446 Notices respecting New Books. 



Charters-Towers Gold-fields aDd the Coast, dated Townsville, 14th 

 May. 1878, with a Supplement dated 10th Xoveinber. The for- 

 mations observed were : — 1. Eecent Alluvium, with sandstones, 

 grits, breccias, and conglomerates, rarely associated with organic 

 remains, and covering auriferous " leads " (old channels). 2. Ter- 

 tiary Basalt. 3. A Sandstone of undetermined age, but older than 

 the " Desert Sandstone" of Daintree. 4. Devonian formations, in 

 three stages, more or less fossiliferous. 5. Predevonian metamor- 

 phic rocks, of wide extent, and carrying all the metalliferous veins, 

 dykes, or reefs of the district. The richest gold-veins are in the 

 most highly metamorphosed rocks near their contact with those 

 least altered ; and the principal of these auriferous reefs have a 

 concentric arrangement between Charters-Towers and Millchester 

 (fig. 26). These greywackes, quartzites, shales, slates, micaceous 

 and other schists, gneiss, granites, syenites, and porphyries are 

 carefully noted, according to localities, as well as their dykes of por- 

 phyry, diorite, quartz, &c. Copper, tin, galena, blende, and pyrites 

 occur in variable quantities in some of the porphyritic and other 

 reefs, some of which are illustrated in neat woodcut sections. The 

 gold is not quite so good as that of Victoria and Xew South ^vTales, 

 but is abundant. Statistics of the yield and value are duly given. 



The second Eeport, dated 7th June, 1878, is on the Geological 

 features of part of the Coast-range between the Dalrymple and 

 Charters-Towers Eoads. This covers a blank in the geological map 

 of the former Eeport. Granite, sandstone, greywacke, and lime- 

 stone, more or less altered, and referable to the series before men- 

 tioned, though difficult of exact determination, were here met 

 with. 



The third Eeport, dated Xovember 23rd, IS 78, is on the Xorthern 

 part of the Bowen-Eiver Coalfield, with a note of errata dated 

 Xov. 10th, 1879. This coalfield, stretching from the Bowen Eiver 

 " through six degrees of latitude to the heads of the Dawson," 

 has long been known, chiefly from the late Mr. Daintree's researches 

 and memoirs. The northern end dies out on wide-spread meta- 

 morphic rocks of Precarboniferous age, which bear some patches of 

 more recent formations here and there. On the slopes of the 

 Herbert and Clarke Eanges (plutonic and metamorphic) lie vol- 

 canic agglomerates ; the lower series of the coalfield, consisting of 

 sandstones and conglomerates, succeed ; then the bedded porphy- 

 rites and basalts of Mount Toussaint and Mount Macedon; then 

 the middle series (marine) of the coalfield, with fossiliferous sand- 

 stones {Productus &c), carbonaceous shales, and two seams of coal : 

 altogether about 1848 feet thick. The upper (mainly freshwater) 

 coal series, at least 1000 feet thick, succeeds, with Glossojpteris &c, 

 and a bed with Goniatites and Productus. This coal is very much 

 burnt and destroyed by overlying and intrusive lavas. 



Xotes on the quality and value of the respective Coal- seams are 

 given ; also careful lists of references to papers and reports of other 

 observers bearing on the history and nature of these coal-beds. 



These Brisbane Eeports are evidently the work of a strictly 



