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OFFICERS, 1887-8: 


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Lt 4 AE 


PRESIDENT : 


Hon. A. C. Grecory, C.M.G., M.L.C, Feake@issaac 


VICE-PRESIDENT: 


Hon. A. Norton, M.L.A. 


TREASURER, 


J. Bancrort, M.D. 


HONORARY SECRETARY ; 
HENRY TRYON. 


COUNCIL: 


L. A. Bernays, F.L.S. 
CC. W. De Vis; Mea: 

J; SHIRLEY, BSc, 

F. M. Barty, F.L.S. 

G. WATKINS, Esq. 


iil. 


Gow EN Ts 


— Fe - 
PAPERS 


“Rey. Benedict Scortechini, L.L.B.—Orbituary Notice,” by 
Henry Tryon : C : : : - : 


‘On the Poisonous Property of Nicotiana suaveolens.” by T. L. 
Bancroft, M.B., Edin. F 


‘“On the Discovery of Saponin in Acacia delibrata,” by T. L. 


Bancroft, M.B., Edin. é : . ° 
“On the Physiological Action of Crytocarya Australis,” by 
T. L. Bancroft, M.B., Edin. : : : ¢ : 


“On the Physiological Action of ccagaest ee ee by 
T. L. Bancroft, M.B., Edin. 2 


“Notes on Bovine Pleuro-Pneumonia, in ae by E. 
Palmer, M.L.A. . : : j : : 


“On certain Rotifera found in the Ponds of the Gardens of the 
Acclimatisation Society, Brisbane,” by V. G. Thorpe. 
R.N., M.R.C.S., Eng. : : : : : : 


‘“A Catalogue of such Minerals as are at present known in 
Queensland, with their Principal Asso¢iations and Places 
of Occurrence,” by Edwd. B. Lindon, A.R.S.M. 


“On Peripatus and its Occurrence in Australia,” by Henry Tryon 


“On an Extinct Mammal of a Genus ano eney new,’ ee C. W. 
de Vis, M.A. : : : 


“On an Acarus Associated with a Diseased Condition in the 
Banana,” by Henry Tryon 


“On the mineral Scolecite occurring on Granite, Charters 
Towers,” by A. W. Clarke 


‘Note on the preceding Paper,” by E. B. Lindon, A.R.S.M. 
‘Reply to preceding Note,’ by A. W. Clarke 


ane mint pee of Gold in po pecnslenis oe N. eee 
Esq. 


“Judicial Entomology and on an unrecorded habit of White 
Ants,” by Henry Tryon : : : ; j 


“Gold Occurrence in Queensland,” by N. Bartley, Esq. 
“‘ Observations on Cataract” (Pl. V. and VI.), by E. J. Bennett, Esq. 


“Note on the Occurrence of Triclinic Felspars in the Granite of 
Charters Towers,” by A. W. Clarke, Esq. 


PAGE. 


10 


12 


20 


28 
32 
78 
99 


106 


109 
III 


112 


114 


119 
124 
129 


131 


iv. 


PAPERS (Continued )— 


PAGE, 
“On a Third Species of the Australian Tree Kangaroo,” by 
C. W. de Vis, M.A. . ; ; ; ; : . 4132 
‘““An Account of the Chief Objects of Botanical Interest collected 
during the recent visit of the F. N. Section to Peechey’s 
Scrub, Enoggera,” by J. Shirley, B. Sc. . : ; PIAS 
NOTES— 
‘“Papillo parmatus, G. R. Gray, at Mackay,’”’ by W. H. Miskin, 
Esq. : : : : - ‘ ; : Be Ly 
‘‘Braula ceeca—a Bee Parasite,’ by Henry Tryon 1/7 
“An Unsual Agency in the Destruction of Marine Mollusca,” = 
J. Bancroft, M.D. : - : ¢ : : 26 
ExuHIBITs . : : - ‘ 3 - ‘ : : 10, (103, 137 
Councit Report, 1886-87 85 
FINANCIAL STATEMENT, 1886-87 ; - : : 93 
Report FrELD NATURALISTS’ SECTION 87 
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS 94 
New MemBers (ordinary) . ‘ ‘ ; P ‘ fo 1, 20,9272 OF 
FF, 4 (corresponding) . 96 
INDEX : : : ‘ : : ; ; : : : > 89 


DESCRIPTION .OF | PLATES 


I. Owenia Grata, de Vis—Maxillaries from above ; 
(photograph. 


Il. ” ” ” Mandible, lateral view is sS 
Ae 4 5 Skull, lateral view - is 
iv? 93 k 4 ( Mandible from above 


(A Upper Premolar, B Lower Premolar. 
V. Cataract, in right and left Eye, as seen and depicted by patient. 
VI. Effect of Cataract on Vision 


” ) ” 


(reduced from a 


ROYAL SOCIETY OF QUEENSLAND. 


FRIDAY, JANUARY 71TH, 1887. 


THE PRESIDENT A. Norton, Esq., M.L.A., Etc., IN THE CHAIR. 


NEW MEMBERS. 


Messrs. R. Abbott, Licensed Surveyor, F. V. Burstall, H. L. 
Griffith, R. B. Sheridan, M.L.A., and Miss Beanland, of Brisbane. 


DONATIONS. 


“The Mineral Resources of Central Italy,” by W. P. Jervis, 
F.G.S. From Mr. W. C. Freeman. 


“The Journal of Conchology,” Vol. V., No. 4. Oct. 1886. 
From the Conchological Society of Great Britain. 


“The Publisher,” No. 3. Sydney, 1886. From the Editor, 
Sydney. 

“Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India, Palzontologia 
Indica,” Ser. XIV., Vol. 1-3; and “ Records,” Vol. XIX., Part 4. 
Calcutta, 1886. From the Director Geological Survey of India. 


“ Report of the Committee of Management of the Techno- 
logical, Industrial and Sanitary Museum, New South Wales,” for 
1881-2-3-4-5. Sydney, 1882-6. From the Curator, Sydney. 


“Proceedings of the Royal Society.” Vol. XXXVIII., Nos. 
2g5-o;, Vol. XXXIX) Nos. 230-41 ; “Vol. XL... Nos. © 242-3. 
London, 1885-6. From the Society. 


“Descriptive Catalogue of a Collection of the Economic 
Minerals of Canada.” By the Geological Corps. (Colonial and 
Indian Exhibition, London, 1886.) From the Director Geological 
Survey of Canada. 


“Russkago Geographeskago Obshtchestva.” Tom. XXII, 
Pt. 3. St. Petersburgh, 1886. From La Société Imperiale 
Russe de Geographie. 


tN 


REV. BENEDICT SCORTECHINI, L.L.B., F.L.S. 5 


“The Blood-forming Organs and Blood-formation.” By J. L. 
Gibson, M.D. [Journal of Anatomy and Physiology.] From the 
Author. 


“ Astronomical Observations made at*the Royal Observatory, 
Edinburgh.” Vol. XV. (for 1878-1886, containing “Star, Cata- 
logue, Discussion and Ephemeris for 1830 to 1890.” By C. Piazzi 
Smyth, F.R.S.E., &c. From the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, 


“Manual of the New Zealand Coleoptera.” By Capt. T. 
Broun, Parts III. and IV. “Twentieth and Twenty-first 
Annual Reports on the Colonial Museum and Laboratory, &c., 
Wellington.” New Zealand, 1886. From the Director Colonial 
Museum and Geological Survey of New Zealand. 


The following Communications were read :— 


REV. BENEDICT SCORTECHINI, L.L.B., 
Fas). EEe 


ORBITUARY NOTICE, 
BY 
HENRY TRYON. 


(Read on 7th January, 1887). 


AT a recent meeting of the Council of the Society, the Colonial 

Botanist, Mr. F. M. Bailey, F.L.S., briefly alluded to the death of 
the Rev. B. Scortechini. as announced in the “ Australian” of 

January 1st. In this paper it is stated that a letter received by a 

Logan correspondent from Mr. Peter Scortechini, Father Scor-~ 
techini’s brother, had conveyed news that the latter had died in 

the district of Calcutta on the 4th of November last. 


The Rev. Benedict Scortechini, L.L.B., F.L.S., was a leading 
spirit in the formation of the Royal Society of Queensland, and 
took much interest in its initiation, though shortly after this event 
he left to visit another country. From his scientific attainments 
moreover, it was reasonable to expect that had he lived, as he 
hoped to return to this colony, his contributions to its Proceedings 
would have assisted materially in establishing their reputation. 


BY HENRY TRYON. 3 


Father Scortechini arrived in this colony about 1871, having 
been selected as a priest for the diocese of Brisbane. Subsequently 
and in the same capacity he resided in Stanthorpe, Gympie, and 
Roma. He was next located in the Logan district. Occupied 
from day to day with the duties connected with his sacred calling 
he found occasion, both whilst residing in a particular spot or 
whilst engaged in his numerous missionary journeyings, to devote 
time with considerable success to the study of Botany, in which 
pursuit he was largely helped on by Mr. F. M. Bailey, and latterly 
by Baron von Mueller. Whilst at Roma, amongst other in- 
teresting plants, he discovered a new Dodonza, which was 
described in the “ Melbourne Chemist and Druggist” for 1882 
(January) by Father Scortechini, conjointly with Baron Mueller, 
as Dodonea Macrossani. 


It was whilst resident at the Logan Village that he gave the 
most assiduous attention to botanical investigations. Mr. F. M. 
Bailey in the 4th volume of the Proceedings of the Linnean 
Society of New South Wales had given some detailed account of 
the Flora of the district included within a 25 mile radius of 
Brisbane, and Father Scortechini hoped to do for the country 
intervening between this area and the southern boundary of 
Queensland and that portion of the colony lying to the south- 
west of it what Mr. Bailey, had accomplished for this; Brisbane 
district. 


He accordingly collected largely on ‘every “opportunity, and 
thus amassed a considerable herbarium. 


The district which his special*missionary labours embraced was 
a very large one, and so his observations ‘comprehended a rather 
wide territory. 


One of hismost noteworthy journeyings, as far as scientific investi- 
gation was concerned, was his visit to Stradbroke Island in/1880 
in company with Mr. F. M. Bailey. On this occasion many new 
and interesting plants were discovered. One of these, described 
in a paper ‘On the Flora of Stradbroke Island,” read before the 
Linnean Society of New South Wales, on 27th January, 1881, 
was the beautiful orchid Dipodium hamiltonianum. 


In 1882 he visited Stanthorpe, accompanied by the writer. 
On this occasion, besides the plants previous known to occur in 
this district, a number of interesting species were obtained. The 
most noteworthy of these, as given by Father Scortechini himself, 
were :—Pomaderris prunifolia, 4. Cuan; Mirbelia speciosa, Szed. ; 


4 REV. BENEDICT SCORTECHINI, L.L.B., F.L.S. 5 


Beckea densifolia, Sm.,; Eucalyptus capitellata, Sw. ,; Actinotus 
Gibbonsi, # v. M.,; Aster ramulosus Zadzl/; Brachycome 
discolor, C. Stuart; B. Stuartii, Benth; B. ciliaris, Zess ; Lepto- 
thynchus squamatus, Zess; Dampiera Brownii, & v. JZ.; Leuco- 
pogon pluriloculatus, @ v. Af.; Logania floribunda, &. Sr. ; 
Notelza linearis, enth ; Hakea microcarpa, “A. 67,55). 
dactyloides, Cav. ,; Bertya rosmarinifolia, Planch ; Choretrum 
lateriflorum, #. Sr. ,; Callitris Muelleri, Parv/at; Arthropodium 
laxum, Hook. F. In addition to these were the plants ossiea 
Scortechinit and Grevillea iictfolia, var. Scortechinit, Stenanthemum 
Scortechinit, named by Baron Mueller in appreciation of Father 
Scortechini’s successful efforts on this occasion. 


His visits to the Tambourine Mountain, to Wilson’s Peak, and 
to the Tweed district were prolific in new discoveries. These are 
detailed in great measure in two papers :—‘ Contributions to a 
South Queensland Flora” (Proc. Linnean Society of New South 
Wales, Jan., 1881, Vol. VI.) and “ Half Century of Plants New to 
South Queensland” (Proc. Linnean Society, New South Wales, 
Vol. VIIL., p. 213), read on 28th January, 1882, written by Father 
Scortechini himself, and in Baron Mueller’s Fragmenta, Vol. XI., 
and in some other miscellaneous contributions to botanical 
literature from the pen of the latter phytologist. Amongst the 
new plants thus brought to light are—Daviesca arborea, F. v. M. & 
B. Scort., a tree attaining a height of 40 feet and conspicuous, to 
use the language of the discoverer, for “the copiousness of its 
racemes of bright yellow flowers covering it as with a mass of 
gold.” This beautiful plant was found growing on the top Mount 
Tambourine, between that station and the Coomera, at Burleigh 
Heads, and towards the Tweed River. 


Another new discovery was one of those corky vines named in 
this case by Baron Mueller, in 1882 (Wing’s “ Southern Science 
Record,” vol. II., p. 73), Alezoneuron Scortechinit, and afterwards 
found to extend into N.S.W. Agonis Scortechiniana, F. v. M., 
was another novelty, a handsome myrtaceous plant, described by 
the same learned authority (‘‘ Framenta,” vol. XI, p. 118), 
found growing at Stradbroke Island; and Srachyloma Scor- 
techint, F. v. M., (op. cit. p. 121) is the name of a beautifully 
growing epacrid which he procured in the immediate vicinity of 
Burleigh Heads. Amongst important economic plants to which 
he drew attention was Acronychia (melicopioides), a plant growing 
about the scrubs of ‘tambourine Mountain and in the stony ridges 
of Tallebudgera, concerning which he reported, “It is remarkable 


BY HENRY TRYON. 5 


for its tri-foliate leaves, and for its acidulous and aromatic fruits, 
which are succulent and palatable in its wild state. By cultivation 
it might be made an excellent fruit.” 


It must not, however, be supposed that all his new discoveries 
were plants in which his name has been immortalized ; it is on 
these that those who respect his memory will love to dwell. 
Several additional novelties amongst plants which he was im- 
mediately instrumental in bringing to light have been otherwise 
designated. Much of his work consisted in discovering new 
localities for plants previously known, or in the confirmation of 
report as to plant locations by botanists, notably those of A. 
Cunningham, who had preceded him. Amongst these last was 
the observation that that plant of strange geographical range, 
Drimys (in the person of dipetala), still grew on the slopes of 
Mt. Lindsay. 


Neither did he restrict his attention to phanerogamia ; less 
humble plants, especially during the last few months of his 
sojourn at the Logan, already claimed his attention. He had in 
all his writing lamented the little information, comparatively 
speaking, obtainable concerning the Australian crytogams, and 
especially on the subject of the Fungi And it is well known that 
during the latter part of his residence in Southern Queensland he 
devoted some attention to the lowest order of plants. Thus was 
it through his labours that the detection of many novel fungs in 
that district were made. It was in appreciation also of his efforts 
in this direction that the learned botanists, P. H. Saccardo and 
A. N. Berlese, in the “ Revue Mycologique” for April, 1885, 
created the genus Scortechinia for the reception of one of the 
plants so brought to light. Further than this, at the time of his 
departure from this colony, he had prepared a work which he had 
compiled from various sources—but principally from the “ Sylloge 
Fungorum,” a complete ‘ Descriptive Catalogue of the known 
Pyrenomycetes of Australia,” which was at that date ready for the 
press, and which it is to be hoped will yet see the light. Those 
who know the importance of the part played by these otherwise 
insignificant fungi in the enactment of their life history will 
appreciate such a great labour of love. 


The same eminent authorities, Saccardo and Berlese, also 
named a species of Rhythiosterium after Scortechini, he being 
the discoverer of this bark-loving fungus in the Logan district, 
and some notion of the useful work he accomplished amongst 
fungi may be gathered from a perusal of the latter pages of Mr. 


6 REV. BENEDICT SCORTECHINI, L.L.B., F.L.S. ; 


Bailey’s ‘‘ First Supplement to the Synopsis of the Queensland 
Flora,” in which, it is believed, the Logan and adjacent places 
given as localities for the new or additional species of this lowly 
class of plants therein enumerated are inserted on the authority 
of our lamented friend. 


On 25th February, 1880, he was elected a member of the 
Linnean Society of New South Wales, and in the following year 
a fellow of the Linnean Society of London. 


In the words of the ‘ Australian ”— 


‘Early in 1884 Father Scortechini left Queensland with the Rev. J. E- 
Tennison- Woods for the Straits Settlements, where both were commissioned 
by the Government of that colony to make a scientific examination of the 
country—Father Woods on its geology, and Father Scortechini on its 
botany. When Father Woods had finished his work he visited China, 
Japan, and various islands in the Indian Archipelago. and returned to 
Australia some two months ago. Father Scortechini’s labours were much 
more protracted, and he had only just completed the work. His intentions, 
expressed in a letter toa friend about a year ago, were, after finishing his 
work in the Straits Settlements, first of all to visit India, and then proceed 
to London, with the intention of publishing a work showing the results of 
his botanical studies. As we have seen, his visit to India proved fatal.” 


Whilst in the Straits Settlements Father Scortechini used every 
effort in the prosecution of the task before him ; no difficulties 
of travel were adequate to impede his progress; the reputed in- 
salubrity of particular spots was no barrier to the examination of 
them for the floral wealth for whose existence they were especially 
suitable. 


Whether this plan of writing a book was afterwards abandoned 
or not we do not know, but it is more probable that it gave place 
to a less comprehensive and elaborate memoir, ‘‘ On the Ferns of 
Perak,” a paper which was contributed to the Journal of Botany. 
Concerning this paper Father Scortechini wrote as recently as 
4th August, 1886, from Penang— 

‘‘T have described in it several new ones—z.e., Ferns, Beddome, at Kew, 
and Baker also looked over them. They struck off two of my new ferns 
because they were named at Kew before, although descriptions of them 
were never published. This, it seems to me, is rather a hard rule.”’— 
Letter to F. M. Bailey. 

But he could not be otherwise than enraptured with the pro- 
fusion of the fern world of the districts which he explored, and 
in one of his last letters to this country, referred to in the previous 
foot note, he dwells upon the fact that he must have about 270 
different kinds of ferns from the district of Penang alone, not 
including in his survey more than two geographical degrees. 


BY HENRY TRYON. 7 


His investigations in the Straits Settlements were, however, of ‘a 
more general nature, for he had set himself to investigate not 
only the ferns but the whole of their vegetation. Even at a late 
stage in the time occupied in this work he could pride himself on 
his immunity from sickness, and did not fail to do so whilst he 
reviewed, no doubt, with evident, satisfaction the mass of material 
—herbarium specimen drawings* and manuscripts—which he had 
accumulated during his laborious undertaking. 


In January, 1885, he writes as follows concerning his projected 
and accomplished work— 

‘“ My idea,is to go to Kew with my whole collection when I| have done 
collecting, and publish a Flora of the place (Straits Settlements). I expect 
the whole material at my disposal will reach three thousand species. 
Great many new things in hand, some of them of generic value. Being so 
busy in colleciing at present I have no time at my disposal for examining, 
comparing, and writing for publication. Most of my material is generically 
determined, and many species too are identified.” 


Such a work would involve the expenditure of much time. 
Meanwhile, then, he must restrict himself, to use his own words, 
to publishing something now and then just to show that he was 
alive, whilst reserving much for his chief work—“ if,” as he added, 
that will ever come out.” ‘I am starting,” he writes in January, 
1885, ‘to publish some genus now and then. A new rubiaceous 
genus has been published ; another is in course of publication.” 
This publication to which he made allusion was his “ Descriptio 
novi generis Rubiacearum,” which was contained in portion of the 
“Journal of Botany” for December, 1885. 


In a letter dated 9th January, 1885, from Thaiping, he men- 
tioned that his health was excellent. The prosecution of his 
investigations, including a long inland trip, during the ensuing 
month was not, however, without some ill effect upon his con- 
stitution, and so he was much upset with sickness. Nevertheless 
he did not lay aside his work, and whilst his convalescence was 
going on during the fall of the same year used the opportunity to 
add to his paper on Australian Pyrenomycetes, and having earlier 
conceived a project of writing a manual on the Ferns of the 


*The habit of making drawings he cultivated to a large extent. Humor- 
ously referring to this occupation he wrote (gth January, 1885) :—‘‘I am 
nothing short of Michael Angelo, still I shall improve. All the orchids I 
meet are written down. To use a translated Malay expression for drawing 
tulis bunga it—write a flower.)~ Over a hundred orchids aré treated so; 
then all the aroids, asclepiads, and several others go through the same 
process.” 


8 REV. BENEDICT SCORTECHINI, L.L.B., F.L.S. ; 


Malayan Peninsula worked hard with this end in view. On 
December roth, 1885, in an allusion to this undertaking he 
wrote— 


“‘T have been looking over my ferns and I find that I must have ‘close up’ 
200 collected here in Perak; some new, some unknown to be here, &c. 
I was thinking that it would be well to bring together all the ferns of the 
Malayan Peninsula hitherto known and publish a Manual. The species 
would number most likely over 300; and it would be easy to do the work if 
the Straits Settlements Government would publish it. Of my 200 species I 
have nearly all the diagnosis written with their keys; of the rest, which 
I have not seen, but which are recorded to be here, I have nothing to do 
but to copy the descriptions im fide eorum.”’—Letter to F. M. BAILey, 
10th December, 1885. 


But for his more general work he must needs visit that great 
emporium of botanical learning, the Kew establishment, to consult 
botanists and herbaria, but he must also associate with him some 
equally talented scientist, so vast was the undertaking that he had set 
himself to accomplish. Thus to use his own words, “he got Dr. 
King, of Calcutta, into partnership in his work.” ‘These decisions 
and arrangements he had made prior to his having left the Straits 
Settlements, and little is known here other than the fact that he 
visited Calcutta on the 14th October on his way to England, and 
presumably to consult with his chosen colleague.* 


Here, to use the words of his valued friend, Baron F. von 
Mueller, “he not even having reached the zenith of his life” was 
cut off, and we may express the hope with him also that “his 
collections and notes are all safe, so that he will get thus far full 
reward in science for his brilliant work.” Meanwhile those of us 
who have known him busy with his investigations in the study, or 
in the field, or who have talked with him over the camp fire after 
a hard but successful day’s work, in which also they have partici- 
pated, will feel how true was the sentiment given expression to 
by Publius of old, in these words—/omo totses moritur quoties 
amittit suos. 


* An earnest of what no doubt would have been one of the first fruits of 
this co-partnery is afforded by a paper ‘‘On the species of Loranthus 
indigenous to Perak,” by George King, M.B., L.L.D., F.L.8., &c., contained 
in the “‘ Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,” vol. LVI, pt. II, No. 1 
(1887), pp. 89-100. This paper refers to the fact that ‘‘during the past 
few years considerable botanical collections have been accumulated by the 
Rev. Father Scortechini (now, alas! no more),” and gives some account of 
his discoveries amongst the plants of this genus, enumerating the following 
new species :—Loranthus crassipetalus, L. productus, L. grandifrons, L. 
Scortechini, L. Duthieanus, L. Dianthus (King and Scort. MSS_), L. platy- 
phyllus, L. Lowii, L. Kingii (Scortechini MSS.) 


POISONOUS PROPERTY OF NICOTIANA SUAVEOLENS. 9 


SOME POrsOovOous PROPERLY OF 
NICOTIANA. SUAVEOLENS ; 


BY 


RHOS: ES BANCROFT, M.By Edin. FUELS: 
(Read 7th January, 1887). 


NICOTIANA SUAVEOLENS, Lehm., the native tobacco of Australia, 
a herbaceous plant seldom attaining a height of over two feet, is 
distributed all over Queensland, and is popularly believed neither 
to be poisonous nor to possess the action so much admired by 
smokers of tobacco. 


The poisonous nature of this plant was discovered in May, 1886. 
An extract of the dried plant is very poisonous, in every respect 
resembling the physiological action of tobacco (Nicotiana Taba- 
cum, Zzz.) and of pituri (Duboisia Hopwood, / v. JZ.) 


It is interesting to note that the Australian blacks, to whom 
tobacco and pituri are such a boon, never discovered that this 
plant possessed the same narcotic action. I came across large 
quantities of it growing on the Gregory River; the blacks there 
although it grew around their camp knew nothing of its action, 
nor had they even a name for it. 


Mr. K. T. Staiger kindly separated from some alcoholic extract a 
volatile alkaloid by distillation with soda, neutralizing the distillate 
with oxalic acid, decomposing the oxalate with soda and removing 
the alkaloid by means of ether. 


*The following observations concerning another plant of the same 
natural order, viz., Solanum aviculare, Forst—a large soft-wooded shrub 
often six feet high, common as a weed about Brisbane—may be worthy of 
record and consideration in connection with the properties of Nicotina 
suaveolens. While in search of mydriatic solanaceous plants, it was 
examined by my father, Dr. Joseph Bancroft, some years ago. He states 
that it does not dilate the pupil but is poisonous. I have lately made a few 
experiments -with an extract of the leaves. The taste of the leaf is 
extremely like that of tobacco. The extract when mixed with an alkali 
gave off a narcotic odour like nicotine. It caused frontal headache and 
gave clouds with hydrochloric acid. The physiological action on frogs 
agreed with that of tobacco. From these experiments I am inclined to 
believe that this plant contains nicotine. 


10 DISCOVERY OF SAPONIN IN ACACIA DELIBRATA ; 


The alkaloid has an appearance and smell like nicotine. There 
was not sufficient to make a combustion analysis. He believes 
that it is nicotine. This investigation has proved— 


1st. That Nicotina suaveolens has an alkaloid base probably 
identical with nicotine. 


2nd. That contrary to the general opinion it is a most 
poisonous plant. 


*ON THE DISCOVERY OF SArOni a 
ACACIA DELIBRATA, A. Cuuz; 


BY 


T. L. BANCROFT, M.B.,. Haim 


(Read on 4th March, 1887). 


In September, 1886, in a scrub on the Gregory River, I found by 
accidentally biting the pod of an Acacia that it had a very dis- 
agreeable acrid taste ; it seemed so strange that an Acacia should 
have any but an astringent taste, that a quantity of the pods were 
gathered with a view to ascertain if they contained a physiologically 
active substance. 


All parts of the plant with the exception of the pods have an 
astringent taste. 


Mr. F. M. Bailey, F.L.S., to whom specimens of this Acaci@ 
were given, says that it approaches but does not quite agree with 
Allan Cunningham’s Acacia delibrata. Seeds that I brought down 
have germinated, and are now growing at the Acclimatisation 
Society’s garden. 


The active principle is a neutral body, having the properties of 
a glucoside. To prepare it, bruise the pods in mortar, boil in 
alcohol (rectified spirit of wine B.P.), filter, precipitate with basic 
acetate of lead, collect the precipitate, add water to the filtrate 


* This and the following two papers, although read on 4th March, are 
inserted here for facility of reference as being on a similar subject to that of 
foregoing communication and from the same author. 


BY T. L. BANCROFT, M.B. II 


and collect the further precipitate, wash the precipitates, mix with 
a little water and decompose with sulphuretted hydrogen, evaporate 
to dryness, dissolve out with boiling alcohol, filter and evaporate, 
purify by repeated solution in water and evaporation. 


It is thus left as a dirty white non-crystalline substance, having 
a very faint odour and an extremely nasty taste. It is soluble 
in water and alcohol, insoluble in ether. The smallest amount 
shaken up with water will cause a froth. 


A solution in water has a disagreeable odour, and gives the fol- 
lowing reactions—precipitates with basic acetate of lead, slight 
precipitate with neutral acetate of lead and with tannic acid, no 
change with platinic or auric chlorides, sulphuric acid, or with 
perchloride of iron, alkalies deepen the colour, it reduces cupric 
oxide from alkaline solution of copper. It causes sneezing. 


A little was applied to the conjunctiva of a dog, it caused pain 
conjunctivitis and corneitis, owing to which the condition of the 
pupil could not be ascertained, so severe indeed was the inflam- 
mation that the eye-ball was thought, for two days, to have 
sloughed ; after the inflammation subsided there were opacities 
of the cornea. 


It is an irritant poison. ‘Topically applied to the frog’s muscle, 
nerve, or heart it paralyses them immediately. It stops the heart 
in diastole whether injected into a lymph sac or topically applied. 


Physiologically this substance agrees closely with Saponin, and 
chemically also it is similar. -I am of opinion that it is the same 
substance. 


12 PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION OF CRYPTOCARYA AUSTRALIS ; 


ON THE PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION es 
CRYPTOCARYA’ AUSTRALE 


BY 


T. L. BANCROFT, M.B., Edin. 
(Read on 4th March, 1887 ). 


CRYPTOCARYA AUSTRALIS, enth. (Laurus australis, 4. Cunn), 
is a small tree growing plentifully about Brisbane. Cryptocarya is 
a genus of the order Laurinez. 


On May r2th, 1886, in search of poisonous plants, I found the 
bark of this tree to have a very persistently bitter taste. Physio- 
logical experiments were immediately made, which led to the 
discovery of its toxic action. Other species of the same genus 
are likewise poisonous. It is interesting botanically to note such 
a poisonous genus in this order. 


The active principle is a crystalline alkaloid ; there is contained 
in the bark also a very large quantity of mucilaginous matter, a 
glucoside and a volatile oil. 


The alkaloid can be obtained in a colourless crystalline state in 
the following manner :—Pulverise the dry bark, boil in alcohol 
and water accidulated with sulphuric acid, filter, neutralise with 
ammonia, evaporate to the consistence of syrup, shake with ether 
to free from the volatile oil, evaporate the syrupy extract to dry- 
ness, dissolve in water, precipitate with tannic acid, collect and 
wash the precipitate, mix thoroughly while still moist with hydrate 
of lime, allow to stand for a day, dry over a water-bath and shake 
out the alkaloid with alcohol, allow the alcohol to slowly evaporate. 
The crystals are acicular, arranged in stellate masses. 


