MUSEUM OF VICTORIA

39392

(EMAUKS ON THE SEDIMENTARY FORMATIONS
OE NEW SOUTH WALES.

ILLUSTRATED BY REFERENCES TO OTHER PROYINCES OF

AUSTRALASIA.

BY THE

REV. W. B. CLARKE, M.A., E.G.S., E.R.G.S.,

MEMBER OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETIES OF FRANCE AND AUSTRIA, VICE-PRESIDENT
OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, &C., &C.

Third Edition.

SYDNEY : THOMAS RICHARDS, GOVERNMENT PRINTER.

Third Edition.

[INTRODUCTORY notice— The first Edition of the following Memoir was

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REMARKS ON TIIE SEDIMENTARY FORMATIONS OF NEW

SOUTH WALES.

If we inspect the map of Australia we observe that the coasts of
Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland, follow the general
directions (with somo irregularity) of the Cordillera, or elevated
land separating the waters flowing directly to the coast from those
which draining the interior, disembogue to the south-west.

Tho Murray River receives some parts of its tributaries from
the high lands of Victoria, and others from New South Wales ;
whilst the Darling and its tributaries collect the remainder of
the supply from as far north as 25° s.

The Cordillera thus sweeps round in an irregular curve from
w. to e. to the head of the Murray — and thence, northerly and
north-easterly, to the head of the Condamine ; trending north¬
westerly from that point to 2L° s., whence it strikes to the north,
terminating its course at Cape Melville, in 14° s., about the
meridian ol 144° .30' e., which is that of Mount Aiexandcrin Victoria.

The more westerly and southerly trend of drainage is repre¬
sented by the Thomson and Barcoo Rivers, which carry oil’ the
waters of tho Cordillera at the back of tho Barrier Ranges to
Spencer’s Gulf. The meridian of the head of that Gulf is, there¬
fore, the western limit of East Australia.

The Cordillera itself, described in part by Strzelecki in 1845,
was traced by him through a considerable part of its diversified
course (as understood by him), from the southern point of Tas¬
mania to the parallel of 28°, in longitude 152°; but not further
westward than 14G° on the parallel of Mount Alexander. It is,
however, doubtful whether the range between this furthest
western point and Wilson’s Promontory, where he considers tho
chain to be cut off by tho sea, forms anything more than a spur in
that direction, though passing through Bass’s Strait onto Tasmania.

But the extent of tho Cordillera westerly, to its termination
on the border of South Australia, is so well defined, that there
can be no question that the s.w. and w. extension has as true a
character as any part of the northern prolongation. This may be
geologically deduced from researches of the Geological Survey of
Victoria. That province is limited, at its eastern corner, by a line
joining Cape Howe and tho head of the .Murray, so that tho
boundary crosses very near tho highest point of all Australia,
which Strzelecki made G,500 feet above the sea, but which
subsequent observations have shown to be 7,175 feet. This
correction rests on observations made by myself in 1852, and on
a re-discussion of them in comparison with results obtained by

6

Sedimentary Formations.

Professor Neumayer in 18G2. On 8th May, 1852, I made the
highest point of Kosciuseo 4,077 feet above my then J>ase, at
3,008 feet above the sea, which therefore came out 7,175 feet;
and in February, 1803, Professor Neumayer wrote me word that
he made the highest peak in November, 18G2, 7,170 feet. This
makes Kosciusco’s summit, above the crossing place of the Inch
or Hume River, at Groggan’s, 5,425 feet.

To the northwards, the 144tli meridian limits very nearly all
the high land of the East Coast to Cape Melville, whilst the
142nd meridian limits to the westward the basin of the Darling,
including part of the drainage along the Thomson and Barcoo,
from the head of the Flinders to where it passes into South
Australia on the 141st meridian.

. Thus, all this enormous drainage of western New South Wales
and south-western Queensland is, as it were, bounded by ranges
of high geological antiquity, the Grey and Barrier groups being
of undoubted similar age to the mass of the Eastern Cordillera.

It has long been known that the strike of the oldest Sedimen¬
tary rocks through the Cordillera, in Victoria, as well as in New
South Wales, is generally meridional ; so that in the former
province the beds strike across the Cordillera, whilst in the latter
they form various angles from parallelism with it to a transverse
direction, as the chain doubles and winds irregularly in its course.

This is the experience of the Victoria survey, and my own
traverses across various points of the Cordillera in New South
Wales and Victoria establish the fact of a normal meridional
strike of the oldest strata. So distinct, indeed, is this charac¬
teristic, that the settlers in various parts of this Colony have
been accustomed to trace the direction of north and south by the
strike of the slates, and are often guided by it.

It sometimes happens that, owing to the high angle of dip, and
the effect of denudation on the overlying formations, the Cor¬
dillera itself becomes in places almost knife-edged, so that in
New South Wales it presents occasionally a water-shed not
more than nine paces in width ; whilst in Maneero to the south,
and in New England to the north, it spreads out in a plateau,
on which eastern and western waters rise close together and
sometimes overlap. Theso different features have a variable
geological value as well as aspect ; for, owing to the strike of the
older rocks, the breadth of the Silurian formations, which, as in
other countries, are repeated by recurring folds, may bo more
exposed in Victoria than it is in New South Wales ; and owing
to the curve of the Cordillera probably the same beds are traceable
to the north which occur in the south ; as, for example, the
auriferous rocks of Omeo and Peak Downs, which are on the same
meridian ; and thus the meridional strike is exhibited along the
north-east coast, where there arc alternations of old rocks

New South Wales . 7

forming precipitous cliffs, with low valleys and beaches separating
those alternations.

Independently of this arrangement the whole of the Central
area inside the Eastern Cordillera has a trend to the south and
west, so that the waters collected between 22° and 37° s., on the
east of South Australia, find their way to the sea at the eastern
corner of that province.

We might naturally assume that one order of deposits is to be
expected throughout the Cordillera ; but there is a singular
exception. Whilst marine deposits of Tertiary age are found
along the west coast of Australia, and along the southern coast
from Cape Leuwin to Cape Ilowe, there are no known marine
Tertiaries in any part of the Coast of New South Wales and
Queensland up to the Cape York Peninsula \ and the reason of
this may be, that, as indicated by phenomena before pointed out
by me, but which on this occasion cannot be further dwelt upon,
the eastern extension of Australia has been probably cut off by
a general sinking, in accordance with the Barrier Beef theory of
Mr. Darwin. This has some support from the fact that there is
a repetition of Australian formations in the Louisiade Archipelago,
New Caledonia, and New Zealand, in the latter of ■which occur
abundant Tertiary deposits. The intervening ocean may, there¬
fore, be supposed to cover either a great synclinal depression or
a denuded series of folds ; but, as shown in 1874 by the soundings
from ILM.S. Challenger, this depression is of enormous depth,
in one sounding 2,025 fathoms having been reached.

Belatively speaking then, the Cordillera of the eastern coast
has not been subject to the changes which introduced the relics
of a Tertiary ocean, or they have been removed by subsequent
sinking and denudation. At any rate, no evidence is known to
me of marine Tertiaries on the lands north of Cape Ilowe.

Another fact -worthy of notice, as showing the probable ancient
geological vicissitudes of Australia is, that the great Carboniferous
series which is so prominent in New South Wales and in parts of
Queensland, but which is less distributed in Victoria, and there
only partially and irregularly as to the portions still remaining,
has been broken up and carried away, so as to have left the
various members dislocated, ruined, and separated in such a way
as to allow no clear view to be taken of the whole till all the
various portions have been separately examined; and to the
want of this personal examination on the part of certain Palaeon¬
tologists and others, who have never yet studied the Carboniferous
formation of New South Wales, is to be attributed the perseverance
with which they have so long disputed facts attested by geologists
in New South Wales, who are familiar with that Colony and with
Victoria also, but who are ignored by the closet-geologists of the
latter.

8

Sedimentary Formations.

In consequence of the absence of marine Tertiary deposits in
New South Wales, and the occurrence of a more complete series
of the strata in the sections of the Carboniferous formation, there
has arisen a difficulty in collating the gold deposits with those of
Victoria ; and, in this respect, at present the upper deposits in
the former province have not been assigned with much precision
to the epochs adapted by Mr. Selwyn for the latter. And it also
follows that his view of the distinct ages of Pliocene auriferous
and Miocene non-auriferous gravels cannot bo tested in New
South Wales, if, indeed, it has not already been tested by the
actual discovery of gold in the so-called Miocene deposits them¬
selves, as they occur in Victoria.

So far as is at present known, gold in Victoria is derived
chiefly from the Lower Silurian formation ; but researches con¬
ducted for me at H.M. Mint in Sydney urovc that it exists in
almost every distinctive rock of New South Wales. In this pro¬
vince the alluvial deposits arc not so extensive as in Victoria;
but this probably arises from the fact previously mentioned of the
striko being in Victoria transverse to the direction of the
Cordillera; by which means the currents which distributed the
drift had a wider area of gold-bearing materials to denude than
in New South Wales, where, I conclude from numerous examples,
the principal currents were to northward, so that in that province
they would coincide with the direction of the Cordillera, and not
accumulate the deposits in such low-lying extensive regions as
those of the Murray Districts. The same objection would obtain
on the supposition of gradual waste and accumulation from less
powerful agency than that of a general rush of water. It is not,
however, to be doubted that there is an enormous amount of gold
yet untouched in numerous places in New South Wales, not only
in the quartz lodes (or reefs) but in gullies and plains where
alluvial gold diggings will yet be discovered.

Dr. Duncan, in an elaborate paper on some of the fossil Tertiary
corals of Australia (Proceedings of tlie Geological Society , August ,
1870), suggests the propriety of discarding the divisions into
Pliocene, Miocene, and Eocene, of the Australian Tertiaries, and
of substituting the general term Kainozoic, since he considers
them merely as successive deposits of one continuous epoch. But,
as proved by my own researches more than twenty years ago,
much of the gold in New South Wales is derived from iron pyrites
in granite, and in beds of sedimentary origin, consisting of
siliceous matter cemented by iron derived from decomposed
pyrites, whilst it lias been shown by Aplin, Daintree, Ilacket,
Wilkinson, and others, that much gold in Victoria and Queens¬
land is due to the intrusive agency of felstones, elvauites, and
diorite. The dykes or reefs of quartz in the Silurians are there¬
fore not, as once supposed, the exclusive sources of Australian

New South Wales .

9

gold. Nay, there is good reason to believe that the Carboniferous
rocks are themselves impregnated, as in one remarkable instance
on Peak Downs. In New Zealand gold sometimes occurs so
mixed with siliceous particles as to constitute with them a golden
sandstone.

The distinctive differences in material mineral wealth between
Victoria and New South Wales arc not altogether confined to
gold or tin, which latter metal is well represented in New South
Wales and Queensland ; but coal, iron, and copper, and perhaps
lead, prove together more than an equivalent of the great amount
of gold in Victoria.

At the Universal Exhibition of 1854-5, the present writer
exhibited a collection of rocks and fossils, illustrating the whole
of the geological formations of Australia as then known, and
these were enumerated in their stratigrapliical order in the
published Catalogue. A few remarks on the various geological
epochs, as they now represent themselves in New South Wales,
with brief statements as to their connection with other portions
of Australasia, may be all that is necessary on the present
occasion.

# Azoic and “ Metamorphic ” Bocks.

There has not been sufficient evidence yet collected to show
that these rocks extensively exist in Eastern Australia, although
in Tasmania rocks of a doubtful class (and which may, perhaps,
be only highly altered Lower Silurian) have been referred to them
by Mr. Gould. The existence of gneissoid strata, and of schists
of very ancient aspect, are also well known in New South Wales,
with occasional unfossiliferous limestones ; but it would be pre¬
mature to place them, without doubt, under the present head.
Mr. Daintree, however, describes them as the source of some
gold in the Cape Biver and Gilbert Districts, to the north. Somo
of those mentioned under the “ First Epoch ” of Strzelecki have,
on close inspection, appeared to mo to be merely the products of
transmutation ; nor is such an improbable result, seeing that in
Australia some slates have apparently been changed into granitic
rocks. It is at least certain that such rocks generally occur in
the immediate vicinity of granites, which latter frequently occupy
large areas both in Maneero and in New England, as well as along
the Cordillera, and in independent masses along the coast. In
Western Australia, where an enormous region is occupied by
granites, and the older formations are represented only by small
patches of slates, whilst the granites themselves remain bare,
these patches are found on the flanks of the granitic bosses and
at extremely wide intervals ; nor have I been able to detect among
the numerous collections which have passed through my hands,
any distinct evidence of any but doubtful examples of those

IO

Sedimentary Formations .

foliated rocks which belong to the so-called primary epoch. In
Southern Australia, also, there does not appear to be any con>
siderable amount of strata which could be referred to this epoch.
Transmutation has, however, acted vigorously in New South
Wales.

Lower Palaeozoic Eocks.

(Lower and Tipper Silurian.)

Of these there are undoubted evidences in some limited districts
of Tasmania and Queensland, whilst in Victoria and New South
Wales considerable areas are occupied by them.

Western Australia lias as yet not furnished any fossils of
Silurian age; but, according to Mr. Y. L. Brown, Government
Geologist, there are clay slates, schists, and other rocks which
may be Silurian much transmuted, judging from their position and
composition.

The North-west territory is in much the same condition.

South Australia has furnished two fossils, Pent aments oblongus
and Cruziana cucurbit a , stated by the Eev. Julian E. T. 'Woods,
in his account of the Geology of that Colony (p. 20 and 21), as
belonging to the Silurian epoch. The former occurs in New
South Wales ; the latter in the Bolivian Andes.

In Tasmania along the Gordon and Franklin Fivers occur
various Silurian fossils, some among which identical with those
of New South A Vales were noticed by me ; but Mr. Gould
considers others to be Lower Silurian. This formation evidently
exists in that Colony, for in 1873 1 received from Mr. T. Stevens,
F.G.S., some Trilobite-sandstone from the western part of the
Island, which Mr. Etheridge determined for me to contain
I J ha cops, Oyyyia and Calymenc ; and to these Professor Bradley, of
the U.S., to whom was forwarded by me some of the rock, has
added Conocephalites , thus proving the relations of the rock to
the Potsdam sandstone.

Mr. Gould mentioned, in June, 1SG0, a Calymenc at the base
of the Eldon Fange. I found that genus also in New South
AValcs in 1852. In Victoria Professor M‘Coy has made a list of
twenty-five Lower and fifty-three Upper Silurian fossils, inclu¬
ding in the former twenty-three Hydroid zoophytes, and another
species belonging to the Upper formation. Of the Graptolitidas
only one is said to have been found in this Colony, and 1 presume
that it is more likely to belong to the Upper Silurian than to the
Lower, though towards the Victorian boundary, along the Deleget
Fiver, Lower Silurian rocks, according to some, arc supposed to
make their appearance.

New South Wales offers a moro determined evidence of the
existence of certain Silurian deposits, but singularly enough
nothing has been positively shown of the existence of any fossils

New South Wales .

ii

below the base of the Llandovery or the Middle Silurian, except
in the case just mentioned.

To this epoch I referred fossils found by inein Maneero, in my
Report of November, 1851, which was re-published in 1860, and
it is satisfactory to find that the examination of a considerable
amount of specimens by Prof, do Koninek of Liege, who kindly
undertook the task of describing them, has resulted in a confir¬
mation of my opinion.

Summing up his review of sixty of these, he says that they are
in nearly equal divisions of the upper and lower beds of the
Upper Silurian formation, and that they closely agree with the
fossils of Europe and America; that the major portion of the
former belongs to the Actinozarians and Crustaceans ; and that
the latter are nearly all Mollusca; and that none of the Grap-
tolites noticed by Prof M‘Coy in 1861, and more recently by
Mr. It. Etheridge, junr., from the Victorian strata, occur in the
collection sent by me. And he concludes, as I have done, that
at present the existence of fossil beds below the Middle Silurian
has not yet been determined in New South "Wales.

It is otherwise in Victoria, but it may bo that some of the
highly transmuted rocks of the south-west portion of New South
Wales may yet furnish traces of greater antiquity when
thoroughly examined. In the last edition of this Memoir, pub¬
lished in 1870, I mentioned the existence of certain Corals, Trilo-
bites, &c., as determined forme in 1858 by the late Messrs. Salter
and Lonsdale.

Professor de Koninek is not in antagonism with those geolo¬
gists, but in the fresh series of my fossils he found among the
trilobites Staurocephalus, Cromus, Prootus and Lichas, in addi¬
tion to Calymene, Encrinurus, Illaenus, Iiarpes, and Bronteus
before announced by myself. (See edition of 1870, p. G., and
Southern Gold Eields, I860, p. 286.)

In due time I hope to publish all the data connected with
these and other associated fossils of the Upper, Middle, and
Lower Palrezoic formations.

Nothing lower than Siluro-Devonian, according to Mr. Etheridge
(in review of Mr. Lain tree’s fossils, Q J.G.S., August, 1872),
had up to that time been found in Queensland. But as else¬
where mentioned, I considered the Brisbane slates to be
analagous with those of the Anderson Creek Gold Eield in
Victoria, both of which groups I examined personally in situ.
The latter are held to bo Upper Silurian.

I am inclined to think that there may yet be found in someof
the deep gullies and ravines, outcrops of the lower rocks which
have escaped notice. But th e fossil evidence is, at present, not
confirmatory of that opinion.

12

Sedimentary Formations.

Middle Paleozoic Bocks.

The laic Mr. Jukes desired the term Devonian to he eliminated,
referring the so-called beds to the bottom of the Carboniferous
formation ; but geologists have not generally accepted that
proposal. The series of shells, corals, &c., from the Murruinbidgee,
which I submitted iu 1858 to Messrs. Salter and Lonsdale,
through Sir B. I. Murchison, Bart., # excited doubts as to their
belonging to any but Silurian and Carboniferous deposits.
Among these were Phanerotinus, Loxonema, Atrypa reticularis ,
Orthis rempinata , Murchisonia, Strophomena, and Spirifera of
various Bpecies.

Mr. Salter’s Beport to me was as follows ; “These fossils are
of a mixed character, many being of unquestionable Silurian age,
and others having all the aspect of Carboniferous and Devonian
fossils. It will not be so easy to predicate those of Devonian
type, as there is much similarity between fossils of that ago and
those of either of the other systems, the Lower Devonian species
being very like Silurian, and the Upper like Carboniferous ones.
Put if none of the fossils came from Carboniferous beds, then
there must certainly be Devonian forms mixed with Upper
Silurian.”

Mr. Morris contributed, in 1845, a paper to Strzelecki’s work
of that year, in which lie says : “ Tne Palaeozoic series of
Australia and Tasmania may be regarded as partly the equiva¬
lent of the Devonian and Carboniferous systems of other
countries.”

In 1SG1 {Cat. Viet. J£x7i.) Professor M‘Coystated that “there
had as yet been no exact identifications to prove the existence
in Australia of the intermediate Middle Palaeozoic or Devonian
formation.” And as recently as 1S6G, Vicomto d’Archiac
( Geologic et Falcon tologie, p. 468), writes thus : “Le developpo-
ment des series siluriennes et carbonif£res dans l’Australie doit
y faire soupeonner entre elles un representant de celle qui vient
de nous occuper ; mais il ne semblo pas qu’elle y ait encore etc
bien characterisce par scs fossiles.”

About the same time Professor M‘Coy (Exhibition Essays of
1SGG-7) mentioned that- the limestones of Buchan, in Gippsland,
contained “ characteristic corals, Flacodermatous fish and abund¬
ance of Spirifera Icevicostata , perfectly identical with specimens
from the European Devonian limestones of the Eifel.” In the
Official Becord of the Exhibitions of 1872-3, the addition of
some other pl&ces in Gippsland (unnamed) and of Mount Gibbo, is
introduced by the Under Secretary of Mines for Victoria; and
in 1874 also, Mr. B. Brough Smyth included in his “ Progress
Beport of the Geological Survey of Victoria,” a list of fossils of

* Sco Murchison’s “Siluria,” 3d ed., p. 29G, and 4th. ed., p. 276 and p. 462.

New South Wales.

the most characteristic common types, drawn up by Professor
M‘Coy, which, under the head of Devonian, includes the follow¬
ing: Favosites (two species), Spirifera Iwvicostata, Grammysia
(n. sp.), Orthonota (n. s.), Asterolepis (plates allied to). ' In
1847 the same skilful' Paleontologist noticed some striking
resemblances to Devonian fossils in a few of the large collection
1 sent in to the Woodwardian Museum at Cambridge; and
Professor de Koninck, also in 1847 ( llecherches sur animaux
fossiles ) records Sp. MurcJiisonianus, a Devonian fossil from Tas¬
mania.

In order to test the existence of a wide-spread Devonian
series in New South Wales, I requested (as stated elsewhere)
my friend Profossor de Ivoninck, to undertake the examination
of a collection of 1,000 Pahcozoic fossils, comprising the Upper,
Middle, and. Lower Palaeozoic formations as they exist here, and
he has just favoured me with his account of tlie Devonian forms,
concluding it as follows :—

“Of 81 species observed, tliero are but fivo belonging to the Upper
Devonian, all the rest are of lower beds. Of these 81, thirty are new to
science, and are Australian; but save four, all have their types in Europe
and America, and have the same character and position as those.”

Amongst these tho Professor includes the fossils I referred to
in the last edition of this Memoir (p. 10), from Yass, Mount
Lambie, and on the Turon and Moruya Hirers, and which are
in part, identical with tho Mount Wyatt shells in Queensland.
These latter aro mostly Brachiopods, and I have collected them
during my different journeys of several years from the western
boundary of the Carboniferous formation (underlying it in
situ), and occasionally from a scattered over-lying drift, ranging
for nearly 200 miles of direct distance (included between 36°
south on the Moruya, to nearly 32° south.) The principal of
these particular Brachiopods, are: — lihynconeJla pleurodon It.
pur/mix, Spirifer disjmetus, S. Yassensis; Ortliidce, Productw, &c.
They occur in situ between the slaty rocks of Sofala and ’ the
overlying Carboniferous beds on the Turon ; south of Moruya
Diver; near Mullamuddy on the Cudgegong Kiver; at Cud“e-
goug Creek j in the deep defiles of the Upper Colo River • and
in other places. Mr. C. 8. Wilkinson, with whom I visited the
locality a month or two ago, found them under interesting cir¬
cumstances occurring in a great synclinal curve, from nearly the
summits of Mount Lambie and Mount Walker (with consider¬
able dips), and explaining tho sources from which the loose
pebbles collected by me at Bowcnfells some years since, were
probably derived. From the occurrence of different fossils ’in tho
pebbles, it is certain that many strata of the Devonian forma¬
tion must have been broken up, and it seems that similar beds
nave undergone the same process in other countries, for I well

i4 Sedimentary Formations.

remember picking up, in 1S29, in tlie “ Plate” of Coblentz on
the Rhine, a similar drift pebble, of just such rock as that in
question, containing a Brachiopod of like age.

During some recent explorations in the north-west of this
Colony, I became satisfied as to the widely-spread extent of the
Devonian series, of which more evidence will bo elicited here¬
after, the data for which are already sufficient, but there is no
room to introduce them on this occasion.

I may add here, that Do Koniuck considered the fossils he
examined to be above the European strata with Calceola; but
though not present therewith, Calceola occurs at Mount Erorne,
in the county of Phillip, and Streptorhyncus elsewhere.

Tasmania gives no well-established proof of the existence of
Devonian rock. But it is a fair inference, first suggested by the
late Mr. Salter, that the broad-winged Spirifers common there
in the Palaeozoic beds imply the probable occurrence. Mr. Jukes
and Mr. Gould both repeated the inference. Mr. Darwin and
Mr. Selwyn agree that some of the Tasmanian fossils u occur in
the Silurian, Devonian, and Carboniferous strata of Europe.”
This is nearly all that is known respecting their position.

’Western Australia, according to Mr. Brown’s Report, adds
nothing to the history of the Middle Palaeozoics; but Mr. IT.
Gregory indicated on his map and in his Report the existence
of Devonian rocks near York, and in other parts of that Colony.
Having examined the rocks so indicated, I can only state my
belief that they have no pretension to any such antiquity, and
are probably mere collections of loose granitic matter and other
drift cemented by ferruginous paste, which has since become
transmuted into concretionary nodules and haematite. There aro
also pebbles of trap, much decomposed, in the so-called Devonian.
They may perhaps be more properly considered as representing
the later lie of India.

Queensland, on the other hand, exhibits a stretch of Devonians
extending through ten degrees of latitude. Not the least interest¬
ing facts are that the Tin Mines of Queensland (as well as those
of New South Wales) occur in granites of Devonian age.

At Gympie, on the river Mary, rich gold-bearing quartz reefs
occur in transmuted slates and other tilted beds, which are com¬
posed of detrited dioritic matter and brecciated deposits, in
which are abundance of fossils of doubtful aspect, and these I
before referred to some part of the Carbouiferous formation. Mr.
Etheridge considers and has described the fossils as Devonian.
They certainly have much in common with the Devonian beds
of North Germany and Belgium, described by Sedgwick and
Murchison, as I stated in the Second edition, p. 10. It is right,
however, to remark that Professor M‘Coy does not adopt this
determination, considering the rocks to be younger.

New South Wales .

'5

In rocks of the same age also a vast deal of mineral wealth of
other kinds occurs, as ores of copper, iron, lead, antimony, &c.

In the notes on the Geology of Queensland, by Mr. Daintree,
(Q.J.G.S., Aug., 1872), the fossils are described and figured by
Mr. Etheridge ; and to that excellent Memoir the reader is
referred for much valuable information. Twelve species of the
fossils are described as Devonian.

It is interesting to find Dr. Hector stating at the beginning of
1875, that 2,000 specimens of Lower Devonian or Upper Silurian
fossils have been obtained from the north-west district of the South
island of New Zealand ( Ninth Annual Report of the Colonial
Museum, 1874.) And equally interesting is it to know that New
Caledonia also holds out hope of contribution to the Middle and
Lower Paleozoic faunas, as in the Isle Ducos, Leptama, Spirifera,
Orthis, &c., occur with rolled Rrachiopods of the same character
as those at the “ Gulf” on the Turon River in this Colony.
(Annales des Mines, tome xn, p. 51, 1867.) Monsieur M. P.
Fischer is disposed to assign them to the Devonian period
(Bulletin de la Soc. Geol. de France , IS Mar., 1867.)

It may be well to mention that the Old Red exhibits itself in
association with tho limestone and slaty portions of the formation,
occupying ranges of considerable extent and prominent character
in the Western districts, and that a Lcpidodcndron of some local
interest ( L . nothuni ) also occurs in three of the Colonies.

It seems as if every individual discovery in the Geology of this
Colony had a history or literature of its own.

In June, 1851, Professor M £ Coy wrote to me from Cambridge
respecting the first Lcpidodendron he had seen from Australia,
and which I had forwarded by the late Rear-Admiral King to Pro¬
fessor Sedgwick, and stated it to be L. tetragonum of the English
coal fields.

The late Mr. Salter, in his letter to me of May 0, 1856, said,
however, that the genus was not Lcpidodendron.

In November, 1863, Sir C. Bunbury wrote to Professor R.
Jones, respecting a collection of Australian fossil plants includ¬
ing the above species sont home by mo, and now in the Museum
of tho Geological Society, where they were inspected by him, at
my request, and noticed one (Meone) which he considered to be
very like L. tetragonum.

During the last few years I have collected, or received, this
plant from a variety of localities on New South Wales and
Queensland, and from the latter Colony it was also brought in
abundance by Mr. Daintree. Mr. Carruthers, who has given its
description fully in the paper before alluded to (Q. J.G.S., Aug.,
1872) has assigned to it the name of a species described by Unger,
viz., Lepidodendron no/fium.

i6

Sedimentary Formations.

The extent of territory from which my specimens have been
collected embraces a direct distance of more than 1,100 miles
(English) between 10° S. and 35° S. (of course at intervals only),
from which we may infer the importance of its discovery in any
new locality, as establishing the existence of a portion of tho
Devonian series to which it has been finally assigned.

Till the present date it was not surprising that even careful
observers should classify this plant with Lower Carboniferous
species, as Mr. Odernheimer did in his paper on the Peel River
Estate (i Sydney JExhib. Catalogue , 1854;, p. 54), and as I was
reproved lor doing in 1851 (Report on Coal Eields, Western
Port, Victoria, 1872.)* £If M‘Cov was right in that instance, I
could not be far wrong.

It was satisfactory to bo able to recognize this plant in .Tan-
nary last in a creek near Rydal, on a spur of the Mount Lambie
Range, where tho Devonian Brachiopoda occur, and to be able to
direct Mr. Wilkinson to the locality where he found his five addi¬
tional specimens, which certainly establish the position in situ of
the species in that locality.

The quotation from the Coal Report named above, and the
assertion of the Reporter, show that the opinion held by Professor
M'Coy as to the age of the Lepidodendron in question is still
maintained.

In the first Decade of his excellent work, illustrating tho
Palaeontology of Victoria, now in the course of publication, he
combats in a moderate tone the assignment of this plant to L.
no/hum, still re-asserting his old opinion.

Writing in 18G1 the learned Professor proves that there is no
mistake about the identity of the plant in question, for he says,
a specimen of it, still I believe in the Melbourne Museum, is
of the same species as the only Palaeozoic coal plant ever collected
in New South Wales, and which was sent to mo about twelve
years ago for “ determination during the controversy as to the
age of the plant beds of the Newcastle N.S.AV. beds.” This
mistake as to date is of no importance, as it is rectified by my
previous quotation from Mr. M'Coy’s letter, and I only refer to
it to show, which is due to himself, that we are treating of one
and the same plant.

UrPER Paleozoic.

I would not venture to say, that no Lepidodendroid plant is to
be found in our coal measures, or even the one in question, if the
range of that species goes upward; for I myself submitted two
coal plants from Lower Carboniferous rocks on the Rouchel
River to Professor Dana, who sent them on to Mr. Leo Lesque-
reux of Columbus, Ohio, the best authority in America, on
fossil botany, and whoso report is that one is near Lepidodendron

New South Wales.

l 7

dichotomum and the other is L . rimosum of Sternberg, and that
both are undoubted plants of the true (European and American)
coal measures.

Having personally compared with specimens from Kiltorkan
(in my possession) the Syringodendron dichotomum (of Mr. Car-
ruthers’ paper before referred to) which I sent home to England
some years since, and which is yet in the Geological Society’s
Museum, let mo add that I found it in company with, the
Lcpidodendroji noth urn and some other casts of plants, in the
year 1S52.

I would remark, that in one locality in Tasmania I collected
many individuals of a species of so called Syringodendron, which
occurred in the coal measures at the base of Spring Hill, on the
slope of which hill Strzclccki stated that ho found in beds of sand¬
stone Pecopicris odont opt oroide, s* underlying the Pacing damns
glolosus, known to Professor M‘Coy as a Wollongong Lower
Carboniferous shell. It is only fair to add that though I. made
in two different years a close examination of the hill and the
surrounding district 1 failed to recognise the shell, though I saw
much that reminded me of the geology of certain parts of the
Hunter Eiver coal formation, and of the lllawarra, of the age of
which there is little doubt.

On the borders of the Devonian formation in parts of the
Hunter and Manning Eiver basins, tbo Lower Carboniferous
which is highly inclined passes on along the same strike into beds
charged with Lepidodcndron , Knorria , Sig Maria, See., and in some
instances Lepidodcndron occurs in the same blocks with? Oloptcris
ovata of M'Coy, an example of which was shown in the Exhi¬
bition at Sydney in April, 1875, from the east of Stroud. On
the ranges at the head of the Peel, and about Eooral, Stroud, and
Scone occur numerous fragmentary blocks with Lepidodcndron
and other usually associated fossils of what by many would bo
considered Lower Carboniferous beds.

These and other facts of similar kind have been often stated
by me on former occasions. They are referred to on this, in order
to show the relations of the New South Wales formations. At
present many of the points where the Upper and Middle
Palaeozoics meet arc ill-defined, and it will require the researches
and labours of many years to fill them in with strict accuracy.
Nor can it be wondered at, that in so large a territory and with
such complicated and broken features details must for a long
period to come give way to generalizations. Aware of what is
wanting I, nevertheless, accept with satisfaction the testimony
offered to the work I have endeavoured to perform, because
what has been accomplished by me single-handed, and without
the aid which workers in such a field expect and receive from
public funds, lias been undertaken and carried out, so far as
B

*8 Sedimentary Formations

has been practicable, with singleness of purpose and in reliance
on my own resources.

In the course of my work I have tried to contend with the
prejudices of some who have never visited this territory , and who,
from a distance of many hundred miles, have ventured to dogma¬
tise, solely from a palaeontological point of view, without car in ^
to ascertain how filr the stratigraphical evidence is at variance
with their conclusions.

In consequence of this the ascending order of formations above
the Lower Carboniferous in this Colony has.long been disputed
by some, whose unacquaintance with facts, patent to all who have
examined them, is the best apology for a more temperate style of
criticism than has been adopted.

We arc indebted to Professor M‘Coy, for ascertaining, in 1817,
the existence of eighty-three species of animal remains in our
Carboniferous formation, in a collection forwarded by me to the
University of Cambridge, in which the Professor was then officially
employed.

Before that time, Bowerbank, Sowerby, Morris, and Dana had
determined the existence of the Carboniferous marine beds; and
the latter author enumerates about eighty species observed during
his excursions in New South Wales, in some of which I accom¬
panied him.

More recently Mr. Etheridge has described fifteen species of
Lower Carboniferous fossils from Queensland, in relation to Mr.
Daintree’s paper on the geology of that Colony, of which ten
were furnished by myself. None have yet been discovered in
Victoria. In Tasmania, Mr. Gould figured some well known
forms from that Colony, but the plates were never published.

lie has noticed also what I have contended for, that the worked
coal beds of the Mersey Liver belong to the same formation with
Palaeozoic marine fossils, as in Queensland and on the Hunter
.River.

. Having visited the Tasmanian locality for the purpose of
inspection, I can confirm all that has been stated respecting the
occurrence of the Palaeozoic fossils, Orthonota, Spirifcra, Pcnes-
tella, Pachydomus, Theca, &c., in association with and immediately
above the coal; and within the last few’ months I have been
officially informed that coal seams have been found by piercing
these beds on the Don River, confirming my grounds for recom¬
mendation to look for them.

In estern Australia traces of these marine beds have been
detected and announced by Mr. Gregory. And in extension of
the formation northwards beyond the limits of Australia, it is
Tvell known by more than one observer, that Carboniferous beds
exist in the island of Timor, where Beyrick discovered several

New South Wales.

*9

of our ISTcw South Wales species, e.g., Spirifer lineatus , Sp.
Tasmanicnsis, Bro ductus semircficulatus^ ]?. punctcitus, dfc. ( A.ccid.
dcs Sciences de Berlin , 1861.) .

My own collections have received some interesting additions
from* Queensland during, the last year, which arrived too late to
form part of the contribution to the Daintree collection.

The lower beds of these rocks, as we have seen, pass downwards
to strata holding plants of acknowledged Lower Carboniferous
age.

And in the upper portion of the same, though the plants just
mentioned are missing, occurs a species of a genus which goes
upwards into the overlying coal beds, and which because of its
alliances in other countries, is held by one or two Palaeontologists
to carry those coal beds up to the horizon of the Oolites. .

I have already written so much in denial of this determination,
that, having lately obtained additional data for my opinion, I shall
on this occasion content myself with enumerating the circum¬
stances that justify this view. Did this Memoir aim at anything
more than a brief and succinct statement of observed facts , I
might again go into further argument; but it will save space to
mention the facts and invite those who deny them or cavil at
them, to come across the border, take off their coloured spectacles,
and judge for themselves.

Those who deny the asserted age of our workable coal seams
affect to rely on the assumed age of that most prominent plant—
Glossopteris Browniana. They say Glossopteris is an Oolitic
genus. tc Exactly as in the English beds the Glossopteris is associ¬
ated with Tamiopteris ”? i.e., in the assumed Oolitic series. To this
we may reply that “ Glossopteris Brownian a” which is “ the
Glossopteris” alluded to in the above extract from the “ llcport
of the three Commissioners on the Western Port Coal-fields,”
(p. 8) is a plant utterly unknown in Europe and America, and
only known in India, 8outh Africa, and Australia, and that Tami-
opteris, which is said to he associated with it in English beds,
according to Schimper, the most- recent expounder ot tossil
botany, is a genus which has only five species, all ot which aro
Permian i.e,, of Palaeozoic age or of Upper Carboniferous. Even
if one TcCnioptoris should be found in the same beds with
Glossopteris, that fact would not invalidate, hut would rather
strengthen my argument, since the former is Palaeozoic, and the
latter occurs in the coal seams below the beds which are filled
with Lower Carboniferous marine fossils ; it is clear that those beds
and the plant they hold must certainly be Palaeozoic, whatever
becomes of any other part in the succession of the scries or
group to which they belong. It was attempted to be shown that
there exists an inversion of beds at Stony Creek, where five
seams of coal holding Glossopteris under 143 feet of acknow-

20

Sedimentary 'Formations

1 edged palaeozoic marine beds occur (the fossils from which
t> s ? u t r ^ own *° Heril T Uarkly, who submitted them to
Irot. M‘Coy), and to meet this I requested that a geologist
might be sent up from Victoria to test the facts. Accordingly
Mr. Daintree came, and in the Yeoman, Melbourne journal,
jSo. 100, will be found his refutation of the inversion story
and a full confirmation of my assertion. This circumstance
is ignored by the Commissioners, as are all others that do not
fall in with the imagination of certain critics in Victoria. But I
may now add that Gloss op tcris in coal seams below the marine
beds has been found in other localities, as for instance at Greta,
where the coal lias been reached below more than 400 feet of
marine strata; Glossopteris and other plants also occurring 2
feet 6 inches above the coal. [See Sections No. 1 and No. 2*at
the end of this Memoir.]

Not only so, but it is found in sandstones elsewhere, amidst
the marine fossils themselves and in the very same portions of
lock with the latter. So that no reasonable doubt ought to exist
m the mind of an honest controversialist that" Glossopteris ” does
occur as early as the so called Lower Carboniferous strata, and
therefore our coal seams have a right to be held of that age.

Now Schimper, to whom I before alluded, considers that the
Indian, African, and Australian plants are merely varieties of
the same G. Browniana. In India no marine fossils have yet
been found m connection with its coal plants ; and in Africa the
Glossoptens is not set down to any older formation than Triassic
hut CVCI1 that is older (although Mesozoic) than
Oolitic, to the latter of which M‘Coy refers them. And if Glos-
soptens has a range as extensive as some other fossils which pass
through three separate series of strata, why might not it pass up
into .Secondary rocks, without denying its existence in Austra¬
lian Lower Carboniferous ? There it clearly does not govern,
but must be subordinate to the Fauna. But it is not alone in
that position, other plants also occur therein which have as much
au Oolitic facies as itself. And yet it is undoubtedly true, as is
well shown by Daintree, that in Queensland Glossopteris is con-
^ , aro . ln association with Paleozoic fauna, and
hat the so called Tamiopteris is found to accompany a Mezozoie
auna ; and I can aver, after upwards of thirty years experience,
hat no marine deposits of Secondary age have yet been discovered
m rs ew South AY ales ; although in Queensland beds of coal occur
in supposed connection with such.

Theie may, therefore, be two epochs of coal, as suggested by
Murchison, or as stated by Mr. Carruthers, two portions of one
series, without dispossessing the lower portion of its right to hold
a property in a plant that may not have existed in the time of the

New South Wales .

21

younger part of the series. Whatever be the value or uselessness
of reasoning on the point, this fact still remains— Glossoptcris
Brownian a does exist in New South Wales and in Queensland in
coal measures that interpolate strata full of palaeozoic marine
fossils, and is absent in the latter Colony where the marine
accompaniments are called Mesozoic, and does not exist at all in
Victoria where the Palaeozoic and other marine beds are at present
missing*.

As to the division arbitrarily made by Professor M‘Coy in a list
re-arranged by him, of Mr. Keene’s specimens, separating “shale
with G. Browniana and Otopteris ” from the Palaeozoic beds, that
excellent Paleontologist may be assured that a plant apparently
the same as Otopteris? ovaia is combined with Lepidodendroid
plants near Stroud, and that at Greta, and at Mount Wingen,
Glossopteris is found below his own determined Palaeozoic marine
fossils, the smoke from the burning seams full of the plant at
the latter locality passing up through cracks in the overlying
conglomerate full of Palaeozoic shells, &c.

ISpr does the arrangement made of Mr. Keene’s collection agree
with the actual facts in nature, for the Greta bods are not the
uppermost with marine fossils ; but beds with them lie further to
the east in which Phyllotheea has occurred at Ilarpur’s Hill and
Glossopteris in the same way at Raymond Terrace.

Then, as to the “ vulgar error ” that heterocereal ganoid fishes
are confined to Palaeozoic beds, which any one acquainted with
ordinary treatises on the subject may be supposed to understand
is an error, though scarcely “ vulgar” in the ordinary sense
of that often offensively used term, - surely it may be permitted to
conclude from the fact that among all the fishes discovered in
our coal beds, and in the beds above the coal, not a single homo-
cereal tail lias been found, the probability is, as vSir P. Eger ton has
surmised, after examination of those submitted to him, that the
Jishcs are Palaeozoic , especially as the admission is made ti,at “ the
“ itomocercal struct ure is not known in Pakcozoie rocks.” (Report
on Coal Fields. Victoria, 1872, p. C.)

The fact that the coal beds overlie or interpolate the marine beds
in what is called “ conformable order” ought to be considered a
satisfactory conclusion that no break such as ought to exmt under
ether circumstances does exist, because whether the coal measures
are horizontal or inclined they merely follow the same condition
in the upper or lower marine beds with which they arc always

associated.

The argument from the occurrence of fish remains, is met by
the incidental remark that the “ heterocereal ganoid fishes being
°f genera and species peculiar to the locality have no value” in
determining the age of the beds in which they occur, may be met

22 Sedimentary Formations

by the retort that if peculiarity is to he a guidc^ in determining
geological ago there is an end of any certainty for such persons
as affect to uphold their own theories by reference to peculiar
plants ; and this Professor M'Coy himself does in relation to a
Scarborough plant by which ho affects to guide his Oolitic deter¬
mination to the exclusion of Glossopteris and its usual associates.

Inspecting Palteoniseus, one of the New South Wales fishes,
a passage translated from Agassiz, whose decision ought to be
satisfactory, will not be out of place, considering that it meets
tlie objection on the form of the caudal fin. He says,—“ I know
ten species of this genus, which appear to be limited to coal
measures and the Zechstein. It might not, however, be impossible
to discover traces in the Ores biyarre* the Muschelkalk, and the
Keuper” (*. c , in the Trias); “ but that which I believe I am able to
affirm is, that it does not ascend to the Jurassic formations , of which
the numerous representatives of the order of Ganoids have the tail
regular , and never prolonged in a long point forming the upper
lobe of the caudal, as takes place constantly in the genera of the
earlier formations. I do not understand what were the intentions
of Nature which have produced these singular differences, but it
is certain that they exist, and it would be to misunderstand our
duty to ignore them, or to attribute less importance to so general
and - constant a fact.” ( "Recherche* sur les Poissons fossil rs, tom. 1,
p. 43.) To this may be added, that tho generality of the fishes,
which are all heterocercal in New South Wales, are found more
than 1,000 feet geologically higher than our workable coal, which
those who denounce “ vulgar errors” condemn to a mere Jurassic
existence.

The existence of Palaeozoic strata of Carboniferous age in
some parts of Victoria is, as I believe, a fair assumption of the
Cape Paterson Reporters, though at present they cannot prove
their position by fossiliferous evidence ; but the denial of that
existence would hand over their whole coal territory to a forma¬
tion or formations, to prove the age of which they have no more
marine evidence than they have respecting a Carboniferous era.
They have never yet seen a single marine fossil bed in all Victoria
to justify even their adopted view of their coal belonging to tho
Oolitic age, which is elsewhere multitudinonsly fertile in marine
fossils, and this, no doubt, is “ peculiar.” The Reporters on the
Western Port Coal Pields notify carefully, that “ it should bo
distinctly understood that our opinion respecting the age of the
New South Wales coal measures is based entirely on the collection
of rocks, fossils, and coals forwarded to us by the late Mr. Keene,

* He afterwards names P. catopterus as belonging to this sandstone. It
was, however, only found in one spot, only “a few square feet” in extent, in
the comity of Tyrone. ( Portloclc, Geology of Londonderry, Tyrone, and Fer¬
managh, p. 468.)

New South Wales.

2 3

and on tho published reports on these coal fields.” But even
this is accompanied by a sneer at Mr. Keene’s blunders in
Palaeontology.

On the above I would observe that, as I saw the collection
referred to before it was despatched, I am prepared to say it did
not completely represent the beds in the local district from which
they came, and was only a partial display of the series of the
strata in association with coal throughout the Colony ; and that in
the arrangement adopted by Professor M‘Coy in the Report, most
important portions of the beds are omitted. I would, therefore,
attribute the “ opinion” of the Board respecting the age of the
New South Wales Coal,” so authoritatively pronounced, to bo
based on imperfect data, showing that the gentlemen who have
decided the question are practically ignorant of the true
grounds of decision, clearly not having made any inspection
for themselves, and totally ignoring the opinions of tho host of
observers who have certified to the contrary ; amongst whom is
Mr. Daintree, a member of the Victorian Geological Survey, the
late Mr. Stutchbury, who reported thereof as well as many others
■who have studied the strata in situ , and arc true witnesses against
the side of tho Oolitical party. In the pleadings on that side, the
reliable evidence that makes against them is “burked,” and afore-
gone conclusion is offered as if it were final—and the judgment is
delivered ex cathedra, whilst numerous witnesses of the first
credibility are altogether ignored. This may be prudent and
ingenious, but it is not “ scientific ,” nor is it honest, yet it helps
to bring out tho magnificent declaration : “ We confine ourselves
to the statement that wo have not before us a particle of evidence
indicating that tho coal seams now being worked in New South
Wales are of Palaeozoic age.” A great compliment this to persons
who have laboured for years to establish truth; but they may console
themselves with the reflection, that “ Prejur/cr cst ma'l juyer”
Amidst this lamentable ingenuity to “tell the truth without telling
tho whole truth and nothing but the truth” and in the arraying of
evidence from beyond Australia instead of collecting the whole
evidence furnished from itself, there is one grateful exception
which, though not entirely satisfactory, is much more so than some
previous proceedings were. It would have been better to have
acknowledged the change.

In the notes on Mr. Keene’s specimens, Professor M‘Coy,
though he draws a line where it ought not to be, has changed his
method of putting his old opinions about tho coal itself, inasmuch
as he no longer makes use of the notion which he once
entertained and put in evidence before a Committeo of the
Melbourne Parliament. I must explain this.

On the 20th November, 1857, he was examined (as the Chair¬
man of a Mining Commission) on the character and extent of

24

Sedimentary Formations

coal in Victoria, and he asserted over and over again, that no
Paleozoic coal existed in Australia. The following answers
speak to that point —

b 722 " (Answer). The members of tlio Mining Commission Imre an impres¬
sion that, as the coal deposits to be expected there [Cape Paterson]
“ geologically arc not the same as those of the great- coal fields of England,
but are of similar character with the coal deposits of New South Wales and
Tasmania, therefore it is unlikely /hat they will he of commercial value ; and
as scientific men they would not on their own responsibility, recommend the
expenditure of public money there."

727. " (Q.) Considering that the information (? formation) of the Cape
Paterson Coal Fields is similar to those of New South Wales and Tasmania,
you are of opinion, that as an economic question you would advise no
further prosecution of any surveys in that locality ? (A ) That- is my opinion.”

744. " (Q,.) You would not advise the prosecution of any further inquiries
for the discovery of coal ? (A.) No recommendation to that effect would

emanate from myself or the Commission."

747. "Such coal fields, i.e. those of Paleozoic age do not exist in this country*,
(i.e. in Australia). “ That is a point which I wish clearly to show, and I think
it is one which 1ms never been clearly shown to this committee before."

758. “ I know you are not to expect the old Palaeozoic coal fields in this
part, of the world."

759. "(Q.) Do you contend that the Mesozoic coal fields are not suitable

for the different purposes of commerce?" (A.) "They are not so suitable as

the Palaeozoic, they are not so extensive, the beds are not so thick or workable,
nor is the quality so good over any workable area."

767. " (Q.) If a coal field at Cape Paterson was discovered equally good
with the Sydney coal fields, would you consider it worth working ?" (A.)

“ My individual opinion is that it would not he worth working

771. (Of Cape Paterson) " (A.) Of course the Members of the Mining Com¬
mission do not wish to attach any scientific weight to their evidence in a
commercial point of view, they merely choose to say, that as men of science ,
no recommendation would emanate from them to undertake extensive works
there, because the tit most you could expect would bo such a coal bed as you
have at Sydney.” Once more; " 769 {By Captain Clarke.) (Q.) The Virginian
coalfields of the character you describe as being similar to those here, arc
worked nt 775 feet depth ? " "(A.) Yes; but the beds there uro not to be
compared to the palccozoic coal beds.”

No doubt the Professor was right in the last answer. But
Professor Newberry is quoted, in the Report of 1872, as stating
that — “ Largo portions of tho coal basins of China, including
beds both of anthracite and bituminous coal, arc usually excluded
from the Carboniferous formation. So large is this coal-bearing
area, indeed, that when joined to the Triassic, Cretaceous and
Tertiary rocks of North America, they quite overshadow tho Car¬
boniferous coals of Europe and the Mississippi Valley, and
suggest tho question whether tho name given to the formation,
which includes the most important European strata, has not been
somewhat hastily chosen..** (p. 8.)

Now, reconciling these quotations if we can, what is to be done
with another passage in p. 9 of the Report? In it the reporter,
having arranged the order of our New South Wales beds after

New South Wales,

a 5

liis own idea, says—“ If their view be correct it is not likely that
seams of coal, as thick and as persistent as those occurring in the
Lower Mesozoic beds of New South Wales, will he found in any
part of Victoria, It is to be regretted that a geological exami¬
nation was not made of the northern coal-fields, during the many
years the Victorian Government maintained a staff of geological
surveyors, for the purpose of ascertaining by comparison the
position of our beds with all the exactness practicable.”

“ The value of such evidence as the geologist and the palaeonto¬
logist can give in such investigations as these is priceless. They
alone can determine where the practical miner can pursue his
explorations with fair chances of success.”

Thus speaks out the modern Delphi—but what becomes, after
all, of the expectation of the anticipated Mesozoic coal beds of
Victoria, and what must Mr. Daintrec, who was one of the staff
spoken of, think of the way in which his success in carrying out
the investigation recommended at Stony Creek is rewarded when
that very important work is totally ignored by the Paleontologist
of the survey, by whom all the specimens collected, sent to him
by me, were examined, and who now has had his eyes so far
opened as to acknowledge that some “ Palaeozoic” coal does exist
in New South Wales?*

As to the fact of changing an opinion on conviction being
wrong, be who so changes is not to be taunted with it unkindly,
and I do not advance it except to acknowledge that so far as the

* In reference to the above remark the following passage? from “Geological Notes, with
Plan and Section, by Itiehard Daintreo, Field Geologist, Victoria,” may bo properly cited.

“From Newcastle to Stony Creek is but a short trip, and as these are the sections on
winch Mr. Clarke bases his evidence of the Palaeozoic age of part, at least. of the New South
Wales coal seams, it is ono Of the necessary pilgrimages for the wandering geologist iu
search of truth. What I saw there I will state in as few words as possibly. I, saw three
shafts on Mr. Russell’s estate—ladder shaft, working shaft, and 200 foot shaft.”

He then gives his measurements, which are not material to cite in this place, aud
goes on:—

“When the details of these shafts wore first made known by Mr. Clarke, as a proof of the
Palaeozoic ago of the coal, Hpirifers, Fenestella, &c, being found in abundance, and
Glossopteris associated with anil below the coal, it was Suggested by Professor M‘C’oy that
the data given by M r. Clarke showed the existence of a fault between ‘ working ’ and ‘ 200
feet shaft,’ and that possibly to this fault the reversion of beds might be due, but the
Palaeozoic character of the Fauna was not called in question.

“ Tills error arose from taking the absolute distance between the shafts (SCO foot), instead
of the reduced distance to the line of dip of 2S0 feet.

“ Referring to tlio extension of Russell*? coal seams to the Northern Railway, unfortu¬
nately at a point where no marked bed of Russell's series can be absolutely identified,”
[but at that point may Ih* identified both plants and marine fossils and traces of coal In
the strata there disturbed] “we have an apparently unbroken series of strata dipping in
the same direction, and at nlxmt tho same angle, as those in Russell's coal pits, extending
from a point at 39 miles 715 chains from Honeysuckle Flat to 21 miles 37 chains from tho
fame place, tho beds furthest to the eastward dipping at a greater angle.

“ This affords a thickness (taking the angle of dip at 10 do-?.) of 2.C0."> fret of strata,
abounding in fossil fauna from bottom to top, very low down in which co.il seams with
Glossopteris occur.

“ Fossils from each of the cuttings on tho Railway and from Russell’s hafts were pro¬
cured, that Palaeontologist* may satisfy themselves of their European parallel.

“ If It bo admitted that thu Fauna found in the upper strata of these shafts Is Palaeozoic,
then these coal scams at least are Palaeozoic, and Glossopteris has a much lower range
than has hitherto been assigned to it, except by Mr. Clarke.

“ Neither does there seem any reason why Mr. Clarko should not place the Newcastle
coal seams (his No. 0 Carboniferous group) in tho upper portion of this Stony Creek group,

og Sedimentary ’Formations

Professor has gone, lie deserves respect and honour for the change.
My only complaint is that he has not gone Jar enough ; though
after what he and his colleagues announced in the examination
above referred to, respecting the solo Mesozoic character of our
New South Wales coal, it is refreshing to find him writing in
these terms of the Greta and Anvil Creek coal seams. “ The
beds from “ to “ (referring to his re-arrangement of Mr.
Keene’s specimens) arc clearly the marine Palaeozoic Carboniferous
rocks, and the coal found with them resembles the coal of the
southern coal fields of Ireland of. the same age.” But lie adds
without compunction or authority:—“ Neither this collection,
nor the sections, nor Mr. Keene’s collection in the Melbourne
Exhibition, bear out the notion that the Glosssoptcris and Phyllo-
theca alternate with the marine Palaeozoic shell beds.” Now had
a visit been paid by him to the localities of Kix’s Creek and the
rest, or to Anvil or to Stony Creek, or to Mount Wingcn, such
an assertion would not have required fresh denial from me ; and to
jump from the Wallsend seam to Kix’s Creek, and Anvil Creek,
without any examination of the section of the intermediate
localities, or to deny the existence of Glossopteris at those and
other places among the marine beds which are so interpolated, is
to do away with the whole merit of such a section as the “ notes”
pretend to represent.

no known unconformity existing, since no Fauna or Flora typical of tbe Mesozoic period
has, I believe, yet boon been found in the paid No. 3. ,

“This brings me to the consideration of Mr. Clarke’s present arrangement of tbe Car¬
boniferous series of New South Wales.

“ First. — ‘ Wianamatta* * beds, with insignificant coal scams, tho upper beds of whieh
arc the probable equivalents of our Otway, Bellcri no, and Wan non bed*, in which
Glossopteris has not yet been found.

u Second. — ‘ Hsiwkcabary’ beds, with insignificant coal Foams; no Glossopteris. To
this series Mr. Clarke refers the Grampian sandstones of Victoria, though Mr.
Selwyn places them with Ko.4. (By Grampian sandstones I mean the beds con¬
stituting the Sierra.)

“ Third.—' Carboniferous beds.’ containing the workable coal scams, with Glossopteris,
by far the most abundant fossil In the lower portion of this series four (? five) known
coal * earns are interpolated with strata containing a Fauna similar In character to
that found in t lie Carnonifferous* limestone of Europe.

*• Fourth . —* Lepidodendroti beds,* not associated with coal seams, as far as yet known.

“ If this arrangement is correct — anti my experience as a field geologist Is entirely in Its
favour — it is of great practical value to us in Victoria in the search of workable coal seams,
&c., Ac., * * in the hope of finding the Glossopteris boiK It. points unfavourably
towards the Tienioptcris and ZamitcMmaring beds, w hich we have hitherto regarded as our
coal-producers, but which as yet have yielded nothing better than the Cape Paterson
•seams.

“ Four thousand foot also of these same beds have l>e*n tested by boring in tho Bollcrine
District, and have yielded nothing approaching a workable seam.

* ' « * * * * * * * *
“ All the facts that we have to guide the field geologist in Victoria, in his search for
Clarke's >'o. 3 carboniferous beds (containing tbe workable seams of New South Wales) are
these—that they are very low down in the Carboniferous serif*; that tho lowest hods con¬
tain a Fauna nearly allied to the Lower Carboniferous of Europe ; that Glossopteris Is asso¬
ciated with all the coal scams, and is the most common aud characteristic fossil of tho
•said No. 3. This peculiar Fauna or Flora has not yet been observed in Victoria.”

(From Yeoman and Australian Acclimutiscr, August 29, 1S63, No. 100, published at
Melbourne* J

It will be unnecessary to point out to any unprejudiced reader how Mr. Dain tree's '‘Notes”
cited above, known as they must have been to tho “ Reporters on Coal Fields, Western
Fort,” nearly nine years before, contrast with their lamentation in the year 1872, about
the‘‘non-comparison” by Victorian surveyors of the position of the coal beds in the two
•Colonies, •* «ltn all the ex&ctnes* possible.”

New South Wales.

27

I will quote here an additional testimony to the facts already
declared, respecting the interpolation of our Glossopteris coal in
the marine beds. Mr. Odernlieitner in his final report to the
Australian Agricultural Company, says : — “ The lowest coal seam
at AVollongoug, rests on older Spirifer sandstone, and is covered
by sandstone, with Pachydomus shells and a few spirifer.” (p. 88.)

I have paid more attention perhaps, to the Report on the
Western Port Coal Pields of 1872, than it deserves ; but as it
contains specific allusions to myself, and in fact is an attack on
the evidence 1 have conscientiously given on the subject of New
South Wales Geology, it is only just to that Colony to show that
the conclusions arrived at in that .Report are “ based” as much on
personal ignorance respecting our territory, and a pre-determi¬
nation to disbelieve the statements of men quite as much entitled
to be believed as tho reporters in Victoria themselves, as on
anything else. I am thoroughly persuaded that if such personal
investigation on his part had taken place, an old correspondent
and assumed friend of my own would not have dealt with my
writings as he has done.

The advocates for the Oolitic (or as now called Mesozoic) age
of our coal plead the cases of Richmond in America, and India
as well as China ; Africa is unnoticed. It will be fitting to produce
evidence on each head.

As to China, Mr. Pumpelly is the only authority quoted by
the Victorian Board, who make him to have in 18G2-G5 found
in tho coal beds fossils proving that “ those beds aro geologically
of the same age as the Victorian , JS T cw South Wales , Tasmanian ,
and JSTcw Zealand bedsf p. 8, and Professor Newberry is quoted
as identifying “ these fossils as those characteristic of Triassic or
Jurassic ages.” In tho Ocean Highways for Nov., 1873, Baron
von Richthofen says, the Pumpelly observations were only very
limited in extent, and bis map an hypothetical one made up from
native reports, “ in which he attempted to exhibit among other
data, the distribution of tho coal measures in China.” “The
favourable result at which Mr. Pumpelly arrived, in respect to
the great extent occupied by coal -bearing strata in China was
modified in some measure by tho somewhat unsatisfactory conclu¬
sion drawn by him, from the determinations by Dr. Newberry of a
few vegetable remains , that all Chinese measures are of the same
age as the Triassic formation of* Europe” (p. 311). What is there
herein of “ Jurassic ” or “ Oolitic” coal ? The coal of China,
however, found a far better qualified expositor in Baron Von
Richthofen himself, who from 18GS to 1S?2, made journeys nearly
all over China, and found coal-fields of enormous extent in many
districts, nearly every one of which lie personally visited, as he
tells us in various publications.

28

Sedimentary Formations

He mentions one seam of Silurian age ; several others
Devonian strata ; blit lie adds “ the great hulk of the most ividch/
distributed and most valuable coal-beds are proved by numerous and
very characteristic marine fossils to belong to the true carboniferous
Alter the close of that epoch the deposition continued without
interruption through the Permian, till probably towards the elo*«
of the Triassic epoch."

These are his own words, and he justifies his determination of
epochs by informing us, that “ lie first determined with some
accuracy the geological age of the sedimentary formations by a
great number of prolific fossiliferous localities,” Nowhere iu
this account of his do we find mention of* Oolitic or Jurassic coal
So that really China should not bo quoted to uphold the “ same
group as the Cape Paterson series" (.Report p. 5). Rather might
it uphold the coal of New South Wales. If marine fossils
arc “ necessary,” none exist in Victoria as we have already seen
and as the Report allows. “The coal measures of Richmond
Virginia”—the Report also says—“are stated by Sir C. Lyell to'
belong to the lower part of the Jurassic group,” (p. 8). " Well,
he did once say so, but ho found lie was wrong, and so he placed
them finally in tlie Trias , Professor Ilecr considering that the
plants “ have the nearest affinity to the European Keuper.”
(Student's Elements of Geoloyy , 1871, p. 362.)

In Africa, the association of the genera Glossopteris, Phyllo-
theca, and Dietyopleris, “ affords some evidence of Mesozoic
affinities” says Mr. Tate, who, nevertheless, shows that the shales
in which they occur are not Jurassic, but Triassic. (Q. J. G. 8.,
xxm, p. 112.) Paheoniscus and some of the reptiles and an
cneriuital stem, might refer these Karoo beds to a lower position
still. Mr. Tate admits the analogy is with the Keuper (p. 1G9).

On a former occasion, I entered upon an inquiry as to how far
the coal fields of India were parallel with those of New South
AY ales, and how far they corresponded with the view of a
Palaeozoic age for the latter, as shown by the determinations of
Dr. Oldham, the able Superintendent of the Geological Survey
of that country. On this occasion 1 may mention that, being
desirous of ascertaining whether any change had taken place in
the views of that excellent geologist on the question of age, I
wrote to him to request he would kindly satisfy my inquiry/ On
2nd June, 1871, I received his reply, dated 2nd April of that
year, so that it may be taken to givo the actual present state of
the Indian Coal Fields history. I shall, I believe, involve no
breach of confidence in quoting his own words, which will save
the necessity of again searching the Memoirs and Records of the
Survey:—

“We hare seen,” ho says, “no reason whatever to alter our views with
reference to the age of our Indian coal rocks. The plant evidence is tolerably
conclusive with us. Our upper beds, which contain thin patches and threads

New South Wales.

29

of coal (and which wo call Raj3IA1IAXi formation), wc have established, hy a
careful research in dutch, to be Upper Oolite. These are characterized by an
abundance ol Cycadea and Itenioptoris, hut not a single Glossopteris has
been found. Then we have the group we call the Panchet System, with no
Cycads. Schizoncura (a plant first described from the Vosges), &e., and with
them Labyrintliodont and Dicynodont reptiles. No Glossopteris here either.

“Then below these, with slight unconformity over the coal rocks, in which,
observe, wo find Glossopteris lirowniana abundant ; and this holds through
the several thousand feet of thickness, occurring in all,

“At the base we have a small thickness (relatively) of the Talcheer
S ystem, in which Cyclopteris shows, but no Glossopteris.

“ Unfortunately we have as yet no animal remains from our coal-rocks.
Notwithstanding this, in connection with your evidence from Australia, and
hearing in mind the perfectly established identity of the Glossopteris, even
in its varieties, and the equally established fact that Glossopteris has never
been found in Europe , and therefore gives no clue or index to age from
European determination, I cannot come to any other conclusion than I have
done, that our coal in India represents the latest portion of the Carboniferous
of Europe , and the gap between this and the Permian ; or, I would say, in a
broader sense, the latest part of the Paleozoic time.

