144 



NATURE 



SJtmc 25, 1874 



daily by Mr. Buchanan ; and during the trip Mr. Bu- 

 chanan has determined the amount of carbonic acid in 

 25 different samples — 15 from the surface, 7 from the 

 bottom, and 2 from intermediate depths. The smallest 

 amount of carbonic acid was found in surface-water on 

 Jan. 27, near Kerguelen ; it amounted to 0'0373 gramme 

 per litre. The largest amount, 0"c829 gramme per litre, 

 was found in bottom-water on Feb. 14, when close to the 

 Antarctic ice. About the same latitude the amount of 

 carbonic acid in surface-water rose to the unusual amount 

 of o'o656 gramme per litre ; in all other latitudes it 

 ranged between 0^044 and 0'054 gramme per litre. From 

 the greater number of these samples the oxygen and 

 nitrogen were extracted, and sealed up in tubes. 



" While we were among the ice all possible observa- 

 tions were made on the structure and composition of ice- 

 bergs. We only regretted greatly that we had no oppor- 

 tunity of watching their birth, or of observing the con- 

 tinuous ice-barrier from which most of them have the 

 appearance of having been detached. The berg- and fioe- 

 ice was examined with the microscope, and found to con- 

 tain the usual Diatoms. Careful drawings of the different 

 forms of icebergs, of the positions which they assume in 

 melting, and of their intimate structure, were made by 

 Mr. Wild, and instantaneous photographs of several were 

 taken from the ship. 



" I need only further add that, so far as 1 am able to 

 judge, the expedition is fulfilling the object for which it 

 was sent out. The naval and the civilian staff seem 

 actuated by one wish to do the utmost in their power, and 

 certainly a large amount of material is being accumu- 

 lated. 



" The experiences of the last three months have, of 

 course, been somewhat trying to those of us who were 

 not accustomed to a sea-life ; but the health of the whole 

 party has been excellent. There has been so much to 

 do that there has been little time for weariness ; and the 

 arrangements continue to work in a pleasant and satisfac- 

 tory way." 



COLONIAL GEOLOGICAL SURVEYS 

 I.— Canada 



Report of Gcoloi^ical SiDVcy of Canada for 1872-73. 



RATHER less than thirty years ago the Canadian 

 Legislature passed a vote for the institution of a 

 Geological Survey of the province, with the object of 

 ascertaining definitely the mineral resources of the country. 

 In pursuance of this decision, the Governor-General, after 

 some inquiry about a properly qualified individual to 

 take charge of the Survey, finally appointed Mr. W. E. 

 Logan, who, born in Canada, had made his name kno.vn 

 in England by some careful surveys of the South Welsh 

 Coalfield, and by original observations on the origin of 

 coal. For thirty long years of unremitting labour, with 

 obstacles of every kind, physical, pecuniary, political, the 

 brave and sagacious director stuck to his post. I\Iany a 

 time with a legislature impatient for practical results in the 

 discovery of minerals, and a ministry indifferent to science 

 and bent on popularity by retrenchment of the budget, the 

 chances of the Canadian Survey seemed desperate. But 



the pilot who guided its destinies showed himself as 

 shrewd a judge of men, and as able to win them over, as 

 he was a skilful pioneer in geology. And the result is 

 that he has made the Canadian Geological Survey one of 

 the first in the wor'd, excellent in its equipment, con- 

 sidering the slender means placed at his disposal, and 

 altogether admirable for the vast amount of solid work 

 which it has accomplished — work which has not merely 

 been of service to Canada, but has acquired a world-wide 

 interest. In doing this he has made his own name 

 a household word among geologists of every country. 

 Canada may well be proud of her Sir William Logan. 



About four years ago, having toiled so long and hard, 

 he felt compelled to relinquish his post and seek the rest 

 which his old age so needed and deserved. He was 

 succeeded by Mr. Alfred R. .Selwyn, who had been trained 

 in the early days of the Geological Survey under Sir 

 Henry De la Beche, had done much excellent and difficult 

 geological work in Wales, and had thereafter held for a 

 number of years the post of Director of the Geological 

 Survey of Victoria. The Victorian authorities in 1S69 

 suppressed their survey. Vv'hen Mr. Selwyn lost that ap- 

 pointment, he was induced to accept the guidance of the 

 establishment in Canada. There could hardly have been 

 found a fitter successor to Sir William Logan. Long 

 experience in all the details of geological surveying, both 

 in civilised and in still une.xplored regions, must have 

 made it an easy matter for Mr. Selwyn to adapt himself to 

 Canadian modes of exploration. He was renowned in 

 his old Welsh days for his prowess as a mountaineer, and 

 to judge from the present report the advance of years has 

 not perceptibly impaired his bodily activity and powers 

 of endurance. During the comparatively brief season 

 when geological reconnaissances are possible in British 

 North America he is found at one time away in the far 

 cast of the dominion inspecting mines in Nova Scotia, at 

 another time with his colleagues and Indians laboriously 

 toiling through river, lake, and portage, in the still only 

 partially explored regions towards Fort Garry, or camping 

 out for many weeks on the shores of Lake Superior. 

 During 1872 the operations of the Canadian Survey under 

 his charge extended across the whole breadth of North 

 America at its broadest part, that is from the Queen 

 Charlotte Islands to the headlands of Nova Scotia — a 

 distance, in a straight line, of considerably more than 

 3,000 miles. 



The success of such a service as that of the Canadian 

 Geological Survey must depend, however, in large part 

 on the calibre of the men who act under the director. 

 And Mr. Selwyn is fortunate in his staff, which is nearly 

 the same as that under Sir William Logan. Of his ex- 

 plorers in the field l\Ir. R. Bell and Mr. James Richardson 

 have done much of that sound work on which the reputa- 

 tion of the Canadian Survey rests. To Mr. Billings, who 

 determines his fossils, and to Dr. Dawson, who, though 

 not attached to the Survey, generously lends his assistance 

 in the pakcontological department, the Survey is likewise 

 largely indebted. As an analyst of minerals and ores and 

 an able writer on chemical geology Sir William Logan 

 had a tower of strength in Dr. Sterry Hunt, who has 

 lately accepted an appointment in the United States. Dr. 

 Hunt's successor, Dr. Harrington, carries with him into 

 his new duties the good wishes of all geologists who take 



