Mat 25, 1883.] 



SCIENCE. 



461 



brown iron ore, and yielded on analysis 63.51 

 per cent of metallic iron. 



Aecompanj'ing the rejjort is a " Horizontal 

 geological section on the main road from Dur- 

 ban to Van Reenen's pass, by Dr. P. C. Suth- 

 erland." This, in so far as it covers the same 

 ground, differs considerablj' from that pub- 

 lished by C. L. Griesbach in 1871. Tlie Table 

 Mountain sandstone, referred by Griesbach 

 to the carboniferous, is by Sutherland consid- 

 ered Silurian. The mesozoic eruptive rocks 

 are joined together under the name of basaltic, 

 and are apparentl\' represented as dikes, and 

 not as interstratified flows of melaphyr, amyg- 

 daloid, and aphauitic diorite, as % Gries- 

 bach. 



Mr. North gives the following geological 

 order of succession in the rocks of Natal : — 



1. Basaltic trap rocks, often penetrating be- 

 tween stratified rocks or shales of the coal- 

 measures, and forming horizontal beds. 



2. Triassic horizontal coal-measures, con- 

 taining coal-seams correlating with the Storm- 

 berg coal-field of Cape Colony. 



3. Pietermaritzburg shales, probably corre- 

 sponding with the upper Karroo beds of Cape 

 Colon}-. 



4. Conglomerate or bowlder clays, in all 

 probabilit}' the Dwyka conglomerate of Cape 

 Colonj'. 



5. Sandstones, horizontal and massive, of 

 the Inanda location, Table Mountains, and 

 Bothas Hill, etc., probablj' of Silurian age. 



6. Primary rocks, — granite, gneiss, marble, 

 etc. 



Mr. North seems to have overlooked the 

 cretaceous series, from the lower greensand up 

 to the white chalk described bj- C. L. Gries- 

 bach in south-eastern Natal ; and no evidence 

 is given for assigning the Table Mountain sand- 

 stone to the Silurian instead of the carbonif- 

 erous : in fact, no notice whatever is taken of 

 Mr. Griesbach' s able work on the geology of 

 Natal. 



At the Insiswa Mountains, in the Amaponda 

 territor}', the line of demarcation between a 

 vast eruption of igneous rock and the triassic 

 contains various ores of copper containing 

 traces of gold. Mr. Griesbach also mentions 

 the occurrence of copper ores along the line 

 of the eruption of melaphyrs. We have here, 

 in another portion of the world, another in- 

 stance of the occurrence of cupriferous traps 

 in the trias. 



The bowlder clay consists of a bluish gray 

 base, so fine that its constituents are not re- 

 solvable except under high magnifying power, 

 and then no crj'stals are disclosed. It appears 



to be a very fine indurated mud, containing 

 bowlders, pebbles, angular fragments, and 

 grains of a great varietj' of rocks varying in 

 size from masses weighing over 5 tons to 

 pieces smaller than a pea. In mechanical com- 

 position it greatlj' resembles the great Scan- 

 dinavian drift. It stretches for hundreds of 

 miles, and has been found 1,200 feet thick. 

 Some of the larger angular bowlders seem to 

 have been brought from a distance of at least 

 70 miles. It seems difficult to account for such 

 a formation otherwise than bj' glacial action at 

 the close of the dyassic period. 



THE BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ANGLING. 



Bibliotheca piscaloria. A catalogue of books on 

 angling, the fisheries, and fish-culture, with biblio- 

 graphical notes and an appendix of citations touch- 

 ing on angling and fishing from old English authors. 

 By T. Westwood and T. Satchell. London, 

 Satchell, 1883. 397 p. 8°. 



The possibilities of the future in the forma- 

 tion of libraries on special subjects, at present 

 rates and ratio of increase in book-making, 

 are brought forward in a striking manner by 

 examination of a list like that before us. Here 

 is a work devoted to angling, fisheries, and fish- 

 culture, in which 2,148 distinct publications 

 are registered under 3,158 entries, inclusive of 

 new editions and reprints. Angling occupies 

 245, fisheries S3, and fish-culture 23 pages. 

 Eoughly estimated, nearly ten per cent of the 

 publications, including reprints, etc., have ap- 

 peared since 1870. Fish-culture alone claims 

 an increase of nearly one-third in the same time. 

 It is hardljf to be expected that a work of this 

 character should be entirelj' exhaustive or 

 complete. The authors deserve great credit 

 for the nearness of their approximation to 

 completeness, for the amount and quality'' of 

 information given, and for general accuracy. 



An example or two will indicate respects in 

 which the book may be improved in future 

 editions. 



'■'■ Oesner (Conrad). Aqvatilivm animantivm 

 nomina Germanica et Anglica, serie lite- 

 rarum digesta, authore Conrado Gesnero. 

 [1530?] 8°. Appended to an edition 

 'P. Ovidii Nasonis Halieuticon, etc' 

 Tigvri apud Gesneros fratres, pp. vi-f- 

 280, and extending from page 12 to 

 280. . ." 

 This should read, — 

 Gesner (Conrad). De piscibvs et aqvatilibvs 

 omnibvs libelli III. Noui. Avthore 

 Conrado Gesnero Medico et philosophiae 

 naturalis interprete in Schola Tigurina. 



