378 Transactions. — Chemistry. 



upper layers ; and their superior fineness of quality as compared with that 

 of any of the reef gold found in their vicinity. 



Impressed by these facts Mr. A. C. Selwyn proposed another theory for 

 explaining the origin of these nuggets, and one which certainly appears to 

 meet the question upon the particular points just cited. This theory is " that 

 nuggets may be formed and that particles of gold may increase in size through 

 the deposition of gold from the meteoric waters percolating the drifts, which 

 water, during the time of our extensive basaltic eruptions, must have been of 

 a thermal, and probably of a^highly saline character, favourable to their carry- 

 ing gold in solution."'^ 



At the time this idea was broached nothing systematic or thorough had 

 been undertaken towards investigating this matter as to the probable presence 

 of gold in those meteoric or saline waters referred to, and nothing whatever 

 had been accomplished towards showing any likely means by which gold, 

 depositing from such solutions, would be determined upon itself as a continuous 

 coating, and in such quantity as occasionally to form nuggets of the enormous 

 size we find them in such drifts, nor did Mr. Selwyn indeed make any 

 suggestion on this matter ; perhaps considering the initiation of such an idea 

 sufficient for his part, he left the support of it to the ingenuity of chemists, 

 to whom in fact such a laboiir rightfully belonged j in reality, so little was 

 known in support of this theory at the time of its evolution that it seemed in 

 the highest degree chimerical. Since then, however, chemical investigations 

 have given us results greatly in favour of this idea. Thus in the first place 

 as regards the presence of gold in a soluble state in the waters percolating 

 our drifts, it appears that Mr. Daintree found gold in pyrites which had 

 obviously replaced the organic structure of a tree occurring in a drift-bed, 

 and Mr. JSTewbery, Analyst to the Geological Survey of Victoria, afterwards 

 obtained the same results upon other pyrites occurring iD a similar manner, 

 both results showing that gold must have been " presented to the pyrites in a 

 soluble form." 



Since that time gold has been by no means unfrequently discovered to be 

 present in certain mineral and mine waters, and indeed Mr. Daintree has 

 recently found gold while testing the water of a mine in Victoria. 



Perhaps, though, the most important communication we have relative to 

 this subject is that of E. Sonstadt, *' On the Presence of Gold in Sea-water," 

 (" Chemical News," 4th October, 1872). This metal has indeed before this 

 been alleged to exist in sea-water, bnt these allegations have not been sustained 

 with such evidence and accompanied with such detailed description of pro- 

 cesses employed as entitled them to an unreserved belief on our part. Son- 



* *' Trans. & Proc. Roy. Soc. of Victoria," Vol. IX., p. 53. 