The alkaloid or its salts have an intensely bitter taste ; it is 
odourless and extremely poisonous, slightly soluble in water, very 
soluble in alcohol, ether, and chloroform. Warm blooded animals 
poisoned with Cryptocarya exhibit respiratory difficulty, soon 
ending in asphyxial convulsions and death. On frogs it causes 
paralysis of the reflex function of the spinal chord and the 
peripheral ends of motor nerves as effectually as curara. 


BY T. L. BANCROFT, M.B. 1m) 


If a limb of a frog be protected by ligature of its artery from 
poisoned blood, stimuli to poisoned parts cause reflex movements 
in the protected limb for a short time after they have ceased in 
poisoned parts, showing that the motor nerves are impaired first 
and directly afterwards the reflex function is paralysed. 


The motor nerve conductivity to electric stimuli is present for a 
short time after the frog becomes flaccid. Muscle, sensory nerves, 
the heart and other viscera do not seem to be primarily affected. 
Frogs sometimes recover after poisoning with this substance. 


ON THE PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION OF 
DAPHNANDRA REPANDULA ; 


BY 


T. L. BANCROFT, M.B., Edin., 
(Read on 4th March, 1887). 


In October, 1885, while residing at the Johnstone River, I was 
fortunate enough to discover the poisonous property of the genus 
Daphnandra, trees of the order Monimiacez. A short paper was 
then written and kindly communicated to the Royal Society of 
New South Wales by Professor Anderson Stuart. 


All parts of Daphnandra repandula /: v. JZ, have a peculiar 
transient bitter taste. The bark is rich in alkaloids; there are 
three at least. When the bark is first removed from the tree, it 
has a yellow coloured inner surface, which on exposure to the air 
becomes metallic black, but this disappears again as it dries. 


Solutions of this plant are yellow in colour, are not fluorescent, 
and keep free from bacteria or other fungi and infusoria. fA 
watery solution of the bark gives precipitates with alkalies and 
their carbonates, mercuric, auric, and platinic chlorides, tannic 
and picric acids, perchloride of iron changes the colour from 
yellow to brown. An extract made in the following manner was 
used in this investigation. (It is, however, a wasteful way of 
preparing the active principle, for by it the bark only yields four 
per cent. of extract. Six per cent. of alkaloids can be obtained 
from the bark by any of the ordinary processes). Pulverise the 
bark, exhaust twice with alcohol, each time macerating a week, 
evaporate off the alcohol, treat the extract with water, filter and 
evaporate over a water-bath. 


14 PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION OF DAPHNANDRA REPANDULA ; 


This extract is very hard and soluble to any extent in water. 
It is very convenient, as being free from gum and resin, for use in 
hypodermic syringes. A grain is a fatal dose for frogs; one to 
ten grains for warm-blooded animals. 


To prepare the alkaloids, exhaust the bark by repeated treat- 
ment with hot water, precipitate with tannic acid, decompose in 
the usual way. 


Separate the different alkaloids as follows :—Boil in water in 
which medium the most poisonous one only is soluble, treat the 
residue with ether which dissolves another, leaving a third which 
is soluble in alcohol and chloroform, in which media the other 
two are also soluble. They are all colourless when pure crystal- 
line, differing from each other in appearance; their salts are 
crystalline and bitter. The active alkaloid is insoluble in ether, 
benzene, and turpentine, slightly soluble in chloroform and amyl- 
alcohol, soluble in alcohol and water. 


The frogs made use of in this investigation were the large green 
tree frog (Hyla czerulea). 


The dust given off during pulverisation of the bark causes 
sneezing and secretion from the nasal mucuous membrane. Frogs 
after having had Daphnandra extract injected into a lymph-sac 
remain very still. There is irregularity and difficulty of breathing, 
soon ending in paralysis of respiration, loss of reflex function, and 
in several hours the heart stops in systole. There is slowing of 
the circulation and dilatation of the veins, sometimes constriction 
of the arterioles, oftener no change whatever in the calibre as 
ascertained by micrometer measurements in the web of frogs 
slightly under the influence cf curara. 


The slowing of the heart seems to be caused by lengthening of 
the systole. There is intermittancy, more auricular than ventricular 
pulsations, less blood passing through the heart, the heart in con- 
sequence appears much smaller ; finally no ventricular beats, the 
ventricle remaining firmly contracted, the auricles and sinus beat 
for some time longer and stop generally distended with blood. 


Atropine does not hinder the action of Daphnandra in slowing 
and stopping the frog’s heart. 


Daphnandra slows the frog’s heart whether the vagi are intact or 
previously cut ; whether administered through the circulation or 
topically applied to the heart in situ or after removal from the 
body, and even when the sinus venosus is severed from the heart. 
Daphnandra seems therefore to chiefly affect the motor ganglia of 
the heart. 


BY T. L. BANCROFT, M.B. 15 


If Daphnandra be first given to a frog, strychnine will not 
tetanise it, and in frogs tetanised with strychnine Daphnandra 
quickly renders them flaccid. It has no action on the pupil. 
This substance appears not to injure muscle when administered 
through the circulation, as ascertained by its excitability to cutting 
or electric stimuli and its rigor mortis. 


The terminations of the cardiac vagi in frogs are soon paralysed, 
and the inhibitory mechanism of the heart is impaired ; for power- 
ful stimuli of induced current directly applied to the sinus venosus 
are required to inhibit its action, and in very profound stages of 
poisoning no inhibition take place at all. 


Motor nerve terminations are paralysed after long contact with 
poisoned blood, and this is never the case unless the dose has 
been small and thereby not seriously affected the heart. Loss of 
reflex function of the spinal chord is the primary cause of death. 

Warm-blooded animals get asphyxial convulsions, but these are 
not of a violent nature, probably on account of the motor nerve 
centres being impaired. No frogs recovered after they had been 
rendered flaccid with this substance, probably on account of the 
cardiac action. -Daphnandra applied to the skin of frogs or when 
placed in their mouths does not kill them. The viscera and 
muscles of frogs poisoned with this substance are congested. 
The ciliated epithelium of pharynx, like voluntary muscle, is not 
injured in frogs poisoned through the circulation. 


The peristaltic movement of intestines is soon abolished. The 
lymph hearts of frogs are unaffected when a solution of the poison 
is applied to the skin directly over them, but they soon cease 
pulsating when the frogs have been poisoned through the circu- 
lation. Frogs which have had less than a fatal dose become 
irritable some hours afterwards, but they do not get tetanic spasms. 
It kills insects when applied to the raw surface produced by 
shaving off a piece of the carapace. When injected into the 
pleuro-peritoneal cavity of marine fish, these soon lose the power 
of their pectoral fins and swim about in an irregular fashion ; 
breathing is difficult, often gasping. They lie as if dead, without 
shewing any respiratory movements, on the bottom for intervals of 
several minutes, when suddenly they swim about for a moment 
and again remain quiet. The pigment cells of skin expand. 


Mollusca are also susceptible to the action of this substance. 
The microscopic appearance of the blood of poisoned frogs is 
unaltered, but shrinking of the corpuscles is caused by direct 


16 PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION OF DAPHNANDRA REPANDULA. 


contact with the extract. Small fresh water fish and tadpoles 
soon die when placed in water containing a little of the extract. 
Topically applied to voluntary and involuntary muscle, nerves, 
cilia of frog’s pharynx, or gill of mussel, thin skinned insects, and 
infusoria it paralyses them rapidly. The motion of cilia can be 
examined with the naked eye in Ctenophora; when these are 
placed in water containing Daphnandra in solution, they cease 
from the first to protrude their tentacles or swim about, the motion 
of the cilia gets slower and weaker until it stops. 


The addition of half a grain of extract to the ounce of beef 
infusion retards the appearance in it of bacteria for several days, 
and prevents it becoming putrid for a week at a temperature 
ranging between 60° and 80° F. It has the power to deoderise 
putrid meat. 


It prevents to a considerable extent the blue colour that fresh 
tincture of guaiacum strikes when applied to the cut surface of a 
potato. It prevents yeast from budding for some dayg, and kills 
such water plants as Lemna and Conferva. Careful experiments 
on dogs more especially to ascertain the effect of this substance 
on the blood pressure have yet to be performed. I have hopes 
that this plant and others of the same genus may prove to be of 
value medicinally. 


Daphnandra micrantha, Lenth., growing in the scrubs about 
Brisbane contains the same alkaloids. The alkaloid soluble in 
water is the active principle, agreeing in action with the extract. 
A salt of that portion of fhe mixed alkaloids soluble in ether 
causes sometimes well marked tetanic spasms in frogs, not of so 
violent a kind, nor of so long duration as those of strychnine. 
Finally it paralyses the spinal chord and stops the heart in systole ; 
large doses of it are, however, required to kill frogs—one or more 
grains of the sulphate. Sometimes paralysis takes place without 
any tetanic spasms ; the amount of dose cannot account for the 
different action. This has led me to suspect that it is a mixture 
of alkaloids having antagonistic effects. A salt of that portion of 
the mixed alkaloids which is insoluble in ether and water appears 
to have no pronounced physiological action. 


I have to thank Mr. K. T. Staiger, F.L.S., for his kindness in 
explaining some obscure points respecting the decomposition of 
alkaloidal tannates, which arose in connection with the chemical 
part of this investigation. 


NOTES. 17 


NOTES. 


PapILio PARMATUS (G. R. Gray) aT Mackay.—I have to 
record the very interesting fact of the occurence of this rare 
species of Papilio from Mackay, kindly communicated to me by 
Mr. Rowland E. Turner, of The Ridges. Papilio parmatus has 
only hitherto been known as a strictly Cape York species, and 
even from there in but few isolated examples ; the solitary speci- 
men in my collection being, I believe, hitherto the only represen- 
tative in Australian collections. During my experience, extending 
over a period of about twenty years, I have never heard of its 
being taken south of the last named locality, and I have been 
in receipt pretty regularly during the whole of this time of 
collections from almost every settlement upon our north-east 
coast, and have collected personally in the best Lepidoptera- 
producing localities on our northern seaboard. ‘This circumstance 
affords another instance of the almost impossible attempt to 
arbitrarily define the geographical area of the locale of species, 
even when supported by long and careful observation.—W. H. 
MIsKIN, Toowong, 13th Dec., 1886. 


Brauta ca&ca, Vitssch—A BEE-PARASITE.—Whilst requesting 
information as to the best method of mounting for the microscope 
a particular bee-parasite, our well-known apiarist, Mr. R. J. Cribb, 
introduced to my notice the interesting objects of this class which 
had suggested his inquiry. Accompanying a specimen of what 
appeared to be a hybrid Italian worker-bee were three tiny insects, 
stated to have been found parasitic upon it. These, on examina- 
tion, proved to be nothing other than the remarkable Braula ceca 
of Nitzsch. Braula is indeed a noteworthy animal, one of the 
least developed of the great family of the flies proper, or Diptera, 
and a connecting link as it were between insects and arachnids 
(scorpions, spiders, mites, &c.) Its life history and structure, 
however, show that degraded though it is, and though it is one in 
which no wings proper occur, it is nevertheless a true dipterous 
insect. It is also quite blind, and hence the designation ceca. 
Scarcely exceeding half a line in length, it is of a dark brown 
colour, and is clothed with stiff hairs. Its large broad head is 
remarkable not only on account of the absence of eyes, but for 
the possession of curious three-jointed antennze contained in deep 
pits. Considered with reference to those of other insects, its 
mouth organs too have a somewhat anomalous form. Its mid- 
body is short, ring-shaped, and almost merged into a ovoid five- 
jointed hind body. The six legs are all stout, with the usual 


B 


18 NOTES. 


number of articulations, and these latter are succeded by six- 
jointed tarsi, the terminal joint being very broad. In place of 
claws or pulvilli, as in other Diptera, these enlarged joints end in a 
comb-like fringe of many teeth. ‘These combs, as also the curved 
spines of the mouth organs and of the spiracles, or breathing 
pores of the mid-body, enable this parasite to cling pertinaciously 
to the hairy body of the bee which supports it, and on whose 
juices it subsists, it being a true body-parasite. The survival of 
the progeny of Braula is secured by a remarkable habit, shared by 
it in common with a few other insects—that of producing its 
single offspring far advanced towards maturity. The metamor- 
phoses of the young parasite are undergone within its mother, 
which gives birth to not an egg, not a larva as the product of an 
egg, but to what in other insects is named a chrysalis, and 
amongst Diptera a pupa. \This pupa is fastened to the hairs of 
the bee, and quickly “hatches” amongst them. Sometimes only 
a single Braula is found on a bee, but oftentimes as many as eight. 


The history of the parasite is somewhat interesting. For a long 
time since its first notice by Nitzsch in 1818, it has been reported 
as being restricted to Italian bees, but of late years it has estab- 
lished itself both in Germany and in England. Packard, who 
has especially investigated the insect diseases of the honey bee, 
writing in 1883, stated that it had not been detected (as an insect 
which had established itself) in the United States, and Mr. A. L. 
Root wrote in 1877 that he had never seen it there except “on 
bees just imported from Italy.” Many have stated that Braula 
restricts its attention to the Italian queen-bee, but although this 
assertion is incorrect there can be no doubt that the introduction 
of Italian bees is accountable for the occurrence of this pest far 
from its original home, and that when it is once acclimated 
anywhere it has no particular predilection for this variety of 
domesticated honey bee. As to the significance of the occurrence 
ot Braula amongst bees, Mr. J. Fedarb, an English authority, 
writing from close personal experience, has remarked that “ where 
Braula does exist its effects are but too aparent, for the restless 
and excited state of thc colony is such as to interfere with the 
industrial habits of the insects, and so to lessen the quantity ot 
honey produced as to render the entire stock unprofitable.” 


Of the diseases to which bees are subject, no doubt this one is 
the worst of its class, and comparable in this respect to the one of 
fungoid origin—/aux couvain, or what perhaps is better known as 
“foul brood.” From my not having known of the existence of 
Braula amongst Queensland bees previously, either by observation 


NOTES. 19 


or report, no doubt it is not generally met with here ; and Mr. 
R. J. Cribb, without troubling himself as to how it got amongst 
his bees, will thus perhaps be able to define the limits of its 
occurrence, and so keep the pest within bounds. Further, in the 
interests of apiarists he might even do more than this, and rid his 
apiary of it. He might adopt the plan recommended in the 
“A BC of Bee Culture” for the extirpation of “ foul brood”— 
namely, the destruction of both affected bees and hives by fire or 
burying, and the exercise of the utmost diligence in guarding 
against the parasites being transmitted to other localities, by selling 
either bees or queens. Bee mites, much smaller “ insects,” such as 
are occasionally met with on domesticated bees in Queensland, 
are not to be confounded with Braula, compared with which they 
are indeed harmless.*—HENRY Tryon, 7th Jan., 1887. 


EXHIBITS. 


By Mr. Thorpe: A chart showing the record of a self-registering 
aneroid barometer at Brisbane during the month of December. 


By Mr. H. Tryon : Herbarium specimens of plants, as illustrating 
several of the botanical discoveries of the Rev. B. Scortechini, 
many of which bore the name of ScortechiniZ as a specific desig- 
nation. (2) Microscopic preparations of Braula ceca and other 
Bee-parasites. 


* That the presence of this parasite amongst bees was greatly to be 
dreaded by bee-keepers was denied by a writer in the Queenslander, 5th 
March, 1887. The insertion therefore of the following remarks contained 
in a recent issue of the same journal seems justified :—‘‘ We were sorry to 
be informed last week that the bee-louse or queen-bee tick has undoubtedly 
become established in the vicinity of Brisbane. Our informant expressed 
thanks to Mr. Tryon for the information relative to this detructive parasite 
which he published in the Queenslander some few months ago. He stated 
that previous to that he—although a beekeeper of many years’ standing— 
was quite ignorant of the matter. Latterly he has noticed one or two of 
his best colonies dwindle down to about half a pint of bees; the queens were 
still there but ceased to lay eggs. It struck him one day that the cause 
might be this parasite, so catching a queen he put her under a magnifying 
glass, and there sure enough were three of these ticks fast upon her. 
Holding the queen by the two wings doubled up over her back he removed 
them by the aid of a needle point. The little creatures hold very fast and 
it is no easy job for a shortsighted person to remove them. Since their 
removal the queens have recovered their prolificness, and the colonies 
having been strengthened by additional brood combs are on a fair road to 
become strong. Our informant has since detected evident signs of this new 
plague among cottagers’ bees that he has visited. So it behoves all bee- 
keepers who find their colonies dwindling in an unaccountable manner to 
catch the queens and examine them.” —Queenslander, 14th Jan., 1888. 


20 ON BOVINE PLEURO PNEUMONIA ; 


FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4TH, 1887. 


THE PRESIDENT, A. Norton, Esq., M.L.A., IN THE CHAIR 


NEW MEMBERS. 


Messrs. Alfred Bennett, Reid’s Creek, Mount Perry; F. C. 
Bolton, Brisbane ; D. Ogilby, Australian Museum, Sydney ; and 
V. G. Thorpe, M.R.C.S., Eng., etc., R.N., H.M.S. “ Paluma.” 


The following Paper was read :— 


NOTES ON BOVINE PLEURO PNEUMONIA 
IN QUEENSLAND ; 


BY 


EDWARD PALMER, M.L.A. 


In a colony like Queensland, where the industry of cattle rearing 
forms one of its main industries, any enquiries dealing with the 
present or future prospects of such an industry may well form a 
subject for a scientific Society like this to investigate, and it is not 
from any particular knowledge of mine on the subject that I bring 
this matter forward, as from a hope that it may cause discussion 
and call attention to the necessity for promoting a permanent and 
radical cure for what must be allowed to be a great national scourge. 


The discoveries continually being made from experiments and 
research with regard to the origin and growth of all disease, and 
the knowledge that eminent scientists like Pasteur, Koch, and others 
have shewn that the microbium of pleuro, as well as other diseases, 
can be cultivated outside the living animal, point to the possible 
and probable solution of the discovery of an antidote to this ever- 
present and terrible disease by means of vaccine matter kept in 
stock and continually and systematically used. 


The Stock Conference lately held in Sydney recommended that 
communication be opened with M. Pasteur to ascertain whether 
the virus of pleuro-pneumonia can be cultivated, as also the best 
method of preparing and preserving the virus for inoculation. 
It was a subject well worth recommending, and they would have 


BY EDWARD PALMER. 21 


done well had they also recommended the various Governments 
of the colonies represented to adopt a public laboratory for 
carrying out scientific tests and experiments. ‘Through the in- 
vestigations of M. Pasteur he has rescued the sheep and cattle of 
Europe from: the fatal disease “anthrax ;” saved the silkworm 
industry of France and Italy from destruction ; he has taught the 
French winemakers to mature their wine quickly, and has effected 
a great improvement and economy in the manufacture of beer ; 
but his greatest work has been to render that terrible malady 
“hydrophobia” almost harmless. The discoveries made by him 
represent a gain of some millions sterling annually to the com- 
munity, and prove beyond a doubt the desirableness of Govern- 
ments encouraging scientific investigation, and the pecuniary value 
of such results, though they may not be apparent at once. 


The advantages resulting from inoculation for pleuro-pneumonia 
are very great, as it has been proved to be the only remedy 
discovered to remove or stay the ravages of the disease. The 
result of an enquiry on the subject of inoculation and its results 
in New South Wales among the stockowners of that colony in 
1869 showed that of two hundred and seventy-nine (279) owners 
of inoculated herds fourteen were in favour of inoculation to one 
against it. Of two hundred and twenty-two (222) owners of 
uninoculated herds seven were in favour of to three against it. 
It was shown that the disease disappeared from the herd generally 
in or about three months from the date of inoculation ; that it 
remained in uninoculated herds for periods of from two to six 
years, and that cattle which had been properly inoculated when 
sound, with very few exceptions, never afterwards became diseased 
though mixing with cattle dying of the disease ; also that when 
properly performed, the deaths from inoculation never exceeded 
more than two and seldom more than one per cent. In Europe, 
South Africa, and the United States of America the measure has 
been adopted with great benefit. In Great Britain it has scarcely 
been tried, a prejudice having been raised against it when first 
proposed. From my own experience of the results of inoculation, I 
can speak with certainty as to the benefit accruing from inoculating 
a herd with the ordinary virus obtainable from diseased cattle 
running with the herd. The chief difficulty being found in keeping 
up a sufficient supply of virus, so as not to detain the cattle longer 
in the yards than absolutely necessary. 


But inoculating grown cattle even successfully does not stamp 
out the disease. It merely nurses it to break out in a future 
occasion among the growing stock. Although it is said that by 


22 ON BOVINE PLEURO PNEUMONIA ; 


means of inoculation the disease has been completely stamped 
out in New Zealand, that statement may yet prove to be premature, 
or else the disease could never have been very virulent or have had 
the footing there that it had in Queensland herds. The disease 
is so insiduous and developes itself in so many different forms 
and under such varying circumstances, and after such extraordinary 
lapses of time, that no one can say that the disease is definitely 
stamped out as long as any cattle are living during whose life the 
disease was prevalent. Inoculation being admitted to be a 
preventive, the great drawback is, it cannot be carried out only 
when the disease is raging among the herd. 


All the cattle in Australia may be said to be saturated with the 
seed of pleuro-pneumonia, and under fostering circumstances 
those seeds germinate, and although no symptons may discover 
themselves for years, even without any fresh infection the germs 
of the disease are present and await development. The circum- 
stances under which the disease is most likely to develope itself 
are well known to bushmen and drovers ; such as over driving or 
even ordinary droving, wet weather and exposure in wet dirty yards, 
bad tailing or herding, or other causes which tend to lower or 
depress the vital system. The only method for a thorough eradi- 
cation of this scourge is to adopt the plan successfully followed in 
the human species in the case of inoculating for smallpox, where 
children of tender years are made the vehicle for reducing the 
attacks of the disease. With this difference, that the virus of 
cowpox, which is a distinct complaint from smallpox, is found to 
be effectual in preventing an attack of the latter. 


The vitality of the virus, or contagium of pleuro, has been well 
ascertained, it has been known to retain its activity for many 
months up to six months, even without any preparation. Hay 
soiled by sick cattle has induced the disease after even a longer 
period. Healthy cattle lodged in stables occupied three or four 
months previously by diseased ones have become contaminated ; 
it is even recorded that cattle buried in the ground infected 
others sixty feet distant. There is no proof yet, that any other 
than horned cattle will receive the infection of this lung plague. 
But the infecting principle of the disease exists even after con- 
valescence ; and may be transmitted months after recovery, and 
exists in its greatest intensity in the air expired by a sick animal. 


But whenever the virus can be so cultivated and preserved as 
to be available at all times, and under all circumstances, the 
remedy then will only be a matter of time. 


BY EDWARD PALMER. 23 


But inoculating all calves at the time of branding without fail, 
will remove the germs of disease gradually out of every herd; as 
the older cattle die out, they will be replaced by healthy young 
stock. It is impossible under present circumstances, to inoculate 
calves at the time of branding, on account of the impossibility of 
procuring the virus ; branding goes on all the year round, and it 
would be actually impossible to secure a sufficient quantity of 
good virus to last long enough to inoculate each lot as they were 
brought in. That science will solve the difficulty is almost beyond 
a doubt ; and it will remain for cattle owners to apply it practically, 
and they are not likely to neglect such a remedy when it will 
be the means of saving themselves and the colony, many 
thousands of pounds annually. The operation would not entail 
much extra trouble, not much more than earmarking does ; and 
it would have the recommendation that the herd would not need 
to be mustered or knocked about through yards. 


That this matter is well worth consideration, is shown by the 
tremendous loss that occurs yearly in all stock that are moved, 
whether it is fat stock to market, stores for fattening, or mixed 
cattle for stocking country. It would be a difficult calculation to 
make, to estimate how much these colonies have lost through 
pleuro since the landing of that unluckly cow in Victoria in 1858, 
which is said to have first introduced the disease into Australia. 
The spread of this scourage must have been rapid in the extreme, 
for four years after that, the plague of pleuro was rampart in the 
far north of Queensland, as far as ever settlement had then 
extended. Since then it has made its abiding home in the herds 
of Queensland, and although the losses among some herds are not 
great, the disease has latent force enough to cause heavy losses 
among all cattle travelled, and that is among the best and 
strongest of the herd, the young bullocks and fats sent to market. 
The losses in England for the six years ending 1860, amounted 
to £12,000,000, or the at the rate of £2,000,000 annually. 
When the disease first made its appearance in Queensland about 
1861 or 1862, there were many large herds lost as many as 50 
per cent. of their number ; since which the attacks have not been 
so virulent. But an estimate can be made of the annual loss from 
this lung plague by taking an a per centage of all the cattle in the 
colony ; if we say four per cent. on the whole number in the 
colony, it would not be overstating the case, that is to include all 
travelling cattle, in which the losses are greatest. If we take the 
number at 4,000,000 cattle, 4 per cent., would show an annual 
loss of 160,000 head, valued at say £3 a head, means an annual 


24 ON BOVINE PLEURO PNEUMONIA ; 


loss to the stockowners of Queensland of £480,000, or say half-a- 
million. This isa loss they can ill afford, and taken with the 
losses by drought of late years, it will in some measure account for 
the decrease in the numbers of our cattle, which are less now than 
they were in 1881, by many hundreds of thousands. The 
droughts we cannot help, but may lessen their effects. The loss 
by pleuro we can avoid in time, and should make it our continual 
study to cause experiments and investigations to be carried on 
until a practical remedy can be applied in the manner here 
indicated. It has been noticed that the first attack in a herd is 
always the worst, whick leads many to imagine that the disease is 
gradually weakening or dying out; and that in time it will be 
exterminated without any provision being made for hastening its 
departure. ‘The fact that it is weakening is encouraging, but we 
have such strong evidence of the latent force of the germs of this 
disease, that it would be worse than folly to wrap ourselves in the 
delusion that we have nothing to do but wait. It is a fact that 
in some large herds, no signs of pleuro will exhibit themselves for 
years while on the run; but as soon as they same cattle are sent 
on the roads, the malady developes itself, and sometimes with 
deadly effect ; so much so that drovers are held exempt and 
irresponsible for losses through pleuro. 


The disease is well understood now in all its stages : 


1st. The symptoms of fever, sluggishness, disinclination to 
feed, hanging of the head and ears, and a generally 
disordered appearance that tells a person accustomed to 
stock, that the animal is not altogether right 


2nd. The first symptoms present themselves in a more 
aggravated form,—the beast is very much inclined to 
stand still under a tree by itself, mopes and protrudes its 
head—frequenting groaning as if in pain, especially when 
it coughs, which is dry, hard, and sharp ; a stiffness and 
heaving of the sides and falling away in condition very 
fast. 


3rd. Generally the last stage, the cough seems to have 
subsided, but the beast still remains by itself with its 
back arched, and will frequently charge when ap- 
proached ; the eye is sunken, and a melancholy look 
apparent; a discharge from the nose; while one side 
seems swollen, as in hoven, and there is every indication 
that death is not far off. A fost mortem examination 
at this stage will show frequently that one lung is almost 


BY EDWARD PALMER. 25 


consumed with the disease, scarcely any of it left, and 
the cavity of the chest filled with a quantity of amber- 
coloured liquid, sometimes mixed with blood. The 
wonder is, that any beast could have lived so long with 
such an amount of corruption and decay going on in 
its inside. Sometimes the calves are born with the 
disease, in which case they are very miserable and wéak, 
and seldom live long. 


There is another form of this disease which it would be well to 
notice, because death is frequently attributed to poison, when it 
is reality nothing else but sudden death from pleuro. In the 
early stage of the disease a partial cure is effected, and the dis- 
eased part of the lung is separated from the sound part bya 
covering or sac, and in time absorption would likely remove the 
latter, but the animal being subjected to hardship or droving or 
knocking about, the covering bursts and the contents spreading 
over the lungs and diaphragm causes the beast suddenly to sink 
and die. ‘This is an explanation given by Mr. A. Bruce, Inspector 
of Stock in New South Wales, and accounts for the sudden deaths 
on the road which drovers sometimes attribute to poisonous plants. 


The question has frequently arisen if legislation should not be 
adopted with the object of instituting compulsory inoculation, 
seeing that inoculation is decidedly a preventive of pleuro- 
pneumonia. But the conclusion is forced on us that if such 
legislation should be enacted, it would be futile on account of the 
impossibility of seeing to the carrying of it out, and it would be 
very unwise to make enactments and allow them to become a 
dead letter. 


But if the virus could be grown or cultivated, and become 
available at all times and seasons, and ot sufficiently guaranteed 
strength to ensure exemption from the disease for the lifetime of 
an animal, the protection which such a power would bestow on 
travelling cattle would insure private interests and enterprise 
adopting such a remedy at whatever cost. In such a case legis- 
lation would be unnecessary, the man whose stock was safe from 
pleuro would command the market, besides saving himself from 
iosses when compelled to travel them to market himself. 


We have seen that scab in sheep, a disease which threatened 
to overwhelm the flocks in Australia, has been now obliterated 
by the discovery of the habits and growth of the microscopical 
insect which caused the distemper, that a systematic application 
of the remedy resulted in freeing all the sheep in Australia 


26 ON BOVINE PLEURO PNEUMONIA. 


from scab. And it is really not too sanguine a view to take of 
the situation, to anticipate the time when a like result will follow 
a scientific investigation into the mysteries of the growth and 
incubation of the microbium of pleuro. We have seen the 
extraordinary vitality of the contagium of the disease, that for 
many months retains its power to contaminate healthy stock. 


