464 Notices of Memoirs — Short Notices. 



a description of the Cretaceous rock of Eastern Pondoland, and on 

 a geological survey of tlie Kentani division. The shells and bones 

 in the Cretaceous appear to be rolled and rounded in the lowest 

 beds. The bones include those of Chelonia, and a lower jaw 

 resembling that of Mosasaiirus, while sharks' teeth also occur. 

 Further reports by the same authors deal with the Matatiele 

 division, with an account of the petrography of the volcanic rocks, 

 and on the divisions of Beaufort West, Prince Albert, and Suther- 

 land. The authors propose a slightly diflFerent classification of 

 the Karroo System, in that they separate the Dwyka series from 

 the Ecca. 



2. Ceylon. — The Eeport of the Director of the Mineralogical 

 Survey of Ceylon Administration Reports, 1903, pt. iv (Miscellaneous), 

 has just reached us. The Mineralogical Survey was established 

 in the latter part of 1902 for three years, the objects being an 

 examination of the occurrence of economic minerals in the island 

 with a view to their further development and the preparation of 

 a report descriptive of the mineral resources, as well as the arrange- 

 ment of the geological collections in the Museum and the accumu- 

 lation of further specimens, a duplicate series being reserved for 

 exhibition at the Imperial Institute. A separate guide to the 

 geological collections is to be ultimately prepared. 



The staff consists of a Director, A. K. Coomaraswamy, an 

 assistant director, James Parsons, an office peon, two overseers, 

 a ' collector' (sic), and eight coolies. The staff is sanguine enough 

 to suggest that 1,000 square miles can be superficially surveyed in 

 the course of a year. Perhaps we under-estiraate the capacity of 

 the peon. 



The greater part of Ceylon consists of ancient crystalline rocks, 

 granulites, or, in a wide sense, gneisses, which belong to the 

 Charnockite series. Mica seems to be the most important economic 

 mineral in the area reported upon, and includes muscovite, biotite, 

 and phlogopite, of which the latter is of chief commercial impoi'tance. 

 Graphite, the most important of all the mineral resources of the 

 island, is chiefly distributed in areas outside the range of this report, 

 but sketches of several mines are given. Working, however, 

 depends on the price of the graphite, which is at present low. 

 Iron is the only metal treated of. The precious stones mentioned 

 are Corundum, Moonstone and Garnet, and the other mineral 

 mentioned is Pitchblende (Uraninite), but a footnote states that the 

 materials from Bambarbotuwa and Gampola are probably not 

 Uraninite but a new mineral, whose detailed composition is not yet 

 certain. Mr. Coomaraswamy does not believe in the reported 

 discoveries of Cinnabar, he thinks Sindurankanda was ' salted,' and 

 that there is no geological probability of there being ore of mercury 

 at Kotte. 



The arrangement of the Museum goes on slowly but surely, and 

 the Director asks for a special grant to enable him to secure and 

 exhibit a representative collection of gems. 



