40 Reviews — Geology in Federated Malai/ States. 



their literary style. As almost all the rocks belong either to the 

 Andesite or Ehyolite group, the detailed petrographical notes given 

 of each individual specinaen certainly prove somewhat monotonous 

 reading. Professor Sollas himself states that the substance of the 

 report may be regarded as mere statement of matter of fact : we 

 have hopes, however, that these ' dry bones ' may yet live, since he 

 holds out the expectation of a more comparative study for the final 

 report, in which also the question of the origin and structure of 

 spherulites will be considered. 



In a general note preceding the systematic descriptions of the 

 specimens we have a foretaste of this final report in some in- 

 teresting remai'ks on the nature of the ' pilotaxitic ' matrix of the 

 andesites, and also on the supposed re-fusion of rhyolites, for which 

 Professor Sollas finds no evidence, since the so-called felspar-' glass ' 

 is really only a decomposition product. 



To supplement the descriptions of the specimens an introductory 

 and explanatory account of the geological position of the rocks is 

 given by Mr. McKay. 



Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the volume is the wealth 

 of illustrations; plates of photographs of scenery and of micro- 

 photographs of the thin slices of the rocks are almost interleaved 

 with the letterpress. 



IV. — Geology in the Federated Malay States. 



BY the kindness of a friend we have seen several Eeports issued 

 by this Government, but as copies have not been sent to the 

 Library of the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) we are unable to give 

 a comprehensive notice of the whole of the work done. Those 

 Eeports before us are No. 8, dealing with the Geology of the 

 Eesidency of Sarawak, and of the Sadong District, Borneo,^ and 

 the Geologist's Eeport for 1904.^ Mr. J. B. Scrivener, the geologist 

 to the Federated Malay States, after acknowledging help obtained 

 from the staff of the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) in the naming of 

 fossils found, reports on his journey through the areas of the 

 four Federated States. He describes the serpentine areas of Kuala 

 Pilah and Negri Sembilan, some of which is used for road-metal 

 and some for ornaments. He failed to find a trace of platinum, 

 the object of his search. Ornamental building-stone seems to be 

 abundant, and the granites would work up on a large scale. The 

 occurrence of tin is next dealt with and occupies the bulk of the 

 Eeport. The main object of the visit to Sarawak and Borneo was 

 economic (gold and coal). Mr. Scrivenor gives a brief but careful 

 sketch of previous work, and proceeds to make supplementary notes. 

 The coal-seam at Sadong is 2' 9" in thickness, but varies considerably. 

 It is a black bituminous coal, light in weight and easily fractured, and 

 contains a considerable amount of calcite and some pyrites locally. 

 It burns well and leaves little ash, but owing to its friable nature 



1 Geol. Dept. F.M.S. (Kuala Lumpur), 1905, 12 pp. 



2 Ibid., 7 pp. 