“ I read Daintree’s paper with much interest, and think he has done much
to dear up some of the difficulties.

if Put so long as some fancied analogies with regard to fossils arc allowed to
sway the mind, there can bo no agreement of opinion.”

“The Glossopteris of Australia and India arc identical. \\ r e have every
variety, as described from your beds, and no one could hesitate to admit that
the beds arc similar also. All these Glossopteris beds must be admitted to ho
of similar relative age in both countries. It proves nothing as to the ago
relating to European Systems. You know better than I do the amount of
co-existing evidence as to age which you have established in Australia.

“ In India it is this, in a few words : —

(3.) Above — A system of rocks, with abundance of Cycads, Tccnioptcris,
Pccoptcridsj Ac., Ac., truly Oolit ic with their threads of coal.

(2.) Next, separated by considerable time beds with Schizoncura, Pccop-
tcris (wo Tamiopteris, wo Glossopteris), Labyrintliodont, and Dicyno¬
dont reptiles, the analogies of which arc Permian or certainly
Lower Triassio [no coal).

(1.) JSy.vl — The coal rocks also separated by unconformity, though
slight, which have abundance of Glossopteris and also of Schizoncura
of different species—os yet no animal remains.

“ There are thus three distinct flora) with no species common to each
You can draw your own conclusions.— T.O.”

In the above remarks of my distinguished friend are some hints
that will not fail to he of use ill relation to New South Wales, as
well as to other parts of Australia, and it is satisfactory to myself
to have so much confirmation of my own views. Though it is
true that Glossopteris, not being a European plant, does not
confer any claim on itself to designate the age of our coal beds,
yet assuredly as it occurs in the Lower Carboniferous beds as well
as in the Upper coal measures, it does bear on their association
with the greatest force, and the two series of beds must be nearly
of the same relative age. That age as pointed out by Dr.
Oldham, and as I have all along stated, must be Palaeozoic.

3 °

Sedimentary Formations

As to tlie coal beds with no GHossopteris they will go with
rocks of a more recent date, and there can be no objection to
class them in the age of the Secondary fossils with which they are
associated. Professor 3VP Coy himself admits:— “That on mere
fragments of leaves or other most imperfect or ambiguous
material no generic nor even ordinal characteristics should be
founded.” (Observations on Vegetable Fossils of Auriferous
Drifts , by Baron von Mueller , 1874.” p. 14.) But this argument
does not apply where fragments even of the same plant occur in
two series of beds. Besting on, or passing into each other with¬
out a break, they would assuredly show that such beds are
intimately related.

It the idea be abandoned (and there is no real authority for if)
that Grlossopteris is an Oolitic plant, and if it be admitted that a
Fauna has more weight than a Flora, and that it is most probable
that a floral identity never existed during the same epoch at the
Antipodes of the European Oolitic area, more reasonable will
appear the position assigned by me to the New South Wales
■workable coal-beds.

Is it more remarkable that plants held to be of Mesozoic age in
Europe should be found at the Antipodes in a Palaeozoic forma¬
tion, than that usually considered Mesozoic mollusca should bo
found in a similar formation ? And the latter is not merely a
conjecture but a fact, attested by Paleontologists of eminence.
For instance, Munster in 1841 found the three genera Ammonites,
Cera fifes, and Goniatiles in one and the same bed belonging to
the St. Cassian rocks of Austria ; and now we have Dr. AVaagan,
of the Geological Survey of India, proving to us that the same
three genera lrnvo been found in the same bed together on the
Salt Bange, in the society of Products, Athyris, and other well-
known Carboniferous fossils, pointing out that the Ammonites
is there a Palaeozoic genus, which ho places either in the
upper part of the Carboniferous, or as Dr. Oldham considers our
disputed coal beds may he, about the limits of the Permian and
Carboniferous formations.

Whilst discoveries such as this are being made from time to
time, what obstinate perseverance is it, to continue to maintain
that even tlie stereotyped determinations of paleontologists are
incapable of amendment. (For Dr. AVaagan’s description and
figures, see “ Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India,” vol. ix,
part 2, p. 351. Seo also Lycll’s “ Elements,” 1865, p. 436, and
“Student’s Edition,” 1871, p. 358.)

Nowhere in N.S.AY\ has there yet been found in association with
the plant beds any marine Eauna but one, which M‘Coy and all
other Paleontologists admit to be Bahcozoic. Schimper, in bis
recent powerful work (Palcontologie v eye tale), does assume on the
statement of reporters that Glossopteris occurs in the Oolitic

New South Wales.

3 1

formation of the Rajtnahal Hills of India, hut Dr. Oldham, the
skilful Director of the Indian Survey, declares that its officers
have not “ been able to trace , among several thousand specimens , a
single representative of .the genus Glossopteris from any part of
these upper or Rajmaital beds .” (See also his statements above.)

If then, that series of beds be considered Mesozoic on other evi¬
dence, and if, as is shown, Glossopteris belongs to a lower group
or formation there is here an enormous thickness of fossiliferous
strata, in which the fossils (as before stated) gradually pass down
to the Devonian. The opposition to this determination arose from
a preconceived idea that strata bearing Glossopteris could not be
Palaeozoic, and therefore, that the upper coal measures of New¬
castle had no right to be considered older than Oolitic. Put whilst
these upper measures? produced a fish of undoubted Palaeozoic
character (Urosthenes australis) ; C\ci\hvo\e\ns granul at us, Myrio-
lepis Clurkei , and other Icthyolites, examined and determined by
Sir P. de M. G. Egerton, Bart, to be Pakeozoie, were found by
me in 1SG5 1,000 feet higher, and of these, photographs were
exhibited at the Paris Exhibition of 1SGG-7, and previously at
Melboiirne the specimens themselves; on which occasion Professor
M‘Coy reported that their general aspect was that of Triassic or
Permian fish to which latter (Upper Paleozoic), Sir P. Egerton
refers them. Alethopteris loiichnica and Adiantites eximius , both
of which occur in our New South Wales beds, may be held to have
as great weight as Glossopteris, seeing they occur in an unbroken
series of beds holding true Lower Carboniferous marine fossils,,
and are, I believe, considered to be of Carboniferous ago.

After the evidence from Queensland, and the admission that the
plant does not exist at all in Victoria (where all marine strata are
missing also), Glossopteris cannot be cited from that Colony to
assist in proving New South Wales Newcastle coal to be Oolitic ;
and there are sections on the Bowen Elver (full 1,000 miles from
Sydney), in which the whole history of the coal-beds may he read
off without error.

A conclusive opinion has been offered on this question by Dr.
Julius Haast respecting the occurence of marine and plant beds
of the same age as ours in the Malvern Hill District, Canter¬
bury, New Zealand, .who says, in October, 1S71 (N.Z. Geological
Survey Reports on Geological Explorations, during 1871-2), that
on the west side of Mount Potts, Upper Bangitata, there are
“ different species of Spirifera; besides them there are species of
Productus, Murchisonia, Euomphalus, Nucula, Ortnis, and
Orthoceras. Most of these shells, of which some broad winged
Spirifers are very numerous, are according to Professor M'Coy,
of Melbourne, identical with Australian fossils, and are of Lower
Carboniferous or Upper Devonian age.” “ Other beds,” he adds,
“ of equal importance occur in the Clent Hills, in which I

32 Sedimentary Formations

gathered a rich harvest of fossil ferns, mostly Pecopteris,
TaBuioptcris, and Oamptopteris” (this, however, is not; found in
?few South Wales) “ which, according to Professor M‘Coy, are of
Jurassic age identical with beds belonging to the New South
Wales Coal Fields, aud although I believe this Clent Hill serios
to be somewhat younger than the Spirifera beds, I demurred to
this definition, owing to the fact that the position of the strata
and the character of the rocks of which they are composed have
quite a Paloeozoic facies.”

“ Since then it has been shown, and as I think with conclusive
evidence, that both fossiliferons strata, the Spirifera and Pecop-
teris beds occurring together in the New South Wales Coal-fields,
are of the same age, and alternate with each other. The occur¬
rence of Ticniopteris, which hitherto has been considered only of
Secondary age/* seems to speak against a Paleezoie origin; however,
I may point out that, the same objection was made to the
Grlossopteris in Australia, but which lias by overwhelming evidence
been shown to be also of Pahcozoic age. I do not think that the
fragment of a leaf, however distinct, can unsettle all that strati-
grapbical geology has proved to be correct.” (p. 0-7.)

Some recent researches made by me, with a view to the con¬
sideration of this question of age, render it far from improbable
that a series of beds has been swept oft' the coal measures by
denudation, in which marine beds may have overlain the now
existing strata, just as in a lower horizon they do still at Stony
Creek, Anvil Creek, Mount Wingen, and in other localities. The
facts that the present coal seams range in elevation along the
coast, from below the sea, to between 200 and 300 feet only above
it, and that to the westward they reach an elevation of upwards of
3,000 feet, still preserving the same plants as below, and with an
equal almost horizontal level (except in eases where local derange¬
ment has occurred from special elevating forces), and moreover,
that similar seams occur at various other elevations between those
mentioned, induce me to consider it possible that there has been
a sinking along the coast line, allowing denudation to operate.

At present this hint may not bo worth much, but hereafter
more may come out of it. I ought also to add that between the
Hawkesbury rocks and the coal there is often a series of beds
belonging to the coal measures in which marine Pabeozoie fossils
are stated to have been found.

In the sections published some years ago by Mr. J. Mackenzie
and myself, and in subsequent sections by the former, as given in his
Report to Government, it will be seen that the number and thick¬
ness of the seams vary considerably in different localities. The
former circumstance may be accounted for by the fact that the

* Schimpcr says (tom. 1, p. 600) of the genus TreniopterSs—“ Ces Fougercs paraissent
ctre propres au terrain houiller supcrieur ct aw permien,” i.c., they are l’akcozoic.

New South Wales.

33

beds in the coal measures were deposited over various older
formations, some here, some there, which occur at different levels
so that some of the strata are missing in a few of the localities
and all are seldom seen together. Thus the coal scries at the
height of 3,000 feet does not contain so many scams as near
the sea level. And, perhaps, in describing them it would be
preferable to separate the deposits into various local basins or
saucers ; though the conditions of a true basin can only bo exhi¬
bited on the large scale.

It is at least certain, that in the Western districts, though
many of the conditions of the Newcastle and Illawarra beds exist,
there are found certain fossils which are not found in the latter,
and which would lead to the presumption that, as we ascend in
height above the sea wc find the introduction of genera gradually
approximating to a more recent epoch. .For example, the upper
beds of the Lithgow Valley coal measures contain a fossil which
I first collected in 1803, and of which Mr. Wilkinson has lately
gathered some striking examples. These coniferous fossils con¬
sist of stems and branches ending in Strobiliies. Professor
l)ana, to whom I sent specimens, informed me that he had never
seen such before. To me they appear not unlike the Strobilites
from the Gres bigarre of Soulz-les-Bains, in the Vosges, figured
by Schimper and Mougeot ( Monographic des PI aides fossilcs de
la Chaine des Vosges. Leipzig, 1844, tab. xvi, p. 31.)

In another direction, viz., on the Clarence River, there is a
patch of coal measures in which there are forms resembling that
of Walchia, with abundauco of fragments of a plant common in
the Mont d’Or coal measures of New Caledonia, together with
plants that have a Tamiopteroid character, but are not Tomiopteris.
On the other hand, on Eundauoon Creek, in the county of Cam¬
den, there is a Dietyopteris,

As far as some of the plants are concerned, it may be admitted
that they are in an unsatisfactory condition at present; but the
balance in favour of a “ Carboniferous” age for the Glossopteris
beds is, to my mind, conclusive.

With Dr. Oldham’s arrangement in view, as given above
(p. 20), there is no difficulty in admitting that in New South
Wales there might bo as many groups as in India, each younger
than the other, without underrating the antiquity of the oldest.

With respect to the uppermost Paheozoic rocks, Mr. Etheridge
states that “The occurrence of Permian strata has not been
confirmed in Australia,” which Professor M‘Coy surmised from
Productus calm and Aulostegcs or Slrophalosia, submitted by mo
to the latter naturalist in 1860. It is but just to Professor IVPCoy
to explain, that they were collected in 1856 by Mr. Gregory on
the Mantuan Downs, and forwarded to me by him in 1S60.

c

34

Sedimen tary Formations

So far, then, the question about the age of some of the Austra¬
lian coal must be considered as settled; and if, as in Ilkiwarra,
the coal beds overlie the marine beds, as they do also iu the
Eingal district of Tasmania, it would appear that all these separate
occurrences belong to one thick series, in which marine beds and
fresh-water beds interpolate each other. But, assuredly, in that
case, the arrangement adopted must express the order as follows:—

1. Upper coal measures.

2. Upper marine beds.

3. Lower coal measures.

4. Lower marine beds.

So far as I know, the latter rest frequently on a conglomerate,
which in Tasmania I found to contain undoubted Carboniferous
fossils.

Since the Exhibition of 1SG2, on which occasion, in a paper on
the Coal Fields, J noticed the occurrence of oil-bearing cannel
coal at the foot of Mount York, and at Colley Creek in the
Liverpool Ranges (not on eastern waters), the former has been
in great request for the purpose of producing illuminating oils ;
and the produce has been brought into the market. In the
former locality, and in Burragorang, 1 have made some researches
which have satisfied me that these can only belong to the upper
coal measures. At Burragorang the blocks of cannel are found
in an intermediate position, between the top of the coal measures
and the upper marine beds, which (if the overlying measures
themselves do not) certainly bear the very strongest resemblance
to a part of the Hunter Liver series.

In Iliawarra, also, there are shales Which are above that
geological position, and which produce oil for illumination, but
are not of the peculiar character of the cannel at Mount York,
which in a great degree, resembles the Bog Head mineral of
Scotland, only it is more valuable. The character of this
substance is such as to justify its being considered a species of
Bathvillite or Torbanite, in consequence of its colour and woody
condition.

It has unquestionably resulted from the local deposition of
some resinous wood, and passes generally into ordinary coal,
many portions of the same bed exhibiting the unmistakable
features of the latter and the impress of fronds of Glossopteris
as plainly as they are shown on ordinary coal shale. This
hydrocarbon varies somewhat in composition ; and (as at Colley
Creek) is frequently filled with quartzose part icles, showing that
it was deposited in a shallow pool, to which sand was drifted
perhaps by the wind.

At Reedy Creek, now called Petrolia, there is a band of thin
and very elastic substance of this kind, separated from the
thicker bed below by a parting of white clay.

New South Wales.

35

Varieties of this mineral occur in the Grose River, at Burra-
gorang, on the Colo, on Mount Victoria, and in one spot in
Tasmania behind Table Cape, on the southern shore of Bass’s
Strait, as well as in other localities in other Colonies. Presuming
that the origin above suggested is correct, viz., the occasional
occurrence in the ancient deposits of trees of a peculiar resinous
constitution, there is no anomaly in finding in one spot a mere
patch amidst a coal seam (as is the case at Anvil Creek, on the
Hunter River), or thick-bedded masses of greater area as in the
coal seams of Mount York, or of American Creek in the Illawarra,
depending on the original amount of drift timber.

In the section presented by the escarpment on the left bank of
Cox’s River, below Pulpit Hill, at Megalong, there are two beds
in which this hydrocarbon exists.

Some time since specimens of this, together with others from
the Illawarra, were taken to America by Mr. Consul Hall, and
were subjected to examination by Professor Silliman. The
result was afterwards published in the American Journal of
Science and Art , under the name of Wollongongite, an accidental
misnomer (as I have elsewhere pointed out), inasmuch as I have
Mr. Hall’s written assurance that the specimens examined by
Professor Silliman did not come from the illawarra, but from the
western sections at Megalong and Bcedy Creek.

Professor Silliman shows that this material, as tested by him,
has an illuminating power very much greater than any other yet
known. It would be invaluable if it existed in sufficient quantity
to meet all demands upon it. As it is, there are two separate
oil-producing works (one on American Creek, the other in
Petrolia), which are now employed in making mineral oils of
reasonably good quality, though both inferior to the product
described by Professor Silliman.

It has been an object of inquiry whether Petroleum springs
exist in New South Wales. Such have been reported from the
Corong in South Australia, and from Taranaki in New Zealand,
and from Victoria. The former is, wo learn, a mistake, being
probably at a point where certain animal substances have decom¬
posed. In New South Wales there are also two localities, known
to me for many years, in which a nitrous product exudes; and
there are two or three in Western Australia of the same kind,
which I examined. Nothing of value lias as yet been found.

Supposing the truth of the conjecture respecting the formation
of Torbanite and its allies from chemical decomposition and
changes of resinous kinds of drift timber in the masses now trans¬
formed to coal, the occurrence of such a mineral is not necessarily
confined to coal-beds of one epoch ; and thus we find Hr. Hector
reporting on the occurrence of a hydrocarbon in New Zealand,
from what he deems a Secondary formation, intermediate in

3 6 Sedimen tary Formations

volatile matter between those of Torbanc Hill and New South
Wales, the latter having by far the greatest amount, with much
less ash than the former.

Mesozoic ok Secondary Formations.

It has been supposed that I have a dislike to rocks of Mesozoic
age; but the endeavours made by me to bring to light their
existence in Australia, (see Mr. Daintree’s notes, and Mr. C.
Moore’s paper in Q.J.G.S., vol xxvi, 22G-2G1) ought to save me
from any imputation of that kind. I can only say, that whether
I have been mistaken or not in any given case connected with
the geological epochs of Australasia, it is not from want of honest
devotion to the cause of truth, nor from a desire to hold my
own without reason against those who differ from me, that I have
in so many publications during more than thirty years of earnest
inquiry, defended what I conscientiously believe.

With this admission I may go on to explain, that though I
hold our worked coal seams, which now extend lower than the
Newcastle strata, to bo Palaeozoic, there are in Queensland,
Victoria, and New South Wales, deposits of coal from which the
characteristic plant and its associates appear to be excluded.

The rule, I think, in such a case as that before usj should be
laid down, that plant remains by themselves prove very little as to
the uncompared age of any formation, but when associated with
marine fossils , whose aye is determinable, they must go with that
formation of whatever age it may he; for although plants may bo
swept into the ocean at any period of their existence, they could
not be bedded in the same masses of stone formed in the ocean
and amidst tho marine fossils, without belonging to the epoch of
the latter.

Such is the case in Australia with Glossopteris, and perhaps
some others; hence I claim for that at least a Pal neozoic age.
And so with those described by Mr. Etheridge and Mr. Moore
(in the Memoirs above cited) the Mesozoic marine fossils prove
the plants to be of that epoch ; and when the same plants occur in
strata which can be referred to a Secondary formation, and in
such also as are carboniferous, it may be readily granted that
they are common to the two. But in the case of Glossopteris
no indication is at present producible of its existence in the
later formations.

We may therefore refer certain deposits in Queensland, in
parts of New South Wales, or the coal series of Victoria, to
Mesozoic (not Oolitic) times, without trenching on the Carbon¬
iferous indications. 1 do not profess to know — and I know no
one who is able to tell me—why such arrangements exist (especi¬
ally as Mr. Carruthers’ doctrine is true, that Tamiopteris and
Glossopteris are akin in structure) as place plants very much

New South Wales.

37

alike in some respects in different epochs, without confusion,
when also the -position of the strata is what is called “ con¬
formable.”

It is no logical argument to say that, because there may be
great deposits of coal in China or America or Great Britain,
that are not what are called Carboniferous, therefore, there ought
to be such in Victoria, when we all know they do not exist there,
or that the same citations would bear out the assertion, that the
New South Wales workable seams are also Secondary; nor can
the adroit alteration of the expression Oolitic into Mesozoic,
prevent our considering that the general term was adopted for
the more specific one, because those who used it so were aware
that they had made some kind of mistake, and did not like to
own it.

Now, there are no known Oolitic marine fossils in all New
South Wales ; and the Oolitic or Jurassic fossils are of such extent
and variety in all countries, wherever the regions in which they
occur have been explored, that to put the identity of such forma¬
tions on a few plants, that may after all have no strict claim to
decide in the cause, would appear to me a very questionable pro¬
ceeding.

If, for instance, the fishes found by me in the Gib Tunnel
Range, near Nattai, are of a “ Triassic or Permian” facies,
according to M‘Coy, and are Permian according to Egerton and
Dana, why should the beds in which they occur bo set down as
Oolitic or Jurassic, instead of “Triassic or Permian”? Sir P.
Egerton has shown that, with Pakeonsicus, occur other genera,
closely related to Pygopterus, Acrolepis, and Platysomus, all
either Upper Carboniferous or Permian genera in other parts of
the world.

Then again, why should the Urosthenes of Dana, from a
prominent part of the Newcastle local beds be left out of the
same category ?

Is not the view that all these beds, ranging in succession, one
over the other, and being all, as I believe, of fresh water origin
(for the Ilawkesbury rocks contain plauts, but no animal remains
except fishes), have a common relationship, and yet with no pretext
for a Jurassic origin on the score of animal co-existences of that
era ? When we consider that the fishes alluded to occur at different
altitudes, and are all heterocercal Ganoids, wc must conclude that
there have been physical disruptions, and that there are gaps in the
succession occasioned by following denudation, or that there have
been repetitions of strata now no longer traceable. For instance,
the fish beds are at Cockatoo Island, Hi feet below the sea; at
Sydney, less than 100 feet above it; 100 feet at Paramatta; 250
feet above it at Campbelltown; 7S0 feet above at Rcdbank, near
Picton ; 1,100 feet on Razorback; 2,3G0 feet at the Gib-Tunnel;

3 8 Sedimentary Formations

and 3,450 feet on the Blue Mountains; the lowest two stations
and the highest being in the Hawkesbury, and the others in tho
Wianamatta beds above the Hawkesbury ; whilst at Newcastle,
tho Urosthcncs was the deepest below the sea.

As necessary to explain still further the succession of strata, I
introduce here some additional remarks on tho Supra-earbon-
iferous rocks in the province of New South Wales.

Over the uppermost workable coal measures of that Colony, is
deposited a series of beds of sandstone, shale, and conglomerate,
oftentimes concretionary in structure and very thick-bedded,
varying in composition, with occasional false-bedding, deeply
excavated, and so forming deep ravines with lofty escarpments,
to the upper part of which scries I have given the name of
Hawkesbury rocks, owing to their great development along the
course of the river-basin of that name. These beds are not
less in the coast region than from 800 t:o 1,000 loot in thickness,
containing occasional patches of shale, with fragments of
fronds and stems of ferns, a few pebbles of porphyry, granite,
or slates, and assume in surface outline the appearance of
granite, from the materials of which and associated old deposits
they must in part have been derived. On the summit of the
Blue Mountains, as along the Grose Biter, the thickness of the
series is very much greater. Patches of very small area contain
coal, carbonate of iron, and other representations of miniature
coal measures.

Towards the base, patches of purple shales are frequent, and
many ferriferous veins, with specular iron, haematite, ilmenite,
graphite and other minerals, sometimes occur.

In places, as about the “Yellow rock,” near the Upper'Wollombi
Biver, in Ben Bullen and above tho deep excavation of tho
Capcrtee amphitheatre, salt and alum are found in cavities
formed by decomposition, and in other places, as at Bundauoon
Creek in the Shoalhavcn District, at A ppm, and on the Bullai
escarpment of tho Ulawarra, and at Pittwatcr, north of Sydney,
stalactites have been formed under similar circumstances.

There is an enormous mass of brown iron ore highly carbonised,
partly worked at Pitzrdy, near Nattai, another on Brisbane
Water, and a smaller, on the coast, a few miles north of Sydney,
and other similar patches in intermediate localities. These are in
part associated with specular iron, which occasionally lines the
joints of the sandstones close at hand with well-formed crystals.

The uppermost beds of this formation, especially where they
become conglomerates, exhibit isolated summits imitating ruined
castles, and have thus been traced by me at intervals all along
the escarpments to the westward of Sydney, from the latitude.of
the Clyde Biver to that of the Talbragar, and in certain localities
within the longitudes of that line and the coast. In the deep

New South Wales.

39

ravines of the Grose and Dargan’s Creek, the one eastward and
the other westward of the Darling Causeway traversed by the
Western Railway Line, the slopes are studded by fantastic pillars
sculptured by denudation and decay into imitative architectural
forms. Similar forms cap the extension of the coast range to the
head of the Goulburn Liver.

This group of Hawkesbury rocks, very improperly denominated
by some writers “Sydney sandstone” (which is not a type of the
whole formation, and is borrowed from the first explorers, who
had never gone far into the country, besides involving a confusion
with the sandstones of the Sydney Coal-field of Cape Breton
in North America), is surmounted by another group, or series
of strata, called by me Wianamatta beds, which arc, if not in all
places, generally conformable with underlying, pot-holed Hawkes¬
bury rocks (as is well seen at Myrtle Creek, near Picton),
but are connected with the underlying group by means of shales
holding ironstone nodules, abundant fossil wood, fish remains
and freshwater shells allied to Unio, Cyclas, &c. These beds
pass upwards into highly calcareous sandstones, which also
contain plants, stems, and leaves, and cone in cone carbonate
of iron. These harder beds also contain Entomostraca, some of
which were long ago submitted by me to Professor Rupert Jones.
The fishes were examined by Sir Philip Egcrton, who considers
them to be Permian, as before stated. The last specimen of fish
from the Pkeoniscus beds, reported by me to Sir Philip Egcrton,
was a portion of a jaw of a fish whose teeth were of a Saurichth-
vian type, but the learned Icthyologist considered it also to
be Permian.

Could I have procured the remains of fishes that have been
reported to me from beds below the upper coal, and of the find¬
ing of which there is pretty good evidence, we might have been
able to show that the same genera that we find ranging from the
Wianamatta down to the coal measures of Newcastle, all through
the Hawkesbury series, occur still lower.

A Palsooniscus, found since my discovery in 1860 was exhibited
by the Surveyor General (who gleaned alter my harvest), in the
Exhibiton of 1875 at Sydney, and a specimen of Cleithrolepis
found in a railway cutting on the Blue Mountains was shown by
Mr. T. Brown, M.P., to whom it had been given by the finder
after I had had it photographed. These formed part of the
collection exhibited by the Mining Department.

Whatever may be the age of the Hawkesbury and Wianamatta
beds, they contain only patches and threads, but no seams of
coal. In the former the coal occurs in the sandstone in little
threads a few inches or perhaps feet long, and an inch or two in
thickness, and such may be seen in the walls of buildings in Sydney.

40

Sedimen tany Form a lions

Prom the same beds of sandstone also I possess specimens con¬
taining ferns, like Odontopteris ; and from the Wianamatta beds
columnar and pisolitic iron ore, with many fragments of stems or
leaves of ferns, different in species from those of the coal mea¬
sures 5 but in neither series is there any GHossopteris or any coal
seam. The sandstones of the Wianamatta beds are finer in grain
than those of the Hawkesbury, but very much more compact and
heavier, and often calcareous. The tints of the latter are poikilitic ,
darkening from exposure, and exhibiting imitations of landscapes
sometimes of striking character. The semi-crystalline fragments of
quartz, and the disposal of colours (suggesting the idea of the
action of gases removing the ferruginous tint in places) have
caused mo to believe that somo transmuting agency has affected
large areas of the Ifawkesbury rocks. The glistening of the
crystalline quartz particles reminds one of the same character
observable in the millstone grit of England. It is impossible to
understand bow considerable masses of the sandstones could have
received such a present structure without the mfetamorphisin
suggested; for the crystalline facets are quite unabraded and
belong to particles that have been collected originally by water
holding silica in solution. By washing in acids the colouring
matter of the particles may be entirely removed, and then it is
seen that they are imperfect cyrstals. But the cementing matter is
not always ferruginous ; a felspatluc cement holds them together
with haw mica evidently derivative, and sometimes with graphite.

Another variation in character of the Ifawkesbury rocks is in
their cohesion. In 1S50 I was Chairman of the Artesian Well
Board, and remember the difficulty wo had in procuring tools hard
enough to pierce the quartzose sandstone at the gaol in Sydney ;
the boring after a small depth was abandoned—one of the
■workmen precipitating the conclusion by blocking the bore-hole.
But in parts of the Railway lines, there have been instances, as
stated to mo by the Eugineer-in-Chief, when the largest blocks
have been shivered to atoms by a not very heavy fall over an
embankment.

The distinguishing features of tho Wianamatta beds compared
with the generally level horizon of the grits, sandstones and
conglomerates of the Hawkesbury rocks aro their greater
proportion of calcareous matter; and in the region of the shales,
the smooth rolling surface of the country. In the creeks
formed by the synclinal slopes of the land, the Hawkesbury
sandstones, much water-worn, are seen to underlie the Wiana-
matta beds.

Victorian Palaeontologists claim for that Colony the existence
of a coal formation of the same age as the Wianamatta, and I
have myself long ago pointed out that certain beds at the Barra-
bool Hills resemble very closely certain strata about Camden,

New South Wales .

4i

in New South Wales. But if the latter aro proved to he of
younger age than that which has been assumed for them, it is
not necessary to place the two series (so widely separate in
space) on the same actual horizon.

AVe have not recognised in New South AVales the Cycadeous
plants of Victoria, nor is there a perfect agreement in tho
phvtology of the Wianainatta and ATctorian strata. In 1SG1 I
mentioned (“ Recent Geological Discoveries , ifc,f p. 45) three of
M‘Coy’s New Soutli AVales Plants, Gleicheiiifcs odontopteroides
(called Pecopteris by IMorris and Carruthers) ; Odontopteris
microphylla , and Pecopteris tcnuijolia, as occUring in the AViana-
matta beds ; these are not reported from A'ietoria, whilst Spheno-
ptcris alata , Prong. (Grandini oj Goe/ip. and Schimper) from New¬
castle, belongs to the Old Carboniferous in Germany, and not to
any Mesozoic formation.

In the list given in “ Progress Report of Victoria, 1874,” Pro¬
fessor M‘Coy mentions three species of Gariftamopteris , from his
Upper Carbonaceous beds ; 2 Neuroptoris, 1 Pecopteris, 3
Sphenopteris, 1 Treniopteris, with 3 Zamites and 1 Phyllotheca
from the Lower Carbonaceous and only one animal form, Unio
Dacombii . The alleged abundance and value of coal in these beds
have been proved to bo a myth. There is, however, more coal
therein than in the smaller area of the Wi ana matt a and Hawkes-
bury rocks; and probably that is the reason why the Professor
would place them below tho former group of New South AVales.
But when wo consider the great improbability that a series of
strata having a thickness of at least 5,000 feet could ever liavo
existed between the llawkesbury and Wianainatta series, and
that not a trace remains anywhere in New South AVales of such
interpolation,—that the fossil evidence is in opposition to it, —
and that tho areas are totally disproportionate,—it would appear
a mere caprice of fancy to hold such a notion as that hinted at.

It may be well to make a final remark respecting Mr. Brough
Smyth’s idea that the coal beds of New South AVales lie on
“ limestones .” ( Progress Report , p. 20.) Had he visited them

himself ho would have seen that limestone, as such, is rather a
rare rock in connection with tho Now South AVales deposits of
coal, which clearly interpolates the marine beds, but the latter are
more frequently conglomerates, or sandstones and grits. The
Upper coal measures rest frequently on granite and slates as well
as on other rocks. The limestones in the Carboniferous rocks
aro rare, being few and of limited extent and far between. Tho
author just mentioned considers the relation of the “ coal-bearing ”
to u palceozoic rocks” as “obscure,” but it is not obscure to those
who have examined for themselves, nor moro so than the feeling
which induces philosophers to keep out of sight and ignore the
evidenco which contradicts their own pre-conceived opinions.

4 2

Sedimentary Formations

Mr. Charles Moore (of Bath) F.G,S>, enumerates 171 species of
Secondary animal fossils from Queensland, all sent to him for
description by myself; and sixty-two from Western Australia, of
which twenty species are common to England and that Colony.

The latter collection belongs chiefly to the Lower Oolites,
Upper and Middle Lias; and the former embraces the Upper
Oolites and Cretaceous formations. Mr. Brown, Government
geologist in Western Australia (Report of 1873) mentions
Mesozoic beds in the Darling Range, and, again, on the South
Coast, from Cape Rich to beyond Mount Barren, and as far as
Cape Eaperance. Saliferous and reddish sandstones, &e., are the
chief rocks. On his chart they and their detritus occupy seven
degrees of latitude, and from one to three of longitude. But there
is nothing defined as to fossiliferous evidence, except about
Champion Bay. From Wizard Peak and Mount Fairfax I have
received numerous fossils through the agency and kindness of
the lion. F. P. Barloe, F.R.G.S., Colonial Secretary, and the
Rev. C. G. Nicholay, of Geraldton, who not only added to my
collection, but supplied me with a personal survey of his neigh¬
bourhood on an enlarged scale, and with more minute details
than Mr. Brown’s chart exhibits.

There does not appear to be any fossiliferous evidenco of
Mesozoic formations in South Australia, where the rocks are
chiefly Palaeozoic, Metamorphic or transmuted and Tertiary.

In Tasmania, there is, no doubt, about the same evidence as
for New South Wales. Victorian geologists believe that the
coal of Jerusalem is Secondary. I was inclined to think that
the neighbourhood of Green Ponds and Bagdad betrays a
resemblance to some portions of the Wianamatta shales and
sandstones of New South Wales. But the area there is far from
extensive.

Mr. Gould, who surveyed considerable portions of the Colony,
says nothing leading to the idea of any extensive Secondary
areas; and whatever hold they may have on the mind of a
geologist who has not carefully" observed, must owe it to pre¬
conceived notions as to the ago of the coal, which has of late
established its Palamzoic character as unmistakeably as the seams
of Anvil Creek, &c.

Coal has been reached on the Mersey under the marine
fossiliferous beds, as I always held it would be, in spite of
vaticinations to the contrary.

Passing over to New Caledonia, the Secondary formations are
represented by Triassic, Liassic, and Neocomian rocks or fossils.

On the 6th July, 1863, a paper by M. Eugene Deslongchamps
was read before the Linnean Society of Normandy on the Geology
of Hugon Island, in New Caledonia, in which mention is made
of a Pecten and fish scalo from Cape St. Vincent, on the S.S.W.

New South Wales.

43

Coast, collected by M. E. Doplanches. Millions of an Avicula
( Monotis ), allied to M. salinaria of Goldfuss, of which M. Rich¬
mond i ana, of Zittel, is a variety, also occur. Astarte, Turbo
Jbuani, and one other ; Spirifera Calcdonica ; S. Planc&esi ;
Scyphii armala —all these are Upper Triassic.

M. Garnier’s fossils, examined by M. Eischer, were pronounced
to be Monotis; Jlalobia (an Austrian species), and Mytilus
problcmatinus of the same formation.

The supposed Jurassic rocks contain Nucula near N. Uammcri
(Do Er.) a Littorina, Cardium, and an Astarte resembling
A. Yoltzii (Goldf . ) M. Eischer believes, however, that these are
more likely to bo Triassic also.

M.Munier-Chalmas names also as Jurassic,Ostrea siiblamcllosa ;
Astarte (or Tamiadon) prceecursor ; Pellatia Gamierl and
Cardium Caledonicum .

A large Pinna seems to represent the Cretaceous rocks. A
tolerably full account of the Geology of New Caledonia will bo
found in my Anniversary Address to the Royal Society of New
South Wales on the 12th May. 1875.

New Zealand exhibits abundance of proofs that Secondary
formations exist there, and not the least remarkable fact is that
Professor Hochstettcr in 1859 discovered there the same Avicula
Jtichmondiana as above, and Halobia Lomelli, Avicula salinaria
with Monotis, Spirigera, Spirifera, &c., belonging to the Triassic

paper “ On Recent Geological Discoveries ” T collected as
much of this kind of information as I then could; but since then
the skill and labour of the Geological Survey of New Zealand,
uuder tho direction of Dr. Hector, have produced an abundant
harvest of scientific details ; and to the able publications and
Reports from that authority I may refer those who are interested
in the development of that most interesting group of islands.
They will find there ample evidence as to the existence of Triassic,
Jurassic, and Cretaceous, as well as of Palaeozoic rocks. The
Saurian discoveries of Mr. T. Hood Cockburn Hood also deservo
commemoration ; nor must the labours and great discoveries of
Dr. Haast be unremembered.

So far as the Trias is concerned, IIochstottcEs discoveries of
tho genera and species about Richmond have been rivalled by
Captain Hutton in Southland, Otago, who found in 1872, on the
Moonlight Range, Monotis Richmondian a (Zitt), and Jlalobia
Lomelli (Wissm). On the western slope of Hokanuis, and on
tho south side of the AVairaka Hills, lie obtained the same
species, with others, proving that the rocks are the same as tho
sandstones of Richmond, near Nelson, and also the Triassic ago
of the deposits. ( Geology of Southland. Report of JJxplorations,
Gcol, Surv., N.Z.,p. 104.)

44

Sedimentary formations

Not very distant the same careful observer detected some of
the same species as occur in Queensland in the middle Jurassic
formation, described by Mr. Moore, e.g., As f arte wollumbillaensis ,
.with other genera and species, that link in the South with the
North Island (p. 105). These discoveries justify the inference
that Triassie rocks are probably present also in New South Wales.

When I first announced in 18G0 the proof that Secondary fos¬
sils did exist in Australia, exhibited in Sydney, and forwarded
to Sir Henry Barkly for Professor M*Coy’s inspection I
especially mentioned the occurrence of Cretaceous species. This
was doubted, and the whole series classified as “not higher" than
the “ lower part of the great Oolite" But in 1SGG, the Professor
himself announced from another part of Queensland the occur¬
rence of two Itiocerami, and two Ammonites , from the Blinder’s
[River district. Ho also announced an Icthgosanrus , a JPIcsio-
saurus , and a Belcmnitella , from lowor Cretaceous strata of the
same district.

Mr. Moore says, of the Wollumbilla fossils, “that they all
belong to the Upper Oolite may with safety be inferred, but the
Cretaceous beds have a claim to be considered, and he established
the existence of thegenus Crioccras, which was first reported by me.

In 1S72, Mr. Daintree, E.G.S., read his Notes on Queensland,
before the Geological Society, the marine fossils illustrating
which were (as before stated), described by Mr. Etheridge, F.R.S.,
E.G.S., Palaeontologist to the Geological Survey of Great Britain.
The number of Oolitic species recorded is six, and of Cretaceous,
twenty-five.

The expedition of 1872, in the Cape York Peninsula, in which
Mr. Norman Taylor, of the Victorian Survey, was Geologist, has
added to the list of Secondary fossils in Queensland. These were
sent to me for inspection by the Minister for Public Works in
that Colony, and at his request forwarded to the Agent General
in London. They have not yet been fully described.

A still further amount of Cretaceous fossils forwarded by Mr.
Hann, the leader of the Expedition of 1872, to Mr. Etheridge,
and a large collection iu my own cabinet, remain yet to be deter¬
mined.

This is sufficient to show the extent of Mesozoic formations
developed since 1SG0.

Mr. Haintree reckons the areas of the Cretaceous and Oolitic
formations in Queensland at 200,000 square miles; the Carbon¬
aceous (Mesozoic) at 10,000, and the Palaeozoic Carboniferous
at 14,000, whilst the Devonian and Upper Silurian occupy
40,000. The two younger, therefore, are more than Jive times as
extensive as the older.

After the Norman Taylor collection had gone to England, I
received three or four specimens from the Table Mountain,

New South Wales.

45

between Hann’s Camps 11 and 42 ( Northern Expedition Report')
and forwarded them to the Queensland Agent General in London,
for inspection by Paleontologists at Home. Mr. Etheridge, the
Palaeontologist of the Survey of Great Britain, considers the
fossils in that conglomerate rock to be a species of Hinnites
like II. velatris and an Ostrca like O. Sowerbyii } and that
they belong to the Oolitic series. The same conglomerate
as I learn by a more recent arrival, occurs on the high ranges
between the Palmer and Cooktown, under the deposit which Mr.
Daintree calls Desert sandstone. It is a coarse rock containing
broken shells in a sandstone full of partly rounded pebbles. Mr.
Etheridge also considers the Walsh River, series to be of Lower
Cretaceous forms. {Some specimens of plants supposed to be
Glossopteris were also forwarded by mo to Europe, with the
shelly rock. Mr. Carruthers 1 determination is, that they were
not of that genus, but rather a form of Tamiopteris nearly allied
to Stangerites ensis (Oldham and Morris in the Indian Survey
Memoirs), which Schimper calls Angiopteridcnsis. Another speci¬
men which 1 did not see in the great collection, but of which I
had a drawing from Mr. Taylor, was considered by several
geologists in Queensland, &c., to be Orthoceras, and, therefore,
Palaeozoic. Mr. Daintree says there were several specimens like
Orthoceras; and so I think the one in question was, but I con¬
sidered at the time that there was no Orthoceras present in the
box, but a good many Belemnites, and I considered the sketch
referred to was of the same genus.

I have since received the following statement,—“Thero was no
specimen of Orthoceras in the entire series.”

I have also received a list of the genera of Walsh River fossils,
in Mr. Etheridge’s handwriting. It is as follows, making all of
them lower Cretaceous : —

Ammonites, allied to A. Clypeiformis.

Ammonites sp.

Crioceri.

Belemnites.

Myacites.

Byssoarca.

Solemya or Iridina.

Area.

Panopsea.

Inoceramus.

Hinnites or Avicula.

Cytherea.

Cyprina.

Myoconcha.

Pecten.

Teredo or Teredina, in fossil wood.

46 Sedimentary Formations

An opinion lias been adopted that the Mesozoic fossils from
Queensland, both those described by Mr. Moore and these by
Mr. Etheridge, were in mere drifted nodules. Mr. Taylor
assures me that such is not the case with the latter, and I long
ago gave a section of the beds at Wollumbilla, proving as in the
York Peninsula, that the nodular masses were derived from a soft
shale, being in fact concretions. If they have been drifted they
have not travelled far.

Mr. Taylor (Han ns Report, p. 13) seems to have found the
shelly deposit before mentioned on “ a flat-topped Carboniferous
range,” (on 9 Sept.. 1872), and by a report of April, 1S75, from
Cook Town, it appears that a fine seam of bituminous coal has
been discovered at the junction of Oaky Creek and the Endea¬
vour River, 20 miles from Cook Town ; but from the determina¬
tion of Mr. Carruthers, this coal (confirming, however, Mr.
Taylor’s statement) is not of the Glossopteris age. The coal of
the latter series is not known to extend further north than
20° 35' south.

In Mr. Dalrymplo’s Report of his Exploration on the “ .North¬
east coast of Queensland” ( Brisbane , 1S73, p. 20.) that enter¬
prising observer states that the flat-topped ranges and mountains
about the Endeavour River have “ red sandstone escarpments,” a
feature that assimilates it somewhat to the “ New Red” or
Triassic formation.

Tertiary Rocks.

Kainozoic of Duncan.

Throughout the whole of Eastern Australia, including New
South Wales and Queensland, no Tertiary marine deposits have
been discovered. There are, however, in various places of New
South Wales patches of plant deposits which, according to the
frequent notices of geologists, may bo inferred to some period of
the Tertiary epoch. A silicified sandstone, or quartzite of this kind,
full of impressions of ferns and leaves of trees, but not known
to be now living, occurs at Jerrawa Creek not far from 1 ass. It
is probably Miocene. On the summit of the Cordillera, near
Nundle, above the Peel River Diggings, occurs a ferruginous bed
full of leaves. On the Richmond River occurs a white magnesite,
full of yellowish impressions of leaves. At Ke-woug, in the
county of Gowan, there is a bluish deposit of fine aluminous
matU r with black impressions. Prom a depth of GO feet in a
shaft near Bungonia, a pale yellowish white deposit with similar
impressions was brought up ; and on the summit of a il made”
hill, above Kiandra Gold Eield, at a height of 4,000 feet above
the sea, and in a region now partly covered wit enow many

New South Wales .

47

months in the year, there is a deposit of black clay with such
casts of leaves as occur in similar clay near Hyde in New
Zealand,

In recent visits to various gold fields of the Western districts,
I have found plant beds of somewhat similar kind either cut by
the shafts or distributed in the wash-dirt below the alluvial
deposits, underlying in some cases thick masses of basalt. Such
occur at Gulgong; at Cargo; under Bald Hill at Hill End;
and also at Blayney.

At Lucknow also occur deposits of branches and fragments of
trees under the basalt, and on the Uralla Gold Field, and at
Home Rule, on Cooyal Creek, lignite and woody matter of a
similar kind were seen by me in the lowest deposit of the deepest
shaft.

No botanist is willing to declare what is the exact age of such
deposits ; but some of the leaves are supposed to represent,
among others, the foliage of Fag us; yet it was only in I860 that
a beech forest was discovered, by the Director of the Botanical
.Gardens, growing on the M‘Leay River. On comparing the
living leaves with the impressions in the various deposits men¬
tioned I can see no specific identity. This want of identity
indicates that however the plants may resemble living plants they
cannot bo of a recent period ; and yet there are occasionally such
close resemblances as to lead some good botanists to infer a
recent period for some of them.

The most remarkable instance I have examined is on the coast,
about 42 miles north of Cape ITowe, where, at a place called
Chouta (between Tura and Boonda), a cliff about 100 feet high,
formed of sand and white silicate of alumina, contains beds of
lignite charged with sulphide of iron, and which are full of pliyto-
lites much allied to the living vegetation. From the clays, some
of which are nearly kaolin, articles of pottery have been formed.
It has been proved that, by distillation, a fair proportion of
lubricating oil may be produced from the lignitiferous clay, and
other products are expected to result from these deposits." The
cliff is about GO feet thick from the sea to the top of the clays,
and borings below the sea-level have shown a still greater
thickness.

These deposits lie between the horns of the little bay at Tura
and Boonda, resting at one end on the highly undulating Palaeo¬
zoic rocks, and at the other on a mass of porphyiy. Tlic 3 r were,
formerly, no doubt, deposited in a depression among the slopes
of the hills, but the wearing away of the coast lias left a cliff of
clay and sand instead of the original cliff of hard rocks. It k
remarkable that at the south end the rocks assume the character
of a breccia of quartz cemented by siliceous matter (probably
like a deposit mentioned by Mr. Gould as occurring in Tasmania)

4 § Sedimentary Formations

and in it analysis lias detected the presence of gold, though some
quartz veins at the north end contained none.

My impression at first was that the lignite is recent, but I place
the deposits under the present head because it may be possible,
notwithstanding the opinion of a botanical friend whose judg¬
ment is worthy of esteem, the plants are not recent. Baron Yon
Mueller, to whom I submitted them, hesitated to express an
opinion. They are deposited in clays of various kinds, chiefly
white. Some of the hardened clinker-like sands covering the
clays remind me of the sands on the coast of Dorset, at Studlaud
and Bourne month. If this bo really a Tertiary locality, it does
not contradict the general assertion at the commencement of this
section, for no shells of any kind have been detected in any part
of these beds. Swampy and stunted plants still grow on the
sands, which are very wet, and probably reproduce the pheno¬
mena beneath them, with the exception of the white clays
which were in part derived from the decomposed felspathic
matter of the porphyry. In various parts of Maneero there arq
lignite-like local thin "deposits, but on analysis they have proved
valueless.

By far theniost interesting discovery that has been made in
relation to tlie plant beds, was realized in the basaltic district of
the Forest between Orange and Carcoar.

The description of several new genera and species of fossil
prints has been given in “ Observations on JVew Vegetable Fossils
of the Auriferous Drifts,” by Baron F. Yon Mueller, C.M.G.,
M.D., Ph. D , F.R.S., and L.8., Government Botanist, &c.; pub¬
lished by the “ Mining Department’’ of Yietoria, 18 7T. These
have been discovered, not only in the Forest, but also in Victoria,
at Haddon, Nintiugbol, Tanjol, and at Beech worth. They seem
to belong to the later Pliocene formation, and to consist of plants
allied to the present forest-belt of Eastern Australia. An
abstract of the first account of them was read before the Geolo¬
gical Society, on 22nd June, 1870, and afterwards copied from
the Quarterly Journal (vol. 27) into the Geological Magazine ,
1870, p. 390.

They consist of the following species, viz. —

Spondylostrobus ..
Phymatocaryon ..

Trematocaryon ..
Rhytidotheca

a

Plesiocapparis

Celyphina

Odontocaryon

Smythii

MacJcayii

angulare

McLellani

Lynchii

fmoclinis

jyrisca

McCoy i

Mac Greg or ii

New South Wales.

49

Conchotheca . rotundata

„ ... ... ... turgida

Penteune... . ... ClarTcei *

„ ... ... ... ... bracliyclinis

„ ... ... ... ... ti'achyclinis

Dieuno ... ... ... ... pluriovulata

Platycoila . Siillivani

Ehytidocaryon ... ... ... WilJcinsonii

and, probably, some others.

This last species was discovered somewhere to the -west of
Bathurst iu one of the gold leads, in the beginning of March,
1S75, on the 10th of which month I had the good fortune to re¬
discover it in the refuse from a shaft near Lumpy Swamp, in the
Forest, between Orange and Carcoar, Baron Yon Mueller having
stated in his Report of 29th July, 1874, that we require to learn
“what was the nature of their leaves and floral organs.” In order
to search for these, I made a second journey to the Forest, having
first explored it in 1872, and found, together with four specimens
of Phytidocaryon Wilkinsonii and a number of already described
species, several leaves embedded in a ligneous clay in the refuse
of a shaft, together with portions of the branches of some tree or
trees. The tissue of the leaves was in some cases so thin that it
-peeled off on touching. The collection, which included a few
other specimens of seeds and seed vessels given to me by Mr. A.
Montgomery, who lives in the neighbourhood, I sent on to the
Baron, who has forwarded them to Professor Schimper, of Stras¬
bourg, being unable at present to undertake their examination.
Iu a short time, therefore, we may expect to know more about
these interesting plants.

Professor M £ Coy has enumerated in the list of Tertiary
Victorian fossils between thirty and forty Oligocene species;
thirty to fifty or more Miocene, together with many tropical
types of 'Dicotyledonous plants ; and from the auriferous drifts
four Molluscs, six Marsupials, and a Dingo, with the wood and
fruit of a Banksia and the foliage of Eucalyptus obliqua. These
are partly Pliocene and partly Post 'pliocene .

The occurrence of Banksia (four species) in the Tertiary forma¬
tion of Heeling, in the Tyrol (see Clarke’s “Southern Gold Fields,”
p. 173) and in Victoria is a highly instructive fact as to the ancient
vegetation of the world. The seed-vessels of plants deep below
the surface in the auriferous drifts of Victoria and Hew South
"Wales wero also mentioned by me in 18G0, in the work alluded to
above (p. 173).

The thickness of the rocks in the Forest and at Lumpy Swamp
vary somewhat, but an example or two will show the character of
the country over the gold leads.

n

Sedimentary Formations

5 °

Alluvium ... ... ... ... ... 10 feet.

Hard basalt ... ... ... ... ... 40 „

Decomposing basalt ... ... ... ... 40 „

Washdirt.

2. At Tigeroo shaft, near which I procured the seed-vessels:

Earth ... ... ... ... ... ... 10 feet.

Basalt ... ... ... ... ... ... *85 „

Peat and shale... ... ... ... ... 10 „

Washdirt with seeds and leaves.

At Haddon, in Victoria, the fossil fruit was found in one
shaft at the bottom of the following section, resting on Silurian
slates. (See Lynch’s plans. Vegetable Fossils of Victoria.)

Black soil ... ... ... ... ... 1-J- feet.

Bed clay ... ... ... ... ... 4 „

Lumpy red and black clay ... ... ... 2G „

Clayey honeycombed rock, with hard cores

succeeded by zeolitic basalt ... ... 100 „

Do. decomposed at base ... . 1 i „

Black clay ... ... ... ... ... 7 „

Drift gravel and sand (auriferous) Trees at

the bottom ... ... ... ... 10 „

Auriferous wash dirt (Fossil fruits) ... 6 „

156

At Beechworth (El Dorado) occur wood and leaves in variably
coloured clay above coarse drift, covering black clay with wood
and leaves ; and below this, two to eight feet of washdirt, holding
fruits and wood, resting on granite. (From Mr. Arrowsmith’s
plan. Id.)

Mr. Daintree has stated his views respecting the Desert sand¬
stone of his map that it is a Kainozoic deposit, and once covered
tho greater part of Australia. In the places where it is in great
force, in Northern Queensland it overlies the Cretaceous rocks,
and underlies lava beds. It contains fossil wood ; and a Tellina
which I sent to Mr. Daintree, from the neighbourhood of Leich¬
hardt’s Crossing-place, on the Flindcr’s Eiver, would, he says, if
coming from the Desert sandstone, show that that formation is
not lacustrine. In various parts of New South Wales there are
cappings of flue hardened sandstone which may have some
relation to tho strata referred to.

Mr. Daintree has, however, mistaken the locality he gives to
the Tellina. He received a portion of a Trilobite , and not a
Tellina, from Barkly’s Tableland, and a cast of a whole one, which
would give to that locality a Devonian character.

New South Wales.

5i

Towards the north of the Capo York Peninsula the sandstones
are barren of fossils, and about the Cape seem to have more the
character of Laterite , resting on Porphyry.

Mr. Wilkinson, in his researches among the tin-mines of New
England, recognized the drifts which in Victoria are considered
Pliocene ; and Mr. Norman Taylor and the late Professor
Thomson, in their paper “ On the occurrence of Diamond near
Mudgee” {Trans. Bog. Soc. ofN.S.W., 1870, p. 94) make mention
of older and newer Pliocene drift. Whether there be any fossil
evidence for the propriety of these terms I know not. That there
are drifts of different parts of one epoch I believe, and, perhaps,
the divisions are good, oven if the designations arc too refined!
Dr. Duncan has advised us to postpone the Lyellian designations
for the present. Having very recently visited almost every
locality mentioned in the paper, and examined for myself much
of the alluvia of the Gold Fields in a large portion of the county
of Phillip, 1 am prepared to testify to the extreme faithfulness of
the description given by Messrs. Taylor and Thomson. My
remark, therefore, about the term Pliocene is not to be taken as
complaining of it, but as a justification for the introduction of
some of the drifts in question under the present head. A dis¬
tinction of time is however clearly marked in the character of the
various deposits or iu the difference of botanical remains.

Perhaps some of these deposits in the Gold Fields, as well as
some of the shelly conglomerates at the mouth of the Flinders,
had better be considered as belonging to the next division of my
subject; and though placed as Tertiary, I am not satisfied they
arc such, as no positive proof exists by unmistakable evidence
that they are so.

In the far Western interior, beyond the Darling, shelly deposits
of fine sandstone have been reached in well-making, and by the
kindness of my friend, Mr. Woore, C.C.L., of the Albert District,
I have been just put in possession of several good specimens,
together with fossil wood, apparently not very ancient, which I
believe to be Tertiary.

There is no doubt a tine waterworn drift over large areas of
the Auriferous and Stanniferous regions and in the southern part
of Maneero ; but in many cases the drift betrays its origin, as the
result of the disintegration of conglomerates, and such I believe
to be the origin of the drift seen by Professor Liversidge near
Wallerawang. (Report on Iron Ore and Coal Deposits, read
before Royal Society, 9 Dec., 1874.) He compares it with the
diamond drift at Bmgcra, alluding to the “ nodules df conglom¬
erate” in each; but this conglomerate may be found in situ in
the coal-bearing beds close at hand.

Many drifts have undoubtedly been dispersed and re-agglom¬
erated, and again dispersed from one age to another, and the

5 2 Sedimentary Formations

fineness of the pebbles and their perfect attrition afford testi¬
mony as to their antiquity, though now called recent.

True Tertiary marine fossils occur on the south coast from
Cape Howe to Cape Lewin, and have been described by Captain
Sturt, Rev. Julian T. Woods, and Mr. Busk. They are also met
with on the west coast as far as Nortli-west Cape, in great
abundance.

New Zealand also contains a great number of Tertiary genera
and species admirably detailed and arranged as belonging to the
Upper Pliocene, Upper and Lower Miocene, and Upper Eocene,
in a “ Catalogue by Captain F. W. Hutton, F.Cr.S. (Geological
Survey , New Zealand ), Wellington, 1873, of Tertiary Mollusca and
Echinodermata, in the collection of the Colonial Museum.’*

The classification is based on the 'percentage of recent species,
the proportions of which are 70, 34, 23, and 9 per cent .

Quaternary Formation and Recent Accumulations.

The Quaternary Fauna of Australia lias been so long known
by the patient and skilful researches of Professor Owen, that
there is no need to do more than refer to his writings, as the
source of most of our knowledge respecting the strange animals
that preceded the human epoch and perhaps extended into it.
Huxley and others have also added to tne general history of these
creatures.*

Remains of reptiles have also been found both in New South
Wales and in other parts of Australia, in quaternary deposits, as
for instance, Megalania prisca (Owen), a Lacertian allied to the
Varans and Lace Lizards of Australia, which had, probably, a
length of 22 feet.

* An anecdote may be introduced here which may hare some interest for
visitors to the Australian Museum. In 1847, Mr. Turner sent, to Sydney a box
of bones from King's Creek, in Darling Downs, and Dr. Leichhardt, Mr. Wall
(then Curator of the Museum), with myself examined them, and found there
nearly the whole of the bones of the head, though in fragments ouly, besides
other prominent portions of the Diprotodon skeleton, which had only been then
partially known to Professor Owen, who had not at that time seen the upper jaw.
So far, therefore, this individual was unique. With much trouble we putt ho
bones together, and a cast was afterwards made of the skull, which is still in
the Museum. A paper contributed by myself (dated 30th November 1817),
and afterwards re-published in the Appendix to my Report of 14th October,
1853, (“ On the Geology of the Condamine River"), and some letters from the luto
W. S. Macleay Esq., and Dr. Leichhardt, detailed the characters of the animal
so far ns they were then known, and the condition and other contents of Mr.
Turner’s coil % ction. This would not deserve any mention here, but for the
sake of introducing a curious event relating to the head of the Diprotodon
alluded to, Mr. Turner sold his collection to the late Mr. Benjamin Boyd,
who sent it to England. The ship \va9 wrecked at Beaehy Head, on the coast
of Sussex, and the collection, forming part of the relics of the cargo which
were sold, was taken to London, and Professor Owen bought it of the dealer
who had become its owner, not knowing its history.

New South Wales.

53

Tho Diprotodon appears not to have been limited to any one
portion of Eastern Australia, for its remains have been found in.
South Australia and Queensland as far north as the York Penin¬
sula.

In many of the “ gold leads ” also, fragments of bones are
found. A section of one sample, at Wattle Elat, above the Turon
ltiver, is given in iriy paper on “ Fossil Bones ” (Q.J.O., 8. xi.
]). 405, 1855), and in Anniversary Address to Royal Society,
N.S.AY., 1873, p. 14”

In many parts of the existing region, all over the surface,
wherever the basal rock is not denuded, as near Sydney, there are
local deposits which might be called “till,” were any Testacea
found in them; and in the Interior there are widely spread
accumulations of drift pebbles, which, as on the Hunter and
AVollondilly, are rounded by attrition in their long journey from
the mountains whence they have been derived. Sometimes, also,
the breaking up of conglomerates has contributed to this drift.

On Peak Downs there are deep accumulations of drift, such
as transmuted beds of the Carboniferous formation, igneous rocks,
such as porphyry and basalt, and fragments of the older Palaeozoic
formation. Many of these are encrusted with thin calcareous
cement, which forms cups of clear calc-spar in hollows of a fine
porphyritie grit; the same grit occurring on the AYarrego, on the
Ballandoon and Narran ridges, with transmuted quartzite, also in
wells there and on the Darling near Fort Bourke, in which drift
fine gold was detected by me to exist on the Downs, and has
been again reported to me from tho base of Rankin’s Ranges on
the Darling River,—the furthest known western auriferous
locality in New* South AYales.

In 1SG9 I reported the discovery of the femur of a bird at
the depth of 1S8 feet, in drift resting on granite, from a well in
that part of Peak Downs (22° 40' S.) which lies between Lord’s
Table mountain and the head of Theresa Creek, near the track
from Clermont to Broad Sound. Compared with the bones of
Dinornis in the Australian Museum, both the Curator of that
Institution, and myself came to the same conclusion as to its
genus, and accordingly it was reported in the Geological Magazine,
as Dinornis. Professor Owen has, however, removed it into
another genus Dromornis considering it to have belonged to a
Struthioid bird. If it was such, of course (especially after tho
deep soundings between Australia and New Zealand, established
by 1I.M.S. “Challenger” in 1874) the speculations I indulged
on a possible former connection between those countries as
illustrated by such a discovery are worth little. But if it was a
Dromornis , then it falls in with the relationship to a present bird,
tho Emu, just as the Kangaroos of this epoch are related in
structure to the gigantic Marsupials of a past age. But Mr.

5 4 Sedimentary Formations

Hood’s discovery of Crocodilian remains in New Zealand seems
to establish in another way some possible connection long ago
with distant regions.

Crocodiles are yet common in Queensland. Tf the notion of a
former connection of New Zealand with the latter region is
rejected, we have a connection of another kind maintained bv
some geologists, and Australia is considered as forming a relick of
a great Continent that formerly united what are now Africa aud
India with it. To this conclusion the existence of the plant
deposits (discussed above) bears considerable testimony, and
coupled with the wingless birds and crocodilian remains, an
extension of the inference so as to include New Zealand is not
unjustifiable. (See Mr. Blandford’s paper “ On the Plant¬
bearing Series of India, or the former existence of an Indo-
Oceanic Continent,” read before the Geological Society of London,
16th December, 1874.) Incidentally, that paper affords by its
deductions, as to Permian times, an additional argument for the
views I have expressed as to the epoch to which the Australian
coal plants really belong being Paheozoic.

Looking to the Colony of New South Wales, we find that in
more than one instance the present river channels have deepened
since the drift first began to crowd their banks. I have traced
one of these drift streams, sometimes at great heights above the
valleys, for more than SO miles. In other places I have found
upon the surface, as Strzelecki did in other parts, minerals
(especially ores of copper, tin, and lead) which were at a great
distance from their sources; aud in two instances that rare
mineral, Molybdate of lead, of which no habitat has ever been
yet found ; and not more than a year ago a lump of Sulphuret of
antimony, weighing three pounds, and exhibiting surface evidence
of its being a drifted substance, was disinterred from the super¬
ficial ironstone gravel of an unfrequented place in the bush on
one of the heights of the north shore of Port Jackson.

In the great plains of the interior bones of various gigantic
marsupials, fishes and reptiles, are found bedded in black muddy
trappean soil ; and on Darling Downs, in Queensland, univalve
and bivalve shells are found in some cases attached to the bones,
or deposited over them in a regular series of layers, at intervals
of several feet ; and of these shells some arc yet living in the
water-holes of the creeks. These facts are generally known, but
it was not till recently that the osseous relics have been found in
different creeks throughout the whole of the slopes and plains at
the base of the Cordillera in Eastern Australia; in Victoria, in
South Australia, and in North Australia also. Of similar age are
the accumulations of bones in caverns, as at "Wellington; at
Borec ; near the head of the Colo River ; at Vosseba, on the

New South Wales . 55

Maclcay River ; at the head of the Coodradigbee : not far from
the head of the Bogan, and in other places.

A magnificent collection of the remains in the Wellington
Caves has been made, at the instigation of Professor Owen, at the
cost of the New South Wales Government, with the superin¬
tendence of the Trustees of tho Australian Museum, by one of
them, the late Professor Thomson, and by Mr. Krefft, the
Curator of that Institution.

The Reports of these gentlemen, together with more than a
thousand partly determined specimens, were forwarded to Pro¬
fessor Owen, who has expressed his acknowledgment of tho
value of this collection, “ as regards novelty, instructiveness, and
encouragement for the future,” and as an “ important element
in working out tho ancient history of the forms of animal life
peculiar to Australia.”

