W. Skey. — Formation of Gold Nuggets in Drift. 377 



The modification therefore which I propose is the use of acetate of copper 

 in place of the iodide, this salt, as also free acetic acid and alkaline acetates, 

 dissolving the cupreous iodide to only a very slight extent. 



For practical use this salt might be prepared from common sulphate of 

 copper by adding thereto acetate of soda in quantity sufficient to allow of the 

 whole of the sulphuric acid of the copper salt being interchanged for acetic 

 acid, but for the more complete removal of iodine I should recommend the 

 use of the acetate of copper alone. 



I will only state further that the pure acetate of copper (acidified with 

 acetic acid if necessary) is so delicate a test for iodine, if in the form of a soluble 

 iodide, that it may very effectively and conveniently be used for this purpose 

 in place of the expensive salt, chloride of palladium ; indeed, by this process 

 I have readily detected iodine in certain waters from the east coast of this 

 (North) Island. 



Art. LY. — O71 the Formation of Gold Nuggets in Drift. By W. Skey, 

 Analyst to the Geological Survey of New Zealand. 



[Read he/ore the Wellington Philosophical Society, 23rd October, 1872,1 



The manner in which those gold nuggets have been formed which are found 

 in our drift or fluviatile deposits has long been a subject of profound interest. 

 Our Victorian friends in particular have been greatly exercised with this 

 matter, no doubt from having it so frequently and forcibly presented to them 

 by the almost regular announcement from time to time of the discovery of 

 nuggets so large as to be entitled to description in the annals of their gold 

 fields, and to names to identify them by. 



From the circumstance of their attention being thus given to this subject 

 many valuable observations have been recorded by them and published in the 

 periodicals or other works emanating from their colony. 



The first theory broached to account for the presence of these nuggets in 

 drifts was that they had been broken off some rich reef and transported by 

 water bodily to the positions in which they are now found by us. At first sight 

 this appears very plausible, but there are several considerations which, when 

 allowed to have their due weight, rather tend to shake our belief in its 

 competency to explain the case. These considerations have been discussed 

 pretty freely in the works alluded to so I need not detail them here, but will 

 only state that, briefly put, the chief of them are as follows : — The large size 

 of many of these nuggets as compared with any of the masses of gold yet found 

 in our reefs ; their position in the drifts, lying sometimes as they do in the 



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