THE GEOLOGY OF SOUTH AFRICA.
C URRENT LITERAT LIRE.
The Geology of South Africa. By F. H. Hatch and G. S. Corstorphine. (Macmillan and Co. 215. net.)—Systematic surveys have been going on in South Africa for ten years past, interrupted, of course, by the war, but renewed on the conclusion of peace. Private observers have also been at work, and the object of the present book is to "correlate and systematise the valuable results of both official and private work," the latter being often made inaccessible by its mode and place of publica- tion. Both the authors are now at work in the Transvaal. Of this region a full map is given (nearly twenty miles to the inch). Another map on a smaller scale represents the geology of South Africa generally. Gold and diamonds are not really the most important products of a country, but human weakness makes us feel an interest in them. The diamond was first discovered in South Africa in 1867. The first stone so recognised, which some children were playing with, sold for ..Q00. In 1869 the" Star of South Africa" was found; it weighed 83f carats. These were river stones ; "dry diggings" were begun in 1869. The former are the finer in quality. The " prize " diamond, so far, is the " Cullinan," found in the Premier Mine (near Pretoria) on 'January 25th, 1905; it weighs about a lb. ay.
Previous page