The Coodradigbee caverns will repay research hereafter. It
has already furnished me with bones of birds, in which those of
an Emu are prominent.

The latter fact chimes in with the alleged Dromornis of
Queensland.

Professor M‘Coy has named bones of a Dingo in a cavern near
Mount Macedon. " If it bo really a dog of this period in Australia,
it is another link between the Quaternary and Recent times.
Yicomte d’Archiac, however, doubts its antiquity : “ Bicn ,” he
says, “ ne prouve que ce chien n'ait pas etc iniroduit par les
premiers homines qui ont peuple le continent Australien .” {Logons
sur la Faune Quaternairc, Fan's, 1SGG, p. 271.)

An expedition to Howe’s Island made known in 1SG9 tho ex¬
istence of bones of birds and turtles embedded in the beach rock
of the island. Afterwards, a collection of them was sent to
mo by Mr. Leggatt, of Eiji. I forwarded them to Professor
Owen, who informed me that he was unable to determine to what
they belonged, owing to their imperfect state; but they un¬
doubtedly belong to some period near to the present, as the rock
is a coral limestone, common to the coasts of the Pacific Islands;
and that deposit also contains a Bulimus scarcely distinguishable
from a living shell of the same genus off the Island, and eggs of
Turtle also embedded as in Eaine Island in the Barrier Reef.
{Sec Trans., Boy. Soc., N.S.W. , 1870, p. 37).

Within the last few years, the drifts of tho Cudgegong and
Macquarie Rivers have been searched for diamonds, first reported
in 18G0 by myself as occurring in numbers in tho latter river.
Many thousand examples have been found, but they are chiefly
small and of little value ; though a few have been found of larger
size, and have been cut and polished.

A few others have been brought to me from other localities in
New South Wales, and a few also have been found in Victoria,

Sedimentary Formations

56

In other publications I have treated of them ; and since then,
the Bingera Diamond Field lias received careful attention from
Professor Liversidge who has described its condition accurately.

Those found since 1SG0 have fully justified the heading of my
notice published that year (“ Southern Gold Fields,” p. 272), —
“ jNe\v South Wales a Diamond Countiiy.”

Some years since I reported on the occurrence of mercury in
this Colony; but my expectation of the discovery of a lode of
Cinnabar has been disappointed. The Cinnabar occurs on the
Cudgegoug in drift lumps and pebbles, and is probably the result
of springs, as iu California. In New Zealand and in the neigh¬
bourhood of the Clarke River, North Queensland, the same ore
occurs in a similar way. About 1811 1 received the first sample
of quicksilver from the neighbourhood of the locality on Carwell
Creek, on the Cudgegong. where the cinnabar is found. I pro¬
posed a full examination of that locality when 1 was in tlio
neighbourhood in February, 1875 ; but the state of the weather
was such as to preclude the possibility of doing so during my
limited stay. But I was informed that the imogress of the mine
was satisfactory.

As connected with the drifts may bo mentioned the occurrence
of gems of all kinds in all the rivers where auriferous deposits
occur, and subsequent years have only served to abundantly
confirm my statement of 18G0 as to the general distribution of
them in the gold-bearing districts.

Iu examining the gold alluvia at a variety of.shafts about Gul-
gong, Home Buie, and other places in the county of Phillip, I
was struck by three prominent circumstances which have bearings
upon the present and future of that region.

1. No shaft is, so far as I learned, deeper than 200 feet.

2. {The gravels of the alluvia were composed of pebbles and

fragments of rock common in the vicinity — derived from
Carboniferous and underlying strata, with occasional
fossils.

3. The quartz pebbles were in somo cases perfectly rounded,

in others the quartz was in fragmentary lumps, as if
recently broken from reefs. These did not appear to oecujr
together.

The conclusion I drew from the latter fact was that two periods
of destruction and one of abrasion of underlying reefs bad taken
place at an early period of alluvial deposition. A fourth eircum-
slanco might he commented on. In tho deposits of the shafts a
multitude of well worn abraded lumps of jasper, silicified fossil
wood, and semi-opal of various tints and ehalcedoniq interchanges,
in some instances themselves decomposing, so as to exhibit tho
fibres of the wood from which they had been formed by transmu¬
tation, arrested attention, and showed that either an older series

New South Wales.

57

of Carboniferous rocks bad suffered such changes, or the beds of
the series which now exhibits itself in various outliers had under¬
gone the process. My friend Mr. Lowe, of Gooree, has made a
most extensive collection of these altered fragments, in which
are many most beautiful specimens. It will probably never bo
rivalled, as he collected them from time to time as they were
disinterred by the diggers. A great number also were coated
with a shining transparent envelope of what I believe to be a
deposit of silicified water. Elsewhere (Trans. Hoy. Soc., 1870,
p. 11) I have dwolt upon this; and it also attracted the attention
of Professor Thomson and Mr. Norman Taylor. These deposits
are frequently covered by a great thickness of basalt, upon which
frequently lies a more recent drift partly derived from older
drifts. The colours of the alluvia, now long exposed, rival in
some degree those poikilitic hues which distinguish the west end
of the Isle of AVight.

A drift oflocal kind also occurs over large areas in Maneero
in the neighbourhood of the auriferous strata, as also in New
England over the country of the tin mines, which exhibits the
same sort of alluvia as the gold fields, and in which also gold
occurs. In 1851-3, when I first discovered Tin in the Colony, it
was gonerally in association with gold and gems. Messrs.
Ulrich, AVilkinson, and Liversidge have since that time made local
explorations both iu the alluvia and in the beds from which they
have been derived. There arc deposits of opals besides those iu
the gold drifts ; and on Lawson’s Creek a feeder of the Cudge-
gong agate breccias and opals occur. Opaline veins also occur in
the basin of the Abercrombie Elver, and in that of the A 7 ictoria
of Queensland.

At the mouths of the Eichmond and Clarence Eivers gold is
found distributed iu the sands and covering pebbles of the sea
beacli; a similar distribution is found in the sands of Shell
Harbour (where the accumulations abovenamed occur) aud some
gold was extracted. Other spots give similar indications ; and one
specimen of gold was brought up from the sea bottom by the
sounding operations of H.M.S. 44 Herald,” off Port Macquarie.
Gilded pebbles also occur ou the west coast of New Zealand.

Numerous instances have also been recorded of gold having
been found in the gizzards of wild fowl and of domestic poultry,
in various parts of the Colony, confirming, with the above-men¬
tioned facts, the almost universal distribution of the precious
metal in river-drifts and superficial deposits. Some of the above-
named examples of gold collected by birds were exhibited by me
at Sydney and iu Paris in 1855, and arc still in my possession.

All along the coast, from Torres Strait to Pass’s Strait drift
pumice may be found wherever there is a lodgment, generally in
the north corner of the little shoro bays. That this has gouo ou

5 8 Sedimentary Formations

for ages is apparent, as in one part of the coast north of Wollon
gong there is an accumulation of -water-worn pumice, some dis¬
tance from the shore and beyond the reach of the present waves.
It is supposed to come in during easterly gales, from the volcanic
islands to the north-east. In 184*1 this fact, and all the evidence
then collected in relation to such drift and “atmospheric deposits
of dust and ashes,” were published in a paper I forwarded to the
Tasmanian Journal , of which D’Arehiac (Prog, de la Goal.) was
pleased to say it contained all that was known on the subject.

Subsequently received facts have only continued what was then
stated.

Along the coast of New South Wales are found ranges of
Dunes, with a variety of shells, some of them rare, others common,
as on Port Hacking and Cronulla Beach; along the shores of
Botanv Bay ; on the great flat between the Hunter and Port
Stephens, and along the Macleay Eiver, which now passes for
many miles through the shelly accumulations ; and about Moreton
Bay and in more northern coast openings, shells and marine
refuse form deep deposits, from which, as in Hlawarra and Broken
Bay, a considerable profit is obtained by dredgers and shell-
collectors, for the production of lime.

Baised beaches also occur at various heights on rocky projec¬
tions of the coast, indicating elevation of the land, of which there
is distinct evidence in the recent period, not only in Moreton
Bn v, but near Sydney and thence to Bass’s Strait; also on both sides
of that Strait, and as far as Adelaide and King George’s Sound.
Mr. Selwyn gives data for assuming the elevation of the land to
have reached occasionally 4,000 feet in Victoria, but he has no
evidence of Tertiary marine fossils above GOO feet. Unfor¬
tunately, on the eastern coast, having no marine Tertiaries, we
have to"found our deductions, as respects New South Wales, on
less secure data. Yet we have here evidence of another kind
and pot-holed surfaces of considerable extent have been found by
me at various heights from 300 to nearly 3,000 feet.

In a brief Memoir like the present it is impossible to quote all
the authorities, nor has time allowed a more satisfactory digest or
a wider range of statements. What has been thus collected is
brought together in the design of giving a concise summary of
the general Geology of the Colony, omitting, on account of its
perplexity, all specific reference to the igneous rocks traversing,
covering, "transmuting, or supporting the Sedimentary deposits.

In this Edition many new facts have been introduced with the
view of bringing on the .discoveries that have been made from
time to time to the present period, when a new systom of
geological inquiry has been just instituted in this Colony.

If private independent travel and research have not been able
to accomplish more than this abstract discloses, it may

New South Wales .

59

be hoped that now the Government lias made up its mind
to undertake the work from its own resources, pecuniary and
official, more will be accomplished than has hitherto been done
to work out the intricacies of Australian geology, to accomplish
which in minute and thorough detail, will probably require the
united exertions of many a worker in the field aud the cabinet
to the middle of the next century at least. In the preceding
pages it has been my lot to mention many of my own discoveries;
but it has not been with any desire to overrate my endeavours or
exertions ; and some I have altogether omitted.

In the first Edition of this paper mention was merely made of
the Cape York Peninsula, where ferruginous deposits occur on
the lower slopes and bases of porphyry hills. I may repeat
here what was added in the second Edition. Those deposits
were examined at the Mint, and no gold was detected ; but on a
recent comparison of their lithological character with that of
Tertiary beds from Elemington (iu Victoria), I believe them to
be, if not Tertiary, of similar origin to the Jaterite of India, and
of the Islands in the intermediate sea.

Dr. Rattray, of II.M.S. “Salamander,” who furnished me with
a map, and a collection to illustrate it, from the neighbourhood
of Cape York, and whose paper was read by me, in his absence,
before the Royal Society of New South Wales, more recently
published his views in extenso before the Geological Society of
London. lie therein attributes to me an opinion that the thick
sandstones of the Peninsula are of the age of the Ilawkesburv
rocks of New South Wales.

I do not remember that 1 have expressed any opinion on this
sandstone ; what was submitted to me was considered by me far
younger. That such sandstone, and even older deposits between
Cape York and the Gilbert River, may exist in the interior of
the Peninsula, is far from improbable. The data at present are
insufficient for further comment. It may belong to the Desert
sandstone of Daintreo.

But this inference may be permitted that, as Cape York is so
short a distance from the gold-bearing deposits of New Guinea,
and as is now proved, all the rivors running to the Gulf of Carpen¬
taria, from the Mitchell to the Nicholson inclusive, rise in
auriferous ranges, gold will probably be found in some parts of
the country, along the back-bone of the Peninsula; and although
my past examination of the rocks in the Louisiade Archipelago
has not proved gold to exist there, yet I agree with Mr. Dain-
tree, in his last Report to the Queensland Government, that the
strike of the older formations justifies the belief that that Archi¬
pelago, and, I may add, other portions of the lands insulated in
that part of the Pacific, will eventually furnish their quota of the
precious metal.

6 o

Sedimentary Formations

Several collections of New Guinea rocks have been sent to ine;
but although it was asserted strenously that gold was found in
them in the district visited by H.M.S. “Basilisk,” I have not
been able to recognise the existence of any auriferous matrix,
though it is well-known that alluvial gold was discovered during the
visit of H.M.8. 44 Rattlesnake ” on the coast at the other side of
the Island. I find, however, that nodules of excellent haematite
occur at New Harbour about 100 feet above the sea. AVo may
hope for satisfactory additions to our knowledge of that great
Island from the results of the Expedition so nobly undertaken
by Mr. Macleay.

In 1870 I added a remark or two about the discovery of a
living Ceratodus in the waters of Queensland in the preceding
year; the only previously known existence of the genus being
the teeth found in Triassic European rocks to which that name
was given.

This was an interesting addition to the living Tngonia, the
Cestracion, the Terebratula, &c., of Australia, which connect the
present period with the forms of life once held to be extinct.

Inquiries respecting this curious fish have resulted in the dis¬
covery of other species than that fi rst found (Ceratodus Forsteri)
and what is more extraordinary, fosilized teeth, of which I was
shown examples by Professor YVyville Thomson who found them
in an excursion purposely undertaken in search of the fish during
the stay of 1I.M.S. 41 Challenger” in Port Jackson.

Since the first description of the fish by Mr. Krcfft, Dr.
Gunther, F.E.S., has published a valuable 44 Description of Cera¬
todus, a genus of Ganoid Fishes recently discovered in rivers of
Queensland, Australia” in the Phil. Transactions (part II. 187 L).
The result is that both Agassiz aud Pander had from teeth found in
the Lias and Trias of Europe come to conclusions which the living
Ceratodus fully justifies. Dr. Oldham also had reported Cerato¬
dus teeth from' Maledi, south of Nagpur, in India. Australia
in this instance precedes India. The fish turns out to bo allied
to Lepidosiren, and its habits are amphibian, feeding on grasses
and weeds in fresh water.

Dr. Gunther goes into a most elaborate and minute examina¬
tion of the anatomy of all parts of the fish and a comparison
with other fishes of the same and dilFereut types. He sums up
thus : — “ The Dipnous type is represented in the Devonian and
Carboniferous epochs by several genera ( Pipterus , Gheirodus ,
Conchodus . Fhaneropleuron ), it is then lost down to the Trias and
Lias, where the scanty remains ofa distinct genus, Ceratodus , testify
to its presence ; no further trace of it has been found until the
present period, where it re-appears in three genera, one of which is
identical with that of the Mesozoic era. Now, at present, scarcely
any zoologist will deny that there must have been a continuity

New South Wales .

61

of the Dipnoous type, and it is only a proof of the incom¬
pleteness of the palaeontological record, that we have to derive
all our information regarding it from only three so very distinct
periods of existence. The Dipnoi oiler the most remarkable
example of persistence of organization, not in fishes only, but in
vertebrates. On a former occasion I have shown that numerous
recent species of fishes have survived from the period of the
geological changes which resulted in the separation of the
Atlantic and Pacific by the Central American Isthmus. In Cera-
todus we have now found a genus which, as far as evidence goes,
persisted unchanged from the Mesozoic era ; and in the Sirenida,
& family, the nearest ally of which lived in the Palaeozoic epochs.’*

This is a most valuable link in the connection of the old geologic
periods with the present era, and a fit conclusion for the account
above given, however, unworthy that account may be, of Quater¬
nary and Recent Accumulations.

No notice in this Memoir has been taken of igneous rocks ; but
it may be suitable to state that there is in all the various
Sedimentary formations noticed distinct evidence of the presence
of igneous action ( hydro-igneous rather), and their transmutation
through such and allied agencies has left an impress upon all
the rocks more or less concerned.

No particular or special reference could enter into the object
for which this Memoir is written ; but it is to be understood that,
though all the rocks have undergone a transmutation, this does
not constitute what geologists have understood by “Metamorphic”
system, of which, as before said, New South Wales, at least,
shows little or no visible trace.

W.B.C.

2 June, 1875.

P.S.—In order to explain the position of Glossopteris in the
Palaeozoic marine deposits, I have appended two vertical sections,
one, by myself, previously published in the “ Transactions of the
Royal Society of Victoria, 18(31,” illustrating the coal seams at
Stony Creek ; and the other showing the deposits at Greta, near
Anvil Creek,"which has been reduced from one on a larger scale,
kindly supplied to me by Mr. James ITetcher, Colliery Viewer,
to whom I am also indebted for a collection of strata, the charac¬
teristics of which I have given after careful examination of them
and of other specimens collected by myself on former occasions.
The latter section illustrates a wide area on that part of the
Hunter River. No. 2 is about 10 miles west of No. 1.

30th June, 1875.

Sydney: Thomas Richards, Government Printer.—-187?,

''

- -

-

. r ..

SECTION OF COAL PITS AT STONY CREEK, N. S. WALES, NEAR WEST MAITLAND.

Conglomerate, with vegetable Impressions in light blue shale amidst it and a few Spirifers.

I

S 5 Boring. Fine conglomerate and clod intermixed, continued to depth of 50 feet.

.i •/■ '' o v 'vi t lS GURN6.

#

<

h-

UJ

cc

CD

»»

h-

Q.

CQ

Ll

O

Z

O

P

O

LU

CO

✓

9 5 i * y oyy t? u

El) 1M ENTAKY FORMATIONS
SOUTH WALES.

n 'T.lTSl'RATIiD BY REFERENCES TO OTHER PROVINCES OF
AUSTRALASIA.

BY T1IH

Rev. w b CL auke 5 m.a., e.e.s., e.g.s., E.R.0.S.,

OF THE GKOI.OlUCAI. SOOIKT1KS OF FRANCK AKT) AUSTRIA. VIOE-VKKSIDKNT OF
THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, &c. &c.

r€

'Fourth .Edition,

Cnrr ^d vp to |878 (ind.enlurijnl : with Apjvudto* coulniumy JA*t» of Fo**U» ry-New
South Wales described by European'Palmontolfyisis.

SYDNEY: THOMAS RICHARDS, GOVERNMENT PRINTER.

'REMARKS ON THE SEDIMENTARY FORMATIONS
OF NEAV SOUTH AYALES,

ILLUSTRATED BY REFERENCES TO OTHER PROVINCES OE
AUSTRALASIA.

MEM HER OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETIES OF FRANCE AND AUSTRIA, VICE-PRESIDENT OF
THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, &c., &c.

’Fourth Edition ,

Correct vd up to 1S7S and enlarged; with Appendices containing Lists of Fossil* of New
South Wales described by European Palaontologists.

SYDNEY : THOMAS RICHARDS, GOVERNMENT PRINTER.

MAP OF PORTION OF THE EASTERN COAL FIELD of N.S.WALES.

To illustrate Paper !by the Rev' 1 W.B. Clarke MA.F.R.S. &.c.

L

SCALE or ENGLISH MILES _

30

1900 "

Hf>n.

; w

:*Z“*iVest BwyoZep

Dust fj'uyu

1400

Coal Measures

Jfiaruzmatta Beds

Heurkesbury Rocks.

EjcpUuiation. of Colours

Upper Marine- Beds.

Bas alb &c .

Drift Pebbles.

Stales. K. Oil bearing deposits

The ruumeraJ^s ~o?um^ 14-70 i7ioUscaU& aloCbibcia.<bov& Sects Vqy&U Uricouoreel, portion, ruob geological ly eocfiJnvM^cL.

INTROD UCTO R V NOTICE.

The First Edition of tlic following Memoir was written for and published in
the “ Catalogue of the Natural and Industrial Products of New South Walesf
arid forwarded to the Paris Universal Exhibition of 18G7 by the New South
Wales Exhibition Commissioners, at whose request it was undertaken.

It was re-printed at Melbourne in the “ Official Record of the Intercolonial
Inhibition of Australasia ” in the same year, and was subsequently honored
by being transferred to the .pages of the “ American Journal of Science and
ArtP

The Second Edition was prepared for the “ Report of the Intercolonial
Exhibition of 1870, at Sydney,” and was included with an Essay “ On the
Progress of Gold Discovery in Australasia f rom 18G0 to 1871 ” (by the same
author) in the work entitled, “ The Industrial Progress of New South
Wales

The Third Edition carried on the mention of Geological experiences as to the
Sedimentary Eormntions of Australasia to the year 1875, and had reference
to the Philadelphia International Exhibition of 187G— of the New South
Wales Commission for which, and of those of the years nbovenamed, the
author had the honor of being a Member.

The present (or Fourth) Edition continues the. Progress of Geological
investigation up to date, and contains much fresh information. It is dedicated
with great respect to the Congress of Geologists assembled at Paris in
connection with the International Exhibition of this year.

IJranthwaite, North Shore,

2 June 1878.

(quo die oclogenarius) W.I3.C.

.

4

*

REMARKS ON THE SEDIMENTARY FORMATIONS OF NEW
SOUTH WALES.

If we inspect the map of Australia we observe that the coasts of
Victoria, New South "Wales, and Queensland follow the general
directions (with some irregularity) of the Cordillera, or elevated
land separating the waters flowing directly to the coast from those
which, draining the interior, disembogue to the south-west.

The Murray River receives some parts of its tributaries from
the high lands of Victoria, and others from New South Wales ;
whilst the Darling and its tributaries collect the remainder of
the supply from as far north as 25° s*

The Cordillera thus sweeps round in an irregular curve from
w. to e. to the head of the Murray— and thence, northerly and
north-easterly, to the head of the Condamine; trending north¬
westerly from that point to 21° s., whence it strikes to the north,
terminating its course at Cape Melville, in 14° s., about the
meridian of 144° 30' e., which is that of Mount Alexander in
Victoria.

The more westerly and southerly trend of drainage is repre¬
sented by the Thomson and Barcoo Rivers, which carry off the
waters of the Cordillera at the back of the Barrier Ranges to
Spencer’s Gulf. The meridian of the head of that Gulf is there¬
fore the western limit of East Australia.

The Cordillera itself, described in part by Strzcleclci in 1845,
was traced by turn through a considerable part of its diversified
course (as understood by him), from the southern point of Tas¬
mania to the parallel of 28°, in longitude 152°, but not further
westward than 140°, on the parallel of Mount Alexander. It is,
however, doubtful whether the range between this furthest
western point and Wilson’s Promontory, where he considers the
chain to be cut off by the sea, forms anything more than a spur in
that direction, though passing through Pass’s Strait on to Tasmania.

But the extent of the Cordillera westerly, to its termination
on the border of South Australia, is so well defined that tliero
can be no question that the s.w. and w. extension has as true a
character as any part of the northern prolongation. This may he
geologically deduced from researches of the Geological Survey of
Victoria. That province is limited, at its eastern corner, by a line
joining Cape Howe and the bead of the Murray, so that the
boundary crosses very near the highest point of all Australia,
which Strzelecki made 0,500 feet above the sea, but which
subsequent observations have shown to be 7,175 feet. This
correction rests on observations made by myself in 1852, and on
a re-discussion of them in comparison with results obtained by

6

Sedimentary Formations

Professor ZScumayer in 1S(>2. On Stli jNfay, 1 So 2, I mode the
highest: point of Koseiuseo 4,077 feet above my then base, at
3,098 feet above the smi, which therefore came out 7,175 feet;
and in February, 18G3, Professor Neumaycr wrote me word that
lie made the highest peak, in November,” 1862, 7,170 feet. This
makes Kosciusco’s summit, above the j^osBing place of the Indi
or Hume Kiver, at (iroggfan’s. 5,425 loot.

To the northwards, the 1 ! Ith meridian limits very nearly all
the high land of the East Coast to Cape Melville, whilst the
142nd meridian limits to the westward the basin of the Darling,
including part of the drainage along the Thomson and Barcoo,
from the head of the Flinders to where it passes into South
Australia on the 141st meridian.

Thus, all this enormous drainage of western New South Wales
and south-western Queensland is, as it were, bounded by ranges
of high geological antiquity, the Grey and Barrier groups being
of undoubted similar age to tlie mass of the eastern Cordillera.

It has long been known that the strike of the oldest Sedimen¬
tary rocks through the Cordillera, in Victoria, as well as in New
South Wales, is. generally meridional; so that in the former
province the beds strike across the Cordillera, whilst in the latter
they form various angles from parallelism with it to a tranverse
direction, as the chain doubles and winds irregularly in its course.

This is the experience of the Victorian Survey, and my own
traverses across various points of the Cordillera in New South
'Wales and Victoria establish the fact of a normal meridional
strike of the oldest strata. So distinct, indeed, is this charac¬
teristic. that the settlers in various parts of this Colony have
been accustomed to trace the direction of north and south by the
strike of the slates, and are often guided by it.

It sometimes happens that, owing to the high angle of dip, aud
the effect of denudation on the overlying formations, the Cor¬
dillera itself becomes in places almost knife-edged, so that in
New South "Wales it presents occasionally a watershed not
more than nine paces in width ; whilst in Maneero to the south,
and in New England to the north, it spreads out in a plateau,
on which eastern and western waters rise close together and
sometimes overlap. These different features have a variable
geological value as well as aspect; for, owing to the strike of the
older rocks, the breadtli of the Silurian formations, which, as in
other countries, are repeated by recurring folds, may he more
exposed in Victoria than it is in New South Wales ; and owing
to the curve of the Cordillera probably the same beds arc traceable
to the north which occur in the south ; as, for example, the*
auriferous rocks of Omeo and Peak Downs, which are on the same
meridian; and thus the meridional strike is exhibited along
the north-east coast, where there are alternations of old rocks

New South Wales . 7

forming precipitous cliffs with low valleys and Leaches separating
those alternations.

Independently of tills arrangement, the whole of the central
area inside the eastern Cordillera has a trend to the south and
west, so that the waters collected between 22° and 37° s., on the
east of South Australia, find their way to the sea at the eastern
corner of that province.

We might naturally assume that one order of deposits is to be
expected throughout the Cordillera; but there is a singular
exception. Whilst Marine deposits of Tertiary age are found
along the west coast of Australia, and along the southern coast
from Cape Leeuwin to Cape Howe, there are no known Marine
Tertiaries in any part of the Coast of Hew South Wales and
Queensland up to the Cape York Peninsula; and the reason of
this may be, that, as indicated by phenomena before pointed out
by me, but which on this occasion cannot he further dwelt upon,
the eastern extension of Australia has been probably cut off by
a general sinking, in accordance with the Barrier Reef theory of
Mr. Darwin. This has some support from the fact that there is
a repetition of Australian formations in the Louisiade Archipelago,
Hew Caledonia, and Hew Zealand — in the latter of which occur
abundant Tertiary deposits. The intervening ocean may there¬
fore be supposed to cover either a great synclinal depression or
a denuded series of folds ; hut, as shown in 1S74 by the soundings
from H.M.S. “Challenger,” this depression is of enormous depth,
in one sounding 2,025 fathoms having been reached.

Relatively speaking then, the Cordillera of the eastern coast
has not been subject to the changes which introduced the relics
of a Tertiary ocean, or they have been removed by subsequent
sinking and denudation. At any rate, no evidence is known to
me of Marine Tertiaries on the lands north of Cape Ilowe.

Another fact worthy of notice, as showing the probable ancient
geological vicissitudes of Australia, is, that the great Carboniferous
series which is so prominent in Hew South "Wales and in parts ot
Queensland, but which is less distributed in Victoria, and there
only partially and irregularly as to the portions still remaining,
has been broken up and carried away, so as to have left the
various members dislocated, ruined, and separated in such a way
as to allow no clear view to ^be taken of the whole till all the
various portions have been separately examined ; and to the
want of this personal examination on the part of certain Paheon-
tologists and others who have never yet studied the Carboniferous
formation of Hew South Wales, is to be attributed the per¬
tinacity with which they have so long disputed facts attested by
geologists in Hew South "Wales who are familiar with that
Colony and with Victoria also, but who are ignored by the closet-
geologists of the latter.

8

Sedimentciry Ftormalions

In consequence of the absence of Murine Tertiary deposits in
New South Wales, and the occurrence of a more complete series
of the strata in the sections of the Carboniferous formation, there
has arisen a difficulty in collating the gold-deposits with those of
\ ietoria; and, in this respect, at present the Upper deposits in
the former province have not been assigned with much precision
to the epochs adapted by Mr. Selwyn for the latter. And it also
follows that his view of the distinct ages of Pliocene auriferous
and Miocene noil-auriferous gravels cannot he tested in New
South Wales, it indeedit has not already been tested by the
actual discovery of gold in the so-called Miocene deposits them¬
selves, as they occur in Victoria.

So far as is at present known, gold in Victoria is derived
chiefly from the Lower Silurian formation; but researches con¬
ducted forme at 1I.M. Mint in Sydney prove that it exists in
almost every distinctive rock of New South Wales. In this pro¬
vince the alluvial deposits aro not so extensive as in Victoria;
hut this probably arises from the fact previously mentioned, of the
strike being in Victoria transverse to the direction of the Cor¬
dillera, by which means the currents which distributed the
drift had a wider area of gold-bearing materials to denude than
in New South VV ales, where, I conclude from numerous examples,
the principal currents were to northward, so that in that province
they would coincide with the direction of the Cordillera, and not
accumulate the deposits in such low-lying extensive regions as
those of the Murray Districts. The same objection would obtain
on the supposition of gradual waste and accumulation from less
powerful agency than that of a general rush of water. It is not
however to be doubted, that there is an enormous amount of gold
yet untouched in numerous places in New South Wales, not only
in the quartz lodes (or reefs) but in gullies and plains where
alluvial gold diggings will yet be discovered.

Dr. Duncan, in an elaborate paper on some of the Fossil Tertiary
Corals of Australia Q* Proceedings of the Geological Society” August,
1870), suggests Hie propriety of discarding the divisions into
Pliocene, Miocene, and Eocene of the Australian Tertiarics, and
of substituting the general term Kainozoic, since he considers
them merely as successive deposits of one continuous epoch. But;
as proved by my own researches more than twenty years ago,
much of the gold in New Smith Wales is derived from iron pyrites,
in granite and in hcri. s- of Sedimentary origin consisting of
siliceous matter cemented by iron derived from decomposed
pyrites; whilst it has been shown by Aplin, Daintree, llacket,
Wilkinson, and others, that much gold in Victoria and Queens¬
land is due to the intrusive agency of felstones, elvanites, and
diorite. The dykes or reefs of quartz in the Silurians are there¬
fore not, as once supposed, the exclusive sources of Australian

New South Wales.

9

gold. Nay, there is good reason to believe that the Carboniferous
rocks are themselves impregnated, as in one remarkable instance
on Peak Downs . *

In New Zealand gold sometimes occurs so mixed with siliceous
particles as to constitute with them a golden sandstone.

The distinctive differences in material mineral wealth between
Victoria and New South Wales are not altogether confined to
gold or tin, which latter met ah is well represented in New South
Wales and Queensland ; but coal, iron, and copper, and perhaps
lead, prove together more than an equivalent of the great amount
of gold in Victoria.

At the Universal Exhibition of Paris in 1855, the present
writer exhibited a collection of rocks and fossils, illustrating the

* This example is thus referred to in a communication to me from Mr.
Daintrce, F.G.S., in a letter dated “ Maryvale, North Kennedy, Jany. 22nd,
1870: —

“ I believe if the Peak Downs District were carefully mapped, it would bo
incontestably proved that payable drift gold is there found in the Carboniferous
conglomerates.”

lie then gives a section of the shaft and drive then being worked at the
Springs, about 12 miles from Clermont, and adds:—“The miners use the Car¬
boniferous sandstone, tlie Olossoptoris bed at, bottom, and take the cement

several inches from its junction with the Glossoptcris bed for their wash-
dirt. The surface of the Glossoptcris bed is unbroken, dips southerly at
ail angle of about 5°, and Die cement lies conformably on it, and little
patches of mud deposit in the cement, similar in appearance to the Glossoptcris
sediment, lie in the same plane as that bed, and 1 have no doubt the cement
is conformable to the Glossoptcris bed of the same period of deposit. Small
fragments of C'oal were taken from the adjoining shaft, and I have no doubt,
with the necessary time given to the work. Carboniferous fossils may ultimately
be found in the conglomerates themselves —so putting the matter beyond
reach of dispute.”

A similar instance of such an occurrence was examined by myself in the
Coal Measure drift of Talhlwang, in the county of Phillip, in the year 1875,
and recognized us payable by 0. S. Wilkinson, jEsq,, K.G.S., the present
Geological Surveyor, in his report to the Minister of Mines, Dec., 187b, in
which place there is mention of other notices by myself of like association.
The localities are similar in geological structure ; for almost in the words of
Mr. Daintrce, which Mr. AVilkinson never read, the latter says, “ Those con¬
glomerates are associated with beds of sandstone and shale, containing Glos-
xopteris, the fossil plant characteristic of our Coal Measures.” [] u Annual
Report for year 1870,” p. 173.]]

I made a section of the deposits which T found resting on hard shales
(probably Devonian) in which numerous shallow shafts have produced
alluvial gold. The bottom of the beds above the base exhibited a breceiatcd
fragmentary deposit, well seen a mile or two away, on the road to Cqbbor.i—
above which sandsloncs, flinty shale, coarse grits, the red shales of Mount
Victoria and lllaekheath occur; and, nearer the top, Vertebrnria and
Glossoptcris and Clin renal are met with. One of tin? beds was of quartz-
pebbles, cemented by ferruginous matter, precisely like many dctrital frag¬
ments in other gold-fields, and specially resembling that above Govett’s Leap,
in which I obtained gold in 1863.

i o Sedimentary Formations

whole of the geological formations of Australia as then known,
and these were enumerated in their stratigraphicnl order in the
published catalogue. A few remarks on the various geological
epochs, as they now represent themselves in New South Wales,
with brief statements as to their connection with other portions
of Australasia, may be all that is necessary on the present
occasion, in addition to a comparison of the catalogue above
referred to with the collection exhibited in Paris in 1S78 by the
Department of Mines, Sydney, and others, to show the progress
of geological development in New South Wales during the last
twenty-three years.

§ 1. So-called “ Azoic” on “ METAMonriiic ” Rocks.

There has not been sufficient evidence yet collected to show
that these rocks extensively exist in Eastern Australia, although
in Tasmania rocks of a doubtful class (and which may perhaps
be only highly altered Lower Silurian) have been referred to them
bj r Mr. Gould. The existence of gneissoid strata, and of schists
of very ancient aspect, with occasional uufpssiliferous limestones,
are also well known in New South Wales, as at Cow Elat, near
Bathurst; Cooma Ilill, Maneero ; Wagga Wag <4 a; flanks of
Mount Kosciusko, &c. ; but it would be premature to place them,
without doubt, under the present head. Mr. Daintree, however,
describes them as the source of some gold iu the Cape River and
Gilbert Districts, to the North. Some of those mentioned under
the “First Epoch” of Strzelecki, have, on close inspection,
appeared to ine to be merely the products of transmutation;
nor is such an improbable result, seeing that in Australia some
slates have been changed into granitic rocks. It is at least
certain that such rocks generally occur in the immediate vicinity
of granites, which latter frequently occupy large areas both in
Maneero and in New England, as well as along the Cordillera, and
in independent masses along the coast. In Western Australia,
where an enormous region is occupied by granites, and the older
formations are represented only by small patches of slates, whilst
the granites themselves remain bare, these patches are found on
the flanks of the granitic bosses and at extremely wide intervals ;
nor have I been able to detect among the numerous collections
which have passed through my hands, any distinct evidence of
any but doubtful examples of those foliated rocks which belong
to the so-called Primary epoch. In Southern Australia, also,
there does not appear to be any considerable amount of strata
which could be referred to this epoch, transmutation has, how¬
ever, acted vigorously in New South Wales in all the older
formations.

Neio South Wales .

i r

§ 2. Lower Paleozoic Bucks. — Lower and Upper Siler tax.

Of these there arc undoubted evidences in some limited dis¬
tricts of Tasmania and Queensland, whilst in Victoria and New
South Wales considerable areas arc occupied by them.

Western Australia has as yet not furnished any fossils of
Silurian age; but, according to Mr. Y. L. Brown, Government
Geologist, there arc clay slates, schists, and other rocks which
may be Silurian much transmuted, judging from their position
and composition.

North Australia is in much the same condition, where no
reliable geological surveys have been yet made.

Much valuable information was in 1864 collected by the Ecv.
Julian E. Tenisou-Woods, and published at Adelaide, in
which gold-hearing rocks were but slightly anticipated. Since
then, the Northern Territory (assigned to South Australia) has
exhibited gold-reefs in probably Silurian strata ; and very recently
a tract of several thousand square miles in extent, between the
Victoria Kiver and the Gulf of Carpentaria, along the Daly
Eiver and the central lines of communication by telegraph, lias
been reported as auriferous, and, I anticipate, will be found rich.

South Australia proper, according to Mr. Woods (“ Geology,''
pp. 20, 21) has produced two Silurian fossils, Cruziinia cucurbit a
and Fentamcrus ohlongns. The former occurs in Bolivia, and the
latter in New South Wales.

Nothing lower than Siluro-Devonian, according to Mr.
Etheridge (in “Review of Mr, Raintree'a Fossils, 9 ' Q.J.G.S., August,
1872), bad up to that time been found in Queensland. But as
elsewhere mentioned, I considered the Brisbane slates to he
analogous with those of the Anderson Creek Gold-field in
Victoria, both of which groups I examined personally in situ.
The latter are held to be Upper Silurian.

In Tasmania, along the Gordon and Eranklin Rivers, occur
various Silurian fossils, some among which identical with those
of New South Wales were noticed by me ; but Mr. Gould con¬
siders others to be Lower Silurian. This formation evidently
exists in that Colony, for in 1873 I received from Mr. T. Stevens,
E.G.S., some Trilobite-sandstone from the western part of the
Island, which Mr. Etheridge determined for me to contain
Rhncops, Ogygia, and Calgmene; and to these Professor Bradley, of
the U.S., to whom was forwarded for me by Professor J. D. Dana
some of the rock, added Conocephalites, a true Lower Silurian,
fossil in America, Sweden, Bohemia, and Spain, a curious position
for which in the last-named country is assigned in an interesting
paper by Senor Casiano de Prado (“ Bull . Soc. Geol. dc France

2 d, ‘ S., xvii, 516.)

12

Sedimentary Formations

Mr. Gould mentioned, in June, 1860, a Calymene at tlie base
of the Eldon Eange. I found that genus also in New South
Wales in 1852. In Victoria Professor M‘Coy has made a list of
twenty-five Lower and fifty-three Upper Silurian fossils, inclu¬
ding in the former twenty-three Hydroid Zoophytes, and another
species belonging to the Upper formation. Of the Graptolitid#
only one is said to have been found in this Colony, and I presume
that it is more likely to belong to the Upper Silurian than to the
Lower, though towards the Victorian boundary, along the Deleget
-River, Lower Silurian rocks, according to some, are supposed to
make their appearance.

Now South Wales offers a more determined evidence of the
existence of certain Silurian deposits, but singularly enough
nothing has been positively shown of the existence of any fossils
below the base of the Llandovery or the Middle Silurian, except
in the case just mentioned.

To this epoch I referred fossils found by me in Maneero, in my
Keport of November, 1851, which was re-published in I860 ; and
it is satisfactory to find that the examination of a considerable
amount of specimens by Prof, de Koninek of Liege, who kindly
undertook the task of describing them, has resulted in a confir¬
mation of my opinion. {Sea Appendix XIV.)

Summing up his review of sixty of these, he says—that they are
in nearly equal divisions of the upper and lower beds of. the
Upper Silurian formation, and that they closely agree with the
fossils of Europe and America; that the major portion of the
former belongs to the Actinozarians and Crustaceans, and that
the latter are nearly all Mollusea ; and that none of the Grap-
tolites noticed by Prof. M‘Coy in 1861, and more recently by
Mr. J i. Etheridge, junr., from the Victorian strata, occur in the
collection sent by me. And he concludes, as I have done, that
at present the existence of fossil beds below the Middle Silurian
has not yet been determined in Now South Wales.

It is otherwise in Victoria, but it may be that some of the
highly transmuted rocks of the south-west portion of New South
Wales may yet furnish traces of greater antiquity when
thoroughly examined. In the last Edition of this memoir, pub¬
lished in 1870, I mentioned the existence of certain Corals, Trilo-
bites, &c., as determined forme in 1858 by the late Messrs. Salter
and Lonsdale. {See Appendix XVII.)

The Mudstones of Yarralumla, with Encrinurus and Calymene;
the Coralline and Pcntamerus beds of Deleget and Colalamine ;
the Tentaculite and Haly sites beds of Wellington and Cavan;
and the Silverdale and Downing beds with Calymene, Encrinurus,
Beyricliia; and others with Ilhenus, Jlarpes, Bronte us; Braehio-
poda, including Strophodonta;andltadiata, embracing Star-fishes—
point to the existence of at least the Upper Silurian formation on

New South Wales.

13

both flanks of the southern part of the Cordillera. There are
also numerous corals, included in the list given by me in the
“Southern Gold Field#'' (p. 285), which also confirm the same
determination ; and it may be added that the above, and other
fossils of this age mentioned by me elsewhere, have been
examined by Palaeontologists of eminence in Europe. Such are
the genera Eavosites, Canutes, Ptyehophyllum, Calamopora, Syrin-
gopora, Emmonsia, Alveolites, Cystophyllmn, Ac. These, per¬
haps, might not alone satisfy a doubt, but with them occurs
Eeccptaculites; since 1858, when these were determined, I have
detected Halysites, which may settle the question as to Upper
Silurian. AVonlock beds seem to be well developed on the
Dcleget River.

Professor De Koninck is not in antagonism with these geolo¬
gists, but in the fresh series of my fossils I 10 found among the
trilobites Staurocephalus, Cromus, Proetus, and Liehas, in addi¬
tion to Calymene, Encrinurus, lllamus, Harpes, and Bronteus
before announced by myself. (See Edition in 1870, p. 6; and
“ Southern Gold Fielda. 1860,*’ p. 28G.)

In a paper published by the learned Professor, in the
“ Memo ires de la Societc Bor/ale de Liege” 2 de Seric, t. vi., 1S7G,
dedicated to the Silurian and Devonian species of N.S.W., for¬
warded to him for his examination and description by myself, lie
gives those, as detailed in Appendices XIV and XV, whichI have
thus above epitomized. The description is given in a separate
form, with carefully executed figures, under the heading of
“ Becker ekes sur les Fossiles Balcozoiques de la Nouvelle-G aides da
Sucl” in which, as will be noticed under the next section, are
included the Devonian fossils.

§ 3. MmnLK Paleozoic Rocks.

The late Mr. Jukes desired the term Devonian to he eliminated,
referring the so-called beds to the bottom of the Carboniferous
formation ; but geologists have not generally accepted that
proposal. Tab series of shells, corals, &c., from the Murrum-
hidgee, which 1 submitted in 1858 to Messrs. Salter and Lons¬
dale, through Sir R. I. Murchison, Bart.,* excited doubts as to
their belonging to any but Silurian and Carboniferous deposits.
Among these were Phanerotinus, Loxonema, Atrypa reticularis ,
Orthis resit pin ata, Murchisonia, Strophomcna, and Spirifera of
various species.

Mr. Salter’s Report to me was as follows: “These fossils are
of a mixed character, many being of unquestionable Silurian age,
and others having all the aspect of Carboniferous and Devonian

* See Murchison’s “ Siluria” 3d ed., p. 226, and 4th ed., p. 276 and p. 462.

14

Sedimentary Formations

fossils. It will not be so easy to predicate those of Devonian
type, as there is much similarity between fossils of that age and
those of either of the other systems, the Lower Devonian species
being very like Silurian, and the Upper Carboniferous ones.
But if none of the fossils came from Carboniferous beds, then
there must certainly be Devonian forms inked with Upper
Silurian.’*

Mr. Morris contributed, in IS 15, a paper to Str/.elecki’s work
of that year, in which he says: “The Palaeozoic series of
Australia and Tasmania may he regarded as partly the equiva¬
lent of the Devonian and Carboniferous systems of other
countries.” (Sec Appendix VII.)

In September, 1859, 1 addressed a letter to Mons. Delesse,
which he communicated to the Geological Society of Prance, in
November, and in the report of the meeting (Bull, xvii., p. 17) I
find I expressed myself cautiously as follows: — “ Le devouicn
ot 1c pprmica sont probables sur quelques points mais peu
distincts”

In 1SG1 (Cat. Viet. Exit.) Professor M'Coy stated that “ there
had as yet been no exact identifications to prove the existence
in Australia of the Intermediate Middle Paheozoie or Devonian
formation.” And as recently as 18GG, Yicointe d’Arehiae
C Gcoloyie ct _P a Iron tolorji e, ’ ’ p. 40$), writes thus : “ Le devcloppe-
ment dcs series Silimenncs ct Carbonifcres dans l’Australio doit
y faire soupyonner cut re dies un represent ant de eclle qui vient
de nous occuper; mais il no soluble pas cju’eUe y ait encore etc
bicu characterise© par scs fossiles.”

About the same t ime Professor M‘Coy (“ Exhibition Essays of
1SGG-7 ”) mentioned that the limestones of Buchan, in Gippsland,
contained “ characteristic corals, EJacodcrmatous fish and abund¬
ance of Sp infer a hericostata , perfectly identical with specimens
from the European Devonian limestones of the Eifel.” In the
Melbourne ** OJJicinl Record of the Exhibitions of 1872-3,” the
addition of some other places in Gippsland (unnamed) and of
Mount Gibbo, is introduced ; and in 1874 there was included in
the “ Progress Report of the Geological Survey of Victoria ,” a
list of fossils of the most characteristic common types, drawn up
by Professor M*Coy, which, under the head of Devonian, includes
the following: Eavosiles (two species), Spirifera hevicostota. Gram -
mjf si a (n. sp.), Orthonota (n. s.), J sterol epic (plates allied to). In
1847 the same skilful Palaeontologist noticed some striking
resemblances to Devonian fossils in a lew of the large collection
I sent in to the AVoodwardiau Museum at Cambridge • and
Professor De Ivoninck, also in I S 17 V Rcchercltes sur Auimaux
Fossiles ”) records Sp. Murcliisonianas, a Devonian fossil from
Tasmania.

New South Wales.

15

In order to test the existence of a ■wide-spread Devonian
series in New South Wales, I requested (as stated elsewhere)
my friend Professor De Koninek to undertake the examination
of a collection of 1,000 Pakeozoic fossils, comprising the Upper,
Middle, and Lower Pahcozic formations as they exist here, and
in his account of the Devonian, received since the last edition of
this memoir, he remarks in his “ Resume Gtologique ” (op. cit.
p. 133), after giving the fullest assurance of all possible accuracy:

“ Des quatrevingt-unc especes observes en y comprenant
“ un spongiaire nouveau, mais non decrit a cause de V impos-
“ sibilite cPen detincr le genre, ainsi qu’une tige de Rhodocrinvs ,
“ il 11 ’y en a que cinq qui puissent etro cotlsiderees avec certitude,
“ conrnie provenant des assises Devoniennes Superieures.

<£ Ce sont,—

“ Stropftalosia producto'ides , Murchison.

“ Chonetes coronafa, Conrad.

“ Rhjnclionella pleurodon , Phillips.

“ 8■pirrfer disjunct us, Sowerby.

“ Aviculopeclcn Clctrkci , L.-G. de Koninek.

“ Toutes les autres, on tin moins le plus grand nombre et
i£ principalement cellos qui se trouvent dans le calcaire noir des
“ environs de Yass, appartionnent a un horizon geologique un
<£ peu inferieur a celui qui a fourni les especes que je viens
“ de signaler, mais cependant plus recent quo celui qui est si
“ bicn caractcrise par la presence de la Calc.eola sandaUna ,
t£ Lamarck, dont jc n’tii pas rencontre de traces, pas plus que
“ des Trilobites qui V aceompagnent ordinairement. Parmi cos
£; quatro-vingt-uno especes, trente sont nouveliea pour la science
££ et 11 c sont connues qu’en Australie, mais il est a remarquer
£; qu’ a P exception de quatro d’entro elles, toutes out leurs
££ analogues en Europe et en Amdriquc. Ces quatre especes

sont.

<£ Arch(SOc/jathm ? Clarlcci.
“ RiUingsia alveola vis.

‘ 1 Niso Y Da rwi n i i.
u Mitch cilia striatula.

The author goes on to sav, that the first of this group of four
appears in Australia to occupy the place which in certain beds
in Europe, and very particularly in Belgium, is held by Reccp-
tacnlitcs Ncptuni Defranee, which as the other belongs to the
order of sponges.

As the collections under review were made in part before
1850, having been packed some years before they were sent for
examination to my highly honored friend, much correspondence
has taken place between us and as I have, since the specimens were
received by him, made numerous explorations, and during these

16 Sedimentary Formations

have very extensively collected from the region along the Yass
and Murruinbidgee Itivers (in continuation of my earlier re¬
searches), and have had the opportunity of being accompanied
in 1870 by Mr. Jenkins, of Yass, whose acquaintance with the
pahTontological treasures of that neighbourhood is very great,—
it has been my good fortune to line! the missing Calceola and
numerous Trilobites alluded to in the preceding extracts from
De'JConinck’s admirable Rccherekes.” At present I am unable
to submit these Yass fossils for description.

Jn addition to Calceola (which occurs also at Mount Eromc,
County Phillip) I have been also able to satisfy my friend that
Recpptaculites Neptuni also exists in Now South Wales, as well
as II. Australis , which was sent by me to the late Mr. Salter and
figured by him in the “ Decades of Organic Remains of the
Geological Survey of Canadaf in comparison with R. Occi¬
dental is syn. of R. Xeptuni (See Decade 1, pp. 45-1-7, pi. x, figs.
1-10). (See Appendix XVII before cited.)

It is true that Mr. Salter regards the R. Australis as Upper
Silurian, and rightly associates it with Tentaculites, Pavosites,
Pentamerus, Orthoceras, Trochonema, Khyneoncdla, &c., which 1
discovered in the south-western district of Maueero in 1851-2,
and also that R. Xeptuni came from between Wellington and
Molong ; and that the actual limits of the Upper Silurian and
Devonian formations have not yet been accurately defined. But
when wo find such a genus as Xiso represented in a Palaeozoic
formation, as is the case with the Devonian of New South Wales,
and notice how frequently of late paleontologists have been
obliged to admit the occurrence of genera and sometimes of
species of acknowledged younger formations in those of more
ancient date — as anticipatory of future existences — it maybe well
believed that Recepfaeulifes may be generically known to such
double relations as the Silurian and Devonian. {See infra , p. 07.)

“ C’est pour la premiere fois,” says Do Ivon inch,” quo la pre¬
sence dtt JYiso est sign alee dans les terrains Paleozoiques, et il
faut remonter jusqu ’an terrain Tertiaire pour cn retrouver do
nouveau les traces; copeudant mon savant et excellent ami M.
Nyst, sans contredit un des moillours conchyliologistes dc
l’epoque, que j’ai consults a eet dgard, croit pouvoir declarer avee
moi, qu'il it existe pas une difference sujjisante enfre les carac -
teres yen era ux de Vespece Devonicnne et ccux dc Vespece Tertiaire
pour ne pas considerer Tune et Vautre commc gencriquemcnt
ideniifjucs

I may add here, that some years since, I sent to II. M. Jenkins,
Esq., i'.Gr.S. (when Curator of the Geological Society), a
species which he considered to he a Lcpralia , which was bedded
in the limestone of Cavan on the Murruinbidgee and in the same

New South Wales .

i7

geological district as that now discussed. M. De Tvoninck also
notices, in addition to JViso, the occurrence of MUchellia in the
midst of Marine shells, ns another striking anomaly in the Devo-
nia n fauna, compared with that of Europe, concluding in these
words,—“ Ellc n’est certes pas suffisante pour empeeher de con-
siderer l’niio et Pautre comine contemporaines et produitcs dans
des circo 11 stances sin on tout a fait iaentiqucs, au moins treer-
analogucs.” (p. 135).

It will be seen on perusing the lists of Devonian fossils, that
De Koninck includes those 1 referred to in the second Edition
(1870) of this memoir, from Yass, Mount Lambie, and Moruya
Elver, and which are in part identical with the Mount Wyatt
shells in Queensland.

These latter are mostly Eraehiopods, and I have collected theln
during my different journeys of several years from the western
boundary of the Carboniferous formation (underlying it in situ),
and occasionally from a scattered over-lying drift, ranging for
nearly 20*0 miles of direct distance (included between 3G° south
on the Moruya, to nearly 02° south). The principal of these
particular Eraehiopods are — Rhynconella pleurodon , R.puf/nu. v,
Spirifer disjunotus, S. Yaasensis, Orth idee. Productce, Sfc. They
occur in situ between the slaty rocks of Sofala and the overlying
Carboniferous beds on the Huron ; south of Moruya River ; near
Mullamuddy 011 the Cudgegong River; at Cudgegong Creek ; in
the deep defiles of the Upper Colo River; at Brueedale and
Bathurst; and in other places. Mr. C. S. AVilkiuson, with
whom I visited the locality in 1875, found them under interesting
circumstances occurring in a great synclinal curve, from nearly
the summits of Mount Lambie and Mount Walker (with con¬
siderable dips), and explaining the sources from which the loose
pebbles collected by me at Eowenfells some years since were
probably derived. From the occurrence of different fossils in
the pebbles, it is certain that many strata of the Devonian for¬
mation must have been broken up, and it seems that similar beds
have undergone the same process in other countries, for I well
remember picking up in 1820, in the “ Plata” of Coblentz. on
the Rhine, a similar drift pebble, of just sueli rock as that in
question, containing a Eracliiopod of like age.

During some recent explorations in the north-west of this
Colony, I became satisfied as to the widely-spread extent of the
Devonian series, of which more evidence will be elicited here¬
after, the data for which are already sufficient, but there is 110
room to introduce them on this occasion.

I may however mention now, that amongst the specimens
collected by me in the neighbourhood of Yass in 187G, I find a
portion of an Ichthyodorulite, which I believe to be Devonian,

18 Sedimentary Formations

and that in March, 187S, Mr. ('. S. Wilkinson sent mo for com¬
parison a specimen of fossiliferous limestone, which 1 find also
came from the Murrumbidgce not from Yass, and which contains
a plate of a Coccosteus, of a triangular shape, studded with
tubereules of the same form as those on a plate of M‘Coy’s C.
trigonaspis , but somewhat different on the whole from his figure,
(Sec “ British Palaeozoic Fossils,'' PL 2. C. Fig. 0 e.) It is
attached to a portion of bone, and is in good preservation and
in the midst of fragments of other fossils, the matrix being
apparently the same as the Yarradong or Cavan limestone. It
was found by Mr. Hume.

Tasmania has at present furnished no well-established proof of
the distinct existence of Devonian rocks. But it is a fair
inference, first suggested by the late Mr. Salter, that the broad-
winged Spirifers common there in the Palasozoic beds imply the
probable occurrence. Mr. Jukes and Mr. Gould both repeated
the inference* Mr. Darwin and Mr. Selwyn agree that some
of the Tasmanian fossils “occur in the Silurian, Devonian, and
Carboniferous strata of Europe.” This is nearly all that is
known respecting their position.

Western Australia, according to Mr. Brown’s Report, adds
nothing to the history of the Middle Palaeozoics ; but Mr. IT.
Gregory indicated on his map and in his report the existence of
Devonian rocks near York and in other parts of that Colony.
Having examined the rocks so indicated, I can only state my
belief that they have no pretension to any such antiquity, and
are probably mere collections of loose granitic matter and other
drift cemented by ferruginous paste, which has since become
transmuted into concretionary nodules and hrematite. There are
also pebbles of trap, much decomposed, in the so-called Devonian.
They may perhaps he more properly considered as representing
the Inferite of India.

Queensland, on the other hand, according to Daintree’s notes,
exhibits a stretch of Devonians extending through ten degrees of
latitude. Not the least interesting facts arc that the Tin Mines
of Queensland (as well as those of New South Wales) occur in
granites of Devonian age.

At Gym pie, on the Fiver Mary, rich gold-bearing quartz-reefs
occur in transmuted slates and other tilted beds, which are com¬
posed of detrited dioritic matter and brecciated deposits in
which are abundance of fossils of doubtful aspect, and these I
before referred to some part of the Carboniferous formation. Mr.
Etheridge considers and has described the fossils as Devonian.
They certainly have much in common with the Devonian beds
of North Germany and Belgium, described by Sedgwick and
Murchison, as I stated in the Second Edition, p. 10. It is right,

New South Wales.

19

however, to remark that Professor M‘Coy does not adopt this
determination, considering the rocks to be younger.*

"Whatever he the age of the Gympie beds, in rocks of apparently
the same age in Queensland there is a vast amount of mineral

* The following arc the grounds upon which I ventured an opinion as to
their Carboniferous age in 1871 (“j Progress of Gold Discovery from I860
to 1871,” pp. 5-7) : —

Kotos on Mr. Racket's Collection of Rocks and Fossils from the Gympie

Gold-field.

L. This collection comprises two series of rocks, the one Sedimentary, the
other intrusive.

2. The latter consists of varieties of the greenstone group of the Plutonic
formations.

«5. The former embraces several kinds of rock. Among them are some so
completely free from transmutation as to exhibit the characters of ordinary
schift, sandstone, and breccia; others appear to have been derived from
volcanic asb of the dioritie type, and have been, since their deposit, altered
by intrusive agency so as to put on the resemblance of diorite or greenstone,
and as such they have by some been classified.

4. The presence of fossils serves, however, to illustrate their conditions as
ash-beds deposited in an ocean troubled by contemporaneous or subsequent
igneous action, which, after the consolidation (in part) of the strata containing
organic bodies, became changed by the new eruption. A considerable portion
of the Gympie Gold-field has thus become a metamorphie area.

5. Such phenomena are by no means rare in Australia. Bedded, as well as
intersecting, basalt occurs largely in the lllawarra Carboniferous district of
Ncvy South Wales, whilst, in the western border of that Colony (as about
Wellington) greenstone is exhibited in a similar connection with Upper
Silurian Strata. At Waimalee (Prospect Hill, near Parramatta) an old diorite,
precisely like that of Bople, to the eastward of the Mary River, has furnished
a matrix for the plant beds of the Wiananmtta Rocks, the highest in the New
South Wales scries of Sedimentary deposits ; and these have been subsequently
transmuted by younger igneous rocks that pierce and overflow them.

(I. The whole of the Sedimentary deposits in Mr. Racket's collection betray
the effects of contemporaneous independent forces. The purple schistose rock
contains, besides an occasional fossil, fragments of igneous prodm ts, and some
segregated quartz; mul the gray and greenish fine-grained stone, derived from
dioritie detritus, contains frequently much lime, many imperfect squeezed
fossils, with a portion of some drifted matter. Patches of the purple schist-
occur in the green rock ; and in the brecciated beds composed of fragmentary
materials (the result of violence and subsequent consolidation in a state of
repose), chemical action has produced segregations of quartz which simulate true
quartz veins.

7. It is to be presumed that the fissures in the strata which are now filled
in with auriferous and cupriferous quartz were formed at a later period. A
considerable time must have elapsed, for many of the fossils are themselves
changed or partly obliterated, and arc traceable only by the glistening cleavage
of calcareous sections.'

8. Mr. Hacket has marked one variety of rock Schalstcin, and it certainly
agrees with the definition of that species, inasmuch as it is laminated with
thin partings or coatings of calc-spar. Now this is a very common occurrence
in parts of Germany where greenstone is also present, and where the age of
the rocks is Devonian. Schalstcin is truly a derivative and not an inde¬
pendent product, and therefore must be included with the other transmuted
deposits. This rock exhibits at Gympie an exact resemblance to its namesake

20

Sedimentary Formations

wealth besides gold, as ores of copper, iron, tin, lead, antimony,
mercury, etc. The. work entitled u Notes on the Geology of Queens¬
land , with the Appendix of Animal Fossils : By JR. Etheridge , Esy.,
JF.R.S., JF.G.S., Palaeontologist io the Geological Survey of Great

on the Lalm, in Germany, where also are traces of copper ores and jasperised
schists, as at Gytnpie. Mr. Racket’e excellent map of the Gym pie Gold¬
fields should be studied in connection with the valuable memoirs of Sedgwick
and Murchison, in the “ Transactions of the Geological Society of London
2nd series, vol. 0 : — “ On ilie Older Deposits of North Germany and Belgium.”

0. There is another probable connection between these Gym pic beds and
those just referred to. At any rate* so fur as the fossils go, they load to the
conclusion that they arc not older than Devonian, and may he Upper
Pahcozoic. The principal fossils capable of indication are Xueula, Fencsteila,
Solarium, Spirifera, Orthonota, Edmoiulia, Stcnopom, and Producta, \\hieli
last alone proves some of the beds lo be not above the Upper and nob below
the Middle Pahcozoic periods.

10. If this view is maintained, then we have evidence at. Gympie, which is
well supported elsewhere in Queensland and in parts of New South Wales,
that auriferous quartz-reefs occur in rocks younger than Silurian ; and wo
hare there also an additional proof of the influence of greenstone in the
production of gohl deposits. The fact was many years ago pointed out bv
myself and by Mr. Odernheimer in relation t o the Peel River Gold-field, and
it has since then been extensively confirmed in the Thames River Gold-field in
New Zealand.

11. In Mr. Aplin’s report of July 21, 1869, mention is made of the resem¬
blance of fossils in calcareous grits at Canal Creek to those in the “ diorite
slates” at Gympie. The beds there are said to form “ a narrow hand between
the greenstone area and the river” In* these strata, though placed under the
head of “ Silurian beds,” the principal fossils are Spirifem and Producta. It
is more than doubtful whether Producta has ever been found in the Silurian
formations, and it is held to be the most distinct of all fossiliferous tests of the
epoch to which it is confined. So far as is known, it belongs to the Upper and
Middle Pahrozoic, and ranges only from Permian to Devonian formations.
Assuming this limit for Canal Creek and Gympie, it becomes certain t hat; beds
of the age to which the fossils belong have a wide range in Southern Queens¬
land, and this is the case in Northern Queensland also. Evidence will one
day be produced to prove the occurrence of gold in the Upper Palaeozoic
formations in other localities. Nay. Mr. Daintree lias given mo his reasons
for believing that it so occurs on Peak Downs. (Sec quotation in note
at p. 9.)

The association of greenstone rocks with beds containing the fossils indicated,
will form a guide for prospectors in fresh districts of the Colony.

Too much importance cannot therefore he given to the establishment, of
the fact to which the researches of Messrs. Racket, Daintree, Aplin, and
Ulrich have contributed, that igneous rocks of a certain class are the surest
indications of gold in Queensland.

Air Etheridge figures the following species as Devonian from Gympie : —
P Avtculopecten linurfor mis : ? A. imhricatus; A. multiradialus; Spirifera
dubict; S. it nd if era ; Strophoniena rhomhdidalis, var. analog a ; Plenrotomaria
earinata ; Euomphahu ; FenesteUa fosxula ; Ceriopora ? I ax a (Daintree s
“ Notes on the Geologg of Queensland Q.J.G.S., Augt., 1872, pp. 1320, 33:3) ;
others are mentioned as lulmondia coiicenlrica; Product us cora ; Spirifera
hisulcala ; S. undulata } &c.

De Ivoninck, 1877, considers the series to be Carboniferous, naming some of
those given above as younger than Devonian. (See Appendix XVI. “ C

New South Wales .

2 I

Britain, and W. Carru fliers, Fsq., F.R.S., F.G.S., Keeper of the
Botanical Department of the British Museumf is an invaluable
document, and deserves consultation (Q. J. G. S., vol. xxviii,
pp. 271,860.) The map, especially the large independent edition,
and the plates and other illustrations, are highly useful.

