134 Reports & Proceedings—Kdinburgh Geological Society. 
generally equivalent to the Transvaal system. The schists are 
invaded by a granite comparable with the Newer Granites of the 
Cape Province. The mica occurs in a remarkably regular manner 
in large “ books ”’, usually on the walls of pegmatite dykes, which 
consist mainly of felspar, with a little quartz, and often with 
tourmaline and rarely large prisms of beryl. The mica is wholly 
muscovite, usually either the ruby or bottle-green variety, some- 
times clouded and silvery, the books varying from four to five inches 
in diameter to as many feet, and generally not more than six inches 
thick. The visible supplies are large and the industry shows much 
promise. 
REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 
EDINBURGH GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
January 19, 1921.—Mr. D. Balsillie, B.Sc., F.R.S.E., Vice-President, 
in the Chair. 
1. “ An Address on ‘ The Topography of Spitsbergen ’.” By 
John Mathieson, F.R.S.G.S. 
Mr. Mathieson stated that Spitsbergen was discovered by the 
Dutch in 1596, while they were attempting to find a North-west 
Passage. The archipelago consisted of a group of five large islands, 
with numberless small ones, and the estimated area was 25,000 
square miles, or half the size of England. Although within 700 miles 
of the North Pole and 1,620 miles north of Edinburgh, the summer 
climate was not much colder than the Shetlands, and the winter 
was much milder than either Moscow or Winnipeg, a condition 
which was entirely due to the influence of the North Atlantic drift. 
The largest island on the west, known as the mainland, was deeply 
indented with many fiords, the largest, Icefiord, extending over 
50 miles. Flanked against the mainland by Prince Charles Foreland 
—first explored by Dr. W. 8. Bruce—which had an area of 250 
square miles, with a mountain range rising to nearly 4,000 feet. 
The general appearance of the country was indicated by the name, 
which meant “ sharp-peaked, rocky mountains ”’, rising generally 
to a height of 2,500 to 3,500 feet, with one peak in the south over 
5,000 feet, and Mount Newton in the north, 5,676 feet. The west 
was comparatively free from ice, but the north-east of the mainland 
was covered with a sheet 1,000 feet thick, while the North-east Land 
was covered with an ice-sheet 1,700 feet thick. Barents and Edge 
Islands were practically free from ice. Stor Fiord was selected 
by the Russo-Swedish authorities to measure an are of meridian 
(1898-1902) which extended from South Cape to the Seven Islands, 
a distance of over 300 miles. Glaciers were receding on the west, 
but there were still many flowing to the sea, and calving icebergs 
during the summer. The rate at which these glaciers moved had 
not been fully examined, but one measured this year showed about 
