426 Reviews — Department of Mines, Canada. 



" A Brief Note on the Phosphate Deposits of Egypt," by Dr. John 

 Ball, has also been published as Survey Department Paper No. 30 

 (Cairo, 1913). The author calls attention to the extensive beds of 

 phosphate of lirae which occur in various parts of the deserts of Central 

 Egypt, in sedimentary strata belonging to the Upper Cretaceous 

 system. Their commercial value was pointed out by the Geological 

 Survey in 1900, and it is highly satisfactory to learn that while the 

 output in 1908 was 700 tons, and in 1911 as much as 6,425 tons, in 

 1912 it was 69,958 tons. 



VI. — Department of Mines, Canada. 



WE have received vols, v and vi, which complete " An 

 Investigation of the Coals of Canada with reference to their 

 Economic Qualities ", by Messrs J. B. Porter and R. J. Durley (1912). 



We have also received a work entitled " Tourbe et Lignite, leur 

 Fabrication et leurs Emplois en Europe ", by Mr. E. Nystrom (1913). 

 In this volume the author gives the results of a personal study of the 

 industries connected with peat and lignite (or Brown Coal) in 

 various parts of Northern Europe, the object being to aid the 

 development of the peat industry in Canada. The methods and 

 processes of working peat were examined in Sweden, Norway, 

 Finland, Russia, Denmark, Holland, and Austria ; and of peat and 

 lignite in Germany. The volume is mainly of technical interest ; 

 the author gives a brief account of the classification and composition 

 of peat, and then passes on to practical matters, giving detailed 

 accounts of his observations, with illustrative plates and text-figures 

 of implements and machines employed in the cutting of peat and in 

 its fabrication into various forms of fuel. There are views of the 

 excavations, of blocks and stacks of peat, and of methods of transport. 

 Accounts are also given of the uses of peat for moss-litter and other 

 economic purposes. 



We have further received the Annual Report on the Mineral 

 Production of Canada for the year 191 1 (1913), by Mr. John McLeish. 

 The chief products are copper, gold, iron, lead, nickel, silver, 

 asbestos, coal, gypsum, petroleum, pyrites, quartz, and salt. 



YII. — The Magnetic Ieon Sands of Natashkwan, Countt of 



Saguenay, Peovince of Quebec. By G. C. Mackenzie. 1912. 

 rpmS has been published as a separate report. The Iron Sands 

 J_ consist chiefly of quartz, felspar, garnet, olivine, magnetite, and 

 ilmenite, and they occur on the north shore of the lower 

 St. Lawrence river and gulf. The deposits vary much in extent and 

 thickness, and they appear worthy of practical attention in not more 

 than three or four localities. To be of commercial value it is 

 necessaiy to separate not only the magnetite and ilmenite from the 

 other minerals, but also the major part of the ilmenite from the 

 magnetite. Only one serious attempt has been made to concentrate 

 and smelt the magnetite. This was at Moisie, about 330 miles east 

 of Quebec City; but the works have been closed. It is pointed out 

 that the Natashkwan sands constitute one of the most promising of 

 the deposits, as there is a treeless dune area which " contains at least 

 500,000 tons of magnetic iron concentrate that will average 67 per 

 cent in iron". 



