Editorial Notes. 245 



Arising out of the previous question, as they say in Parliament, it 

 is perhaps permissible once more to draw attention to a most 

 important subject, namely, the proper examination, treatment, and 

 preservation of the cores from borings. According to the details 

 given by Mr. Sington, there will be no cores from the Derbyshire 

 borings ; nevertheless the principle is the same : all material obtained 

 from deep bores should be inspected by competent geologists and the 

 results carefully recorded. Cores are frequently treated in the 

 most haphazard fashion, being examined only by the borer, who 

 often records their character in jargon intelligible only in the 

 district where they happen to be, and totally useless anywhere else. 

 It is rarely that a core is inspected by a competent geologist and the 

 results published in a scientific form. It is, of course, obvious that 

 it may be necessary in certain cases that the details of a boring 

 should be kept secret for a time, but in the national interest 

 control should be compulsorily exercised over all borings, which 

 should be inspected during their progress by Government geologists 

 and the facts carefully registered as the work progresses. Thus 

 intending prospectors could at any rate obtain information as to 

 whether the work proposed had already been done in that particular 

 district, and unnecessary expenditure thus prevented. One of the 

 most important functions of applied geology is to prevent people 

 wasting their money on fruitless enterprises. 



The Department of Mines of the Dominion of Canada has shown 

 commendable promptitude in the issue of its "Preliminary Report 

 of the Mineral Production of Canada during the Calendar Year 

 1918", which bears date Februaiy 27, 1919. One can only say 

 si sic omnes ! The total value of the minerals produced during the 

 year shows an increase of 10-8 per cent over that of 1917, while 

 since 1913, the last complete year before the War, the increase is 

 no less than 443 per cent. More than half of the increment of value 

 since 1917 is due to the higher price of coal, while silver, cobalt, 

 and asbestos reached considerably higher prices, the actual pro- 

 duction of the two latter being also higher. Copper, lead, and 

 molybdenite show a considerably greater output, but the price 

 of the last has fallen off sadly, owing to the lessened demand for 

 munition purposes. For the first time for some years a small 

 output of tungsten is recorded from the Yukon, Manitoba, Nova 

 Scotia, and New Brunswick. The nickel industry of the Sudbury 

 district fully maintained its position, and many of the minor 

 products and non-metallic minerals showed substantial increases, 

 especially petroleum, magnesite, and gypsum. Altogether the 

 mineral industry of the Dominion appears to have been in a 

 flourishing condition in 1918. 



