427 
1876 .] Physics. 
may have already met with Garnierite in other countries, and passed it over 
as a poor ore of copper not worth closer examination. The mines of New 
Caledonia have already sent to France a ship charged with 500 tons of this 
mineral. 
Some fields of iron ore have been recently discovered in the South of Russia. 
They are situated partly in the Verchni-Dnieprovsky district of the Ekater- 
inoslaw Government, and partly in the Elizavetgradsky district of the Cherson 
Government ; iron ore is found here on the rivers Saksagane and Ingouletz, 
near the village Krivoy-Rog. About 12 miles from this place on the river 
Saksagane, near the village Tcheivonnaia-Balka, large quantities of red 
hematite are found. Immense layers of hematite, 100 feet thick, are situated 
near the river Ingouletz and the village Doubovaia-Balka. Mr. Sergius 
Kern, of St. Petersburg, says that it is estimated that these new fields contain 
altogether 90,000,000 tons of ore. 
The attention of the Madras Government having been again called, after a 
lapse of nearly forty-two years, to the occurrence of gold in the Malabar 
District, it was considered advisable that an examination of the country should 
be made by the Geological Survey of India. It now, however, turns out that 
the area over which the auriferous deposits and quartz reefs extend is so large 
that a considerable period of time must elapse before a full report of the whole 
district can be made. In the meanwhile, as a gold mining company had been 
started with the intention of opening up the quartz reefs known to exist in 
Wynad, and more particularly those near Dayvallah, the attention of the 
Deputy Superintendent, Mr. William King, B. A., was first directed to this region. 
The country examined up to this time constitutes a local division of this part 
of the district. The intermediate elevated terrace of mountain-land lying be- 
tween the low country of Malabar, the loftier plateau of the Nilgiri mountains, 
and the Mysore territory, called the Wynad, has been separated into North 
Wynad, South Wynad, and South-east Wynad ; and these larger areas are 
again parcelled out, after a native classification, into Amshams. In 1793 the 
gold mines of Malabar appear to have been noticed by tbe then Governor of 
Bombay, who tried to get information on the subject ; and they were farmed 
by the Madras Government in 1803. In 1831 Mr. W. Sheffield, Principal Col- 
lector of Malabar, wrote an interesting report on these gold mines, upon which 
Lieut. Woodly Nicholson was deputed to explore the country with a view to 
the development of this industry. A committee was then appointed, and the 
Report, dated May 25, 1833, practically condemned the working for gold, as 
an European industry, in the low country of Malabar. In 1865 or 1866 Mr. 
Stern paid a prospecting visit to Wynad, and made trial of the alluvial depo- 
sits, of which there are several in the form of flat swampy land along the 
courses of the streams. Within the last year or so attention was again called 
to the occurrence of gold in the Wynad. Some of the planters had lived in 
Australia previous to their coffee experiences, and being more or less acquainted 
with quartz and its occasional associated minerals they were naturally struck 
with the quartz in Wynad, while they also knew that gold was and is obtained 
by the natives. The Alpha Gold Company was then started, the prospectus 
Of which states that the stone will yield about 1 ounce of gold to the ton of 
quartz. The gold obtained from the reefs is of a pale colour; that from the 
leaders and washings is generally yellow : and that from the surface washings 
nearly always of a good yellow colour. Up to the present time Mr. King’s 
observations appear to show that quartz-crushing should he a success. The 
average proportion of gold for fifteen trials on different reefs is at the rate of 
7 pennyweights to the ton, and it is almost certain that many of these would 
have given a better outturn could more perfect crushing apparatus have been 
used at the time. The fineness or touch of the ore is inferior to that of Aus- 
tralia, but it compares favourably with Californian reef gold. The percentage 
of 86'86 is given as a fair average, for on looking at the differences between 
alluvial and matrix gold in other regions, it is found that they agree very 
closely. The value of Wynad reef gold, when compared with the mint 
standard of £3 17s. iojd., is about Rs. 36-12-2 per ounce troy, which is, of 
course, somewhat lower than the mercantile rate : 7 pennyweights, or the out. 