The hope that someone better qualified should take up this 
subject, and deal with it in a. more comprehensive manner, is the 
reason why I have brought the matter forward, and only trust it 
may soon engage the attention of a scientific man with results of 
benefit to all. 


A discussion arose, in which the Chairman, Mr. P. R. Gordon, 
Dr. J. Bancroft, and the author of the paper took part, the general 
purport of which was to support the contention of the latter as to 
the desirability of the general inoculation of cattle, as a 
preventative for pleuro-pneumonia, being undertaken. 


NOTES. 


An UnusuaL AGENCY IN THE DESTRUCTION OF MARINE 
Mottusca.—During the occurrence of the floods of such ex- 
ceptional severity which visited this and other parts of the Colony 
during the latter part of January, when all the rivers which empty 
themselves into Moreton Bay were considerably swollen, the water 
in parts of it became at times almost quite fresh to the detriment 
of animals living in it. Amongst the molluscs thus effected, 
specimens of which are now exhibited, were Trophon Hanleyi, 
Nassa plumbea, Cerithium ebenium, Modiola australis, Pinna 
(2 species), Ostrea trigona, Anomalocardia trapezia, Anomalocardia 
sp., and Lingula. Of these those which appeared to suffer most 
were the large Arcas, of which heaps of dead shells were soon 
formed; nearly all the Pinnas were killed; individuals of Ceri- 
thium remained, many of them in a semi-torpid condition for 
some days and afterwards came round. The ravages of Trophon 
Hanleyi on oysters were materially diminished after the usual 
salinity of the bay had been established. Molluscs living im- 
bedded in the mud died there, and thus their dead shells were 
not conspicuous by their presence. It was observed that shells 
which are ordinarily uncovered, such as the rock oyster and 
species of Risella and Trochocochlea, at low-water, were little 
affected. Have not we here a clue to the explanation of those 
occurrences, otherwise difficult to account for, of beds of shells 
both in recent as well as in deposits of considerable geological 
age.—J. BancrorT, M.D. 


DONATIONS. 27 


FRIDAY, MARCH, 4TH 1887. 


L.A. Bernays, Esq., F.L:S., Etc., IN THE CHAIR. 


NEW MEMBERS. 
Mr. E. C. Barton, Brisbane. 


DONATIONS. 


“Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India, Palzontologia 
Indica,” Ser xX, Voli 4, Pt. 24. Calcutta, 1886. - From the 
Director Geological Survey of India. 


“Bulletin of the American Geographical Society,” 1885, No. 3., 
New York, N D. From the Society. 


“Russkago Geographeskago Obshtchestva.” Tom. XXIL., 
Pt. 3. St. Petersburgh, 1886. From the Society. 


“The Irish Question for Australian Readers, a History and a 
Plea” by the Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union, Dublin, 1886. 
From the Editor. 


“Victorian Naturalist,” Vol. III., Nos. 9 and 10., Melbourne, 
1887. From the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria. 


“The Publisher, Australian Literary News,” No. 5. Sydney, 
1887. From the Editor. 


“The Australian Irrigationist” Nos. 28 and 29. Melbourne, 
1886. From the Editor. 


Accounts of monthly meetings, r1th October, 11th January, 
14th March, of the Natural History Society of Rockhampton, 
(Morning Bulletin, Rockhampton). From the Society. 


The following papers were communicated by Mr. H. Tyron :— 


“On the Physiological Action of Cryptocarya australis,” by T. 
L. Bancroft, M.D., Edin., &c., (vid. pp. 12). 


“On the Discovery of Saponin in Acacia delibrata, 4. Cunn.” 
by T. L. Bancroft, M.D., Edin., (vid. pp. 10). 


“On the Physiological Action of Daphnandra repandula,” by 
T. L. Bancroft, M.D., Edin., (pp. 13). 


28 ON BRISBANE ROTIFERA ; 


The following Paper was read :— 


ON CERTAIN ROTIFERA FOUND 
IN THE PONDS OF THE GARDENS OF THE 
ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY, 
BRISBANE ; 


BY 


Vv. GUNSON THORPE, R.N., M.R.CS., Enc., Ere. 
(Read on gl March, 1887.) 


THESE minute animals for the most part inhabit water which is 
freely exposed to the air and free from the presence of any actively 
decomposing matter. On account of their highly organised 
structure they are placed comparatively high in the scale of the 
animal kingdom, being related to the Annulosa. ‘Their size varies 
considerably, some requiring the highest powers ot the microscope 
to make out their structure at all, others being visible with the aid 
of a lens, or even with the naked eye. They move through the 
water with an exceedingly smooth and even motion, which is very 
characteristic, and by this alone their presence in sainples of 
water can be ascertained with the aid of a lens. 


In the collection of these minute forms of life, I have for years 
employed a special collecting bottle, which is easily made. Toa 
small wide-mouth bottle a cork is fitted, through which are bored 
two holes. ‘Through one the neck of a small funnel is inserted ; 
through the other, on the opposite side of the cork, an ordinary 
metal tube is fixed, which ‘passes nearly to the bottom of the 
bottle, the upper end of the tube being level with the outer 
surface of the cork. To the lower end of the tube is firmly tied 
a piece of muslin. The water for examination is poured into the 
bottle through the funnel ad /bitum. When the bottle is full, 
the excess runs out through the tube, the organisms, however, 
being kept back in the bottle by the muslin. Thus the quantity 
of water is constant, whilst its richness in microscopic organisms 
is constantly increasing. 


BY GUNSON THORPE, R.N., M.R.C.S. 29 


So rich is the water of the above ponds in beautiful microscopic 
organisms, that it would be impossible in one paper to give even 
the most cursory description of all of them. The rotifers or 
rotatoria, are alone selected for description. 


I. Family “ Flosculariade.” 
1. Floscularia ornata. Not uncommon. 
II. Family “ Melicertadz ” 
1. Melicerta ringens. Common. 
2. Limnias annulatus, common. This rotifer is rare in 


England ; Dr. Hudson says that he has seen it but once, 
and then had no time to study it, (Hudson & Gosse on 
“ Rotifera,” Vol. L, page 77). Mr. Whitelegge of the 
Australian Museum, Sydney, writes to me the following : 
—“L,. annulatus is found in England and America, and 
also here, (N.S.W.) It is not very common anywhere. 
The tube is usually a light horn colour and ringed 
throughout, without any visible structure, or rather, 
particles of foreign matter, such as is seen in most other 
tube-dwelling rotifera. When kept in an aquarium for 
a few weeks, the tube is quite transparent.” ‘The animal 
has five horny processes on the dorsal surface of its 
head, two above, and three below, and it is probable 
that the pressure of these against the case, is the cause 
of its being ringed. When the animal is about to 
extrude the undigested portions of its food, the move- 
ment of the mastax becomes much slower, or stops 
altogether. Immediately afterwards a sort of eversion 
of the intestine takes place, and a transparent tube is 
thrust upwards as high as the rotatory disc, the fecal 
matter being extruded right into the cilia, and so carried 
away. (A living specimen of this rotifer was exhibited 
under the microscope at the meeting.) 


III. Family “ Philodinade.” Rare. 
1. Actinurus neptunius. Common. 
IV. Family “ Triarthrade.” 
1. Polyarthra platyptera. Rare. 
V. Family “ Dinocharide.” 


i. 


Scaridium longicaudum. Common. 


VI. Family “ Salpinade.” 
1. Diplois Daviesiz. Rare. 


30 ON BRISBANE ROTIFERA, 


2. Salpina ——. Nearest to Salpina eustala, but differs 
from it in that the lumbar spine is longer than the alvine 
spine, which is the reverse in S. eustala. Rare. 


VII. Family ‘‘ Euchlanide.” 
1. Euchlaais triquetra. Rare. 
VIII. Family “ Pterodinadz.” 
1. Pterodina patina. Rare. 


By bringing this subject before the notice of this Society, I wish 
to draw attention to a fact of the greatest interest, z.e., the cosmo- 
politan distribution of these organisms.* The forms which I 
have enumerated are all found in the fresh waters of England. 
Nevertheless I feel sure that there are many species of the 
Rotifera which are at present unknown, and that Australia will 
furnish a rich and hitherto untouched field for the investigation of 
this subject. In conclusion, allow me to express a hope that 
before long the Colony of Queensland, like one or twe of its sister 
colonies, will possess its Microscopical Society, the existence of 
which would go far to further the interests of the science at home 
and abroad.t 


FRIDAY, APRIL, 15TH 1887. 
THE PRESIDENT, A. Norton, Esq., M.L.A., IN THE CHAIR. 


VISITORS. 
Messrs. J. Hurst and F. A. A. Skuse were introduced as visitors. 


DONATIONS. 


“ Mittheilungen der Anthropologischen Gessellschaft in Wien.” 
XVI. Band, I. and II. Heft. Wien, 1886. From the Society. 


“Memoirs of the Literature College, Imperial University of 
Japan,” n.d. (1) “The Language Mythology and Geographical 
Nomenclature viewed in the light of Aino Studies,” by H. 
Chamberlain. Tokyo, 1887. From the Imperial University. 


* Mr. Whitelegge informs me that several new species, as for example, 
Melicerta conifera, Copeus caudatus, and Copeus spicatus were discovered 
at almost opposite sides of the globe (i.e,, in England and in New South 
Wales) at the same time. 

+ The preservation of Rotifers is rather difficult. Mr. Whitelegge has 
succeeded in preserving them as follows :—‘‘ Mix equal parts of chloroform 
and spirit; put 2 drops in a test tube and allow it to act for a few seconds, 
afterwards adding spirit drop by drop till the Rotifers are fixed. Others 
appear to succeeded with cocoaine.” I have been using a 2 per cent. sol. 
of osmic acid with tolerably successful results. 


DONATIONS. 31 


“ Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,” 
2nd Series. Vol. I., Pt. 4. Sydney, 1887. From the Society. 


** Victorian Naturalist,” Vol. III., Nos. 11 and 12. Melbourne, 
1887. From the Field Naturalists’ Club of Victoria. 


“Records of the Geological Survey of India,” Vol. 20. 
Calcutta, 1887. From the Director. 


“The Journal of Conchology,” Vol. V., No. 5. Leeds, Jan., 
1887. From the Conchological Society. 


“Notes for Collectors,” by E. P. Ramsay and F. Ratte, 
Sydney, 1887; and “Descriptive List of Australian Aboriginal 
Weapons, Implements, &c., from the Darling and Lachlan Rivers 
in the Australian Museum,” Sydney, 1887. From the Australian 
Museum, Sydney. 


“Journal of the Straits Branch of Royal Asiatic Society,” 
June, 1886, No. 171 ; Singapore, 1887 ; and “ Notes and Queries,” 
No. 4; Singapore, 1887. From the Society. 


“ Bulletin of the American Geographical Society,” 1885, Nos. 
4 and 5, and 1885, No. 2. New York, 1886. From the Society. 


‘Proceedings of the Canadian Institute,” Nov. 1886, 3rd Series. 
Vol. IV., Fasc. 1. Toronto, 1886. From the Institute. 


“Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,” Vol. LV., Pt. II, 
No. 3. Calcutta, 1886. From the Society. 


“Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Vic- 
toria,” Vol. XXII., issued May 1886. Melbourne, n.d. From 
the Society. 


‘Official Record, New Zealand Industrial Exhibition,” 1885. 
New Zealand, by authority, 1886. From the Colonial Museum, 
Wellington. 


“University of California, Department of Agriculture, Report 
of the Viticultural Work, during the seasons 1885 and 1886,” 
by E. W. Hilgard, Sacramento, 1886; and “ Alkali Lands, 
Irrigation and Drainage in their Mutual Relations,” by E. W, 
Hilgard. (Appendix Vol. VIII. to Report, 1886.) Sacramento, 
1886. From L. A. Bernays, Esq. 


32 CATALOGUE OF MINERALS ,j 


The following Papers were read :— 


A CATALOGUE, OF 
SUCH MINERALS AS ARE AT PRESEr 
KNOWN IN QUEENSLAND, 
WITH, THEIR. PRINCIPAL, ASSOGIATIGN:S 
AND PLACES OF ‘(OCCURENCE ; 


BY 
EDWD. B. LINDON, A.R.S.M.; 


INTRODUCTION. 


On presenting to the Royal Society of Queensland this catalogue 
of such minerals as are present known in Queensland, with their 
associations, and the principal localities of their occurrence, I 
wish to give expression to a certain diffidence which I felt on 
beginning the task, and which increased as the work proceeded, 
such being due to my knowledge that there are perhaps other 
men more competent to carry out the matter in hand. However, 
as it has seemed to me for some time necessary that there should 
be some list or compilation relating to our Queensland minerals, 
and as no one seemed likely to come forward and make such 
compilation, I have, not without trepidation, expended some time 
and thought on it and the result I shall hand you to-night. 


In making this catalogue I have had at my disposal various 
reports on the geology of different parts of Queensland, written by 
Messrs. Gregory, D’Oyley Aplin, Rands, and Jack, Mr. Daintree’s 
papers on the Geology of Queensland, read before the Royal 
Geological Society of London, and Mr. A. W. Clarke’s catalogue 
of the minerals sent to the Queensland Court of the Colonial and 
Indian Exhibition, and the report on these minerals which was 
printed in the Mining Fournal. In acknowledging my indebted- 
ness to these various sources of information, I would wish to pay 
a’tribute to the masterly scientific reports by Mr. R. L. Jack; his 
observations are always acute, and his deductions therefrom are 


BY EDWD. B. LINDON, A.R.S.M. 33 
traced out in a highly scientific manner; if I may seem in my 
catalogue to have drawn too largely or too much at length from 
his reports, I must ask to be excused on the grounds that my 
interest in his subject-matter has led me astray. In addition to 
these reports, I have made use of the mineral collection in the 
Queensland Museum (the arrangement of which, as well as the 
determination of most of its component minerals, are due to my 
predecessor in office, Mr. H. F. Wallmann) and my own observa- 
tions in different places also, and not the least part of my 
information has been derived from the numerous people—miners 
and others—who come to me in my capacity of Mineralogist to 
the Museum, for information about the ores and rocks which 
they bring with them for my inspection. 


From these sources I have compiled my catalogue, but I am by 
no means inclined to look upon it as complete either at present or 
for the future; I say for the present, because observers may have 
noticed in different parts minerals of which I have received no 
intimation, and also I have had to leave out some minerals whose 
identity or place of occurrence seemed to me to rest on insufficient 
authority; and for the future, because I hope this catalogue may 
be only the nucleus—or I may say the foundation—for a complete 
mineralogy of Queensland in which analyses made by competent 
men may be found of a large proportion of the minerals; but 
this can only be in the future when mine managers and prospectors 
give more attention to the minerals which they meet with, and 
when scientific work is carried on here with the energy and 
interest which characterises the other colonies, and not in the 
half-hearted manner in which Queensland at present prosecutes 
her scientific researches in all branches, unheeding that a scientific 
basis is most needful for the economical development of every 
industry in a young colony, and that a present outlay in this line 
would soon repay itself. 


I would now like briefly to mention that the number of the 
present known Queensland minerals is comparatively small, and 
that such are, with some exceptions, of more common occurrence 
in all parts of the world. This is due, in a large measure, to the 
fact that the exploitation for minerals is carried on in a hurried 
and unscientific manner, and by men who are satisfied if they are 
acquainted only with such minerals as are most likely to pay for 
working. In the same way mine managers, on observing a mineral 
rather different from the particular one for which they are mining, 
do not hesitate to crush it up with the rest instead of submitting it 
to those who would find in it a great scientific interest and value 

Cc 


34 CATALOGUE OF MINERALS ; 


far beyond the value of the paltry amount of metal which the 
specimen may contain. Probably difficulties of carriage from so 
many of the mineral districts may be some excuse for this, but a 
lack of knowledge and indifference towards pure science are really 
at the bottom of the question, and it is due to this that we are 
acquainted with so few minerals produced by the decomposition 
of others—such as sulphates, phosphates, &c.—so few pseudo- 
morphous and endomorphous forms, and not even so many 
crystalline forms as might be expected. It will, then, be readily 
understood that I have not seen fit to classify the remainder as 
closely as they should be, but have merely divided them into a 
few broad groups—indeed, the silicates, which should form so 
many important sections, I have only separated into anhydrous 
and hydrous groups- It will be time enough to follow out some 
closer system of classification when more minerals have been 
noticed here and described, and when either myself, or better, 
some more competent authority, can devote the time and expense 
to a thorough search for, and research into, the probably extensive 
mineral occurrences of Queensland 


I have not, in this catalogue, given any consideration to coal, 
as this would open out a subject greater than I have at present 
time or opportunity to deal with; it would require the consultation 
of a large number of books, pamphlets, reports, and private note 
books, and would have swelled these pages out to an inconsiderate 
size; for various good reasons, though with regret, I decided to 
exclude coal, possibly to give it the attention which it merits on 
some future occasion. 


Incomplete though I know this catalogue to be, I trust it may 
be of interest, not only to those in the colony who pay attention 
to those matters, but also, and perhaps chiefly, to such scientific 
men and societies in the other colonies and elsewhere, into whose 
hands the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland may 
fall; and should any such find entertainment and information from 
it, I shall be well repaid for any trouble and time which I have 
expended on what to myself has been not so much a labour as 
a subject of deep interest. 


I—SIMPLE ELEMENTS. 
Go_tp—Comp.Au, but generally alloyed with silver and other metals. 


The first discovery of gold in Queensland was made at Canoona, 
near Rockhampton, in the year 1858, and resulted in a rush at- 
tended by deplorable failure. The colony is notable for the 


BY EDWD. B. LINDON, A.R.S.M. 35 


consistency of its gold-bearing reefs, and the peculiar and often 
complex associations of the precious metal with other minerals, 
rather than for the extent of its alluvial goldfields, of which the 
Palmer has been the most productive ; a nugget weighing about 
1,000 ozs., found in 1867 in Gympie Creek, is the largest recorded, 
and most of the goldfields on which reefs are now being worked 
were at one time yielding payable gold from the alluvial patches 
in adjoining valleys or gullies, as, for instance, from Moonlight 
Creek on the Nebo goldfield, where a 60 oz. nugget was obtained. 


Some Queensland gold contains as much as 20 per cent. of 
silver, &c., while other is of a very much higher standard. Gold 
from the Hodgkinson field is valued at from 43 3s. to £3 14s. 
per oz.; from the Minnie Moxham, Northcote, where it occurs 
with stibnite in quartz, at about £3 19s.; from Charters Towers 
at about £3 8s. ; from the Palmer at from 43 18s. to £4 3. 4d.; 
from the Gladstone fields at about £3 1os.; while the Mount 
Morgan gold is almost pure, assaying 99.7 per cent. gold, the rest 
being copper with sometimes a trace of iron or silver, and valued 
at £4 4s. 8d. per oz. Gold from Maryborough, on the other 
hand, contains only 85 per cent. of gold (Liebius). 


On the Palmer goldfield gold is found in a dense white crystal- 
line quartz, sometimes accompanied by mispickel; gold also 
occurs in the stream tin of Granite Creek, about 25 miles from 
Maytown, being probably derived from the slates forming the 
western side of the creek. 


On the Hodgkinson field free gold occurs in quartz, sometimes 
accompanied by galena; mispickel and sphalerite are generally 
auriferous on the field and in the reefs of the eastern side the 
quartz generally contains some galena, iron pyrites, and sphalerite. 
At Northcote auriferous quartz containing stibnite has yielded 
over 2 ozs. of gold to the ton ; this association is similar to that of 
some of the antimony mines of Victoria and New South Wales, and 
the same has been noticed in the stream Nam It, in Poket, Siam. 


On the Ravenswood field auriferous sphalerite, especially when 
associated with iron pyrites, is a very notable feature, calcite being 
often met with in the same locality ; chalcopyrites, galena, and a 
little mispckel are also here found to be auriferous. Iron pyrites 
and mispickel from the Australia Felix were said to have assayed 
as high as 20 oz. to the ton. Free gold has been noticed on this 
field in galena, cerussite, limonite, and limonite mixed with 
malachite. 


36 CATALOGUE OF MINERALS ; 


On the Charters Towers field the most auriferous mineral is 
iron pyrites, though frequently it is associated with more or less 
galena, sphalerite, and chalcopyrite ; calcite not unfrequently 
forms part of the vein stuff, and a little gypsum has been 
occasionally noticed, as in the Queen reef and North Australian. 
Pyrrhotite forms a large part of the brownstone capping of the 
reefs. Mr. R. L. Jack says that arsenic is hardly known in any 
form in the field, and that gold disseminated through the granite 
rocks themselves is occasionally evident to the naked eye. Visible 
gold in quartz is not considered a good feature by the miners on 
this field after the zone of permanent saturation is reached ; rich 
mundic containing visible gold has, however, been found in No. 1 
claim of the Old Identity reef in the neighbourhood of a fault 
which cuts the reef at the 130 ft. level between Nos. 1 and 2 
claims. In this reef barytes occurs on joints in the granite walls. 
Mr. R. L. Jack makes mention of some interesting specimens 
from the Bryan O’Lynn, Queen reef: “ One of these is part of a 
vein about one inch in width, coated on both sides with chlorite 
and coloured dark blue with minute specks of galena, and con- 
taining visible gold. Some specks of gold occur in the middle of 
a mass of crystallized zinc-blende. ‘The quartz is amorphous 
except in the middle, where both sides of a cleft are lined with 
dog-tooth crystals, the spaces between the crystals being filled up 
with gold. In another specimen the gold occurs as an isolated 
cluster of grains in a mass of milk white amorphous quartz, of a 
kind which would be apt to be regarded as ‘buck’ but for the 
visible presence of gold. A third specimen has gold in scattered 
grains among crystals of pyrites and very fine galena. A fourth 
specimen shows a mass of gold containing minute pyrites crystals 
in a matrix of white quartz.” Also in the Bryan O’Lynn a granite 
is met with, in the joints of which are scales of iron pyrites, 
assaying from 134 to 2 dwts. gold per ton ; this is worthy of notice 
as auriferous pyrites is not often associated with granite, though 
a similar occurrence has been noticed at Jimna, in the Wide 
Bay district. 


On the Black Snake gold is contained in quartz veins traversing 
granite, and containing iron and copper pyrites and sphalerite. 


On the Norton field the auriferous veinstuff is iron and 


arsenical pyrites, sphalerite, and galena, with quartz and a little 
calcite. 


At Mount Perry the chalcopyrites, which is of so extensive 
occurrence, is generally, if not always, auriferous. 


BY EDWD. B. LINDON, A.R.S.M. 37 


Daintree, writing about the serpentine of Canoona, says: “It 
is proved that gold exists in the rock mass itself, and I have no 
hesitation in asserting that the whole of the gold taken from these 
diggings has been derived from this source.” Some of the 
Canoona gold is known as “black gold” from its being coated 
with manganic oxide of iron. 


The occurrence of gold in the Cape River has been described 
by Daintree, from whose writings on the subject I cull the 
following remarks. Payable gold deposits have up to the present 
(1868) been confined to the south-eastern outcrops of a vast 
thickness of schistose rocks. In the upper series of rocks the 
Barrier range is a monument of the durability of its quartzites and 
silicified mica slates, single bands of which can be traced for 
miles along the course of the range. The middle is in direct 
contrast to the above in regard to the durability of its rock con- 
stituents, except where traversed by extensive dykes. In the 
lower subdivision, laminated granite, mica, and hornblende slates 
are interstratified. The influence of intrusive felspar dykes in 
the Cape River district is very marked; a dyke occupying the 
whole of Paddy’s and Sharper’s Gullies crosses Golden and 
Nuggety Gully at their richest points ; at the intersection of this 
dyke with the quartzites and mica slates of the metamorphic 
series a fine example of a friction-breccia is seen on a steep hill 
slope about one-third of a mile from the junction of Paddy’s Gully 
with Running Creek. The gold found in Paddy’s and Sharper’s 
Gullies was either in the form of loose aggregated fine gold, 
forming spongy nuggets, or very fine dust, the material adhering 
to which was a more or less decomposed form of felsite. The 
following is an analysis of Paddy’s Gully gold by Mr. R. Smith, of 
the Metallurgical Laboratory, Royal School of Mines, London :— 


Gold. 4 ; ; : . 92.800 
Silver . ‘ : : : : 6.776 
Copper : ; c : : 0.048 
Lead . ‘ ‘ 5 : 5 0.048 
Bismuth : : : : ‘ traces 
Tron A : ‘ ; ; , 0.014 
99.686 


Mr. Daintree says it is probable that felsite was the absolute 
matrix of the gold found in these ravines, and on the same subject 
he mentions that in the neighbourhood of Rockhampton, at the 
so-called “ Cumming’s Reef,” parallel conditions occur, and that 
several hundred tons of this rock were crushed with remunerative 
results, From an analysis of this auriferous matrix of Cumming’s 


38 CATALOGUE OF MINERALS ; 


Reef and from microscopic examination its proximate composition 
would appear to be, quartz ro per cent., trinclinic felspar 80 per 
cent., and decomposed pyritous element 10 per cent. Mr. 
D’Oyley Aplin mentions a case at Ban Ban in the Gayndah 
district, where ‘‘ there is no appearance of any mineral lode or vein 
of any kind on the spot. The material, of which three tons were 
sent to the Sydney Mint for assay, and which resulted in a return 
of 1 oz. 6 dwts. of gold per ton, was taken from a mass of partially 
decomposed felspar porphyry, probably a dyke, but exhibiting no 
traceable outcrop. It is in a loose rubbly condition, and is 
exposed in a somewhat abrupt face on one side of a broad gully 
running into Sandy Creek, a tributary of Barambah Creek. 
Infiltrations of green and blue carbonates of copper form thin 
filmy coatings to the numerous surfaces produced by the dis- 
integration of the rock, and oxide of iron now fills the cavities 
once occupied by crystals of pyrites. Both the copper and the 
gold have doubtless been derived from the decomposition of 
auriferous sulphides, which appear to have been developed 
sporadically through the mass, and not collected into veins.” 


On the relation of intrusive trap-rocks to the auriferous vein- 
stones, Daintree further remarks ‘that in nearly all veins due to 
this apparent cause calcspar and pyrites are largely represented, 
none of them being composed entirely of pyrites. All veinstones 
of this class are decomposed by acids, and are rarely composed 
of quartz alone. The associated gold is a/ways alloyed with a 
large percentage of silver, and assumes also much of the character 
of the latter metal in its native state, being filiform and dendritic. 
It often takes a thread-like structure, which is technically known 
among Queensland diggers as ‘‘spider-leg” gold. The analysis 
of the ‘ spider-leg” metal from the Upper Cape diggings by Mr. 
R. Smith, of the Metallurgical Laboratory, Royal School of Mines, 
London, gave :— 


Gold. E : : : . 89.920 
Silver . : ; : : : 9.688 
Copper ‘ : : : : 0.128 
Lead . ‘ : , é 0.026 
Bismuth ‘ : ‘ ‘ ; none 
Iron : - : ; 3 0.070 
99.832 


Micaceous and hornblendic schists, a rather novel matrix for 
gold, from Mount Davenport, Lower Cape River, are found to be 
auriferous ; also steatitic schists from the Upper Cape River are 
found to carry nearly 2 dwts. of gold per ton. 


BY. EDWD. B LINDON, A.RS.M. 39 


Referring to Gympie, Mr. A. C. Gregory says, “ the Devonian 
slates* in Queensland, where composed chiefly of silica, with little 
alumina, seldom contain metalliferous veins cf any importance, 
and it is only where lime or magnesia is combined in considerable 
quantity that the quartz veins which traverse them present any 
notable mineral deposits; and it seems that the presence of the 
alkaline earths forms conditions which are specially favourable to 
the deposition of metals. The rocks in which the productive 
gold reefs at Gympie are worked belong to the series which 
contains a large proportion of lime; while the slates which dip 
below them from the N.E. are nearly devoid of lime and magnesia, 
and have not shewn indications on the surface of any valuable 
mineral deposits ; and it may be expected that, on penetrating 
through the calcareous rock, the reef will cease to be productive 
as they enter the siliceous slates beneath. The quartz and 
calcspar of the veins contain much iron pyrites, which also 
abounds in the side rock near the quartz veins ; and although the 
gold is generally mixed with the pyrites, yet far the larger pro- 
portion is in separate and distinct pieces, and there is a tendency 
to form separate groups; but the manner in which the crystals of 
quartz, calcspar, and pyrites cut one another, and are indented by 
the gold which is in other parts moulded to the angles of the 
crysials, shows that they were all deposited at the same period, 
while the lime taking the form of calcspar indicates that the 
deposition was at a low temperature.” Galena also is not un- 
frequently found accompanying gold in the calcite and quartz 
formation, and the gold also sometimes appears on the faces of 
“slickensides” on an impure graphite. 


At the junction of Didcot and Chowey Creeks, near Mary- 
borough, Mr. Rands says that gold in considerable quantities and 
sometimes beautifully crystallized is found in the Mount Shamrock 
P.C. in (1) a breccia, consisting of angular fragments of fine 
grained aluminous and siliceous rocks cemented together with a 
hard cement of oxide of iron and silica, throughout which are 
numerous quartz blebs; (2) a yellow ochre, containing a fair 
percentage of oxide of bismuth; (3) a brown iron ochre with 
veins of glassy quartz running through it and bunches of oxide of 
bismuth; (4) earthy hematite with siliceous veins and quartz 
blebs. The gold seems to be specially associated with the 
bismuth, for the veins of oxide of bismuth are exceptionally rich ; 


* These Gympie slates are now referred to the upper carboniferous series 
by Etheridge. 


40 CATALOGUE OF MINERALS ; 


a small sample of the oxide assayed by Mr. Hamilton contained 
62 per cent. of metallic bismuth, and at the rate, of 252 ozs. of 
gold to the ton of mineral, In the Allendale lode, iron and 
arsenical pyrites with galena and sphalerite assays 39 ozs. of silver 
and 1 oz. of gold to the ton. In the old Chowey reefs the quartz 
contains a good deal of molybdenite with which gold is associated, 
the molybdenite often containing specks of gold in its midst. 
As far as I am aware, this association of gold and molybdenite is 
without parallel. 