It is interesting to find Dr. Hector stating at the beginning of
1875 that 2,000 specimens of Lower Devonian or Upper Silurian
fossils have been obtained from the north-west district of the
South Island of New Zealand Ninth Annual Report of tie
Colonial Museum, 1874.”) And equally interesting is it to know
that New Caledonia also holds out hope of contribution to the
Middle and Lower Pal reo zoic faunas, as in the Lsle Ducos.
Leptrena, Spirifera, Orthis, <fcc., occur with rolled B radiiopods of
the same character as those of the “ Gulf” on the Turon River
of this Colony. (“ Ann ales des Minesf tome xii, p. 51, 18(57.)
Monsieur M. P. Fischer is disposed to assign them to the Devonian
period (“ Bulletin do la 8oc. Gaol, de France IS Mar., 1867).j

In further reference as to New South Wales, it mavbe well to
mention tluit there seems to be in parts of the Western Districts
an exhibition of rocks which resemble in various ways the con¬
glomerates of the “Old lied Sandstone” of Europe; such overlie
the Marine Upper Silurian beds in the neighbourhood of Wel¬
lington and elsewhere, and are known to contain Lepidodendra.
These may be well studied in the ravine of Curragh Creek, where
they overlie the Favosites beds of Jew’s Creek, &c. They form
ranges of considerable extent and of prominent features, and
stretch, according to my observations, to the Coutombals and in
patches as far as the Lachlan. The occurrence of a peculiar
species of Lepidodeudron in three of the Colonies, New South
Wales, Queensland, and Victoria, lias given rise to much con¬
troversy as to the age of the rocks in which it occurs. It lias
been long known to me, hut it is only recently that it lias been
found by me in widely distant localities, sometimes solitary, at
others in beds in which other plants of similar age occur.

It seems indeed as if every individual discovery in the Geology
of this Colony had a history or literature of its own.

In June, 1851, Professor M*Coy wrote to me from Cambridge
respecting the first Lepidodcndron he had seen from Australia,
and which I had forwarded by the late Rear-Admiral King to
Professor Sedgwick, and stated it to be L. tetragonum of the
English Coal-fields.

The late Mr. Salter, in his letter to me of May 6, 1S59, said,
however, that the genus was not Lepidodeudron.

In November, 1868, Sir C. Bunbury wrote to Professor It.
Jones respecting a collection of Australian fossil plants, including
the above species, sent home by me and now in the Museum of

2 2 Sedimentary Formations

the Geological Society, where they were inspected by him at my
request, and noticed one (the one) which he considered to be very
like L. tetraqohiW.

During the last few years I have collected or received this
plant from a variety of localities in New South Wales and
Queensland, and from the latter Colony it was also brought in
abundance by Mr. Daintree. Mr. Camithers, who has given its
description fully in the paper before alluded to (Q.J.G.S., Aug.,
1872), has assigned tv it the name of a species described by
Unger, viz., Lejndodendron nothum.

The extent of territory from which my specimens have been
collected embraces a direct distance of more than 1,100 miles
(English) between 10° s. and 35° s. (of course at intervals only),
from which we may infer the importance of its discovery in any
new locality, as establishing the existence of a portion of the
Devonian series to which it has been finally assigned.

It was satisfactory to be able to recognize this plant in January,
1875, in a creek near Rydal, on a spur of the Mount Lambic
Range, where the Devonian Brachiopoda occur, and to be able to
direct Mr. Wilkinson to the locality where he found his five
additional specimens, which certainly established the position in
situ of the species near that locality.

But it was not until subsequent visits in 1870 and 1S77 that 1
was enabled to detect the plant actually in situ , and which
enabled me to ascertain the proper position of its habitat, which
is considerably below the level of the Brachiopod sandstone
of Mount Lambic, and on a spur of that range overlooking
Solitary Creek. As a guide to future explorers, I left a “broad
arrow” mark on the fence nearest the spot.

Professor M‘Coy adheres to his first opinion that the plant is
not L. no/hum (See “ Coal Report," and Decade 1 , “ Rrodomus of
the Geology of Victoria ,”—pi. ix), and calls it L. Australe.

Writing in 1SG1, the learned Professor proves that there is no
mistake about the identity of the plant in question ; for he says,
a specimen of it, still 1 believe in the Melbourne Museum, is of
the same species as the only Ralccozoic Coal-plant ever collected
in [New South Wales, and which was sent to him about twelve
years ago for “determination during the controversy ns to the age
of the plant-beds of the Newcastle N.S.AV. beds.” This mistake
as to date is of no importance, as it is rectified by my previous
quotation from Mr. M‘Coy’s letter, and I only refer to it to
show, which is due to himself, that we are treating of the same
plant.

But there may be found many, and there are already known in
New South Wales several distinct species of Lcpidodcndron and
its allies, in the Lower Coal-beds along the Kama Basin and else-

New South Wales .

where ; and although in tlie Upper seams they may not he known,
we have the testimony of Sir Thomas Mitchell, on the authority
of the late Mr. Lonsdale (“ Parliamentary Papers , 14 January ,
1852”), that a Lepidodeudron was found “ in sandstone” between
Windsor and Parramatta, that sandstone with impression of
Lepidodeudron was also found over granite near Cox’s lliver,”
and I possess a east of a Lepidodeudron (verified as such by
Mr. It. Etheridge, junr.) in sandstone also, from the banks of
the Warragamba, between the junction of the Wollondilly with
Cox’s ltiver and the junction of the Warragamba with the
Nepean, being one in a Devonian area, and the others in the
Wianamatta Lanin. And if it be argued that they all came from
one source, and were drift fragments (which may be or not be
the ease) still, as wc discover elsewhere in Australia that the
drift Lepidodendra are almost all found not far from the parent
beds, the inference would naturally be that these bad not drifted
far to the localities now pointed out.

Mr. ALAlillau himself told me in Melbourne in 1800 that the
Lepidodeudron found by him, and which was I presume the one
I saw in the Museum, and which is figured by Professor M‘Coy,
was picked up from the surface and first used to keep a door
open or shut in a store at Melbourne* But- if it was not taken
from its bed it is of no more value than any of those scattered
about the surface of Australia elsewhere. But the inferential
value is the same in all the eases.

The subject, however, with which we are now concerned need
not depend on such data.

Professor M‘Coy states that “ the sandstone containing the
present species in Victoria has been found by Mr. Howitt over a
large extent of GHppsland to lie always unconformably on the
upturned edges of the true Devonian rocks * and Air. Selwyn
mentions other specimens of Lepidodeudron from the Avon.

These admissions are worth very much to any controversy 1
may have had with the able and skilled Paheontologist of Victoria,
whose judgment as to genus or species I have no pretensions to

* I now recollect tlmt Professor M‘Coy has admitted this fact* “as to the
specimen lie alludes to in the Melbourne Museum, the Government. Geologist
can testify that on first seeing it some years ago in a store at Melbourne ,

I at once characterised it to him as the most important palaeontological
specimen ever found in the Colony,” &e. [“ Commentary” read before the

Roy. Soc.y Melbourne^ 25th June, 1*860.] lint in 1861 the Professor had not
apparently realised t he value of the find, for he says in the “ Catalogue of the
Victorian Exhibition, 1861,” p. 161: “Having ns yet seen no distinct identifi¬
cations to prove the existence in Australia of the intermediate Middle Palaeo¬
zoic or Devonian formations ;** but in 1857 be speculated on the occurrence of
the Carboniferous formation all the way from the Avon into N. S. Wales.
[Evidence before Parliament,” 18th August, 1857.” ‘ Progress Report on

Coal Fields,” see infra."]

24 Sedimentary Formations

dispute, but who, like all the world, must necessarily be amenable
to facts and logic ; I therefore forego all comments on L.nofhnn
and I . Australe , and leave the decision where it should rest — in
the hands of Paleontologists.

Two points, however, remain for remark on the Devonian. *

G ratified as I always am (when X consider that I have never
had an hour's assistance in the field from any individual during
my thirty-nine years of geological labour to profit by the collected
intelligence and the host of well-skilled physicists that help to
make geology what it ought to be) to peruse the recitals of the
field-geologists of Victoria, I have had especial pleasure in
reading Mr. ITowitCs description of the Devonian area in CHpps-
land, and of his researches on the Snowy River and other
localities in Victoria which I visited and examined in 1851.

In those days the Devonians were unknown to Australian
explorers, and even so late as 18G3 only a suspicion existed as to
the actual relation of the strata about Mount Tambo and other
places in Gippslaud.

The limestones of Buchan and Bindi had not been as now cor¬
related with Devonian, and the Director of the G eological Survey
of Victoria himself, in 18GG, bold tlie opinion that the arrange¬
ment was such that the limestones were Upper Paleozoic. It is
not surprising therefore, that in the patch of fossiliferous rock
in a narrow gully at the very head of the blur ray River which I
discovered in December, 1851, I should have considered it “ not
younger than the base of the Lower Carboniferous ” — which
justifies the remark 1 made in the last Edition, that if Professor
M 4 Coy was 44 right ” in determining the Devonian to bo the epoch
of these Gippslaud limestones, 1 could not he far wrong, espe¬
cially considering that my discovery of fossiliferous rocks was
made in a great hurry for want of time to institute careful
search, during a journey in unpleasant weather, after lying all
night on the bare ground, on the upper slope of the Great
Dividing Range, at Kurnoolce (Native Dog Creek), on my way
from Moambah to Oineo. In 1870 the remark was made by me
that “ in 1851 ” I held Mr. Selwyu’s view, hut I had no intention
of disputing subsequent results ; I do not think I was justly
dealt with when I was reproved for so doing, especially as in
1870 1 had written in the following words to the Editor of the
44 Sydney Herald" (in reply to a statement in the 44 Ovens and
Murray Advertiser" respecting an alleged discovery of an Ichthy¬
osaurus at the head of the Iiuli or Murray River) : — “On 1G
December, 1851, 1 visited the locality and found Marine fossils
there of an age not younger than the Lowest Carboniferous
rocks of N. S. Wales. The Victorian geologists consider them
Devonian.”

New South TFctles.

25

Mr. Selwyn reported plants from Mount Tambo, but Mr.
Howitt [“ On Devonian Hocks of North, Gipps land. Rror/ress
Report No. Ill, p. 233] says that in 1870 lie could not find
any. That locality is not very far from the one visited by me.

1 certainly saw no Lepidodcndron near Tambo or at the head of
the Indi, but fossil wood occurr >d at Tambo Bluff, where it had also
been found by Mr. John Wilkinson and Mr. Tycrs, then engaged
in their survey; before 1850, and in a letter written in that year,
about twelve months before I visited Omeo. the latter spoke of
the Bindi and Buchan limestones as mountain limestone, which
1 mention merely to show that others beside myself had at that
time the same impression respecting the Sedimentary deposits of
the vicinity.

The subsequent investigations by Mr. Howitt proved that the
deposits in question were Middle Devonian;

My object in referring to this otherwise unimportant matter
has been to explain the last passage in the note below (quoted
from the last Edition of this memoir, as it appears in u Mines mut
Mineral Statistics of New South Walesf 1S75, p. 161, and which
was accidentally left incomplete.^

These references and quotations bear upon the possible
relation of Lepidodendron to the Devonian Marine fossils in the
localities mentioned.

Mr. Ho wilt's Deport is very valuable on many accounts. He
has made out with considerable precision the actual sequence of
the Devonian beds over a large area, and places them not only
ns they should be above the Silurian, blit as Having once

* Note.— In Queensland, the Burnet Bunge, the Mount Wyatt District , ami
tracts about the Bowen Gold Field and Burdekin (on which river limestones
with fossils occur), arc strewn with spoils of a formation which Mr. Daintree
calls Devonian. From the former locality 1 have lmd many collections, and
among them all I find Product us in alliance with Trilobites which appear
to be older than Carboniferous. On the western thinks of the Cordillera
near Yass, and on the eastern along the Shoulhavvn Biver, and again near
the Hanging Bock, New South Wales presents numerous bands of limestone
full of such fossils; but it is doubtful at present whether these lie on the
horizon of the Devonian, or whether they belong to some portion of tin*
Upper Silurian. As these beds appear to range all through the country 011
a nearly meridional st rike on both sides of the Cordillera, t hey are traceable
in widely different places-; and it may eventually be determined, that
though in close contact, there is really a distinction of formations only to be
detected by accurate survey. So far as Lepidodendron is concerned, that
plant occurs in some places in assoeiat ion with beds that a«e decidedly
vounger than any called Devonian, near Pallal on the Horton Biver, and on
1 )ie Manilla Biver in Liverpool Plains, and in the gold-drift of flic Turon
Biver, which lias been derived from beds of transmitted sandstone
belonging to the Coal-beds at the bead of the river. It occurs thus on Dan-
gera Creek, Yalwal. Near Wellington, also, Lepidodendron has been found
in hardened rock of similar origin. At Canoona Gold Field, in Queensland,
Lepidodendron occurs in hardened shales; and at G 001100 Goonoo, on the

26

Sedimentary Formations

occupied a very much wider area than at present over what is
now called North Gippsland, the Upper .Devonian having
occupied the whole of it. He seems to have assigned the Snowy
Diver Porphyries in some localities to a position between Upper
Silurian and Middle Devonian. The Porphyries are considered
generally as Lower Devouian, resting as they do on Lower
Palaeozoics or Granite.

Under the circumstances detailed, there was no great heresy in
considering the deposits hastily observed, as 1 then supposed them
to be. as Lower Carboniferous, which was the oldest Sedimentary
deposit then known with any certainty; and Mr. llowitt, in
187$, admitted that there is in Gippsland a passage from the
Upper Devonian into the Carboniferous beds. 4i We find,” he
says, “ that the materials of which the groups are composed are
threefold—coarse conglomerates, sandstones, and shales with
occasional beds resembling ‘eornstoncs’ in their calcareous
character. No such unconformity is probable between the
Upper Devonian and Carboniferous as between the former and
the Middle Devonian.” (p. 237.)

The characteristic fossils in the Hindi limestone are Spirifers —
such does not appear to be the case in the Tambo series, nor is
Lepidodendron apparently known there, the Avon ltiver more to
the s.e. being the chief habitat of that plant.

Mr. Howitt has, I think, clearly shown that the Hindi beds
are below the Tambo. As to the Porphyries, they seem in places
to belong to the Granites (which at Moamba, in X.S.W., are
stanniferous), and occupy a very prominent feature on the long

Peel Kiver, in New Sout h Wales, it oectirs in line gray sandstone, with Ferns
and Sigillaria in close proximity to beds of Marine fossils which are as old as
Lower Carboniferous. It occurs also about 10 miles n.w. of Goulbum, and
Devonian Marino fossils are known to exist not very far off in the County of
Ar gyle. * It lias been reported also on the Warrego Kiver.

besides these fossiliferous evidence^of supposed Devonian age, t here are beds
of grit, sandstone, and conglomerate occupying positions of extreme doubt¬
fulness as to age, not only in Victoria but also all along the coast ranges of
New South Wales, which, as described bv me and conff l ined by Air. Daintree,
are certainly older than some parts of the Carboniferous formation. They
make a near approach to the. “ Old Bed ” of Europe. In my “ Report to the
Government of Sew South W'ales” (6th March, 1852), 1 have mentioned that
I hud traced these beds “ from the head of the Slioalhaven to the head of the
Genoa”) and Mr. Daintree, in his Kcport. to Mr. Solwyn, Director of the
Victorian Surrey (26th May, 1863), adopts my description, word for word,
as applicable to ” the Grampian sandstones, the conglomerates south of
Mount Maecdon, of the Avon Kiver and Tauibo, Gippsland and he adds,
“there can be little doubt they are all members of one great formation.”

At, Mount Tambo, according to Mr. Solwyn (1866), they underlie the
limestone of that locality, which ho therefore considers as probably Carbon¬
iferous j and this, as stated above, was my view in 1851. (From 2nd. Ed.,
Pl>- 8-9 )

New South Wales.

27

descent: of Jacob’s Pass to the Tpngaro Kiver. In 1S5L I con¬
sidered the Granites and Porphyry to be Devonian, and I know
now from my own researches and the revelations of Mr. Howittf
an d others that bedded Devonian rocks may be traced at
intervals in si somewhat direct course from Gippsland to the
County of Phillip. #

There are several important deductions in Mr. Hewitt’s paper
which there is no space here to consider. It will be of great value
lo any one interested in the study of the Paheozoic formations
of Australia, especially the relations, supposed or real, between
the Middle and Upper divisions of them.

I cannot refrain from noticing hero the service rendered to
this question by my friend C. S. Wilkinson, E.G.S., who has
lately brought out a map, under the auspices of the Department
of Mines at Sydney, of a tract of country intimately known to
myself during the last thirty-seveu years, and previously alluded
to (p. 17), showing the geology of Hartley, Powenfells, Wailera-
wang, and Itydal, and the relations of the Upper and Lower
Carboniferous, Devonian, and in part Tipper Silurian formations,
together with Granite, &c., in that part of the County of Cook
which surrounds the Western liailway from Hartley Yale to the
County of Koxburgh. It was in this area that 1 first found
<rold in February, 1841, and in which (and recently in Mr.
Wilkinson’s company) 1 have renewed my researches in geology
from time to time. , . , , T ..

As it belongs to the topic immediately m hand, 1 consider it
only a duty (after so long an acquaintance with the country
delineated) to testify to the general accuracy of the details, and
the carefulness with which they have been expressed. It is the
first work of the kind which has emanated from this Colony, and
is at once a proof of the skill and honesty of the author, and a
credit to the country. This map alone will serve to refute the
absurd statement made in 44 Rrogrcss Report of the Geological
Survey of Victoria No. Ill, 1S70, p. 02, that 4 ‘ Devonian roch s*
have not been (Uncovered elsewhere in Australia ” than in Victoria !
without referring to Do Koninck’s account of the numerous fossils
of that ago collected before 1850 in various parts of New South
Wales, and which in the very year (1870) when the dogma was
proclaimed ex cathedra had been described, figured, read before
an eminent Society in Europe, and proclaimed by publication to
the world !! (See Appendix XV.)

§ 4. Upper Paleozoic.

Notwithstanding the opinion expressed respecting L. nothum ,
I do not however affirm that Lepidodendroid plants do not
occur in our Lower Coal Measures, as I have for years affirmed it;

28

Sedimentary formations

and even Z. nothum may, for anything I know to the contrary,
ancon d to them and belong to both Upper and Middle Palaeozoic.
In the section on the Devonians facts are mentioned which show
that such plants are well known in our Carboniferous beds, and
there are numerous others which can be easily established.

Other acknowledged Lower Carboniferous plants are also
known, though denied in no very gracious spirit some years since.
Professor M‘ Coy, as we have seen, doubted it, and Do Zjgno
accepted the doubt ; but the plants are here nevertheless, and
were not manufactured out of Mesozoic specimens.

Mr. Leo Lcsquercux, of Columbus, Ohio, whose reputation is
sufficient authority, was good enough to examine two carefully
photographed examples from the Itouehel River which I sent to
Professor Dana, and pronounced one to he Z. dichotomuni and
the other Z. rimomm of Sternberg.

Professor De Ivon inch also found embedded with the Marine
fossils of my collection from the Lower Carboniferous of Muree,
Glen William, Burragood, and the Kama, various well-known
plants, suth as Z. vellheimianum (Sternb.) ; Bornta radiata (A.
Brougir.) ; Calamitcs varians (Germnr) ; Schizopteris (sp.), Ac., Ac.

Dr. Feistmantel (Palaeontologist to the Geological Survey of
India) has also recognized in the strata from Smith’s Creek,
Stroud, Bhaeopteris (first found there by mo in 1850);
Tamiopteris, (near) JEokardi (Germar); Cyclostigma Kiltorka-
mnn ; a Paleozoic Sphenophyllum, with Glossopteris , which also
occurs in some of the other Lower strata, as at Muree, Ac.,
Lepidodeudrun, Ac. (“Recorda of G. S. of India f No. 4, 187(5.)
J privately learn that Dr. F. thinks the species of Rhacoptoris are
very near to It. Iraimlionin (Shir) and li.JlabelUfara (Star) [—
Cycloptcris huetjuilnlern (Gdpp)] and near to Sphenopt. jHomer i
from itothwaltersdorf in Silesia — Culm.

I have now sent additional specimens to Calcutta, and the
question of Otoptcrw from Arowa will bo settled which I have
written with (?) as reported from Stroud, it being quite possible
that Ithacopteris may occur in each locality. (See Appendix A’.)

One object in quoting these data will be served bv comparing
them with the extracts in the note below. *

* The Baron de Zigtio having stated in I860 that the. Indian strata, with
fossil plants belonged to the “ Lower group of the Oolite,” adds: — ‘‘This
would not bo the case with those'of Australia, if the observations made in 1847
by the Rev. Mr. Clarke were confirmed, for he mentions in these deposits the
presence of the genera Sigillnria, Lepidodendron, and Stigma via, which
would settle the question. But 1 am not aware that the facts thus cited haw
been since verified. On the contrary, no mention is made of these genera in
the works of Messrs. Moore and M‘Coy, in which we are presented with a
scries of forms which, together with local types analogous to those of India,
them are species which recall the Jurassic flora of Scarborough.” [“Some
Observations on the Flora of the Oolite. By Baron A. de Ziyno Q.J.G.S.

New South Wales.

29

Having personally compared with specimens from Kiltorkan
(in any possesion) the Syrinyodendron diehotoinum (of Mr. Car-
rut hers's paper before referred to) which I sent home to England
some years since, and which is yet in the Geological Society’s
Museum, let me add that 1 found it in company with the
Lepidodendron noth uni and some other casts of plants in the
year l&o2.

I would remark, that in one locality in Tasmania I collected
many individuals of a species of bo called Syringodendron, which
occurred in the Goal Measures at the base of Spring Hill, on the
slope of which hill Strzelccki stated that he found in beds of sand¬
stone Peso pier is odoniopteroidts underlying the Pachydomus
qtohosit, s% known to Prolessor M £ Coy as a Wollongong Lower
Carboniferous shell. It is only fair to add, that though I made
in two different years a close examination of the hill and the
surrounding district, I failed to recognize the shell, though T saw
much that reminded me of the geology of certain parts of the
Hunter Liver Coal formation, and of the Illawarra, of the age of
which there is little doubt. I have lately learned that at least
two Marine fossils above the plants have been found on Spring

Hill-

On the borders of the Devonian formation in parts of the
Hunter and Manning Itiver basins, the Lower Carboniferous
which is highly inclined passes on along the same strike into beds
charged with Lepidodendron , Knorria , Siyillaria , &e«, and in some
instances Lepidodendron occurs in the same blocks with ? Otopteris
ovata of M‘Coy, an example of which was shown in the Exhi¬
bition at Sydney in April, 1875, from the east of Stroud. On
the ranges at the head of the Peel, and about Booral, Stroud, and
Scone, occur numerous fragmentary blocks with Lepidodendron,
Sigillaria, and other usually associated fossils of Carboniferous
beds.

These and other facts of similar kind have been often stated
bv me on former occasions. They are referred to on this, in
order to show the relations of the New South Wales formations.
At present many of the points where the Upper and Middle
Paheozoies meet are ill-defined, and it will require the researches
and labours of many years to fill them in with strict accuracy.

xvi, p. 111.] In reply to this, and to some very remarkable attempts hv
another critic to show that I had made out my Palccozoie species from frag¬
ments of Mesozoic plants (on which I do not choose to comment), 1 confine
myself to one further extract from a paper written by me in 1800, and
published in March, 1801 : — “ T placed years ago in the Australian Museum
at, Sydney, specimens of these disputed plants, and in the present year 1 saw
one of the species in the University Museum at Melbourne, which had been
found in Gippsland. [“ On the relative Positions of certain Plants in the Coal-
heariny Beds of Australia : By Rev. JJ r . B. Clarice, M. A., P.G.S.” ; Q.J.G.S.
lxvii.j p. 355.]

30

Sedimentary Formations

Nor can it be wondered at, that in so large a territory, and with
such complicated and broken features, details must tor a long
period to come give way to generalizations. That the two for¬
mations seem to have a passage from one to the other is pointed
out by numerous instances in this Colony*; and it may be illustrated
by the occurrence of Bornia radiata (see p. 30), which is one of
the distinguishing fossils of Schimper’s “ Epoquc Ealeanthraci-
tique ” intermediate between the two (sec Tome iii p. 620), as well
as by Rhacoptcris which is so common at Smith’s Creek, Stroud;
nevertheless, M. De Koninek considers the mass of the Lower
Carboniferous Marine beds he has described to represent only the
Upper and Middle Carboniferous of Europe. Other instances of
like kind could be pointed out of passages from the one formation
to the other. And this I have endeavoured to establish in relation
to connection of our Coal-seams on the Hunter and elsewhere
with a Palaeozoic series through the occurrence of genera of plants
which have generally speaking a Mesozoic character.

One aim of my labours in Australia has been to show that wo
have a succession of groups passing upwards so us to present
collectively one great series of Coal-bearing beds, instead of an
interrupted widely separated series of formations which have no
connection with each other. The question between Professor
M‘Coy and myself was precisely of this character. Ho has held
that, "no real connection” exists between the beds under the
Coal and the Coal Measures themselves ; but that u they belong
to widely different geological systems, the former one referable
to the base of the Carboniferous system, the latter to the Oolitic,
and neither showing the slightest tendency to a confusion of
type.”

I t is quite true that there may be succession of formations one
over another without any ascertainable break; and there may be
also in any given series of deposits of one age interruptions and
partial dislocations, marking time in the deposit of the strata
without any actual change of epoch ; and in cases there may be a
want of parallelism or “conformity” in the beds of one and the
same group ; and it is conceivable how plants that have
grown in one age in one country may be found to have grown at
another age m a distant territory, without the means of our
tracing the missing links in their connection. And, therefore,
such plants as Pccopteris • Williamsoni might be found in China,
or in Australia, as well as in Yorkshire, with or without any
inference as to oneness of epoch ; and very much discrimination
and labour may be necessary to discover that the plants are
identical and have collateral evidence, derived from the corres¬
pondence of matrices, clays, sands, or shales in which they are
imbedded, that they grew near where they are found, under the
same actual climatal or physiological conditions.

JSew South Wales .

3 1

Xt is this required proof which renders it, in some cases, no
wilful scepticism to call in question the identification of any
plants ; and it may be questioned whether any of our fossils are
capable of such complete identification as to make their recog¬
nition a matter of positive certainty. On the other hand, even
in organic remains of Marine origin there may he difficulties of
another kind. Wo need only refer to the very interesting
report of the meeting of Members of the Geological Society of
Prance at Roannc in 1878,* to see how a plant, noticed above
(j Boritia radial a) , occurs in the Coal-beds near Roanne, in a
variety of deposits all apparently of one formation, which M.
Douville shows to comprehend in itself two distinct and
independent formations, exhibiting singular and extraordinary
concordance and discordance, owing to certain physical derange¬
ments which bring as it were the strata of Sarrebruck Coal-field
and that of Saxony into Central France, and, at the same time,
according to M. De Rouvillc, exhibit a concordance between the
Coal formation and the Permian, and discordance between the
mountain limestone and the true Coal-beds without mixture of
the flora. After well considering such a condition of things as
this, one should be very cautions in the matter of stratification,
especially in a country so distant from Europe and America as
is Australia. It was my lot to pass through the district in
question in 1825, and 1 still retain impressions of the geology,
so far as I noticed it; but 1 regret that I did not know it, as 1
now find, to be in many more points than those just mentioned
like that of some portions of out Australian Coal-fields. A
more striking instance of the conformity of stratification of
widely separated formations may be found in a memoir of
Casiano de Prado, “ Stir Vexistence de In Faunc Primordialo
dans la chaine Cantahriquc read by M. de Ycrneuil before the
same Society, on 7th May, 18G0,—in which is shown a section of
vertical rocks perfectly conformable to each other without the
slightest break, Lower D'evonian rock and Red Sandstone with the
Devonian fossils side by side and on both sides of a band of
Lower Silurian, as determined by Barrande and lie Ycrneuil,
whose descriptions of the fossils is given in the memoir. The
whole of the rocks mentioned, which are succeeded by carbon¬
iferous strata equally vertical, were considered at one time to be
Devonian. On this most instructive example M. Barrande
makes the following excellent remark, which will bo sufficient
apology on my part for calling attention to the necessity of
carefuily examining the Stratigraphy as well as the Paheontology
of the rocks in Australia, — “This example is so important in its
results that it deserves to he cited in the number of those which

* “ Bulletin

3‘‘ scric, tome 1, pp. 411--450.

32 Sedimentary Formations

prove how the mutual aids ought to wait on each other, of the
two principal brandies of Goology, that is to say, Stratigraphy
and Palaeontology. Their comparative application could only be
despised by minds prejudiced and disposed, to sacrifice the
progress of science to the ephemeral maintenance of their exclu¬
sive and systematic views,”—the conclusion of the paragraph I
leave in the original, “Des esprit* sivtroits ne so trouvenf paspamt{i
lions. 11 [“Bull. Soc. Gtol. lie France 11 2" ser. xvii, p. old.]

In the course of my work I have had to contend with the
prejudices of some who have never visited this territory , and who,
from a distance of many hundred miles, have ventured to
dogmatise, solely from a paheontological point of view, without
caring to ascertain how far the stratigraphicul evidence is at
variance with their conclusions.

In consequence of this the ascending order of formations
above the Lower Carboniferous in this Colony has long been
disputed by some, whose unaequaiutance with facts patent to all
who have examined them is t be best apology for a more temperate
stylo of criticism than has been adopted.

We are, however, indebted to Professor M‘Coy, for ascer¬
taining, in 1817, the existence of eighty-three species of animal
remains incur Carboniferous formation, in a collection forwarded
by me to the University of Cambridge, in which the Professor
was then officially employed.

Before that time, Bowerbank. Sowerby, Morris, and Dana had
determined the existence of the Carboniferous Marine beds ; and
the latter author enumerates about eighty species observed
during bis excursions in New South Wales, in some of which 1
accompanied him. {See Appendix Jl.)

More recently Mr. Etheridge has described fifteen species of
Lower Carboniferous fossils from Queensland* in relation to Mr.
Daintrec’s paper on the geology of that Colony, of which ten
were furnished by myself. N one have yet been discovered in
Victoria. Tn Tasmania, Sir. Gould figured some well-known
forms from that Colony, blit the plates were never published.

He has noticed also, wlmt I have contended for, that the
worked Coal-beds of the Mersey River belong to the same forma¬
tion with Paleozoic Marine fossils, as in Queensland and on the
Hunter River.

Having visited the Tasmanian locality for the purpose of
inspection, I can confirm all that lias been stated respecting the
occurrence of the Palaeozoic fossils, Orthonota, Spirifcra, Pones-
tella, Pacbydomus, Thcea, &e. t in association with and immedi¬
ately above the Coal: and lately I have been officially informed
that Coal-seams have been found by piercing these beds on the
Don River, confirming my grounds for recommendation to look
for them.

New South Wales .

33

In Western Australia traces of these Marine beds have been
detected and announced by Mr. Gregory. And in extension of
the formation northwards beyond the limits of Australia, it is
well known by more than one observer that Carboniferous beds
exist in the Island of Timor, where Beyrick discovered several of
our New South Wales species, c.g ., &'pirifer lineatus , Sp. y
Tasmaniensis , Product us semireticulatus , P. punctatus , dfc.
(“Acad, des Sciences de Berlin” 1861.)

My own collections received in 1874 from Queensland some
interesting additions, which arrived too late to form part of the
contribution to the Daintree Collection.

Among these fossils, from the head of Bee Creek (Fort Cooper),
I find Pecten, 8pirifer, Trochus, and magnificent specimens of
Productus, and a variety of usually associated shells, and with
them in the same brown ferruginous grit and shale-beds well-
depicted Glossopteris , and some other plants, one fragment of
which appears to be of a Dietgoptcris.

This mention of Glossopteris will lead to considerable discus¬
sion respecting its occurrence in beds interpolating in the Marine
fossiliferous strata, as well as occurring in the shales of the Coal-
seams on the Hunter Biver and elsewhere in New South A Vales
and in Queensland.

Mr. Daintree, F.G.S., (“ Notes on Gcolor/g of Queenslandf
Q.J.G.S. xxviii, p. 286) gives a section from the Coal-seams near
the Nebo Crossing of the Bowen lliver, of Coal-seams with frag¬
ments of Glossopteris underlying Productus and Spirifer beds
several hundred feet thick, with abundance of other Carboniferous
mollusca, the strata being upheaved by porphyry, and the lower
beds resting upon it. The beds are " quite conformable.” At the
junction of the creek the argillaceous Marine beds are surmounted
by others consisting of “ coarse grits and sandstones with inter-
stratified shales. In these the impressions of Glossopteris are very
common and sometimes beautifully preserved ; but,” he adds, “ 1
have never been able to find the fauna and flora unmistakeably
represented in the same bed.”

This admission as to that particular locality has been used
against the evidence of the beds themselves as to their position
by the author of u Beport of Progress bg B. B. Smyth, No. I Ilf
1876, p. 59, who states that “ any misapprehension in regard to
the age of the Mesozoic Coals of New South Wales, probably, is
duo to the accidental or apparent conformableness of the Meso¬
zoic strata to the underlying Carboniferous (Paleozoic) rocks” !!

I n addition to the evidence from the junction of Nebo Creek and
Bowen Biver, Mr. Daintree cites, with a section, the facts
observed at Pelican Creek, where he shows “ Marine beds resting
directly on a Coal seam.” “ At the base of this cliff a seam of Coal
about 4 feet thick crops out the entire length of the section.

c

34

Sedimentary 'Formations

Directly upon this rests a coarse-grained sandstone, with a few
imperfect casts of shells; while at the top of the cliff an
arenaceous limestone band holds abundant specimens of the
Strep torhf ncus crenistria so common throughout all the Lower
Mariue series.” (p. 28S.)

Here we have in addition to Glossopteris below Marine beds,
Coal also below them, and lower down ••Glossopteris in the sand¬
stone and shale — facts quite in keeping with what has been so
clearly shown by myself in parts of the Hunter Hirer basin in
New South Wales.

In further confirmation of such evidence, I will now quote an
extract from a letter by Mr. Daintrce, dated “ Maryvale, North
Kennedy (Queensland), January 22nd, 1870. On the McKenzie
Hirer, near the junction of the Isaacs, the Coal Measures are
highly inclined, Glossopteris the common fossil; but running up
Hoper’s Creek they gradually become horizontal, and at the top
of the Hoper’s Creek watershed horizontal beds of sandstone and
sandy limestone are the only rocks exposed in section full of
Hunter Hirer fossils, Producti, &c. * * * I could only be more
assured than ever that the Glossopteris beds underlie these hori¬
zontal Productus beds , and a week spent in surveys would
altogether settle the matter. I see Hector gets Glossopteris
associated with Mesozoic fauna in New Zealand ; I am satisfied
wc hare it with Palcoozoic Carboniferous fauna.”

Speaking of the valley of the Comet Creek, Leichhardt (“ Over¬
land Expedition” pp. 101-5) says he met, on January 9-10,1845,
with sandstones in the deep gullies running to the creek and on
slight elevations — “Sandstone crops out in the gullies of the valley
in horizontal strata, some of which are hard and good for build¬
ing, others like the blue-clay beds of Newcastle, with the
impression of fern leaves identical with those of that formation.
At the junction of Comet Creek and the river I found water-
worn fragments of good Coal and large trunks ot trees changed
into ironstone. I called this river the ‘McKenzie/ ” in honour
of Evan MMvenzic.

It is so far certain that the Newcastle beds underlie the Marine
Carboniferous near the junction of the Comet and M'Kenzio.
Gregory found the remains of Leichhardt’s camp on 17th
November, 185G, but records no geological data at that spot
(J.H.G.S., xxviii, p. 128). But \V. Lockhart Morton' (“Notes on
Northern District of Queensland” Trans. Phil. Inst. Victoria, read
23rd January, I860) noticed the Coal in large angular blocks at
the junction. In another spot some distance from the junction
and On the MTvcnzic he observed “ in a stratum of sandstone an
angular piece of beautiful bright Coal embedded—proving that
this piece of Coal is of greater age than the sandstone and than
the scams of Coal which that sandstone overlies.” (p. 13.)

New South Wales.

35

Respecting Mr. Daintrce’s evidence, may l)e added here the
extracts from two letters from that gentleman to myself (which
were published by me in a paper on “Marine, Fossiliferous
Secondary .'Formations in Australia ” (Q.J.G.S., xxiii, p. 11) :—

“ Bowen, February 10 ’ 1866.

“ In the Bowen River Coal-field, your statement as to the
Palaeozoic age of the Newcastle beds is, so far as I could judge,
entirely proven, since we have Spirifers , Ac., similar to those in
Russell’s shaft and the railway section at Maitland overlying the
Coal-seams, Glossoptcris being the most abundant fossil fern.”

“ Brisbane, April 11,1866.

“I send you a copy of what Professor M‘Coy addressed to me
after an examination of the fossils I took him, viz.,—

4 Your brown beds No. 2 are identical with the Marine beds
underlying the Coal of the Hunter ’ [i.e. overlying the Stony Creek
Coal-seams.—AV.B.C.], 1 the Pro ductus brachytlnvrus , qc., §c. y
fixing them. The Streptorhynchus is new, but of clearly carbon¬
iferous type. I have no doubt of their being Upper Palaeozoic.

‘ The plants are Fhyllotheca Australis and Glossoptcris Broicn-
iana, forms related to which in Europe are only found in Mesozoic
rocks.’ ”

As to Lepidodendron, I have no where asserted that the
Lepidodcndron, Sigillaria and other plants of that class have been
found in or over the beds of Newcastle or at A\ r ollongoug, though
I have mentioned already the possible discovery hereafter ; but I
have asserted many times that such plants occur in some parts
of our Coal Measures, and that below the Marine fossils which
underlie the Upper Measures Glossoptcris occurs, and others
which have been by some considered solely of Mesozoic age ; and
I have therefore argued that there is u a connection,” which has
been denied, the denial in my opinion having arisen from want of
personal experience on the part of my opponents, though I have
given them the same credit I take to myself, viz., that we each
and all come to conclusions to which we are led by our individual
acquaintance with or ignorance of facts. That sumo of the
doubters have contented themselves with passing sentence without
sufficient inquiry is distinctly stated by one of them in a Parlia¬
mentary document, from which extracts will be found further on.
I refer now to the “Progress Report from the Select Committee
on Coal Fields Melbourne, ordered to be printed, 20th October,
1857, and to the Evidence under questions Nos. 461, 471, 577,
5S1, 582, 5S1, 586, 5S8 to 592. No one who peruses that
evidence will deny that it was upon preconceived Palaeonto¬
logical determinations alone , ■without the condescension of a local
research, that positive dogmatic dicta were declared as law with a
wilful resolve to over-rule any opinion in opposition. Mr*

36

Sedimentary Formations

Carruthers, whose judgment none perhaps would rashly call into
question, in the discussion which ensued upon the reading of
Mr. Daintree’s paper (op. cit.), argued that 44 With regard to the
supposed Glossopteris and Tseniopteris Epochs, -which by some
had been regarded the one as Palaeozoic and the other as
Mesozoic, he was not convinced that they could be distinctly
separated, but thought rather that they might belong to different
portions of one (/real period. '* * * Ho thought that

neither was of a date earlier than Permian.’’

The conclusion I have all along held is, that the 44 Carbonif¬
erous” strata, and those which it pleases dissidents to fancifully
designate as 44 Carbonaceous” (which is, at the best, a misnomer ),
are parts of one great series, and that the beds which contain
Mesozoic Marine fossils may be properly placed in still higher
stages of the Palaeontological edifice.

In noticing my opinion expressed in 1861 (in a paper 44 On
Recent Geological Discoveries and Correlation of Australasian For¬
mations with those of Fur ope”), Sir Roderick Murchison ( 44 Address
to the Gcol. Sec. of Frit. Association at Manchesterf Sept. 5th,
1861), holding the view of a possible double series, stated that
he had received a communication from Mr. Gould in which he
(Mr. G.) says, that in 44 Coal-fields of the rivers Mersey and Don,
one of the very few which are worked in Tasmania, he has con¬
vinced hiniselt that the Coal underlies beds containing specimens
of true Old Carboniferous fossils,” and adds 44 that in Tasmania at
least, the Coal most w r orlced is unquestionably of Paleozoic age,”
(p. 23.) In this Mr. Selwyn (Q.J.G.S.,' xvi, p. 147) fully
concurs.

Now, in the paper on which the above comments were
made 1 had expressly affirmed, that reviewing the w’hole dis¬
cussion I was willing to admit, 44 that though some of our Coal
appears to belong to the true Carboniferous epoch, yet it is
possible that some may belong to the Permian epoch as sug¬
gested by Mr. Dana for the Newcastle Coal, or to the Triassic
as suggested for; the Indian and Virginian Coal; hut I am not
yet [/. e., hi 1861, nor am I now , 1878] cominced that our New r
South Wales Coal-seams are of Oolitic age.”

My highly respected friend Dana at one time abandoned the
Permian for the Trias, and Dr. O. Feist man ted of Calcutta is
labouring diligently to support this view in opposition to those
of Dr, Oldham and Professor Blanford. (Seep. 62.)

But the question is still an open one, although the Oolites are
insolvent; and if all our N. S. Wales Coal is not somewhere
between the Trias and Palaeozoic, or at the top of the latter, in an
intermediate Palaeozoic stage not knowmin Europe, it-will require
strong faith and stronger affirmation to cast it all into a Mesozoic
receptacle, notwithstanding the possible relianco of my Victorian

New South Wales.

37

friends and critics on one or both of the assertions that there is
no connection “ between the Newcastle Coal and the base of the
Carboniferous” (which may bo true as far as the base is con¬
cerned), or that it is “ not older than the Trias, nor younger than
the Oolite”—so that if the Trias wins, Oolite is no where! Q.E.D.

Those who deny the asserted age of our workable Coal-seams
affect to rely on the assumed age of that most prominent plant,
Glossopteris Broicniana. They say Glossopteris is an Oolitic
genus, “ Exactly as in the English beds the Glossopteris is associ¬
ated with Tceniopleris?' i.e., in the assumed Oolitic scries. To this
we may reply, that “ Glossopteris Brownian a” which is “ the
Glossopteris” alluded to in the above extract from the “ Report
of the Three Commissioners on the Western Fort Coal-fields ,”
(p. 8), is a plant utterly unknown in Europe and America, and
only known in India, South Africa,and Australia; and that Treni-
opteris, which is said to be associated with it in English beds,
according to Schimper, the most recent expounder of Eossil
Botany, is a genus which has only five species, all of which are
Permian, i.e., of Paheozoic age or of Upper Carboniferous. Even
if one Tamioptcris should be found in the same beds with
Glossopteris, that fact would not invalidate but would rather
strengthen my argument. Since the former is Palaeozoic, and the
latter occurs in the Coal-seams below the beds which are tilled
with Lower Carboniferous Marine fossils, it is clear that those beds
and the plant they hold must certainly be Palaeozoic, whatever
becomes of any other part in the succession of the series or
group to which they belong. It was attempted to be shown that
there exists an inversion of beds at Stony Creek, where five
seams of Coal holding Glossopteris, under *113 feet of acknow¬
ledged Palaeozoic Marine beds, occur (the fossils from which I
sent down to Sir Henry Barkly, who submitted them to Prof.
M‘Coy), and to meet this I requested that a geologist might be
sent up from Victoria to test the facts. Accordingly Mr. Dain-
tree came, and in the“ Yeoman,” a Melbourne journal, No. 100, will
be found his refutation of the inversion story and a full con¬
firmation of my assertion. This circumstance is ignored by the
Commissioners of 1872, as are all others that do not fall in with
the imagination of certain critics in Victoria. But I may now
add that Glossopteris in Coal-seams below the Marine beds has
been found in other localities, as for instance at Greta, where the
Coal has been reached below more than 400 feet of Marine strata,
Glossopteris and other plants also occurring 2 feet 6 inches above
the Coal. (See Sections No. 1 and No. 2 at the end of this
Memoir .)

Not only so, but it is found in sandstones elsewhere, amidst
the Marine fossils themselves, and in the very same portions of
rock with the latter. So that no reasonable doubt ought to exist

3 8 Sedimentary Formations

in ilio mind of an honest controversialist that “ Glossopteris ”
does occur as early as the so-called Lower Carboniferous strata,
and therefore our Coal-seams have a right to be held of that age.

Now Sehimper, to whom 1 before alluded, considers that the
Indian, African, and Australian plants are merely varieties of
the same G. Broicniana . In India no Marine fossils have yet
been found in connection with its Coal plants ; and in Africa the
Glossopteris is not set down to any older formation than Triassic
by Air. Tate; hut even that is older (although Mesozoic) than
Oolitic, to the latter of which M‘Coy refers them. And if Glos¬
sopteris hns a range as extensive as some other fossils which pass
through three separate series of strata, why might not it pass up
into Secondary rocks, without denying its existence in Australian
Middle or Lower Carboniferous V There it clearly does not
govern, but must be subordinate to the Fauna. But it is not
alone in that position: other plants also occur therein which have
as much an Oolitic facies as itself. And yet it is undoubtedly
true, ns is well shown by Daintrec, that in Queensland Glos¬
sopteris is confined to beds that are in association with Palaeozoic
fauna, and that the so called Tamioptcris is found to accompany
a Mesozoic fauna ; and I can aver, after thirty-nine years
experience, that no Marine deposits of Secondary age have yet
been discovered in New South Wales, although in Queensland
beds of Coni occur iu supposed connection with such.

There may, therefore, be two epochs of Coal as suggested by
Murchison or as stated by Mr. Carruthcrs two portions of one
series, without dispossessing the lower portion of its right to
hold a property in a plant that may not have existed in the time
of the younger part of the series. Whatever he the value or
uselessness of reasoning on the point, this fact still remains —
Glossopteris Broicniana does exist in New South Wales and in
Queensland in Coal Measures that interpolate strata full of
Palaeozoic -Marine fossils; and is absent in the hitter Colony, where
the Marine accompaniments are called Mesozoic, and does not
exist at all, so far as is yet known, in Victoria, where the Palaeo¬
zoic and other Marine beds arc at present missing.

As to the division arbitrarily made by Professor M‘Coy, in a list
re-arranged by him of Mr. Keene’s specimens, separating “ Shale
with G. Brow/liana and Otopter is ” from the Palaeozoic beds, that
excellent Paleontologist may be assured that a plant apparently
the same as Otoptcris (? ovatd) is combined with Lepidodendron,
Rhaeoptcris, and other plants near Stroud; and that at Greta,
and at Mount Wiugen, Glossopteris is found below his own
determined Palaeozoic Marine fossils, the smoke from the
burning seams full of the plant at the latter locality passing up
through cracks in the overlying conglomerate full of Palaeozoic
shells, &c.

New South Wales.

39

Nor does the arrangement made of Mr. Keene’s collection
agree with the actual facts in nature, for the Greta beds arc not the
uppermost with Marine fossils, but beds with them lie further to
the east—in which Phyllothcca has occurred at Ilarpur’s Hill, and
Glossopteris in the same way at Muree near Raymond Terrace.

There is another item to be taken into account — the occurrence
of fishes — one in the Newcastle seams, described and figured
by Dana, viz., TJrosthenes Australis ; and many of different species
in the beds above the Coal Measures, of which mention will be
made hereafter.

The greater part of them are fragmentary, but others are
entire. Some specimens exhibit the head, others the tail or
hinder portion of the body, and one jaw bas been found with
teeth which arc not shown in the other fishes. One has within a
few weeks (January, 1878) been found in shale at Balmain, near
Sydney, which is shaped like Belonostomus ; but the scales are
not shown and the caudal fin is too indistinct to be traced, the
vertebral column and some of the ribs are better defined, but it
is out of shape, and can be merely guessed at. Only half of
the body was found in digging a well, and the remainder was
searched for, at the desire of Mr. "Wilkinson, E.G.S., and myself,
and has been with difficulty discovered.

Of these fishes, Palaioniscus was recognized by Sir P. Egerton,
from Parramatta and the Gibraltar Tunnel, between Nattai and
Bowral, and one species assigned by that learned Ictbyologist is
R,antipOdem. He considers the fishes to be Permian (Q.J.G.S.,
xx). Professor M‘Coy also has admitted that they have “a
general aspect of Trias sic or Permian fishes.” (“ Official Record ,
1866-7, Melbourne Exhib.,p. 1B9,”)

Some recent writers have called in question tlie claims of
Palrconiscus to any Carboniferous rank. In a learned paper by
Traquair — (Q.J.G.S, xxxiii, pp. 548-578. “ On the Agassizian

genera Amblyptcrus , Pal&oniscus , Gyrolepis, and Pggopterus. By
Ramsay JI. Traquair, M.D ., F.R.S.R., F.G.S., Keeper of the
Natural-Hi story Collection in the Edinburgh Museum of Science
and Art.” Read May, 1S77) — the author, after great detail and
illustration, comes to the conclusion that the fishes named arc
not Carboniferous but Permian.

This determination does not interfere with the view I have
maintained of the Palaw.oic age of some at least of our Aus¬
tralian Coal Measures, which is half supported by M*Coy, wholly
by Egerton, and again confirmed by Dana. Mi*. AV. J. Barxas,
L.R.C.P.L. and M.R.C.S.E., in a paper read before the Royal
Society of New South "Wales, 3 Dec., 1877 — (“ On a Rental
peculiarity of theLcpidosicida ?”) — devoted himself to a considera¬
tion of the doubtful character, as lie considers it, of the fishes,
by Sir P. Egerton, viz., Palseoniscus, TJrosthenes, and Myriolepis.

40

Sedimentary Formations

Mr. Barkas says there is no description of Urosthenes. This
is, however, given by Prof. J. D. Dana, in the “ Geology of the
U. S. Exploring Expedition 1838-1842, under the Command of
Captain Wilkes , TT.S.JY." (New York), p. 081. His chief ground
of inquiry is respecting the teeth of these fishes, as he considers
the Lcpidosteida? are distinguished by the teeth being “ tipped;”
and, unfortunately, as in many instances in Europe, the New
South Wales fishes alluded to show no teeth whatever. But, as
stated in the last edition of this memoir, p. 39, “ the last specimen
of fish from the PalsDoniscus beds, reported by me to Sir Philip
Egerton, was a portion of a jaw of a fish whose teeth were of a
Saurichthyan type, but the learned Icthyologist considered it also
to be Permian.” The teeth in this specimen were so completely
“ tipped” in the way mentioned, that I considered it to be a
Saurichthgs (see Agassiz, “ Poissons Eossilesf vol. ii, tab. 55a.),
and named it as such, under correction, to Sir Philip.

The objection of Mr. Barkas may therefore be considered as
answered ; although the fish to which the jaw belonged is not
precisely known, Mr. B. says, u from the writings of Professors
Owen and Agassiz, I learn that Sauricthys is also tipped with
enamel,” (op. cit.., p. 205). As he admits, moreover, that of the
eighteen genera Lepidostean which he cites, ten are “ tipped,” it
is probable that the Ganoid fishes discovered by me, were also
“ tipped,” though no teeth have been found. 1 was not present
at the reading of the paper by Mr. Barkas, and did not read it
in print till 9th February, 1878, or 1 would have replied at the
time.

The peculiarity of the teeth in Permian Ganoids was long am>
pointed out by Dr. King (See 11 Monograph of the Permian Fossils
of England Palccont. Soc 1850, p. 228, under Platgsomus
macrurus , p. xxvi, 1.)

Then, as to the “ vulgar error ” that heterocereal ganoid fishes
are confined to Palaeozoic beds,— which any one acquainted with
ordinary treatises on the subject may be supposed to understand
is an error, though scarcely “ vulgar ” in the ordinary sense
of that often offensively used term, — surely it may be permitted
to conclude from the fact that among all the fishes discovered in
our Coal-beds, and in the beds above the Coal, not a single homo-
cercal tail has been found, the probability is, as Sir P. Egerton
has surmised after examination of those submitted to him, that
the fishes are Palceozoic , especially as the admission is made that
“ the homocercal structure is not known in Palaeozoic rocks.”
( u Peport on Coal Fields .” Victoria, 1872, p. G.)

The fact that the Coal-beds overlie or interpolate the Marine
beds in what is called “ conformable order,” ought to be con¬
sidered a satisfactory conclusion that no break such as ought to
exist under other circumstances does exist, because whether the

New South Wales .

4i

Coal Measures arc horizontal or inclined they merely follow the
same condition in the Upper or Lower Marine heds with which
they are always associated.

The argument from the occurrence of fish remains is met by
the incidental remark that the “ heterocercal ganoid fishes being
of genera and species 'peculiar to the locality have no value” in
determining the age of the beds in which they occur, may be
met by the retort that if peculiarity is to bo a guide in deter¬
mining geological age, there is an end of any certainty for such
persons as affect to uphold their own theories by reference to
peculiar plants; and this Professor M‘Coy himself does in rela¬
tion to a Scarborough plant by which he affects to guide his
Oolitic determination to the exclusion of Glossopteris and its
usual associates.

Respecting Paheoniscus, one of the New South Wales fishes, a
passage translated from Agassiz, whose decision ought to be
satisfactory, will not he out of place, considering that it meets
the objection on the form of the caudal fin. Ho says,—“I know
ten species of this genus, which appear to he limited to Coal
Measures and the Zechstein. It might not. however, be impossible
to discover traces in the Ores Inyarre ,* the Mnschelkalk, and the
Keuper ” (/.<?., in the Trias); “ but that which I believe I am able
to affirm is, that it docs not ascend to the Jurassic formations, of
which the numerous representatives of the order of ganoids have
the tail regular , and never prolonged in a long point forming the
upper lobe of the caudal, as takes place constantly in the genera
of the earlier formations. I do not understand what were the
intentions of Nature which have produced these singular
differences, but it is certain that they exist, and it would be to
misunderstand our duty to ignore them, or to attribute less im¬
portance to so general and constant a fact.” (“ Recherchcs sur les
Poissons Fossilcsf tom. 1, p. 43.) To this may be added, that the
generality of the fishes in N. S. Wales are heterocercal;

* lie afterwards names P. catopterus as belonging to this sandstone. It
was, however, only found in one spot, only “ a few square feet” in extent, in
the county of Tyrone : ( PortlocJc : “Geology of Londonderry, Tyrone, and Fer¬
managh, p. 4G8.”) Respecting this fish, Dr. Traquair says (Q.J.G.S. xxxiii,
p. 565, op. cit.) — “ Tin's little species from the Triassie red sandstone of
Rhone Hill, county of Tyrone, was originally named by Agassiz, hut was not
described by him. Sir C. Lyell, however, in referring to it in connection with
certain American Triassie forms, says, concerning it, — ‘The Irish Paheoniscus
catopterus of Roan or Rhone Hill, referred by Col. Portlock to the Trias, is
a true l’alteoniscus. and not allied gcnerically either to the Ischypterus of
Egerton, or the Catopterus of Rcdfield (Q,J.G.S„ iii> p. 278) ; and in Sir
P. Grcy-Egerton’s brief description of the species (Q.J.G.S., vL, p. 4) occurs
the following passage,—‘ The dorsal fin is placed much nearer the tail than
in any other species ; in this respect, hut in no other, P. catopterus resembles
the genus Catopterus of Mr. Reclfield. The tail is decidedly licterocerquc

42

Sedimentary Formations

though in some instances the caudal fin is not so distinctly
pronounced as in others, which may therefore be classed as
“ semi-heteroeerque.” But Palfeoniscus well developed as to
the tail was found in shales and sandstone 1,000 feet geologi¬
cally above the worked Coal-seams.

The existence of Pa lie o zoic strata of Carboniferous age in
some parts of Victoria is, as I believe, a fair assumption of the
Cape Paterson Reporters, though at present they cannot prove
their position by fossiliferous evidence ; but the denial of that
existence wonld hand over their whole Coal-territory to a forma¬
tion or formations to prove the age of which they have no more
marine evidence than they have respecting a Carboniferous era.
They have never yet seen a single Marine fossil bed in all Victoria
to justify even their adopted view of their Coal belonging to the
Oolitic age, which is elsewhere multitiulinously fertile in Marine
fossils, and this, no doubt, is “ peculiar.” The Reporters on the
'Western Port Coal-fields notify carefully, that “ it should he
distinctly understood that our opinion respecting the age of the
New South Wales Coal Measures is based entirely on the collection
of rocks, fossils, and Coals forwarded to us by the late Mr. Keene,
and on the published reports on these Coal-fields.” But even this
is accompanied by a sneer at Mr. Keene’s alleged blunders in
Palaeontology.

On the above I would observe that, as I had seen the collec¬
tion referred to before it was despatched, I am prepared to say it
did not completely represent the beds in flic local district from
which it came, and was only a partial display of the series of
the strata in association with Coal throughout the Colony; and
that in the arrangement adopted by Professor MToy, as quoted
in the Report, most important portions of the beds are omitted.
I would, therefore, attribute the “ opinion of the Board res¬
pecting the age of the New South Wales Coal,” so authoritatively
pronounced, to be based on imperfect data, showing that the
gentlemen who then decided the question arc practically ignorant
of the true grounds of decision, clearly not having made any in¬
spection for themselves, and totally ignoring the opinions of the
host of observers who have ecrimed to the contrary; amongst
whom is Mr. Daiutrec, a member of the Victorian Geological
Survey, the late Mr. Stutchbury, who reported thereon, as well as
many others who have studied the strata in situ, and are true
witnesses against the side of the Ooliticalparty. In the pleadings
on that side, the reliable evidence that makes against them is
“burked,” and a foregone conclusion is offered as if it were final
—and the judgment is delivered ex cathedrd , whilst numerous
witnesses of the first credibility are altogether ignored. This
may be prudent and ingenious, hut it is not “ scientific ,” nor is it
honest, yet it helps to bring out the magnificent declaration:

New South Wales.

43

<< We confine ourselves to the statement that we have not before
us a particle of evidence indicating that the Coal-seams now being
worked in New South Wales are of Palaeozoic age* 5 ’ A great com¬
pliment this to persons who have laboured for years to establish
truth ; but they may console themselves with the reflection, that
“ Prdjuger esp malfuger Amidst this lamentable ingenuity to
“ tell the truth without telling the whole truth and nothing but
the truth,” and in the arraying of evidence from beyond Austra¬
lia instead of collecting the whole evidence furnished from itself,
there is one grateful exception which, though not entirely satis¬
factory, is much more so than some previous proceedings were.

It would have been better to have acknowledged that old
opinions had been re-called.

In the notes on Mr. Keene’s specimens, Professor At 4 Coy,
though lie draws a line where it ought not to be, has changed his
method of putting his old opinions about the Coal itself, inasmuch
as he no longer makes use of the notion which he once enter¬
tained and put in evidence before a Committee of the Melbourne
Parliament. I must explain this : On the 20th November, 1S57,
he was examined (as the Chairman of a Mining Commission) on
the Character and Extent of Coal iu Victoria, and he asserted over
and over again that no Palaeozoic coal existed in Australia. The
followiug answers speak to that point:—

“722. (Answer). The members of the Mining Commission have an impres¬
sion that, as the Coal deposits to be expected ^here [Cape Paterson] geologi¬
cally arc not the same as those of the great Coal-fields of England, but are of
similar character with the Coal-deposits of New South Wales and Tasmania,
therefore it is unlikely that they will be of commercial valve ; and as scientific
men they would not on their own responsibility, recommend the expenditure
of public money there.

727. (Q,-) Considering that the information [? formation] of the Capo
Paterson Coal-fields is similar t o those of New South Wales and Tasmania,
you arc of opinion that as an economic question, you would advise no further
prosecution of any surveys in that locality ? (A.) That is my opinion.

744. (Q,.) Von would not advise the prosecution of any further inquiries
for tlio discovery of Coal? (A.) No recommendation to that effect would
emanato from myself or the Commission.

747. Such Coal-fields [i.e,, those of Palieozoic age] ,do not exist in th is count ry
\i.e. in Australia]. That is a point which I wish clearly to show, and X think it
is one which lias never been clearly shown to this Committee before.

758. I know you are not to expect the old Palaeozoic Coal-fields in this part

of the world. .

759. (Q ) Do you contend that, iho Mesozoic Coal-fields arc not suitable tor

the different puiposes of commerce ? (A.) They are not so suitable as the

lhilseozoic, they are not so extensive, the beds are not so thick or workable,
nor is the quality so good over any workable area.

767. (Q.) If a Coal-field at Cape l’aterson was discovered equally good with
the Sydney Coal-fields, would you consider it worth working ? (A.) My in¬

dividual opinion is that it would not be worth working.

771. [Of Capo Paterson] (A.) Of course the Members of the Mining Com¬
mission do not wish to attach any scientific weight to their evidence in a
commercial point of view, they merely choose to say, that as men of science ,

44

Sedimentary Formations

no recommendation would emanate from them to undertake extensive works
there, because the utmost you could expect would be such a Coal-bed as you
have at Sydney. Once more ; 769 (By Captain Clarice,) (Q.) The Virginian
Coal-fields of the character you describe as being similar to those here, are
worked at 775 feet depth ? (A.) Yes; but the beds there arc not to be com -

'pared to the Palceozoic Coal beds' 1

The witness here expressed an undoubted fact, but seems to
have forgotten entirely in November, 1857 the evidence be had
given before the same Committee on IStli August of same year.
Void ! By the Chairman :

474. (Question). The Committee desire that no time may be lost, and also
to know what aid the Mining Commission can afford them in the prosecution
of their inquiries—Are you prepared to offer any facilities for that purpose ?
(A.) I have obtained some specimens from surveyors from the Avon Ranges,
in the Gippsland district, which is the first evidence that the Pal ceo zoic Coal
of Europe exists in the Colony. One is a largo specimen of Lopidodendron,
indicative of this ancient Coal, so that my Own opinion is that the principal
Coal-deposit to bo expected in the Colony would probably extend from the
Cape Paterson beds northwards through the Gippsland country, and pro¬
bably form a union with the Sydney deposits. The Hunter and Hawkesbury
deposits of Coal are the finest specimens I have seen of that period. There is
reason to expect that deposits of both those geological ages will be found
to exist there, so that, if arrangements were first, made for geological explora¬
tions of the Gippsland district, valuable results might follow.

Strange to say, however, neither the expectation in 1857 of
Coal of the older epoch, nor the denial of its value in favour of
that of a “ more recent age” after the explorations of a host of
skilled surveyors in Victoria, nor the excursive labour of the ex¬
perienced Examiner of Coal-fields from New South Wales, has
yet realised either anticipation in that Colony.* The latest report

* In 1857 the Report from a lt Select Committee upon Coal-fields ” was
ordered, on 2nd October, by the Legislative Assembly of Victoria to be
printed. Now, in the evidence given by the witnesses we find the following
recorded :—

Alfred R. C. Selwvn, Esq., further examined :—

576. (Q.) By the Chairman. — Will you be good enough to read that

letter (handing the following paper to the witness)? “Extracts from
Professor M‘Coy’s letter of the 30th September, 1857, to the Honorable tlio
Chief Secretary. * * * It is desirable to state plainly here the opinion

of the Mining Commissioners relative to the expense of trials for Coal, which
is, that the richest deposits to be expected in the accessible parts of Victoria
would resemble those of Sydney and Tasmania, with this difference, that,
while the latter are situated most advantageously for the employment of
water carriage and cheap labour, the localities in which such deposits may bo
expected to "exist in Victoria are so diflfldvan tageou s ly placed in both these
respects, that even if similar rich Coal-beds were to be discovered, the public
would not bo likely to receive any benefit, as the supply could be more
cheaply brought from the neighbouring colonies.” (A.) 1 concur in all that
is stated there, except that if numerous thick seams of large extent ai\d good
quality were proved to exist, they must be worked to advantage.

577. (Q.) That professes to be an extract from the report from the Mining

Commission ? (A.) Yes.

New South Wales.

45

I have seen respecting “ Kilcunda and Cape Paterson” is from
Mr. Cowan, Mining Surveyor, dated 2nd August, 1875, who,
after considerable examination and collection of available infor¬
mation, comes to the conclusion that “ very little can be deduced
with certainty in regard to either the character or extent of the
Kilcunda and Cape Paterson Coal-deposits except by actual
experiment. The pick of the miner, will in my opinion, be the
only conclusive test.” (“Progress Report Ro. Ill ,” 1876, p. 270.)

But the money spent, and the labour bestowed on investi¬
gations and search for Coal in Victoria has been enormous, and
it is a subject for deep regret that her enterprising Colonists
have not been more successful, as a valuable and abundant
Coal-field in that Colony would have been, of whatever geologi¬
cal age, most beneficial to thousands of the present and future
occupants of that interesting territory.

