334 Scientific Intelligence. 



Mountain area was concerned mainly with a study of the ultra- 

 basic igrneous rocks and associated copper deposits in the valley 

 of Roding river. The rock types described and analyzed include 

 Dunite, Ilarzburgite, Wehsterite, Rodingite(of which an extended 

 discussion is given), Diabase, Diorite, — all intrusions of post- 

 Jurassic age. Copper occurs in a belt of serpentinized basic and 

 ultrabasic rocks, filty-five miles long. The original mineral of the 

 lodes is believed to have been cupriferous pyrrhotite. The table 

 of formations shows sediments of Jura-Trias and Miocene age, 

 but an absence of palaeozoic strata previously reported from this 

 locality. Upper Jurassic is given as the date of a period of 

 extensive folding, repeated with less intensity in post Miocene 

 times. As with Bulletin 14, this report has a meagre treatment 

 of physiography, in spite of the evidence from rock terraces and 

 similar features that interesting problems await solution. The 

 New Zealand Survey reports have, in general, been characterized 

 by fairness in division of space among various branches of geo- 

 logical science, and it is to be hoped that no marked change in 

 this respect is contemplated. h. e. g. 



8. Bulletin No. llf.. The Geology of the New Plymouth Sub- 

 division, Taranaki ; by Edward DeCourcy Clarke. Pp.58 ; 

 5 maps ; Wellington, 1912. — The New Plymouth area exhibits 

 strata of Tertiary age in which are included coal beds, also lavas 

 and tuffs dating from Miocene and Pliocene times. The Pleisto- 

 cene igneous mass of Mount Egmont constitutes the most promi- 

 nent topographic feature. The report is chiefly concerned with 

 detailed descriptions of an oil locality, apparently of more scien- 

 tific than commercial value. Eleven analyses of igneous rocks, 

 minerals, oil, and a list of fossils are features of Mr. Clarke's 

 report. The absence of a fuller discussion of the physiography is 

 to be regretted. ii. e. a. 



9. J Jeter mi native Mineralogy with Tables for the Determina- 

 tion of Minerals by Means of their Chemical and Physical Char- 

 acters; by J. Volney Lewis. Pp. 151 ; 68 figures. New York, 

 1913, Wiley & Sons. — It is refreshing to find among the many 

 determinative mineral tables that have appeared recently a book 

 like this which lays the proper emphasis upon chemical tests. 

 This volume contains brief introductory sections upon Apparatus, 

 Reagents, Use of Blowpipe, Reactions for the Elements, Crystalli- 

 zation, etc. The tables themselves in their main arrangement 

 follow closely the well-known Brush-Penfield Tables. Fewer 

 minerals have been treated and the description of the tests has 

 been much condensed. The only criticism of the book might be 

 that this condensation and the consequent abbreviation of terms 

 had been carried a little too far. vv T . e. f. 



10. Dantis Confirmation of Darwin f s Theory of Coral Reefs ; 

 by W. M. Davis. A Correction. — On p. 1*79 of the above article, 

 the first reference (*) at the bottom of the page belongs to the 

 word horizontal in line 3 ; the second reference (f) belongs to the 

 word describes in line 4 (not describes in line 8). 



