412 J. B. Scrivenor — Ohsidianites in Malay Peninmla. 



obsidianites in 1902, inclines, apparently, towards the view of their 

 having been derived from terrestrial volcanoes. Keferences to earlier 

 literature will be found in the works of the above-mentioned authors. 



A detailed description of the obsidianites in the Malay Peninsula is 

 unnecessary, since they agree with those described and excellently 

 figured by Dr. Verbeek, Dr. Krause, and Mr. Simpson. Dr. Verbeek 

 figures also two specimens of Moldavite (Bouteillesteenen) from 

 Bohemia for comparison with the obsidianites. 



With one exception all the specimens that have come under the 

 wa-iter's notice were found in tin-ore bearing alluvium in the Blat and 

 Gambang Valleys in the district of Kuantan, Pahang. The exception 

 is a small obsidianite from the Sudu Seremban Tin-mine, Xegri 

 Sembilan, collected by Mr. Leonard Wray in 1904 and now in the 

 Perak Museum, Taiping. 



Mr. H. C. Robinson has informed the writer that obsidianites have 

 been found elsewhere in Negri Sembilan, namely, at Gemas and on 

 the Triang River. 



Generally the Pahang obsidianites show the "brilliant black lustre, 

 making them appear, as Krause says, as if varnished or lacquered",^ 

 and they also show the sculpturing that is the chief feature of these 

 remarkable bodies. Sometimes, however, they are distinctly water- 

 worn, which robs them of their lustre and impairs the minute detail 

 of the sculpturing. 



A partial analysis of a specimen by Mr. B. J. Eaton, Government 

 Chemist, Kuala Lumpur, shows- 

 Si O2 . . . . 72-60 per ceut. 

 Alo O3 and Fe, O3 . . 26-00 

 CaO . . . . 4-00 



The mean specific gravity of three large specimens was found to 

 be 2-46. 



The alluvium in which the obsidianites are found is sandy and 

 contains few pebbles. These are mostly quartz, but others of 

 quartz-porphyry and dolerite occur, both rocks being found in situ 

 in the district. 



I^one of the specimens examined by the writer show any trace of 

 the shell of glass which Professor "Weinschenk describes^ as covering 

 about one-third of the surface of the two specimens of Moldavite from 

 Kuttenburg; but seeing how thin and fragile this skin is, its absence 

 in a bed of alluvium containing rolled pebbles is not to be wondered at. 



As the writer has no facts to record regarding the Pahang 

 obsidianities helping to terminate the doubt that exists as to their 

 origin, he does not propose to discuss the theories that have been put 

 forward at any length. Professor "Weinschenk considers- no stronger 

 proof could be given of the cosmic nature of Moldavite than the glass 

 skin, which is interpreted as the result of fusion of the surface of the 

 stones as they fell through the atmosphere, unless they should be 

 observed actually falling. Without assuming the pre-existence of 

 volcanoes now disappeared, the theory of a meteoric origin is the only 

 one that explains the wide distribution of these bodies. The objection 

 that no undoubted meteorites of the same composition are known 



' Simpson, op. cit., p. 81. ^ Op. cit., p. 739. 