In the Gilbert district gold occurs in quartz with galena, but 
iron pyrites is its more usual matrix. In the Etheridge district, 
generally, gold has been found with galena, with azurite and 
cerussite, with calcite, with malachite and cerussite, and with 
malachite, cerussite, galena, and limonite; a highly decomposing 
auriferous pyrites also occurs, which I think is a mixture of 
ordinary cubical pyrites and marcassite. 


Specks of gold, probably derived from the disintegration of 
small gold-bearing quartz leaders or strings in the granite country, 
have been found in tin-wash of Pikedale and Stanthorpe, and an 
auriferous wolgram is said to occur at this latter place ; a specimen 
in the Queensland Museum is so labelled, but I am unable to find 
any record of analysis thereof. 


In the Cloncurry district one of the most remarkable associations 
of gold is with schorl; this, I believe, is only met with elsewhere 
at the Union Gold Mining Co’s lease, Crocodile, near Rock- 
hampton (where an auriferous iron pyrites occurs in schorl and 
calcite) and in the Akankoo reef, on the Ancobra River, port of 
Axim, West Africa. The schorl in both these Queensland locali- 
ties is accompanied by calcite. Bismuthite, malachite, limonite, 
hematite, calcite, sandstone, malachite and cuprite, and quartz 
are all found carrying free gold in the Cloncurry district. In the 
Uncle Tom gold-reef the stone is white glassy quartz with pockets 
of hematite, numerous veins of calcite, and chalybite. From the 
wash of the gullies draining into Pumpkin Gully metallic bismuth 
and gold are washed out. 


From the Last Chance reef, New Zealand Gully, near 
Rockhampton, specimens were obtained showing metallic gold 
disseminated through a mass of chloride of silver. (Daintree.) 


In referring to the occurrence of gold at Mount Morgan, I 
cannot do better than give excerpts from Mr, R. L. Jack’s report. 


BY EDWD. B. LINDON, A.R.S.M. 4I 


“Mount Morgan itself contains gold in a very unusual—! believe a quite 
unprecedented—formation. Aneroid measurements give the altitude 
of Mount Morgan as 1,225 feet above the sea level. . . The work is 
carried on in two quarries or faces. No. 1 cuts into the hill from a level of 
about 25 feet below the summit, and is designed simply to remove the top 
of the mountain for the purpose of passing it through the stampers. No. 2, 
or Magazine Quarry, presents the aspect of a ‘siding’ road cut out of a steep 
hill, and attacks the auriferous deposit at a level of about 100 feet below 
No. 1. The central portion of the upper cutting is a large mass of brown 
hematite ironstone generally in great blocks (up to some tons in weight) 
with a stalactitic structure, as if the iron oxide had gradually filled up 
cavities left in the original deposit. The ironstone contains gold of 
extraordinary fineness, which, however, after a little practice can be 
detected in almost every fresh fracture. The ironstone is more or less 
mixed with siliceous granules. Gradually to right and left of the central 
mass the silica more and more replaces the ironstone, It is a frothy, 
spongy, or cellular sinter, sometimes so light from the enlargement of air 
in its pores that it floats in water like pumice. Fine gold is disseminated 
throughout this siliceous deposit as well as in the ironstone. Near the 
west end of the cutting is a vertical dyke of kaolin mixed with fine 
siliceous granules passing into pure kaolin, with some silicates of magnesia, 
including a fine variety of French chalk. 


“‘T selected a number of specimens as characteristic of the various 


deposits of the upper cutting. These when assayed gave the following 
result :— 


Stalactitic brown hematite from middle of cutting; 6 ozs. 11 
dwts. gold per ton. 


Siliceous sinter, veined with quartz; 4 ozs. 5 dwis. gold per ton. 


A mixed mass of ironstone and silica from the level of the road, 
east of the dyke; 5 ozs. 3 dwts. gold per ton. 


Iron-stained siliceous sinter from the west side of dyke; 10 ozs. 
14 dwts. gold per ton. 


‘““The lower or magazine face presents a sort of fan-like arrangement of 
its various materials. In the centre is a band (almost vertical) of brown 
hematite in large ‘bombs,’ with a mammillated, botryoidal, or sometimes 
reniform appearance. To the right (east) is a nearly vertical deposit of 
aluminous iron ochre, followed by a mass (still nearly vertical) of red 
hematite in cellular bombs. To the east is a broad mass of siliceous and 
aluminous material, which begins to lean eastward like the outer feathers 
of afan. A great mass of loose earthy red hematite, another of brown 
hematite weathering to iron ochre, another of red earthy hematite, and 
another of brown hematite in large (ton) blocks, appear in succession as 
the cutting is followed to the east. The magazine (near the east end of 
the cutting) is excavated in a fine white siliceous earth, and the cutting 
ends with a mass of soft earthy aluminate. Beginning from the west side 
of the nearly vertical mass of brown hematite first described, we pass in 
succession going westward a band of yellow ochre, a broad belt of light 
siliceous sinter, ironstained, and containing some angular fragments of the 
quartzite of the ‘country rocks,’ a belt of similar siliceous sinter mixed 
with earthy red hematite, and finally a broad mass of loose siliceous sinter 


42 CATALOGUE OF MINERALS ; 


traversed by siliceous veins, and containing some angular fragments of the 
‘country rock,’ the members of the series leaning more and more fan 
fashioned to the west as they recede from the central vertical bands. At 
the end of the cutting is a mass of magnesia and aluminous silicates, 
which is probably the prolongation of the dyke seen in the upper quarry. 
Mr. Lyle, the manager, informed me that he got ‘ prospects’ in every part 
of this cutting, with the exception of the siliceous earth at the magazine. 
This was corroborated by my own observations. I ground and washed a 
great number of specimens (of my own selection) from both the upper and 
lower cutting, and from every variety of material, and was surprised and 
delighted with the prospects obtained, in most cases frem stuff which 
miners would regard as most unpromising. 


‘Mr. Staiger’s assays of characteristic samples selected from the lower 
cutting yielded gold as follows :— 


Brown hematite, 3 ozs. 6 dwts. per ton. 
Red hematite, 6 oz. 16 dwt. per ton. 
Aluminous rock from west of dyke, no gold. 


Siliceous sinter from among the aluminous rock, 3 oz. 15 dwts. 
per ton. 


“ Down the hillside to the north, west, and south a similar deposit is 
everywhere met with—a frothy or spongy matrix, sometimes aluminous and 
sometimes siliceous, generally ironstained and occasionally associated with 
large masses of red and brown hematite; but the gold has as yet been 
only obtained from a few places away from the hill-top, although naturally 
there has been vigorous prospecting (so far as possible in an unusually 
dry season) wherever the ‘formation’ resembled that of Mount Morgan. 
Perhaps the deposit on the slopes is more aluminous and less siliceous, and 
contains less of iron oxides than on the hill-top; but these are the chief 
differences, and the formation has evidently one origin throughout. 


‘““ After a careful study of the whole formation, I have come to the 
conclusion that nothing but a Thermal Spring in the open air could have 
deposited the material under consideration. The frothy siliceous sinter 
agrees in every respect with the deposits of New Zealand and Iceland 
geysers, and of the still more wonderful hot springs of the Yellowstone 
National Park, so graphically and scientifically described by Dr. A. C. 
Peale (Twelfth Annual Report of the United States Geological and 
Geographical Survey of the Territories, Part II., Section 2, Onthe Thermal 
Springs of Yellowstone National Park, Washington, 1883). The ‘frothy’ 
and cavernous condition of the siliceous sinter of Mount Morgan may be 
accounted for by the escape of steam, while the silica was yet (after its 
deposition on the evaporation of the water) in the gelatinous condition so 
frequently observed in the deposit of hot springs. The aluminous silicates 
represent the peculiar outbursts and flow of mud. The iron oxide appears 
to have been deposited in some cases along with the silica and alumina, 
and in others to have been deposited later—its solvent fluid having been, as 
it were, injected into the interstices, vescicles, and caverns of the silica and 
alumina. In some cases it may have been originally pyrites, as it now and 
then occurs in cubical hollows. Calcareous sinter is very common in 
siliceous springs, and its absence from Mount Morgan must needs imply 
the local absence of limestones among the rocks from which the spring was 


BY EDWD. B. LINDON, A.R.S.M. 43 


fed. The silica would be found abundantly in the quartzites, and the 
alumina in the shales and greywacks of the country in the neighbourhood, 
and possibly both silica and alumina may have come in past from a deep- 
seated underlying granite. The gold, and to some extent the iron, may 
have been dissolved out of the iron pyrites of such reefs as ‘ Mundic Reef,’ 
seen in Mundic Creek; the gold possibly by chlorine produced by the 
contact of hydrochloric acid, derived from the decomposition of chlorides, 
with manganese, which occurs sparingly in the form of pyrolusite along 
with the ironstone of Mount Morgan.” 


I have drawn thus at length from Mr. R. L. Jack’s report, as I 
know that many men who take great scientific interest in Mount 


Morgan deposit, have not the privilege of obtaining this gentleman’s 
report, but will become possessed of a copy of this catalogue. 


Gotp AMaLGAM—Comp. (Au. Ag), Hg,. 


A miner named Brown informed Mr. R. L. Jack that he had 
found a few dwts. of native gold amalgam in Green Creek, just 
below the junction of Oakey Creek, Normanby, in alluvial gravel. 


CopPpER—Comp. Cu., but often containing other metals or 
impurities. 

Good specimens of native copper in quartz have been found at 
Clermont in the Peak Downs Copper Mine, but the largest 
amount occurs in the Cloncurry district, immense masses being 
obtained from the Cloncurry Copper Mines. Some specimens 
from here are very interesting, as shewing the metal in its transition 
by oxidation to cuprite, the supply of oxygen being probably 
limited at a depth, causing the formation of the red, instead of 
the black oxide. 


Large masses of native copper have been found in the Keel- 
bottom Copper Mine, near Townsville, and associated with 
chrysocolla in a N. and S. vertical joint or vein, intersecting a 
ridge of porphyry near Dalrymple, opposite Mount Keelbottom. 

A good deal of native copper has been found at Mount Perry 
and at Rockhampton, ; and at the Alliance Mine, Morinish, 
Rockhampton, Mr. Burns, one of the owners of the property, 
informs me that native copper accompanies gold in the quartz, 
causing great difficulty to the profitable extraction of the more 
precious metal. 


Copper is also associated with cassiterite in the Argyll Mine, 
Herberton. 


The massive filiform, and arborescent forms of native copper 
are of most general occurrence—indeed I do not know that any 
crystalline forms have been observed. 


44 CATALOGUE OF MINERALS ; 


Zinc—Comp. Zn., but probably alloyed with copper, cadmium, 
or other metals. 


I have previously mentioned in a note before this Society, that 
specimens of native zinc from the Gulf country were received by 
the Queensland Museum. 


Mercury—Comp. H,. 


Native mercury has been noticed in a hard dark quartzose rock 
in the Kilkivan district (Rands). 


BismurH—Comp. Bi., generally with arsenic, sulphur, &c., as 
impurities. 


Shots of bismuth have been found in the tin-wash of Stanthorpe, 
and with gold in the wash draining into Pumpkin Gully, near 
Cloncurry. In the Mary Douglas and other reefs, at the head of 
Armstrong’s Gully, Top Camp, Cloncurry, a good deal of gold has 
been obtained associated with bismuth. Small quantities of the 
metal accompany tin ore in the Herbertina and Home Rule 
claims, Herberton; and I understand that large pieces of bismuth 
have been met with in the Mount Shamrock claim, Chowey Creek. 
Native bismuth also occurs in the auriferous lodes of the Nanango 
gold field in a matrix of a kind of steatite. 


TELLURIUM—Comp. Te., with a variable quantity of gold. 


This mineral, or this association of gold, has now and again 
been noticed on the Talgai goldfield. 


SuULPHUR—Comp. S. 


Small amounts of sulphur occur on Taylor’s range, near Brisbane, 
in cavities in quartz, formed by the decomposition of iron pyrites ; 
one specimen shows a noticable amount, filling a corner of cubical 
impression. Sulphur is also seen on the peculiar decomposing 
pyrites of the Etheridge district. 


Diamonp—Comp. pure carbon. 


Two good diamonds, in the possession of the Queensland 
Museum, are supposed to come from Stanthorpe, but their origin 
is somewhat doubtful. It is, however, a notable fact that small 
diamonds have been found in the gem-drift of Stanthorpe, associ- 
ated with magnetite, stream tin ore, zircon, garnet, sapphire, and 
topaz. 


BY EDWD. B. LINDON, A.R.S.M. 45 


GRAPHITE—Comp. carbon with oxide of iron and siliceous matter. 


Small quantities of graphite occur at Stanthorpe, but large 
amounts are found at Mount Bopple, between Maryborough and 
Bundaberg, the deposit or accumulation being said to attain a 
thickness of 30 ft. between the walls, which are micaceous granite. 
Graphite is also mentioned by Mr. R. L. Jack as occurring in 
lat. 20° to” S., between the Dugald and Leichhardt waters. It has 
also been found on the Croydon goldfield, and in the Smithfield 
United, Phcenix P.C., and other mines on Gympie—in association 
with gold on ‘‘slickensides.” 


Il.—SULPHIDES, ARSENIDES, &c. 
STIBNITE—Compp. Sb, S,. 


Stibnite has been found at Neardie, near Gympie, on the Stuart 
River, and with valentinite on S. John’s Creek, both these localities 
being in the Burnett district; also within four miles east of the 
township of Ravenswood. 


Galena accompanies stibnite in the Victoria claim, Silverfield, 
Tinaroo; this is an uncommon association. 


From the Emily Lease Antimony mine, at Northcote, in the 
Hodgkinson district, huge quantities of stibnite have been taken 
out. This mine was originally opened to work for gold, but less 
than 1 oz. per ton was extracted by crushing, so work was carried 
on for the sake of the antimony ore only. I find no mention of 
the value by assay of the ore for gold, but can easily understand 
that only a very small amount of the gold would be extracted if 
crushing was the only means used for the reduction of the ore. 
Gold occurs also in the same locality with stibnite, at Craig’s. 
Lease, and the Minnie Moxham claim, of which the former is on 
the Emily line of reef; from the latter the average yield was over 
2 ozs. of gold per ton, the value of the gold being from 43 19s. 
to £4 per ton. 


The association of gold and stibnite is not common, but it 
occurs in New South Wales, Victoria, Brazil, Transylvania, and in 
the Kingdom of Siam. 


MOoLyBDENITE—Comp. Mo S,. 


This mineral occurs in quartz, and sometimes with arsenical 
pyrites at Stanthorpe; with wolfram in Young American, Herberton; 
in quartz near Ipswich; and in large quantities, it is stated, some 


46 CATALOGUE OF MINERALS ; 


thirty miles to the west of Mackay, where large blocks of % ewt. 
to 1 cwt. have been obtained (Staiger). At Mount Ophir, 
Chowey Creek, a good deal of molybdenite occurs, with iron 
pyrites in an auriferous quartz. In the old Chowey reefs, about 
five miles up Chowey Creek, nearly due N. of Didcot, molybdenite 
with specks of gold in its midst is found in quartz. 


All the specimens I have seen of this mineral are in scales, 
foliated, or massive, none helping to determine the crystallographic 
system under which molybdenite should be classed. 


ARGENTITE—Comp. Ag S. 


In the Cumnor Lease, Silverfield, Tinaroo district, an argen- 
tiferous galena occurs, assaying as high as 1,400 ozs. of silver to 
the ton. It is probable that a good deal of this silver is distributed 
through the galena in the form of free sulphide. 


The Target mine, in the same district, containing yellow oxide 
and grey carbonate of lead and galena, is said to have yielded 
some argentite. 


GaLENA—Comp. Pb S, but containing silver, gold, and other 
metals. 


Galena is a widely spread mineral in Queensland. It has been 
found at Normanton; on the Dugald; Yarrol, in the Burnett 
district; and in the Kennedy district. It occurs with cassiterite 
in quartz at the Louisa Herberton, and with stibnite—an unusual 
association—in the Cumnor lease, Silverfield, Tinaroo district. 


Galena is frequently argentiferous and sometimes auriferous, I 
mean in paying quantities, for it is proved that all galenas contain 
more or less silver, and probably gold in small quantity. From 
the Argentine (Star River) silverfield, a galena assayed 79°5 per 
cent. of lead and 107 ozs. of silver to the ton, and a galena with 
pyrites and zinc-blende assayed 60 per cent. of lead and 69 ozs. 
of silver to the ton (Jack). A galena from Cannibal Creek, 
Maytown, assays 60 ozs. of silver per ton; from Newelltown speci- 
mens assay 78 per cent. of lead and 200 ozs. of silver per ton; 
from Gilberton a galena assays 155 ozs. of silver per ton, and one 
from the Etheridge district assays gold 4 ozs., and silver 84 ozs. 
per ton, and 54 per cent. of lead. In the Potosi lode to the W. 
of Mungai near Mount Perry, argentiferous galena is associated 
with iron and copper pyrites and a little sphalerite in a gangue of 
quartz and heavy spar (barytes). From Silverfield and from 


BY EDWD. B. LINDON, A.R.S.M. 47 


Newelltown are obtained specimens of decomposing argentiferous 
galena, similar to that found in Derbyshire, England, to which 
Dr. T. Thompson gave the name of supersulphuret of lead. 


Galena occurs in auriferous quartz on the Hodgkinson goldfield; 
also with iron pyrites, sphalerite, and chalcopyrite (auriferous) in 
the Currency Lass, Ravenswood ; with similar associated minerals 
in quartz and steatite in the Politician claim, Ravenswood ; with 
cerussite in the Ravenswood Silver Mining Co.’s claim, assaying 
350 to 400 ozs of silver and 2 ozs. of gold to the ton; with iron 
pyrites in auriferous quartz on Charters Towers ; with iron pyrites, 
sphalerite, quartz, and calcspar, assaying 3 ozs. of gold to the ton 
on the Norton goidfield ; with auriferous iron pyrites in quartz at 
the Welcome Company’s Mine, Mornish, Rockhampton; with 
iron and arsenical pyrites and zinc blende in the Allendale lode, 
Chowey Creek, assaying 39 ozs. of silver and 1 oz. of gold to the 
ton ; in Hannan’s lode in the same locality assaying 50 per cent. 
of lead, 30 ozs. of silver to the ton, and a little gold ; with 
chalcopyrite in quartz yielding 4 ozs. of gold per ton by crushing, 
at the Ellen Ross, Ravenswood. 


On the Hodgkinson goldfield gold occurs with galena in quartz 
at the Hit or Miss, on galena in quartz in the Black Ball, and in 
quartz associated with galena, mispickel, and sphalerite at the 
Union Reef. 


In the Bryan O’Lynn, on the Queen Reef, Charters Towers, 
gold has been found in scattered grains among crystals of iron 
pyrites and galena. Gold with galena on quartz has also been 
obtained from the Gilbert goldfield, on the Boyne River, Glad- 
stone, in the Etheridge district—where galena, cerussite, malachite, 
and limonite accompany gold in quartz—and in the Burdekin 
district. Specimens of galena with cerussite from the Ravenswood 
goldfield sometimes shew a coating of very thin gold on parts. 
Galena is also found accompanying gold on Gympie, being 
associated with iron pyrites, quartz, and calcite. 


Galena and zinc blende from the Pyramid Lease, Ravenswood, 
gave on analysis by Mr. A. W. Clarke :— 


Zinc Z : : = 34. 23per Cent. 
Lead ; : : re (42k 
Sulphur . 2 : S* 22.00" 
Iron : 5 F ‘ (rr 23 


100.15 


48 CATALOGUE OF MINERALS ; 


A sample of galena, iron pyrites, and sphalerite from the 
Tornado Claim, Silverfield, gave on analysis by Mr. A. W. 
Clarke also :— 


Zinc - : - - 13.42 per cent. 
Copper . ; ; ‘ iS eTOm ae 
Lead P , ‘ : 6:06 4} 
Arsenic . F , - MIEQGOION ys 
Iron = = : 5 6420/00 a 
Sulphur . : ; ot GOA es 
Silica Z F ; ‘ 210. ays 
100.48 


The same sample assayed by myself for silver gave only 1 oz. 
2 dwts. per ton of ore. 


A cupriferous galena, decomposing to litharge and cerussite, 
occurs at Mount Garnet and the neighbourhood towards Coolgara. 


Auriferous galena occurs only sparingly outside of Australia, but 
is not uncommon in California and Rio Grande do Lul, Brazil. 


Galena in Queensland is coarsely or finely granular ; it occurs 
massive and in well defined cubes, also in twins. I have not yet 
noticed or heard of the occurrence of any pseudomorphs after 
galena, the cerussite which so frequently accompanies it being 
crystallized in the usual orthorhombic forms. 


BoRNITE.—Comp. (Cu,, Fe) S. 


Occurs at Mount Perry in association with other copper ores, 
and at Cloncurry; specimens from this latter place are of a 
reddish bronze colour on the clean fracture, but on exposure they 
tarnish with very beautiful purple and blue tints. 

At Mount Perry bornite sometimes is found in steatite 
associated with chalcopyrite. 


SPHALERITE or ZINC-BLENDE.—Comp. Zn S, but often containing 
cadmium. 


In the Tinaroo district sphalerite occurs with chalcopyrite, 
mispickel, and galena in the Tornado claim, Silverfield, and with 
galena and mispickel in the Kohinoor, Newelltown. 


Auriferous sphalerite occurs with iron pyrites in the Hector claim, 
Ravenswood, and with iron pyrites, chalcopyrite, and galena at 
the Currency Lass and Politician claims, Ravenswood. Sphalerite 
and galena, assaying 100 ozs. of silver per ton, is found in the 
Bonnie Dundee, Ravenswood. Auriferous sphalerite occurs in 
association with iron and copper pyrites in quartz at the Alexandra. 


BY EDWD. B. LINDON, A.R.S.M. 49 


Hill Gold Mining Co’s mine, and with galena and iron pyrites in 
quartz at the Sunburst P.C., both of these on Charters Towers ; 
with iron pyrites in quartz and in calcite at No. 1 and No. 2 South 
Advance, Norton goldfield, and with galena, iron pyrites, quartz, 
and calcite at the Advance P C., Hickey’s Reef, and the Frampton 
United Mines, a!l on the Norton goldfield. 


The following are analyses and assays of the complex zinc, 
iron, and lead sulphides from the Frampton United mines, by 
Messrs. Johnson, Matthey & Co. :— 


From Goody’s From Frampton’s 


Reef. Claim. 
[irony y : : : . 30.60 percent. 25.10 per cent. 
Lead . ; : ‘ -1S:003G; TeTOwy We 
PENNE ‘ 3 : Af OOM). J.OOR 7, 
Arsenic : : ; Sec heee G.8055 |; 
Copper ‘ : ‘ 7 LONQg” O1Oc a 
Sulphur : : : a) Sb:00mes 2570) is; 
Alumina : : : 4 geo: AOUt. Ocoee 
Siliceous insoluble matter . 15.20 ,, R2ZiGO" . 4, 
Gold, silver, oxygen,andloss 0.40 ,, 0.2 5) 

100.00 100.00 


Sample from ) Produce of gold 2.400 ozs.) _ per ton of 


Goody’s Reef. .3 e. silver 14.700 ,, § 20 cwt. of ore. 
Sample from ) a gold 5.500 ,, ) 
Frampton’sClaim ) 5 Silver -4.700° 4,2) a 


Auriferous sphalerite occurs with galena and chalcopyrite in 
quartz at the Mary Florence, Rockhampton, and with galena at 
the Annie Claim, Cawarrah, Rockhampton. 


The ore of the Stockholm or Comstork reef, Charters Towers, 
contains a good deal of sphalerite in association with iron pyrites 
in minute crystals, copper pyrites, galena, and sometimes carbonate 
of copper. In the Bryan O’Lynn lease, Queen’s reef, Charters 
Towers, specimens have shewn specks of gold in the middle of a 
mass of crystallized zinc-blende. 


Sphalerite is by no means a common auriferous mineral in 
other countries, but it is very characteristic of the Ravenswood 
goldfield, especially when associated with iron pyrites, and is, 


indeed, not at all of uncommon occurrence in several Queensland 
goldfields. 


The mineral is generally brown or black in colour, subtrans- 
lucent, brittle, and having a small conchoidal fracture ; massive or 
compact in form, sometimes fibrous, rarely crystalline, 

D 


50 CATALOGUE OF MINERALS ; 


Several specimens of zinc-blende from Ravenswood I have 
found to contain cadmium, but have not yet determined the 
percentage in any case. 


CHALCOCITE, REDRUTHITE, COPPER GLANCE—Comp. Cu, S. 


This sulphide has been met with in the Alliance gold mine, 
Morinish, Rockhampton, in quartz containing gold. I understand 
that in its crystalline state it has not been noticed; the 
specimen I examined was massive, and of the ordinary dark 
leaden-grey colour. 


CINNABAR—Comp. Hg. S., generally impure in massive form. 

The only known occurrence of cinnabar, I believe, is in the 
Kilkivan district, where this ore of mercury occurs sometimes in 
limestone. An analysis of this limestone containing cinnabar 
gave Mr. A. W. Clarke the following result — 


Carbonate of lime . . 50.83 per cent. 
+ iron , - 20:00 
Silica ‘ : ‘ -  atSarg aie 
Sulphide of mercury . FO 
98.97 


The cinnabar was determined by the use of Sonstadt’s solution, 
and the specimen analysed is said to be hardly characteristic of 
the Kilkivan cinnabar deposits. 

A portion at least of the country rock of this district is a 
serpentine, apparently accompanied by a variety of enstatite. 

I am of opinion that cinnabar will be found on the main range 
above Murphy’s Creek, as I thought I detected this mineral in a 
specimen cf gravel from a creek brought to me from there by a 
miner ; the specks were too small for me to speak authoritatively 
on the matter. 


PyRRHOTITE—Macnetic Pyrires—Probable Comp. Fe, 5,. 


Pyrrhotite and peroxide of iron form the wellknown brownstone 
of Charters Towers which “coincide with that superficial part of 
the rock which is not permanently saturated with water and into 
which the atmosphere penetrates. The ‘brownstone’ is ‘mundic’ 
which has undergone oxidation, the pyrites being altered to 
pyrrhotite—a change similar to that which can be produced 
artificially, as in the experiments of Rammelsberg and Berzelias, 
who (according to Dana) obtained Fe, S, by heating pyrites 
(Fe S,)’—R. L. Jack. 

Ravenswood may be mentioned as another field on which 
auriferous pyrrhotite occurs, 


BY EDWD. B LINDON, A.R.S.M. 51 


Iron PyritEs—Comp. Fe S,, but liable to have part of the iron 
replaced by various other metals as nickel, cobalt and copper. 


This is a mineral of very wide-spread occurrence and of 
manifold associations, nor is it my intention to do more than 
mention some of greater interest, prefacing my remarks by stating 
that pyrites occurs in rocks of every age, from the oldest to the 
most recent formations. 


In the Tinaroo district pyrites is a very common associate of 
cassiterite, as in the Leviathan, where these two minerals occur 
with wolfram and fluorspar. On the Hodgkinson goldfield auri- 
ferous pyrites accompanies sphalerite and galena, and similarly 
on Ravenswood. On Charters Towers auriferous pyrites is the 
principal mineral mined for, galena, sphalerite, and sometimes 
chalcopyrite being generally its associates. In the Bryan O’Lynn 
on this field auriferous pyrites occurs in granite, the rock assaying 
about 2 dwts. to the ton, and in No. 1 Claim on the Old Identity 
Reef pyrites containing visible gold has been met with. In the 
Allendale lode, Chowey Creek, Wide Bay district, iron pyrites 
occurs with arsenical pyrites, galena, and sphalerite, the ore 
carrying both silver and gold. On the Norton goldfield and in 
the Rockhampton district, iron pyrites of an auriferous nature is 
of frequent occurrence, one association at the Union Gold Mining 
Co.’s lease, Rockhampton, being especially worthy of note, as in 
the 172 ft. level the pyrites occurs with black schorl or tourmaline. 


On the Nebo goldfield pyrites takes the form of pentagonal 
dodecahedra, and on Ravenswood specimens in chert are crystal- 
lized as hexakisoctahedra. Iron pyrites also abounds in the Mount 
Perry and Cloncurry districts, whilst in the Etheridge district a 
very richly auriferous pyrites occurs, mixed, as I believe, with 
marcasite ;* this pyrites is often of a very dark colour, and 
frequently occurs in clusters of cubical crystals; I think a 
complete analysis of this pyrites would prove interesting, and I 
shall hope to make such when I can get a fresh specimen, as 
decomposition commences after leaving this pyrites exposed for 
any length of time to the atmosphere. 


CHALCOPYRITE—COPPER PyRITES—Comp. probably Cu, 5 + Fe 
» Fe S,. 
This is another mineral of general occurrence, the copper 


carbonate stains so frequently to be seen on various rocks being 
due to the decomposition of this sulphide. 


*Vide Marcasite. 


52 CATALOGUE OF MINERALS ; 


Chalcopyrite occurs in the Tinaroo district in an argentiferous ore 
in the Try-no-more with marcasite, galena, and sphalerite, and in 
the Tornado claim with sphalerite, mispickel, and galena ; in the 
Try-again and Chance mine chalcopyrite, sometimes coated with 
sulphate of copper, is also found with marcasite. 


The Mount Perry district is perhaps most notable for the occur- 
rence of chalcopyrite, it being found here in very large quantities 
of an auriferous character, and frequently of the iridescent or 
“peacock” variety, sometimes associated with bornite. 


