April 8, 1909] 



NA TURE 



163 



range." There seems good reason to suppose that the 

 Antarctic Continent, to which the South Orkneys once 

 belonged, was formerly connected with the northern 

 continents, probably by way of America. 



Among the curiosities we may notice Echinorhyn- 

 chits antarcticus, n.sp., from the stomach of the 

 VVeddell Seal, well described by Dr. Rennie, who 

 compares it to a pipe with a short stem and a fantastic 

 Jid, and notes that the males are larger than the 

 females. 



We have not thought it necessary to do more than 

 illustrate the varied interest of the reports which make 

 up this volume, but we hope we have said enough to 

 show that the Scotia has made contributions to zoology 

 not less important than those of a meteorological kind 

 already published. If we are to know our earth we 

 must know the ."Antarctic, if we are to know the 

 Antarctic we must know it all round, with its spring- 

 tails as well as its magnetic mysteries, and we 

 earnestly hope that Dr. Bruce, who is one of the most 

 intrepid and disinterested of living geographers (in the 

 wide and only true sense), will be encouraged by the 

 reception given to his reports and will not be straitened 

 in the publication of more. 



INDIAN MINERAL RESOURCES.' 



IN a recent article in an American journal, the editor 

 remarked that " geology in Britain scorns the 

 study of ore deposits, and it is deemed gentlemanly 

 to investigate molluscs rather than ores, scenery 

 rather than outcrops." Such a reproach would never 

 have been just, though naturally certain branches of 

 economic geology cannot be studied in this country 

 through lack of necessary material, and Sir T. H. 

 Holland's instructive " Sketch of the Mineral Re- 

 sources of India " shows the increasing recognition 

 bv British geologists of the interesting problems of 

 economic geology. This report is a concise summary 

 of the mineral resources of India, and the use now 

 made of them. 



The most important Indian metalliferous minerals 

 are now gold and manganese. The metallurgical in- 

 dustries for which India was once famous have been 

 practically killed by the competition of European 

 imports. The brass used is now all imported, and 

 none of the old copper mines are worked, though 

 efforts are being made to revive them. Lead ores are 

 widely distributed, but none of them is mined. Sir 

 Thomas Holland is careful to explain that the ruin 

 of the local industries has been due less to the cheap- 

 ness of the imported metals and chemical products 

 than to their greater trustworthiness and uniformity. 



Tlie total value of the minerals for which returns are 

 available amounted in 1906 to only 6,3i2,8i!S/., of 

 which gold yielded 2,230,284/. and coal 1,912,042/. 

 The other important minerals are petroleum, man- 

 ganese, salt, saltpetre, and mica ; they range in value 

 of output from petroleum, with a yield of 574,238/., 

 down to mica, worth 259,544/. The mineral output 

 compared with the size and population of India is, 

 therefore, small, but Sir Thomas Holland points to a 

 marked increase in value during the past five years, 

 and is hopeful for its future. 



The memoir opens with a short statement of the 

 geology of India in relation to the distribution of its 

 minerals. The author explains that, owing to the 

 exceptional geological stability of the Indian penin- 

 sula, its rocks have been compai'atively little mineral- 

 ised; it is only in the very oldest that metallic 

 ores occur in valuable quantities, and their discovery 

 is often difficult, as they are buried under prolonged 



1 '■ .Sketch of the Mineral Resources of India." By Sic T. H. Ho 

 Pp. xi+S6 ; 3 maps. (London and Calcutta, 1908 ) 



NO. 2058, VOL. 80] 



accumulations of weathered material. In the later 

 rocks the only minerals of economic value are those 

 found in beds, such as coal, rock-salt, clay, and 

 laterite. Coal mining is unusually easy and safe, 

 owing to the slight geological disturbance of the 

 country. Coal is sold at the pit's mouth for 35. iid. 

 a ton, the low cost being due to the shallowness of 

 the mines, the deepest shaft being only 800 feet, the 

 firmness of the roofs of the seams, and the freedom 

 from explosive gases ; underground fires due to spon- 

 taneous combustion are, however, troublesome. 



The geological foundation of India is a series of 

 Archaean schists and gneisses with infolded areas of 

 schists that belong to the Dahwar group. Upon this 

 foundation rest the rocks of the Purana group, 

 which are perhaps all pre-Cambrian. The Lower 

 Purana beds are sedimentary rocks and limestones, 

 and they are known as the Cuddapah series in 

 southern, and as the Bijawar series in northern, 

 India. The upper Purana beds are the horizontal 

 sandstones, shales, and limestones of the Vindhyans. 

 Then, after a long break, follow the Gondwana beds, 

 which range in age from the Upper Carboniferous 

 to the Upper Jurassic; they contain the chief Indian 

 coal-fields, and probably many that are still unknown, 

 as they are buried under the Upper Cretaceous lavas of 

 the Deccan traps. 



The only important Indian gold-field is that of 

 Kolar, in Mysore, where mining was begun in pre- 

 historic times, and some of the ancient workings 

 reached the depth of 500 feet. The present mines 

 are 3000 feet deep, and it is interesting to hear, on 

 Sir Thomas Holland's authority, that the lodes at 

 that depth show " little diminution in value or width 

 of the auriferous gold quartz " (p. 30). 



The Indian iron ores are now comparatively little 

 used. They are very widely distributed, and the chief 

 ore is a quartz schist with layers of iron o.xides, like 

 the banded ironstones of Rhodesia. In most cases 

 the ore is siliceous and of low grade. The author 

 gives further information about the oft-reported vast 

 ijlock of almost solid iron (pp. 32-3) of Mayurbhanj ; 

 he tells us that one bore there gave a core of 120 feet 

 of solid ore containing 68 per cent, of iron. 



There is comparatively little information in his 

 report on the manganese mines, the rapid develop- 

 ment of which in recent years has been the most 

 remarkable feature in Indian mining ; but a mono- 

 graph on these ores by Mr. Fcrmor, of the Indian 

 Geological Survey, is announced as in the press. 



Among the earthy minerals the most characteristic 

 is mica, of which India produces half the world's 

 supply ; but Sir Thomas Holland predicts that unless 

 better methods are adopted for its mining, the output 

 must be greatly reduced. He deplores the practical 

 absence of phosphates from a country where the agri- 

 cultural industry is of primary importance. There U 

 a short note on each of the gems, for which India 

 was once famous ; some diamonds are still obtained, 

 but they are all alluvial. 



The carbonaceous minerals include coal, amber, and 

 oil. The coal is of fair quality, and now supplies 

 practically all the fuel required on the Indian railways. 

 .Amber of the species free from succinic acid, and 

 known as " burmite," is found in north-eastern 

 Burmah, but the quantity is small, and most of the 

 amber worked in India is succinite imported from 

 Prussia. The author gives an interesting summary 

 of the present development of the Burmese oil indus- 

 try. The industrv was begun by the natives, and 

 wells are still dug by hand to the depth of 400 feet, 

 the men wearing a diving dress for protection against 

 the gases that collect in the shaft. The fields now 

 vield 138 million gallons of crude oil a year, 



