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OBITUARY.

The death of Mr. E. Vredenburg who was a Superintendent in this Department from 1910 to 1923 has been referred to in the Records, Geological Survey of India, Vol. LV, part 2.

The death of Sir Henry H. Hayden who was the Director in this Department from 1910 to 1921 has been referred to in the Records, Geological Survey of India, Vol. LV, part 4.

LECTURESHIP.

Mr. H. Crookshank continued as Lecturer on Geology at the Presidency College, Calcutta, until the new session began on the 2nd July 1923 when he was replaced by Mr. H. Walker.

POPULAR LECTURES.

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A popular geological lecture on "The Birth of the Ganges was delivered in the Indian Museum during the Monsoon by Dr. E. H. Pascoe.

LIBRARY.

The additions to the library amounted to 4,295 volumes of which 1,170 were acquired by purchase and 3,125 by presentation and exchange.

PUBLICATIONS.

The following publications were issued during the year under report:

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Paleontologia Indica, New Series, Vol. VII, Memoir No. 2.

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Mr. H. Crookshank was Curator of the Geological Museum and Laboratory from the beginning of the year

Staff.

to the end of July.

On the 1st of August

Mr. H. Walker assumed the duties of Curator. Babu Purna Chandra Roy retained the Assistant Curatorship throughout the The year. two posts of Museum Assistant were vacant at the beginning of the year and remained so until Babu Abani Kumar Dey was appointed to one of them on the 2nd of July.

Chemist.

Dr. W. A. K. Christie, Chemist, has been engaged chiefly with the routine work of the laboratory. He has also investigated an interesting group of zeolites from the Deccan Trap, some of which he has described in a paper now in the Press.

Determinative work and Analyses.

The number of specimens referred to the Curator for examination and report was 237. Assays and analyses were made of 44 specimens. The corresponding figures for 1922 were 497 and 102 respectively. The specimens which were analysed were largely coals and lignites but in addition there were oil-shales, hornblende and zeolites. Many determinations of the calorific values of coals, by means of the bomb calorimeter, were made.

During the year under review presentations of geological specimens were made to the following institu

Donations to Muse

ums, etc.

tions :

(1) The Benares Hindu University.

(2) The Bethune College, Calcutta.

(3) The Chief Engineer, Great Indian Peninsula Railway.
(4) The Government Laboratory, London.

(5) The Hyderabad Museum, Deccan.

(6) The Jaipur Museum, Rajputana.

(7) The Muséum National d' Histoire naturelle, Paris.

(8) The University College of Science, Calcutta.

(9) The University of Geneva, Switzerland.

(10) The University Institute of Giessen, Germany.

(11) The Urdu Normal School, Amraoti.

(12) The Zilla School, Bhagalpur.

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A very large amount of mineral material has been presented to the Department. This material has been incorporated in the exhibit which is about to be sent to the British Empire Exhibition, and to which fuller reference is made elsewhere.

Additions to Collections.

These specimens will be included, ultimately, in the Collections of the Department. In addition, donations of the following specimens have been added to the collections:

(1) Apatite rock from the Vizagapatam district. Presented by Mr. V. S. S. Iyer.

(2) Bricks of various kinds. Presented by Messrs. J. H. Sankey
and Sons, Ltd.

(3) Chrome brick. Presented by Messrs. Austin and Young.
(4) Chromite. Presented by the Baluchistan Chromite Co., Ltd.
(5) Crucible made from sillimanite. Presented by Messrs. Geo.
Holloway, Ltd., London.

(6) Kaolin and sand for glass-making. Presented by the Raj-
mahal Quartz, Sand and Kaolin Co.

(7) Ochre. Presented by the Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun. (8) Quartz epimorphous after chabazite. Presented by F. L. G. Simpson, Esq.

(9) Sodalite with calcite, apatite and graphite. Presented by Mr. Wright of the Burma Ruby Mines, Ltd.

(10) Tungstite on wolfram from Hermyingyi, Tavoy. Presented by W. Harman, Esq.

Calcutta 1923.

Exhibition,

A small collection of important Indian economic minerals was shown at the Calcutta Exhibition, 1923. Unfortunately, the choicest specimens of our collections had already been set aside and packed for the British Empire Exhibition. On this account and by reason of the short notice given it was not possible to do justice to Indian Mineralogy, Petrology, Paleontology and Stratigraphy at this Exhibition.