The old Coal-beds, as well as what the Southern scientists are
pleased to call “ Carbonaceous” strata, are equally unpromising,
and Mr. Howitt shows the reason—because they have been
greatly denuded.

578. (Q.) You are a member of the Mining Commission ? (A.) I am.

570. (Q.) Bid you sign that report ? (A.) No.

580. (Q.) How are meetings of the Mining Commission called ? (A.) The
Mining Commission consists of Professor M‘Coy, Mr. Panton, the Resident
Warden at Bendigo, and myself. Mr. Pautou is hardly oyer in town ; I
could not say how many meetings he has attended, but very few; and no
regular meetings have over been called. Now and then 1 go up to the
University and discuss these matters with Professor M‘Coy.

581. (Q.) By Mr. O' Shanassy. — In sending in a report from the Mining

Commission to the Government, is it the practice to obtain the consent of
the other members of the Commission ? (A.) Not formally.

582. (Q.) That is, the document is not sent, to them ? (A.) I have seen

tlie document ; in fact I wrote the report myself with Professor M'Coy, lie
dictating and 1 making suggestions, and then it was subsequently copied by
a clerk, l suppose under Professor MUoy’s directions, and 1 have seen it
published in the newspapers ♦ hut from the time Professor M‘Coy made the
rough draft of it 1 have not seen it; whether it was ever sent to Mr. Panton
I am not. aware.

584. (Q.) Uoes that document meet your views now P (A.) There are
some portions of it which do not meet my views.

586. (Q,.) By the Chairman. — I wish to ascertain precisely as to the

constitution of the Mining Commission, you say it consists of three gentlemen,
namely, yourself, Professor M‘Coy, and Mr. Panton ? (A.) Yes.

587. (Q.) Mr. Panton resides at Bendigo ? (A.) Yes,

588. (Q-) So that practically you and Professor M‘Coy arc the Mining

Commission ? (A.) Yes.

589. (Q.A Is it usual to hold meetings of the Commission ? (A.) Not formal

or regular meetings of which minutes arc kept; we meet occasionally and
discuss things in a manner that I have all along considered was not the way
to carry it on.

590. (Q.) Then is it competent for you or for Professor M‘Coy to write in
the mode you have described a document, and send i lb in as a report of the

46 Sedimentary Formations

But putting aside all commercial considerations, and returning
to the question of epochs, we find the Reporter on the Cape
Paterson Coal-fields appealing to China for proof that Coal with
Gflossopteris and other associated plants in New South Wales
cannot be Palaeozoic, and in direct contradiction to the opinion
of the Paleontologist of Victoria, as stated in the reply, No. 759,
(quoted in p. 43 ) r that Mesozoic Coal is not bo compared with
Paheozoic, treating somewhat neglectfully the value assigned to
the Cape Paterson Coal by tho Board.

In the Report on the Coal-fields of Western Port, 1S72, there
are q uotations from a letter of Dr. Newberry to Professor R.
Pumpelly, the original of which is given in the Appendix to his
Geological Researches in Chiua, Mongolia, and Japan (“ Smith -
sonian Contributions to Knowledge vol. XV'., Washington, 1867,
p.119). The letter is dated from Cleveland, Ohio, September
25th, 1SG1. I think the quotations ought to have been expanded,
and some words restored to what they are in the letter itself. I
will, therefore, refer to that document more fully than I did in
the last Edition in which 1 quoted from the report of the Vic¬
torian commentator.

Mining Commission and with the authority of the Mining Commission?
(A.) 1 should not consider myself competent to do so j that is all I can say
about it.

591. (Q.) With regard to tho particular report from which that is extracted,
did you ever see the report from which that is an extract? (A.) I never
saw it when it was finished.

592. (Q.) I allude to that letter ? (A.) I never saw that letter.

638. (Q.) Professor M'Coy in reply to a question states in his
examination on the 18th August, with regard to the Capo Paterson Coal¬
fields : — “ That a shaft should he sunk, &c., Ac.” Are you prepared to
state the cost ? * # * # * * * besides, there you have the abso¬
lute certainty that there are good beds of Coal ? (A.) You see that. Pro¬

fessor M‘Coy gives evidence about. Capo Paterson, but the fact is he has
never seen the place. LTc has never been out of Port Phillip Bay in that
direction. The only evidence he gives is from what I described to him
about a place. He has never seen the place, Bo that, a person cannot, gene¬
rally give evidence about a place he has never seen. I have walked tho
coast from the Bass River to Anderson’s Inlet, past Capo Paterson, a
distance of about 40 or 50 miles.

Frederick M’Coy, Esq., F.G.8., examined, 18th August, 1857 : —

461. (Q.) By the Chairman .— You ment ion tho Capo Paterson Coal-fields.
Have you any information respecting them? (A.) Only a report in
former years, and specimens from those beds.

462. (Q.) Have you examined them ? (A.) No, I have not. The speci¬

mens show them to be identical with tho beds of Van Diemen’s Land and
Sydney.

471. (Q.) The Committee would be glad if you will state from the evidence
that presents itself, whether you consider that Cape Paterson Coal-field is
most likely to be a large and useful bed for commercial purposes ? (A.) Oh!
certainly.

New South Wales.

47

Several species of plants are described by Dr. Newberry, and
assigned to either a Triassic or a Jurassic age, leaving that age
undetermined (from want of sufficient evidence) in a large part
of the great Coal-fields of China, basing his “ conclusion on the
entire absence of Carboniferous plants from the collection , and
the presence of well-marked Oycads, species of Podozamites and
Pterozamites closely allied to if not identical with some hereto¬
fore found in Europe and America.” He then says— “ the Coal
basins yon visited are all Mesozoic, and not Carboniferous.”
Towards the close of his letter he arranges the plants in four
divisions, assigning them all with the exception of one plant to
Triassic beds, the exception being one Podozamites, which
“ resembles ” a European Jurassic plant, the other apparently being
u identical with an American Triassic species.” There is also
a Pecopteris having a remarkable likeness to P. Whitbyensis ,
(which on comparing Puuipelly’s figure with those given by
Lindlcy and Hutton and A. Brogniart, I should hesitate to say
is actually identical with the Scarborough species— though all
the figures have some resemblances to each other), and which
Mr. P. says is too imperfect to determine accurately. There are
other plants, but the balance is with by far the majority, with
Triassic beds in Europe, North Carolina, \ r irginia and Mexico.
A few new plants are also mentioned.

When, therefore, such statements are cited to prove the
Oolitic or Jurassic character of our New South Wales Coal, we
might reasonably expect to find that the prominent plants in our
Coal Measures have a place in the Chinese Coal Measures seeing
that the latter are brought out in evidence to weigh down all
opposition to the preconceived opinion on the subject of age.
But what do ice find? we find tlie following in the heart of Dr.
Newberry’s letter.

“ We have of course no right to assume from the interesting
facts your explorations have brought to light, that no Carboni¬
ferous Coal exists in China, for it may very well happen, that as
in our own country Coal-seams of economical value, but ot
different ages, will be found there, at points not greatly removed
from each other. But geologists will not fail to be deeply
interested in the fact, that so large ])ortions of the Coal-basins ot
China, including beds of both anthracite and bituminous Coal —
worked for hundreds of years, probably the oldest mines in the
world — are wholly excluded from the Carboniferous formation.
So larye a Coal-bearing area, indeed, that when joined to the
Triassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary Coals of North America, they
quite overshadow the Carboniferous Coals of Europe and the
Mississippi Valley, and suggest the question, whether the name
given to the formation which includes the most important
European strata has not been somewhat hastily chosen. Another

48

Sedimentary Formations

interesting feature in the fossil plants under consideration is the
re-appearance at the far distant point from which they come of
genera so well known in European and American geology, and
the entire absence of the species of Phgllotheea , Glossopteris , Sfc.,
tohich have made the Indian and Australian Coal-floras so puzzling
to the palaeontologist. There are fragments of a new generic form-—
probably a Cycad— in the collection, and some obscure specimens
that may represent other plants new to science, but the Pecopferis ,
Sphenopteris , Podoaamites , Pterozamitcs , Sfc., have a very familiar
look, and their resemblance to well-known forms gives fresh
evidence of the monotony of the vegetation of the Globe previous
to the introduction of the angiospermous forests of the Cretaceous
epoch. ”

I may be allowed to quote here another extract from Mr.
Pumpclly himself; on the subject of “ Jurassic Coal.” Ho says,
on p. 02 of his ‘‘ Geological Researches" —‘’Were there fossiliferous
strata of the Jurassic or Cretaceous ages (i. e. in China), their
petrifactions would be found in all parts of the empire, used as
curiosities and as medicines, as is the case with the fossil Brachio-
pods and Orthoceratites. This is important evidence in China
where art is based on the remarkable or rather strangein nature.
* # * AVith regard to the Coal-bearing rocks, I have supposed
the Coals to belong to the same age throughout the empire , excepting
a few which seem from their frames to be Tertiary brown Coals.’ ^

]N T ow, reconciling the quotations, if we can/ from Professor
M‘(Joy’s evidence ns to the value of Paleozoic Coal, and the
inferences of the “ Report of the Victorian Coal Board ” from the
letter of Dr. Newberry and the extract from Mr. Pumpclly, what
is to be done with another passage iu p. 9 of that Deport ?

In it the Reporter having arranged the order of our New South
Wales beds (no doubt, conscientiously enough) after his own
idea, says—“ If their view he correct, it is not likely that seams
of Coal as thick and as persistent as those occurring in the
Lower Mesozoic beds of New South Wales will he found iu any
part of Victoria. It is to he regretted that a geological exami¬
nation was not made of the Northern Coal-fields, during the many
years the Victorian Government maintained a staff of geological
surveyors, for the purpose of ascertaining by comparison the
position of our beds with all the exactness practicable.”

“ The value of such evidence as the geologist and the palaeon¬
tologist can givo in such investigations as these is priceless. They
alone can determine where the practical miner can pursue his
explorations with fair chances of success.”

Thus speaks out the modern Delphi — hut what becomes, after
all, of the expectation of the anticipated Mesozoic Coal-beds of
Victoria, and what must Mr. Daintree, who was one of the staff
spoken of, think of the way in which his success in carrying out

New South Wales.

49

the invest igation recommended at Stony Creek is rewarded, when
that very important work is totally ignored by the Paleontologist
of the Survey, by whom all the specimens collected, sent to him
by me, were examined, and who now has had his eyes so far
opened as to acknowledge that some “Palaeozoic” Coal does exist
in New South Wales ? *

* In reference to the above remark the following passages from “ Geological
Notes, with Plan anil Section, by Richard Pain tree, lucid Geologist,
Victoria,’ ’ may be properly cited :—

“ Prom Newcastle to Stony Creek is but a abort trip, and as these are
sections on which Mr. Clarke bases his evidence of the Palaeozoic age of part,
at least, of the New South Wales Coal-seams, it is one of the necessary
pilgrimages of the wandering geologist in search of truth. What I saw there
I will state in as fow words as possible. I saw three shafts on Mr. Russell’s
estate — ladder shaft, working shaft, and 200 feet shaft.”

lie then gives his measurements, which are not material to cite in this
place, and goes on —

“ When t he details of these shaft s were first made known by Mr. Clarke, as
a proof of the Pala?ozoioagcof the Coal, Spirifers, Fenestella, &c., being found
in abundance, and Glossoptcris associated with and below the Coal, it was
suggested by Professor M‘Coy that the data given by Mr. Clarke showed the
existence of a fault between ‘working’ and ‘ 200 feet, shaft,’ and that
possibly to this fault the reversion of beds might be due, but the Palaeozoic
character of tlie fauna was not called in question.

“This error arose from taking the absolute distance between the shafts
(3G0 feet), instead of the reduced distance to the line of dip 280 feet.

“ Referring to the extension of Russell’s Coal-seams to the Northern Rail¬
way, unfortunately at a point where no marked bed of Russell’s series can bo
absolutely identified” [but. at that point may be identified both plants and
Marine fossils and traces of Coal in the strata there disturbed], “ we have an
apparently unbroken scries of strata dipping in the same direction, and at
about the same angle, as those in Russell's Coal-pits, extending from a point
at 19 miles 73 chains from Honeysuckle Flat to 21 miles 37 chains from the
same place, the beds furthest to the eastward dipping at a greater angle.

“This affords a thickness (taking the angle of dip at 1(J deg.) of 2, 3(15 feet,
of strata, abounding in fossil fauna from bottom to top — very low down in
which Coal-seams with Glossoptcris occur.

“ Fossils from each of the cuttings on the Railway and from Russell’s shafts
were procured, that Palreontologists may satisfy themselves of their European
parallel.

“ If it be admitted that the fauna found in the upper strata of these shafts
is Palaeozoic, then these Coal-seams at. least are Palieozoic, and Glossoptcris
has a much lower range than has hitherto been assigned to it, except hv Mr.
Clarke.

“Neither does there seem any reason why Mr. Clarke should not place the
Newcastle Coal-seams (his No. 3 Carboniferous group) in the upper portion of
this Stony Creek group, no known unconformity existing, since no fauna or
flora typical of the Mesozoic period has, I believe, yet been found in the said
No. 3.

“ This brings me to the consideration of Mr. Clarke’s present arrangement
of the Carboniferous series of New South Wales :

“ First. —‘ Wianamatta’ beds, with insignificant Coal-seams, the upper beds
of which are the probable equivalents of our Otway, Bellerinc, and
Wannon beds, in which Glossoptcris lias not yet been found.

D

50

Sedimentary 'Formations

As to tlio fact of changing an opinion on conviction of being
wrong, he who so changes is not to be taunted with it unfairly,
and I do not advance it except to acknowledge that so far as the
Professor has gone he deserves respect and honour lor the change.
My only complaint is, that lie has not (/one far enough ; though
after what he and his colleagues announced in the examination
above referred to, respecting the sole Mesozoic character of our
New *South Wales Coals, it is refreshing to find him writing in
these terms of the Greta and Anvil Creek Coal-seams, — “ The
beds from to “ n.” (referring to his rc-arraugement of Mr.

Keene’s specimens) are clearly the Marine Palaeozoic Carboniferous
rocks, and the Coal found with them resembles the Coal of the
Southern Coal-fields of Ireland of the same age." But he adds—
without compunction or authority: — “ Neither this collection,
nor the sections, nor Mr. Keene’s collection in the Melbourne
Exhibition, bear out the notion that the Glossoptcrisand Phyllo-
theca alternate with the marine Palaeozoic shell-beds.” Now had

“ Second . — * Hawkesbury* beds, with insignificant Coal-seams; no Gloss-
opteris. To this series Mr. Clarke refers the Grampian sandstones of
Victoria, though Mr. Selwyn places them with No. 4. (By Grampian
sandstones I mean the beds constituting the Sierra.)

“ Third. — 1 Carboniferous* bods, containing the workable Coal-seams, with
Glossopteris, by far the most abundant fossil. In the lower portions of
this series four (? five) known Coal-seams are interpolated with strata
containing a fauna similar in character to that found in the Carbon¬
iferous limestone of Europe.

“ Fourth. — ‘ Lepidodendron’ beds, not associated with Coal-seams, as far
ns yet known.

“ If this arrangement is correct — and my experience as a field geologist is
entirely in its favour—it is of great practical vuluo to us in Victoria in the

search of workable Coal-seams, &c., &c., . in the hope of finding the Gloss-

opteris beds. It points unfavourably towards the Ttenioptcris and Zamites-
bearing beds, which wo have hitherto regarded as our Coal-producers, hut
which as yet have yielded nothing better than the Cape Paterson seams.

“Four thousand-feet also of these same beds have been tested hv boring in
the B eller ino District, and have yielded nothing approaching a workable seam.

#*####*##*

“All the facts that we have to guide the field geologist in Victoria, in his
search for Clarke's No. 3 Carboniferous beds (containing the workable seams
of New South Wales) are these, —that thoy are very low down in the Carbon¬
iferous series j that the lowest beds contain a fauna nearly allied to the Lower
Carboniferous of Europe ; that Glossopteris is associated with all the Coal-
seams, and is the most common and characteristic? fossil of the said No. 3.
This peculiar fauna or flora has not j et been observed in Victoria.”

(From il Yeoman and Australian Acclimatise)' ,” August 20, 1SG3, No. 100,
published at Melbourne.)

It will he unnecessary to point out to any unprejudiced reader how Mr.
Daintree's “Notes” cited above, known as they must have been to the
“ Reporters on Coal-fields, Western Port,” nearly nine years before, contrast
with tlieir lamentation in the year 1872, about the “ non-comparison ” by
Victorian surveyors of the position of the Coal-beds in the two Colonics, “with
all tlio exactness practicable.”

New South Wales.

5i

a visit been paid by him to the localities of Bix’s Creek, or to
Anvil and to Stony Creeks, or to Mount Wingen, such an assertion
would not have required fresh denial from me; and to jump from
the Wall send seam to Bix’s Creek and A nvil Creek without any
examination of the section of the intermediate localities, or to deny
the existence of Glossopteris at those and other places among the
Marine beds which are so interpolated, is to do away with the whole
merit of such a section as the “ Notes ” pretend to represent.

Since the date of Mr. ’Daintrco’s visit, Mr. C. S. Wilkinson,
I'.Gr.S., another first-class member of the same stall’ of excellent
geologists on the late Victorian Survey, has succeeded to the
office of Geological Surveyor in New South Wales. It may be
sufficient to quote one sentence on his authority: “The collec¬
tion of fossils from near West Maitland, Greta, and Anvil Creek
includes Spirifer, Conularia, Inoceramus, Productus, Eencstclla,
Bellerophon, Crmoidal stems, &c., obtained from the Upper Marine
beds 350 feet above the Anvil Creek Coal-seam, from which scam
I collected the specimens now shown, containing the Phyllotheca
and Glossopteris Browniana ” (“ Mineral Exhibits” from “ Mines
and Mineral Statistics of New South Wales 7 1875,” p. 133, for
Philadelphia Exhibition).

I will quote here an additional testimony to the facts already
declared, respecting the interpolation of our Glossopteris Coal in
the Marine beds. Mr. Odcrnheimer in his final report to tlio
Australian Agricultural Company, says: — “ The lowest Coal-seam
at Wolldngong rests on older spirifer sandstone, and is covered by
sandstone, with Paehydomus shells and a few Spirifers,” (p. 88.)

I have paid more attention, perhaps, to the “ Bcport on the
Western Port Coal-fields of 1872,” than it deserves ; but as it
contains specific allusions to myself, and in fact is an attack 011
the evidence I have conscientiously given on the subject of New
South Wales Geology, it is only just to that Colony to show that
the conclusions arrived at in that report are “based ” as much 011
personal ignorance respecting our territory, and a pre-determi¬
nation to disbelieve the statements of men quite as much entitled
to be believed as the writers of that report themselves, as on
anything else. I am thoroughly persuaded that if such personal
investigation on his part had taken place, an old correspondent
and assumed friend of my own would not have dealt with my
writings as he has done.

The advocates for the Oolitic (or as now called, Mesozoic) age
of our Coal plead the cases of Bichmond in America, and India, as
well as China; Africa is unnoticed. It will be fitting to produce
evidence on each head.

China. —Mr. Pumpelly is the only authority quoted by the
Victorian Board, who make him to have in 1862-G5 found in the
Coal-beds fossils proving that “ those beds are geologically of the

5 2 Sedimentary Formations

same aye as the Victorian , New South Wales , Tasmanian, and Hew
Zealand beds," p. 8, and Professor 'Newberry is quoted as identify¬
ing these fossils as those characteristic of Triassic or Jurassic
ages.” (vSee ante, p. 4-6.) In the “Ocean Highways" for Nov.,
187:3, Baron von Richthofen says, the PumpeUy observations were
only very limited in extent, and Iris map an hypothetical one made
up from native reports, “in which he attempted to exhibit among
other data, the distribution of the Coal Measures in China.”
“The favourable result at which Mr. Pumpclly arrived, in respect
to the great extent occupied by Coal-bearing strata in China was
modified in some measure by the somewhat unsatisfactory conclu¬
sion drawn by him, from the determinations by Dr. Newberry of a
few vegetable remains , that all the Chinese Measures are of the
same age as the Triassic formation of Europe,” (p. 311). The
Coal of China, however, found a highly qualified expositor in
Baron Yon Richthofen himself, who from 1868 to 1872, made
journeys nearly all over China, and found Coal-fields of enormous
extent in many districts, nearly every one of which he personally
visited, as he tells us in various publications.

He mentions one seam of Silurian age ; several others in
Devonian strata ; but lie adds “ the great bulk of the most ividely
distributed and most valuable Coal-beds are proved by numerous and
very characteristic Marine fossils to belong to the true Carboniferous .
After the close of that epoch the deposition continued without
interruption through the Permian, till probably towards the close
of the Triassic epoch."

These are his own words, and he justifies his determination of
epochs by informing us, that “ he first determined with some
accuracy the geological age of the Sedimentary formations by a
great number of prolific fossiliferoua localities.” Nowhere in
this account of his do we find mention of Oolitic or Jurassic Coal.
So that really China should not be quoted to uphold the “ same
qroup as the Cape Paterson series" (Report,}). 5). Rather might
‘it uphold the Coal of New South 'Wales. If Marine fossils arc
“ necessary,” none exist in Victoria as we have already seen and
as the Report allows.

The following passages from a notice of Richthofen’s discoveries
concisely meet the facts lie bad developed, in the Provinces of
Liao-tung and Shan-tung“ Tnfcti questi strati sono apparen-
temente quasi parallel!fra di loro, e subiscono soltanto un leggiero
cangiamento di inclinazione indicante il graduale passaggio
da uti livello geologico ad un altro. Sarebbero queste localita
importantissime a studiarsi, giaccbe sembra die vi esista la
intiera aerie Paleozoica dal Silurico al Carbon ifero. Tutta
siffatta serie e fortemente disturbata da roccie eruttive, e segnata-
mente da graniti e da porfidi; la massima intensity di queste
eruzioni si verifichcrebbe nei dintorni di Pechino.

New South Wales.

53

a La formazione Carbonifera di Pecliino lia lino sviluppo stra-
ordinario.” [ t£ F. Coviit. Geolog. <PItalia, Bullelino 0-10, 1871,
p. 234.”] “ Presso il la go Poyaug il deposit o seistoso, ora
accennato, b ricoporto da regolarissimi strati Carbon ifcri, fra i
quali sono intercalate alcuni straticelli calcarei ricehissimi di
b radii op odi in pcrfetto stato di conservazione. Questa fauna
differ!see csscnzialmente da quella die vedesi associata al carbon
fossile nello provincie nordiclie della China: il genere Frodnctus
vi 6 preval cute per numcro, ma il caratteristieo _P. scmiretieulatus vi
e searso e rappresentato solo da piccoli individui Earissimi sono
gli eseniplari di Sjpirifer, mefttre vi abbondano; crinoidi, i coralli,
gli spongiarii edi gencri Orlhoccras e Pore cilia : sonvi pure rappre-
sentati i generi Ct/rlia , Orthis, Siplionotreta, &c.” [id., p. 230.]

Mr. T. W. Kingsmill confirms these statements in his account
of the Geology of the Last Coast of China, considering with others
that “The Chinese Coal-fields may prove to bo the largest in the
world, and at a future period will have an important influence on
the destinies of the East*”*

More recently, in 1S73, a letter written to M. Danbree by M.
l’Abbe Armand David states, that in the district of Micn-shien
Coal-beds exist in association with Marine Pabcozoie fossils and
so-called Secondary plants which the author describes as inter-
polatmg cacti oilier — “ Cc que je ne puis m’expliquer e’est
l’existencc de ccs calcaires durs cristallins au-dessus do la handle
ct au-dcssous, avec des apparences physiques, identiques, quoiqu’ils
soient separes par 100 ou 200 metres de marnes.” (“Pull, dela
Soc. Geol. de France 3 ser., t. ii., 1874, No. 5, p. 400.

He also states that on the mountain of Lean-chan, near
II an - 1 ch o ng-f o u , nearly 3,000 feet high, a grayish-white lime¬
stone from 300 to 600 feet thick, having a dip of from 40° to
60°, forms the summit.

Below comes in a series of bluish, red, and yellow marls con-
cordantly stratified with the limestones, followed by red beds like
sandstone, the whole system abounding in fossils. Coal occurs
above the marl in contact with the upper limestone, which, as well
as the shales and clays, contains vegetable and shelly fossils.

Ad. Brongniart describes in the same number of th u “Bulletin 1
the plant remains to be Pecopferis Whitby ensis; two Sphcnoptcris

* (Notice in “ Geologist,” 6, p. 60, of a paper rend before the Geol. Soe.
Dublin in 1862. Dub. Q.J.) In a valuable memoir, 44 On the Geology of
China” by the Fame author, we learn that besides Devonian, Marine.fossils,
and Carboniferous beds containing Lepidodrendon and Sigillaria, and in some
places younger conglomerates, and red sandstones not unlike Triasaic succeed
them, “the Coal, at the latest, being Triassic.” In other parts, such ns in
the Tung-ting system, he tells ns that “ there is a striking resemblance
between it and the Devonian and Subcarboniferous rocks of the South of
Ireland — the same succession of grits and shales at the bottom, and a similar
development of limestone above, while the type of the few fossils found seems
likewise to approach that of the Lower Carboniferous rocks of Europe.”
(Q.J.G.S., xxv, pp. 110-138, 1866.)

54

Sedimentary Formations

of imperfect character; resemblances to Zamia distans and to Lj/co-
pbdites Williamsoni; a probable Palissya and Bay era dichotomy
—the whole very near if not identical with those of the
Whitby beds. These come from Tin-Kiako, South Shen-shi. On
the other hand M. Paul Fischer describes M. David’s Marine
specimens from Lean-Chan as consisting : — Firstly, of Crinoidal
remains Polyps and Bryozoa and Brachipods, as Or this, Ptylo-
dictya , Discopora, Hcteropora. These ho considers Wen lock.
Secondly, there is also a reddish or whitish sandstone with
beautiful fossils such as Productus; Spirifer; JEuomphalus ; and
Orihoceras — the rock resembling that of Kildare in Ireland, and
Avesnes in France. The coral Michelinia and some others were
undetermined. “ It appears strange,” says M. Fischer, “ that
Upper Silurian and Carboniferous beds should occur together in
the same locality.”

M. Bayan also describes elsewhere in China, in Yaug-Tsee-
Kiang, some drifted fossils of true Carboniferous species.
Whether the plant-remains do or do not belong to the same beds
with the Carboniferous Marine fossils as M. David says, or are
altogether younger, at any rate the Carboniferous fossils are
Palaeozoic, and further researches may demonstrate a more inti¬
mate relationship than now appears with the stratification and
palaeontology of New South Wales. But if there are indica¬
tions of Mesozoic formations in some parts of China (as shown
by Dr. Newberry), yet all observers confirm the fact that the
enormously developed Coal Measures are not Mesozoic but
Palaeozoic Carboniferous. Mr. Pumpelly’s view is that all the
older Coal over China is Triassic resting on no other Sedimentary
rocks, than Devonian. Those fossils of the latter epoch to which he
refers I have arranged in the table below, marking those which are
known to ine to occur also in New South Wales and Tasmania.

There is an interesting passage in " Siluria” (4th Edn., 1S67,
p. IS) which may be properly cited. Sir K. Murchison says
therein, — “ It is also certain that the mountain-chains of China
are composed to a great extent of these older rocks ; for M. C.
Skatschkof, Director of the Russian Observatory at Pekin, when
preparing an account of the rich Coal-fields (partially described
by his countryman Kovanko) near that city, recognized, in the
Jerinyn-street Museum, certain Silurian Graptolites and Ortho-
ceratitcs, Devonian Spirifers, and Carboniferous Producti, as all
being forms which he had seen in the rocks around the Chinese
metropolis.” He then mentions the fossils given to him by Mr.
W. Lockhart ( see u Address in It. Gcogr. S. *7.,” 1S58, p. 300) “ some
from the province of Szechuan and others from Kwangsi,” and
those brought by Monsr. Itier, and described by Do Koninck as
Devonian. These are enumerated in the table. But there are
others of which at present I cannot refer to a description, nor
have I now Richthofen’s last work at hand.

PALAEOZOIC FOSSILS, keferred to by RAPHAEL PUMPELLY, Esq.

I860.

Neio South Wales

55

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5 6 Sedimentary Forma tions

Virginia * — “The Coal Measures of Bi cl imond,” says the Western
Port Coal Board, u are stated, by Sir C. Lycdl to belong to the lower
part of the Jurassic Group.” Well! lie did once sav so, but lie
found that ho was wrong, and so lie placed them finally in the
Trias ; Professor lleer considering that the plants have “ the
nearest affinity to the European Keuper.” (“Student's Elements
of Gcolf 1871, p. 382.)

Why cannot the Board follow a good example and condescend
to look down the line a little? They flirt with the word
“ Mesozoic” out of compassion for their “first love” among the
Oolites, and are afraid to acknowledge they have a hankering
after a second idea, and so are unjust to it by their indecision.

Africa . — In Africa, the association of the genera GlossdptOris,
Phyllothcca, and Dietyopteris, “ affords some evidence of Mesozoic
affinities” says Mr. Tate, who, nevertheless, shows that the shales
in which they occur are not Jurassic but Triassic (Q.J.G.S.
xxxiii. p. 142.) Palieoniscus and some of the reptiles and an
encrinital stem might refer these Karoo beds to a lower position
still. Mr. Tate admits the analogy is with the Iveuper (p. 109).

The late W. S. Macleay, Esq., E.B.S., always expressed his belief
that certain beds near Sydney belonged to some part of the
“ Xew Bed.” And it is curious to observe, bow many persons
who “ know what they arc talking about,” some from above as
the Ooliticals, and some from below as the Permianitcs and
Tipper Carboniferites, have found their battle-field on the ter¬
ritory that was once intact as the “ Kew Bed,” but which
has been cut up and re-distributed since the early days of
our geological recruiting, after the fashion in political con¬
tests. The defenders of the Pahcontological territory will
not, however, surrender at discretion, hut will go in for a
final struggle, in the hope and intention of making their
case good until they have been -proved mistaken. It is "not so
much, however, for the love of t he past discussion, as to contri¬
bute to the history of it, that iu this place, notwithstanding some
recent light has been thrown on the raiseo-botany of India by one
whose ability and knowledge are deserving of universal respect,
that the letter of my friend, Dr. Oldham (published in the last
Edition) will find a place in this, for it contains a concise view of
what was believed in India by those who used well all their
opportunities up to 2nd April, 1874 ; and if there is error in any
of its conclusions we shall have an opportunity further on of
comparing the antidote with the bane, and I would hesitate to
strike out unceremoniously from these pages the results of years
of patient and conscientious labour of one who has “ left his
mark” upon Indian geology, which cannot be erased without deep
ingratitude and deliberate injustice. By comparison of this docu¬
ment with certain revelations to be mentioned in the next section

New South Wales.

57

(on the Mesozoic or Secondary formations), tlie new discoveries
will be made plainer and tlie old rectified where they may have
been defective, and I may repeat, in giving a summary of the
Indian Coal-fields History as it was about four years ago, I shall,

I believe, involve no breach of confidence by doing what will save
the necessity of again searching the Memoirs and ltccords of the
Survey: —

“We have seen,” he says, “ no reason whatever to alter our views with
reference to the age of* our Indian Coal-rocks. The plant evidence is tolerably
conclusive with us. Our Upper beds, which contain thin patches and threads
of Coal (and which we call Kajmaiial formation), we have established, by a
careful research in Cuteh, to be Upper Oolite. These are characterized by an
abundance of Cycadea and Tamiopteris, but not a single Glossopteris lias
been found. Then we have the group we call the Pan CHET System, with no
Cycads. * Schizoneura (a plant first described from tlie Vosges), &-c., and
with them Labyrinthodont and Dicynodont reptiles. No Glossopteris hero
either.

“Then below these, with slight unconformity, occur the Coal-rocks, in which,
observe, we find Glossopteris Browniana abundant ; and this holds through
the several thousand feet of thickness, occurring in all.

“At the base we have a small thickness (relatively) of the Talcileer
System, in which. Cyeloptcris shows, hut no Glossopteris.

“Unfortunately we have as yet no animal remains from our Coal-rocks
Notwithstanding this, in connection with your evidence from Australia, and
bearing in mind the perfectly established identity of the Glossopteris, even
in its varieties, and t lie equal Ip established fact that Glossopteris has never
been found in Europe, and therefore gives no duo or index to age from
European determination, I cannot come to any other conclusion than l have
done, that our Coal in India represents the latest portion of the Carboniferous
of Europe, and the pap between this and the Permian ; or, I would say, in a
broader sense, the latest part of the Paheozoic time.

“ I read Daintrec’s paper with much interest, and think he has done much
to clear up some of tin* difficulties.

“Put so long as some fancied analogies with regard to fossils arc allowed to
sway the mind, there can be no agreement of opinion.

“ The Glossopteris of Australia and India arc identical. AVo have every
variety, us described from your beds, and no one coidd hesitate to admit that
the beds are similar also. All these Glossopteris beds must bo admitted to be
of similar relative ago in both countries. It. proves nothing ns to the age
relating to European systems. You know better than I do the amount of
co-existing evidence as to age which you have established in Australia.

“ In India it is this, in a few words :—

(3.) Above — A system of rocks, with abundance of Cycads, Tieniopteris,
Pecopteris, &c., &.C., truly Oolitic with their threads of Coal.

(2.) A Text, separated by considerable time beds with Schizoneura, Peeop-
teris («c> Tcenioptcris, no Glossopteris), Labyrinthodont, and Dicy-
nodont. reptiles, the analogies of which are Permian or certainly
Lower TriasSic ( no Coal).

(1.) Next — Tlie Coal-rocks, also separated by unconformity, though
slight, which have abundance of Glossopteris and also of Schizoneura
of different species—as yet no animal remains.

“ There are thus three distinct Hone with no species common to each. You

can draw your own conclusions. — T.O.”

58 Sedimentary Formations

In the above remarks of my distinguished friend are some
hints that will not fail to be of use in relation to New South
Wales, as well as to other parts of Australia, and it is satis¬
factory to myself to have so much confirmation of my own views.
Though it is true that Glossopteris, not being a European plant,
does not confer any claim on itself to designate the age of our
Coal beds, yet assuredly as it occurs in our Lower Carboniferous
beds as well as in the Tipper Coal Measures, it does bear on their
association with the greatest force, and the two series of beds
must be nearly of the same relative age. That age, as pointed
out by X)r. Oldham, and as I have all along stated, must be
Palaeozoic, cither on a parallel with some part of the Upper
Palaeozoics of Europe or occupying a series of beds not repre¬
sented there.

For the present I content myself with observing that Dr.
Ottokar Feistmantel, Palaeontologist to the Geological Survey of
India, reports the finding of Glossopteris since 1876 in the
Kajmahal beds, and that instead of the same species of Glossop¬
teris occurring generally in New South Wales and India, in the
Dainuda beds which are held to be conformable with those of
this Colony, lie thinks u with great difficulty we may be able to
get only one common species” (“ Records, GeoL Sur. Mo. 4,”
1876, p. 122.) “It seems,” be adds, “that the existence of a
connection with the Australian is very weak.” *

Dr. Feistmantel (4th Nov., 1877) tolls me that Glossopteris
occurs both in the Panchet and Talchir systems, so that its
species must have “a very wide range,” going up from the
Australian Palaeozoic to the Cutcli Middle Jurassic. Dr. Oldham
had before in I860 stated as much. (See p. 210 of “ Trans
Boy. Soc. Viet . ” 1860.)

As to the Coal-beds with no Glossopteris, they will go with
rocks of a more recent date, and there can he no objection to
class them in the age of the Secondary fossils with which they
are associated. Professor M‘Coy himself admits—“That on
mere fragments of leaves or other most imperfect or ambiguous
material no generic nor even ordinal characteristics should bo
founded.” (“ Observations oji Vegetable Fossils of Auriferous
Drifts , by Baron von Mueller 1874, p. 14.) But this argument
does not apply where fragments even of the same plant occur in

# I cannot help alluding in t his place to si passage in my let ter to Sir H.
Barkly, K.C.B. (“ Trans. Hoy. Soc. Victf 1860), the publication of which led
to a criticism on the part of my opponent, which was not tempered by the
“ suaviter in modo ” though in contradiction; “for liter ” was conspicuous ; and
which is recalled to my recollection by Dr. Feist mantel’s words above , — “I
would not be surprised when the whole deposit of our Carboniferous series
shall be made known , if doubts should arise as lo the confidence with which
some persons speak as to the correlation of the Australian and Indian Coal¬
beds.”

New South Wales.

59

two series of beds. Resting on, or passing into each other
without a break, they would assuredly show that such beds arc
intimately related.

If the idea be abandoned (and there is no real authority for if)
that Glossopteris is an Oolitic plant, and if it be admitted that a
fauna has more weight than a flora, and that it is most probable
that floral identity never existed during the same epoch at the
antipodes of the European Oolitic area, more reasonable will
appear the position assigned by me to the New South Wales
workable Coal-beds.

Is it more remarkable tliat^Zawte held to be of Mesozoic age
in Europe should be found at the Antipodes in a Palaeozoic for¬
mation, than that usually considered Mesozoic mollusca should
be found in a similar formation? And the latter is not merely a
conjecture but a fact, attested by Paleontologists of eminence.
For instance, Munster in 1841*found the three genera Ammonites,
Ceratites, and Qoniatites in one and the same bed belonging
to the St. Cassian rocks of Austria ; and now we have Dr.
Waagan, of the Geological Survey of India, proving to us
that the same three genera have been found in the same bed
together on the Salt Range, in the society of Products^ Atbyris,
and other well-known Carboniferous fossils, pointing out that
the Ammonites is there a Palaeozoic genus, which he places either
in the upper part of the Carboniferous, or as Dr. Oldham con¬
siders our disputed Coal-beds may be, about the limits of the
Permian and Carboniferous formations.

I may also quote here Dr. EeistmantePs words in illustration
of the mingling of fossils of distinctive formations: “We have in
India the same cases. The genus Jlyperodapedon , which is yet
known in England only from Trias, occurs here in the so-called
Kota Malci'i beds, which are not older than Upper Lias ; this
Jlyperodapedon is associated with Ceratodus, also of the kind that
mostly occurs in Mas ; the genus Parasuclius, also a Triassic
genus, occurs in the same beds, and with all these Lcpidotus (of
Liassic character) is associated; or what shall we say when wo
find in exquisitely Carboniferous beds (in the Salt Range) a
Ceratites and Ammonites, together with Jroductus costatus and
P. semireticulatus on one side, and on the other the typically
Carboniferous genus JBellcrophon (in Europe and elsewhere) high
up in distinctly Triassic beds, together with numerous Ceratites?”
(MS.) *

* Dr. Feifltmantel, the most patient and critical expounder of Indian Paleo¬
botany that we have yet had, devotes considerable space to the exemplification
of similar interchanges in India and South Africa, not only between animal and
plant remains, but especially with plant-beds of different stages (“ Itecords,”
No. IV., 187G, p. 11G), and in “ Records ” (No. 2, p. 29) gives an explanation
thus : “ In such cases we must only say, the flora of this or that locality (or

6o

Sedimentary Formations

"Whilst discoveries such as this arc being made from time to
time, what obstinate pertinacity is it to continue to maintain
that even the stereotyped determinations of palaeontologists are
incapable of amendment. (For Dr. Waagan’s description and
figures, sec “ Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India vol. ix,
part 2, p. 351. See also Lyell’s “ Elements 1SG5, p,. 436, and
u Student's Edition 1871, p. 35S.)

No where in New South Wales has there yet been found in
association with the plant-beds any Marine fauna but one which
M‘Coy and all other Paheontologists admit to be Palaeozoic.

The opposition to G lossoptei'is claiming its descent from
Palaeozoic times arose from a misinterpretation of facts connected
with its appearance in strata from which Marine fossils that
prove the ago are missing; and thus it got condemned to bo
Oolitic only, because it is found in company with other plants of
whose pedigree no notice is taken. The manner in which such
association is sometimes used is anything but logical — “A,” it
is said, belongs to “13,” and “ B ” belongs to “ C,” and, there¬
fore, “ C ” belongs to “ A.” “ D ” is not found with “ C,” there¬
fore, it belongs to neither “ A ” nor “ B.”

Moreover, unless it can be proved that every given plant found
in different parts of the world had the same instant of existence
in all, there must be always uncertainty as to when we may date
its epoch. There is also too often a neglect of the conditions
of the Strata in which fossils occur, when they are compared
with similar fossils in widely separated regions. Wo know that
Coal-plants did not grow in the sea, and if they are found bedded
among Marine strata it is clear that there we have a guide as to
the age, which is only guessed at elsewhere. It would be of use
to keep in mind what Oscar Fraas teaches us in his
ct Comparison of the Jura Formations with those of German j
and England f 1850, as given by Professor Eupert Jones
in Q.J.G.S. vii, u Notices of Memoirs f pp. 42-S3. We must,
however, take geology as we find it, till we can arrive at truer
conclusions and safer processes than we now pos seas. The
boundaries of the great divisions, Neozoic, Mesozoic, Palaeozoic

stratum) is of such an age, and was still growing on the coast, when already a
younger fauna, was living in the sea.” Does not the case of Glossopteris, &c.,
iu Marine strata prove the same in reverse order—or as contemporaneous
witli the Marine Palaeozoic fossils, and do not both arrangements show how
there may be continuous connections from one formation to another, through
survivors ?

This has now been verified : and, singularly, the number five represents
the groups (though not precisely the same) in which Glossopleris according
to both writers, Oldham and Foistmantel, occurs, the latter naming Cutch
(Juba 1 pur) Group; lhrjmalml Group; Panchet Group; Damuda Series;
and Talchir Shales. {See JTuyhes: “ Karanpura CoalfieldMem. I.
Sur. vii. Pt. 3, pp. 12, 47, 48 j 1871*) These I had noted as published.

New South Wales.

61

may vet liavo to bo modi Hod materially, and many changes may
yet take place before the geological millennium arrives when
fellow- workers will lay aside their prejudices, their animosities,
and their inconsistencies.

Calling formations by the names by which they arc at present
known, we may, nevertheless, admitting possibilities and proba¬
bilities of local as well as of general phenomena, go a little
further into the vexata quecstia of New South Wales Carbon¬
iferous peculiarities.

If on other independent grounds the Upper Coal-beds of New
South Wales can be treated as Mesozoic, it must still be borne
in mind that Glossopteris and other associated plants belong also
to a lower group or portion of a continuous series of beds
which are strictly Carboniferous; nor must it be overlooked, that
in strata supposed to he missing between the two scries, which if
present would be Permian (or a new formation of which there
is no evidence anywhere), the Glossopteris, &c., would in all
reasonable probability appear there in situ, for it is incredible
that in such a continuous succession, those plants-.would, as it
were, leap over the whole original mass of deposits between
Palaeozoic and Mesozoic without leaving any trace ot the exist¬
ence of the genus. _ .. ,

Now, Professor M'Coy in his “ Report on some Dossils irom
Queensland” (14 Sept., 1S61), mentioned Productus calva and an
Aulosteqes or Strophalosia which Mr. A. C. Gregory found on
the east of the Mantuan Downs in 1S5G, and which I submitted
to the Professor for examination in 1S60, the year I received
them (as mentioned in the last Edition, p. 33), and these were
held to ho Permian. Eut Mr. Etheridge considers (Q. J• G. S.
xxviii., p- 321) that the existence of the Permian requires con¬
firmation ; nevertheless, a shell, possibly a Strophalosid , is men¬
tioned as having been sent by me to the Daintrce Collection,
and this also came from the neighbourhood of the Mantuan
Downs, in the Nogoa district. It may be suggested, therefore,
that there may bo an outcrop of Permian in that 'vicinity ;
and if it he so, it ought also to he remembered that
Sir’T. Mitchell (“ Trop. Amt." 1S4S, p. 240) mentions the
occurrence of Glossoptcris JBrownii at the base of Mount Mudge,
and other evidences of the Coal-formation, with Coal but a few
miles from the Downs. Daintrce has mapped the area in question
as “ Older Coal Measures” (with Glossoptcris , Spirifer , and l J ro-
ductus), in an outlying patch of the Comet and Isaacs Coal-fields
and the furthest western portion of that portion ot that forma¬
tion. This possible Permian outcrop would be on the Dividing
Ranges between eastern, northern, western, and southern
waters, and intermediate between the acknowledged “ Mesozoic
and the “ Metamorphic” regions of the map.

6 2

Sedimentary Formations

The object of the above references is to suggest, that Gloss-
opteris is a member of a possible Permian outcrop, which has
not been yet sufficiently searched for.

However, the force of my argument depends on this —that
it is^ unlikely that plants which occur in Carboniferous strata
and in Triassic and Liassic beds (of which more hereafter) should
be missing in Permian strata, could the latter be discovered.
And this without prejudice to the fact that in other countries
Triassic beds are found to surmount the Palaeozoic without the
intervention of Permian. The latter was held in 1839-’40 by
Professor Dana to represent the age of the New South Wales
Coal-beds, and in his first publications on the subject up to 1849.
In the First Edition of his “ Manual of Qeoloyj ” he recalled that
opinion (p. 444), stating “ that in view of all the facts, it appears
probable that the Coal-beds referred to, both in Asia and Aus¬
tralia^ represent the Triassic period.” But in the Second Edition
of 1875, he says (p. 370) : The Coal formation of II la war ra and
Hunter River, Australia, is probably Permian, as stated by the
author in his notes on Australian Geology.” (“ Gcol. Rep.
Wilkes's Ex pi. Expd .” 1849.) Thus ho returned like a true man
to his “ first love.” But in the Eirst Edition he added : 41 In the
Australian beds there are heterocercal ganoids, and hence the
formation cannot be more recent than the Triassic,” (p. 411). He
thus rejected all Oolitic or Jurassic tendencies, and at the same
time intimated the existence of a “ Carboniferous” bora, saying:
“Rev. W. B. Clarke reports true Lopidodendra from the interior
of New South 'Wales—from which it appears that the Carbon¬
iferous flora is represented in Australia.” This conclusion lie
also repeated in bis Second Edition, in these words : “It exists also
and iucludes workable Coal-beds in China, India, and Australia;
but part of the formation in these latter regions may prove to bo
Permian,” (p. 345). *

The occurreuco of species in the position assigned to those
named above is acknowledged by geologists in other countries.
Mr. Lesquereux thus alludes to them in one of his able special
Reports, “ On the Fossil Plants of the Cretaceous and Tertiary
formations of Kanzas and Nebraska.” Prelim. Rep. U. S. Gcol.
Sur. of the Territories , conducted by E. V. Hayden, U. 8. Gcol.,”
1870, p. 377.] “ Since the first appearance of laud vegetation

upon the surface of our earth, what we know of it by fossil
remains seems to indicate for our country a precedence in time
in the development of botanical types. Largo trunks of

* An excellent illustration of tho way in which the succession iu one
country diverges from that in another, is given by Mons. do Saporta in a
review of the “ Carboniferous Flora of the Department of the Loire and the
Centre of France as described by Mons. Grand ’Eury, in “Bull, de la Soc .
Gcol. de France t. 57, p. 3G7, read 19 March, 1877.

New South Wales.

63

coniferous wood arc already found in our Devonian Measures,
while analogous species are recorded as yet only in the Carbon¬
iferous Measures of England. Though the analogy of vegetation
between the flora of the Coal Measures of America and Europe is
evidently established by a number of identical genera and species,
we have, nevertheless, some types, like the Paleoxiris , which are
considered as characteristic of strata of the European Permian,
and which are found in one of our Coal Measures as far down as
the first Coal above the millstone grit. Even peculiar ferns of our
Upper Coal-strata have a typical analogy with species of the
Oolite of England. Our Trias, by the presence of numerous
cycadese, touches the Jurassic of Europe. But i\ is especially from
our flora of the Lower Cretaceous that we have a vegetable
exposition peculiarly at variance with that of Europe at the
same epoch, and whose types so much resemble those of the
European Tertiary that the evidence of the age of the formation,
where the plants have been found, could not be admitted by
Palaeontologists until after irrefutable proofs of it bad been
obtained.”

If such “ seeming discordance” is the case in America, why
should not the same view be taken of the relations of the
European and Australian Coal Measures ? There can be no
greater discordance between the relations of the latter than with
the examples quoted above, with the additional fact, that in
Australia the Upper Coal Measures offer no evidence of any un¬
disputed Mesozoic animal species.

In another place (op. cifc., p. 374) the same accomplished
author says: “ The Lower Permian has still for its land vegetation
many species of plants of the Coal Measures, but here the conifers
appear represented for the first time by their leaves and branches,
and are of a peculiar order. * * * * The Triassic which,

with ns at least, touches by the character of its flora to the
Jurassic, has plants which, like Cgcadece , rather indicate a warm
than a vaporous atmosphere. But for this and the following
formations, the Jurassic, the data furnished by fossil plants on
this continent are too scant- to permit reliable conclusions.”

What appears to me to be a conclusive opinion lias been offered
by Dr. Julius llaast, E.R.S., respecting the occurrence of Marine
and plant beds of the same age as ours in the Malvern Hill Dis¬
trict, Canterbury, Xcw Zealand, who says, in October, 1S71
( u iY,Z. Geological Survey Reports on Geological Explorations during
1871-72 ”),that on the west side of Mount Potts, Upper Rangitata,
there are “different species of Spirifera ; besides them there are
species of Productus, Murchisouia, Euomphalus, Nucula, Orthis,
and Orthoceras. Most of these shells, of which some broad-
winged Spirifers arc very numerous, are, according to Professor
M‘Coy, of Melbourne, identical with Australian fossils, and are of

64 Sedimentary Formations

Lower Carboniferous or Tipper Devonian age.” “ Other Beds,”
he adds, “ of equal importance occur in the Clent Hills, in which
I gathered a rich harvest of fossil ferns, mostly Pceopteris,
Tamioptcris, and Camptopferis” (this, however, is not found in
New South Wales) “ which, according to Professor M‘Coy, are of
Jurassic age identical with beds belonging to the New South
Wales Coal-fields ; and although I hclieve this Clent Ilill series
to be somewhat younger than the Spirifcra beds, I demurred to
this definition, owing to the fact that the position of the strata
and the character of the rocks of which they are composed have
quite a Palaeozoic facies."

“ Since then it has been shown, and as I think with conclusive
evidence, that both fossiliferous strata, the Spirifera and Pecop-
teris beds, occurring together in the New South Wales Coal-fields,
are of the same age, and alternate with each other. The occur¬
rence of Tfoniopteris, which hitherto has been considered only of
Secondary age,*' seems to apeak against a Pakeozoic origin ; how¬
ever, 1 may point out that the same objection was made to the
Glossopteris in Australia,but which has by overwhelming evidence
been shown to be also of Pahcozoic'age. I do not think that the
fragment of a leaf, however distinct, can unsettle all that strati-
graphieal geology has proved to be correct,” (p. (>-7.)

Some recent researches made by me, with a view to the con¬
sideration of this question of age, render it far from improbable
that a series of beds lias been swept off the Coal Measures by
denudation, in which Marine beds may have overlain the now
existing strata, just as in a lower horizon they do still at Stony
Creek, Anvil Creek, Mount Wiugcn, and in other localities. The
facts that the present Coal-seams range in elevation along the
coast, from below the sea to between 200 and 000 feet only above
it, and that to the westward they reach an elevation of upwards of
3,000 feet, still preserving the same plants as below, and with an
equal almost horizontal level (except in cases where local derange¬
ment has occurred from special elevating forces), and moreover,
that similar scams occur at various other elevations between those
mentioned, induce me to consider it possible that there has been
a sinking along the coast-line, allowing denudation to operate.

At present this hint may not bo worth much, but hereafter
more may come out of it. I ought also to add that between the
Hawkesbury rocks and the Coal there is often a series,of beds
belonging 1o t he Coal Measures in which Marino Pakeozoic fossils
are stated to have been found.

* Sclamper says {tome 000), of the genus Tteniopteris—“ Ces Fourjercs
paraisseut etre prnpres nu terrain houiller Stipe ri&ur el au Permieni.e. t they
arc Palfcozoie. It is only recently that L lmve obtained not only species of the
subgenera, but real Tocniopteris from New South Wales, and it is respecting
such only that I liavo written in using the name, in relation to Palscozoic
Carboniferous rocks.

New South Wales.

65

I 11 tlie sections published some years ago by Mr. *1. Mackenzie
and myself, and in subsequent sections byt.be former, as given in
liis Report; to Government, it will be seen that the number and
thickness of the seams vary considerably in different localities.
The former circumstance may be accounted for by the fact that the
beds in the Coal Measures since troubled by upheavals, sinkings,
and denudation, wore deposited over various older formations,
some here, some there, which occur at different levels, so that
some of the strata are missing in a few of the localities, and all
are seldom seen together. Thus the Coal-series at the height of
3,000 feet docs not contain so many seams as nearer to the sea
level. And, perhaps, in describing them it would be. preferable
to separate the deposits into various local basins or saucers ;
though the conditions of a true basin can only be exhibited on
the large scale.

It is at least certain, that in the Western Districts, though
many of the conditions of the Newcastle aud Illawarra beds exist,
there are found certain fossils which are not found in the latter,
and which would lead to the presumption that, as we ascend in
height above the sea we find the introduction of genera gradually
approximating to a more recent epoch. For example, the upper
beds of the Lithgow Valley Coal Measures contain a fossil which
I first collected in 1803, and of which Mr. Wilkinson has lately
gathered some striking examples. These coniferous fossils con¬
sist of stems and branches ending in Strobilites. Professor
Dana, to whom I sent specimens, informed me that lie had never
seen such in N. S. Wales before. To me they appear not unlike
the Strobilites from the Gres higarre of Soulz-les-Bains, in tlie
Vosges, figured by Schimper and Mougeot (“ Monographic des
Plantes Fossil as da la Chaine das Vosges.” Leipzig. 1814. tab. xvi,
p. 31.) Dr. Feistmantel considers them as belonging to
Fchinosfrobus.

In another direction, viz., on the Clarence River, there is a
patch of Coal Measures in which there arc forms resembling that
of Voltzia, with abundance of fragments of a plant common in the
Mont d’Or Coal Measures of New Caledonia, together with plants
that have a Tamioptcroid character but are not Tamiopteris, as
is the case with many other localities. On the other hand, on
Bundanoon Creek, in the County^of Camden, there is a
Dictyopteris.

As far as some of these plants arc concerned, it may be
admitted that they are in an unsatisfactory condition at present;,
but the balance in favour of a “ Carboniferous” age for some ot
the Glossopteris beds is, to my mind, conclusive.

The question, then, about the age of some of the Australian
Coal, must bo considered as settled ; and if, as in Illawarra, the
Coal-beds at the base mix with the Marine beds, or immediately

E

66 Sedimentary Formations

overlie them as they do in the Fingal district of Tasmania, it
would appear that all these separate occurrences belong to one
thick scries, in which Marino beds and fresh-water beds interpo¬
late each other. But, assuredly, in that case, the arrangement
adopted must express the order as follows :—

1. Upper Coal Measures.

2. Upper Marine Beds.

3. Lower Coal Measures.

4. Lower Marine Beds.

So far as I know, the latter rest frequently on a conglomerate,
which in Tasmania I found to contain undoubted Carboniferous
fossils.

Hydro-Carbonaceous Shales.

Since the Exhibition of 1SG2, on which occasion, in a paper on
the Coal-iields, I noticed the occurrence of oil-bearing Cannel
Coal at the foot of Mount York, and at Colley Creek in the
Liverpool Eanges (not on eastern waters), the former has been
in great request for the purpose of producing illuminating oils ;
and the produce has been brought into the market. In the
former locality, and in Burragorang, I have made some researches
which have satisfied me that these can only belong to the Upper
Coal Measures. At Burragorang the blocks of Cannel are found
in an intermediate position, between the top of the Coal Measures
and the Upper Marine beds, which (if the overlying measures
themselves do not) certainly bear the very strongest resemblance
to a part of the Hunter River series. (See Map and Sections.)

In Hlawarra, also, there arc Shales which are above that
geological position, and which produce oil for illumination, but
are not of the peculiar character of the Cannel at Mount York,
which in a great degree resembles the Bog Head mineral of
Scotland, only it is more valuable. The character of this sub¬
stance is such as to justify its being considered a species of
Bathvillite or Torbauite, in consequence of its colour and woody
condition.

It has unquestionably resulted from the local deposition of
some resinous wood, and passes generally into ordinary Coal,
many portions of the same bed in the Illawarra mines exhibiting
the unmistakable features of the latter and the impress of
fronds of Glossopteris as plainly as they are shown on ordinary
Coal shale. This hydrocarbon varies somewhat in composition ;
and (as at Colley Creek) is frequently Idled with quartzose
particles, showing that it was deposited in a shallow pool, to which
sand was drifted perhaps by the wind.

At Reedy Creek, now called Petrolia, there is a band of thin
and very elastic substance of this kind, separated from the
thicker bed below by a parting of white clay.

New South Wales .

6 7

Varieties of this mineral occur in the Grose River, at Burra-
gorang, on tlie Colo, on Mount Victoria, and in one spot in
Tasmania behind Table Cape, on the southern shore of Bass's
Strait, as well as in other localities in other Colonies. Presuming
that the origin above suggested is correct, viz., the occasional
occurrence in the ancient deposits of trees of a peculiar resinous-
constitution, there is no anomaly in binding in one spot a mere
patch amidst a Coal-seam (as is the case at Anvil Greek, on the
Hunter River), or thick-bedded masses of greater area as in the
Coal-seams of Mount York, or of American Creek in the Illawarra,
depending on the original amount of drift timber.

In the section presented by the escarpment on the left bank of
Cox's River, below Pulpit Hill, at Megalong, there are two beds
in which this hydrocarbon exists.

Some time since specimens of this, together with others from*
the Illawarra, were taken to America by Mr. Consul Hall, and
were subjected to examination by Professor Silliman. The result
was afterwards published in the “ American Journal of Science and
Art,” under the name of Wollongongite, an accidental misnomer
(as I have elsewhere pointed out), inasmuch as I have Mr. Hall’s-
written assurance that tho specimens examined by Professor
Silliman did not come from the Illawarra, but from the western
sections at Megalong and Reedy Creek.

Professor Silliman shows that this material, as tested by him,
has an illuminating power very much greater than any other yet
known. It would be invaluable if it existed in sufficient quantity
to meet all demands upon it. As it is, there are two separate-
oil-producing works (one on American Creek, the other in
Petrolia), which are now employed in making mineral oils of
reasonably good quality, though both inferior to the product
described by Professor Silliman.

It lias been an object of inquiry whether Petroleum springs-
exist in New South Wales. Such have been reported from the
Corong in South Australia, and from Taranaki in New Zealand,,
and .from Victoria. The former is, we learn, a mistake, being
probably at a point where certain animal substances have decom¬
posed. In New South Wales there are also two localities, known
to mo for many years, in which a nitrous product exudes ; and
there are two or three in Western Australia of the same kind r
numerous specimens of which 1 examined. Nothing ot value has
as yet been found.

Supposing the truth of the conjecture respecting the formation,
of Torbnuite and its allies from chemical decomposition and
changes of resinous kinds of drift timber in tlieniasses now trans¬
formed to Coal, the occurrence of such a mineral is not necessarily
confined to Coal-beds of one epoch ; and thus we find Dr. Hector
reporting on the occurrence of a hydrocarbon in New Zealand.,

68

Sedimentary Formations

from what lie deems a Secondary formation, intermediate in
volatile matter between those of Torhane Ilill and Hew South
Wales, tlie latter having by far the greatest amount, with much
less ash than the former.

Puller statements respecting the localities maybe found in my
paper “ On the Occurrence and Geological Position of OiUbcarinrf
Deposits in JST.SJF.f Q.J.G.S. xxii., p. 439. The reader wiii
also find numerous local sections of the Coal-beds in various parts
of the same Colony in the “ Reports of the Department of Mines,”
by John Mackenzie, F.G.S., Examiner of Coal-fields, and C.
S. Wilkinson, F.G.S., Government Geologist (I875-G), and
especially in the work entitled “ Mines and Mineral Statistics ,”
lS7o, prepared for the Philadelphia Exhibition. Mr. Mackenzie
has also given sections from what the Victorian authorities call
the “ Carbonaceous ” rocks of their Colony.

§ 5. Mesozotc on Secondary Formations.

It must not be supposed,from my strong advocacy of a Palaeozoic
age for the workable Coal of Now South Wales, that I repudiate
the existence of the Secondary Formation in Australia; or that,
because I oppose an Oolitic or Jurassic age for our Coal-seams,
I consider that no Coal, however insignificant it may be, does
exist in Australia, or even in Hew South Wales, which is younger
than Palaeozoic. There is sufficient evidence in the preceding
pages to the contrary to do away with that idea, besides having
done my best to bring to light the great Mesozoic formations of
Queensland (See various notes by myself in the “ Quarterly Jour-
naif and the valuable Memoirs of Air. DaintrecyF.G.S., and Mr.
Moore, F.G.S., xxvi., 22G-2G1). Although I bold the opinion
expressed above, there are deposits of Coal of inferior value as
relates to extent of area, in Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, and
Hew South Wales, from which the distinguishing typical plants
are excluded; and which, till the discovery of such, must remain,
taking into consideration also their stratigraphical position, of
more recent age than the rich deposits of the Illawarra, Hunter
River, Talbragar, Ac. I can only say, that whether I have been
mistaken or not in any given case connected with the geological
epochs of Australasia, it is not from want of honest devotion to
the cause of truth, nor from a desire to hold my own without
reason against those who differ from me, that 1 have in so many
publications during more than thirty-eight years of earnest
inquiry, defended what I conscientiously believe.

The rule, I think, in such a case as that before us, should be
laid down, that plant remains by themselves prove very little as to
the unco in pared age of any formation, hut when associated with
Marine fossils , whose aye is determinable , they must go with that

New Soulli Wales.

69

formation, of whatever age it may be; for although plants may be
swept into the ocean at any period of their existence, they could
not be bedded in the same masses of stone formed in the ocean
and amidst the Marine fossils, without belonging to the epoch of
the latter.

Such is the case in Australia with Gloasopteris, and perhaps
some others; hence I claim for that at least a Palaeozoic* age.
And so with those described by Mr. Etheridge and Air. Moore
(in the Memoirs above cited) the Mesozoic Narine fossils prove
the plants to be of that epoch ; and when the same plants occur
in strata which can he referred to a Secondary formation, and in
such also as are Carboniferous, it may he readily granted that
they are common to the two. But in the case of Glossopteris
no indication is at present producible of its existence in the later
formations.

We may therefore refer certain deposits in Queensland, in
parts of New South Wales, or the Coal series of Victoria, to
Mesozoic (not Oolitic) times, without trenching on the Carbon¬
iferous indications. I do not profess to know—and T know no
one who is able to tell me—why such arrangements exist (espe¬
cially as Mr. Carruthere’s doctrine is true, for instance, that
Tamiopteris and Gloasopteris are akin in structure) as place
plants very much alike in some respects in different epochs,
without confusion, when also the position of the strata is what is
called “ conformable.”

It is no logical argument to say that, because there may be
great deposits of Coal in China or America or Great Britain that
are not what arc called Carboniferous, therefore there ought to be
such, for example, in Victoria, when we all know that they have
not been yet found to exist there, or that the same citations
would bear out the assertion that the New South Wales work¬
able seams are also Secondary ; nor can the adroit alteration of
the expression Oolitic into Mesozoic, prevent our considering that
the general term was adopted for the more specific one, because
those who used it so were aware that they had made some kind
of mistake, and did not like to own it.

Now, there are no known Oolitic Marine fossils in all iSew
South Wales ; and the Oolitic or Jurassic fossils are of such
extent and variety in all countries, wherever the regions in which
they occur have been explored, that to put the identity of such
formations on a few plants , that may after all have no strict claim
to decide in the cause, would appear to me a very questionable
proceeding.