Auriferous chalcopyrite with iron pyrites, assaying 2 ozs. of gold 
to the ton occurs in the Buck Line of reef at Ravenswood ; also 
on Charters Towers with galena, iron pyrites, and mispickel ; and 
in the Rockhampton district 


At Clermont (Peak Downs) chalcopyrite accompanies iron 
pyrites, and is also found crystallized in the Mount Orange 
copper mine, on the Nebo goldfield. 


STANNITE—T1In Pyrites—Comp. sulphide of tin and copper 
with some iron and sometimes zinc. 


Tin pyrites occurs with copper pyrites in Stewart’s T claim, and 
is reported to have been met with in the Herbertina claim, both 
in the Tinaroo district. 


Judging from the composite nature of the minerals in this 
district I am led to think that the occurrence of tin pyrites is 
often overlooked. 


MARCASITE—WHITE PyRITES—Comp. Fe S,. 


Marcasite occurs with chalcopyrite in the St. Patrick’s Day 
claim, Tinaroo ; also in quartz at Happy Valley, Bowen ; and in 
diorite and porphyry, at the Seventy-mile Range, between the 
Burdekin and Cape Rivers. 


I have already referred—under the paragraph on iron pyrites— 
to the Etheridge mundic ores; some of these are sufficiently 
stable, while in others again decomposition goes on at a great rate, 
and, from the dirty appearance of the decomposition products, 
renders a determination of the composing materials a matter of 
great difficulty. Some of the most decomposing ores seem to me 
to be almost entirely marcasite, while in others it is possible to see 
clusters of small cubical pyrites surrounded and interspersed with 
decomposing mineral matter, 


BY EDWD. B. LINDON, A.R.S.M. 53 


Mr. Enright, a miner who worked the claim, tells of a very 
decomposing pyrites—which I take to have been marcasite—from 
the Havelock mine, near Charleston, about too miles from 
Georgetown ; the ore was found in this state above and, as far 
as was worked, below the water-level, and was so soft that it could 
be pulled out with a pick and handled with a shovel like gravel. 
It was valued at 3 ozs. of gold to the ton, but the gold was 
exceedingly fine and difficult to obtain from it, ordinary washing 
producing but a very small ‘ prospect.” 


Mr. R. L. Jack, in his ‘‘ Geological Observations in the North of 
Queensland, 1886-7,” writes, “Some of the mines in the granite 
country have a mundic very difficult to treat with the ordinary 
appliances. For instance, in the Nil Desperandum, where the 
mundic consists of pyrites, arsenical pyrites, copper pyrites (some- 
times coated with sulphate of copper), a little galena, and a little 
zinc blende, the mercury is said to have been sometimes stripped 
from the plates in five minutes, and iron is coated with copper. 
In the Balmoral mundic which consists of iron pyrites, arsenical 
pyrites, and galena, I detected on weathered portions a considerable 
quantity of free sulphuric acid. This mundic corrodes shovels, 
screens, stamper boxes, Xc., in a short time. Better results might 
be obtained by running the stone through the stampers fresh from 
the mine, and before the acid has time to be set free by the 
weathering of the mundic.” 


MISPICKEL 


ARSENICAL Pyrites—Comp. Fe (As, S),, but often 
containing other metals. 


Arsenical pyrites is found in varying quantities in some of the 
tin mines of the Tinaroo district, as the Great Northern P.C., 
True Blue, Ulster, and Stewart’s T claim. It also occurs sparingly 
at Stanthorpe, being sometimes accompanied by molybdenite. 


On the Hodgkinson goldfield mispickel accompanies auriferous 
galena in quartz; it is also found associated with auriferous 
sphalerite and pyrite on the Buck Line at Ravenswood; with 
auriferous iron pyrites in quartz on Charters Towers and the 
Norton field, and in the Allendale lode, Chowey Creek, it forms 
part of an auriferous ore with iron pyrites, galena, and sphalerite. 


At Mount Witty, near Beenleigh, a hard-looking quartz contains 
arsenical pyrites which is auriferous, gold becoming visible on the 
decomposition of the mispickel. Also at Toowong, near Brisbane, 
arsenical pyrites in some quantity was met with in sinking a well, 
but I have not yet ascertained whether it is auriferous. 


54 CATALOGUE OF MINERALS ; 


Arsenical pyrites, though frequently accompanying other auri- 
ferous sulphides in this colony, is not a mineral so highly to be 
regarded here for its gold-bearing properties as it is in other 
countries, such as Brazil, Nova Scotia, or even California. 


CHALCOSTIBNITE — ANTIMONIAL CoppER—Comp. sulphide of 
antimony and copper. 


Mr. R. L. Jack mentions the occurrence of a grey sulphide of 
copper and antimony with cuprite in a copper lode on the north 
bank of Pumpkin Gully, and also in the Rainbow lode, on the fall 
of Cone Creek, a tributary of Duck Creek, both these localities 
being in the Cloncurry district. 


TETRAHEDRITE—FAHLERZ—Comp. 4 Cu S + Sb, S,, but very 
variable. 


A very rich ore, cut in the vertical shaft of the Ravenswood 
Great Extended silver mine in the 650 ft. level, is probably an 
argentiferous tetrahedrite, perhaps containing sphalerite in very 
intimate association. A sample of this assayed by me gave a 
value of 2,384 ozs. 10 dwts. of silver per ton. ‘The following is an 
analysis of the ore by Mr. A. W. Clarke, the silver determination 
being made by me by cupellation :— 


Copper . - 2 . 12.67 per cent. 
Antimony : - 2 21,35 deny, 
Silver : : : ; 2B ass 
Iron ; ; - TOL lis 
Zinc : : : BS ey) 
Sulphur : ,) esas eae 
Silica : 3 : ; B86.) 3 
101.86 


An analysis of a different sample by Mr. Murray, analyst to the 
Ravenswood Great Extended mine, gave :— 


Copper . : - . 16.25 per cent. 
Antimony : ; ; 26 4Guae, 
Silver. F = Sy TS-3500nee 
Iron - - 3 : 3:49 Gs 
Zinc ; ; A ; 3175/1 
Sulphur . : : SP Ke ee 
Siliceous matter. . 7-gt aes 
99-47 


Tetrahedrite is also said to occur in the Mount Orange copper 
mine, Nebo goldfield, and at Cloncurry. 


BY EDWD. B. LINDON, A.R.S.M. 55 


III—ANHYDROUS CHLORIDES, Etc. 


HatirE—Common Satt—Rock Satt—Comp. Na Cl, but seldom 
found in a pure state. 


Salt is found on the Upper Burnett ; on Sylvester Creek flowing 
into the Herbert River, from which locality some very good 
isometric crystals said to contain 97 per cent. of chloride of 
sodium have been obtained; and at Bundanba, near Ipswich, 
where an earth impregnated with salt occurs. 


Mr. R. L. Jack says that ‘‘ On the Bohle River, near Townsville, 
half a mile above the hotel, there occurs a soft half-consolidated 
bed of greyish brown sandstone covered with a crust of white 
salt. It would be interesting to know whether the salt had 
effloresced from the sandstone itself, or had been deposited on the 
evaporation of the water in the pools. The water remaining in 
adjacent pools at the time of my visit did not taste perceptibly salt.” 


CERARGYRITE—HORN SILVER—Compp. Ag Cl. 


At Mount Albion, Silverfield, Tinaroo district, large quantities 
of Cerargyrite are being mined, the ore occuring in association 
with galena, and assaying in some cases as high as 75 per cent. of 
silver, which means that it is almost chemically pure. Argentiferous 
earth, consisting mainly of chloride of silver and assaying as high 
as 2,300 ozs. of silver to the ton, occurs in the same locality. 


The chloride is found mostly in nodules of massive form, and 
at one period was not recognised as of value, its sectile nature and 
dark colour causing it to be considered valueless ; this mistake 
has been made in other countries besides Queensland, for I have 
known of Californian miners throwing away this valuable ore 
under the impression that it was graphite. 


IV.—OXYCHLORIDES. 


ATACAMITE—Comp. oxychloride of copper. 


Atacamite is not at all of common occurrence in Queensland, 
though some malachite is of such a dark colour as easily to be 
mistaken for it, unless care be taken. It has been found, how- 
ever, at Mount Perry; on the the Nebo goldfield; and forming 
very beautiful specimens of pseudomorphs after cuprite at the 
Cloncurry copper mines. 


56 CATALOGUE OF MINERALS ; 


V.—FLUORINE COMPOUNDS. 
FLUORSPAR—Comp. Fluoride of silicon, Ca F,. 


As far as I am aware the only occurrence of this mineral in 
Queensland is in the Tinaroo district, where it is not unfrequently 
found in association with cassiterite and wolfram, being of a green 
or amethyst colour, but never in sufficient quantities to be of any 
commercial value. 


VI—ANHYDROUS OXIDES. 


CuUPRITE.—Red or ruby oxide of copper—Comp. Cu, O (sub- 
oxide of copper.) 


This ore of copper occurs in some amount at Moreton Island 
and at Mount Perry, but it is in the Cloncurry district that the 
finest examples of cuprite are to be found. In the Great Australian 
copper mine large masses of a very pure red oxide are met with, 
the mineral being frequently mixed with native copper. Some 
specimens from this district shew good isometric crystals of a dark 
cochineal-red colour. In the Rainbow lode the oxide is associated 
with malachite and the grey sulphide of copper and antimony. 
Mr. R. L. Jack mentions that in lat. 20° 10” S., between the 
Dugald and Leichhardt waters copper lodes occur, containing 
extremely pure ruby oxide coated with green carbonate, and 
frequently containing veins of native copper. 


Considerable quantities of cuprite, associated with black oxide 
of copper and much mixed with ferruginous earthy impurities, 
have been taken out of the Kennedy copper mine on a ridge near 
Sandy Creek to the west of the Great Star River. 


Tile ore, the earthy variety of cuprite, of a bright red to reddish 
brown colour and generally mixed with the red oxide of iron, 
occurs in most of the localities where the massive form is met 
with, and is also found in some of the tin mines of the Tinaroo 
district. 


MassicotT—LEAD OcHRE—Comp. Pb O, generally impure. 


This mineral, being formed by the decomposition of other lead 
ores, is found in most of the galena districts, such as Ravenswood 
and Silverfield, near Herberton. Also in lat. 20° 10” S. between 
the Dugald and Leichhardt waters a good deal of lead ochre is 
found in connection with valuable lead ores, the ochre being often 
impregnated with oxide of iron (Jack). 


BY EDWD. B. LINDON, A.R.S.M. 57 


MELACONITE—BLACK OXIDE OF COPPER—Comp. Cu O. 


Considerable quantities of melaconite have been noticed in the 
Mount Perry copper mines in association with chalcopyrite and 
bornite ; also at the Kennedy copper mine, near Townsville, 
where it occurs with a rather impure cuprite ; and at the Great 
Australian copper mine, Cloncurry, where it has been found 
crystallized. It has also been noticed near Mackay by the Rey. 
J. E. Tenison-Woods, F.G.S., &c., and it occurs in the Alliance 
mine, near Rockhampton, in auriferous quartz. 


CorunDuM—Comp. Al, O,. 


At Stanthorpe in the tin-drift sapphires of small size and uneven 
colour have been pretty numerously found, and also, I believe, at 
Herberton. On the beach near Southport emery occurs in fine 
grains but in considerable quantity (Hinchcliffe). 


HEMATITE—Comp. Fe, Oj. 


Occurs in small quantities in a number of places at Beenleigh, 
and in pseudomorphs after pyrites at Yatton. Near Mount Eurie, 
at the head of the Dugald River, micaceous iron ore has been 
found, and rather to the north of this, towards the source of 
Cabbage Tree Creek, between the Dugald and Leichhardt Rivers, 
immense masses of hematite occur. But the most remarkable 
occurrence of hematite is noted by Mr. R. L. Jack as follows :— 
“Mount Leviathan, on the left bank of the Cloncurry River, 
opposite the township, is a mass, say 200 ft. high and a quarter of 
a mile in diameter at its base, of the purest possible iron ore. 
The greater part of it is massive or granular specular iron ore, 
with only a few grains of siliceous sand. Specimens of foliated 
specular iron may be picked up, and parts of the mountain are of 
magnetite. The specular iron is frequently magnetic. Half a 
mile south of the township is a smaller hill of specular ironstone, 
equally pure.” An earthy red hematite and iron ochre form parts 
of the auriferous ore of Mount Morgan. 


Red hematite has been mined at Ravenswood for use in the 
smelting furnaces. From near Mackay specular iron ore occurs 
with malachite and limonite. Some of the hematites around 
Cloncurry are auriferous, some even containing visible gold, and 
near Normanton occurs a considerable amount of hematite which 
is expected to carry gold. 


58 CATALOGUE OF MINERALS ; 


A hematite, mined in the Potosi claim for use as a flux for 
various silver ores of the Herberton district, gave Mr. A. W. Clarke 
on analysis :— 


Moisture F : ; 1.82 per cent. 

Waterin combination . 10.24 

Peroxide of iron. <a 7 TOL 

Silica 4 ‘ : : ite) 5. 

Alumina . : ; : 3/00) Gs 
101.87 


TITANIFEROUS IRON ORE—Comp. like hematite, but with part of 
the iron replaced by titanium. 


Titanic iron occurs with chromite from the serpentine near 
Canoona, Rockhampton, also in the Burnett district, and in the 
Stanthorpe tin-wash. It has also been found in creeks at the foot 
of the Main Range, near Helidon, and with magnetite and zircons 
in the creeks forming the head of the Boyne and Stuart Rivers, 
Burnett district. 


MAGNETITE—MAGNETIC IRON ORE—Comp. Fe, O,. 


The occurrence of magnetite with hematite at Cloncurry has 
already been noted under the head of this latter mineral. Mag- 
netite also occurs at Happy Valley, Bowen; in the tin-drift of 
Stanthorpe ; with hematite on Pike’s Creek, near Stanthorpe ; with 
titaniferous iron and zircons at the head of the Boyne and Stuart 
Rivers; at Bingera; on the Tate River; at Gilberton; with 
malachite and azurite on the Kroombit Creek ; with malachite 
and chalcopyrite on the Star River ; and as a pseudomorph after 
cubical crystals of iron pyrites at Cloncurry. <A bluish grey 
quartzite in the neighbourhood of Mount Morgan is full of specks 
of iron pyrites and magnetite. 


CHROMITE—CHROME IRON ORE—Comp. oxide of iron and 
chromium. 


This mineral is found in pockets in serpentine country about 
twelve miles from Ipswich, on the Brisbane River. It also occurs 
in the serpentine of Mount Wheeler, near Rockhampton. 


CaASSITERITE—Comp. Sn Q,. 


Cassiterite is of most notable occurrence at Stanthorpe and in 
the Tinaroo district, but also occurs in quartz at the Phoenix mine, 
Cannibal Creek, near Maytown. 


BY EDWD. B. LINDON, A.R.S.M. 59 


In the Tinaroo district cassiterite is associated with the following 
minerals :—With turgite, a lower hydrate of iron than limonite, 
probably derived from the decomposition of a chlorite rich in 
iron, at the Black Rock claim, Eureka Creek, in the Comet 
mine, Irvinebank ; and in Blair’s claim, Coolgara ; also with mis- 
pickel in quartz, an association similar to that of the Cornish 
mines, in the North Britain, Irvinebank, and at the Ulster, 
Herberton ; with chlorite very frequently, the red chlorite owing 
its colour to the presence of iron, while the purple variety is due 
to the presence of manganese; with orthoclase felspar in the 
Pinnacle lease, Gregory’s Gully, and in the Soggaorth, Herberton ; 
with kaolin in the Tornado claim, Silverfield, and Great Eastern, 
Eureka Creek ; in micaceous quartz and in crystallized quartz not 
unfrequently ; with fluorspar in the Crcesus, Irvinebank ; in the 
Rose of England, Eureka Creek ; in the Great Northern P.C. ; 
the Nova Scotia; and the Leviathan, Herberton ; with azurite and 
malachite in the Clan Rowland, Eureka Creek, and with tile ore 
and copper carbonates in the Ironclad, Herberton; with iron 
pyrites frequently ; with quartz and steatite in the Great Northern 
P.C. and North Australian, Herberton ; with tourmaline, Day 
Dawn claim, Irvinebank ; with wolfram in the Clan Rowland and 
Rose of England claims, Eureka Creek, and in the Soggaorth 
and Defiance claims, Herberton ; with garnets, Bolton’s Folly, 
Watsonville ; in gneiss, Royal Standard, Gregory’s Gully ; with 
topaz in the Never-can-tell claim, Coolgara, ‘Tinaroo. 

In the Herbertina claim a little bismuth occurs with the ore ; 
in the Freethinker claim, Irvinebank, the ore occurs in quartz 
with galena, and in the Louisa the quartz is in dog-tooth crystals, 
in the spaces between which are galena and a little tin ore. Talc 
accompanies cassiterite in the Orient claim, and in the Wheal 
Vohr the tin was embedded in massive penninite or hydrous talc, 
which can be scratched with the finger-nail ; this matrix is without 
parallel on the fieid (Jack). 


Tin ore replaces mica in Cottais’ claim, the deposit resembling 
granite, and in the Good Friday it occurs in aggregates of minute 
crystals associated with brecciform masses of steatite and noble 
serpentine. Native copper accompanies cassiterite in the Argyll 
mine, and in the Great Western the ore 1s found in black masses 
aggregated round quartz and felspar, large crystals of quartz being 
sometimes enveloped in cassiterite (Jack). 

In the Dreadnought and Nova Scotia claims cassiterite has 


been found in small tetragonal crystals and also as pseudomorphs 
after wolfram. 


60 CATALOGUE OF MINERALS ,j 


In the Stanthorpe district the large amount of stream tin that 
has been found is very notable. Mr. R. L. Jack says that in this 
district two distinct types of tin-bearing rocks are met with—quartz 
reefs and igneous dykes. The reefs are best developed on the 
left bank of Quart-pot Creek, the quartz being highly crystalline 
(sometimes smoky), with wolfram and sometimes with moderately- 
sized crystals of tin ore, the latter almost always confined to faces 
and joints. The dykes are composed of granular quartz, fine 
scaly lithia-mica, and small crystals of tin stone, forming a rock 
much resembling the stanniferous greisen of Saxony. ‘They seem 
to have been erupted in a molten state (bringing up the tin oxide 
with them) among fissures in the granite. Further, Mr. Jack 
strongly recommends a vigorous search of these dykes, as likely to 
lead to the discovery of permanent tin-bearing matrix. 


Stream tin has been found at Pikedale and Quart-pot Creek, 
both in the neighbourhood of Stanthorpe ; on the Tate River ; 
at Spring Creek, Cloncurry ; at Warroo, near Gladstone ; in the 
bed of Running Creek, near Great Star River, mixed with small 
magnesia alumina garnets and yellow topazes; in Granite Creek, 
near Maytown, in the Palmer district; at Herberton; and is 
reported as occurring in the Burnett district. At Pikedale and 
(Quart-pot Creek and in Granite Creek, near Stanthorpe, the stream 
tin was often accompanied by a little gold, and other associates of 
the Stanthorpe tin-drift are topaz, diamonds, sapphires, zircons, 
garnets, beryl, and magnetite. 


The “ruby” and “amber” varieties were commonly found at 
y oe, ; 
Stanthorpe, and ‘ wood tin” has been found on the Perry River, 
Gilberton. 


RutiLE— Comp. Ti O,, but generally containing iron. 


Specimens of rutile in quartz were brought back by Hann’s 
Northern Expedition, but I am unable to ascertain the exact 
locality. 


PyROLUSITE—Comp. Wm QO,. 


Pyrolusite occurs sparingly in the ironstone of Mount Morgan ; 
also in some quantity in a reef near the junction of Didcot and 
Chowey Creek, near Maryborough. It has also been noticed by 
Mr. R. L. Jack with hematite on Police Creek, a tributary of the 
Gregory River. 


BY EDWD. B. LINDON, A.R.S.M. 61 


The most noted locality, however, for the occurrence of this 
ore of manganese is at Gladstone, where there is a considerable 
amount of it; two analyses of the ore, made for the proprietor of 
the lode by Messrs. Johnson, Matthey & Co., are as follows :—- 


Per cent. Per cent. 
Available peroxide of manganese . 74.84 57-0G 
Protoxide of manganese 5 ; 8.20 9.30 
Oxides of iron : : . : 8.60 3.80 
Alumina : ; : é 3 2.80 2.00 
Carbolic acid . : - : - traces traces 
Sulphur .- : ; c j : 0.22 0.13 
Water. 5 : ; ; ‘ 3.80 2.70 
Siliceous insoluble matter : 1.10 25.00 
Loss ; : ‘ . : é 0.44 0.07 

100.00 100.00 


No gold or silver. 


At Leyburn, near Warwick, a very pure pyrolusite occurs, both 
massive, stalactitic, and in crystals of orthorhornbic form. ‘The 
casing of the vein is a ferruginous clay which is said to be 
slightly auriferous. 


VII.—HYDROUS OXIDES. 
TuRGITE—Comp. 2 Fe, O, + H, O. 


In some of the mines of the ‘Tinaroo district, turgite is said to 
be the matrix of the cassiterite, being probably derived from the 
decomposition of a chlorite very rich in iron, as the reddish-brown 
chloritic mineral occurs in the same lode. 


GOTHITE—BROWN HEMATITE—Comp. Fe, O, + H, O. 


This occurs widely with hematite and limonite ; it forms part of 
the auriferous ore of Mount Morgan, and is found in some 
quantities on Stradbroke Island in stalactitic form, and on the 
Pine Mountains. 


LIMONITE—Comp. 2 Fe, O, + H, O. 


Limonite is of a very general occurrence, since it is derived 
from the decomposition of pyrites and magnetite, and of other 
minerals, such as hornblende and augite, which contain iron in 
the form of the protoxide. It is found at Ravenswood, Charters 
Towers, Ipswich, and Warwick ; interlined with calcite on the 
Main Range in the Maranoa district ; as a pseudomorph after 
pyrites at Kilkivan ; and in botryoidal and stalagmitic masses of a 


62 CATALOGUE OF MINERALS ; 


glossy black colour coating quartz in a river on the Mary Douglas 
Hill, near Cloncurry. The brown hematite which has been the 
most valuable gold-bearing ore of Mount Morgan is probably 
limonite in part, although without a thorough chemical analysis it 
is difficult to exactly place minerals belonging to the hydrous 
oxides of iron. 


PsILOMELANE—Comp. Hydrous oxides of manganese. 


This mineral has been found at Beenleigh, and near Too- 
woomba ; at the junction of Horse Creek with the Gregory River 
a lode or “blow” of very pure psilomelane was noticed by Mr. 
R. L. Jack, and also a little higher up on the left bank of Police 
Creek ; from this gentleman’s report the occurrence of psilomelane 
in this locality must be frequent and of great importance. 


Wap—Asbolane or Wad containing oxide of cobalt—Comp. very 
variable, but essentially oxide of manganese. 


Mr. R. L. Jack noticed the occurrence of wad on Horse Creek 
with psilomelane. Dendritic markings of this minerals are by no 
means uncommon, being found among other places at Ipswich 
and on the Star River. 


The occurrence at Kilkivan of a cobaltiferous wad is very 
notable ; the asbolane from this locality is said to contain as 
much as 23 per cent. of oxide of cobalt, but this is such a high 
figure that I really think it requires confirmation. 


Asbolane has been found in the Mountain Home copper mine, 
near Cloncurry ; the association of minerals in this lode is worthy 
of note, green carbonate of copper, ferruginous red oxide of 
copper, enclosing numerous garnets, asbolane, and numerous 
dendritic markings of the binoxide of manganese, all occurring in 
the same lode (Jack). 


BisMITE— BISMUTH OCHRE—Comp. Bi O,. 

This earthy mineral occurs mixed with clayey matter at Mount 
Shamrock, near Chowey Creek, and also at Cloncurry. 
CERVANTITE—Sb O,. 


This mineral, which results from the decomposition of stibnite 
and other antimonial ores, is found massive at St. John’s Creek, 
in the Burnett district, and at Neardie. 


BY EDWD. B. LINDON, A.R.S.M. 63 


IX.—OXIDES OF SILICON. 


Quartz—Comp. Si O,. 


This is a mineral of most widely-spread occurrence, whether as 
a rock-forming constituent or in the form of veins traversing such 
rocks. It is not my purpose to give a long list of places in which 
quartz occurs, but only such cases in which some particular kind 
or form is found. It is also unnecessary to mention all the 
minerals which occur with quartz for their matrix. 


Very few endormorphs in quartz crystals have yet come under 
my notice, cassiterite from Stanthorpe, gold from some few 
localities, copper pyrites from Marengo goldfield, and calespar 
and pyrites from Gympie, being all I have noticed in Queensland 


Prase has been found in the neighbourhood of a diorite dyke 
in the Cape River district, and at Stanthorpe. 


Agates are found in large quantities at Agate Creek, Etheridge ; 
in the Burnett district ; and at Mackay. 


Jasper occurs at the Diamantina in the Burnett district, and at 
Rockhampton. 


Chalcedony is largely found about Springsure, also at Mackay 
and many other places. Mr. R. L. Jack, in his report on the 
Hodgkinson goldfield, writes as follows :— 


“The nearly parallel valleys of Caledonian Creek (Glen Mowbray) and 
the Hodgkinson River are bounded on the right or north-eastern side by 
the Mount McGann Range, and on the opposite side by the Mount Robert 
Range. These ranges have had their trend determined indirectly by the 
forces which compressed the strata of the district from south-west to north- 
east, and threw them into long folds from south-east to north-west. After 
the strata had been compressed into nearly as small a compass as they 
would go into—i.e., till they became nearly vertical—the further operation 
of the same pressure resulted in the formation of fissures along lines of 
weakness; which lines of weakness were found in the bedding planes 
dividing the upturned strata from one another. These fissures, which are 
nearly, but not exactly, parallel with the outcrops of the strata, have been 
filled with a rock of great hardness, which, by its power of resisting 
denudation. has given rise to the Mount McGann and Mount Ronert 
Ranges. Both of these ranges occur in zones, in which the hard rocks in 
question are clearly grouped together, while the intervening softer ‘country’ 
has been channelled by the Hodgkinson River and Caledonian Creek into 
deep valleys. 


““The material with -vhich the fissures are filled forms veins and dykes, 
from 3 to 40 feet in width, of pure silica in almost all its various forms. 
It frequently resembles quartzite, and occasionally passes in ribbon jasper 
and chalcedony. The veins are often so laminated parallel to their sides as 
suggest that they may be beds rather than veins; but the modes in which 
they now and then cut across the adjacent strata, although preserving a 


64 CATALOGUE OF MINERALS ; 


general parallelism, sufficiently disproves this theory. Crystallization is 
comparatively rare, and the lamination seems to imply by no means 
segregation of the silica from the surrounding strata, but rather deposition 
of silica during the passage of copious sheets of hot water charged with 
the mineral in solution. The veins . . . can be followed from hill-top 
to hill-top, forming at times rough insurmountable walls a hundred feet 
high—as, for example, in the peaks west of Mount Tenison-Woods. In 
other places denudation has left their remains on hill sides or hill tops in 
the form of hugh cubes of hard quartzites, from which the surrounding 
softer rocks have crumbled away. The cubes stand up weird and solitary, 
like the ‘perched blocks’ of alpine and arctic lands. 


4 Similar veins, it may be here observed, have been noted by 
me in the Cloncurry and Leichhardt region, where they attain still more 
gigantic proportions. The veins of the Cloncurry and Hodgkinson 
resemble the dolerite dykes of Scotland and Ireland more than the ore- 
charged reefs of Australia. The Hodgkinson veins, I have been informed, 
contain rare and minute quantities of gold. I have not been able to verify 
this information, and I suspect that the gold may have come from reefs 
adjacent to the veins. Specular iron ore, brown hematite, and binoxide of 
manganese, are not uncommonly found in cavities in the larger veins, but 
I have never seen either in payable quantities.” 

Onyx and hornstone occur at Springsure, and amethysts have 
been found on the Logan River and at Mackay. 


Flint is mentioned by Mr. Jack as occurring in Police Creek, 
Gregory Downs, and chert has been met with at Mackay, and 
Springsure, and Ravenswood. 

Smoky quartz (Cairgorm) occurs in large crystals at Stanthorpe, 
and also on the Main Range below Toowoomba. 


Clear quartz containing fluid cavities has been found at Mackay 
and in ihe Logan Valley and elsewhere, and Mr. R. L. Jack, 
writing about a dyke which runs S.E. through the “country” of 
the Queen line of reef, Charters ‘Towers, says, ‘‘Sections of the 
rock forming the dyke in question, on being examined under the 
microscope, show a matrix of felspar a good deal coloured with 
chlorite, with blebs of clear quartz containing numerous fluid 
cavities.” 

Silicified wood is of not uncommon occurrence, especially in 
basaltic country ; many specimens have been obtained from the 
Darling Downs and other localities. A specimen in the Queens- 
land Museum Is worthy of special notice for it contains imbedded 
it in a nail or other bit of iron; this came from a steep bank at 
Chinchilla, near the Head Station, and as this district has only 
been opened up in recent years (about 1842), the specimen 
shews how rapid the silicification of the wood has been, as the 
nail must have been driven into its place before the wood 
became altered, 


BY.EDWD. B. LINDON, A.R.S.M. 65 


Opat—Comp. Si O, with generally some water. 