A start has been made with a geological museum in Rangoon and temporary quarters have been obtained in the office of the Conservator of Forests (Sittang Circle), 46A, Dalhousie Street. In all, the museum contains 13 show cases containing specimens of 180 minerals, 140 rocks and 242 fossils. The collection consists for the most part of a donation from the Geological Survey of India, Calcutta, and although at present somewhat scanty, is fairly representative as regards general minerals and rocks and Burma fossils. It is hoped that, as the Museum becomes known and is made use of by the numerous geologists who pass through Rangoon, it will be possible to expand the exhibits into a really good collection of Burma minerals, rocks and fossils. As the museum progresses the

display of geological wall maps will be materially increased and besides general maps of the various parts of the Indian Empire. will include the detailed work carried out in Burma by officers of the Geological Survey.

A small chemical laboratory has now been equipped in the Rangoon Office and Maung Hla Baw, B.Sc. Laboratory. (Calcutta), appointed as Chemical Assistant. During 1923, 29 specimens have been examined and reported on; of these 3 were quantitatively analysed.

BRITISH EMPIRE EXHIBITION.

Early in the year orders were received from the Government of India that the Geological Survey of India should prepare an allIndia mineral exhibit for display at the British Empire Exhibition, to be held in London in 1924. Dr. J. Coggin Brown was entrusted with the task of arranging, cataloguing and packing this collection and carried out these duties with his usual thoroughness and fore-. sight. The work was completed before the end of December and the 109 cases containing the specimens despatched to London, where they will be displayed and cared for by Mr. A. K. Banerji, Assistant Superintendent, who has been placed on deputation for the occasion.

The bulk of the collection, which has been drawn from the materials stored in the Geological Survey Office and Museum, in addition to 58 geological maps, sections and photographs and 144 volumes of publications, comprises 289 rock specimens and 787 minerals, collected in the past by the officers of the Department, in the course of their routine duties. Many of these, though invaluable from a scientific standpoint are not however, sufficient for a popular display. It was decided therefore to enlist the assistance of mining firms and others interested in the mineral industry throughout India, and to request them to present large and showy specimens, or typical products of their enterprise, for inclusion in the all-India collection. The generosity with which this has been responded to is evident from the list of donors given. below, and in very few instances was a refusal met with. The specimens so obtained supplement the nucleus prepared in this office, and make it thoroughly representative, while, at the same time they will prove a valuable addition to the Imperial collection of minerals on their return to India.

The collection is grouped as follows:

Class I.-Rocks.

Class II.-Minerals--(i) Ores, (ii) Other minerals of economic importance, (iii) Minerals of scientific interest.

Class III.—(i) Geological maps and sections, (ii) Photographs, (iii) Publications.

The collection of rocks includes typical representatives of the Archæan formations of the Peninsula, the Himalayan granites, the Charnockite series, the Elæolite-syenites and Augite-syenites, the Pegmatites and their associated minerals, the Peridotites and related rocks, the Deccan Trap, Recent volcanic rocks from regions. adjoining India, typical Gondwana rocks from the Giridih coalfield. and striated and facetted boulders from the Salt Range.

The collection of ores includes natural compounds of aluminium, antimony, arsenic, chromium, copper, gold, iron, lead, silver, zinc, manganese, molybdenum, tin, titanium, tungsten and zirconium.

The collection of minerals of economic importance includes abrasive minerals, (corundum and garnet), asbestos, barytes, borax, calcium salts, coal, graphite, magnesium compounds, mica, monazite, ochres-oil, shale, ornamental stones, petroleum and its products, phosphates, potassium salts, rare-earth minerals, refractories, salt, slate, steatite, strontium salts and sulphur.

A list of the special donations received for the all-India Mineral exhibit is given below:

1. Gondwana Rocks belonging to the Talchir and Barakar series from the Giridih coalfield. Presented by H. G. Lancaster, Esq., Chief Mining Engineer, East Indian Railway Co., Ltd.

2. Chromite. Presented by the Baluchistan Chrome Co., Ltd. 3. Copper Ores from the Mosaboni Mine and a specimen of metallic copper smelted by the ancients. Presented by the Cordova Copper Co., Ltd.

4. Copper Ore from the Bawdwin Mine. Presented by the Burma Corporation, Ltd.

5. Iron Ores and raw materials used in the manufacture of iron; samples of various grades of pig iron; various castings including pipes, axle-boxes, chairs, brake-blocks, railway sleepers and an electric-light standard. Presented by the Bengal Iron Co., Ltd.

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