If, for instance, the fishes found by me in the {Kb Tunnel
Range, near Nattai, are of a “ Triassic or Permian” facies,
according to M‘Coy, and are Permian according to Egerton and
Dana, why should the beds in which they occur be set down as

70

Sedimentary Formations

Oolitic or Jurassic, iustead of “Triassic or Permian”? Sir p
Egerton lias shown that, with Palasoniscus, occur other genera*
closely related to Pygopterus, Acrolepis, and Platysomus, all
•either Upper Carboniferous or Permian genera in other parts of
the world.

Then again, why should the Urosthenes of Dana, from a
prominent part of the Newcastle local beds, be left out of th 0
same category?

The view then is, that all these beds, ranging in succession one
over the other, and being all as I believe of fresh water origin
(for the Hawkesbury rocks contain plants, but no animal remains
except fishes), have a common relationship, and yet with no
pretext for a Jurassic origin on the score of animal co-existences
of that era. When we consider that the lislies alluded to, in
connection with Coal and Coal-plants, occur at different altitudes,
and are all heterocercal Ganoids, we must conclude that there
have been physical disruptions, and that there are gaps in the
succession occasioned by following denudation, or that there
have been repetitions of strata now only partly traceable.

Eor instance, the fish beds are at Cockatoo Island 10 feet
below the sea; at Sydney less than 100 feet above it; 100 feet
at Parramatta; 250* feet above it at Campbelltown; 7S0 feet
above at Eedbank near Picton ; 1,100 feet on llazorback ; 2,800
feet at the Gib Tunnel; and 8,450 feet on the Blue Mountains ;
the lowest two stations and the highest being in the Hawkesbury
series, and the others in the Wianamatta beds above the Hawkes¬
bury ; whilst at Newcastle, the Urosthenes was the deepest below
the sea, and the oldest in position.

As necessary to explain still further the succession of strata, 1
introduce here some additional remarks on the Supra-Carboni-
ferous rocks in the province of New South Wales.

Ilawkcslury Rocks . — Over the uppermost workable Coal
Measures, which are of considerable thickness, is deposited a
series of beds of sandstone, shale, and conglomerate, oftentimes
concretionary in structure and very thick-bedded, varying in
•composition, with occasional false-bedding, deeply excavated,
and so forming deep ravines with lofty escarpments,—to the
upper part of which series L have given the name of Hawkesbury
rocks, owing to their great development along the course of the
river-basin of that name. These beds are not less in some places
than from SOO to 1,000 feet in thickness, containing patches of
shale, occasionally with fishes, with fragments of fronds and stems
of ferns, a few pebbles of porphyry, granite, mica, and other
■quartziferous slates, and assume in surface outline the appearance
of granite, from the materials of which and associated old deposits
they must in part have been derived. On the summit of the

New South Wales.

7i

Blue Mountains, and along the Grose River, the thickness of the
series is very much greater than near the sea. Patches of very
small area contain bits of Coal, carbonate of iron, and some¬
times represent miniature Coal Measures.

Towards the base, bands of purple shales aro frequent, and
ferriferous veins, with specular iron, hicmatite, ilmenite, graphite,
and other minerals, sometimes occur.

hi places, as about the “ Yellow rock” near the Upper Wollombi
River, in Ben Bullen, and above the deep excavation of the
Capertee amphitheatre, salt and alum are found in cavities
formed by decomposition; and in otter places, as at Bundanoon
Creek in the Shoalhaven District, at Appin, and on the Bullai
escarpment of the Ulawarra, and at Pittwater, north of Sydney,
stalactites have been formed under similar circumstances.

There is an enormous mass of brown iron ore highly carbonised,
partly worked at Fitzroy.ncnr Nattai, another on Brisbane Water,
and a smaller, on the coast, a few miles north of Sydney, and
other similar patches in intermediate localities. These arc in
part associated with specular iron, which occasionally lines the
joints of the sandstones close at band with well-formed crystals.

The uppermost beds of this formation, especially where they
become conglomerates, exhibit isolated summits imitating ruined
castles, and have thus been traced by mo at intervals all along^
the escarpments to the westward of Sydney, from the latitude of
the Clyde River to that of the Talbragar, and in certain localities
within the longitudes of that line and the coast. In the deep
ravines of the Grose and Bargains Creek, the one eastward and
the other westward of the Darling Causeway traversed by the
’Western Railway Line, the slopes are studded by fantastic pillars
sculptured by denudation and decay into imitative architectural
forms. Similar forms cap the extension of the coast range to the
head of the Goulburn River. The tints arc poiJcilitic , darkening
from exposure, and exhibiting imitations of landscapes sometimes
of striking character. The semi-crystalline fragments of quartz,
and the disposal of colours (suggesting the idea of the action of
gases removing the ferruginous tint in places) have caused me to
believe that some transmuting agency has affected large areas ot
the Ilawkesbury rocks. The glistening of the crystalline quartz
particles reminds one of the same character observable in the mill¬
stone grit of England. It is impossible to understand how consider¬
able masses of the sandstones could have received such a present
structure without the metamorphism suggested; for the crystalline
facets are quite unabraded and belong to particles that have been
collected originally by water holding silica in solution. By washing
in acids the colouring matter of the particles may ho entirely
removed, and then it is seen that they are imperfect crystals.

7 2 Sedimentary Formations

But the cementing matter is not always ferruginous ; afelspathic
cement holds them together with used mica evidently derivative,
and sometimes with graphite.

Another variation in character of the liawkesbury rocks is in
their cohesion. In 18-30 I was Chairman of the Artesian Well
Board, and remember tlie difficulty we had in procuring tools
hard enough to pierce the quartzosc sandstone at the gaol in
Sydney ; the boring after a small depth was abandoned — one of
the workmen precipitating the conclusion by blocking the bore¬
hole. But in parts of the Bailway Lines, there have been instances,
as stated to me by the Bngilicer-in-Chief, when the largest blocks
have been shivered to atoms by a not very heavy fall over an
embankment.

I his group of liawkesbury rocks has been by some persons
denominated “Sydney Sandstone.” The designation was derived
from the early settlers, who had not gone far into the country ;
but it is a misnomer, for it neither represents the whole of the
series nor the whole of the material of the rocks, besides making
confusion with the Si Sydney Sandstone ” of the Cape Breton
Coal-field of British America. The latter has a clearer rmht
perhaps, to the title of “ Carboniferous,” as it is of the age of
the very lowest of our Australian Coal Measures. Yet with its
Lcpidodcndra, &e., it has fishes of the one genus which occurs in
our liawkesbury and Wianamatta beds, over our Upper Coal-

JVictncun(i1tu Beds.- The Hawkosburv rocks are succeeded by
another group or series of strata named by me from the Wiana-
matta, or South Creek, which runs longitudinally through the
basin which tills in the area between a surrounding enclosure of
the former series which must have been broken up in part and
denuded, either completely before or during the deposit of the
sandstones over-lying the Coal Measures. The deep ravines which
mark the. liawkesbury rocks give place to rounded smooth undu¬
lating softer argillaceous strata, in the bottom of the creeks of
which and in the beds of the river Nepean or Hawkesbury and of
George’s Biver are marks of old erosion in the harder rocks
below the argillaceous shales. Pot-holes are very common in the
liawkesbury beds under the Wianamatta strata where exposed
at the points of junction at some distance from the present
creeks and drainage channels. Such may be traced at Myrtle
Creek, near Pieton, and on the Windsor fioad near Parramatta,
these certainly prove a partial or general erosion before the
whole series of the Wianamatta strata were laid down. The
nearest beds of the latter to the underlying liawkesbury rocks,
are shales which have occasionally filled in hollows previously
existing, or contributed patches forming considerable masses as
well as thin layers to the uppermost liawkesbury rocks. In this

Neio South Wales.

73

way fishes have been found at various levels in shale patches, as
on the Blue Mountains, at Parramatta, at Bilochi (or Cockatoo)
Island, and other places near Sydney. The Wianamatta beds
are, however, not all shale, for there are fine sandstones more
compact and heavier than the HawkcsLury, calcareous sandstones
and ferruginous nodules, bearing fishes and small fresh-water
molluscs which remind one of the somewhat similar nodules of
Permian beds of Germany.

Could I have procured the remains of fishes that have been
reported to me from beds belowthe Upper Coal, and of the finding
of which there is pretty good evidence, we might have been able
to show that the same genera that we find ranging from the
Wianamatta down to the Coal Measures of Newcastle, all through
the Hawkesbury series, occur still lower.

A Palrconiscus, found since my discovery iu 1SG0, was ex¬
hibited by the Surveyor General (who gleaned after my harvest),
in the Exhibition of 1S75 at Sydney; and a specimen of Cleithro-
lepis found in a Hail way cutting on the Blue Mountains was
shown by Mr. T. Brown, to whom it had been given by the
finder after I had had it photographed. These formed part
of the collection exhibited by the Mining Department at Phila¬
delphia.

There are in the Wianamatta Beds in places columnar and
pisolitic iron ore, abundance of fossilized wood, plant impressions,
and calcareous sandstones, which latter form the highest levels
and summits of insulated hills that attain hut moderate eleva¬
tion (1100-1300 loot) in the centre or on the outskirts of
the basin, which latter is chiefly confined to the heart of the
County of Cumberland and part of Camden, of which Bulbun-
matta or Razor Back Baugo and Men angle Sugar Loaf arc out¬
lying rcdics of a once wider extended plateau. Fossil plants
abound in some of the shales and line sandstones, and the whole
area is marked either by old trappean or more recent basaltic
rocks, which have produced some effects on the beds traversed
by them. Very small patches of Coal occur, but no seams nor
any of value have been met with. The old Diorite hill of
Waimalcc, or Prospect, near Parramatta, must have existed long
before the infilling of this basin, as the Wianamatta plant-beds
on the Hanks of the hill have evidently derived their matrix irom
the Diorite, and have since been intruded into by what is prob¬
ably Tertiary basalt. Felspathic trap is common in the basin,
and may have been connected with this outburst of igneous
eruptions which probably formed many of the solitary hills of a
portion of the County of Camden.

Victorian Palaeontologists claim for that Colony the existence
of a Coal formation of the same age as the Wianamatta, and I
have myself long ago pointed out that certain beds at the Barra-

74

Sedimentary Formations

bool Hills resemble very closely certain strata about Camden
in .Sew South Wales. But if the latter are proved to be of
younger age than that which has been assumed for them, it is
not necessary to place the two series (so widely separate in
space) on the same actual horizon.

We have not recognized in New South Wales the Gycadeous
plants of Victoria, nor is there a perfect agreement in the
phytology of the Wianamatta and Victorian strata. I n 1861 I
mentioned (“ 'Recent Geological Discoveries , <fcc.,” p. 45) three of
M* Coy’s New South Wales Plants, G lei chan lies odontnpteroides
(called Pecopteris by Morris and Carruthcrs) ; Odontopteris
microphylla ; and Pecopteris iennifolia , as occurring in the Wiana-
matta beds. These are not reported from Victoria, whilst Spheno-
ptens alafa {Drang .), Grandini of Goepp.and Scliimper, from New¬
castle, belongs to the Old Carboniferous in Germany, and not to
any Mesozoic formation.

in the list given in “ Progress Report of Victoria , 1874,” Pro¬
fessor M‘Coy mentions 3 species of Qangamopleris , from his
Upper Carbonaceous beds; 2 Neuropteris, 1 Pecopteris, 3
Sphenopteris, 1 Tieniopteris, with 3 Zamitcs and 1 Phyllotheca
trom tin* Lower Carbonaceous ; and only one animal form, Unio
Dacomhii . The alleged abundance and value of Coal in these beds
have becu proved to be a myth. There is, however, more Coal
therein than in the smaller area of the Wianamatta and Hawkes-
bury rocks; and probably that is the reason why the Professor
would place them below the former group of New South Wales.
But when we consider the great improbability that a series of
strata having a thickness of at least 5,000 feet could ever have
existed between the Hawkesbury and Wianamatta series, and
that not a trace remaius anywhere in New South Wales of such
interpolation,—that the fossil evidence is in opposition to it,—
and that the areas arc totally disproportionate, — it would appear
a mere caprice of fancy to hold such a notion as that hinted at.

It may he well to make a final remark respecting Mr. Brough
Smyth’s idea, that the Coal-beds of New South Wales lie oil
“ limestone (“j Progress Report p. 26.) Had lie visited them
himself he would have seen that limestone, as such, is rather a
rare rock in connection with the New South Wales deposits of
Coal, which clearly interpolates the Marine beds; but the latter
are more frequently conglomerates, or sandstones and grits.
The Upper Coal Measures rest frequently on granite and slates
as well as on other rocks. The limestones in the Carboniferous
rocks are rare, being few and of limited extent and far between.
The author just mentioned considers the relation of the u Goa',1-
bearing ” to “ Palccozoic rdcTes” as “obscure,” but it is not obscure
to those who have examined for themselves, nor more so than the
feeling which induces philosophers to keep out of sight and

New South Wales.

75

ignore tlic evidence which contradicts their own preconceived
opinions. It will have been seen in the preceding remarks, that I
have myself suggested the possibility of some part of our Sedi¬
mentary deposits having a relation to the Trias, and it is only
fair to state that Professor M‘Coy, in his earlier writings, limited
the New South Wales deposits to the Oolite of Scarborough.
Afterwards the term “ Mesozoic” was introduced to define the
period — which, of course, left all undefined from the base of the
Tcrtiaries to that of the Trias ; the limit of range allotted by him
for the Queensland Secondary Marine fossils and plants being
from the “ lower part of the great Oolite” to il the base of the
Trias” (“Annals” ix,No. 50,Feby., 1862), placing all on one geo¬
logical platform. He might, therefore, admit the Trias to repre¬
sent the “ Mesozoic” instead of the Oolite, but he has stuck
firmly to the latter.

On the other hand, I presumed to think that the plant-beds in
the separate Colonies did not represent the Oolite — and that for
reasons assigned I have ventured to believe that the Coal-beds
belong to some part of the Upper Palaeozoic, either represented
by visible examples elsewhere, or belonging to strata not yet
found elsewhere represented.

In working out my own conclusions, I had recourse to what
was reported by the Geological Survey of India; and relying on
the data proclaimed, I held that the nearest ally to our Coal-beds
was the Damuda division of what is now known as the u Gond-
wana series or system” of Feistmantel, (“Records ” No. 2, 1876,
page 28.) Dr. Oldham agreed with me, as has been seen ; but
Dr. Feistmantel having obtained or discovered the existence of
plants in beds not previously recognized by the Survey, e.g.
Glossoptens , — and finding it not only in the Damuda, but in the
Talchir strata below, and also in all the intermediate strata,
through the Panchet up to the Bajmahal and Cutch (Dr. Old¬
ham agreeing with him as to Panchet being Triassic),—has come
to the following arrangement: —

Jurassic

Trias ...

( Oolite ( 1.—Cutch or Each with Jubalpur.

( Lias \ 2. — Eajmahal (in different places).

Mveuper (3.—Panchet (in different places).

| 4.—Damuda (do., including the Bani-
-j ganj (Kamthi), Iron-Shale, and

| Barakar groups).

I Gres Bigarre ( 5. — Talchir.

These are the “ five horizons ” of the Gondwana system.

If this arrangement be correct, then it is clear that there is a
a Triassic series amidst the beds which M‘Coy held to be alto¬
gether Oolitic, but which I, in common with Dr. Oldham, con¬
sidered in part Palaeozoic; and here I may quote Mr. W. T.

76

Sedimentary Formations

Blanford’s able Report on the Haniganj Coal-field. ( u Memoirs
Geol. Sur. India 7’ Vol. iii., part 7, chap, vi., page 135, 1801),
in which the author writes in relation to the Panchet group :
“ So far as this evidence goes, it tends to confirm Dr* Oldham’s
suggestions as to the Damiidas 'being Upper Paleozoic. For
Labyrinthodont reptiles (and consequently the Panchets if
equivalent to the Mangalis) being Permian or Triassic, and the
Damudas being but little older, would be Upper Carboniferous
or Permian, or perhaps intermediate between Permian and
Triassic ; but the evidence is very slight.”

It is not strange that sixteen years continued exploration,
and a critical examination of the fossils, should load to a modifi¬
cation of views, and it would be held presumptuous in anyone
not on the spot to dogmatise to the contrary.

The present able Superintendent of the Geological Survey in
India, Mr. 11.13. Medlicott, FJJ.S., thus speaks of Dr. Eeist-
mantel s botanical researches: — “ Paleontologists come from
their cabinets in Europe with the fixed idea that the ‘ laws ’ they
have seen to work so neatly as between Bohemia and Bavaria,
or from Durham to Dorsetshire, will apply equally well between
India and Australia, or Europe; and the eager aim of their
labours seems to be to tally oil our Indian rock-groups as the
representatives or equivalents of certain fossiliferpus series of
Europe or elsewhere. From the beginning this Pnheontologieal
fallacy has been a chief obstruction to our knowledge. When
first the Gondwana fossils were taken up, pure Gcologv being in
the ascendant, the fact that certain plant forms of the lower Gond¬
wana rocks were somehow associated with beds having a Car¬
boniferous Marine fauna in Australia, was made the basis of a
special pleading to show that the Damiidas, their flora, and their
Coal, were Paleozoic. The materials have now come into the
hands of a pure palaeontologist. He has shown, I believe con¬
clusively, that tho Gondwana flora is wholly Mesozoic, nailing its
several phases to certain representative zones in Europe. But
it so happens that on the confines of India, east and west, the
upper Gondwana groups arc associated with beds having a Marine
fauna according to which these said groups have already been
attached by pnheontologieal experts to other standard groups in
Europe. It is true that the study of this fauna was only partial;
but the experts were very accomplished in their line, and their
judgment was quite unprejudiced, so that it must carry great
weight. Here then again is an openingfor the proerustean method
of research: and there are symptoms that it is to be duly applied;

fhis lime to make the fauna conform to the flora .Xo theologian

could be more impious in reducing the mysteries of existence
to the compass of his narrow thoughts, than are often scientific
specialists in imposing crude conceptions upon the proceedings

New South Wales.

77

of nature. Yet these ought to know better — that truth is dis¬
covered, not invented.” “It is fiction to assume that Palaeozoic and
Mesozoic faunas have not co-existed upon the earth.” “The facts
of our Gonihvana rocks arc certainly puzzling to systematists:
on the West in Jvach (Cutcli) we have the flora of the top Gond-
wana group, which lias a Bathonian facies, associated with
Marine fossils of Tithonian affinities; while on the the South-east,
in Trichinopoli, beds with a flora (so far as known) like that of
the Rajmahal group, which is taken to be Liassic, have been de-
eribed by Mr. H. F. Blanford Q’Mcm. Geol. Sur vohiv.,p. 47)
as overlaid, in very close relation, by the Ootatoor group, the
fauna of which has been declared, upon very full evidence, to
have a Cerioinanien facies,”

“ These questions of homotaxis concern the whole body of
naturalists as much as they do us; and I hope some guiding
spirits amongst them will keep a watch on our proceedings.
Happily these foreign relations do not interfere with the local
regulation of our rock systems. The terrestrial fauna and flora
of the Gondwanas is developing into a compact unity of its own,
and its relations to contiguous Marine fossil faunas is normal, so
far as this word can bo legitimately used.” (“Records Geol. Sur.
India” vol. x., pt. 1, LS77, pp. 2, 8.)

On this plan of dealing with the Australian and Indian Coal
formations in relation to their fossil vegetables, there must be a ne¬
cessity for very close examination of the individual plants to satisfy
the inquiry; and relationship to the Marine fossils of the former
which do not exist in the latter cannot, on the plea expressed by
Medjicott, be excluded. We may, therefore, look to Dr. Feist-
mantel’s comparison of the respective floras of the two countries.

In order to assist in this Iliad placed in the hands of my friend
I)r. Oldham, at Calcutta, a considerable series of our New South
Wales plants, from Newcastle, Hunter River, TUawarra, Lith-
gow, Merigang, Clarence River, Ac., in New South Wales, and from
Queensland, Tasmania, and Victoria, including the Coal-seams of
this Colony and the overlying strata of the Ilawkesbury and
Wianamatta groups. A few of these were contributed by Mr.
C. S. Wilkiueon, and the collection was left in the hands of Dr.
Feist mantel when Dr. Oldham retired from the direction of the
Indian Survey.

On these, the latter gentleman has reported to me his opinion.
Since then, 1 forwarded at his desire a further collection, com¬
prising additional specimens of plants from the lower Coal-
seams of the Hunter, collected in part by Mr. Mackenzie, from
Greta, Stroud, Queensland, Ac., including the Ashes of the Gib
Tunnel, with sections and papers, Ac. These arrived safely, and
an account of them will be found in Appendix XX.

78

Sedimentary Formations

This [n named to show that no pains have been spared by me
to put as full evidence before Dr. Feistmu-ntel of the plants, as
1 had already done respecting the Marine faunas of the Silurian,
Devonian, and Carboniferous beds.

Now, Dr. Feistmantel states that so far from the plants of
the Coal-seams being exactly the same as those of the Indian
Coal plant-beds, he thinks that — (“ lice . Gcol. Sur. India,'" ix.,
pt. 4, I87G, ]). 121) # — “ those palaeontologists who declared the
whole Australian flora as absolutely Jurassic [“ or altogether
Mesozoic,’* as interpolated in MS. by the author in author’s
presentation copy], did not distinguish the Lower and Upper
portion of the Coal Measures. The first contains forms which
could never support this assertion, while the Upper Measures
contain, besides those plants without analogy, some other forms
which certainly can justify the supposition of a Jurassic age
[altered in MS. as above, to — “ Triassic age, some perhaps also
Jurassic (Queensland) ”].

• “ On page S3, Mr. Blanford gave a scheme of the formations
in N.S.\V\ Coal-fields (1,2, 3,4, 5, G). Nos. 1 and 2 ( Wianamatta
and Hawkesbury beds), it is true, have yielded no distinct
Glossopferis ; but in Tasmania, from which identical fossils with
those of these two beds are known, Glossopteris occurs, with
Pecoptcris Australis , PJu/llotheca , and the most important with
Tcenioplcris Daintreei (M‘Coy), (M‘Coy : “ Prodrom , Decade II."
p. 15, “Pep, Prog . Gcol. Sur. Viet., 1874, p. 25”). As to 3 and 4,
of which the first are the Upper Coal Measures of Newcastle,
Mr. Blanford himself (p. 83) says: “ Nos. 3 and 4 appear to
be connected by the presence of Glossopteris Drowniana in both,
although there appears to be a considerable distinction in the
flora"; and I would add, No. 3 does not contain any animals,
while in No. 4 Marine animals are found abundantly.

“On p. 84, Mr. B. enumerates the species, which, as he
considers, are common to our Damudas and the Australian
beds, and others which are common to the Damudas, and the
Triassic rocks in Europe (as 1 pointed out). On these I would
remark, —

“ Glossopteris [“2 or 3 species identical. — W.T.B.”] I think
with great difficulty we may be able to get only one
common species.

*On the question — What is the analogy of our Damuda Scries with the
Lower Coal Measures of Australia? After saying that the analogy is by
no means what Mr. Blanford seems to think, lie proceeds,—“Any instructive
or conclusive comparison [“of our Damudas” in MS.] can only be made between
[“with” in MS.] series that possess fairly represented and characteristic flora.
For our Damudas this condition can only be said to exist in the Upper Coal
Measures in Australia, and in some exclusively plant-bearing rocks of Europe.”

New South Wales .

79

“ Gangamoptcris [“ The genus only. — W.T.B*”] This form is
not known at all from those heels intercalated with Marine
fossils, hut from really Mesozoic beds in Victoria,
associated with Twniopteris Daintrcei \ M‘Coy.

“ Vertchraria [“ One species identical W.T.B.”] There is as
yet no full description of the Australian Vertehraria, and
that which is known seems to be quite different from
ours. The greatest portion of our Damuda Vertchraria
are probably not identical with those from Australia.

11 Pccopteris (A lethoptcris) [“One species, probably identical,
AY .T.1V] I doubt whether our A. Lindlcgana can be
united with A. Australis , AT Coy, or if this is altogether
the case >vith any other species.

“ Thus it seems that the evidence of a connection with the
Australian Coal Measures is very weak, while the fossils enumer¬
ated as common with European Trias are unmistakably identical.

“ As to the strutigraphy of the Australian Coal strata , the litera¬
ture is not poor, but yet it is not in all points quite clear and
always trustworthy.

“ It is well known that there can be a complete concordance
in the stratification of rocks, and yet two or more different
formations may be represented which can only be distinguished
by the prevailing fossil forms.* As an instance I can quote the
Salt Range in India, where, as Air. Wynne tells us, the Lower
Marine Carboniferous and the Triassic rocks are conformably
deposited, and yet ihey are different in age, although a well-
marked Carat] l es and j Rhijllotheea go down into the Carboni¬
ferous rocks, and marked forms of Bcllerophon survived into the
Trias. The same relations will have to he applied to the two
portions of the Australian Coal Measures, only that here the ease
is illustrated in the flora.

“ Tor the stratigraphical grouping of the Coal-strata of New
South Wales, we must especially take the Rev. W. 13. Clarke’s
observations, which to a great extent are published (“ Remarks T
fyc.f 1875) ; partly Air. Clarke communicated them to me in two
letters ; and he sent also a suite of fossils for comparison. Erom
all his clear communications it is plain that there are two very
distinct portions in the Australian Coat Measures: —

“ a. — Upper Coal Measures.

“ h. — Lower Coal Pleasures.

“ a . — The Upper portion is marked by a flora which is
abundant. Nos. 1, 2, 3 of Mr. B’s list must be referred
to this; they contain no Marine fossils to indicate a
connection with the lower portion.

* See a very remarkable instance of this referred to by me, at p. 31, of
t lie position of the Palreozoic formations at a locality in Spain, described by
Casiano de Prado. — W.B.C.

8o

Sedimentary Formations

“ b .—The Lower Coal Measures, are marked by two Marino
faunas of, ns generally taken, a Carboniferous age, which
separate distinctly these from the Upper beds. The
flora is, as both Mr. Clarke and Mr. Daintree state, only
rare.

Below this there are beds with real Lower Carboniferous
plants.”

Dr. Feistmantel then gives the succession of the several strata
as I had communicated it to him in a table, and after it a list of
plants which he “ has seen, or which are mentioned as really
occurring,” viz. :—

“a .— Upper Coal Measures.

“ (1.) Prom Queensland.

*• (2.) Tasmania.

“ (3.) Victoria.

“ (L) From the Wianamatta and Hawkesbury, we have
mostly Dichoptcris, Thinnfcldia, Uecopteris odontoptcr -
oiefes, Morr., Tamioptcris, &e.; and in both the same
genus of a fish.

“ (5.) From the Clarence Fiver District .—Tccuiopferis with
narrow leaves, and a coniferous branch, which Mr.
Clarke himself marked (?) Yoltzia.

“ (b.) Bowenfolls and .Newcastle.—Here the flora is mostly
developed ; Yertehraria, real Phyllothcca , many Glossop-
teri.it (but few identical with those of India), mostly
Gloss. Browniana , Bgt., coniferous plants near the
Mesozoic Echinoslrobus , coniferous seed-vessels and
others, but no animal fossils, nor Lower Carboniferous
plants.

“ b .— Lower Coal Measures.

“ I have seen Tmnioplcris, near Teen. Eckardi, Germ., Gloss-
opteris , small specimens; besides these there are quoted Phyllo-
theca and Nceygerathia. With these arc associated Carboniferous
(in M.S. 6 animal ') fossils.

il c .— Strata below — With Cyclosliyma KiltorJcqnuw, Ilaught.,
It ha copter is, Splienophylliun (real Palaeozoic form).
These I have seen myself. And again a Paheozoic
(Carboniferous) fauna.

‘‘From this we see the following: Only the strata sub b can
claim a Paleozoic age, containing a prevailingly Carboniferous
fauna, which already in c occurs together with a paheozoic flora.
The flora in b is very poor, containing only few forms, which (see
remarks p. 1(15) arc so frequent in the upper strata ; and to uso
Mr. Clarke’s own words about the Glossopteris, we may say,—

‘ There (in the Australian Lower Coal-beds) it clearly does not

New South Wales .

81

govern, but must be subordinate to the fauna’; and further he
says, ‘ Why might it ( Glossopteris ) not pass into Secondary rocks
without denying its existence in the Australian Lower Coal-
measures’ ? ’ [ In MS. he adds, ‘‘What I completely adopt.”]

At p. 125, he says—“That the Upper beds in Australia—
AVianamatta, Hawkesbury — and the Upper Newcastle Coal-beds
form a connected series, is also shown by the occurrence of the
same fish, which is not found in the Lower strata.

“ The following table may illustrate the relations : —

Europe.

Lower Gondwlnas, India.

Coal Measures in Australia.

Rha?tic.*) Upper

Kcuper ... ) Trias
Gres bigarre { Lower
Bunt, sanst. ] Trias

Carboniferous

Carboniferous
Devonian ?

f Panchet group—

( Flora and Reptilia.

( Damuda group —

( Flora only.

.

“ Records,” ix, p. 125.

f a. Upper Coal Measures.

1 Ml the strata as I enume-
*J rated them above under |

1 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

\^ Flora only.

b. Lower Coal Measures. ,
[In MS. lie adds Plants (
and Carboniferous fauna.] !
Strata below.

Goonoo Goonoo.

In relation to these printed notices, Dr. Ueistmantel writes
privately, “ Qlossopteris began to live rarely in Australia ,
during the time when Carboniferous animals lived in the sea—in
the time of the lower Australian beds. They are, therefore, of
Carboniferous age. But Glossopteris continued to live when
already the Lower beds were deposited (including the Marine
animals), or when the Marine animals ceased to live—when
therefore, in fact, another epoch of life began which was charac¬
terised by the total absence of Marine Carboniferous animals
and by the preponderance of plants ; and I think in this lies the
difference between your Tipper and Lower Coal-beds, of which only
the latter can he considered of ATarine origin, as ALarine beds,
while the Upper ones are certainly not Alarine. beds. And from
this reason, I thought, only those Tipper Coal strata in your
country can be compared with our Talchir-Damiida beds, as these
do not contain any Marine fossil at all, and the flora they contain
hears a complete Triassic facies, so that 1 do not see any reason
why these beds should not represent the Triassic epoch: • as
for another epoch there is not the least indication. And now,
judging from this, I was also convinced that your Upper beds
cannot be Oolitic, or even Liassic (except, perhaps, some in
Queensland), as they are equivalent to our Damuda series.”
(MS., letter 20/2/77).

F

82

Sedimentary Formations

Dr. Fcistnmntel lias since favoured mo with several letters,
which relate to a fuller expression of our Australian formations,
to which I cannot do full justice in my limited space. I must,
however, quote a passage from some remarks of my own, during
my discussion with Professor M‘Coy, which were read before the
[Royal Society of Victoria, December 10, 1SG0, in order to show
that any proposal to gi ve a more recent age than that 1 defended
to our N. S. Wales Coal-seams does not take me by surprise:
“To sum up all, I may hero state that though it is very easy to
make the £ worse appear the better reason, ? 1 have no object in
any controversy oil this question but truth. Having since iny
acquaintance with the whole of the facts always found a diffi¬
culty in reconciling the idea of two epochs in the formation of
the "deposits including our Coal-beds, in consequence of the
apparent continuous succession of those deposits and the occur¬
rence of Coal throughout, together with the absence of Oolitic
zoological and the presence of Palaeozoic zoological forms, 1 have not
seen fit to renounce the opinion which is sha red by others as well
by myself, because at present we have no grounds to do so. Put
it is easy to gather from this paper, as well as from other
evidence of my own, that I am quite ready to admit, when
proved, that some of the beds are younger than my fourth
division, or Mr. McCoy’s base of the Carboniferous system, and
may with the example of India before us be even younger than
Oolite ; but with the idea of one succession, I must renounce the
idea of all above the base being Oolitic.”

puture researches may he needed to ascertain—-what is possible
— that true Pabeozoie Marine fossils may 1)0 yet detected, in some
at present obscure localities, above the horizon of the Tipper Coal-
seams of Xew South A Vales — or below the base of the present
Talchir of India; and in either case there would be a probability
of reversing a decision respecting the claim of the lowest Meso¬
zoic, a contingency which would not take even Dr. Feistmantcl
by surprise, as he suggested to me (August, 1877) : “ The Indian
Daim'ida series you may be pretty certain must turn out Trias,
or at the utmost Uppermost Termian as passage bed between this
formation and the Trias , but there is nothing as yet which would
prove for this, while all is in favour of* Trias.” \Vo must bear in
mind, however, a Suggession of Mr. Carruthers, that the Permian
vegetation shows Mesozoic affinities, and that in fade the com¬
mencement of the Mesozoic tlora is to be sought in the Permian.
(Q. J. Cl. S., xxv, p. 158.)

The above references under the head of Mesozoic, though
alluding to the Carboniferous, are rightly introduced — but not
with the intention of accepting the former age as comprehending
the latter till further proof has been afforded.

New South JVales.

83

The differences between the conditions of the Damtida Coal¬
beds of India and the Coal-beds of New South Wales are by the
allowance of Dr. Ecist mantel sufficiently striking to justify delay
until further evidences have been produced for their union or
identity. At one time I held the opinion that the Damuda was
our nearest ally in tho defence of a Carboniferous age, but as
that has now to be regarded in a different light, the differences
alluded to must bo taken to imply somewhat different positions
for tho two formations.- Dor the absence of Marine fossils in
India, and the dissimilarity of botanical species among the plants,
with some other particulars, leave a margin for the adoption of a
provisional later date for the one than for the other.

But 1 say-this without prejudice, and though I had once on
this subject to dip my pen in the ink of controversy, I am willing
to accept with thankfulness the valuable instruction derived from
the able critical examination of the plants that has thrown so
much light on the comparative fossil vegetation of India and
Australia, and this too in continuation of what long ago I believed
to exist, tho presence in tho latter of true Triabsic as well as
Jurassic strata.*

Queensland and Western Australia. — Mr. Charles Moore (of
Bath), F.G.S., enumerates 171 species of Secondary animal fossils
from Queensland, all sent to him for description by myself ; and
sixty-two from Western Australia, of which twenty species are
common to England and that Colony. (See Q. J. G. S, xxvi, 201.)
(See Appendix XIX.)

In Mr. Dalrymple’s “ Report of It is Exploration on the North¬
east Coast of Queensland ,” (Brisbane , 1873, p. 20.), that enter¬
prising observer states that the flat-topped ranges and mountains

* It will bo som from the following extract of a communication made by
me to M. le Vicomte cl'Archaic, 14 Nov., 1850, ami which was published in tin*
“ Bull. Geot. Soc. France” that I held opinions expressed as at the present
respecting the position of Glossopieris in India mentioned by Hr. Oldham : —

“ D’oii foil pent inferer au moms qnc ee genre ne enraeterise pas seulement
l'fcre Jtirnssique. II pout s’etendre au-dessous aussi bien qu’ au-dessus, ct,
pronant ces ittits c» consideration, on ne pent pas y voir un motif oppose a ee
quo j’ai dit si fiouvent, quo hi formation Carboniiere dc hi Nouvelle-Galles
clu Sud ne pent etre purtagee coniine 1c propose M. M*C’oy, ot. quo, tandis
Qifelle montre do nombreuscs analogies avee cellos do fEurope, idle emlilhhv
par f existence a cede epoque do genres qui ailleurs se moritreut seulement
dans la formation Juragsiquc.

“II rests done a fairs anjourd'htu vve cojnpa raison attentive dc ces espheaa
de pi antes do u tenses de VInde , dc V.lustvatic, dc VAnfelcrrr, j'ajontorai
dc V Afrhjxie on tes G lossopierts sc rencontrcnt , dit- 011 , dans jcs couches a
Dicynodon de Illaun-Kopf.” (Extrait d'une lettre do W. E. Clarke, a M.
d’Archiac : Hull., xviii, p. 660.)

Dr. Feistmantcl is now endeavouring to satisfy this desirable object :n
relation to India.

84 Sedimentary Formations

about; the Endeavour River have “ red sandstone escarpments,”
a feature that assimilates the formation somewhat to the “ New
Red V or Triassic.

The latter collection belongs chiefly to the Lower Oolites,
Upper and Middle Lias; and the former embraces the Upper
Oolites and Cretaceous formations. Mr. Brown, Government
Geologist in Western Australia {“Report of 1873 ”), mentions
Mesozoic beds in the Darling Range, and again on the South
Coast, from Cape Rich to beyond Mount Barren and as far as
Cape Espcrauce. Saliferous and reddish sandstones, Ac., are the
chief rocks. On his chart they and their detritus occupy seven
degrees of latitude, and from one to three of longitude. But
there is nothing defined as to fossiliferous evidence, except about
Champion Bay. From Wizard Peak and Mount Fairfax I have
received numerous fossils through the agency and kindness of
the Hon. F. P. Barlee, F.R.G.S., Colonial Secretary, and the
Rev. C. G. Nicholay, of Geraldton, who not only added to my
collection, but supplied me with a personal survey of his
neighbourhood on an enlarged scale, and with more minute
details than Mr. Brown’s chart exhibits. (See Q. ,T. G. S., xxiii, 7.)

South Australia and Tasmania .— There does not appear to be
any fossiliferous evidence of Mesozoic formations in South Aus¬
tralia, where the rocks arc chiefly Palaeozoic, Metamorphic or
transmuted, and Tertiary.

In Tasmania, there is, no doubt, about the same evidence as
for New South Wales. Victorian geologists believe that the
Coal of Jerusalem is Secondary. I was inclined to think that
the neighbourhood of Green Ponds and Bagdad betrays a
resemblance to some portions of the Wianamatta shales and
sandstones of New South Wales. But the area there is far from
extensive.

Mr. Gould, who surveyed considerable portions of the Colony,
.says nothing leading to the idea of any extensive Secondary
areas; and whatever hold they may have on the mind of a
geologist who lias not carefully observed, must be due to pre¬
conceived notions as to the age of the Coal, some of which has
of late established its Palaeozoic character as unmistakeably as
the Beams of Anvil Creek, Ac.

Coal has been reached on the Mersey under the Marine
fossiliferous beds, as I always held it would be, in spite of
vaticinations to the contrary.

JYciv Caledonia .—Passing over to New Caledonia, the Secondary
formations arc represented by Triassic, Li a safe, and Neocomian
rocks or fossils.

On the Gtli July, 1SG3, a paper by M. Eugene Deslongchamps
was read before the Linnean Society of Normandy, on the
Geology of Hugon Island, New Caledonia, in which mention

New South Wales.

85

is made of a Pecten and fish scale from Cape St. Vincent, on the
S. S. A\ r . Coast, collected by M. E. Deplanches. Millions of an
Avieula (Monoiis) allied to M. salinaria of Goldfuss, of which
M. Ridimondiana, of Zittel, is a variety, also occur. Astarte,
Turbo Joitoni , and one other; Spirifera Caledonica ; S. Planclieti ;
Scyphia armata —all these are Upper Triassic.

M. Gander’s fossils, examined by M. Eischer, were ])ronounced
to be Monotis ; Halobia (an Austrian species); and Mytilus
'problematicus of the same formation.

The supposed Jurassic rocks contain Nucula near N. JPammcri
(De fr.), a Littorina, a Cardium, and an Astarte resembling A.
Voltzii (Goldf) M. Eischer believes, however, that these are
more likely to be Triassic also.

M. Municr-Chalmas names also as Jurassic Ostrea sublameb
losa ; Astarte (or Tan do don) prwcursor ; Pellatia Garnieri ; and
Cardiurn Caledonicum .

A large Pinna seems to represent the Cretaceous' rocks. A
tolerably full account of the Geology of New Caledonia will be
found in my “Address to the 21. tSoc. R.S.W., 1875”; see also
“ Note sur les Pcchcs, $[c." just published at Noumea, by M. Eatte.

Rew Zealand. — New Zealand exhibits abundance of proofs
that Secondary formations exist there; and not the least remark¬
able fact is, that Professor Hochstetter in 1S59 discovered there
the same Avieula Richmondiana as above, and Halobia Lomclli,
Avieula salinaria, with Monotis, Spirigera, Spirifera, &e., belong¬
ing to the Triassic epoch.

In my paper “ On Decent Geological Discoveries ,” I collected
as much of this kind of information as I then could ; but since
then the skill and labour of the Geological Survey of New
Zealand, under the direction of Dr. Hector, have produced an
abundant harvest of scientific details ; and to the able publi¬
cations and reports from that authority I may refer those who are
interested in the development of that most interesting group of
islands. They will find there ample evidence as to the existence
of Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous, as well as of Palaeozoic
rocks. The Saurian discoveries of Mr. T. Hood Cockburn Hood,
E.G.S. (see Q. J. G. S. xxvi, 1870, p. 409), also deserve com¬
memoration ; nor must the labours and great discoveries of Dr.
Haast, E.E.S., be unremembered.

So far as the Trias is concerned, Hochstetter’s discoveries of
the genera and species about Richmond have been rivalled by
Captain Hutton, in Southland, Otago, who found in 1872, on the
Moonlight Range, Monotis Richmondiana (Zitt.), and Halobia
Lomelli (AVissm.) On the western slope of IJokanuis, and on
the south side of the AVairaka Hills, he obtained the same
species, with others, proving that the rocks are the same as the

86

Sedimentary Formations

sandstones of Fiehmond, near Nelson, and also proving the Triassie
age of the deposits. ( t; Geology of Southland. Report of Explora¬
tions, Geol. Surv * N.Z.f p. 101.)

Not very distant the same careful observer defected some of
the same species as occur in Queensland in the Middle Jurassic
formation, described by Mr. Moore, eg., A start e JVol Iwmbi 1 laensis,
with oilier genera and species that link in the South with
the North island (p. 105). These discoveries justify the
inference that Triassie rocks are probably present also in New
South Wales.

JUetv Guinea . — Tt lias long been known that Jurassic rocks
exist at the northern end of New Guinea. But recently Signor
d’Albertis brought to Sydney from the Fly Iiiver several fossils,
among which Professor Livcrsidge noticed Belemnites and an
Ammonite (of Liassic facies), &c. These I also saw — but I. did
not recognize those species which I have from Queensland.

Cketaceous.

When I first announced in 1800 the proof that Secondary
fossils did exist in Australia, exhibited in Sydney, and
forwarded to Sir Henry Barfely for Professor M‘Coy’s inspection,
I especially mentioned the occurrence of Cretaceous species.*
This was doubted, and the whole series classified as “ not higher ”
than the “ lower part of the great Oolite But in 1S00, the
Professor himself announced from another part of Queensland
the occurrence of two Inocerami , and two Ammonites , from the
Flinders Fiver district. He also announced an Icthjosaurus, a
Plesiosaurus , and a Belemnitella , from lower Cretaceous strata of
the same district.

Mr. Moore says, of the Wbllumbilla fossils, “ That they all
belong to the Upper Oolite may with safety be inferred, but the
Cretaceous beds have a claim to be considered,’ 4 and he established
the existence of the genus Crioceras, which was first reported
by me.

In 1872, Mr. Daintrec, F.G.S., read his Notes on Queensland,
before the Geological Society, the Marine fossils illustrating
which were (as before stated) described by Mr. Etheridge, F.B.S.,
L. &E.,F.G.S., Palaeontologist to the Geological Survey of Great
Britain. The number of Oolitic species recorded is six, and of
Cretaceous twenty-five.

The expedition of 1872, in the Cape York Peninsula, in which
Mr. Norman Taylor, of the Victorian Survey, was Geologist, has

# See papers by the author “ On Recent Geol. Discoveries in Australasia
(18G1) pp. 27, 48, and “ On Marine Fossiliferous Secondarg Formations in
Australia” (Q. J. G. S., xxiii, 8.)

New South Wales .

87

acUled to the list of Secondary fossils in Queensland. These were
sent to me for inspection by the Minister for Public Works in
that Colony, and at his request forwarded to the Agent General
in London. They have not yet been fully described.

A still further amount of Cretaceous fossils, forwarded by Mr.
Hann, the leader of the Expedition of 1S72, to Mr. Etheridge,
and a large collection in my own cabinet, remain yet to be deter¬
mined.

This is sufficient to show the extent of Mesozoic formations
developed since I860.

Mr. Daintreo reckons the areas of the Cretaceous and Oolitic
formations in Queensland at 200,000 square miles ; the Carbon¬
aceous (Mesozoic) at 10,000, and the Palaeozoic Carboniferous
at IT,000, whilst the Devonian and Upper Silurian occupy 40,000.
The two younger, therefore, are nearly four times as extensive
as the older.

After the u Norman Taylor” collection had gone to England, I
received three or four specimens from the Table Mountain,
between Hanu’s Camps 41 and 42 (“Northern Expedition Report"),
and forwarded them to the Queensland Agent General in London
for inspection by Paleontologists at Home. Mr. Etheridge, the
Paleontologist of the Survey of Great Britain, considers the
fossils in that conglomerate rock to be a species of Hinnites
like II. velatus and an Ostrea, like O. Soioerhji and that they
belong to the Oolitic series. The same conglomerate, as 1. learn
by a more recent arrival, occurs on the high ranges between the
Palmer and Cooktown, under the deposit which Mr. Daintreo
calls Desert sandstone. It is a coarse rock containing broken
shells in a sandstone full of partly rounded pebbles. Mr,
Etheridge also considers the Walsh River series to be of Lower
Cretaceous forms. Some specimens of plants supposed to be
Glossopteris were also forwarded by me to Europe, with the
shelly rock. Mr. Carruthors’s determination is, that they were
not of that genus, but rather a form of Tseniopteris nearly allied
to S'tamjerUes ensis (Oldham and Morris in the Indian Survey
Memoirs), which Schimper calls Angioptcridensis . Another
specimen which I did not see in the great collection, but of which
I had a drawing from Mr. Taylor, was considered by several
geologists in Queensland, &c., to he Orthoceras, and, therefore,
Palaeozoic* Mr. Daintreo says there were several specimens like
Ortlioccras; and so I think the one in question was, but I con¬
sidered at the time that there was uo Orthoceras present in the
box, but a good many Belemnites, and I considered the sketch
referred to was of the same genus.

I have since received the following statement—“ There was no
specimen of Orthoceras in the entire series.”

88

Sedimentary Formations

I have also received a list of the genera of Walsh River fossils,
in Mr. Etheridge’s handwriting. It is as follows, making all of
them Lower Cretaceous :—

Ammonites, allied to A. Cl/j -
perform is.

Ammonites sp.

Crioceri.

Bclemnites.

Alyacites.

Byssoarca.

Solernya or Iridina.

Area.

Panopaea.

Inoceramus.

Hi unites or Avicula.

Cytherea.

Cyprina.

Myoconcha.

Pecten.

Teredo or Teredina, in fossil
wood.

An opinion has been adopted that the Mesozoic fossils from
Queensland, both those described by Air. Moore and these by
Mr. Etheridge, were in mere drifted nodules. Air. Taylor assures
me that such is not the case with the latter, and I long ago gave
a section of the beds at Wollumbilla, proving, as in the York
Peninsula, that the nodular masses were derived from a soft
shale, being in fact concretions. If they have been drifted they
have not travelled far.

Air. Taylor {“limin's Report?' p. 13) seems to have found the
shelly deposit before mentioned on “ a ilat-topped Carboniferous
range” (on 9 Sept., 1872) ; and by a report of April, 1875, from
Cook Town, it appears that a line seam of bituminous Coal has
been, discovered at the junction of Oaky Creek and the Endea¬
vour River, 20 miles from Cook Town ; but from the determina¬
tion of Air. Carruthers, this Coal (confirming, however, Air.
Taylor’s statement) is not of the Glossopteris age. The Coal of
the latter series is not known to extend further north than
20° 35' south.

In 1S77 Professor Liversidge received from the Rev. G. Brown
from Yew Britain and Yew Ireland (lat. 48° S. and long. 150° E.)
some grotesque figures “ cut by the natives out of a soft white
pulverulent material/’ said to be thrown up by earthquake
waves, and “ having the appearance of plaster of Paris.” It
holds numerous remains of Forarninifera?.

The account of it is given in an interesting paper read before
the Roy. Soe. Yew South Wales, and published in their Journal
1877, vol. xi, pp. 85-91, “ On the Occurrence of Chalk in the Neio
Britain Group." An analysis is given in comparison with Eng¬
lish chalk, which it certainly resembles ; but a doubt may be ex¬
pressed as to its being true chalk. Something like it, but less
cretaceous, has been found in Yew Zealand, and I have found
white calcareous fragments in the drifts of Y. S. AVales re¬
sembling it. Professor Liversidge adds, that no true chalk has

New South Wales.

89

yet been found in Queensland or New Guinea, and I doubt
whether it is older than Tertiary, probably such as the white
beds of the Australian Bight or of Aldinga.

Mr. Brady, E.R.S., states that the Foranhnifene are nearly all
South Atlantic deep-sea species ; there were other fossils also
found during the “ Challenger” Expedition.

§ G. Teetiauy Bocks.

Kainozoic of Duncan.

Throughout the whole of Eastern Australia, including New
South Wales and Queensland, no Tertiary Marine deposits have
been discovered. There are, however, in various places of New
South "Wales patches of plant deposits which, according to the
frequent notices of geologists, may be referred to sonic period of
the Tertiary epoch. A silicified sandstone or quartzite of this
kind, full of impressions of ferns and leaves of trees, but not
known to be now living, occurs at Jerrawa Creek not far from
Yass. It is probably Miocene. On the summit of the Cor¬
dillera, near Xundle, about the Peel River Diggings, occurs a
ferruginous bed full of leaves. On the Richmond River occurs
a white magnesite, full of yellowish impressions of leaves. At
Ivewong, in the county of Gowan, there is a bluish deposit of
line aluminous matter with black impressions. Erom a depth of
GO feet in a shaft near Bungonia, a pale yellowish white deposit
with similar impressions was brought up ; and on the summit of
a “ made” hill, above Kiandra Gold Eield, at a height of 4,000
feet above the sea, and in a region now partly covered with snow
many months in the year, there is a deposit of black clay with
such casts of leaves as occur in similar clay near Hyde in New
Zealand.

In recent visits to various gold-fields in the Western districts,
I have found plant-beds of somewhat similar kind cither cut by
the shafts or distributed in the wash-dirt below the alluvial
deposits, underlying in some cases thick masses of basalt. Such
occur at Gulgong; at Cargo; under Bald Hill at Hill End;
aud also at Blayney.

At Lucknow also occur deposits of branches and fragments of
trees under the basalt, and on the Uralla Gold-field, and at
Home Rule, on Cooyal Creek, lignite and woody matter of a
similar kind were seen by me in the lowest deposit of the deepest
shaft.

No botanist is willing to declare what is the exact age of such
deposits ; but some of the leaves aro supposed to represent,
among others, the foliage of Fag us ; yet it was only in 186G that
a beech forest was discovered, by the Director of the Botanical

9°

Sedimentary Formations

Gardens, growing oil the Maclcay River. On comparing the
liviug leaves with the impressions in the various deposits men¬
tioned, I can see no specific identity. This want of identity
indicates, that however the plant may resemble living plants they
cannot be ot a recent period ; and yet there are occasionally such
close resemblances as to lead some good botanists to infer a
recent period for some of them. These and some other Tertiary
plants have been sent on at his request to Dr. Feistmantel, but
too recently for learning bis opinion.

The most remarkable instance I have examined is on the coast,
about 12 miles north of Cape IIowo, where, at a place called
Chouta (between Turn and Boonda), a cliff about 100 feet high,
formed of sand and white silicate of alumina, contains beds of
lignite charged with sulphide of iron, and which are full of phyto-
lites much allied to the living vegetation. From the clays, some
of which are nearly kaolin, articles of pottery have been formed.
It has been proved that, by distillation, a fair proportion of
lubricating oil may be produced from the lignitiforous clay, and
other products are expected to result from these deposits. The
clilf is about GO feet thick from the sea to the top of the clays,
and borings below the sea-level have shown a still greater
thickness.

These deposits lie between the horns of the little bay at Tura
and Boonda, resting at one end on the highly undulating Palaeo¬
zoic rocks, and at the other on a mass of porphyry. They were,
formerly, no doubt, deposited in a depression among the slopes
of the hills, but the wearing away of the coast has left a clilf of
clay and sand instead of the original clilf of hard rocks. It is
remarkable that at the south end, the rocks assume the character
of a breccia of quartz cemented by siliceous matter (probably
like a deposit mentioned by Mr, Gould as occurring in Tasmania)
and in it analysis has detected the presence of gold, though some
quartz veins at the north end contained none.

My impression at first was that the lignite is recent, hut I
place the deposits under the present head because it may be
possible, notwithstanding the opinion of a botanical friend whose
judgment is worthy of esteem, the plants are not recent. Baron
Yon Mueller, to whom I submitted them, hesitated to express an
opinion. They are deposited in clays of various kinds, chiefly
white. Some of the hardened clinker-like sands covering the
clays remind me of the sands on the coast of Dorset, at Studland
and Bournemouth. If this be really a Tertiary locality, it does
not contradict the general assertion at the commencement of this
section, for no shells of any kind have been detected in any part
of these beds. Swampy and stunted plants still grow' on the
sands, which are very wet, and probably reproduce the phenomena
beneath them, with the exception of the white clays which were

New South Wales.

9 1

in part derived from the decomposed fclspathic matter of the
porphyry. In various parts of Maueero there are lignite-like local
thin deposits, but on analysis they have proved valueless.

By far the most interesting discovery that has been made in
relation to the plant-beds was realized in the basaltic district of
The Forest between Orange and Carcoar.

In the vicinity of the latter place are deposits- of calcareous
rock of the age of the Wellington Cave osseous breccia, also con¬
taining fragments of bone. I believe some specimens have been
sent to Europe.

But these have not the same interest attached to them as
the plant remains have.

The description of several new genera and species of these has
been given in “Observations on New Vegetable Fossils of the Auri¬
ferous Driftsr by Baron E. Yon Mueller, C.M.G., M.D., Ph.D.,
E.R.S., and EX, Government Botanist, &c.; published by the
“Mining Department” of Victoria, 1871. These have been dis¬
covered not only in The Forest, but also in Victoria, at I [addon,
Nintingbool, Tanjil, and at Beech worth. They seem to belong to
the later Pliocene formation, and to consist of plants allied to
the present forest-belt of Eastern Australia. An abstract of the
first account of them was read before the Geological Society on
22nd dune, 1870, and afterwards copied from the Quarterly
Journal (vol. xxvii) into the “ Geological Magazine 1870,
p. 300.

They consist of the following species, viz.:—

Spondylostrobus

Phymatocaryou

Trematocaryon

Ithytidotheca

4 >>

Plesiocapparis
Celypbina ...
Odon toeary on
Conchotlieca

Penteune ...

SmytJi ii
Mack ay i
antfulare
3F Lellani
Lynchii
pleioclinis
prisca
JMCoyi
Macyreyorii
ro l uncial a
turyida
Glarlcei
brachyclinis
trachyclinis
pluriovulata

Sullivani
Wilkinson ii

Dieune
Platycoila ...

Ithytidocaryon
and, probably, some others.

This last species was discovered somewhere near Carcoar, in
one of the gold-leads, in the beginning of March, 1875, oil the
10th of which month I had the good fortune to rc-discovcr it in

92

Sedimentary Formations

the refuse from a shaft near Lumpy Swamp, in The Forest,
between Orange and Carcoar. Baron Yon Mueller having
stated in his Report of 29th July, 1874, that we require to learn
“ what was the nature of their leaves and floral organs” ; in order
to search for these, 1 made a second journey to The Forest, having
first explored it in 1872, and found, together with four specimens
of Ithytidocanjon Wilkin sonii and a number of already described
species, several leaven embedded in a ligneous clay in the refuse
of a shaft, together with portions of the branches of some tree or
trees. The tissue of the leaves was in some cases so thin that it
peeled off on touching. The collection, which included a few
other specimens of seeds and seed-vessels given to me by Mr. A.
Montgomery, who lives in the neighbourhood, J sent on to the
Baron, who said he'would forward them to Professor Sehimper,
of Strasbourg, as he himself was unable at the time to undertake
their examination. In a short time, therefore, we may expect to
know more about these interesting plants.

The thickness of the rocks in The Forest and at Lumpy Swamp
varies somewhat, but an example or two will show the character
of the country over the gold-leads :—

Alluvium.- 10 feet.

Hard basalt ... ... ... ... ... 40 „

Decomposing basalt ... ... ... ... 40 „

AVashdirt.

2. At Tigoroo shaft, near which I procured the seed-vessels :

Earth .10 feet.

Basalt .85 „

Peat and shale ... ... ... ... ... 10 „

AVashdirt with seeds and leaves.

At Haddon, in Victoria, the fossil fruit was found in one shaft
at the bottom of the following section, resting on Silurian slates.
(See Lynch’s plans, “ Vegetable Fossils of Victoria.”)

Black soil. ,. 1| feet.

Red clay . . 4 „

Lumpy red and black clay ... ... ... 26 „

Clayey honeycombed rock, with hard cores, suc¬
ceeded by zeolitic basalt ... ... ... 100 „

Do. decomposed at base ... ... ... ... 1| „

Black clay... ... ... ... . 7 „

Drift gravel and sand (auriferous), Trees at the

bottom .10 „

Auriferous wash dirt, (Fossil fruits) ... ... 6 „

156

New South Wales.

93

At Beechworth (El Dorado) occur wood and leaves in variably
coloured clay above coarse drift, covering black clay with wood
and leaves ; and below this, two to eight feet of washdirt, holding
fruits and woods, resting on granite. (From Mr. Arrowsmith’s
plan. Id .)

Professor M { Coy has enumerated in the list of Tertiary Vic¬
torian fossils between thirty and forty Oliyocene species; thirty
to fifty or more Miocene, together with many tropical types of
Dicotyledonous plants ; and from the auriferous drifts four Mol¬
luscs, six Marsupials, and a Dingo, with the wood and fruit of a
Banksia and the foliage of Eucalyptus oblidua. These are partly
Pliocene and partly Post pliocene, lie has also figured and de¬
scribed a new Squalodon (S. IVilk in so nil) from the Cape Otway
coast Miocene beds, and some species of Catcharodon from the
Geelong district.

The occurrence of Banksia (four species) in the Tertiary for¬
mations of lice ring, in the Tyrol (see Clarke’s “ Southern Gold
Fields p. 173) and in Victoria, is a highly instructive fact as to
the ancient vegetation of the world. The seed-vessels of plants
deep below the surface of the auriferous drifts of Victoria and
New South AVales were also mentioned by me in 1860, iu the
work alluded to above (p. 173).

In 1S70 I collected a number of seed-vessels and leaves from
the “leads” of IToine Buie, and since then Mr. Wilkinson has
made a considerable addition, from the auriferous deposits at
Gulgong, to the species described, from the district of The Forest
and Belieree.

Baron Von Mueller has described them as
Ochthodocaryon
Eisothccaryon
Illieites
Pentaeoila...

Pleiacron ...

Acrocoila ..

* Ph yinatocaryon
*Plesiocapparis
Spondylostrobus
Wilkinsonia

n the following list:—
Wilhinsonii.
semiseptalum,
ostrocaipo.
Gulcjongensis.
elacliocarpum.
anodonta.

Involve,
leptocelyphis.
Smytliii.
bilaminata.

The latter as well as other species of those genera marked *
found also at The Forest. 1 n addition to these another has been
found.

Towards the north of the Cape York Peninsula the sandstones
are barren of fossils, and about the Cape seem to have more the
character of Latente , resting on Porphyry.

Mr. Wilkinson, in his researches among the tin-mines of New
England, recognized the drifts which in Victoria are considered
Pliocene; and Mr. Norman Taylor and the late Professor

94

Sedimentary Formations

Thomson, in tlieir paper “ On the occurrence of Diamond near
Mudyee ” (Trans. Roy. Soc. ofJSF.8. IV., 1S70, p. 94$) mako mcntioii
of older and newer Pliocene drift. Whether there be any fossil
evidence for the propriety of these terms .1 know not. That there
are drifts of different parts of one epocli I believe; and, perhaps,
the divisions arc good, even if the designations bo too refined.
Dr. Duncan has advised us to postpone the Lyelliau designations
for the present. Having very recently visited almost every
locality mentioned in that paper, and examined for myself much
of the alluvia of the gold-fields in a large portion of the county
of Phillip, I am prepared to testify to the extreme faithfulness of
the description given by Messrs. Taylor and Thomson. My
remark, therefore, about the term Pliocene is not to be taken as
complaining of it,♦but as a justification for the introduction of
some of the drifts in question under the present head. A dis¬
tinction of time is however clearly marked in the character of the
various deposits or in the difference of botanical remains.

Perhaps some of these deposits in the gold-fields, as well as
some of the shelly conglomerates at the mouth of the Flinders,
had better be considered as belonging to the next division of my
subject; and though placed as Tertiary, I am not satisfied they
arc such, as no positive proof exists by unmistakable evidence
that they are so.

In the far Western interior, beyond the Darling, shelly deposits
of line sandstone have been reached in well-making, and by the
kindness of my friend Mr. Woore, C.O.L. of the Albert District,
I have been put in possession of several good specimens, together
with fossil wood, apparently not very ancient, which I believe to
be Tertiary.

I have also from another contributor a very good specimen of
a Thalasxtna resembling T. Diner ii, from another part of U -New
Holland,” which is said to have been found somewhere outlie
right bank of the Darling, not far from Mount Murchison. For
the species alluded to, see the late Mr. Bell’s paper in Q.J.G.S.,
1, p. 93. Mr. B. received it from the late William 8. Macleay,
Esq., F.K.S., of Elizabeth Bay, Sydney.

Mr. pain tree has stated in his views respecting the Desert-
sandstone of his map, that it is a Kainozoic deposit, which once
covered the greater part of Australia. In the places where it is
in great force, in Northern Queensland, it overlies the Cretaceous
rocks, and underlies lava beds. It contains fossil wood ; and a
Tellina which I sent to Mr. Daintree, from the neighbourhood of
Leichhardt's crossing-place, on the Minder’s River, would, lie
says, if coining from the desert sandstone, show that that forma¬
tion is not lacustrine. In various parts of New South Wales
there are cappings of fine hardened sandstone which may have
some relation to the strata referred to.

New South Wales.

95

Mr. Daintree lias, however, mistaken the locality he gives to
the Tellina. He received a portion of a Trilobite , and not a
Tallinn, from Barkly’s Table-land, and a cast of a whole one, which
would give to that locality a Devonian character.

There is no doubt a line waterworn drift over large areas of
the auriferous and stanniferous regions and in the southern part
of Mancero ; but in many cases the drift betrays its origin, as the
result of the disintegration of conglomerates, and such I believe
to be the origin of the drift seen by Professor Liversidge near
Wall era wang. (**Report on m Iron Ore and Coal Deposits” read
before the lloval Society, 9 Dec., 1871.) He compares it with
the diamond drift at Hinge raj alluding to the u nodules of con¬
glomerate ” in each ; but this conglomerate may be found in situ
in the Coal-bearing beds close at hand.

Many drifts have undoubtedly been dispersed, and rc-aggloin-
erated and again dispersed, from one age to another, and the
fineness of the pebbles and their perfect attrition afford testimony
as to their antiquity, though now called recent.