Queensland opal, when of sufficient size, fire, and free from 
flaws, is a very beautiful gem, but unfortunately only occasionally 
can large pieces of the proper lustre or fire be found without 
flaws. On the Bulloo and Barcoo Rivers precious and fire opals 
are found, and I am told by a leading goldsmith and merchant of 
precious stones that the rash and unscientific way in which the 
lumps ate broken is one reason for the small amount of useful 
opal which is obtained. Common opal, and even precious opal, 
in thin streaks or veins occur in a matrix of a kind of dark clay 
porphyry, and I heard it assigned as a reason for this thinness and 
want of fire that the opal is not old enough ; but I fancy it would 
be more correct to say that the crevices or fissures, into which the 
solution containing silica entered, were only very narrow, or that 
the amount of the silica-depositing solution was limited. 


Common opal and fire opal are found about Springsure, com- 
mon opal being also met with near Gympie ; on the Glasshouse 
Mountains ; and on the Burnett River. Pieces of opal are not 
unfrequently found in the gravel of the Logan River, being 
probably brought down from Mount Lindsay or other adjacent 
ranges. Wood opal occurs at Springsure and on the Dawson 
River. Hyalite occurs at Springsure, at Cumkillenbar, and at 
Stanthorpe, fine specimens from the latter locality shewing hyalite 
coating crystals of smoky quartz and orthoclase felspar. 


X.—ANHYDROUS SILICATES. 


WOLLASTONITE—Comp. chiefly silicate of lime. 
Said to have been noticed on the Pine River. 


ACTINOLITE—Comp. chiefly silicate of magnesia, lime, and a 
little iron. 
Green radiating actinolite has been found in the Cloncurry 
district. 


HoRNBLENDE—Compp. chiefly silicate of magnesia, lime, iron, 
and alumina. 


Hornblende is a rock-forming mineral of frequent occurrence, 
as in the syenitic rock of Charters Towers Hill, where mica is rare 
and hornblende abundant, and at Mounts Frederick and Alice, 
Charters Towers, where hornblende crystals with crystals of tri- 
clinic felspar and round blebs of quartz are scattered through a 
dark grey matrix of felspar with magnetic iron. The No. 1 Lode 

E 


66 CATALOGUE OF MINERALS; 


of the Great Northern P.C., Herberton, is a dyke, according to 
Mr. Jack, much metamorphosed, consisting of a dark green matrix 
of hornblende with quartz granules and chlorite. 


Hornblende occurs with quartz at Springsure, and occasional 
crystals with olivine in the basalt of the Endeavour River. 


AuGITE—Comp. silicate of lime, magnesia, iron, and alumina. 


This is another rock-forming mineral, but usually in minute 
fragments. It occurs with olivine in the spherical bombs of basalt 
at Gate’s Look-out, and in the basalt of various other parts. 


BrryL—Comp. silicate of alumina and glucina. 
Beryls are said to have been found in the drift of Stanthorpe. 


OLIVINE—Comp. silicate of magnesia and iron. 


Olivine is found in the basalt at Gatton ; the Endeavour River ; 
and at Iron Pot Creek, Burnett district; also with augite in 
spherical bombs of basaltic rock at Gate’s Look-out (Jack). 


GARNET—Comp. silicate of alumina and iron, with a little 
manganese. 


Almandine garnets have been found by Mr. R. L. Jack ina 
valley west of Mount Eurie, Cloncurry district, and in the lode of 
the Mountain Home copper mine, in the same district, with 
malachite, ferruginous red oxide of copper, and asbolane. The 
green chlorite rock of Boulton’s Folly claim, Watsonville, contains 
garnets with cassiterite. 


Z1RCON—Comp. silicate of zirconia. 


I do not know that zircon has be found 7 s¢tu at any locality, 
but the stream-tin drift of Stanthorpe frequently contained the 
mineral ; it has also, I believe, been found in a similar manner at 
Herberton. Zircon has also been found with titaniferous iron 
and magnetite in creeks forming the heads of the Boyne and 
Stuart Rivers, Burnett district. 


LIEVRITE—Compp. chiefly silicate of iron and lime. 

Lievrite occurs in geodes in basalt between Willams’ Station 
and Brannigan’s on the Endeavour River (Jack). 
MuscovirE—Comp. chiefly silicate of alumina and potash, often 

with iron, magnesia, &c. 
Common mica is a constituent of all such rocks as gneiss, 


granite, mica schist, and others of allied types. At Stanthorpe 
the mica is invariably white when associated with cassiterite 


BY EDWD. B. LINDON, A.R.S.M. 67 


i situ. A coarsely crystalline granite in the S.E. corner of the 
Great Northern P.C., Herberton, consists of black mica with 
quartz and pink orthoclase. 


LABRADORITE—Comp. chiefly silicate of alumina, lime, and soda. 


Mr. R. L. Jack mentions that he found labrador felspar of the 
beautifully iridescent variety used in jewellery, in a valley in the 
west of Mount Eurie, near Cloncurry. 


OrTHOCLASE—Com, chiefly silicate of alumina and potash. 


Very fine crystals of orthoclase, associated with smoky quartz, 
occur in the neighbourhood of Stanthorpe and Ballandean, some 
of the crystals being enveloped by hyalite. 


Orthoclase felspar is a very common rock-forming constituent, 
as at Running Creek to the west of the Great Star River where 
the porphyry is coarse with large round quartz blebs, large crystals 
of orthoclase, and occasionally a little hornblende, mica being 
very rare. Pink orthoclase forms part of the granite at the Great 
Northern P.C., Herberton, and at the Pinnacle Lease, Gregory’s 
Gully, in the same district, the same coloured mineral forms the 
matrix of cassiterite. 


OLiIGocLaAsE—Comp. chiefly silicate of alumia, soda, and lime. 


Triclinic felspar is a not very frequent constituent of Queens- 
land rocks, being very often only detected by microscopic 
examination of thin sections. 


‘TOURMALINE— Comp. chiefly composed of silicate of alumina, iron, 
lime, and soda, and containing some boric acid. 


Occurs in quartz on St. John’s Creek, Burnett district, and at 
Cloncurry, where it is found with free gold scattered through its 
mass and with calcite as an associate. Schorl and calcite form 
the matrix of an auriferous pyrites in the Union Gold Mining 
Co.’s lease, Rockhampton. Quartz containing tourmaline and tin 
ore occurs in the Day Dawn claim, ‘linaroo district. ‘Tourmaline 
porphyry is not an uncommon rock in the colony, as at the 
Normanby Range, near Bowen, which “consists almost entirely 
of this rock, a compound of quartz (for the most part amorphons), 
black mica (sparsely), and large black crystals of tourmaline or 
schorl” (Jack). Black schorl is also said, by Mr. D’Oyley Aplin, 
to occur in the firte-grained felspathic rock in the lower part of 
the Stuart Valley, Burnett district. Tourmaline also occurs at 
Mount Perry. 


68 CATALOGUE OF MINERALS ; 


CHIASTOLITE—Comp. chiefly silicate of alumina. 


In the Queensland Museum are three specimens of chiastolite 
crystals from Hann’s Northern expedition. 


Topaz—Comp. silicate of alumina in which half the oxygen of 
the silica is replaced by fluorine. 

Topaz has been found in the drift of Stanthorpe ; also in the 

Never-can-tell claim, Coolgara, Tinaroo, Herberton, with cas- 


siterite crystals, and with stream tin in Running Creek, near the 
Star River. 


XI—HYDROUS SILICATES. 


LAUMONTITE—Comp, hydrous silicate of alumina and lime. 


Mentioned by Mr. R. L. Jack as occurring in the cavities of 
the amygdaloidal trap rock of Strathmore Creek. 


CHRYSOCOLLA—Comp. hydrous silicate of copper, but generally 
with impurities. 

This mineral is not at all of common occurrence, nevertheless 
it occurs in a vein on the east side of the Townsville road, near 
Dalrymple, with native copper and malachite ; also at the Lucky 
Prop mine, near Charters Towers, and is said to have been found 
at the Mount Orange copper mine. 


PREHNITE—Comp. hydrous silicate of alumina and lime with a 
little iron. 

Found in the cavities of the amygdaloidal trap rock of Strath- 

more Creek, being frequently associated with carbonate of copper. 


GISMONDITE—Comp. hydrous silicate of alumina and lime with 
a little potash. 


A specimen in the Queensland Museum is marked Gismondite 
from Rosewood ; the matrix is a lava. 


THOMSONITE—-Comp. chiefly hydrous silicate of alumina and lime 
with some soda. 


Occurs in cavities in the amygdaloidal trap rock in Strathmore 
Creek. 


NATROLITE—Comp. chiefly hydrous silicate of alumina and soda 
with generally a little lime and iron. 


This zeolite occurs in the basalt of ‘Toowoomba and near 
Ipswich. 


BY EDWD. B. LINDON, A.R.S.M. 69 


MEsoTyPpE—Comp. hydrous silicate of alumina, lime, and soda. 


Occasionally noticed by Mr. R. L. Jack inthe basalts of the 
Peak Downs. 


ANALCIME—Comp. hydrous silicate of alumina and soda chiefly. 


Found in the amygdaloidal trap rocks of Strathmore Creek, and 
in the basalt of Peak Downs. 


CHABAZITE—Comp. hydrous silicate of alumina and lime with 
some potash, and generally a little soda. 


Chabazite occurs in the Peak Downs basalt, but its chief locality 
is the basalt of Toowoomba, where it was found by Hon. A. C. 
Gregory in large masses; this occurrence is very unusual and 
worthy of note. 


STILBITE—Comp. hydrous silicate of alumina and lime. 
Occurs on the Fitzroy River, and also at Toowoomba. 


TaLtc—Comp. hydrous silicate of magnesia with generally a 
little iron. 


I do not know of the occurrence of foliated talc in Queensland. 
Steatite occurs in some of the reefs of Charters Towers and 
Ravenswood, and in association with cassiterite in some of the 
claims in the Herberton district, as in the North Australian and 
in the Great Northern P.C. Soapstone has also been found in 
the Clifton colliery, on the Darling Downs ; at Kilkivan ; and in 
a rather indurated form of a yellowish green colour at Petrie’s 
Quarry, Brisbane. 


SERPENTINE—Comp. hydrous silicate of magnesia. 


Serpentine occurs in large masses at Gladstone, and at Ipswich 
it forms the matrix of chromite. Noble serpentine of a fine green 
colour is found in the Kilkivan district, but it is usually much 
jointed. 


Mr. Daintree, in a report on the Rockhampton mining district, 
describes a belt of serpentine which extends at intervals from 
Mount Wheeler to Marlborough. I have already under ‘ Gold” 
mentioned some of Mr. Daintree’s remarks on this subject (vde 
p- 37); he further mentions the occurrence of chromite and 
chromic ochre in this serpentine, and also the numerous outcrops 
of copper ore which have been discovered in this district. Mr. 
D’Oyley Aplin, in his report on the Burnett district, mentions the 
occurrence of serpentine on Sandy Creek, a tributary of Barambah 


7° CATALOGUE OF MINERALS ; 


Creek, some of the specimens shewn him from the locality being 
coated with green carbonate of copper. Hon. A. C. Gregory has 
also noticed the occurrence of copper lodes in serpentine at 
Mount Coora, in the Burnett district. 


Mr. Daintree has further remarked that the ridges of serpentine 
round Mount Wheeler pass into diallage and gabbro, schillerspar 
also being not unfrequently met with. 


In the Tinaroo district serpentine is of not uncommon occur- 
rence, as in Cottais’ claim, where “‘the porphyry country is pierced 
by a dyke (underlying to the east) of fine grained amphibolic rock 
containing irregular quartz blebs, and with all its joint planes 
covered with fibrous serpentine and sprangled with thin flakes of 
native copper” (Jack); in the Soggaorth, where a vein of ser- 
pentinous rock and quartz runs E.S.E. through porphyry and 
contains a little tin; and in the Good Friday, where the ore 
sometimes consists of aggregates of minute crystals and is associated 
with brecciform masses of steatite and noble serpentine. 


Asbestos is found occurring in the serpentinous rock of Mount 
Wheeler, 18 miles from Rockhampton, and also in the Kilkivan 
district. 


KaoLin—Comp. hydrous silicate of alumina. 


Kaolin is essentially a decomposition product, arising from 
the decomposition of aluminous minerals, and from felspar in 
particular ; hence where cassiterite has had granite, as at Stan- 
thorpe, or orthoclase felspar, as in some of the claims on 
Herberton, for its matrix, it readily follows that kaolin is found 
either in the tin-drift or surrounding the cassiterite as its matrix ; 
the first of these occurrences was only noticeable in the tin-drift 
of Stanthorpe, and the second in the Tornado and Cosmopolitan 
claims, Herberton 


Mr. R. L. Jack mentions a vertical dyke of kaolin, mixed with 
fine siliceous granules, passing into pure kaolin in the western 
end of the upper cutting of the Mount Morgan mine; and Mr. 
Enright tells me of a 4-inch vein of kaolin passing from surface to 
water-level alongside a quartz in his Marching-through-Georgia 
claim on the Palmer goldfield. I have noticed very pure kaolin 
in Callan’s Knob on the property of the Mount Morgan Gold 
Mining Company. 


PENNINITE—Comp. hydrous silicate of magnesia and alumina. 


In his report on the Tinaroo district, Mr. R. L. Jack, writing of 
the Wheal Vohr mine, says “the rock which forms the matrix of 


BY EDWD. B. LINDON, A.R.S.M. 71 


the tin is without parallel on the field. It is massive penninite 
or hydrous talc, which can be scratched with the finger-nail. 
Sometimes it occurs in fine apple-green scales. The rock is grey 
at the surface, but becomes greenish at the lower level. Copper 
pyrites and tin ore are interspersed throughout, especially in 
agate-like bands round certain small isolated masses of quartz. 
The tin ore is very black.” 


CHLORITE—Compp. chiefly hydrous silicate of alumina and magnesia 


This mineral is of very wide occurrence in the Tinaroo district, 
forming the matrix of a large portion of the cassiterite obtained 
from that locality. The mineral is commonly of a dark green 
colour, but is sometimes red from the presence of oxide of iron, 
and sometimes purple from oxide of manganese. 


XI'1.—PHOSPHATES. 


APATITE—Comp. chiefly phosphate of lime. 


This mineral is not of common occurrence here; it has been 
found at Ravenswood, and is mentioned by Mr. R. L. Jack as 
forming a network of minute needle-like crystals interlacing with 
triclinic felspar, as seen under the microscope in the diorite of 
Plant’s Range, Charters Towers. 


PyROMORPHITE—Comp. phosphate and chloride of lead. 


Pyromorphite has up to the present been noticed in only a few 
localities, such as the Gilbert River, the Burdekin River, and 
New Rush, Ruby River, where it occurs accompanying other ores 
of lead. 


CACOXENITE—Comp. hydrous phosphate of iron. 


This mineral from Watt’s selection, Logan district, was noticed 
by Mr. Rands and referred to me. It occurred on the edge of a 
mass of limonite in tufts of a yellow colour. 


XIII.—TUNGSTATES. 


WoLFrRAM—Conpp. tungstates of iron and manganese. 


This mineral has been found on Noble Island of a very dark 
blue colour in quartz; also in considerable quantity around 
Stanthorpe, being often associated with cassiterite. In the tin 
mines of the Tinaroo district this troublesome mineral often 
occurs, as in the Soggaorth in quartz and in pockets of ferru- 
ginous chlorite, in the Defiance with fluorspar, in the Young 


12 CATALOGUE OF MINERALS ; 


American with molybdenite, in the Leviathan with iron pyrites 
and fluorspar, and in the Ly-e-moon occasional small crystals of 
wolfram were noticed among the tin ore. Specimens of wolfram 
in quartz have also been obtained from Mackay. 


XIV.—SULPHATES. 


BARYTES—Heavy Spar—Comp. Ba S O,. 


Barytes has been found on the Herbert River and in the 
Kilkivan district ; also on joints in the granite walls of the Old 
Identity reef, Charters Towers. 


ANGLESITE—Comp Pb S Q,. 


Anglesite has not been frequently noticed; it occurs near 
Townsville, in the Tinaroo district, and in the Star River district, 
assaying 67 per cent. of lead and 307 ozs. of silver to the ton. 


GypsumM—Comp. CaS O,. 


Selenite crystals have been found at Bulimba a few feet below 
the surface when excavating for the Brisbane Gas Company’s 
works. Good specimens also come from the Warrego district. 
To the west of the Richmond Downs brown sandstones are 
extensively veined with gypsum, and it is stated that beds of the 
mineral are frequently met with in sinking wells in that part. A 
little gypsum occurs in some of the Charters Towers lodes, as in 
the Queen reef, associated with sulphides and steatite. In the 
Old Warrior, one of the ‘‘ outside” reefs of this field, a good deal 
of selenite was found in the brownstone. In the North Australian 
a perpendicular dyke of diorite, five feet wide, running east 15” 
south, cuts the reef, and veins of gypsum occurs on the sides of 
the dyke. Specimens of selenite stained green with carbonate of 
copper were obtained from the Manchester reef on the Marengo 
goldfield. 


GREEN VITRIOL—Coprreras—Comp. FeSO, + 7 H, O. 


This mineral occurs in the decomposing iron sulphides of the 
Gilberton district, in fine crystals of very pale blue to transparent 
white colour. 


BLUE VITRIOL—Comp. CuS O, + 5 H, O. 


Blue vitriol was found in the waters issuing from the Mount 
Perry copper mines, and not unfrequently has been noticed on 
the decomposing chalcopyrites of various localities, as at Herberton 
in the Ironclad mine, and Stewart’s T claim, and at Ravenswood 
in the Black Jack claim, also in the West Mount Morgan mine. 


BY EDWD. B. LINDON, A.R.S.M. 73 


LINARITE—Comp. hydrous sulphate of copper and lead. 


Linarite has been noticed by Mr. R. L. Jack in the Caledonian 
mine, Tinaroo district, and in the Star River (argentine) silverfield. 


Catcire—Comp. Ca C O,. 


Calcite in association with gold or gold-bearing sulphides is a 
common feature on Queensland fields, as on the Palmer, Gympie, 
Hodgkinson, Norton, Charters Towers, and Rosewood ; on Gympie 
crystals of iron pyrites, quartz, and calcspar are indented together 
as though all three had been deposited at the same period. Cal- 
cite crystals associated with native copper and red and block 
oxides have been found on the Dugald River, 45 miles N.W. of 
Cloncurry. Inthe Uncle Tom reef, Cloncurry, the calcspar carries 
free gold, being there associated with hematite, and chalybite ; 
also on Weatherly Creek, about 18 miles from Cloncurry, a reef, 
whose matrix is quartz and calcite, yields gold in payable quantities. 


Stalactitic and stalagmitic calcite come from the Star River and 
from Glenlyon, near Stanthorpe. 


Limestone is abundant in many parts; a large quantity of very 
pure mineral occurs at Glenlyon; the limestones from Reid’s 
Gap, about 30 miles from Townsville, are extremely quarried for 
mortar ; blue coralline limestone pebbles in conglomerate are 
largely found at Glen Mowbray, near Thornborough, and large 
limestone caves are known of near Rockhampton. At Warwick 
are quarries of limestone, of which the two following analyses 
were made by Mr A. W. Clarke :— 


If Le 
Moisture . : : I.10 per cent. 1.29 per cent. 
Carbonic acid . AS OS; AZ-O5 5; 
Lime . : anf 54,009 3 5472 
Peroxide of iron : Geis O37 855 
Magnesia . ; z O15); 0-558 03; 
Insoluble residue A 1.59 5 O07) es 
100.93 100.95 


Mr. Clarke remarks, “The proprietor of the quarriés states that 
the black stone (II) burns to a better quicklime than the perfectly 
white limestone (I). These analyses do not throw much light on 
the question of why there should be such a difference. The 
insoluble matter of one is nearly double that of the other, and, as 
this residue is mainly silica, it may be that an insoluble fixed 
silicate is formed in the manufacture, which would tend to dilute 
the quicklime.” 


74 CATALOGUE OF MINERALS ; 


A limestone from the Potosi claim, Irvinebank, Tinaroo district, 
which, with hematite from the same claim, is raised to flux silver- 
bearing lead ores by the Silver Valley Smelting Company has 
been analyzed by the same gentleman with the following result :— 


Moisture - : - - : 1.07 per cent. 

Carbonate of lime . : 2 | 'O5:630 aes 

Silicaaae ; . ‘ : ‘ 2:4 asus 

Peroxide of iron . : : : O78. 4; 

Carbonate of magnesia . : : O;4 7. ies 
100.56 


A limestone from Northumberland Island, Broadsound, is said 
to give by analysis :— 


Carbonate of lime . , : 5 98 per cent. 
Foreign matter : i : 5 Di ae 
100 


This stone is burned for the manufacture of lime, as well as 
used for building purposes. 


A marble of white colour which takes a fairly good polish is 
obtained from Warwick, also as well as some of darker shades ; the 
white and coloured marbles of Gladstone are very fair ornamental 
stones. Marble is also obtained from Reid’s Gap, near Towns- 
ville (an impure saccharine marble), from Herberton, and from 
Rockhampton. 


MAGNESITE—Comp. carbonate of magnesia Mg C O,. 


Magnesite occurs on the Main Range, near ‘Toowoomba, and in 
the serpentinous district near Rockhampton. A magnesite from 
Islaport, Rockhampton, gave Mr. Clarke on analysis :- - 


Silica. ‘ ‘ : : : 7.23 per cent. 
Carbonic acid : ; - - 410s as 
Peroxide of iron . f : é 1.60 = ee 
Magnesia : : ‘ - « ~' 'AG:7018 Bae 
Line : : : 3 . traces 

101.67 


CHALYBITE—SIDERITE—Compp Fe, C O,. 


A very siliceous carbonate of iron was passed through in sinking 
a well on the Ejight-mile Plains, near Brisbane, Sphcerosiderite 
(concretionary chalybite) has been noticed in basalt near Too- 
woomba. Chalybite also occurs with hematite and with calcspar 
containing gold in Uncle Tom’s reef, near Cloncurry. 


BY EDWD. B. LINDON, A.R.S.M. WS 


WITHERITE—Comp. Ba C QO, . 


The occurrence of witherite at Springsure has been noticed. 


CrERuUsSSITE—Comp. Pb C Og. 


This mineral, essentially a decomposition product from galena, 
is met with on almost all galena lodes. In the Star River 
(Argentine) Silverfield a cerrussite assays 69 per cent. of lead and 
186 ozs. of silver to the ton. At Mount Garnet, near Herberton, 
decomposing galena is stained with green carbonate of copper and 
contains crystals of cerussite. Litharge and cerrussite are derived 
from the galenas of Newelltown in. the same locality. Cerussite 
from Ravenswood assays 150 ozs. of silver to the ton. 


SMITHSONITE—Comp. Zn C QO, . 


I have had sent to me a specimen of this mineral from a 
locality near Bowen. 


MALACHITE—Comp. 


Green carbonate of copper is found staining quartz and other 
rocks in very many places, owing to the decomposition of copper 
pyrites, which is so widely-spread a mineral ; moreover as malachite 
is rather a showy mineral, and very small quantities of copper 
pyrites give rise to a good deal—comparatively—of carbonate, the 
prospector if unmindful of this is liable to be much mistaken as 
the value of his find. From the same cause—decomposition- — 
malachite is frequent in “gossans” or ‘‘caps” of lodes, as at 
Mount Garnet, Tinaroo district, and in the Rainbow lode, Duck 
Creek, near Cloncurry. 


In the Peak Downs copper mines malachite was found in very 
fine massive blocks of botryoidal structure, and also in small 
crystals and in fine silky needles. 


At the Mount Orange copper mines malachite occurs with 
specular iron ore, with azurite and hematite, and with black oxide 
of copper. 


At the Mount Perry copper mines malachite and azurite occur, 
but not in very large quantities in comparison with some other 
districts. 

Malachite and black oxide of copper occur in the Buck claim, 
Ravenswood, their presence being determined by the decomposi- 
tion of the auriferous chalcopyrites which accompanies sphaelerite, 


76 CATALOGUE OF MINERALS ; 


iron pyrites, and mispickel in the Buck reef. In the Gilberton 
district is a copper lode, running east and west with a width of 
50 feet, said to contain 71 per cent. oxides and carbonates of 
copper, or 58 per cent., of metallic copper (Staiger). Very good 
specimens of malachite has also been found in the Normanton 
district. 


The Cloncurry district, so noted for metallic copper and cuprite, 
is not backward in the production of malachite; in the Great 
Australian mine the cap of the lode is composed of a siliceous 
matrix with green carbonate of copper; the Contra lode has a 
large cap of ironstone with much green and some blue carbonate, 
while at the bottom of a 20 ft. shaft on the lode pale red oxide 
with some copper pyrites and much green carbonate are found ; 
the ore of the Homeward Bound copper lode is green and blue 
carbonates with some red oxide and native copper, said to have 
contained gold as does the green carbonate ore of the Flying 
Dutchman. The ore from Argylla Creek, some miles fron. Clon- 
curry, contains a good deal of malachite, often radiated and 
fibrous and of the highest possible percentage. A specimen in 
the Queensland Museum of malachite from Cloncurry shews gold 
embedded in it; other specimens from the same locality are 
pseudomorphs after cuprite, azurite, and siderite. I find that 
specimens of massive cuprite, or native copper changing to 
cuprite, from Cloncurry are very liable to be encrusted with 
malachite after keeping for a short time in the atmosphere of 
Brisbane. 


From the Kennedy copper mine, on a ridge near Sandy Creek 
to the west of the Great Star River, a very pure malachite has 
been obtained. In the Tinaroo district malachite seldom occurs 
in large masses, but not unfrequently is found as a staining or 
incrusting mineral. 


Mr. D’Oyley Aplin, in his report on part of Burnett district, 
mentions the occurrence of serpentine coated with malachite 
near Ban Ban. 


I may remark here that Queensland malachite of fibrous 
structure is frequently of such a dark green colour as easily to be 
mistaken at first glance for atacamite ; I have seen one specimen 
containing gold brought from the Palmerston copper mines, in 
which the dark green matrix was supposed and appeared to be 
atacamite. This association of gold seemed so rare that I 
examined the specimen and found it to be only malachite. 


BY EDWD, B. LINDON, A.R.S.M. 77 


AZURITE—Comp. 


Blue carbonate of copper is not of so common occurrence as 
malachite. It is often present in gossans of lodes, and not 
unfrequently in a crystalline state. 


In the Tinaroo district it occurs with malachite at Mount 
Garnet, with cassiterite and malachite in the Clan Ronald, 
Eureka Creek, in the North Australian mine, and in the Great 
Northern P.C. 


At the Peak Downs copper mines azurite has been found in 
some quantity, and in lesser amount in the Mount Perry copper 
mines. At the Mount Orange copper mines azurite accompanies 
malachite, hematite, and black oxide of copper. 


In the Kennedy copper mine, Sandy Creek, to the west of the 
Great Star River, a very pure azurite occurs crystallized in rhombic 
prisms and pyramids and in radiating botryoidal masses. 


On the north bank of Pumpkin Gully, near Cloncurry, some 
very blue azurite occurs in a nearly vertical copper lode, running 
south-west and north-east. Azurite is also found in the Homeward 
Bound and other mines in the same district. 


BISMUTHITE—Comp. hydrous carbonate of bismuth. 


Bismuthite in some quantity has been found in the Cloncurry 
district, some specimens from that locality showing free gold in 
this matrix, 


In conclusion I would venture to remark that my interest in 
the minerals of Queensiand does not terminate with this catalogue, 
and I shall gladly receive from any one who is ready to help on a 
useful work, either specimens of the above-mentioned and other 
minerals with definite localities and associations assigned them, 
or authentic accounts of the occurrence of these or other minerals 
from localities or in associations not mentioned in this catalogue. 
The minerals of Queensland must play an important part in the 
development of the colony, and it will be advantageous to obtain 
and bring together as much information on the subject as possible. 
I shall therefore hope to be able, and to be allowed, to put before 
the Royal Society further notices of the Queensland-found minerals 
as my personal observations increase, and as assistance in the same 
direction is afforded me by others. 


78 PERIPATUS AND ITS OCCURRENCE IN AUSTRALIA 5 


Notr.—Since the above was written I have severed my 
connection with the Queensland Museum, but in the practice of 
my present business as assayer and mining expert I still hope to be 
able to obtain further information regarding Queensland minerals. 
When I wrote my catalogue Eidsvold goldfield had not broken 
out, nor had Croydon assumed such a prominent position as it 
now holds. From the Bismarck mine at Eidsvold a specimen of 
syenite containing 2 ozs. of gold to the ton passed lately through 
my hands. On the Croydon goldfield are found gold, silver, 
ceragyrite, iron pyrites, zinc-blende, and other minerals. An 
addition to the known minerals of Queensland has lately been 
made by Mr. A. W. Clarke, who discovered scolecite in the 
granite of the Rainbow claim, Charters Towers. ‘This discovery 
has, I think, been communicated to the Royal Society of 
Queensland by Mr. Clarke. who accompanies his description with 
analyses.—Epwp. B. Linpon, uly, 1888. 


ON PERIPATUS AND ITS OCCUR E et 
IN: AUSTRALIA: 
HENRY TRYON. 
(Read on 15th April, 1887 ). 


In placing on record the rediscovery of Peripatus in Australia, 
a brief notice of the circumstances under which the particular 
specimens of the noteworthy animal bearing this name, and now 
exhibited, were found, would seem to suffice. As, however, very 
few in the colony appear to have met with this name in the 
connection in which it is now used, much less to be conversant 
with the almost unique interest which, in the eyes of the 
philosophic naturalist, centres around the genus of animals which 
‘““Peripatus” denotes, it would seem profitable to make the present 
opportunity the occasion for stating why this interest has come 
to exist. 

