisovics, Tietze, and Bittner were likewise in the 

 field, and undertook by themselves the whole burden of 

 the map. In about three months the traverses for the 

 construction of the map were completed, and the geologi- 

 cal structure of a hitherto unexplored region of 1000 

 square German miles was added to our knowledge of the 

 geology of Europe. One is at a loss whether most to 

 admire the breadth of view which conceived and planned 

 this first utilisation of an annexed territory, or the zeal and 

 capacity which so rapidly carried out and completed the 

 conception. 



The Jahrbucli der k. k. Geologischen Reichsanstalt is 

 one of the best-known and most useful geological journals 

 in existence. The present number considerably e.xceeds 

 the usual size of the periodical, since it is e.xpanded by 

 containing the reports of the geologists upon the recent 

 survey of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Dr. von Mojsisovics takes 

 West Bosnia and Turkish Croatia. In his report, after 

 acknowledging assistance received in the country and 

 enumerating the literature of the subject, in which the 

 work of the veteran Ami Boud stands in the foremost 

 place, the author proceeds to give a general outline of the 

 topography and geology of the region examined by him. 

 Most of his survey was done on horseback. He chose 

 various traverses of the country, noting down by the way 

 his observations upon the general map of Europe on a 

 scale of n^inj'cTrp; published by the Military Geographical 

 Institute of Vienna. The first section of his report is 

 devoted to geological topography, and includes some 

 interesting information regarding what has been termed 

 the " oriental fixed land " — an ancient island or nucleus 

 round which, in the Balkan Peninsula, the Lias and more 

 recent formations have been ranged. The second section 

 treats of the geological formations in stratigraphical order, 

 themoreimportant being Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, and 

 Flysch, the last-named belonging partly to the Cretaceous 