The outliers of the Tertiary deposits in Is. \Y. Australia and
what is called the “Northern Territory” (attached to South
Australia) are little known beyond the coast, but there is probably
a wide area between Cape Yillaret on the North-west Coast and
the watershed of the A ictoria liiver in which Tertiary beds will
be probably be found. The Pcv. J. E. Tenison-Woods in 1801 *
points out the Coburg Peninsula as Tertiary, and Port Essingion
was considered by Professor Juices to have evidence of the same.
Judging from collections in my own cabinets, there must be,
however, a preponderance of far older formations. It is, never¬
theless, also probable, froin its auriferous conditions and the pre¬
sence of granite and basalt, that there are Tertiary deposits in that
portion of the interior, and of which the basalt may lie the igneous
representative. r l he Tertiary fossils of the South Coast of Aus¬
tralia, from near Cape Howe to Capo Lceuwin, have been part ially
known from the mention of them by several authors ; and those ot
South Australia and the Murray liiver have been more or less
elaborately treated of by Sturt, Eyre, Angus, and with critical
acumen by Woods, Buslc, and Professor Tate of Adelaide. But
somehow the great sections, nearly 000 feet thick, along the
Australian Bight have yet to be catechised as to whether the
Australian Tertiaries follow the laws which ruled the existence
of these deposits in Europe, or whether the peculiar aberrations
noticed by Mr. AVoods in some of his valuable writings are or are
not exceptions to those laws*

* “ North Australia: Its Physical Geography and Natural JUslory.” Bg

Rev. J. R- Tenison- Woods, F.R.G.S., R.L.S., R.G.S., cfc. } p. 10 .

96

Sedimentary ’Formations

New Zealand also contains a great number of Tertiary genera
and species admirably detailed and arranged as belonging to the
Upper Pliocene, Upper and Lower Miocene, and Upper Eocene,
in a Catalogue by Captain F. W. H utton, F.G-.S.(“ Geological
Survey, New Zealand," Wellington, 1873), of Tertiary Mollusca
and Eehinodermata, in the collection of the Colonial Museum.

The classification is based on th & percentage of recent species,
the proportions of which are 70. 31, 23, and 0 per cent.

With respect to the Australian Tertiaries, however, no one
has done so much as the Rev. J. E. Tcnison- Woods whose pub¬
lications on the Victorian, Tasmanian, and South Australian
strata are numerous and valuable. To enumerate them here
would be unnecessary,as they will probably ere long be brought out
by himself in a form available for the public benefit, and to the
public appreciation of his long and persistent studies. Besides
his numerous papers published elsewhere, Air. Woods has con¬
tributed in 1877 to the Royal Society of New South Wales, uo
less than four papers showing great ability and very extensive
knowledge of bis subject. It appears from his researches, that
there are peculiarities in the Australian beds, and that it would
not be altogether safe in relation to Australian deposits to trust
to European arrangements ; nor does be think it clear that the
Queensland cretaceous beds are altogether distinct from a com¬
mingling with Tertiaries. He has adopted also a view which
must; to a great extent be true, as to the sudden upheaval of
portions of the Southern Coast of New Holland. As to the
cliffs of the Australian Bight which have never yet been scien¬
tifically examined, there must have been at least GOO feet of
elevation, but the fossil ilcrous beds appear to rest on granite, of
which the slopes are abrupt, and which descend according to a
statement made to me by the late Capt. Owen Stanley, E.N.,
F.B.S., to an enormous depth, of which mention is made in
“ Gaol. Magazine" vol. iii., pp. 503-551. Considering the depths
sounded by the “ Challenger,” there is nothing remarkable in the
idea that there may be depths within the assumed distance from
the shore as great as any in the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans, or
even greater, taking into account the general freedom from
islands and reefs, regarding the granite as an evidence of upheaval,
and its structure in vast nodular or spherical concretions. That
such upheavals occupying even large areas along the Southern
coast, are ndt inconsistent with subsidences of very great depth
and extent on the East coast of Australia, offers no difficulty to
those who regard such occurrences as the result of causes
generally affecting the bottom of the ocean.

Professor Tate of Adelaide has already given a fresh impetus
to the study of Australian Tertiary (xeology, by his investigations
respecting the Murray beds, and by the discovery among tliern

New South Wales.

97

of two species of fossils which have hitherto been held Creta¬
ceous, an additional example of the manner in which certain
genera ascend in time to overlying formations (see pp. 1G, 31)*
The latest discovery of the existence of Tertiary Marine fossils
is on the S.E. Coast of New Guinea. On the voyage of the
“ Chcvert,” the Hon. W. Macleay obtained a series of rocks and
fossils, which 1 had the pleasure of seeing, and considered to be
Tertiary. Since then they have been examined by Mr. C. S.
"Wilkinson, whose experience of the Victorian Tertiaries is so
well known. i I e has determined (“ Proe. Linn. Sue. N.S. W.f vol.
i., pj>. 113-117) the following Lower Miocene shells, from Hairs
iSound, most of which he recognizes as known in Victoria, and
of which two have been described by Prof. McCoy (“ Prodrom.
Pee. /”) : —

Voluta ( maeroptera )

„ (an t i-cing u lata)

Ostrea.

Cytherea.

Crassatella?

Pecten.

Turritella.

Natica.

Triton ?

Holium P
Astarte.

Corbula.

La?da.

Venus.

Cypnea.

Echinodermata (2).

“Notes on a Collection of Geological Specimens collected by W.
Macleay , Esq., F.L.S., Sfc., from the Coasts of New Guinea ’ Cape
York, and neighbouring Islands: By C. S. Wilkinson , F.G.S ., Gov.
Geologist .”

The matrix of these fossils is described as exactly that of the
Lower Miocene beds near Geelong and Cape Otway. At Jvatau,
on the west side of the Bay of Papua, there are also fragments
of shells in clay similar to those of Hall’s Sound and Yule
Island.

As described by Mr. Macleay, lltli Oct., 1875, Yule Island
has a considerable inward clip from a horizontal face of cliff.
The rock is calcareous, with corals, shells, echini, &c., bedded like
the coral rag of Oxford. 13’Albertis mentions basalt in the
valleys, and coralline cappings on the hills, which reach a height
above the sea-level of from 600 to 700 feet. In Victoria there
is a similar arrangement— “ Yellow and blue calcareous clays
full of fossil shells, overlaid by thick beds of coralline limestone,
consisting of an aggregate of comminuted fragments of shells
and echinoderms.”

Mr. "W ilkinson regards the ferruginous capping of the porphyry
of Cape York, which is but 00 miles distant from the Papuan
coast, as Tertiary, and that the New Guinea beds may be yet
found in the Cape York Peninsula. Of course, future researches
a

98 Sedimentary Formations

may discover fresh deposits of Tertiary age, hut so far as
examination of the collections in my possession from Capo
York, New Guinea, Brighton Cliffs, Elemington, &c., may serve
as a guide, there is no proof of anything further than a resem¬
blance in the colour and composition of the ferruginous sand¬
stones of the Victorian localities to justify the supposition at
present.

Dr. Eattray (Q.J.G.S., xxv. 207), in his 11 Notes on the
Geology of Cape York Peninsula ” (read 2nd May, 1809), says
distinctly: “No fossils have been detected ’ in the sandstone
“between the volcanic rock beneath and the superimposed Post-
tertiarv ironstone,” in the bold cliffs of Albany Island and the
opposite mainland. He mentions also that the Jardines, in
their traverse of the Peninsula, found the same rock at various
parts of their route ; but he says also, that at the north end of
Albany Island, where a boss of porphyry protrudes and dis¬
places the overlying sandstone and ironstone, line examples of
chertified clay, ironstone, and quartzite may be seen at their
point of contact ” (p. 302.)

Now, Mr. Wilkinson gives a list of rock specimens as follows:

1. Quartz porphyry (Palaeozoic) (?) from Cape York, found

underlying beds of Tertiary (?) ferruginous sandstone.

2. Vesicular basalt and brecciated volcanic tufa (Upper

Tertiary), from Darnley Island.

3. Small concretions of limonite, with polished looking sur¬

faces, dredged up off the Coast of New G uinea.

4. Specimens of Chalcedony and flint, from Kail's Sound.

5. Oolite limestone (Tertiary), very friable, from Bramble

Bay.

(I Yellow calcareous (Tertiary), from Katau Eiver.

7. Yellow and blue calcareous (Tertiary), from Yule

Island and Hall’s Sound.

Whether No. 4 has any relation to the “chertified clay
ironstone ” of Eattray I know not, hut it is certain that there
are many instances to be found in New Guinea of highly altered
strata. No. 3 is also a common variety of iron ore in many
places besides thoso indicated, e.g., at New Harbour, 100
feet above the sea, where the nodules of iron have the exact
kind of polish mentioned in No. 3, and are of considerable size.
[Similar nodules, but of red species, occur also at Port Essing-
ton, on the opposite horn, so to speak, of the Gulf of Carpen¬
taria.]

Although I do not go fully into particulars respecting evi¬
dence in my own possession concerning the Tertiary beds in the
localities already mentioned, yet I may state that the calcareous
rock of light colour occurs on various points between the coast

New South Wales .

99

and the Astrolabe Range, and, according to the data given me by
officers of H.jVLSL “Basilisk,” nearRedscar Head, at an elevation
of 100 feet. I consider these beds to be Miocene also.

There are also junks of fossil-wood with thin veins of calespar.

It may be well, in conclusion of this section, to allude to the
facts pointed out in the previous parts, relating to the occurrence
of genera and species in formations older than those in which
they may usually occur.

In reference to such a contingency in Tertiary strata of Aus¬
tralia, the Rev. Mr. Woods in one of his papers seems to hesi¬
tate as to the passage into the Tertiaries from the Cretaceous,
at the time of writing, he having seen no good grounds for the
admission of sucli an occurrence. But since the date of that
paper History of Austr. Tert. Gcol.f read before Roy. 8oc. Tas.,
11th July, 1870], we find his admission \ u Jonrn. Roy . Soc.
JV. S. W.y xi., 75, 1877] of two genera of generally considered
Mesozoic ago having been found in the acknowledged Middle
Tertiary strata of Aldinga, in South Australia — species each of
JBelcmnifes and Balenia — discovered by Professor Tate [See Q. J. Cx.S.
Feb. 7, 1S77, xxx., p. 20G.] He adds, that though Salenia was
considered to be extinct, and a characteristic of Mesozoic form,

“ a living species was dredged up by the “ Challenger.’ ”

Dr. Duncan, President of the Geological Society, remarked
on the interest attached to the discovery of the Belemnite,
which “ added another to the curious examples of the survivors
of older forms of life in Australia.” As he expressed it, it was
another of the Cretaceous forms “ which had outlived the Cre-
tjiceous period. This and similar discoveries showed the impos¬
sibility ot comparing Australian and English strata on purely
Palaeontological data.” Other speakers confirmed the occur¬
rence of such an apparent anomaly by facts from other localities.

Air. AY oods does not, however, think the doctrine of evolution
can he sustained from Australian evidences, and has an explana¬
tion of his own, not revealed.

He says, further, that “ during more than twenty years of
researches in Australian Tertiary geology I have sought for any
reasonable evidence in favour of evolution, or clue to its mode of
operation, and have found none whatever. I must add, that
Australian geology, whether reluctantly or not, must admit that
she can urge nothing in favour of that theory being true, the true
explanation of nature as we find it.”

IOO

Sedimentary Formations

He concludes also, that “ to assert that any part of the con¬
tinent has been preserved as dry land since the Mesozoic period,”
would be a hasty conclusion, “and that the weight of* evidence is
against it.” QAIisi. Anst. Tert. Geol op. cit., p. 25.)

§ 7. Quaternary Formation and Recent Accumulations.

The Quaternary Fauna of Australia has been so long known
by the patient and skilful researches of Professor Owen, that
there is no need to do more than refer to his writings as the
source of most of our knowledge respecting the strange animals
that preceded the human epoch and perhaps extended into it.
Huxley and others have also added to the general history of these
creatures.*

The Diprotodon appears not to have been limited to any one
portion of Eastern Australia, for its remains have been found in
South Australia and Queensland as tar north as the York
Peninsula.

In many of the “ gold-leads” also, fragments of bones are
found. A section of one sample, at Wattle Flat, above the Turon
River, is given in my paper on “ Fossil J3ones ” (Q.J.G-.S., xi.,
]). 405, 1855), and in “Anniversary Address to lioyal Society ,
N.S.W., 1873,” p. 14.

One of the most recent discoveries of the extinct kangaroos is
that of a portion of a skull of Sthenurus minor , from the district
of the Castlercagh River, described by Professor Owen (“ Proceed.
Zool. SocApril 17, 1877”) as having relations to Dorcopsis

* An anecdote* may be introduced hero which may have some interest for
visitors to the Australian Museum. In 1847, Mr. Turner sent to Sydney a
'box of bones from King’s Creek, in Darling Downs, and Dr. Leichhardt, Mr.
"Wall (then Curator of the Museum), with myself examined them, and found
there nearly the whole of the bones of the head, though in fragments only,
besides other prominent portions of the Diprotodon skeleton, which had only
hcon then partially known to Professor Owen, who had not at that time seen
the upper jaw. So far, therefore, this individual was unique. With much
trouble avc put the bones together, and a cast, was afterwards made of the
skull, which is still in the Museum. A paper contributed by myself (dated
30th November, 1847), and afterwards re-published m the Appendix to my
"Report of 14-th October, 1853 (“ On the Geology of the Condamine Rive r”),
and some letters from the late W. S. Mnelcny, Esq., and Dr. Leichhardt,
detailed the characters of the animal as far as they were then known, and the
condition and other contents of Mr. Turner’s collection. This would not
deserve any mention here, but for the sake of introducing a curious event
relating to the head of the Diprotodon alluded to. Mr. Turner sold his
collection to the late Mr. Benjamin Boyd, who sent, it to England. The ship
wa 9 wrecked at Beachy Head, on the coast, of Sussex, and the collection, form¬
ing part of the relies of the cargo which were sold, was taken to London, and
Professor Owen bought it of the dealer who lmd become its owner, not know¬
ing its history.

New South Wales.

IOI

(Mueller). It was given to me by Mr. Lowe of Gooree. I for¬
warded it to Professor Owen, who deposited it in the British
Museum as the type of the species.*

In many parts of the existing region, all over the surface,
wherever the basalt rock is not denuded, also near Sydney, there
are local deposits which might be called “till,” were any Testacea
found in them; and in the Interior there are widely spread
accumulations of drift pebbles, which, as on the Hunter and
"Wollondilly, are rounded by attrition in their long journey from
the mountains whence they have been derived. Sometimes, also,
the breaking up of conglomerates has contributed to this drift.

On Peak Downs there are deep accumulations of drift, such as
transmuted beds of the Carboniferous formation, igneous rocks
such as porphyry and basalt, and fragments of the older Paheozoic
formation. Many of these are encrusted with thin calcareous
cement, which forms cups of clear calc-spar in hollows of a tine
porphyritic grit — the same grit occurring on the Warrego, on the
Ballandoon and Narran ridges, with transmuted quartzite, also
in wells there and on the Darling near Fort Bourke, in which
drift fine gold was detected by me to exist on the Downs, and
has been again reported to me front the base of Bankings Ranges
on the Darling River, the furthest known Western auriferous
locality in New South Wales.

In 18G9 1 reported the discovery of the femur of a bird, at the
depth of 188 feet, in drift resting on granite, from a well in that
part of Peak Downs (22° 40' S.) which lies between Lord s Table
Mountain and the head of Theresa Creek, near the track from
Clermont to Broad Sound. Compared with the hones of Dinornis
in the Australian Museum, both the Curator of that institution,
and myself came to the same conclusion as to its genus, and
accordingly it was reported in the “ Geological Magazine as
Dinornis. Professor Owen has, however, removed it into another
genus Dromornu 1 , considering it to have belonged to a Struthioid
bird. If it was such, of course (especially after the deep sound¬
ings between Australia and New Zealand, established by H.M.S.
“ Challenger” in 1874), the speculations I indulged on a possible
former connection between those countries as illustrated by such

* See “t Tourn. Hop. Soe. N. S. IF. 1877,” voL xi., p. 200. Willi reference
to this 1 have a communication from Professor Owen, dated 11th February,
1878, of which the following is an extract:—“ I thank you for your timely
appeal for the preservation of skulls and skeletons of the existing Marsupials
prior to their extinction —that is but a question of time. Man is fitted to
that function, save in regard to such species, man inclusive, of which lie can
make any profitable use! It is an encouragement to study and to describe
your fossils, to find ‘ Papers’ so kindly commended as mine on SLhenvrus
minor. When shall we get a skull or jaw, or fragment of jaw with teeth, of
your old 25-foot-long-lizard, Merjalania prison? It was contemporary with
Diprotodon .”

102

Sedimentary Formations

a discovery are worth little. But if it was a Dromornis , tlien it
tails in with the relationship to a present bird, the Emu, just as
the Kangaroos of this epoch are related in structure to the
gigantic Marsupials of a past age.

[For correspondence, connected with its first “ identification,”
see u Journ. Boy. Hoc. N.H. W., 1S77,” xi., p. 45—*10. See also a
Memoir “ On Dinorms: containing a Best oration of the Skeleton oj
Dixounjs Maximus (Owen), with an Appendix on Additional
Evidence of the Genus Dromornis in Australia: Jig Prof.
O'vkv, C.B., F.R.S., &t\,” Trans. Zool. Hoc. Lon. x», pt. iii., Oct. 1,
1S77 ]

Mr. Thomas Oockburn Hood's discovery of crocodilian remains
in New Zealand seems to establish in another way some possible
connection long ago with distant regions, and crocodiles are yet in
Queensland, the nearest probable land in the supposed insular or
present fragmentary alliance with the former country.

The Northern coasts and islands would show also similar rela¬
tions to New Guinea, and the only difference between the
present conditions of such connections consists in the shallow
seas of the present period in the latter, and the deep ocean
between the points of direct communication in the other.

That the Pacific Ocean was formerly over wide areas now
occupied as land has been a favourite view with many geographers;
and although the Great Pacific Continent is rejected bv others,
vet there are not wanting additional proofs to sustain the decision,
as to a great part of the ocean, as held by Fournier. (See
infra.)

Africa and India, as well as Australia, Now Zealand, and New
Guinea, were probably in parts united. Not only do fossil plant
remains add testimony to the probability, but the wingless birds,
the reptiles, the vegetation of the present period, and the Marsu-
pialiascem to connect the Northern regions, whilst, as Mi*. Blan-
ford shows in his interesting paper, “ On the Plant-hearing series
of India or the former existence of an Indo-Oceanic Continent ”
(sec Q.J.GvS.,xxxi.,p. 510), a similar connection took place to the
AVest.

It is not unsatisfactory, as to possible union of New Caledonia
and New Holland, to find a similar view taken,upon grounds
distinct from fossiliferous evidence or that of birds and reptiles.
Under the head of “ Geographic Bol unique" in the u Comptes
Bendus des Sciences de 1'Acad"’ des Sciences tome 70, p, 77),
there is a paper by M. Eug. Fournier, entitled, 4i Notice sur la
Dispersion Geograpliique des Fougeres de la Nouvelle Caledonia.A
The author gives a list of ferns special, as well as common to
that group and to the islands of Polynesia and of the Pacific in
general, &c., including New Holland, New Zealand, and Tasmania,
in which latter group he finds 5S common to New Caledonia out

New South Wales.

103

pf 289, showing- that the latter is the head-quarters of those
plants ; and ho reasons from this fact that New Caledonia was at
some period connected with Australia by means of Norfolk Island
«iiul perhaps other submerged islands and with Now Zealand and
{he Auckland Islands. “This hypothesis,” he says,“will explain
{lie simultaneous presence in lands at present under the itilluence
of differing climates of species belonging to homogeneous groups,
which could not by any causes have been transported by special
currents, and which, living in the mountainous inner regions, are
less exposed than littoral species to be carried away by exterior

agents. b

This hypothesis tallies completely with the possibility of the
connection I presumed from the evidence ot the supposed
Pinornis, — which, however, is more strongly confirmed by Trot.
Owen to be Dromonds, since lie lias examined, in addition to the
femur from Queensland, a tibia from S. Australia, and the portion
of aipelvis I sent him from N. S. AVales.

To the above considerations may be added, that Baron von
Mueller having examined the plants brought from New Guinea
by the ITon. AV\ Macleay, E.L.S., shows such resemblances with
certain Australian species as to confirm M. Fournier's opinion
respecting the former probable connection of the two great
islands ; this is properly referred to in Mr. Wilkinson’s paper on
the Geological Collections of the “Chevcrt Expedition,” previously
referred to (p. 97.)

The account of the plants by Baron von Mueller is to be
found in three parts of a treatise entitled, “ Descriptive Notes on
Papuan Plants : Melbourne (Nov., 1875, to April, 1876.)

[Remains of reptiles have also been found both iu N. S. \\ ales and
other parts of Australia, in Quaternary deposits, as for instance,
Mcgalania prisca (Owen), a Laccrtian allied to the Varans and
Lace Lizards of Australia, which had, probably, a length of 25
feet; and iu the great plains of the Interior bones ot various
gigantic marsupials, fishes, and reptiles are found bedded in
black muddy trappean soil ; and on Darling Downs, in Queens¬
land, univalve and bivalve shells are found in some eases attached
to the bones,or deposited over them in a regular scries ot layers
at intervals of several feet ; and of these shells some are vet
living in the water-holes of the creeks. These facts arc generally
known, but it was not till recently that the osseous relics have
been found in different creeks throughout the whole of the slopes
and plains at the base of the Cordillera in Eastern Australia ; 111
Victoria, in South Australia, and North Australia also. Ot
similar age arc the accumulation of bones in caverns, as at Av cl-

lington ; at Boree; ucai

the head of the Colo Elver; at

Yesseba, on the Macleay Liver ; at the bead of the Coodradigbee
not far from the head of the Bogan, and in other places.

104 Sedimentary Formations

^ A magnificent collection of the remains in the "Wellington
Caves has been made, at the instigation of Professor Owen, at the
cost of the New South Wales Government, with the superin¬
tendence of the Trustees of the Australian Museum, by one of
them, the late Professor Thomson, and by Mr. Gerard Krefit,
F.L.S., C.M.L.S., &c., the late Curator of that Institution.

The Reports of these gentlemen, together with more than a
thousand partly determined specimens, were forwarded to Pro¬
fessor Owen, who has expressed his acknowledgment of the
value of this collection, “as regards novelty, instructiveness, and
encouragement for the future, 1 ’and as an “ important element
in working out the ancient history of the forms of animal life
peculiar to Australia.”

The Coodradigbee caverns will repay research hereafter. They
have already furnished me with bones of birds, in which those
of an Emu are prominent.

The latter fact chimes in with the alleged Dromornis of
Queensland.

Professor M‘Coy has named bones of a Dingo in a cavern near
Mount Macedon. If it be really a dog of this period in Australia,
it is another link between the Quaternary and Recent times.
Yicomte d’Archiac, however, doubts its antiquity: “ Bien” lie
says, “ ne prouve quo cechicn n'ait pan etc introduit par Jen premiers
homines qui out penpU le continent Australicn (“ Legons sitr la
Faune Quaterniaire , Paris” 18GG, p. 271.)

An expedition to Howe’s Island made known, in 1SG9, the
existence of bones of birds and turtles embedded in the beach
rock of the island. Afterwards, a collection of them was sent to
me by Mr. Leggatt, of Fiji. I forwarded them to Professor
Owen, who informed me that lie was unable to determine to what
they belonged owing to their imperfect state. They undoubtedly
belong to some period near to the present, as the rock is a coral
limestone common to the coast of the Pacific Islands ; and that
deposit also contains a Bulimus scarcely distinguishable from a
living shell of the same genus off the Island, and eggs of Turtle
also embedded as in Raine Island in the Barrier Reef. (See
<l Traits^ Boy. Soc. JST.S.JV.” 1870, p. 37.)

Within the last few years, the drifts of the Cudgegong and
Macquarie Rivers have been searched for diamonds, first reported
in 1SG0 by myself as occurring in numbers in the latter river.
Many thousand examples have been found ; but they are chiefly
small and of little value, though a few have been found of larger
size and have been cut and polished.

A few have been brought to me from other localities in New
South Wales, and some have been found in Victoria.

Mr. Norman Taylor examined the forms of the mineral as it
occurs at Two Mile Flat, &c., and figured them with care. [See

New South Wales .

105

for collected references on Diamonds in Australia, in Professor
Liversidge’s paper, “ On Minerals of New South Wales f Trans.
Roy. Soc. r N S. W., ix., p. 183, 1875; and W. B. Clarke’s “Ann.
Address ,” 1872.]

In other publications I have treated of them ; and since then
the Bingera Diamond Fijfld has received careful attention from
Professor Livcrsidge, who has described its condition accurately.

Those found since .1800 have fully justified the heading of my
notice published that year (“ Southern Gold .Fields ,” p. 272),—
“ New South Wales a Diamond Counthy.”

The Bev. Dr. Bleasdale, F.G-.S., lias published many valuable
details of the Victorian gems.

Looking to the Colony of New South Wales, we find that in
more than one instance the present river channels have deepened
since the drift first began to crowd their banks. [ have traced
one of these drift streams, sometimes at great heights above the
valleys, for more than 80 miles. In some places I have found
upon the surface, as Strzelecki did in other parts, minerals
(especially ores of copper, tin, and lead) which were at a great
distance from their sources; and in two instances, that rare
mineral, Molybdate of lead, of which no habitat has ever been vet
found ; and about three years ago a lump of Sulphuret of anti¬
mony, weighing three pounds, and exhibiting surface evidence of
its being a drifted substance, was disinterred from the superficial
ironstone gravel of an unfrequented place on one of the heights
of the north shore of Port Jackson.

Some years since I reported on the occurrence of mercury in
this Colony ; but my expectation of the discovery of a lode of
Cinnabar has been disappointed. The Cinnabar occurs on the
Cudgegong in drift lumps and pebbles, and is probably the result
of springs, as in California. In New Zealand and in the neigh¬
bourhood of the Clarke Hirer, North Queensland, the same ore
occurs in a similar way. About 1811 I received the first sample
of quicksilver from the neighbourhood of the locality on Carwell
Creek, on the Cudgegong, where the cinnabar is found. 1 pro¬
posed a full examination of that locality when I was in the
neighbourhood in February, 1875; but the state of the weather
was such as to preclude the possibility of doing so during my
limited stay. But .1 was informed that the progress of the miue
was satisfactory.

As connected with the drifts may be mentioned the occurrence
of gems of all kinds in all the rivers where auriferous deposits
occur, and subsequent years have only served to abundantly con¬
firm my statement of 18G0 as to the general distribution of them
in the gold-hearing districts.

106 Sedimentary 'Formations

In examining the gold alluvia at a variety of shafts about Gul-
gong, Home Kule, and other places in the county of Phillip, I
was struck by three prominent circumstances which have bearings
upon the present and future of that region:

1. No shaft is, so far as I learned, deeper than 200 feet,

2. The gravels of the alluvia were composed of pebbles and

fragments of rock common in the vicinity—derived from
Carboniferous and underlying strata, with occasional
fossils.

JJ. The quartz pebbles were in some cases perfectly rounded;
in others the quartz was in fragmentary lumps, as if
recently broken from reefs. These did not appear to
occur together.

The conclusion I drew from the latter fact was that two periods
of destruction and one of abrasion of underlying reefs had taken
place at an early period of alluvial deposition. A fourth circum¬
stance might be commented on. In the deposits of the shafts a
multitude of well worn abraded lumps of jasper, silicificd fossil
wood, and semi-opal of various tints and clutlcedonie interchanges,
in some instances themselves decomposing so as to exhibit this
fibres of the wood from which they had been formed by transmu¬
tation, arrested attention, and showed that either an older series
of Carboniferous rocks had suffered such changes, or the beds of
the series which now exhibits itself in various outliers had under¬
gone the process. Mr. Lowe, of* Go ore e, has made a most ex¬
tensive collection of these altered fragments, in Which are many
very beautiful specimens. It will probably never be rivalled, as
he collected them from time to time as they were disinterred by
the diggers. A great number also were coated with a shining
transparent envelope of what I believe to be a deposit from
silicificd water. Elsewhere (‘ ; Trmis. Roy. Soc. JS T .S. W., 1 1870, p.
11) I have dwelt upon this; and it also attracted the attention
of Professor Thomson and Mr* Norman Taylor. These deposits
are frequently covered by a great thickness of basalt, upon which
frequently lies a more recent drift partly derived from older
drifts. The colours of the alluvia, now long exposed, rival in
some degree those poikilitic hues which distinguish the west end
of the Isle of Wight.

A drift of local kind also occurs over largo areas in Manccro
in the neighbourhood of the auriferous strata, as also in New
England over the country of the tin-mines, which exhibits the
same sort of alluvia as the gold-fields, and in which also gold
occurs. In 1851-8, when I discovered the first tin in the
Colony, it was generally in association with gold and gems.
Messrs. Ulrich, Wilkinson, and Liversidge have since that time
made local explorations both in the alluvia and in the beds from
which they have been derived. There are deposits of opals

New South Wales.

107

besides those in the gold-drifts ; and on Lawson’s Creek, a feeder
of the Cudgcgong, agate breccias and opals occur. Opaline veins
also occur in the basin of the Abercrombie River; in that of the
Barcoo. in Queensland; and about 25 miles S.E. of Cudgellcgp.ng
Lake, on the Lachlan River.

At the mouths of the Richmond and Clarence.Rivers gold is
found distributed in the sands and covering pebbles of the sea
beach ; a similar distribution is found in the sands of Shell
J [arbour, lllawarra (where the accumulations above-named occur),
and some gold was extracted. Other spots give similar indica¬
tions ; and one specimen of gold was brought tip from the sea
bottom by the sounding operations of II.M.S. “ Herald,” oiF Port
Macquarie. Gilded pebbles also occur on the West coast of New
Zealand.

Numerous instances have also been recorded of gold having
been found in the gizzards of wild fowl and of domestic poultry,
in various parts of the Colony, confirming, with the above-
mentioned facts, the almost universal distribution of the precious
metal in river-drifts and superficial deposits. Some of the above-
named examples of gold collected by birds were exhibited by me
at Sydney and in Paris in 1855, and are still in my possession.

All along the coast, from Torres’s Strait to Bass's Strait drift
pumice may be found wherever there is a lodgment, generally in
the north corner of the little shore bays. That this has gone on
for ages is apparent, as in one part of the coast north of Wollon¬
gong there is an accumulation of water-worn pumice some dis¬
tance from the shore, and beyond the reach of the present waves.
It is supposed to come in during easterly gales, from the volcanic
islands to the north-east. In 1811 this fact, and all the evidence
then collected in relation to such drift and 4i atmospheric deposits
of dust and ashes,” were published in a paper l forwarded to the
“ Tasmanian Journal of which D’Archiae (“Trot/, do la Gtol. )
was pleased to say it contained all that was known on the sub ject .

Subsequently received facts have only confirmed what was then
stated.

Along the coast of New South Wales arc found ranges of
dunes, with a variety of shells, some of them rare, others common,
as on Port Hacking and Cronulla Beach ; along the shores of
Botany Bay; on the great fiat between the Hunter and Port
Stephens, and along the Macleay River, which now passes for
many miles through the shelly accumulations ; and about Moreton
Bay, and in more northern coast openings, shells and Marino
refuse form deep deposits, from which, as in lllawarra and
Broken Bay, a considerable profit is obtained by dredgers and
shell-collectors, for the production of limb.

Respecting recent species very little is actually known of
many of them, comparatively speaking, in any of the Colonies.

108 Sedimentary Formations

Of course there arc scattered notices and collections in Museums.
These, however, have not yet become historical! The Rev. J* R
T.-Woods, is the only writer who has taken up the subject
systematically in Tasmania, and wo are indebted to him for some
valuable lists, of which may be mentioned lt Description of New
Tasmanian Shells ( Proc. It. S. Tasm., 1875 and IS7(1), M and
44 Census, with brief descriptions of Marine Shells of Tasmania
and adjacent Islands {Proc. It. S. Tasm., read 13 Mar, 1877).”
This, indeed, comprises long iinca of the coasts of East, South¬
east, and West Australia, embracing upwards of 550 distinct
species, besides those of the Tasmanian coasts and Bass's Strait,
collected from various sources and especially from the compilers
personal researched:

The late Mr. Strange was a collector of Port Jackson Shells;
but what became of his complete collection 1 do not know.
Some are, probably, in the Australian Museum, Sydney. Mr.
Brazier, C.M.Z.S., the Her. It. L, King, B.A., Mr. Margraves,
Junior, and others, have also contributed many species ; and on
the whole, the catalogue must be an extensive one.

Raised beaches also occur at various heights on rocky projec¬
tions of the coast, indicating elevation of the land, of which there
is distinct evidence in the recent period, not only in More toil
Bay, but near Sydney, and thence to Bass's Strait; also on both sides
of that Strait, and as far as Adelaide and King George’s Sound.
Mr. Selwyn gives data for assuming the elevation of the land to
have reached occasionally 4,000 feet in Victoria, but he has no
evidence of Tertiary Marine fossils above GOO feet. Unfortu¬
nately, on the Eastern coast, having no Marine Tertiaries, we
have to found our deductions, as respects New South Wales, on
less secure data. Yet we have here evidence of another kind,
and pot-holed surfaces of considerable extent have been found by
me at various heights from BOO to nearly 3,000 feet.

In a brief memoir like the present it is impossible to quote all
the authorities, nor has time allowed a more satisfactory digest or
a wider range of statements. What has been thus collected is
brought together in the design of giving a concise summary of
the general Geology of the Colony, omitting, on account of its
perplexity, all specific reference to the igneous rocks traversing,
covering, transmuting, or supporting the Sedimentary deposits.

In this Edition many new facts have been introduced with the
view of bringing on the discoveries that have been made from
time to time to the present period, when a new system of
geological inquiry has been just instituted in this Colony.

If private independent travel and research have not been able
to accomplish more than this abstract discloses, it may be hoped
that now the Government has commenced the work from its own
resources, pecuniary and official, more will be accomplished than

New South Wales .

109

1ms hitherto been done to work out the intricacies of Australian
^eologv, to accomplish which in minute and thorough detail will
probably require the united exertions of many a worker in the
field and the cabinet to the end of the next century at least. In
the preceding pages it has been my lot to mention many of my
own discoveries ; but it has not been with any desire to overrate
mv endeavours or exertions; and some I have altogether omitted.

I 11 tliejtfr,?/. Edition of this paper mention was merely made of
the Cape York Peninsula, where ferruginous deposits occur on
the lower slopes and bases of porphyry hills. 1 may repeat
here what was added in the second Edition. Those deposits
were examined at the Mint, and no gold was detected ; but on a
recent comparison of their lithological character with that of
Tertiary beds from Elemington (in Victoria), I believe them to
be, if not Tertiary, of similar origin to the Latcritc of India, and
of the Islands in the intermediate sea.

Dr. ltattray, of H.M.S, u Salamander,” who furnished me with
a map, and a collection to illustrate it, from the neighbourhood
of Cape York, and whose paper was read by me, in his absence,
before the Royal Society of New South "Wales, more recently^
published bis views in extenso before the Geological Society of
London, lie therein attributes to me an opinion that the thick
sandstones of the Peninsula are of the age of the llawkesbury
rocks of New South Wales.

I do not remember that 1 have expressed any opinion on tlr.s
sandstone ; what was submitted to me was considered by me far
younger. That such sandstone, and even older deposits between
Cape York and the Gilbert River, may exist in the interior of
the Peninsula, is far from improbable. The data at present are
insufficient for further comment. It may belong to the Desert
sandstone of Daintree.

But this inference may he permitted, that as Cape York is so
short a distance from the gold-bearing deposits of New Guinea,
and as, as is now proved, all the rivers running to the Gulf of Car¬
pentaria from the Mitchell to the Nicholson inclusive rise in
auriferous ranges, gold will probably he found in some parts ot
the country along the back-bone of the Peninsula; and although
my past examination of the rocks in the Louisiade Archipelago
lias not proved gold to exist there, yet 1 agree with Mr. Dain¬
tree in his last Report to the Queensland Government, that the
strike of the older formations justifies the belief* that the Archi¬
pelago, and, 1 may add, other portions of the lands insulated in
that part of the Pacific, will eventually furnish their quota of the
precious metal.

Several collections of New Guinea rocks have been sent to me ;
but although it was asserted strenuously that gold was found 111
them, in the district visited by TI.M.S. ££ Basilisk,” I have not

I IO

Sedimentary Formations

been able to recognize the existence of any auriferous matrix,
though it is well known that alluvial gold was discovered during
the visit of H.M.8. “ Rattlesnake” on the coast at the other side
of the 1 sland. 1 jind, however* that nodules of excellent hematite
occur at New Harbour, about 100 feet above the sea. We have
had satisfactory additions to our knowledge of that great Island
from the results of the [Expedition so nobly undertaken by Mr.
Macleay.

In 1870 I added a remark or two about the discovery of a
living Ceratodus iu the waters of Queensland in the preceding
year, the only previous known existence of the genus being the
teeth found in Triassie European rocks to which that name was
given.

This was an interesting addition to the living Trigonia
Cestracion, Tercbratula, Ac., of Australia, which connect the
present period with the forms of life once held to ho extinct

Inquiries respecting this curious fish have resulted in the dis¬
covery of other species than that first found (Ceratodus Fovsteri ),
and what is more extraordinary, fossilized teeth, of which 1 was
shown examples by Professor Wy villc Thomson, who found them
in an excursion purposely undertaken in search of the fish during
the stay of H.M.S. “ Challenger” in Port Jackson.

Since the first description of the fish by Mr. Krefft, Dr.
Gunther, F.R.S., has published a valuable “ Description of Cern-
todm , a (feint x of Ganoid Fish ex recent If discovert d in rivers of
Queensland , Australia /’ in the‘*P///7. Transactions” (part II., 1871).
The result is, that both Agassiz and Pander had, from teeth found
in the Lias and Trias of Europe, come to conclusions which the
living Ceratodus fully justifies. Dr. Oldham also had reported
Ceratodus teeth from Maledi, south of Nagpur, in India, * Aus¬
tralia in this instance precedes India, The fish turns out to bo
allied to Lepidosiren, and its habits are amphibian as it feeds on
grasses and weeds in fresh water.

Dr. Gunther goes into a most elaborate and minute examina¬
tion of the anatomy of all parts of the fish, and a comparison
with other fishes of the same and different types. He sums up
thus — “ The Dipnoous type is represented in* the Devonian and
Carboniferous epochs by several genera ( Diptcrus , Oheirodus,
Concho das, Phancropleuroit) ; it is then lost, down to the Trias and
Lias, where the scanty remains of a distinct genus, ('erafodus,
testify to its presence : no further trace of it has been found
until the present period, where it re-appears in three genera, one
of which is identical with that of the Mesozoic era. Now, at
present, scarcely any zoologist will deny that there must have
been a continuity of the Dipnoous type ; and it is only a proof of
the incompleteness of the paleontological record, that wo have
to derive all our information regarding it from only three so very

New South Wales.

111

distinct periods of existence. The Dipnoi offer the most remark¬
able example of persistence of organization, not ill fislics only,
but in vertebrates. On a former occasion I have shown that
numerous recent species of fishes have survived from the period
of the geological changes which resulted in the separation ot the
Atlantic and Pacific by the Central American . Isthmus. In
Ceratodus we have now found a genus which, as far as evidence
<roes, persisted unchanged from the Mesozoic era ; and in the
‘sirenidec, & family the nearest ally of which lived in the Palaeo¬
zoic epochs.” ^ , .

This is a most valuable link in the connection of the old geologic
periodS with the present era, and a fit conclusion for the account
above given, however unworthy that account may be, of Quater¬
nary and Recent accumulations.

No general notice in this Memoir has been taken by me ot
igneous rocks; but it may be suitable to state that there is, in
all the various Sedimentary formations noticed, distinct evidence
of the presence of igneous action (Itydro-igneous rather), and
tlicir transmutation through such and allied agencies has left
an impress upon all the rocks more or less concerned. Such
references will be left to another occasion.

No particular or special reference could enter into the object
for which this Memoir is written; but it is to be understood that,
though all the rocks have undergone a transmutation, this does
not constitute what geologists have understood by “Metamorphic”
system, of which, as before said, New South Vales, at least,
shows little or no visible trace.

In order to explain the position of Glossopteris in the Paleo¬
zoic Marine deposits, I have appended two vertical sections, one,
by myself, previously published in the “ Transact ions of the
Itoyul Society of Victoria 1801, illustrating the Coal-seams at
Stony Creek; and the other showing the deposits at Greta, near
Anvil Creek, which has been reduced from one on a larger scale
kindly supplied to me by Mr. James Plctcher, Colliery A iewer,
to whom 1 am also indebted for a collection of strata, the charac¬
teristics of which I have given after careful examination of them
and of other specimens collected by myself on former occasions.
The latter section illustrates a wide area on that part ot the
Hunter River. No. 2 is about 10 miles west of No. 1.

1 have also appended two sections, one from Mount A ictonaand
the other from Burragorang, as well as a map showing portion
of the AVumamatta Basin—which were made to illustrate my
paper on “ Oil-bearing Deposits” cited at p. GS, but which were
not then published.

I 12

Sedimentary Formations

APPENDICES.

I. Collection made by Sir T. L. Mitchell, 1831-183G.

II. New South Wales Fossils, collected by Dana, 1839-10.

Ml. List of numbers of specimens forwarded by Rev. W. B. Clarke,
in 1841, to Cambridge, collected during 1839-11.

IV. List of Fossils, recorded bv M. do Vcmeuil, 1840.

V. Leichhardt's List, 1812-3.

A I. A\ ollongong Fossils, recorded by .T. Bcete Jukes, 1845.

A r ll. Carboniferous Flora, Upper Coal-beds overlying Pubeozoic Marine
beds. LLst, by Morris, 1815 ; collection made by Strzelecki.

A r III. “A. ’ Carboniferous Marino Fossils. List by Morris, 1845; col¬
lection by Strzelecki.

IX. M‘Coy’s List, 181-7: “Coal Measure Plants,” collected by \V\ B.
Clarke.

X. M‘Coy’s List, 1847: “ Wianamatta Plants,” collected by W. 13.
Clarke.

XI. “ B.” M‘Coy’s List, 1847 : “ Carboniferous Marine Fossils.”

XII. Stutchbury’s “Devonian Fossils,” 1851-3.

XIII. Plant®. (1.) “Upper Silurian.” (2.) “Devonian.” (3.) Between
“ Upper Devonian ” and “ Lower Carboniferous.” (4.) “ Car¬
boniferous.”

NIV. De Koninek’s “ Upper Silurian Marine Species,” N.S.W.

XV. Do Ivoninck’s “ Devonian Species,” N.S.W.

XVI. “C.” De lvoninck’s “ Carboniferous Species,” N.S.W.

XV II. Lonsdale’s List, N.S.W., of Zoantharia , 1858.

Extract from letter, 12 July, 1858, from W. Lonsdale to W. B.
Clarke.

Salter’s Notes on same, “ Upper Silurian ” and “ Devonian ”
Species, borrowed from Woodwardian Museum, Cambridge.

Remarks on the preceding Lists, by W. B. Clarke.

Extracts from letters by J. W. Salter, of 9 May, 185G, and 28
November, 1858, to W. B. Clarke.

XVIII. Schemes of arrangement, by different authors, of the Pulfcozoic
Fossils of New South Wales Sedimentary Formations.

XIX. Mesozoic Marine Fossils : Lists by Chas. Moore, F.G.S.—Western
Australia and Queensland.

XX. Correlation of Australian Fossils, and Svstcmatic Tabic: By Ottakar
Feist mantel, M.D.

Devonian ? Carboniferous.

New South Whiles.

ii 3

APPENDIX I.

Collections made by Sir T. L. Mitchell, Sur. Gen., during his Expeditions
of 1831 and 1836, determined for him by the late W. Lonsdale, Esq.,
F.G.S., Curator of the Geol. Soc., London (sec vol. 1, pp. 14-16 ; and
“ Report” to Government, of 16 Octr., 1851) :—

Genus. 1 Species.

riant impressions.

Glossopteris.

| Fossil wood .

Browniana ...

1 Lepidodcndron

1 #

J

Lithostrotion .

Crinoidal stems .

Spirifcr.

>>

Isocar dia?.

p P.

Litorina.

Megadesmus.

= Packydomus .

>»

I Terebra ? .

antiquatus.

cuncat us .

globoSUB .

hevis .

] Trochus.

. “Shells” .

f Lepidodcndron.

Favositcs .

i

>>

Stromatopora .

Heliopora.

Gothlandica ...

alveolaris .

sevl. other sp.
concentrica ...
pyriformis.

^ Crinoidal stems .

Locality.

( Broken Back ;

\ Hunter River.

C Kingdon Ronds;

< Harpur’s Ilill;
(.Minamurra R.

( Road between Windsor
^ and Parramatta.

Ridge below Pcrimbungay.
S. of Pcrimbungay.
Harpur’s Hill.

Mount Win gen.
llarpur’s Hill.
Pcrimbungay.

; Harpur’s Hill

near Mulucrindie.
Harpur’s Hill; Williams R.
Bunnemir Ck.Wollondilly.

Bed of Peel R. at Wnlla-
moul.

near Honeysuckle Hill.
Limestone Plains.

Shoal haven gullies.
Shelley’s Cave, Argyle.
Limestone Pis.
Coodradigbee R.

Do. & Limestone Pis.

In sandstone. Similar occurrence on the Warragamba, above junction
with Nepean.—W.B.C.

It

(See Appendix J. - “ United Staten Exploring Expedition:

Sedimen tary Forma tions

114

tcp : ~

>> U

3

0

9

0

3

to

0

3

3 o'E jz

«- O C o

•3 t c

slg*

i- 3- ^ v.

. - C- CJ '—'

\H U A*

§ S.E 2

l»g Ma

; x - . c

S? -3 -2

— ~

'333 3

a fc

. 3 , 3-3

333

000

aaa

pH fc

Ji

5= ca

= S

g’® 0

ijS

5© w '

3~'3 ©

3u.O^™?3i;3::
3^5 = rt ©_« O

oEaa Scab

*<

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© —

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~0 3 :r. . -
= S D 2^3-

g = rralaSS:

>2 o b so 0

P §>•?

-a -=

a gji;

c

= 33
= 32

:

r3

• :

: : : : : :

a

pj

5 ! ;

it

> H 3 3 c

Q

a

0

CO

<s ~

r% tlaaal

rt3H = =5rt«5rt

aaaasaaaia

; \ \ \ 0 • •

* I I I -5 ; ■

• •o>

• • ■ • *ig • *t

* • • * • ^ • c$

* » «

: :fc

: : : : :a :S

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.2 * *

!3 c< •

50 . .

c

p • n

5 * 3

a 3ti

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> « d«

C X « 3
3 = ®

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0*3 >

2 >.
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- ii =

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:E33 <u"2 = i: p.a

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r- g

:S£J

|

u

- £ ££

2 cs-g

c?£ :

1 =1

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: 3..3 0

« 0

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co a a

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|4J

MolIjUsca (b) Acbphala — continued.

New South Wales.

115

« S ••

c *-

c £

.X ^ £ O

iiM :

aw

Oi.

£2 t
-8 8
c 5.2

9 “ 3 .

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11

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£

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s ^?^*2js8

22=5^'
2 2 5® . s v?
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pW8oS§o
I! II S, II v. II

r.

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K

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?o 2
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rtdfSrtrteSrtfclkJ^etrtrJ rt * ~> a ' rj - c«rf«ei?5rtr!rtiJrf

sscsscci-fei-zic:- s 2 = ; = c oisxcc-cc*-^

i£,z.z. £ £ £ £ £

rf rt a d C5 rt d 5

OQQQQPQ^

coo

^:

rt rt

5 3

agpAAqppEs pq

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£ e

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^ '5
2 ?

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S 2 rt

APPENDIX IT— continued.

Se dimen tary Formations

116

APPENDIX II— continued.

New South Wales

11 7

X2 » L. " =3

3 o§.5**3 ^

S e ~

cS

<S,£. rS. 5»

sg ??

c) 5 -i? o o

fcco |» Bo

«: _: p _j £
7 nr ft) ~

to*-* .t; m to

.. |e^|

: — 212 !2 — c 5 3
j33 3 33 2 C

: -© rt <- o

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3 »4

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CB

’ ri tr. w? « rt k

'linn

2 5

Bp

„ .—

w.»

11

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•c « >

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5>

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^ Is S*-3 8

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n <a n H rirt-irtc

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rt-jrt C £® rtrtrtrt-

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« cs rt *

BB BQ

rt .2

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5

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TH3 3b

4?ti Ills

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§2-3 85-*-*:«<

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5 2 -o
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to 0)^3

116
o _ to
fj-.-g to

c C O
ZjZbA

; ff§*

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sail

2^p;c *-
:?t j= £3 U
= 2r o^«5

>.2 « v: » 3

.e 5 a >-, g 3
NU*^u<y

118

Sedimentary Formations

appendix in.

1839-1814.

List of specimens of Rocks, Fossils, and Minerals collected by the Rev. \\ . B.
Clarke, in N.S.W., and sent to the late Prof. Sedgwick to be deposited
in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of Cambridge, Novem¬
ber, 1844.

Districts represented.

No.

1 from
! each.

1

Districts represented.

271

(c) Muswellbrook .

115

(a) North of Liverpool

22

Range to Peel River...

(a) New England .

33

(o\ Patio ....

5

1 c ) Gill’s Cliff..

1

(e) Cedar Brush .

10

(e) Sngenhoe .

588

0

(c) Paterson .

24

(c) Lewin’s Brook ; Allyn

145

River .

119

(c) Port Stephens . ^

10

71

( c) Smith’s Creek, &c. ... )

(c) Williams River .

34

(e) lrrawang and Arowa ...

79

(ci^a) Clarence River and

80

North of .

31

(c) Richmond River and

Morcton Bav .

111

34

Miscellaneous .

44

26

Norfolk Island .

10

10

75

Total ... .

38

f> .

2,012

Grand total .

No.

from

each.

(c) Wianamatta
(c) lluwkesbury

w

(c)

to

to

to

to

to

Prospect Hill...
Piakubaba (I

Hills) .

Matnvni.

Windsor.

Marootu..

Illawarra .

Razor Back ;
Quarry .

Forest.

(a) Argyle County
(a i) Murray „

(a) Twofold Bay, A

(a) Murrumbidgee

(«)

Cox’s River, Hartley,

Ac. . .

Mount York.

Bathurst sections

(afyc) Mudgee.

(c) Awoaba .

(c) Mulubimba (Nei

to

( C )

(o)

to

to

to

to

Creek ..

Hunter River (Lower)

Binjabcrri.

Harper’s llill .

Wollombi .

Darlington.

Glendon...

Korinda.

Total

47

34

54

33

24

18

23

33

19

12

18

05

38

18

51

11

6

559

2,012

2,571

In the above list ( c ) refers to carboniferous rocks ; ( a) to auriferous; (/)
to trap.

New South Wales .

119

APPENDIX IV.

1840.

Fossils recorded by M. de Yerneuil (“ Bulletin de la Sor. Geol. de France ,”
tom. xi., p. 177. Seance, 2 Mars, 1840.)

Genus

Species.

Locality.

Remarks.

Ortlioceras .

8p ..

Silurian species (de Yer.)
from Museum of Nat.

Spirifer . 4 .

Small striated .

O

hH

Hist., Paris.

Cyatkopliyllum

£

Calamopora ...

Gotlilandica .

&

I 11 the same paper by M. de Vcrneuil, “ Sur Vimportance de la limite qui
separe le calcaire de montagne des formation* qui lui sont inferieures" —lie
gives the following, as reported by the officers of “La Bonite,” as Carbon¬
iferous species determined by himself, viz.:—

Product us
Spirifer ..

pustulosus (Pliill.) ...
near scabri cuius (Sow.)
n. trigonalis .

Great Bivalve...

„ Pceten9...
Calamopora.

sp. “ dichotomous” ...

n. undulatus (Sow.) ...

oblatus .

= Terebrat. leevigatus
(Schlotheim.)
great smooth sp.

new sp.

o

|1

^ 5S

C CH

2 -

tl o

.5 "cu

^•3

Identical with Yorkshire
species.

Like those of Vise, Bel¬
gium. (?) S. glaber.

N.B. — In the “ Quarterly Journal of the Geol. Soc. Lon.” Vol. 1., p. 407, under the head
of “Accounts of certain species of Silurian fossils from Hobart’s Town, N.S.W.” !! the above
species arc accredited to Mt. Wellington — and, the author adds, " the same species arc
found in Van Diemen’s Land, and besides them a great abundance of Jletcpora, Cyatho -
;phyllum, Calamopora, Clypeanter, and Dentalvrrm, which are rarely met with in the
neighbourhood of Mt. Wellington. All these specimens were collected in the hills of
Morambiji to the south of the Blue Mountains, and the beds containing them are partly
covered, as at Hobart’s Town, with recent lignites.” !!!

This curious medley is described as “extracted from the * Village dt. la Ilomtc: Geol. cl
Mineralogie f par M.E. Chevalier, p. 332.’ ”

I have little doubt that the Silurian species came from the Murrumbidgee, and the
Carboniferous from Tasmania.—W.B.C.

120

Sedimentary Formations

appendix y.

184-2-3.

Ludwig Leiciiiiaiu>t’s List.

Fro 31 “ Notes on the Geology of parts of New South Wales and Queensland,
made in 1842-3, translated hy G. JT. Ulrich , J2sq. f F.G.S.; and edited by
W. B. Claricef in “ Waitglds AlmanacSydney , 1867 and 1868.

Genus.

Species.

Locality.

f

Large fern, like acrosticlium

Newcastle.

Glossopteris.

a

-O

Equisetum (=Phyllo-

5 ,

theca).

j*

O

u

Lepidodendron (sent- (o

Jar din dcs B (antes.

P

Paris).

Wiltoni.

Newcastle.

f

Equisetum .

obtuse striatum

Ilarpur’s Hill.

Spirifer.

abundant .

»

Pectens. .. .

Trochus .

cj

Pachydomus.

it

a

IH

Turrililes (doubtful) .

it

1

u

a.

P

Oslrea (doubtful).

Fencstelloe .

l r

Glcndon.

Spirifer..

!

Troelius .

\ .1

Eel liman’s Creek.

i

Uemicardium .

J L

Bell’s Creek.

r

Encrinites .

i r

East of Gwydir.

U. O I
O s I

Terebratula and other

1

Ilorton Hirer.

shells.

-.

1

Carrow Brook.

Trilobite [Doubtless Bra -

1

l

chymetopm. —W.B.C.]

J l

Glennie’s Stockyard.

Lycopodium (?) .

Huskisson’s Creek.

Lepidodendron .

Manila Creek AEulowric.

New South Wales.

121

APPENDIX VI.

1845.

Mr. .T. Beete Jukes, 31.A., F.G.S., F.R.S., accompanied the Rev. W. B.
Clarke in a visit to the neighbourhood of Wollongong ; and in addition
to four species of plants and thirteen Marine fossils from the River
Hunter, belonging to the collection in the Wood wardian Museum, at
Cambridge, mentioned the following as occurring at Wollongong. fSco
“ Notes on the Palceonioloqieal Formations of New South Walesf Q. J.Gf.S.,
vol. iii, pp. 241-244, 1847.]

Genus. [ Species.

Fossil wood in abundance.

Stenopora .

erinita.

Produeta.

riigata.

Spirifcr ...

Pachydomus .

carinatus.

Orthonota .

(= globosus. Morr.)

P1 c urotomar ia.

Strzeleckiana.
contractus (MS.)

Bellerophon .

APPENDIX YIT.

“Carboniferous Flora” of the Upper Coal-Beds overlying Paleozoic

Marine Beds.

List by Professor Morris, 1845.

Collected by P. E. dc Strzelecki.

Genus — Bronguiart’s.

Species.

Locality,

Sphenopteris.

Section of S. linearis..

Jerusalem, Tasmania.

lobifolia

Newcastle.

alata. var. ex His .

„ basin.

Glossoptcris .

Browniana .

Pecopteris — (alcthopteris) —

Australis .

Jerusalem basin.

(Schimp).

(Cycadopteris) (Seliimp).

near odonlopteroides

it

Zcugophyllitos .

Pbyilotheca .

elongatus .

Australis.

H

I 22

Sedimentary Formations

APPENDIX VIII. “A.”

Carboniferous Marine Fossils examined by Professor Morris, 18-15.

Collected by P. E. de Strzelccki.

Genus.

Species.

Locality.

POLYPARIA.

Stenopora .

Tasmaniensis ..

Mts. "Wellington & Dromedary, Tasmania

)> .

OTata .

informis .

*> ^ >> >>
Spring Hill, Tasmania

111 awnrra, N.S. W.

crinita .

Favositcs.

Gothlandica ....

Yaw Plains, N.S.W.

Am plexus .

arundinaccus ...

Barber’s Creek, N.S.W.

Fcnestella .

M .

>» .

Ilemitrvpa.

ampla .

internata .

fossula.

sexangula.

Spring Iiill; Mt. Wellington ; Eastern
Marshes ; Tasmania

Mt. Wellington (Tasmania) ; Patrick’s
Plains ; Raymond Terrace ; N.S.W.

jj _ ?? »

Mt. Wellington, Tasmania

Mollusca.

Allorisma .

curvatum.

Illawarra, N.S.W.

Wollongong „

Pachydomus ...

antiquntus .

ft

cuncat us .

»» >»

,, ...

larvis.

Illawarra ,,

Illawarra, N.S.W.; Spring Hill (Tas.)

,, ...

globosus .

carinatus .

Illawarra „

Ortlionota .

costatu ..

Ilia warm ,,

Eurydesma.

Pterinca .

Pccten.

compressa.

cordata .

mneroptera .

Illawarrensis ...

Spring Hill, Tasmania

Illawarra [Lochinvar, N. Railway.—•
W.B.C.] N.S.W.

Spring Hill (Tas.)

Illawarra, N.S.W.

Jimad'omiis .

Eastern Marshes (Tas.)

Mt. Wellington (Tas.)

it

ff ...

,, ............

Fittoni .

squamuliferus ...

Braciiiopoda.

Terebrntuln.

cymbteformis ...

Raymond Terrace, N.S.W.

ft ......

hastata.

Raymond Terrace and Illawarra, N.S.W.

Spirifer .

crcbristria.

llooral, N.S.W.

Darwinii ..

Glen don ,,

Tasmaniensis ...

Eastern Marshes (Tas.)

subrudiata .

Illawarra; Glendon ; N.S.W.; Mts. Dro*
raedary and Wellington, Tasmania
Eaglehawk Neck (Tas.)

*»

Mt. Dromedary (Tas.)

Illawarra ; Raymond Terrace (N.S.W.);

» ..

» ..

>* .

Produetus .

avicula.1

vespertilio .

Stokesii..

brachyt-hfloruB ...

H .

subquadratus ...|

Eastern Marshes; Mt. Wellington (Tas.)
Mts. Dromedary and Wellington (Tas.)

New South Wales. 123

APPENDIX VIII. “ A r—continued.

Genus.

♦

Species.

Locality.

i

Gasteropoda.

fllosa .

Dooral, N.S.W.

Turritella .

tricincta .

Platvscliisma ...

oeulus .

llarpur’s Hill, N.S.W.

rotundatum.

Pleurotomaria...

Strzeleckiana ...

Illawarra and Ctlendon, IS.b.VV .

» • • *

cancellata.

Illawarra >>

M

? eoniea .

» »

Hkteropoda.

Ddlerophon ...

micromphalus ...

| Illawarra, N.S.W.

Pteropoda.

Theca .

lanccolata.

I Illawarra, N.S.W.

Conularia .

laevigata .

„ and Raymond Terrace, N.S.W.

Cephalopoda.

Orlhoceras.

near, undulatuin

| Yass Plains, N.S.W.

Crustacea.

a Amis .

Booral, N.S.W.

Cy there .

sp.

Trilobites .

small impressions

»|

Pisces.

Icthyodorulitcs.

I .

| Rooral District, N.S.W.

APPENDIX IX.

Coal Measure Plants —“ Carboniferous of Morris”: “Oolite of M‘Coy”;
Professor M‘Coy’8 List, 1847—collected by W. B. Clarkej see “Annals
Natural History” vol. xx.

Genus.

Author.

Species.

Author, j

Locality.

Vertebraria .

Hoyle ..

Australis ..

M‘Coy ..•

Mulubimba (Newcastle).

Cyclopteris .

Brongu..

angustifolia

II • •

Guntawang.

(ssGangamopt. M'C.
1800.)

Sphcnoptcris .

Brongn...

alata.

Brong. ..

Mulubimba.

(S. Hymenophyllites). ..

Schlmp. .

(Granditii)..

Gocpp.

1. 401.
Brongn..

loblfolia ..

Morr ....

id.

hastata ..

M*Coy ..

id.

Gernmna ..

»* • •

id.

pluinosa ..
Ilcxuosa ..

,,

id.

Brongu...

id.

Hrowniana.

Jerry’s Plains and id.

Zeugophyllitcs.

linearis....

M*Coy ..

Wollongong and V Arowa.

elongatus ..

Morr....

Mulubimba.

Phyllothcca.

Australis ..

Brongu...

id.

it ••••••••••

it

it

ramosa-

Ilookcri ..

_

M'Coy ..

a • •

id.

id. Arowa ; Clarke’s Hill.

Note.—A row a is below Marine beds—Clarke s Hill in AN ianamatta.

124

Sedimentary Formations

APPENDIX X.

Plants from Wianamatta Beds, collected by "VV. B. Clarke, and described by
Professor M‘Coy, 1847. (See “ Annals of 1Vat. Hist.,” vol. xx.)

Genus.

G lei ehenites .

= 1’ecoiit.eris (Morr.)

= Cycnaoptcris (Schii
= Pecoptcris (Carru-
thers).

Odontopteris .

Y Otoptcris .

(Y Rhaeoptcris of Feist).

Phvllotheca .

Pecopteris .

j Author.

Species.

Author.

Locality.

odontoptcroides..

Morr. ..

Clarke’s Hill, ncarCob-
bity.

Brong. ..

niicropbylla —

M‘Coy ..

Do. (not figured.)

Lindl. ..

ovata .

»» • *

(Y) Arowa (doubtful.)

Brong. ..

Hookeri .

Clarke’s Hill.

tenuifolia.

*» * •

id.

APPENDIX XI. “ B.”

Carboniferous Marine Fossils, determined by Professor M‘Coy, 1847.
i (“ Annals Nat. Hist.,” vol. xx.)

Genus.

Stcnopora

99

>»

Fenestella

>>

Glaueonome.

Cladochonux......

? Strombodcs ....

Turbinolopsis ....

Amplexus.

Species.

Locality.

ZOOPIIYTA.
Tasinaniensis ...

crinita .

ovata .

ainpla .

fossula .

iuternata.

uudulata.

? antiqua ..

1 plcbcia .

allied to pluma .

Darlington.

Wollongong; Black Head; Darlington.
Darlington.

Muree ; Bell’s Ck. ; Lodcr’s Ck.

.Mnree.

Bell’s Ck. ; Darlington.

Dim vegan or Burragood.

j Korinda.

Burragood.

tenuicollix ..
A ustrails ..

bina .

arundinaceus

id.

Wagamee.

Bnrrago<»d.

Curradulla Creek; lllawarra ; Shoalhavcn.

Crixoidka.

FribiXtchyocrinits. Clarkci .

Aetinoerinus. .

Darlington.

Wagamee; Wollamhoola

Bairdia .

Cy there.

Brachi/inetopux . .
Phillipsia .

Atrypa .

99

99 •

Spirifcra

Crustacea.

carta .

impressa.

Strzeleckii .

? gemmulifera ..

Mollusca.
cymbiefonnis (M)

biundata .

JuJccsii ..

crebristrla (M) ..

vespertilio .

calcarata.

avicula.

Darwinii (M)

subrad iata.

? glabra .

Burragood.

id.

id.

id.

Mnree : Black Head.

Black Head ; Korinda ; Lewin’s Brook.
Burragood.

id. ; Trcvallyn

Black Head ; (tragic-hawk’s Neck, Tas.)
Burragood.

Black Head; Korinda.

Lodcr's Ck.; Barraba ; Black Head.

Muree; Black Head ; Wollongong; Darlington.
Maitland ; Irrawang.

New South Woles.

APPENDIX XT. “ B.”— continued.

125

Genus.

Species.

Locality.

Mollusca — ennti lived .

attenuata.

Burragood.

