270 The Philippine Journal of Science i9i4 



Pre-Cambrian, rather than Devonian in age. Von Richthofen,* 

 likewise, noted a similar series of metamorphic rocks at many- 

 places in Liaotung. Blackwelder records the association of con- 

 glomerate with quartzite near Li-kuan-ts'un, and I saw samples 

 of a conglomerate composed of quartzite pebbles in the military 

 museum at Port Arthur. 



A knowledge of the geology of the region near Port Arthur 

 might have served the officers of the Japanese army to advantage 

 in directing their campaign in this territory. A rock composed 

 as largely of silica as are quartzite and quartzite-conglomerate 

 would obviously yield a very poor soil; hence, a country made 

 up of such rocks could be expected to afford but little in the 

 way of subsistence for an army. The hardness of the rocks in 

 question, likewise, must have discouraged the engineers who 

 sought to undermine forts by tunneling, especially since the 

 necessity of keeping a knowledge of the location and progress 

 of the tunnels from the Russians prevented the use of explosives. 

 As a matter of fact, the average rate of advance in the tunnels 

 was 15 centimeters per day according to the statement of a 

 Japanese official. Yet the abundant joints and fractures in the 

 quartzite make it much less difficult of excavation to the miner 

 who is trained to make use of such joints (had he been secured) 

 than to the inexperienced soldier who was probably called upon 

 to perform the work. 



Warren D. Smith. 



* China, 7, 72-74 (quoted by Blackwelder). 