Peripatus is a terrestial inverterbrate and has a body which is 
shortly vermiform, semicylindrical, flat on the ventral surface, and 
covered with a soft traversely-wrinkled skin. ‘lhe body segments 
are few and not distinctly defined, and each gives rise to a pair of 


BY HENRY TRYON. 79 


feet or modified feet. The cephalic and mouth segments are 
united and continuous. There are two sub-retractile frontal 
tentacles or antenne. ‘The eyes, two in number, are simple and 
situate at the external base of the antenne. The mouth is 
ventrally situated nearly circular, and surrounded by a thick lip— 
the short exsertile pharynx. It includes the two appendages of 
the first pair, the foot-jaws or maxillz, each of which bears two 
hooks, one simple the other toothed. On each side of the mouth 
are the second pair of appendages; these are like the succeeding 
foot-like ones, but do not each terminate in claws but in a pore— 
the outlet of the channel leading from the slime glands. The feet 
proper are short, swollen, conoidal from within outwards, num- 
bering from 33 to 14 according to the species. ‘Towards the apex 
they are distinctly jointed, and on the under surface bear 
subcorneous foot-pads. At the extreme end, after being suddenly 
narrowed, two little hooks are borne. ‘The anus is posterior, and 
the genital apperture just in front of it on the ventral surface.* 
Numerous microscopic pores or stigmata, from which tracheze 
take their origin are scattered all over the surface of the body 
(Moseley). Peripatus is viviparous and, according to almost all 
authorities, bisexual. ‘The males are usually the smaller, otherwise 
the sexes are outwardly similar. It may attain a length of 2% 
inch., but usually measures much less. It is nocturnal in its habits, 
and during the day remains secluded under stones or rotten logs. 
By alternate movement of its feet it progresses quickly over the 
ground. It is carnivorous, and when molested, or in the presence 
of its prey, rapidly ejects a thick very tenacious fluid from the 
appendages on either side of the mouth, and so often forms a 
complete network of slime. During growth it changes its skin 
entirely more than once, and reserve claws, especially in the case 
of the jaw-feet, can be observed within the ones actually in use. 
Nowhere, where it occurs in its natural haunts, is Peripatus 
common. At the Cape it is “remarkably local and not by any 
means easy to find.” Ernst, in the case of P. Edwardsii, failed 
at first after long and diligent search to meet with the animal 
anywhere. It is so also with the New Zealand species. However 
it may occasionally be met with plentifully in quite frequented 
places where least expected. Ernst procured numbers from a 
courtyard (Nature, roth March, 1881, p. 447), and our species 
exists within the precincts of the Brisbane Hospital. 


* Dr. E. Grube, ‘‘ Voyage der Novara,” Zool. Theil. Bd. II., Anneliden, 
p. 4. Vienna, 1864-7. 


80 PERIPATUS AND ITS OCCURRENCE IN AUSTRALIA 5 


The different species of Peripatus have a wide geographical 
range. (1) Peripatus juliformis, Guz/d, 1826, has been reported 
from St. Vincent and other West Indian islands ; (2) P. Edwardsi, 
Blanch, 1847 (P. juliformis, Andouin et M. Edw., 1833) from 
Venezuela and French Guiana ; (3) Blainvillei, Alanchard, 1847, 
from Chili, and from St. Thomas—Baird ; (4) P. capensis, Gruée, 
1864-7 (P. brevis, Blainville et Gervais) from Cape of Good 
Hope; (5) P. Leuckarti, Saenger, 1869, from New Holland; (6) 
P. quitensis, Schmarda, 1871, from Quito; (7) P. noves-zealandie, 
flutton, 1876, from New Zealand ; (8) P. torquatus, Kennel, from 
‘Trinidad ; and (9) P. Balfouri, Sedyzwzck, 1885-6, from Cape of 
Good Hope. 


Its chief interest resides in the fact that from its structure it 
must be regarded as a prototype and ancestor of one of the great 
sub-kingdoms of animals, viz., that one comprising the air-breathing 
and other Arthropods, and at the same time a connecting link 
between these and animals still lower in the scale than they. Its 
relations with other animals point to such diverse affinities that its 
position amongst invertebrates has been a matter of dispute. 


The founder of the genus, the Rev. L. Guilding, in 1826 placed 
Peripatus in the sub-kingdom, which included the shell-bearing 
and naked molluscs; Gervais, in 1837, pronounced it a myriapod. 
Other naturalists, including Guatrefages, Blanchard and Milne- 
Edwards decided that it was a member of the sub-kingdom 
Vermes—the worms, and Ehlers, Schmarda, Claus, Grube, Haeckel 
and numerous other naturalists placed it also in this sub-kingdom, 
but in a separate family—the Onchophora. De Blainville located 
the genus Peripatus as coming between the Myriapoda and the 
worms. Latterly, however, Gervais’ opinion has been upheld, and 
it has been placed by Moseley and others amongst the jointed- 
limbed animals, the Arthropoda, in the air-breathing section of 
that sub-kingdom, it being now regarded as the sole representative 
of the Protracheata of Gegenbaur and of the Peripatidea of Huxley. 
Different affinities are suggested according as one or other systems 
composing its organization are passed under review. _ For instance, 
to mention the indications given by Gegenbaur in different parts of 
his Grundiss der Vergletchenden Anatomie. Its simple, unsegmented 
body resembles that of one of the Annulata. Its appendages, 
like lateral expansions of the body, present serial similarity, as 
do the parapodia of Annelids, and as also, to a certain extent, 
do those of Myriapods. In Peripatus, as Gegenbaur remarks, the 
appendages retain their lowest condition, and their resemblance 


BY HENRY TRYON. 81 


to the appendages of Tracheata is only owing to their being 
endowed with terminal segments—and even these joints are but 
little differentiated, the extreme claw-bearing portion alone having 
any large amount of independence. On the other hand, as 
pointed out by Moseley, the fact that the first pair of appendages 
are terminated by modified claws, cause these appendages to be re- 
garded as foot-jaws, and Peripatus therefore as being related to the 
Arthropods. ‘The slime-secreting glands which are connected with 
appertures at the tips of the second pair of appendages are com- 
parable only with organs which exist in tracheates. ‘The muscular 
system, Owing to its being constituted of separate bundles and to 
its non-striated character, is that of a member of the Vermes. 
Again, the nervous system is quite that of an animal lower than 
the Arthropods. ‘Two cerebral ganglia united above the esophagus 
surround the mouth and give off two non-ganglioniated nerve-cords, 
which pass almost to the extremity of the body, with only faint 
indications of commisures. In the circulation system we find 
the simplest conditions as compared with other tracheates, there 
is a “dorsal vessel” or heart as in insects, but it extends the whole 
length of the body as in Myrapods. The alimentary canal, too, 
is of simple form, as in Myriapods and in the larva of insects, and 
the peri-enteric space or celom is devoid of those dissepiments 
which exist in the Annulata in connection with the metamerism of 
their bodies. Again, the respiratory system, with its generally 
distributed tracheze, which Moseley was the first to observe, points 
to Peripatus as being an immediate ancestor of the air-breathing 
Anthropods. 


A review of the literature which might be grouped under the 
heading Peripatus would teach of whaf immense interest is this 
animal to students of biology. Savants, too, have combined their 
scientific acumen in elucidating the lessons to be taught by an 
examination of this animal. And this interest is further em- 
phasised by the fact that the Government Grant Committee of the 
Royal Society granted, in 1883, Ar1oo to enable Prof. Sedgwick 
to proceed to the Cape for the purpose of studying Peripatus, 
and the Lords of the Treasury moreover agreed, it is believed, that 
one whole volume of the memoirs relating to the scientific work 
of the Challenger Expedition should be devoted to Peripatus. 


Its discovery then in Queensland—its rediscovery in Australia— 
is therefore a noteworthy event. Like our Ceratodus it was no 
doubt formerly—but in an earlier geological epoch than it— 
widely distributed. It is, however, an animal which might have 

F 


82: PERIPATUS AND ITS OCCURRENCE IN AUSTRALIA ; 


existed without having left in the rocks any sign of its occurrence 
—its nature is not such as to permit it to have become fossilised at 
the time when they were formed. It still, however, as has been 
pointed out, is to be found in certain spots on the earth’s surface, 
widely separated, where it is to be met with under almost 
precisely similar conditions. In intermediate districts Peripatus 
may yet still exist, but probably in most of these it has died out. 
Prof. Moseley writes, ‘I am not without hope that its horny jaws 
may some day turn up in the fossil condition in strata older than 
the carboniferous, for of such age must Peripatus oe if it be a 
representative of Protracheata.”* 


An Australia species of Peripatus was described by N. Seenger 
in 1869 under the name Peripatus Leuckarti, sf. zov.t This fact 
seems to have escaped the notice of compilers of the “ Zoological 
Record,” but Dr. Rud. Leuchart refers to it in the ‘‘ Archir fur 
Naturgeschichte” for 1871, as has been pointed out to me by Mr. 
T. Whitelegge, of the Australian Museum. Several writers appear 
to have been familiar with the fact that Senger published a minute 
anatomical investigation of two species of Peripatus, but his 
memoir being in Russian they do not seem to have derived the 
information, which it contains, of the ‘‘ New Holland” habitat of 
one of the species dealt with, H. N. Moseley, however, knew 
that this was so, for he writes “he might have added Australia to 
the list of regions in which Peripatus occurs,” } commenting on an 
ommission made in the ‘“ Observations on Perpatus Nove- 
zealandize” of Capt. Hutton; and again he writes, “In the 
Australian and New Zealand species the number of feet seems 
fixed.”§ 


The reported Australian habitat of Peripatus, however, was not 
confirmed until 1886, in which year the writer found two examples 
in a miscellaneous collection of invertebrates preserved in spirits, 
and forwarded from the Cardwell district by Mr. Kendal Broad- 
bent, the collector of the Queensland Museum. Drawings of these 
immediately transmitted to Mr Broadbent, whilst still in the 
Cardwell district, failed to recall to his memory the fact that he 
had actually found these two examples, much less the spot whence 
they came, and accordingly no more specimens were procured 


* Ann. and Mag. of N.H., Vol. XIX.. 1877. 


+ Verhand]l der ersten russ Naturforscher versammlung zu Moskau, Abth. 
Zool. S, 1869, 237-262. 


+ Ann. and Mag. N.H. 4th Ser., Vol. XIX., p. 85, 1877. 
§ op. cit. 5th Ser, Vol, JII., p. 263, 1879. 


BY HENRY TRYON. 83 


from the district. These treasures were taken to Sydney in 
November, 1886, and were exhibited, as is well known, to all the 
leading zoologists there ;* it being intended that they should 
ultimately be submitted to minute examination at the hands of 
Mr. W. H. Haswell, out of regard for his anatomical skill. As, 
however, they were lost or mislaid, somewhere in Sydney, this 
intention could not be carried out, although ultimately no doubt 
they may fall into the hands of a naturalist who will discover 
their interest, although not the locality whence they were procured, 
for this until the present occasion has not been made known. 
A single specimen of Peripatus was next met with by the writer 
under dead wood in a gully in Victoria Park, Brisbane, and again 
still more recently, whilst in company with Mr. F. A. A. Skuse— 
who was fortunate in having the habits and economy of this strange 
animal brought so prominently to his notice on the occasion of 
his first hearing of its name—several examples were procured 
under stones within a short distance of the General Hospital. 


Concerning the Australian Peripatus, Leuckart, in giving some 
account of Szenger’s paper, informs us that the new species, that 
which came from New Holland, is described therein as follows :— 
Fifteen pair of feet stumps, between the last pair of which the 
generative orifice is situated. On the under side of the feet are 
three elevations (erhebungen), of which one is long and arch- 
shaped, whilst the two others are short and straight. Length, 
21 mm.; greatest breadth, 3.05 mm.f 


Had evidence not been now forthcoming of the existence of an 
Australian species, and especially since so vague a definition of 
the habitat of Peripatus Leuckarti, as is conveyed by the term 
New Holland is given, it might have been concluded that Senger 
had the New Zealand species in view, for his diagnosis mentions 
no character which is not found in Peripatus Novee-zealandie. 
And the fact is, the Australian (or Queensland at least) and New 
Zealand species are strikingly similar, and the comparison then of 
examples from the two sources indicated will be thwart with much 
interest. ‘The greater part ot Seenge.’s definition, bearing in mind 
that the identity in the number of feet has been elsewhere pointed 
out by Prof. Moseley, is contained in the following statement 
made by the latter authority concerning Peripatus Novee-zealandie, 


*It is to this fact that Mr. Fletcher alludes when he mentions ‘‘its 
re-discovery in Queensland last year (1886). Vid. Proc. Lin. Soc., N.S. 
Wales, 2nd Ser. II., p. 450. 


+ Archir fiir Naturg., p. 406-7; Berlin, 1871. 


84 PERIPATUS AND ITS OCCURRENCE IN AUSTRALIA ; 


and he might with equal truth have related it of the species before 
us :—‘“‘ It has a distinctly prolonged but short conical tail with a 
knob-like enlargement at its extremity. . . . The anus being 
terminal the vulva is separated from it, and situate at a considerable 
interval further forward and between the last pair of members.”* 


Comparison between the two species cannot proceed further 
now, since access to specimens of Peripatus Nova-zealandiz or 
one or other of the more elaborate memoirs on Peripatus is 
denied us. It may be of interest, however, to remark concerning 
our speeies, that it exhibits the same variation in colouring which 
occurs in the different species of the genus, and as is exemplified 
in P. capensis—as we learn from Grube’s remarks—and in P. 
Nove-Zealandiz, as Professor Hutton records, and as is known 
from personal observation on the living New Zealand animal. 


The Australian species is very dark blue, almost black, with a 
few rust-like specs here and there, and lighter coloured beneath ; 
or dark fuscous, with a still darker line along the back. The 
papillz which arise in a single linear series along the close-trans- 
verse wrinkles on both surfaces of the body and limbs, are small 
blunt cones, composed of little three or more carinated imbricate 
scales, and terminate in erect spines, those on the upper surfaces 
being much larger than beneath. These papille are contiguous 
one to the other. The antenne are about thirty-ringed, their basal 
halves are swollen and then suddenly contract to the distal halves, 
which are of equal breadth, with short obtuse points. The rings of 
the narrow portion of the antenne are relatively longer than are 
those of the broad basal half. Around each ring there is a single 
line of short sete. The mouth is surrounded by a broad white lip, 
having thirteen strong folds. The horny claws terminating the 
foot-jaws contain two reserve claws, one within the other—as in 
the New Zealand Peripatus. The first jaw-claw is six-toothed, 
having one large tooth in front and five smaller ones behind. 
These latter—all of the same shape—are acute like the large tooth 
and, although the one immediately adjacent to it is about equal in 
size to the third tooth, the five form a series, the members of which 
otherwise, regularly diminish in size, and in this respect and in their 
uniformity differ from what occurs in the New Zealand species. 


* Moseley, Ann. and Mag., of N.H., Vol. XIX., p. go, 1877. 

+ Hutton. Ann, and Mag. of N. H., 4th Ser., Vol. XVIII. Pl. Itis 
interesting to observe that what is given as a character of the genus by 
Guilding (Zool. Journ., 1826, II., p. 444), viz.: the ‘‘ungues multifidi ” exists, 
in this and other species, only in one of the claws of the foot-jaws. 


BY HENRY TRYON. 85 


The external jaw-claw is simple, with a slight elevation at the base 
of the claw proper, between it and the plain bordered portion. The 
pits on the foot-pads (acres of Grube) are circular. Of these pads, 
the first three cover the three joints which form the tip of the 
conical leg, and of them the proximal is very much shorter than 
either the second or third. ‘The terminal pads are each longer 
than broad, and the fifth, which forms the enlarged claw-bearing 
extremity of the legs, partly embraces the ovate fourth joint. 


ANNUAL MEETING, 8tH JULY, 1887. 


THE PRESIDENT A. Norton, M.L.A., IN THE CHAIR. 


THE Fourth Annual Meeting of the Society was held in the 
library of the Queensland Museum, on Friday, 8th July. The 
President, A. Norton, M.L.A., in the chair. The following report 
of the Council, including the Report of the Field Naturalists’ 
- Section, and Balance-sheet were read by the Hon. Secretary, and 
afterwards on the motion of L. A. Bernays, F.L.S., seconded by 
Dr. Bancroft, were adopted. 


TO THE MEMBERS OF DHE, ROYALSSOCIETY OF 
QUEENSLAND. 


gress of the Society since the date of the Annual Meeting, as 
follows :— 


On the books of the Society there are now 166 members, 
inclusive of 46 whose subscriptions for 1886 are still in arrear, 
and exclusive of four who have retired, and 2 who are deceased. 


A census of the Society gives the following results :— 


Corresponding Members I 
Life Members (of late Queensland Philosophical 

Society) 13 

Life Members (compounded) é : - Seo 

Ordinary Members F : : j 3 alae 

Total: : LOO 


The number of new members elected during the pas year 
amounts to 26. 


86 ANNUAL MEETING. 


It will be seen from the financial statement appended that there 
is a balance in the hands of the Treasurer of £89 14s. 5d. 


This amount is chargeable with liabilities already incurred, 
which it is expected will more than absorb it. ‘The indebtedness 
of the members, however, amounts to nearly £200; the subscrip- 
tions in arrears for 1885 reaching a sum of £13 13s.; those for 
1886, £52 10s.; and those for the current year, £131 5s. In 
view of these circumstances the Council would impress upon you 
the fact that the active existence of the Society can only continue 
through the support of its members, and that its purposes can only 
be accomplished when their contributions are forthcoming. 


On the side of expenditure will be found the item ‘ Delegate’s 
Expenses in Sydney, #10.” The grant was made to Mr. H. 
Tryon in order to enable him to represent the Society at a pre- 
liminary meeting held in Sydney in connection with the proposed 
“‘ Australasian Association tor the Advancement of Science.” His 
report of the proceeding on that occasion was brought to the 
notice of the Society on 3rd December, 1886, and will appear as 
an appendix to the Society’s publication for that year. 


THe ordinary monthly meetings, seven in number, have been 
fairly well attended. At these meetings sixteen papers, and shorter 
scientific communications, have been read. ‘These include 3 on 
Zoology, 1 on Paleontology, 4 on Mineralogy, 1 on Botany, 4 on 
Pharmacy, 1 on Applied Chemistry, 1 on Preservation of Food, 
1 on Fish Acclimatization, and one on Cattle Inoculation. Five 
of these have been contributed by non-members of the Society. 
In addition to these papers short notes on objects exhibited have 
been from time to time read and important discussions engaged 
in. ‘The third volume of the Society’s Proceedings is on the eve 
of publication; and its issue has been so long delayed owing to the 
fact that the condition of the finances of the Society did not earlier 
warrant the outlay which the printing of it would involve. For 
this reason also the publication of the monthly Abstract of the 
Society’s Proceedings has been discontinued since January of 
the present year. 


The donations to the Society’s library, as from time to time 
announced, still continue to be both numerous and valuable. 
One hundred and forty-three in number, they comprise the current 
issues of the publications of thirty-five societies, forty-one reports 
emanating from other corporate institutions and Government 
departments, and sixty-seven contributions the gifts of private 


ANNUAL MEETING. 87 


individuals. At the hands of the Honorary Secretary, the cata- 
logue of the library is in a forward state; but the Council, in 
spite of their efforts, are still unable to find suitable quarters for 
the purpose of properly accommodating the books and for the 
requirements of the members generally. 


Your Council have held ten ordinary and one special meeting. 


The resignation of Mr. W. A. Tully of his own seat on the 
Council, consequent on his intended visit to Europe, was, with 
regret, accepted on 31st January of the current year. 


On the 27th September, 1886, the Council received an invitation 
from the Hon. Sec., on behalf of a number of members, to form 
a Field Naturalist Section. This request was forthwith acceded to 
after the subject of the relation which sections should hold to the 
parent Society had been considered. 


A report relating to the work of this section since its institution 
will be found appended. 


Signed on behalf the Council, 
A. NORTON, 
bth Fuly, 1887. President. 


REPORT OF THE FIELD NATURALISTS’ SECTION. 


The Field Naturalists’ Section of the Society was formed, at the 
instance of Mr. H. Tryon, in October last, the first meeting, 
presided over by Dr. J. Bancroft, having been held on the 6th of 
that month. At this meeting Mr. Tryon delivered an inaugural 
address, explanatory of the object and work of the Section and 
the methods to be adopted for carrying them out. 


A roll of over thirty members was announced, though it was 
understood that many of these would be unable to participate in 
the proposed active work of the Section. 


A sectional committee, consisting—Mr. F. M. Bailey, as 
Chairman, Dr. J. Bancroft, and Messrs. L. J. Byrne, and J. H. 
Simmonds with Messrs. H. Tryon and G. Watkins as Joint 
Secretaries, were appointed. 


During the time which has since elapsed, three evening and 
nineteen field meetings have been held. 


88 ANNUAL MEETING. 


~ At one of the evening meeting Mr. H. Tryon gave an address 
on the collection and preservation of botanical specimens and on 
the formation and arrangement of herbaria. The other evening 
meetings were called for the purpose of preparing programmes for 
future occasions. ‘The field excursions have been as follows :—- 


1886 1. Saturday, g October. Bowen Park. 
Ds is 16 . Indooroopilly. 
3 * 23 5 The Gap, Enoggera. 
4 54 13. Nov. Eagle Farm. 
ise = 27 rr Three-mile Scrub, Enoggera. 
je 8Os Hriday. S) 410) se Dec. Rosewood, S. & W. Railway. 
7. Saturday, 18 a Toombul. 
8. 5 8 Jan. Mount Gravatt. 
9 - 5 Heb: Lutwyche. 
fe) ie 19 me Sandgate. 

I 3 12 March. Simpson’s Gate, Ithaca Creek, 

via Toowong. 


» 12. Thursday, 17 + Dinmore and Riverview. 

», 13. Saturday, 26 ~ Mount Pleasant. 

oR AS FP LOLOnn seAprtl Helidon. 

ae ans . 2g im Ithaca Creek. 

“HG. i 7 May. Indooroopilly (second visit). 

my lige » 2 5 Three-mile Scrub (second 
visit). 

ay ate! 4 June Nundah and Kedron Brook. 


1g. Sat to Tu., r1&8to 21 Mar. Mount Mistake. 


Fifteen of these were on the Saturday afternoon; two, viz., 
Rosewood on Separation Day, and Dinmore on St. Patrick’s Day, 
for whole days; and two, Helidon at Easter time, and Mount 
Mistake during the “jubilee holidays,” for longer periods. 


The maximum attendance at any field meeting has been fifteen ; 
the minimum, four ; the average probably eight or nine. 


Reports of several of the meetings, written by members of the 
Section, have appeared from time to time in the press. 


The main energies of the Section have been directed towards 
botanical study, stimulated in this pursuit by the constant and 
unwearied attention of their leader in this department, Mr. 
F. M. Bailey, F.L.S., who has never missed a meeting. ‘To this 
gentleman the thanks of the members are most emphatically due. 


To meet the wants of the student members in this branch of 
science, a course of weekly lectures on structural botany has been 
commenced. Mr. J. Shirley, B.Sc., has kindly undertaken the 
conduct of these, and they have been regularly attended and 
appreciated by nine or ten members glad to receive the aid of his 
generous assistance. 


ANNUAL MEETING. 89 


Large numbers of plants have been observed from time to time, 
and complete lists of these have been compiled by Mr. Bailey. 


An abstract of noteworthy observations, given in the order of 
the excursions, has been furnished by that authority and may 
fittingly conclude this report. It is as follows :-— 


‘““The late wet season has been very favourable to the fungoid 
and lichen growth, and several entirely new species have been 
collected. 


“TINDOOROOPILLY.—A fungus, Phoma purpurea Cooke, the 
species, but recently determined by S. Cooke, found on the foliage 
of some eucalypts, which seem to have suffered in consequence. 


“ KAGLE FArM.—-Here a new lichen, Calicium Queenslandie, 
Knight, was found, as also, in abundance, the curious terrestial 
orchid Drakea irritabilis which has been somewhat rare of late 
years. 


‘At Rosewood a new lichen, Graphis Parmeliarum, Awzght, was 
found, parasitic, on another lichen—Parmelia. 


“* Mount Gravatt yielded specimens of the rare plants : Daviesia 
Wyattiana, an erect shrub with notably long leaves, from six to 
twelve inches long; Knoxia corymbosa, a plant rarely found out- 
side of the tropics and Xanthorrhea minor, a stemless grass-tree 
not commonly found in Queensland. 


‘“‘ Lutwyche was productive of some rare fungi, some of which it 
is thought will prove new to science. 


“ At Sandgate, Leersia hexandra, the ‘rice grass,’ was found 
infested with Puccinia graminis, a rare occurrence on this grass. 
(It has been noted generally that the blight fungi are much more 
prevalent than usual this season.) Some rare rock lichens were 
also collected here, and Crinum angustifolium, a plant reported 
to have been the cause of damage to stock in the interior, was 
observed only in this locality. 


“The visit to Mount Pleasant yielded some rare fungi, among 
them excellent specimens of the uncommon and most beautiful 
Dictyophora multicolor, possessed, however of a most offensive 
odour. 


“ At Riverview, Agaricus vaginatus, a very rare fungus in Queens- 
land, was collected. Also another rare species, Ascobolus Baileyi, 
was observed more than ordinarily abundant in the cow dung. 
The inflorescence of whole acres of Fimbristylis, on a low flat and 


go ANNUAL MEETING. 


in a gully, was found to be black with Ustilago axicola ; and a lichen, 
the somewhat variable Lecidea meiospora, /Vy/and., was met with 
on the hard smooth soil of anthills. 


“ Helidon was productive of plants and timber trees, many of 
which were fresh to members of this Section. As for instance: 
Banksia collina; Cloanthes parviflora; Lysicarpus teretifolius, 
‘Tom Russell’s mahogany,’ one of the most valuable timbers we 
possess ; Acacia Leichhardtii, an extremely rare species; A. juni- 
perina, worthy of notice as the ‘touch-me-not wattle. Among 
ferns, the beautiful species Adiantum diaphanum, and Lomaria 
discolor, were collected at the waterfalls; as were also among 
mosses, Disticnophyllum Baileyanum and others. Good speci- 
mens of the fragile fungus Podaxon carcinomatis were 
fortunately obtained upon some anthills. 


“‘ INDOOROOPILLY—Second visit.— Numerous specimens of Ptero- 
stylis, Acianthus, Chiloglottis, and other terrestrial orchids were 
obtained, and Selaginella Brisbanensis, a most delicate creeping 
lycopod, was eagerly collected by the party. 


‘““THREE-MILE SCRUB--Second visit.--The Piper Nove-Hollandiz, 
the black pepper of Queensland, was noticed climbing like ivy 
over the trees. It was also observed afterwards at Mount Mistake. 
In this and other scrubs, the fungus, Hirneola polytricha, was 
found. It is common in damp scrubs, and is worthy of note, as 
being an article of commerce, exported from the South Sea Islands. 
and New Zealand to China, where it is used for food, the market 
price for the dried fungus being about sixpence per pound. 
Randia chartacea and Eupomatia Bennettii were, on this visit, 
noted in fruit. 


“ NUNDAH AND KEDRON Brook.—The pretty little orchid, Cory- 
santhes bicalcarata, was collected, also the uncommon grass, 
Panicum decompositum ; and a new species of fungus, Cortinarius 
ceespitosus, was found in masses about the roots of a dead tree. 


‘“MountT MIsTAKE proved a visit of great interest, and large 
collections were brought away by the party. Many very rare 
timber tr es were met with on the mountain itself. Among 
others, Pittosporum undulatum; Sterculia acerifolia, the flame 
tree; Tarrietia actinophylla, ‘stavewood ;’? Echinocarpus Woollsii, 
not known as occurring elsewhere in Queensland; Eleocarpus 
Kirtonii, ‘ white beech,’ peculiar to Mount Mistake and the Bunya 
Mountains; Dysoxylon Fraserianum, pencil cedar; Pennantia 
Cunninghamii; Cuttsia viburnea; Panax Murrayii; Hedycarya 
angustifolia ; Orites excelsa ; and Stenocarpus salignus. Amongst 


ANNUAL MEETING. gl 


other trees more frequently met with were—Cedrela toona, the 
cedar ; Xanthoxylon brachyacanthum, ‘satin-wood,’ one of the 
most beautiful woods of the world; Geijera Muelleri; Alphitonia 
excelsa; Diploglottis Cunninghamil, the ‘tamarind ; Harpullia 
pendula, the ‘tulip-wood; Rhus rhodanthema, deep yellow-wood ; 
Eucalyptus pilularis and other eucalypts ; Rhodamnia tinervia and 
R. argentea, useful furniture woods ; Panax elegans ; Marlia vitiensis, 
‘musk-wood ; Olea paniculata, the ‘olive,’ having timber with 
a rose fragrance; Daphnandra micrantha ; Grevillea robusta, 
‘silkyoak ; Cryptocarya obovata ; Baloghia lucida, Norfolk Island 
bloodwood ; Araucaria Cunninghamii, Moreton Bay pine. 


“Among herbaceous plants, Aceena sanguisorbe and Hirbertia 
diffusa were noticed by the members of the Section for the first 
time, and the discovery of Pimela ligustrina and Pennantia 
Cunninghamii gave additional plants to the flora of the colony. 


‘*The mountain orchid, Dendrobium pugioniforme, and the rare 
D. Schneiderie, and others, viz., Bulbophyllum exiguum, and Elise, 
and Sarcochilus montanus were met with. 


“ A grass, Poa ceespitosa latifolia, peculiar to Mount Mistake and 
some of the New South Wales ranges, was gathered. Crypto- 
gamic plants, particularly lichens and fungi, many of which will in 
all probability be found new, were collected in great abundance. 