Tasmaniensis (M).

Lcwin’s Brook.

lata . !...

dxunleci meaxtata .

Wollongong; Muree.

Or this.

striatula .

Lewin’s Brook.

Australis .

id.

>1 ..

Productus.

spinifjera . .

Bun*agood.

antiquatus (reticulatus)

Lcwin’s Brook.

brachvthierus.

lender’s Ck. ; Korimla (Muree.)

Lewin’s Brook.

setosus .

scabriculus.

Hall’s quarry, Hobart Town.

Lodcr’s Creek.

uuilnlalvs . .

LepUena.

< )rbieula.

xp. ( Ilardrcnsix ) .

aj/inix .

Burragood.

id.

Pecten .

)> .

ft • • »•••••••

Avicula.

Pterinca.

Eurydesma .

lnoceramus.

Pleurorhyncus....

Allorisma.

< Jrthonota.

J» 4 ' * ' * *

Modiola.

Pachydomus (M)..

»*

V Oardinia.

Xotomya (M)

? Puliastra.

V Venus.

L.AMELLlBKANCinATA.

squainuUferus(M)....

ptyc/wtix .

.

tessellata.

macroptera (M) .

cordata (II).

Mitchcllu .

Australis .

cur vat mn (M) .

cmnpressa (M) .

costa ta (M).

craxsixxima .

earinatus (M).

globcsus .

Oyas- .

xacculuH .

ovali x .

pusillux .

exilix .

xeenrifannix .

clavata .

strict ta-coxtata .

grey aria .

Wollongong.

Burragood.

Harpur’s Hill.

Burragood.

Port Arthur (Tas.)

Harpur’s Hill.

' Gleudon : Wollongong.

. Wollongong.

' Darlington ; Wollongong ; Glendon.
I Harpur’s Hill.

Wollongong,
llarpur’s Hill.

,; Wollongong ; Port Arthur (Tas.)

, Wollongong,
id.

. Black Head *, Wollongong.
Wollongong,
id.
id.
id.
id.

Burragood.

. Wollongong.

Euoinphalus_

Pleurotomaria

Platyschisma

Tlieca

G'onularia

Belleroplion
Nautilus ..

Gasteropoda.

1 ninimus .

suboancellata (M).

Strzelceklana (M).

Morrixiana ..

rotundatum (M).

oculus (M) .

Ptkropoda.

lanueolata (M) .

lajvigata (SI) .

torta .

tennixtnata .

Cephalopoda.

micromphalus (SI)

interxtn’alix .

1 N. sulcatus .

Burragood.

Lodcr’s Creek.

; Wollongong.

1 Black Head ; Muree.
llarpur’s Hill,
id.

Black Head.
Harpur’s Hill
Muree.
id.

M uree.
Burragood.
id.

N.B.—In the above list, ‘M’ signifies new genera, and species formed by Professor
Morris ; tho italicised fossils belong to Professor M‘Coy. Bv comparison of lists ‘A and
“ IV’ with “ C” the progress of discovery since l$4f> may he ascertained. (AjtpcncUccs 1 1 1 ,
XI, XVL)

126

Sedimentary Formations

APPENDIX XII.

Recorded as “Devonian Fossils” by Samuel Stutchbury, F.G-.S., sometime
Geological Surveyor in New South Wales, 18ol-53.

Genus.

Spirifcra ....

Porites .

Stcnopora _

Favorites ... .
Actinoerinites
Platycrinitcs..,
Rhodocrinites
Cvathncrinites

Spirifer.

Shell (turbinated)

Corals.

Cvathophyllum ..

Favorites .

Stromatopora ....

Porites .

Crinites.

Molluscs.

Porites .

(= Heliolitcs) ....

Cauunpora.

Lejmlodcndron., ..

Leptama .

Bivalve Shell —

Orthoceras .

Piseis .

Asaphus (?)
Calymonc ...

Serpula.

Belierophon.
( )rthoceras .
Euoniphatus.
Turbo.

< )rth<motii...

Mytilus.

Posidonia (?).

Avicula.

Nucula .

(Others).

< hbieula ...
Produetus...
Leptama ...

< >rthis.

Spirifer.

Atryna .

Tcrebratula-----

Hypothyris .

Cyathuerinus .

Portions of Steins ..

Turbinolopsis .

Favorites (V).

(ilanconomc .. .

Fenestclla .

Retepora and others
Cirrus and another..
Turbinated Shell....

Species.

Locality.

with “Pcntangu
lar Column."
Stokcsii .

near pyrifonnis..
interstincta ... .

fragments

unknown .

*P.

fragment jaw
(very doubtful).

»P.

s?.

*P.

globatus.

sp.

sp.

sp.

SP.

sp.

8P.

..

*1.

sp.

SP.

SP.

sp.

„ sp.

disjunctus .

others .

sp.

«P.

sp.

sp.

sp.

sp.. • •

, , sp.:

bipinnata .

sp.!

sp.

Brucedalc

Errowinbang,
Flyer’s Creek.

Nubrigan or Badul
dura Creeks.

"j- Near Wellington .

i

North side of Horton
It., near Mogera
Creek.

Reference to
Reports.

Pallal

7

) Near Taoi*atooka,
$ Canomodine Creek.

12 April, 1851.

18 July, 1851.

18 Oct., 1851.

20 Jan., 1852.

1 July, 1853.

1 July, 1853.

12 April, 1852.

New South Wales,

127

APPENDIX XIV.

Dr Koxixck’s Upper Silurian Marine Species, N.SAV.

128

Sedimentary Formations

Plasmopora petaliformin (Lonsdale).

New South Wales

129

5 ^
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js ~

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I

„ . ,, _I compressa . 1 Sowcrby_ Duntroon.

Strophonienes . Rafinesque.. pectcn. Linn.... Varralumla ; Duntroon ;

Dangclonj?.

,, . ,, .. I rhomhoulalis ...... Wilekcns_ Rock-flat Creek.

APPENDIX XIV— continued,
division —Molluscoidea. Class —Buaciitopoda — continued.

130

Sedimentary Formations

Class —PtEBOPODA. Section —TlIECOSOiTATA.

C /( is . s —Cepiialoi'ODA . Order —Tetkabranchiata.

New South Wales.

131

1)e Koninck’s Devonian Species.

132

Sedim entary Form at ions

New South Wales.

*33

APPENDIX XV— continued.

134

Sedimentary Formations

De Ivoninck’s Carboniferous Species.

New South Wales.

i 35

C ic

« ■-
£ *

‘2 *3

ifsl~

ilSg£

53i^ g .=-3| a
3-Sg'S||S«e!
t&Ssir—

APPENDIX XVI. “ C.”— continued.

136 Sedimentary Formations

New South Whiles.

137

Prod. scmireticulciUis (Martin).

APPENDIX XVI. “C.”—continued.

138

Sedimentary Formations

%

«

1-4

«

O

O

h

W

«

I

34

cc

o

APPENDIX XVI. “C.”— continued.

New South Whiles

i 39

APPENDIX XVI. “ C.” — continued.

140

Sedimentary Formations

Division- —Mollusca . Class— Lamellibranchiata— continued.

New South Wales.

141

APPENDIX XVI. “C”— continued.

142

Sedimentary Formations

.

Class — Cephalopoda. Order — Tetrabiiancji fata.

144 Sedimentary Formations

APPENDIX XVI. ‘*CV’ — continued.

KE3UMK GKOLOGIQUK

Lc travail qui precede eompreud la description dc cent soixante-seize
especes dc fo.ssiles carboniferes qui lot it.es ont etc recueiilies par lrs soins dti
reverend VV. B. Clarke dans toute l'etcndue dc la Nouvelle-Galles du Sad
ct dont la plupart ont etc figurees avec la plus grande exactitude possible.

Parmi ces cspeces, on en compte cent, efc trois dont Pexistence n’a pas
encore etc signalce en Australia, cinquante-neuf qui sout uouvclles pour la
science efc soixanfe-qnafcorze dont la presence a dfco constatce dans lo terrain
carbonifero de PEurope.

Lc tableau suivanfc dans lequel j’ai marque pur un a ste risque Pexistence
dc clmcunc des cspeces so it en Europe, soit dans Pune des trois imporfcantos
regions do PAustrnlie, s\ savoir : la Nouvelle-Galles du Sud, la Tasmania et
la terre de la Koine ou Queensland (‘), permettra dc saisir par un simple
coupd’oeil leur distribution dans ces diverges contrees.

0) J1 estassez remarquable quo la colonie de Victoria n’ait encore found aucun fossile du
calcaire carbonifero, quoiqueles terrains paleozolqucs n’y fassent pas defaut.

ji

. fr.

d

C

rt

5

E.

£

d

7

1

G>

Q

s-

W

1

1 Axophyllum Thomsoni, L.-O, de Koniuck .

*

o

i Lithostrotion irreyulare, J. Phillips .

*

*

3

,, bamltiforme , Conybeare et Phillips.

I Cynthophyllnm internum, L.-G. ilc Koniuck .

Hi

4

*

i)

LophophyUmn minutnm, L -G. do Koniuck.

*

o

,, cunnr.iclum , L.-G. dc Koninek.

*

i

| Amplcxun a rand inn ecus! W. Lonsdale.

*

8

Zaphrcntix Phillip*), Milne Kd wards et -1. Haiinc.

*

p

,, Grc<iu mat to. L.-G. dc Koniuck.

it!

10

„ r.aiimdon, L.-G. do Koninek.

*

11

robnxta, L. -G. dc Koninek.

it!

12

Cifafhaxmtia ntinutu, L-G. do Koniuck.

A

13

(Uadochon us ten tiirnUitt, F. McCov.

Hi

14

Syrinytpt.ra reticulata, A. Goldfuss .

*

if

15

,, ranniltmt A. Goldfliss .

H:

10

/•’acoxites acuta, \V. Lonsdale...

*

Hi

17

Syttbu timer in ax otii call's, L.-G. dc Koninek .

H:

18

Poteriocrtnux tenuis' T. Austin .

!«t

if

10

„ radio las' T. Austin . .

iji

jj.

20

/‘lati/crinns Iu:pix, Miller . . . . .

if.

21

Actinwrinuspohjdaetiilns. Miller .

*

•22

23

Tri Urn eh inert a a » Cl a rke /, F. McCoy .

Cunthocri dux h"onincki, \V. It. Clarke .

Hi

Hi

24

&

25

Ptnnirtteparo antutlix ! F. McCov .

Hi

if

20

Dcndricnpum ffrtrdyi, \Y. 11, Clarke ..

Hi

(

Fenrstella plcbeiii, F. McCoy .

Hi

Ht

Hi

Ht

t

FenexteUa fusstda , \\\ Lonsdale.

Hi

H:

28

,, jironiiujua, L.-G. ilc Koniuck .

H:

20

,, multipurata , F. McCov.

ii!

if

30

,, Morns!i, F. McCoy.

Hi

31

,, yrtir.ilix, J. i). Dana.

*

32

,, int e mala, w. Lonwiale .

H:

33

Prut oral'pora ampin , W. Lonsdale.

Hi

34

Jletepora ! luxn, L-G, de Koninek.

Hi

35

Poly porn pnpillata ! F. McCoy .

if

Hi

30

Product us Cora, A. d’Orbiynv .

H:

H:

37

,, may mis, F. li. Meek et A. H. Worthcn.

Hi

•• 1
|

"

New South Wales.

APPENDIX XVI, “ C.”— continued.

145

38

39

40

41

42
13

44

45
4(>

47

48

49

50

51

52

53

54

55

,0{

r,7 *(

58

59
00
01
02
03
04
05
00
07
08
09

70

71

72

73

74

75

<

I Prodnctilti xeiniretieiilatax, W. Martin .

,, fi'leittiiigii, 3, Sowerby .

,, inulatus, Defrance .

„ jnioetutas, W. Martin .

,, Jimbriatus, J. Sowerby .

,, Kcnbriculuift W. Martin .

,, brachytlnerux, 0. Sowerby .

»» frag ilia, J. D. Dana .

,, Clarkci , 11. Etheridge . .

,, a rule at 11 *.t, \V. Martin . .

J Chonetex papilionacea, J. Phillips .

„ huguessiana. L.-G. do Koninelc.

Strophomencs analrxja, J. Phillips .

Ortholetex crenixtria, -J. Phillips .

I Or thin rnntptiuifa, W. Martin ..

,, Mlchelini, C. Leveille.. ..

1 Rhijnchonella plettrodon, J. Phillips .

*, in rerun, L.-G. do Koninck .

A thy tin planoxuleatn, J. Phillips .

A thyrix ambigna f .) Sowerby...

Spirifer linealutt, \\\ Martin .

Spirifer linctitax, var. crcbristria, J. Morris.

„ glaber, W. Martin.

„ Dartcinii, J. Morris .

,, xubradiatux, G. Sowerby ..

„ ocifonnit, F. McCoy .

,, diwdccwiCrOgf.atUs, F. MeCoy .

,, Strzeleckii, L.-G. do Koninck .

„ Clarke i, L.-G. de Koninck.

m pinynin, J. Sowerby.

,, concoliitux, J. Phillips.

,, vcxpertilw, (J. Soworby .

„ ItttHn, F. McCoy _*.

,, trimigularix, W. Martin.

, t bixulcatux, -1. Soworby .

,, Taxifuinicltsi*, J. Morris .

,, exiniperam, L.-G. do Koninck .

Spiriferina crixtata, v. Schlotheim.

inxailptn, J. Phillips .

Cyrtina xcptoxn, .1. Phillips .

Trrebrat 11 la xacculial, W. Martin .

I'erebratula, var. cymbaformix, J. Morris .

Sea Id in f deprexxa, L.-G. do Koninck.

,, lamellifera, L.-G. do Koninck.

SanyitinolUex undatux, J. 1>, Dana .

„ MUchcllii, L.-G. de Koninck .

,, Jltheridgci, L.-G. de Koninck.

,, McCoyi, L.-G. de Koninck .

,, cureatux, .T. Morris.

,, Tenixoni , L.-G. do Koninck.

Clark i a myifannix, L.-G. dc Koninck.

Ca rdiamorjiha gnjphmdex, L.-G. de Koninck .

,, stria tell a, L.-G. do Koninck .

Kdmondia J xtriato-coxtuta, F. McCoy .

„ nobilixxima , L.-G, de Koninck.

,, intermedia, L.-G. do Koninck.

Cardinia exilix, F. McCoy.. .. ..

J'achydirmvx globoxitx, J. b. Sowerby .

,, laivix, J. D. Sowerby .

giyas, F. McCoy
ovalix, F. McCoy ...,
cyprinus, J. D. Dana

K

Queensland.

146

Sedimentary Formations

APPENDIX XVI, “C .’’—continued.

6

07

05

00

100

101

102

t 103

104

m>

100

107

108
100
110
111
112

113

114

115
110

117

118

119

120
121
122

123

124

125

126
127
123
120

130

131

132

133

134

135
130

137

138

139

140

141

142

143

144

145
140

147

148
140

150

151

152

153

154

155
150
157

Pachi/(lomu8 pvfsillu*, F. McCoy.

,, palitus, J. D. Dana ..

,, Danni, L.-G. tie Koninck .

Mceonta Konincki, \V. B. Clarke.

,, elongata , J. I>. Dana ...

,, gracilis, J. D. Dana..

PleurOpliorus Morrisii, L.-G. tie Koninck.

Ortfumota f cantata, J. Morris .

PleurophoniH bijdex, L.-G. tie Koninck ..

carinatusi .7. Morris.

Conocardium Avstralet F. McCoy.

Tellinoinya Pane Ini, L.-G. tie Koninck.

Pala’area costellata, F. McCoy.....

„ interrupta L.-G. tie Koninck .

„ subarguta, L.-G, do Koninck.

MytiluS cramcciiter, L.-G. tic Koninck.

„ Higsbyi, L.-G, tie Koninck .

Aviculopecten leniusculus, J. D. Dana .

,, subtjuinquelineatus, F. McCoy ...

,, limafonnis, J. Morris.

,, cmisimilis, F. McCoy.

,, depilis, F. McCoy .

„ elotuiatus, F. McCoy.

,, ptychotis, F. McCoy .

„ Knockonnicnsis, l\ McCoy.

„ Hardyi. L.-G. de Koninck .

„ cingendux, F. McCoy.

,, grammus, J. Sowerby .

„ Furbcxi, F_ McCoy - -.

,, tcseellatus, J. Phillips.

„ profundus, L.-G. de Koninck.

„ Fittani, .7. Morris ..

,, _ Illmea rrenxix, F. McCoy.

Aphanaia Mitchell it, F. McCoy ...

gigantea, L.-G. de Koninck .

Ptcrirtea maernptern, J. Morris .

,, lata, F. McCoy..

Anetilatublunulata, L.-G. de Koninck .

,, Ilardyi, L.-G tie Koninck.

,, deeipienx, L.-G. de Koninck.

,, intuinesccns, de Koninck .

Canularia tenuixtnaUt, F. McCoy .

,, nuadrimlcata, Miller*.

,, lasaigata, J. Morris .

,, inomata, J. D. Dana .

Dentalhnn cornu, L.-G. de Koninck .

Platyceras annustum , J. Phillltia ..

. „ tnhbatum, J. Phillips .

,, ahum, J. D. Dana .

M tetxc.Ua, J. D. Dana.

Porcellia Woodimrdii, W, Martin .

Plcurotomaria Morrixiana, F. McCoy .

,, subcancelUita, J. Morris .

„ striata, J. Sowerby ..

„ getnmuliferu, J. Phillips .

„ numilis, L.-G. de Koninck .

,, naticoulf*, L.-G. de Koninck _

,, helicilHPforvi is, L.-G. de Koninck

Murchuonia trifilata, J. D. Dana .

,, Verneuiliana, L.-G. dc Koninck_

Euomphalus ocnlus, J. D. Sowerby.

,, minimus, F. McCoy .

I N.-G. du Sud.

New South Wales . 147

APPENDIX XVI, “ C.” — continued.

<D

•3

u

0

•b

6

»

*3

3

CO

3

d

Tasmanie.

Queensland.

Europe.

158

151)

*

Macrocheilux JIUixnx, .1. D. Sdwcrby.

9>.

ICO

1«1

acutux, J. Howcrby.

&

#

102

,, const net a, W. Martin .

108

,, acututoimd, L.-G. de Koninek .

*

104

105

,, ramfera, .T. Phillips.

*

*

*

100

,, strict us, J. 1>. Dana.

*

107

(Jrthoceras striatum. J. Sowcrbv..

#

:?c

10$

,, MartiuSanum ( L.-Cl. de Koninek.

si:

*

100

Came row rax Phillipxii, L.-G. de Koninek .

sf

170

Nautilus x alum lea tax, J. Phillips.

*

*

171

*

jJ.

172

Hntomix Joncxii, L.-CJ. de Koninek .

173

PliilUjma seminifera, .1. Phillips ..

*

*

174

Griffithide# Kichicaldi, (J. Fischer do Waldheim.

■■a

175

Ilrachvuuitopux Strzeleekii. F. McCoy ...

sf:

170

Tomotlux caneexus ! L. Agassiz .

*

■f

Totai’x. . .

170

9

19

74

E11 njoufcant a la listo qui precede les especes suivantes qui no so sont pas
trouvees parmi les nombreux echantillons qui m’onfc etc communiques par lo
reverend W. D. Clarke, urnis qui out etc decrites par les aut eurs dont j’ni
cite les ouvrages au commencement dc mon travail, on arrivera a un nombro
total de deux cent quarante-neuf especes C 1 ).

£

r3

3

T3

•3

CO

6

o

3

-3

rt

c n

O

6

o

OSI

0

a

3

O

525

H

G>

w

1

Favositcs (Stenopora) crinitnx, W. Lonsdale .

sic

o

,, ,, Tasmanicnxix, W. Lonsdale _

*

*

3

,, ,, iInformix, \X. Lonsdale.

*

4

Strovibodex ? Auxtralix. F. McCov .

*

ft

Turbinolopxix 7 bina. 1 W. Lonsdale .

*

0

Ceriopora ! laxa, It. Etheridge. . .

*

t

FencMella undnlata, >K Phillips ...

*

*ie

8

,, media, .1. 1). Dana .

*

9

Glauconmne plUrnu t J. Phillips ...

*

*

10

Ilcmitrypa scxangula , W. Lonsdale .

*.

1L

Lingula ovata, .1. D. Dana.

*

12

Piscina ajinix, F. McCoy.

si:

13

Siphonotrctal carta, D. Dana .

*

14

Productus ruMiUS? J. Phillips.

*

*

15

,, subquadratux, .1. Morris.

*

st:

10

Spirifer Stackcfiti, Koenig..

st:

17

,, jmvcicoxtatux, (i. 15. SoWerby .

*

18

Sanguiuolitcs Glcndoneyxix, J. D. Dana ....

*

19

„ andax, J. D. Dana.

si:

si!

20

Fdmondia '! conccntrica, 1L Etheridge .

si:

21

,, obovata, H. Etheridge.

*

22

Solccurtux ? elUpticux, D. Dana .

*

23

Solecurtus? planulatus ,,!. D. Dana.

*

24

Axtarte f gemma, J. D. Dana .

25

Packydatum (-4 siartila) cythcrea, .1. D. Dana.

sH

(•) Je crois devoir fairc observer que jc ne garuntis |»:\s l'exactitude de ces especes, dont
pluaeurs me paraissent Ctrc fort douteuscs.

148

Sedimentary Formations

APPENDIX XVI, “ 0."—continued.

20

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35
33

37

38
35)

40

41

42
13

44

45
40
47
4S
45*

50

51

52
63

54

55
50

57

58
50
60
01
02
03
04
65
CO
07
03
09

70

71

72

73

74
:;>
70

77

78

79

80
81
82
83

Pachydomux (Axtartila)pnlitnx, o. i>. Dana
,, ,, cyclaft, J. 1>. Dana

Pachydomux ?
Pachydom us

Totaux_

En y ajoutant les totaux du tableau precedent

tranxvcrxux, .1. D. Dana.

corpulentnx, J. 1). Dana .

intrepidux, .J, p. Dana .

lincatux, . 1 . I). Sowerby.

,, ,, antiquatux, J. D. Sowerby _

,, „ xacculnx, F. McCoy _ * .

„ „ Icevix, J. D. Sowerby.

Card! niat recta, ,T. D. Dana.’.

Enryd&aiha cord a to, .1, Morris .

Eunjdexum i etliptica, J. D. Dana .

Enrydcxina / globoxa, J. P. Dana .

Cmtricnrdia i acutifronx, .1, i). Dana.

Cj/pricardia? imbricata, J. D. Dana .

Cypricardia ? ar codex, J. p. Dana .

Cypricardia 1 preerapta, J. D. Dana .

Cypricardia J xiliqua, J. P. Dana.

Cypricardia ! simplex f .1. D. Dana .

Cypricardia (A denial) Vencrix, J. D. Dana.

Venus f yregaria, J. P. Dana .

Xotomyal xccuri/orntix, F. McCoy.

Nutomya i clnvata , K McCoy ... .

OrfJionnta1 emyprcxxa,J. Morris ... .

Oriiionota ! cantata, J. Morris .

Mceonia valula, J. P. Dana.

,, axinia, J. D. Dana .

Ma'onia} carinata, J. p. Dana .

Mceonia fray ilix, ,J. D. Dana ..

,, rugiformi*, J. D. Dana .

,, elUptica, J. D. Dana .

,, nrandix , J. D. Dana.

Mcponiaf recta, J. 1). Dana .

Tellinnmya (Xuatld) abrnpta, J. D. Dana .

i > „ enneinna , J. D. Dana.

„ ,, Glendonenxix, J. D. Dana.

Pinna} (Cardinm) ferox, J. I). Dana.

Modiola. craxxixxima, F. McCoy .

Aviculopecten sguamulifenut, .J. Morris .

,, comptnx, J 4 D. Dana.

,, tcnnicollix, .J. D. Dana.

,, initin, J. p. Dana .

,, hnbricatut, K. Etheridge.

,, ^ (Strcptortihckux) Dacidxoni, R. Eth.

A vicula Volga nxix f E. de Vemeuil. ..

Theca lanceolata, J. 31 orris .

Conularia l torta, F. McCoy . .

Pleurotomaria inula, .1. T). Dana.

„ Strzeleckiana, J. Moms .

,, carinata , J. Sowerby .

Tiellcmphnn decuaxatnx, Fleming . .‘.

Euotnphalux dcprexxnx, J. P. Dana .

,, (Platyxchixma) rotunda tm, J. Morris_

Xaticnpxis l harpa’/onnix, R. Etheridge.

liairdia aft nix, J. Morris .

,, curta, F. MqCoy . ..

Cythere imprexsn, F. McCoy .

Uroxthencx Auxtralix, J. P. Dana .

on aura pour totaux gtfueraux

73

170

5

9

8

12

249

14

20

-

74

Si

2 V 'em South Wales.

149

ilont cent line, on lea deux cinquicmOs a line petite fraction pres [? cent
*6 i Xante ou einqiiante-neuf ou prosque les frois cinquiemcs. — W.B.C.l
so trouvent cxdusivement dans la Nouvelle-GaUrs da Slid et 11’ont jusqu’ici
ile representants dans fiucun autre pa vs.

II est a remarquer qn’un petit, noinbre dc cos especes appartiennent a des
genres qui n’existent pas en Euvoiie. Telles sont: les Tribrachiocrimis, les
Clarkea , les Ihiirydesma, les Aphanaia et les Urosthenes.

E11 jetnnt uti coup d’ceil sur les planches qui accompagnent mon travail, on
ponrra «c convainere, en outre, quo plusieursespAces out pris un developpement,
extraordinaire, .To citern. entre autres. le Cyafhocrinus (KonincJa, AV. B.
('Inrke, les Ppiriferylaber, AV. Martin, Danrinii. .T. Morris, quelques especes
de Pachysomia et. do Mteonia V Aphanaia yiyantea , L.-G. de Koninek, les
Apiculopeclen IllawaiTensis et Umaformis, J. Morris, et les Comdaria inornala,
* 1 . B. Dana.

On sernit t elite de eroire quo ces especes out etc somnises A des influences
Bpt'cialcs aynnt favorise leur eroissanee, si. a cot 0 d’elles, il no s'en trouvnit
• la litres, qui n’nttcignent pas la moitiede la faille qu’clles possodent genorale-
inciit en Europe. Tel les sont les Loxonema cowfricta, AV. Martin, le ILacro-
dteilus and n a, Sower by, et la plupart des Gasteropodos.

A/in de deduire de l’ensemhle des especes dccrites. la stratification des
terrains qui les out fournies, j’ni du me borner ii faire usage des quutr“-vingt-une
ispeces europeennes qcc Ton coinptc pnnni elles et de recliercher les assises
dana ] esq u elles dies out etc decouvcrtea.

Cot examen m’a fourni la preuve quo vingt-deux de res ospeces etaient com¬
munes nux assises tant superieures quo moyennes et infericures du calcaire
Carbonifere, que trente-six appartiennent exclusivom out aux assises superieures,
r inq ou six A la fois aux assises superieures et moyennes et enfin six ou sept
*ux assises infericurcs. Muis il est. a remarquer que tnndis quo les trente-six
wpecos superieures renferment un certain nombre d’especes caracteristiques,
telles que les Lilhoatrotion basalt forme et irreyulare, les Productus Jt mhriatus,
Tnmctalus et tindaius, lc Chon el cs papilionacea , le Spirifer hi sulcatum, les
Jd&uro l o mart a <j cm m it l if era et cart no la, Ylsuomphalus catillus, le Tvxonema
v on strict a, etc., les assises moyennes et inferieures no fournissent nucunc des
especes qui les font f.icilement recommit re ; telles sont, entre autres, pour les
premieres le Spirifer sfrialus et le Syrinyothyris cuspidafus d pour les
teeondc* V Aihyris Jloyssii, les Spirifer Jfostjuensis et lamiuosus , le Conocar -
dium JJi bend cum et. le Said il us Konincki qui v font complefement defaut.

*Te crois done etre en droit de condurc que la plupart des rodies Carbonifercs
'le la Nouvdle-Galles du Sud appartiennent aux assises superieures du terrain ;
tyi’unepartie,principalement cello, qui renferinc les Spiriferconvolulusotpinyuis,
Jar. rotundatusy peut et.ro attribute aux assises moyennes, et que si les assises
mfeiieures y sont representecs ee n’est que par quelques lambeauxinsignifiants
ail du moins tres-pauvres en fossiles. Jo laisserai a d*autres les deductions
biologiques que Foil ]»ourra tiver de l’etude de la faunc Carbon if ere quo je
viens de decrirc et de la eomparaison avec celle des autres pays.

Jo me bornerni A. faire remarquer qu’il est probable que la mer dans laquolle
5 e sont. dev el op pcs les nnimaux CarbonifAres do rAustralie, etait en communi¬
cation avec cello dans laquolle out vecu les animaux de la mAme epoque qui sc
trouvent actuellement en Belgique, aux environs de Vise et do Namur; en
Ajiglctorre dans le Yorkshire ; en Eeosso aux environs do Glasgow; en
Orlande pres de Cork ct dc Dublin, et en Allemagnc duns la. Silesie. Cette
Hicr existnit encore alors quo dejii la mnjeuro par tie des roclies CarbonifAres
Je l’Ameriquo et do la Kussie, ainsi que eellcs du Nord de rirlande et des
environs de Tournai, dc Feluy, de Soignies et de Comblain-au-Pont de notre
pays, etaient clcja emergecs et que les animaux qu’elles renferment etaient
°n mnjeuro partio dotruits.

150 Sedimentary Formations

APPENDIX XVII.

Mb. Lonsdale’s List, in 1858, of New South Wales Zoanthawa submitted
to him for examination by Her. W. 13. Clarke in 1855.

Genera.

No.

of

Species.

I Number

L»f Species in Europe aiul America
belonging to —

I Lower
Silurian.

Upper

Silurian.

| Devonian.

Carbon¬

iferous.

Eavosites.

2

4

4

3

I ....

Calamopora.

1

2

3 (?)

4

.

Einmonria .

2

1

1

1 .

1

Alveolites.

3 (?)

2

4

5

Syringopom.

3

1

4

5

G

New genus (?).

1

Canutes.

1

4

2

Cladopora (?) .

1

7

Endoplivlliini .

1

0

Trochophvllum .

1

1

Pt vohopbvlluin .

1

1

1

1

Clisiophyllum ..

1

2

G

Cvstophylhnn.

1

1

3

3

Iletcrophvllia. . .

1 I

2

1

20 |

11

33

20

10

Extract from letter from Mr. Lonsdale in explanation of the foregoing List:—
“ My dear Sir, “ Bradford-on-Aron, Wilts, 12 July, 1S58.

“I have not been able to reply sooner to your letter of 13th March,
and the answer which I now give will prove I fear very unsatisfactory.
The accompanying table contains a list of genera, and the number of species ;
but the species are believed to be all new, and three or four of the genera are
doubtful determinations. It is impossible, therefore, to define precisely the
position of the beds which afforded the corals ; but the table contains also a
rough enumeration of the geological distribut ion in Europe and America of
the Australian genera; with some of the known localities. These details
may assist in approximating towards the age of the beds which yield your
Zoantharia. The genera Favorites, Calamopora (as distinct from Favorites),
Emihousiu, Alveolites, Canutes, Ptychophyllum* and Cystophyllum may be
assumed to be essentially Upper Silurian or Devonian, but it is impossible to
state whether the Australian strata belong to the former or to the latter or to
both* Negative evidence based 011 flic absence of Ilalyrifces would lead to the
conclusion that the deposits are Devonian. Such evidence is, however, value¬
less, as an additional number of specimens might afford evidence of the
existence of Jlnlyritcs and oilier important genera. As respects the Carbon¬
iferous series, t he geneva Syringopom and Gliriophyllum have each six species,
principally from British localities ; but Syringopom has four or live Silurian
and five Devonian, and these (4 -f- 5) neutralize any deduction which might
be drawn from the six Carboniferous. Clisiophyllum lias two Silurian repre¬
sentatives, though as far as known no Devonian. The genus might conse¬
quently be deemed to indicate a Carboniferous age; it cannot, however, be
opposed to seven genera (Favorites, &c.) above ment ioned. Eavosites Inis been
said to occur in the mountain limestone, but 1 have not seen an example of it,
and the genera as generally received requires much additional consideration.

“ Rev. W. B. Clarke, &c., Ac., “ Ever your most obliged,

“ New South Wales.” * WM. LONSDALE.

New South Wales.

i5 1

Collection of Fossils made by Her. AY. B. Clarke, and forwarded to the
AVoodwardinn Museum, Cambridge; borrowed from Prof. Sedgwick by
Sir K. T. Murchison, in 1850, for examination and description by Mr.
Salter, from whose MS. notes, sent to Mr. Clarke in 1858, the following
are named, in addition to a series of Zoantharia examined by the late
\V. Lonsdale, Esq., F.Of.S. [Sec “ Remarks on Sedimentary Formations
of New South Wales, by Her. W. Jt. Clarke," (“ Mining and Mineral
Statistics,” 1878, p. 157) ; and Murehbon’s “ Siluria ,” Third Ed., p. 290,
and Fourth Ed., p. 270 and p. 402.]

Genus.

Species.

Locality.

Alveolites .

= Millcpora .

Cyathopoyllum ...

Favosites.

lTeliolites .

Syringopora .

Tcntaculites .

lleyriehia .

C’alymene .

>»

Encrimirus .

Pentiimerus.

Kuomphalus .

Troohoncma .

Bellerophon .

Orthoeeras .

Bceeptaciditcs ...

v

Atrypa.

Ortliis l .

Product us, or
Chonctes.

Spirifer .

Strophomena .

Euomplialus .

Loxonenm .

Murcliisonia .

Plianerotinus.

Uffer Silurian.

(?) oeulata
repens.

polymorplia .

n. sp.

very like “ ornatus.”

? Blnmenbachii

Maeleayi .

Australis .

do.

n. sp. “plaited” ....
alatus.

Clarkci (MS.)— Anst rails.
[“ Geol. Survey of Cana¬
da," Decade I — Organic
Remaius, p. 47, pi. x, tig.
8 - 10 .]

Devonian.

reticularis.

resupinata.

five species.

n.s. allied to “ mgifera."
like angulata.

Snowy Fiver basin.
Maneero.

Limestone Creek.

Yarralumla.

id.

id.

Coolalamine; Qucdong, Ac.
Yarradong.
id.

id. [and Quedong.]

p.S. — “Except perhaps Atrypa reticularis, Favosites polgmorpha, Alveo-
dites oeulata , I do not recognize any undoubted British species.— J. W. Salter.”

152

Sedimentary Formations

Remarks on the preceding Lists.

The arrangement of the above fossils cannot be considered entirely satis¬
factory, and it is due to the memory of tny lately departed friend Mr, Salter
to give some explanation of the matter, ft had long been my desire to place
in the Woodwardiun Museum, at Cambridge, us nearly a complete series of
rocks and fossils from New South Wales as I could obtain in the course of
my explorations in the Colony*

In November, 1811, I forwarded to my friend Prof. Sedgwick four large
casks containing the first series from ’districts named in Appendix iff.
One of these casks, it appears, did not reach its destination, and must have
been lost on the voyage, or on its way to Cambridge. From the remainder
Prof. M-Coy, then engaged with the Wood ward inn Palaeozoic collections,
afterwards so ably discussed and described, in 1855, in the joint volume of the
two geologists (“Synopsis of the Classification of the British Pa l a-azoic Pocks,
with a systematic description of the British Pa/aozoic Fossils in the Grot.
Museum of the CTniv. of Camhidye"), undertook to describe and publish at
Ins learned colleague’s request and charge, in the “ Annals A Magazine of
JSat. Jhistory, vol. XX,’ many of the vegetable and Marine fossils that
remained of my collection, under the title of—' “ On the Fossil Botany am/
Zoology of the Rocks associated with the Coal of Australia ” and in one of t he
present lists these so-described fossils have been enumerated.

In the year 1855, having entered upon a new field of research — the former
having been confined chiefly to the examination of flic Coal Measures and the
Marine bosfiils of the Upper Pabcozoic associated with them, ns will be seen
by the letter (c) in the list already referred to— and having obtained a con¬
siderable collection of fossils from the Middle and Lower Palaeozoic rocks, 1
forwarded to my friend Professor Sedgwick, in continuation of mv purpose of
completing the exhibition of the New South Wales fossil succession, a series
of such fossils as would show that below the Carboniferous strata, Devonian
and at least Upper Silurian formations exist in this Colony.

No description of the fossils having been obtainable from Cambridge, I
wrote both to Prof. Sedgwick and to Sir R. I. Murchison, the latter of whom
borrowed them at ray request from the former, and submitted them to
Messrs. Lonsdale and Salter, who did their best to meet the necessity, hut
could not complete the work.

A letter of the former I have already put in evidence, andfextracts of letters
from the lalter will be appended to these remarks, which are made public in
justice to my friends Sedgwick, Murchison, Lonsdale, and Salter, all of whom
are now deceased.

Subsequently to this T entered into further arrangement with Mr. Salter, who
undertook to complete a description, with figures, of a considerable number
of Lower Pabcozoic and Devonian species, lint his death prevented the work.
This collection, therefore, was left lindescribed. except in the way recorded,
till after 1 ho deaths of Murchison and Sedgwick. Not being able to know
wlmt bad been done with them by the former, I wrote to Professor Hughes,
his successor at Cambridge, who very promptly informed me that on inquiry
ho was unable to learn what had become of these fossils, or whether they lmd
been returned to the Cambridge Museum—which, of course, he could not
^ermine from personal knowledge. As Mr. Salter said, that with those he
darned there were other “ several beautiful species/’ it is possible that some
valuab'c additions to palaeontology may have occurred, as lie made particular

jSJeu: South Wales.

1 53

request respecting certain of them in the following memorandum :—“Wc
should like to have the localities of the above numbers, and of the following
corals and shells, viz. : —

Massive Favorites, 2,983, 3,526, 3,540.

Cylindrical one, 2,507.

Flat one, 3,602.

Syringopora —large, 3,540.

New genus, allied to Favosites, 3,616.

Now genus, 3,597.

New genera, 3,553, 3,562, 3,588.

Heliolites, 3618."

The localities were supplied by me.

In the same Memo, he says: — “Mr. Lonsdale is examining a few of the
corals. Tf he should be able to throw any light on which is Devonian, &c., I
am sure Sir Roderick will send you the information." This was done, so far
as was possible, as T find several references to them, and to the endeavours of
Messrs. Salter and Lonsdale, in various letters from Sir Roderick, who, inde¬
pendently of his private correspondence, made public mention of them in
“ Siluricty" 4th Ed., pp. 18, 462, 276. Murchison further says, in one of his
letters tome, that, had 1 sent niv fossils to what he considered their “proper
destiny" — the School of Mines — they would have been officially described
long before.

Writing on November 16, 1853, he says : — “ I am always glad to receive
your instructive letters, and was much pleased to find that you have been
throwing so much important light on the auriferous phenomena of Australia.
I will not fail to profit by your discoveries in the golden chapter of my forth¬
coming “ Siluria I have long been anxious of having your I’aheozoic
fossils properly named and compared before my final chapter is printed."

The above extracts are here introduced to show* that no possible purposed
neglect occasioned the disappointment as to my earlier description of the
Palaeozoic collections made and forwarded by me to Europe. I may add
further, that acting on a suggestion of Mr. Salter that I should apply to Prof,
M'Cov, “ who is well qualified," I did so, feeling that as I had been
indebted to him for the description of the Carboniferous Fossils from the first
contribution to Cambridge, it would have been gratifying to me to have
placed in his hands the Middle Lower Palaeozoics of the second contribution.

The learned Professor, in reply, stated that his engagements of a public
character were too onerous to allow him time to devote to more private work
of the kind, and courteously declined.

In this ext remity I consulted Prof. T. Rupert .Tones, who recommended me
to seek aid from Prof. Do IConinck, of Liege, who — after some delay on my
part, occasioned by circumstances which did not originate in any want of
continued zeal, but over which I had no control — has most ably, indcfatigably,
and willingly accomplished it, to his own reputation as I hope and believe,
and certainly with much honorable acknowledgment of myself.

1 had myself begun the work in a small way by making drawings to scale
of more than 1,200 individual specimens collected by me from the Car¬
boniferous beds, chiefly between the years 1813 and 1847, and including many
described by Prof. M'Coy and De Koninck, and which were shown to the
former in the year 1860.

They were never published, and it was the feeling that it was a work beyond
my own powers to do justice to it, coupled with want of pecuniary means and
of leisure from my parochial duties, that- induced me to look to professional

154 Sedimentary Formations

and acknowledged authorities in Palaeontology out. of the Colony, and I am
proud to acknowledge that I have found many able and willing coadjutors
who have in ninny instances given me gratuitously the heartiest and most dis¬
interested assistance.

It is with the intention of acknowledging this aid that I have said so much
respecting my two friends—Lonsdale, with whom I became acquainted more
than half a century ago, and Salter, with whom my acquaintance was more recent.

The following arc extracts from the letters of Mr. Salter in continuation of
former quotation:—

“Museum of Pract. Geology,

“ Jenny u-street, London,

“ May 9, 185fi.

“ I should have answered your letter some time ago (I have had it a few
weeks only in hand), but for the very reason that prevents my being able to
work at the Australian fossils in the way I should like. I thought to have
given you some additional information respecting them, hut it is, I find, im¬
possible at present, owing to the pressure of work falling on my department
- a sad hiatus being made iu all my calculations, and a period put to mueli
important work by the lamented death of Forbes, lie could scarcely over¬
take the work that necessarily tails on those who have to help every one with
fresh studies in the fossil groups, and how am l to expect to do it V We are
finishing off our own Silurian work for England, and besides are compelled to
attend to the wants of all the other departments of British geology. Under
these circumstances, it will be utterly impossible to make any fresh detailed
examination ol the fossils you mention. The abstract sent to you by Sir
[Roderick will have clearly answered one of your most important queries,
since there can he no doubt of a true Upper Silurian formation among your
fresh fossils ; the presence of Ca/t/mene, JEncrinurus , and a plaited Pent a-
uterus quite settles that question. Iteceplantlites, too, is a good Silurian

genus when combined with such fossils as the above.

“1 have some time had iu contemplation to give a short paper oti some
fossils of Yarralumla, collected long ago, which are undoubtodlj’ Silurian, but
now your new fossils have arrived it will enable me to add a figure or two of
t he principal species of these, when a temporary leisure may enable me to
attack them. It will not be at present, but; it will be a pleasure to me when
I have the time. Yours very sincerely,

* J. AY. SALTER ”

“ Mus. Pract. Geology, Jermyn-st.,

“ London, Nov., 28, 1858.

“ Your letter, just come to band, convinces me that your Colony will no
longer need any illustration from Home.

“ The specimens which you kindly sent t o Cambridge, and which I have
examined in thorough, are, I am glad to find, only duplicates. I have not
attempted to define their species. To do so would’ be to work' them out, and
I could, of course then send you an account of them easily. Mv avoca¬
tions do not permit me any leisure; and though the presence* of the
genera I meiilioned do certainly indicate the Upper Silurian, yet the great
abundance of corals, both millepore and cupcoruls, with Produelus and
Atn/pa reticularis , is an association we never meet with hero below’ Devonian,
still 1 cannot, give you any specific names, except the very few opposite (vide
list, p. 151). The Recoplneulitcs is a beautiful thing that helps to illustrate the
genus for which I have long ago had materials, and if you allow me to des¬
cribe that species along with another from Canada I shall be glad to do so.

“Yours faithful]v,

“J. AY. SALTER.”

New South Wales .

3 ^

Extract from “ Canadian Fossils,” decade x, p. 47.

•* E. Australis li. Bp. Elate x. Fig. 8-10.

Spec, character.—R.inngnus, cxpunsus, ccllulis verticalibus, subc^lindrieis,
incrassat is, apicibus subter convex is, tabulate.

“ Under this name a curious species of the genus is figured, lor the sake of
comparison, from the Silurian limestones of New South Wales, communi¬
cated by the Rev. W. B, Clarke.

“It ‘is remarkable as having the expanded apices ot the columns on the
lower surface, tabulated in larger or smaller divisions which all seem to radial e
from a central boss. And this arrangement is quite different from the merely
granulated surface observable in tbe R. occidentalis (formerly Ji. Xtyluni.)
Locality, Upper Silurian limestone of Yarmdong, between the Y ass Plains
and the Murrumbidgoc River, New South Wales a locality well in Upper
Silurian Eorms, Tentaculites, Favosites, Pentamerus, Orthoccras, Troehonema,
Rhynconclla, &c.

Feb., 2Stli, 1859.

APPENDIX XVIII.
Arrangement, bv different author

J. W. SALTER.”

Schemes of

Fossils of the N. S

W. Sedimentary

of tlio Pal.eozoic
Formations.

Genus.

Species.

o

*c

c

W.B.C.

M‘Coy.

§

Dana.

r J>

-S'

&

Pal rconi scus ....

nntipodeus.

Fg. ••

Myriolepia .

Clarkei.

Eg.

Clcithrolepis ....
Sphenopteris —
Peeopteris .

granulatus.

Eg* ..
Mor. ..

odontopteroides..

Feist,.

= (Thinnfcldia)

tenuifolia.

M‘C. . .

Do.

Odontoptcrls
Phyllotlieea -

micropbylla -

M‘C. ..
M‘G. ..

M‘C. ..

Echinostrobus ..
Tamlopteris ....

Feist..

Wiananiatta ....

Feist..

No Marine Fossils.

) |
i 1

■ Eh
£. o

Genus.

Species.

j Authority,

■a t
c

Urosthcnes .

Glossopteris ...
Do.

Do.

Phyllotlieea ..,

Do.

Noeggerathia..,

Do.

Do.

Zeugophyllitea
Vertebra ria... -
? Otopteris ....
Sphcnopteris ..
Do.

Gangamoptcris
Ticniopteris ..
Brachyphyllum

Australis ...
Browniana.
reticulum .
elongata ...
Australis.

ramosa.

spatulata...

media .

elougata ...

SP.

sp.

ovata ..

lobifolia ...
alata.

angustifolia.

sp-

Australe ...

Dan.

Dan.

Dan.

Dan.

Dan.

Dan.

Mor.

Do.

M‘C.

Mor.

M‘C.

Feist.

Marine Carboniferous beds.

Stony Ck., Greta, Anvil Ck., Rix’s Ck., Mt. Wingen, &o.

156 Sedimentary Formations

APPENDIX XVIII —continued.

Genus.

Species.

Authority.

£

^ Glossopteris .

Browniana.

Feist.

Do. .

•2

, Do.

1 Clarkci .

1 Do

£ 5 "j

Do. .

! prinaeva.

Do.

MacroUenioptcris.

1 sp.

Do

J ? Lepidodendron .

Australe.

M‘C.

Marine Carboniferous animals.

st /

Lepidodendron.

nothum.

-t, *5

Do. .

Veltheiinianum.

igi 1

Cyclostijmia ?.

Kiltorkanense.

•s S-g*

Do. .

intermedia.

>.Z 0

Glossopteris .

priimcva.

Feist.

Si^illaria.

Bornia.

1 __

Schizoptcris .

radiata.

APPENDIX XIX.

Although no Mesozoic Marine Fossils Lave been discovered in New South
Wales, it Las been thought, desirable to publish the following Lists of Fossils
of this formation discovered in the other Colonies. They are extracted from
the “ Quarterly Journal Geological Society” for 1870, pp. 231, 232, 239, 2*10,
from a paper on “Australian Mesozdic Geoloyy and Valceontology, §c.,” by
Chan. Jlfoore, Esq., F.G.S.

General List of Organic Remains from Western Australia.

Plant ce.

Cliona (?).

Cristellaria cultrata, Monff '* (0.)
Echini (spines).

Serpulce.

Entomostraea, sp.

Polyzoa, sp.

Rhynchonella variabilis, Schloth. *

(°.)

Avieula Miinsteri. Goldf * (O.)

* -- echinata, Sow. # (0.)

--ina*quivalvis, Soic.

Lima proboscidea, Sow. * (O.)

- punctata Sow. # (0.)

- duplicata, So tv.

— sp.

Lima sp.

Ostrca Marsliij, Sow. * (O.)
Ostrea two sp.

Plicatula sp.

Pecten cinetus, Soiv. * (O.)

- calvus, Miinst. # (O.)

-Grecnoughiensis, Moore.

Astarte Cliftoni, Moore.

New South Wales.

15 7

APPENDIX XI X continued.

Astartc apical is, Moore.

-two sp.

Cardium, sp.

Cuculhca oblonga, Sow. * O.)

-three sp.

Cypricardia, sp.

Gresslya donaeiformis, Ag. * (U.L.)
Isocardi, sp.

Mvacites lmssiaims Quenst. * (M.L.)

- Sanfordii, Moore.

-two sp. '

Pholadomya ovulum, Ag. # (0.)
Teredo Australis, Moore.

Taneredia, sp.

Trigonia Moorei, Lgcelt.

Unicarditlm, sp.

- (?), sp.

Ambevlcja, sp.

Note. —In the above list the * marl
and England, and the format ions in wl
are placed within (), “O.” meaning C
Upper.)

Ccrithium, sp.

Eulima (?), sp.

Plmsianella, sp.

Troclius, sp.

Turbo lrcvigatus, Soic.

- sp.

Kissoina Australis, Moore.
Ammonites aalensis, var. Moorei,
Lgcelt # (U.L.)

-radians, Rein. 0 (U.L.)

- Brocohii. Sow. * (0.)

-macroeephalus, Schloth. # (0.)

-Walcottii, Sow. * (U.L.)

- , sp.

Nautilus semistriatus, d , 4 0r5. # (U.L.)
Belcmnites canaliculatus, Schloth.
* ( 0 .)

species common to Western Australia
cli they occur in the latter country
lite, » L.” Lias, (“ M” Middle, “U.”

APPENDIX XIX (2.)

List of Mesozoic Species from Queensland.

' Tcrobratclla Davidsonii, Moore.
Avicnla simplex, Moore.

- rcqualis, Moore.

■-Branmburicnsis, Phil.

-Barklyi, Moore.

-substrinta, Moore.

-reflect a, Moore.

umbonalis, Moore.

— corbiensis, Moore.

-sp*

Lima Gordonii, Moore.

- sp.

- sp.

multistriata, Moore.
Pectcn ©quilineatus, Moore

- socialis, Moore.

-fimbriatue, Moore

- sp.

Plant© (wood).

Purisiphonia Clarkei, Rowerhank.
Cristellaria acutauricularis, Field.
Moll.

- cultrata, var. radiata, Moore.

- acutauricularis, var. longicostata.

Moore.

Dentalina communis, d'Orb
Balanus, sp.

Entomostraca, sp.

Lepralia ooliticn, Moore.

Polyzoa, sp.

Argyope Wollumbillacnsis, Moore.

- punctata, Moore.

Diseina apicalis, Moore.

Lingula ovalis, Sow.

B-hynchonclla rustica, Moore
-solitaria, Moore.

158 Sedimentary Formations

APPENDIX XTX (2)— continued.

Pcctcn sp.

-sp.

Perna gigantca, Moore.

Area plicata, Moore.

- prcclonga, Moore.

Astarte Wollumbillnensis, Moore.
Cardinia, sp.

Cardiuin, sp.

Cytkerea Clurkei, Moore.

- gibbosa, Moore.

Polymorphic lactea, IT. */.

-gibba (?), (V Orb.

Planorbulina Ungeriana, (V Orb.

-lobatula, cl'Orb.

Vaginulina striata, tV Orb.
Pentacrinns Australis, Moore.
Echinus (spines).

Scrpula intestinalis, Phil.
Goniomya depressa, Moore.

Leda Australis, Moore.

Lucina anomala, Moore.

- Australis, Moore.

Mactra trigonalis, Jfoore.

- sp.

Modiola unica, Moore.

My a Maccoyi, Moore.

Myacites planus, Moore.

Mytilus in flatus, Moore.

Mytilus rugo-costatus, Moore.

-planus, Moore.

Nucula, Cooperi, Moore.

-truncata, Moore.

- sp.

Panopjea rugosa, Moore.
Tnncredia plana, Moore.

Tbraeia Wifepni, Moore.

Trigonia lineata, Moore.

Aetaion Hoehstetfceri, Moore.

-depressus, Moore.

Delpbinula reflecta, Moore.
Dentalium lineatuin, Moore.
Natica variabilis, Moore.

-ornatissima, Moore.

~

Solarium (?), sp.

Troelms, sp.

Turbo, sp.

Belem nites paxillosus (?), Voltz.

- Australis, Phillips.

- sp.

— sp.

Crioeems Australe, Moore [Neo-
comian.~]

Tcutbis, sp.

Hybodus ? (teeth and scales).
Lcpidotus (scales).

General Table of Secondary Species.

No. of
species.

Plantfc. 2

Amorphozou . 2

Foraminifcra . 7 1

Echinodermata . 4

Arficidata . 4

Crustacea (Entomostraca) 2
Polyzoa . 2

23

No. of

sjKscies.

23

Brachiopoda . 8

Conchifcra .•.. 83

Gasteropoda. 18

Cephalopoda. 13

Pisces . 3

148

[Reptilian remains have been discovered at the Flinders River—
Cretaceous.]

See also Paper by Rev. W. B. Clarke—“ On Marine Fossiliferous
Secondary Formal ions in Australia ” : Q. J. G. S., vol xxiii (1867), 7.

Survey, in manuscript letter of 26tli February, 1878.
Systematical Table.

Note.—T he species marked “n. sp.” arc described by him as new.

New South Wales.

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Neto South Wales.

163

Bacchus Marsh Sandstones .—“ Now, perhaps, tlie Bacchus Marsh sand¬
stones hare to bo placed as above or partly on the horizon of tho Newcastle
beds. They niay, perhaps, also bo called the ‘ Gangamopteris beds as so far
as I could inform myself, they contain Gangamopteris only (coming in this
very close to our Talcrnr group, underlying the Coal-beds where Gangarao-
pteris preponderates).

The species described from hero aro :—

Gangamopteris angustifolia, M‘Coy
„ spathulala „

„ obliqua „

‘‘If this position is correctly assigned, then the Indian coal flora (with Glossop-
teris) is a third re-appearance or the Australian Lower flora, in tho Upper
Marine beds, as in column marked h in the 1 Systematic Table.’”

Hawkesbury and Wianamatta Beds. —Dr. Feistmantel makes the following
observations respecting these:—“Although representing, perhaps, strnti-
grapliically two groups, they seem to me, from a palaeontological point of view,
to be of tho same age, or very nearly so. It is true they contain fishes, some
of which (one, Paicconiscus) are heterocercal, but another one seems not
hctorocercal ( Cleitholepis gramdatus) —[But Egerton distinctly calls it
heteroc.—W.B.C.]—while of the third one tho tail is not known. If we now
take into consideration that a Paicconiscus is known from the Karoo beds in
South Africa, which are more than probably Trias, and if we consider that
a Paicconiscus superstes, Eg., is described from Keuper in England, then we
must not be astonished that a l } alctoniscus should be found in these Ilawkcs-
bury and Wianamatta beds, which I would consider Upper Tnassic (although
the plants by themselves would justify to consider these beds as on the horizon
of the Rhaetic between Keuper and Lias). These are all 1 could determine
or get information of.”

Jurassic or Highest Beds. —Dr. Feistmantel writes :—“ There is one
point not quite clear to me, if that Olossopteris which Professor M‘Cov
( ( Prodomus”J and Mr. B. Smyth ("'Report of Progress”) mention as occurring
in one specimen together with Pccopicris Australis, Morr., from Tasmania,
belongs also to this group of strata.”

General Remarks. —Dr. Feistmantel romarks, with reference to India, “It
always results moro and more that our Coal-bearing strata are only ‘ plant -
bearing ’ ; no Marino fossils are here. Always more evidence is procured for
Triassic age of the Coal Measures, and there is no other ovidonco for tho view
of their probably Upper Paloeozoic age than the genorieal affinity of some
plants, as Verlebraria, Phgllotheca, and Olossopteris , with the Newcastle beds,
and partly in 6ome of your Lower beds. As I have once before mentioned,
you may have every reason for an * Upper Pakeozoic ’ ago of your Newcastle
beds, but there is nothing of this sort in our Indian Coal-seams.

“ As I mentioned also before, our Indian Coal Measures are underlaid by
tlio so called Talchir group, and another group of Coal-seams which I dis¬
covered and proved in two Coal-basins (in Kurhurbali, in Bengal, and Mohpani,
in the Sutpura Basin), which are characterised by the preponderance of Gango
mopteris, by tho absence (orrareness) of Verlebraria , by the rareness of Glossop-
teris , which reminds strongly of the Bacchus Marsh sandstones. If it would
be proved that the Bacchus Marsh sandstones aro on the horizon of your
Newcastle bods or tho termination of them, then our Coal flora of India would

164 Sedimentary Formations

appear as a third repetition of that in Australia (taking tho Talchir group as
representative of the Bacchus Marsh sandstones, I mean, it would bo bo) :

Australia.

Bacchus Marsh sandstones, with
Gangamopteris.

IT.—Newcastle beds, with Glossop-
teris , Phyllotheca , Yertebraria ,
&c.

Marine Carboniferous animals.

I.— Glossopteris, Phyllotheca, Ac.,
with Marine animals, Ac., in
New South Wales.

India.

III.—Damiida—Coal-bearing strata,
with Glossopteris, Phyllotheca,
Ac.

Talchir group, with Gangamopteris.

Dr. Feistmantel w r rites that he will compare always with the Indian
formations his intended description of some of the Australian fossils ; and he
says, “it will be seen that tho Australian Newcastle beds and the Indian
Damudas are not to be confounded.”

With reference to tho list now published, he says— “ I send you to-day again
the lists of the plants, Ac., based on your first collection [forwarded to Cal¬
cutta], and on the quotations by other authors, as I have put it down in my
manuscript (it may be, that in your collections, now expected, will be some
other forms, which I shall communicate hereafter).”

“ The * Systematic Table ’ includes those species only which I could
determine from your first collection, and which were described before by others,
but there is every probability that in your recent collections there will be
some other forms/’

“ Of the two boxes you recently sent me, I received only that entrusted to
Professor Liversidge. I found everything in order, and I am very much
obliged to you for your great kindness. The specimens of Lcpidodendron which
were in that box as the Ij, nothum as from Goonoo Goouoound from Queensland,
and the two small specimens fromSmith’s Creek which you put in extra in an enve¬
lope are of great importance. Tho one (marked 151, Smith’s Creek, 1850) is again
a Rhacopteris, and proves that my determination of the former specimens you
sent from Smith’s Creek and Port Stephens were correct, when I put them
down as Rhacopteris (comp.) inatquilatera , Gdpp; becauso this new’ specimen
with more split leaves is to the former one (from the same localities) in the
same relation as are certain forms in the Kohlenkalk and Culm of Silesia to
the real Rhacopteris huvqtiilatera, Gdpp. I have described these forms from
tho Silesian Kohlenkalk with more split leaves as Sphenopteris ( Rhacopteris)
Rtimeri, Fstm. (1873, ‘ Ltschr, d. I), geol. Gesellsh.') but more material proved
hereafter that these very possibly belong as certain developmental states to
Rhacopteris inccquilatera, being connected with this later species by forms
which were described as Rhac. Jlabellifera , Stur. (from the Culm flora).

New South Wales.

165

“ There would therefore ho the following three forms

(1.) Rhacopteris inaquilatera, Gopp.
„ Habcllifera, Stur.

Romeri , Peistm.

Of these forma arc present in your Lowest Coal-beds—at Smith s Creek the
forms Nos. 1 and 3, and at Port Stephens No. 1.

“ The other little specimen which you sent from Smith’s Creek looks very
like some forms which also occur in the Silesian Kohleukalk, and which I
thought could belong to the genus Psilophyton or which possibly could perhaps
be the fructification of a fern. This will be determined hereafter, but so
much is certain that similar forms occur in the Lower Carboniferous.

[Since the foregoing has been in type, I have received a copy of a paper
printed in the “ Meconh of the Geol. Survey of India," No. 1, 18,8 entitled
T* The Palaontoloaical relations of the Gondtcana System : a Reply to Dr. lets/-
mantel, by W. T. Stanford, F.R.S., Deputy Superintendent, Geol. Survey of
India.” I can now only refer my readers to this document, which continues
the discussion as to connection between the Indian and Australian Coal-
formations to date.—W.I3.C.]

to Dr. Feist-

Sydney : Thomas Richards, Government Printer.—1878.

SECTION

OF

MOUNT VICTORIA, N.S.W.

SECTION

TO ILLUSTRATE THE STRUCTURE OF

BURRAGORANG, NEW SOUTH WALES,

Scale , 240 Feet to 1 Inch.

Thickness
of Beds.

Nature cf Bed.

Yellowish and reddish and
purple coarse Sandstones, with
abundance of (Quartz pebbles,
and occasional thin seams of
Blue Sliaie and Ironstone.

Base of Hawkesbury Hocks.
Red Shale.-

White Argillaceous Shales and
Sandstones.

Sandstone in Terraces.

Coal Seam-

Shale, Sandstone.

White and red spotted Shales,
with Fossil-wood and Glosso-
pteris.

Hard white Shale.

Shale, Sandstone. Conglomerate,
Fcrr ginous Sandstone.

Hard white Shales, with plants.''
Marine Beds.

Spinfer Sandstone.

Spirifers and Stenopora.

lied and yellow Sandstone.
Brown Shale.

Muree Sandstone, with Spirifers
and Stems of Plants.

Shale.

Pebbles of Porphyry and of Coal
Shale, Sandstone, &C.

-j-- - -i- -

Sea bevel.

Height io feet
ubove the
Sea.

1996

1576

1245

1216

758

554

637

500

46S

410

402

350

312

310

287

240

230

200

The summits are much worn and points of rock left in consequence. Hie whole
horizontally bedded, and jointed vertically in three planes, S.W., N.N.W.,
and S. The upper beds appear to have a varying slope from 12° to N.W. to
30° S.S.W., the effect of local displacements as the horizontal stratification is
prominent.

Blue Shale in Eastern Escarpment.

Blochs fallen from above encumber the whole of the slopes, and obscure the
beds of the Coal Measures, rendering detection of seams by the eye almost
impossible.

On West side of Valley, towards head of Lacy’s Creek.

At the base of the Hawkesbury rocks, blocks fallen and acctimulated so as to
hide the junction. Dense vines, fig-trees, ferns, and jungle, with pools of
water.

Level of Fig-tree, a well-known object on descent where the track branches to the
Nattai and the Wollondilly.

Water in springs welling out; temperature of water (20 September, 1865) 59° F.,
mean temperature at Camp 65" and of Wollondilly 64°.

The surface slope of the Coal Measure beds is about 12"

Block of Cannel in dry creek, prismatic, 1' 3" thick.

Upper observed limit of Murec beds (slope of undercliff 18") opposite mouth of
Nattai.

In dry creek in Carlon’s land, Shale with Glossopteris.

Under “Tenoriffe”with fallen red and white Breccia, capped by quartzose sandstone.
Blocks of Cannel with Glossopteris in dry creek above Chitty’s.

In low ridge on fiat, N. 25° W. magnetic.

Cannel 9 inches thick in loose blocks on flat at Chitty’s ; watenvorn.
Same rock as at Muree and near Worregee on Shoalhaven.

l^evel of river banks at camp near mouth of Nattai.

Level of Wollondilly (September 18, 1865) at junction with Nattai.
Breadth of the Valley there, alwmt 1J mile.

Barometrically deduced in relation to the above heights.

SECTION OF COAL PITS AT STONY CREEK, N. S. WALES, NEAR WEST MAITLAND.

3

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Rotten, soft, decomposing conglomerate, of a greenish hue, with Spirifer, coal pipes, shale, fossil wood,

and ironstone. Shaft obliged to be timbered.

poring Fine conglomerate and clod intermixed, continued to depth of 50 feet-

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