224 Geological Society : — 



7. " On some Cupriferous Shales in the Province of Houpeh, 

 China." By H. M. Becher, Esq., F.G.S. 



This communication contained some geological observations made 

 during a visit to a locality on the Yangtse river, near I-chang, about 

 1000 miles from the sea, for the purpose of examining a spot 

 whence copper-ore (impure oxide with some carbonate and sulphide) 

 had been procured. 



The principal formations in the neighbourhood of I-chang were 

 said to be Palaeozoic (probably Carboniferous) limestones of great 

 thickness, overlain by brecciated calcareous conglomerate and reddish 

 sandstones, which form low hills in the immediate vicinity of the 

 city. About fifty miles further west the limestones pass under a 

 great shale-series with beds of coal, the relations of which to the 

 sandstones are not clearly ascertained. 



The copper-ore examined by the writer came from the shales, 

 which contained films and specks of malachite and chrysocolla, and 

 in places a siliceous band containing cuprite, besides the oxydized 

 minerals, was interstratified in the beds. Occasionally larger 

 masses of pure copper-ore are found imbedded in the strata. The 

 ground had not been sufficiently explored for the value of the de- 

 posits to be ascertained. 



8. " The Cascade Anthracitic Coal-field of the Rocky Mountains, 

 Canada." By W. Hamilton Merritt, Esq., F.G.S. 



The coal-field named occurs in the most eastern valley of the 

 Rocky Mountains, that of the Bow river, and, like other coal-fields 

 of the country, consists of Cretaceous rocks, which lie in a synclinal 

 trough at an elevation of about 4300 feet above the sea. The 

 underlying beds, of Lower Carboniferous or, possibly, Devonian age, 

 rise into ranges 3000 feet higher. 



Further to the eastward the Jurassic and Cretaceous coal contains 

 a large percentage of hygroscopic water and volatile combustible 

 matter, and has the mineral composition of lignite. The average 

 composition is : — . 



Per cent. 



Fixed carbon . . 42 



Volatile combustible matter . 34 



Hygroscopic water 16 



Ash 8 



100 



As the mountains are approached, the amount of hygroscopic 

 water is found to diminish by about one per cent, for every ten 

 miles, and fifteen miles from the range the percentage is about five. 

 In the foot-hills the lignites pass into a true coal, with 1*63 to 6'12 

 per cent, of hygroscopic water, and 50 to 63 per cent, of fixed carbon. 

 In the Cascade-river Coal-field the average character of the coal is 

 that of a semianthracite, with the following composition : — 



