36 Scientific Proceedings, Royal Dublin Society. 



eixsting between these zones and the neighbouring rocks do not 

 appear to have been as yet very fully elucidated ; still, in general 

 terms, they may be described as being formed of schists which 

 rest in synclinal troughs upon the older granitic gneissose rocks. 

 The schists are of various kinds — hornblendic, chloritic, hse- 

 matitio and micaceous, the latter passing into quartzites, and in 

 one of the zones there is a very remarkable and interesting bed 

 consisting of an enormously thick conglomerate of pebbles and 

 boulders of compact gneiss in a greenish-grey foliated chloritic 

 matrix. Traversing these schists, &c., occur quartz reefs, in 

 which traces of gold are found, and with the presence of which 

 the existence of the auriferous deposits generally appear to be 

 connected. 



At one locality, near Honnali in Mysore, there are a great 

 number of reefs traversing chloritic rocks. To them is traceable 

 the source of the gold which is found distributed through the red 

 soil, covering the neighbouring low country. Mr. Foote describes 

 having witnessed the prospecting of some of these reefs by an 

 experienced Californian miner, the results having been satisfac- 

 tory. The quartz was found to contain gold, which was visible in 

 grains and scales, scattered pretty freely through the mass. The 

 " TurnbuU " reef, which was the most promising of the group, 

 could be traced, with some breaks, for a distance of nearly six 

 miles. " The results of many washings, both of crushed quartz 

 and of the red soil taken from many localities and various levels," 

 were in the majority of instances " satisfactory." Significantly 

 it is remarked, that the prospects in this case are certainly greater 

 than those of other companies whose shares are, or were till lately, 

 favourably quoted. 



Regarding the Kolar field, Mr. Foote considers that the reefs 

 found there, though small and inconspicuous at the surface, are 

 true fissure veins or lodes. The quartz composing them is, he writes, 

 " a bluish or greyish-black diaphanous or semi- diaphanous rock 

 which is remarkably free from sulphides (pyrites, galena, &c.) of 

 any kind. The gold found is very pure and of good colour. Several 

 washings of crushed vein stuff were made in my presence at the 

 TJrigam and Kolar mines with really satisfactory results, the quan- 

 tity of gold being very appreciable." The samples, it is said, were 



