44 
Egyptians used in working tlieir wonderful monuments of 
granite and syenite. If it were worth their while to con- 
duct turquoise mining with flint flakes in the Sinaiitic pro- 
montory, and if they used the same tools in the hieroglyphs 
that fix the date of these mines — -and of this there can he 
no reasonable doubt — it is very probable that they employed 
the same means for the same end elsewhere, and that, to 
say the least, a part of their marvellously minute sculpture 
in Egypt has also been wrought with flint. There is no 
evidence that they were acquainted with the use of steel. 
Iron and bronze are not hard enough for the purpose. The 
minute and delicate sculpture left behind by the Mexicans, 
which can be proved to have been worked with stone tools, 
adds to the probability of this view. 
“ On the Hades, Throws, Shifts, &c., of the Metalliferous 
Veins of the North of England,” by Mr. J. Curry, of Bolts- 
burn, Eastgate, County of Durham. Communicated by 
E. W. Binney, F.RS., F.G.S. 
That part of the lead mining district of the North of 
England, to which the author’s observations on vein 
phenomena more particularly apply, is situated on the 
eastern slope of the Pennine chain, and includes Alston 
Moor, East and West Allendales, Derwent, Weardale, and 
Teesdale. Millstone grit caps most of the ridges in this 
area, but the principal strata are of the carboniferous 
limestone formation, and consist of alternating limestones, 
sandstones, and shales, with an intercalated bed of basalt. 
(Whin Sill.) The chief ore bearing series of strata is stated 
as overlying this basaltic bed. 
After making a few remarks on the prevalence of veins 
in this area, and on their bearings and widths, he describes 
and illustrates the characteristics of hades, throws, shifts, 
and bent positions of strata, in connection with veins. 
Hades are greatest in shales, or argillaceous strata. It is 
found, especially in the Alston Moor district, that the throws 
and shifts are greatest at, and near the surface, and that they 
diminish in descending into the earth. This is probably the 
case with the bent forms of strata. 
