1879 -! 
Notes . 
11 1 
and iron pyrites, would bring about the necessary chemical 
changes, calcium sulphate being formed and carried away, and 
the garnet solution could then crystallise out. Another explana- 
tion of the occurrence of garnet in the conglomerate may be as 
follows : — Garnet is a very common accessory of crystalline 
rocks, occurring mostly in slates of various kinds, such as 
talc slate, mica slate, chloritic slate, and aluminous slate ; it 
also occurs in gneiss, granite, porphyry, serpentine, and granular 
limestone. One or more of the above-mentioned rocks containing 
crystallised garnets already formed were disintegrated by the 
adfion of water, and the resulting debris (consisting of grains or 
pebbles of quartz and garnets) was carried away and deposited 
in a semi-fluid mass of silica and calcite, and thus cemented 
together 
Mr. F. P. Venable, of the University of Virginia, has analysed 
an alloy known as “ Tungsten-Manganese Bronze.” A fragment 
cut from a small block of so-called tungsten-manganese bronze, of 
light gold-yellow colour, pretty close grain, and with a fine polish 
upon one side of the specimen (sp. gr. = 8*64), was carefully 
tested qualitatively, and the proportion of the constituents found 
were thus determined. No manganese whatever was present, 
and but an insignificant amount of tungsten. The alloy con- 
sisted of — Cu, 86-51 ; Sn, 9*04; Z n, 3*47; Fe, 0-26; W, 0-23; 
total, 99*51. It is therefore but an ordinary gun-metal, with part 
of the tin replaced by zinc. Of course manganese may have 
been added in its production, as well as a larger proportion of 
tungsten ; but if so, they have failed to be taken up, or have 
been burnt out before the alloy was cast ; and manganese so 
removed may have served in a measure to improve the compact- 
ness and homogeneity of the mass by carrying off with it oxygen 
from the remaining metals, as in the use of phosphorus in making 
“phosphor-bronze.” But the name under which the alloy is 
sold is calculated to mislead purchasers. 
Barff’s process for the prevention of corrosion on iron surfaces 
is being applied on a very large scale. The process, shortly, 
consists of passing superheated steam over the iron goods to be 
treated whilst at a red-heat, and can be applied to all kinds of 
iron-work, rendering it absolutely rustless at a less cost than 
galvanising, so substituting an absolute protection for one which 
confessedly is but partial in its aCtion and easily removed. 
From the Annual Report by the Keeper of Mining Records we 
learn that the production of coal in the United Kingdom during 
1878 was estimated at 132,607,866 tons, valued at £46,412,753. 
The quantity of iron ore is given as 15,726,370 tons, valued at 
£5,609,507. There were produced 29,867 tons of iron pyrites, 
worth £19,099. Of pig-iron there were 6,381,051 tons produced 
from ores obtained in the United Kingdom, valued at £16,154,992. 
The total decrease in the production of coal in the year 1878, as 
