i 8 7 8 J 
Notices of Books . 
421 
Records of the Geological Survey of India. 
Vol. x., Part 4, contains an account of the Geology of the 
Mahanadi Basin and its vicinity, by Mr. V. Ball, with a notice 
of the diamonds, gold, and lead-ores of the Sambalpur district, 
by the same author. The diamonds appear to be decidedly a 
thing of the past. About 1856 the right of seeking for diamonds 
in this district was leased by the Government at the low rate of 
200 rupees per annum, but the lessee abandoned the undertaking 
as unremunerative. The author, however, thinks that the 
southern channel of the Mahanadi might prove more produdtive 
than the northern, which has been the scene of all recorded and 
traditional explorations. The matrix of the diamonds is proba- 
bly situate in the sandstones and shales of the Barapahar Hills. 
Beryl, topaz, carbuncle, amethyst, cornelian, and clear quartz 
were formerly collected in the Mahanadi, probably derived from 
the metamorphic rocks. 
Gold-washing is chiefly confined to the small jungle streams, 
but the quantity cohered does not appear considerable. 
Galena, containing about 12 ozs. of silver to the ton of lead, 
has been found near Sambalpur, but the investigations made 
were not on a sufficient scale to decide whether it occurs in 
remunerative quantities. 
The principal papers in vol. xi., part 1, are Mr. Lydekker’s 
Notices of the Fossil Mammals of the Siwalik, and Mr. Bland- 
ford’s Reply to Dr. Feistmantel on the Palaeontological Relations 
of the Gondwana System. 
Report of the United States Geological Survey of the Territories . 
By F. V. Hayden. Vol. vii. Washington : Government 
Printing Office. 
This volume contains a description of the tertiary flora of the 
western territories. The descriptions are full, and the illustra- 
tions numerous and well executed. 
Reports of the United States Geological Survey of the Territories. 
Vol. xi. Monograph of North-American Rodentia. By 
Elliott Coues and J. A, Allen. Washington: Govern- 
ment Printing Office. 
We have again good cause to congratulate the Staff of the 
United States Geological Survey on the work they are accom- 
plishing, We have here a most elaborate account of the 