“Particular attention at all our excursions has been paid to the 
spread of naturalised plants :— 


‘Nasturtium officinale, water cress, is to be found in Main Camp 
Creek, near the saw mills at Mount Mistake ; Modiola caroliniana, 
a creeping mallow of America, at Rosewood ; Lepidium ruderale, 
an English weed of the cress family, was noted at Rosewood and 
Mount Mistake ; Cleomene pungens, the spider flower, at Rose- 
wood. ‘This plant is now being cultivated as a honey-bearing plant. 
Apiarists will be glad to hear of its naturalisation. Spergularia 
rubra, the red spurry, near Brisbane; Cassia levigata, at Ithaca, 
Lutwyche, Kedron Brook, Three-mile Scrub, and at Dinmore ; 
Bryophyllum calycinum, at Sandgate; Passiflora edulis, at Rose- 
wood, also at Mount Mistake; Opuntia vulgaris, prickly pear, at 
Sandgate, more especially, where some fine specimens of the 
skeleton leaves were picked up. In India these are utilised in 
the manufacture of ornamental articles. Ageratum Mexicanum, 
at Simpson’s Gate ; Xanthium spinosum, Bathurst burr, in many 
places ; and Xanthium strumarium, the Noorgoora burr, at Eagle 
Farm and throughout East Moreton generally, whither it has 
found its way, down the stream of the Brisbane, from its first 


92 ANNUAL MEETING. 


location at Noorgoora, Upper Brisbane. This noxious and re- 
puted poisonous plant is making great progress in distribution, 
and promises to become one of the greatest pests of the colony. 
So far as observed it is still confined to the neighbourhood of 
the river. Tagetes glandulifera, ‘stinking Roger,’ everywhere ; 
Cnicus lanceolatus, Scotch thistle, at Rosewood and Mount 
Mistake ; Anagallis arvensis, the blue variety of the pimpernell of 
England, was recognised at Indooroopilly ; Asclepias curassavica, 
seems to be at home everywhere; Lithospermum arvensis the 
‘sroomwell’ of England, at Indooroopilly; Lycopersicum esculentum, 
at the Three-mile Scrub and Rosewood ; Solanum aculeatissimum, 
at Mount Gravatt and other places in East Moreton; Physalis 
peruviana, Cape gooseberry, at Ithaca, Taylor's Range, the Gap, 
Three-mile Scrub, Rosewood, and Mount Mistake. It was par- 
ticularly abundant and appreciated at Rosewood. Capsicum 
frutescens, in the Three-mile Scrub; Lantana Camara, is found 
nearly throughout the East Moreton district, where it is fast 
taking possession of the scrubs; Verbena bonariensis, East 
Moreton generally ; Salvia coccinea, scarlet sage, often grown as a 
border plant, was found at Ithaca and at Rosewood; Stachys 
arvensis, was observed, but always near cultivations ; Phytolacca 
octandra, ‘poke weed,’ at Three-mile Scrub, the Gap, and 
Rosewood. At the last place it was found in greater or less pro- 
fusion covering acres of ground. Lactuca scariola, the ‘ prickly 
lettuce,’ at Rosewood. A local resident gave the information 
that it had caused death among milking cows which had eaten of 
it. Stenotaphrum americanum, buffalo grass, at Mount Mistake. 
Rosewood proved very rich in naturalised forms, which have got a 
strong toothold in neglected cultivations. Helidon was singularly 
poor in this respect.” 


Signed on behalf of the Section, 
F. M. BAILEY, 
8th Fuly, 1887. Chairman. 


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94 PRESIDEN?’S ADDRESS: 


The Report of the Council having been adopted, the President, 
A. Norton, M.L.A., then delivered the following address :— 


PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS. 


__ In addfessing you this evening [ shall not, 1 hope, be taxing your patience 
if I bfiefly fefer, before passifig on to other subjects, to one of the most 
Iripettant papers which has been submitted to you since we met together 
at dur last annual gathefing. ‘he science of figures is a subject that I do 
Hot cldim te have conipletely mastered, but there is a simple statement 
€ontiected with the papef to which | allude—the report of the council of 
this Society fot the year just closéed—that commends itself for its simplicity. 
No scientific skill could conceal the fact that we have been in sympathy with 
the fest of the world; and have to sore extent participated in the difficulties 
that Have been comimion to all. In reterring to this subject, however, I 
have no desire to convey a gloomy impression, for I believe the worst 
dangers are past, but would remind you that we can only hope to become 
as strong a body as we ought to be, by the combined exertions of all those 
members who are in a position to contribute to the practical objects the 
Society was formed to promote. If the financial statement for the year was 
the chief thing to be considered, there might be room for the accusation 
that we had not accomplished much; put men who are influenced by a 
desire to increase their knowledge and to raise themselves to a higher 
intellectual plane by learning in its many details the wonderful story of 
the book of nature, though they may be hampered by many difficulties, 
cannot be prevented from exercising their powers of observation, and 
recording the results of their researches for their mutual advantage and 
enjoyment. While it is a matter for regret, therefore, that many members 
have been unable to give as much support to the Society as could be wished, 
we may fairly congratulate ourselves upon the good work that has been 
done, and ihe prospect of being able to render a better account of ourselves 
when we again meet together to review another chapter of our history. 


Amongst the papers that have been contributed during the year will be 
found several that reflect the greatest credit upon those gentlemen to whom 
we are indebted for tnem. Mineralogy, paleontology, zoology, botany, 
pathology, and other subjects of the highest interest have been treated in a 
manner which cannot fail to enlarge our information in respect to them, 
and which indicates the carefulness with which investigations have been 
conducted. The organisation of a section for the study of natural history, 
under the title of the Field Naturalists’ Section, is a step that may lead 
to greater results than many persons anticipate. In a colony where the 
population is limited, as it is in Queensland, the number of those who 
devote themselves to scientific pursuits is necessarily small, and it follows 
that the young people who wish to make themselves acquainted with the 
natural objects that surround them, have few opportunities of acquiring 
information on these subjects, unless some feasible plan is adopted for 
bringing them into contact with men who can tell them what they wish to 
know. By joining in excursions into the country they have the best means 
of learning, for the lesson-book is spread out before them and the teachers 
are of the company. To the general public these semi-scientific expeditions 
are a source of amusement, and those who take part in them are made the 
subjects of good-natured banter; but when the miner wants to be told 


PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS. 95 


whether he may reasonably expect to find gold in a particular geological 
formation, or when the farmer is pestered with parasites that destroy his 
crops, the men whose advice they seek are often those whose scientific 
tastes have been formed by taking part in such rambles as these, and whose 
habits of accurate observation have been then acquired. If there are any 
who regard the Field Naturalists’ Section as one of doubtful advantage, let 
them bear these facts in mind. However great our scientific attainments 
may be, the most accomplished are still adding to their store of knowledge, 
and can scarcely fail to sympathise with the beginners, who, though they 
follow at distance, are, nevertheless, journeying in the same direction, and 
labouring for the same good cause. 


It is disappointing to have still to hold our meetings in a room for the 
use of which the Society is indebted to the Trustees of the Museum. In 
consequence of this it is impossible to give members free access to the 
many valuable books and pamphlets which have been presented to the 
Society by numerous donors. It is, however, in some degree consoling to 
reflect that, although our quarters are somewhat cramped, the surroundings 
are by no means out of keeping with the objects of the Society. The 
galleries and cases in the building above our heads are filled with objects of 
scientific interest, and the valuable collections not only represent the things 
they are, but they suggest and invite inquiry into their own history. Our 
own books, which are carefully packed away in cases, where they are not 
always within reach are, after all, but human interpretations of the writing 
of the highest of all powers—the Maker of the globe on whose surface we 
reside. Even those early records that have been handed down through 
many centuries by the instrumentality of the Hittite tablets, are modern as 
compared with the geological history that was written tens of thousands of 
years before man existed; and those who devote themselves to the study of 
the rock tablets, cannot fail to have their minds enlarged and their intelli- 
gence sharpened by being brought. as it were, into touch with the great 
Scribe who wrote these things for our learning. The Hittite and later 
hieroglyphics are probably not wholly impartial records of an earlier human 
race, but the rock tablets supply Nature’s own indisputable tale of the con- 
dition of the world from its first beginnings. Much, therefore. as we may 
desire to carry on our work in rooms of our own, speaking for myself, I 
shall regret to have our meetings disassociated from surroundings that are 
so largely connected with our studies. 


In conclusion, I have to ask your pardon for adopting a tone in my 
address which may appear not wholly suited to an occasion such as the 
present. When you did me the honour to elect me your President for the 
year, I felt that there were others whose greater knowledge of scientific 
subjects entitled them to precedence to myself, and in addressing you this 
evening, I am still conscious of my own deficiency, and hesitate to speak in 
a manner that might be mistaken for an assumption of wisdom that I do 
not claim. I have not yet forgotten my own difficulties in learning, when 
for many years I was surrounded with innumerable objects of interest 
that robbed ‘the bush” of the monotony and dulness with which it is so 
often unjustly credited. Remembering distinctly what those difficulties 
were, and desiring above all to help others who are in similar plight, I have 
attempted to suggest to younger students thoughts which, if followed up by 
inquiry, must lead them in the right direction, and if it should do nothing 
more, will at least teach them to sympathise with the workers in the great 


96 PRESIDENTS ADDRESS. 


cause of scientific knowledge. If they intend to persevere in such investi- 
gations, and will apply their minds to the things upon which their eyes 
continually rest, they will tind entertainment, and they will find instruction; 
for to them then the whole face of Nature will be as one vast book, in which 
every atom serves to illustrate the law that sustains the whole; and the text 
in which its history is written will become plainer as their minds expand 
under the influence of careful inquiry. They will find that not only has 
each object a history of its own, but that, as Sir John Lubbock has so ably 
pointed out, things dissimilar are interdependent. The flowers are indebted 
to the bees, the moths, and the ants for their propagation as much as those 
insects are indebted to them for their honey and the pollen which they 
obtain from them. It is this connection between things different in them- 
selves that evidences most strongly the work of a master mind; and the 
mutual support that each affords the other is a fitting illustration of the 
manner by which members of this Society may promote its usefulness, and 
secure its stability and its permanence. 


OFFICERS AND COUNCIL, 1887-8. 


The following officers and Council for the ensuing year were 
then elected :— President, Hon. A. C. Gregory, C.M.G., M.L.C., 
F.R.G.S., F.G.S., &c. ; Vice-President, A. Norton, M.L.A.; Counci/, 
F. M. Bailey, F.L.S.; L. A. Bernays, F.0S.> 2 Siirleytac, 
C. W. De Vis, M.A.; and G. Watkins, Esq. Dr. J. Bancroft and 
Mr. H. ‘Tryon were reappointed to the posts of hon. Secretary and 
Treasurer respectively, no other members having been nominated 
for that office. 


VOTE OF THANKS. 


é 
At the conclusion of the presidential address, a vote of thanks 
was accorded to Mr. A. Norion, M.L.A., on the motion of Dr. 
J. Bancroft. 


Special votes of thanks were granted as follows :—-To the 
Retiring Officers and Council, on.the motion of Mr. D. O’Connor, 
seconded by Mr. W. Fryar; to the Honorary Secretary, Mr H. 
Tryon, on the motion of Mr. J. Thorpe, seconded by Mr. D. 
O’Connor; and to the Auditor, Mr. D. O’Connor, on the motion 
of Mr. Shirley, B.Sc., seconded by Mr. G. Watkins. 


CORRESPONDING MEMBERS. 


The Chairman then made allusion to the fact that the late 
Council had taken into consideration the creation of additional 
corresponding members, and had selected several savants, subject 
to their consent, for the honour sought to be bestowed. ‘This 
action having been approved of by the meeting, the following cor- 
responding members were created :—Sir James Hector, K.C.M.G., 


DONATIONS. 97 


M.D., F.R.S., Director of the Geological Survey of New Zealand ; 
A. Liverside, F.R.S., F.C.S., F.G.S., Professor of Chemistry and 
Mineralogy in the University of Sydney, &c.; H. C. Russell, 
B.A., F.R.A.S., Government Astronomer of New South Wales ; 
C. Todd, C.M.G., F.R.A.S., Government Meteorologist of South 
Australia; Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, F.G.S., F.L.S., Vice- 
President of the Linnean Society of N. S. Wales. 


It was understood that Mr. D. O’Connor would be requested to 
act as honorary Auditor of the next Annual Financial Report. 


FRIDAY, 5TH AUGUST, 1887. 


THE VICE-PRESIDENT, A. Norton, M.L.A., IN THE CHAIR. 


Mr. C. T. Musson, F.L.S., and Dr. T. P. Lucas were introduced 
as visitors. 


NEW MEMBER. 
Mr. Clement L. Wragge, Government Meteorologist. 


DONATIONS. 


‘Transactions and Proceedings of the Botanical Society of 
Edinburgh.” Vol. XVI., Part III.; Edinburgh, 1886. From the 
Society. 

“‘ Proceedings of the Canadian Institute.” 3rd Series, Vol. IV., 
Fasc. 2; Toronto, 1887.” From the Institute. 


“Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.” New Series, 
Vol. LV. ; Calcutta, 1887. From the Society. 

“Atti della Societa, Toscana di Scienze Naturali, Processi 
Verbali.” Vol. V., Adunanza, 14th Nov., 1886, pp. 119-169; 
gth Jan., 1887, pp. 171-200; and 13th March, 1887, pp. 203- 
226. From the Society. 

“The Journal of Conchology.” Vol. V., No. 6; Leeds, &c., 
Apuil, 1887. From the Conchological Society of Great Britain. 


“Mittheilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wein,” 
XVI Band, III. and IV. Heft; Wein, 1886. From the Society. 
G 


98 DONATIONS. 


“Geological and Natural History Survey of Canada, Annual 
Report, New Series.” Vol. I., 1885; Montreal, 1886. ‘Maps,’ 
to accompany the same; Montreal, 1886, and loose Maps. From 
the Director of the Survey. 


“Bulletin of the American Geographical Society,” 1886, No. 3. 
New York, n.d. From the American Geographical Society. 


“The Fifteenth Annual Report of the Board of Directors of 
the Zoological Society of Philadelphia,” 20th Apl., 1887 (Pamphlet). 
From the Society. 


“Mittheilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wein,” 
XVII Band, I. Heft ; Wein, 1887. From the Society. 


“‘Memorias de la Real Academia de Ceincias Exactas Fiscias y 
Naturales.” Tome VI.; Aves de Espana; and “ Revista de los 
Progesos. Tome XXII., Nos. 2 and 3. 


“Records of the Geological Survey of India.” Vol. XX. Pt. 2 ; 
Calcutta, 1887. From the Director. 


‘““Verhandlungen des Vereins fiir Naturwissenschaftliche Unter- 
haltung zn Hamburg.” Band VI., 1885; Hamburg, 1887. From 
the Society. 


“Results of Rain and River Observations made in New South 
Wales and Part of Queensland during 1886.” ‘‘ Notes upon the 
History of Floods on the River Darling,” by H. C. Russell, 
B.A., &c. (Roy. Soc. N. S. Wales, Nov., 1886); and ‘‘Notes upon 
the Floods in Lake George,” by H. C. Russell, B-A., &c. (Royal 
Soc. N. S. Wales, Dec. 1886). From the Government Astronomer 
of New South Wales. 

“Bulletin of the American Geographical Society,” 1886, Nos. 
4 and 5; New York, n.d. From the Society. 

“Russkago Geographeskago Obshtchestva.” ‘Tom., &c., IIL, 
1887, Pt. 1; St. Petersburg, 1887. From la Sociétié Imperiale 
Russe de Geographie.” 

“Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society of Japan.” Vol. 
XV., Pt. 1.; Yokohama, June, 1887. From the Society. 

“Natuurkundig Tydschrift voor Nederlandsch Indie.” Deel, 
XLVI. Achste Serie, Deel VII.; Batavia, 1887. From the 
Society. 

“Natural History Association of New South Wales,” Rules and 
Prospectus ; Sydney, 1887. From the Association. 

“Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South 
Wales.” Vol. XXI., Pt. 1, August, 1887. From the Society. 


ON AN EXTINCT MAMMAL. 99 


The following Papers were read :— 


ON AN EXTINCT MAMMAL OF A GENUS 
AP Ae NOY NENW: 


BY 


C. ‘W. DE. VIS, ‘M.A. 
(Read on 5th August, 1887.) 


(Pirate IP Tro EV:) 


AmoncsT late gatherings from the bone ‘beds of the Darling 
Downs there is scarcely anything of greater interest than the skull 
submitted for examination. It is not merely that we recognize 
in it an additional member of the company of large mammals 
which flourished where now indigenous life is limited in variety, 
scanty in number, and puny in size. We were prepared for such 
and further such discovery by numerous fragments of large bones 
for which ownership is still to be found. Nor is it only that the 
features of this our new acquaintance are peculiar, but it is that 
from such peculiarity we may infer that the physical conditions 
which by their diversity, as well as vigour, occasioned the 
eccentricity of type here manifested, must have ruled for a long 
period sufficient that is to produce and establish so great a modi- 
fication. To our shame be it spoken we have not as yet sought 
to determine by geological research the probable duration in the 
past of life as it is. We do not even know, we only surmise, the 
nature of the changes which closed the door on the old life and 
reopened it grudgingly for the new; but we may be sure from 
the extraordinary differentiations in mammalian, from which those 
changes extinguished, that it was no evanescent period of pros- 
perity which called them into being, no case of the fat kine 
replacing the lean kine so well known to our experience, but 
whatever the cause of the climatic difference it was an inheritance 
of age after age of abundant moisture married to soil, which we 
in the plentitude of our wisdom, skill, and power have so far 
allowed to lie sterilised by lack of water. 


The group to which our newly discovered animal belonged 
consisted in Queensland of some seven or eight species of mar- 
supials, half of them as yet unnamed, huge in bulk, heavy of limb, 
and slow of gait, ranging downwards in size from Diprotodon, 


100 ON AN EXTINCT MAMMAL ; 


which attained nearly the dimensions of an elephant, to Stheno- 
merus, which may have been as large as a small bullock. ‘Their 
food was probably the coarser vegetation of the lake and marsh 
and the branches of such trees as were accessible to them ; their 
habitats accordingly were the great river valleys of the period and 
the dense humid forests on their slopes. Restricted perhaps to 
the latter was the subject of the notes now offered— 


MARSUPIALIA—PHYTOPHAGA 
SEC. DIPROTODONTINA 
FAM. DIPROTODONTIDE 
GEN. Nov. OWweENIA.* 


DENTITION Zz 2, c8, pmi, m4. 


DENTAL AND CRANIAL CHARACTERS.—The anterior incisors 
above and below as tusks, similar in size, shape and curvature ; 
posterior upper incisors subrudimentary ; nasals small, retracted ; 
zygoma slender, retreating; mandible elevated anteriorly, sym- 
physis inclined at a high angle. 


OWENIA GRATA.—The anterior upper incisors divergent, strong 
at the base, rapidly tapering, towards the apex curving distad and 
caudad, rounded on the outer sides, a little flattened on the inner, 
but strengthened here by a broad low buttress ascending on the basal 
half, tumid on the inner posterior side, surface of wear commencing 
on the anterior edge of the apical third of the inner side (leaving 
the enamel of the outer side as a sharp edge passing caudad over 
the apex), thence curving dorsad and distad to the middle of the 
posterior side on which it is rather deeply excavated. On the 
outer side and near the base of each tooth, a broad sub-horizontal 
groove alike in shape, position, depth, and smoothness and in all 
probability surfaces of wear. 


Posterior upper incisor, 7. 37 distant 4 mm. from the- great 
incisor, small, with a long columnar crown sloping and curving 


* It is so clearly demanded by the fitness of things that the name of the 
expositor of the Extinct Mammals of Australia should have place in their 
nomenclature, that its occurrence more than once in our invertebrate lists 
fails to deter one from asking that it may be accepted where it has so much 
claim to acceptance. 


+It seems to the writer probable that the missing incisor is the middle 
one i. 2, always in diprotodont marsupials, the feeblest, and from its position 
liable to expulsion by an excessive development of either of its neighbours. 
The monopoly of function here obtained by the anterior incisor has had its 
own result—the enfeeblement of the remaining tooth. 


BY Cl Wa DE VIS) MA IOI 


forwards from its outlet, and a simple oblong and smooth surface 
of wear, 9 mm. in extent, inclined caudo-dorsad and distad. 
Premolar normal in shape ze. subtriangular, subequilateral, twin- 
lobed, the smaller constituent of the double lobe on the inner 
posterior angle, the larger occupying the outer moiety, the 
duplication indicated posteriorly by a deep valley descending to 
the base which is edged with a narrow post-basal ridge commencing 
on the outer angle and continued to the middle of the inner side, 
the inner fore side of the twin-cusp descending with a striated 
surface to a prebasal ridge extending from the tront angle of the 
tooth nearly to the middle of its inner side ; the crown planed down 
by wear to less than half of its criginal height, the dentinal area 
exposed bitriangular, oblique. ‘The anterior true molar @* worn 
nearly to its basal ridges ‘The succeeding molars diminishing slowly 
in degree of wear ; the hinder lobe of #z* as usual much contracted 
in breadth, descending a little below the level of those of the 
teeth anterior to it, and with its plane of wear ascending capito- 
dorsad ; the post-basal ridges of the molars feeble and short 
transversely, the hinder slopes of the posterior lobes with a 
shallow indent or valley, their front sides submesially protuberant, 
the protuberance representing a mid-link; the prebasal ridges 
wider, especially on the inner side, which is separated from the 
outer by a low fore-link. 


Intermaxillaries produced and deflected in front of the nasal 
aperture, tumid anteriorly for the lodgment of the incisor roots, 
which are mesially approximate. On the mid-line of the upper 
surface a small pyramidal process, and on either side of the middle 
of the fore edge of the nasal orifice a tubercle for cartilage attach- 
ment; the surface below the lateral edge of the nasal orifice tumid 
but suddenly compressed to form part of a concave area in front 
of the suborbital foramen; the maxillo-intermaxillary suture 
passine through this depression proceeds in its upward course 
nearer to the nasal aperture than to the orbit, and thus leaves a 
long suture between the nasal and nasal process of the maxillary ; 
the suborbital canal wide and short, with its large exterior foramen 
pierced through the anterior part of the long oblique root of the 
zygomatic process, which, on its antero-inferior side, is rather 
deeply excavated, the process but moderately exserted and inclined 
continuously caudad, the depending process long, descendingly 
obliquely with a slight backward curve much below the level of 
the upper molars, compressed fore and aft, and tapering slightly 
to a rounded terminal edge ; the nasals narrow, obtuse in front, 
and not completely covering the nasal orifice ; the upper profile 


102 ON AN EXTINCT MAMMAL ; 


descending gently from the tips of the nasals towards the 
nasofrontal sutures, then apparently sweeping upwards upon the 
frontals with an open curve. But the whole of the hinder half of 
the cranium is too greatly crushed and distorted to yield reliable 
characters. 


MANpDIBLE.—The lower incisor with a more sudden contraction 
of the upper portion of its inner side than the upper, an actual 
increase in the tumidity of the base on that side being thereby 
brought into greater relief; the directions of curvature as in the 
upper tooth ; the surface of wear much the same in position and 
extent, but having its anterior apical portion more elongate and 
presenting more as a distinct facette, being in one of the teeth 
separated by an unworn tract of enamel from the smoothly worn, 
downwardly sloping, and concave surface of the interoposterior 
apical two-thirds of the tooth ; the tips of the two pairs of incisors 
at exactly the same distance apart. ‘The premolar in general form 
a truncate ellipse, its single cusp occupying its anterior two-thirds, 
its surface of wear an oval tract sloping caudad (and a little 
proximad) towards the base of the lobe, which is limited behind 
by a narrow semicingulum springing from the middle of the base 
on each side; on the inner fore angle a remnant of the indent 
usually representing in this family the forward extension of the 
inner basal ridge. The molars normal in character, profoundly 
degraded by wear, their pre-and postbasal ridges, probably feeble 
in themselves, almost obliterated by fore and aft compression ; the 
last molar #°, only, with its two grinding surfaces still separate, the 
foot of the mid-link remaining intact ; the postbasal ridge of this 
molar very narrow, and connected by a submesial ascending link 
or ridge with the hinder enamel edge of the posterior lobe. The 
molar series as a whole nearly straight on its inner edge, 
moderately convex on its outer, the breadth of the teeth increasing 
slowly from the premolar to the fore lobe of the last molar. On 
the inner side of the crowns of the premolar and anterior molars 
the enamel has disappeared, leaving a smoothly-worn surface which 
in m* is continuous with that of the grinding plane, and in f® is 
excavated from the side of the crown. 


The mandible narrow, its rami converging at a more acute angle 
than is usual in the family ; the intermandibular space subspatulate 
in section, being broader over the symphysis than between the 
anterior molars; the gradient of the symphysis 40°, its infero- 
posterior edge opposite the anterior fang of the premolar; the 
diastemal edge of the mandibular wall rising gently from the 
incisor outlet towards f%, and thinning off rapidly as far as the 


BY C. W. DE VIS, M.A. 103 


middle of its length, then dilating and forming a rough overhang- 
ing protuberance immediately in front of the premolar; the 
alveolar tract descending with a slight curve ventrad from the 
premolar to the postmolar platform; the anterior outlet of the 
dental canal wide, and placed about 25 mm. below the edge of the 
diastema, and likewise in front of its protuberance; the root of 
the coronoid process occupying the lower two-thirds of the ramus 
posteriorly, and gathering volume from the convexity of the 
mandibular wall, which commences on the lower half of the space 
beneath the premolar, its upper edge becoming free on a lower 
horizon than usual, and in this aged example springing upwards 
opposite to the hinder lobe of m*; the anterior edge of the 
coronoid plate making with the longitudinal axis of the ramus an 
angle of about 75°; the coronoid proces elevated and falcate ; 
the ectocrotaphyte fossa of moderate width and depth, shewing 
no trace of an external communication with the dental canal; the 
inner fossa deep and capacious, formed in the angle of the jaw 
solely to the exclusion of the coronoid plate, and amplified by an 
alar expansion of the ascending ramus extending caudad beyond 
the vertical of the condyle; the posterior dental foramen level 
with the worn surface of the last molar; the inner wail of the 
dental canal strengthened by a low angular ridge running from 
the sharp posterior edge of the postalveolar platform to the 
border of the foramen; the articulating surface of the condyle 
almost horizontal, feebly convex longitudinally, and retaining 
nearly the same breadth throughout ; its neck short, the sigmoid 
notch commencing at the edge of the articular surface in front ; 
the “inflected angle” of the jaw narrow and but faintly demar- 
cated by an inward curvature from the concave surface of the wall 
beneath the posterior molars—a long interval separating it from 
the root of the alar expansion; the profile of the ascending 
process undulated, and its inclination, as it rises up from the 
angle, low. 


The affinity of Owenia to the gravigrade diprotodonts known by 
their cranial remains, is plainly expressed by the structure of its 
grinding teeth. Had these alone been left to us, it would have 
been difficult to avoid the error of referring them to a small species 
of Nototherium. ‘The incisors, on the other hand, are so strongly 
differentiated, not only from those of Diprotodon, Nototherium, 
and Sthenomerus but trom those of the phytophagous marsupials 
generally, that had these been our sole guides, we might have been 
led to speculate on the existence of a carnivore more destructive 
than Thylacoleo; but its general relationship being evident, it is 


104 ON AN EXTINCT MAMMAL ; 


only necessary to ascertain to which of the older and better known 
genera it has the nearest alliance. The absence of the dilated 
muzzle, flat face, elevated forehead, huge zygomata, and strongly 
inflected mandibular angle of Nototherium shews that in its leading 
characters its affinity to that genus was anything but close. From 
Diprotodon it was not so far removed ; in the several features in 
which it departs from Nototherium, it approaches—or rather 
departs—less from its more ponderous contemporary. In the con- 
formation of the posterior moiety of the mandible, that of the 
condyle excepted, it indeed resembles Diprotodon rather closely ; 
the position of the dental foramen in the two is almost identical, 
and the chief difference is the relatively greater development of 
the alar expansion in the newer genus. 


The position of the surfaces of wear of the incisors being on 
the same (inner) side of the opposite pairs, it is plain that they 
cannot have resulted from the mutual attrition of the corresponding 
teeth—in fact, a cropping or gnawing function was impossible in 
teeth so formed and placed as these are. It seems probable there- 
fore, that the vertical action of the jaws was greatly subordinate to 
their horizontal motion, unless these surfaces were worn by some 
use of the teeth (other than prehension), preliminary to the act of 
mastication, in other words, if they are due to mutual contact 
during that act it follows from the length and distance apart of the 
tips of the teeth that the reduction of the food could only be 
effected by a strong transverse, combined with a by no means 
feeble vertical action of the jaws. Such a recurvilinear motion is 
of course only an exaggeration of usual masticatory movements— 
an exaggeration conditioned by fodder unusually coarse in quality, 
and perhaps copious in quantity. It is, however, to be observed 
that the inference is, to some extent, modified by the structure of 
the joint between the upper and lower jaws. The extent and 
form of the articulatory surface of the condyle do not suggest any 
great range of rotular motion, and all retraction of the jaw is 
prevented by the concavity of the glenoid surface, and the extent 
and depth of the post-glenoid process. But the close locking of 
the jaws does not seem incompatible with laborious grinding, and 
certainly the effects of such grinding are evident in the degraded 
state of the molars; these have the semblance of age to a far 
greater degree than the anterior teeth. Seeing that the tusk-like 
incisors were not, or were only to a very limited extent, cutting 
teeth, and that the food to be utilised was voluminous and harsh, 
it does not seem too speculative to imagine that the chief use of 
the front teeth was to aid the lips and tongue in feeding, initiating 


BY C. W. DE VIS, M.A. TO5 


the process perhaps by grappling and holding down the branches 
of shrubs and saplings to enable the mobile parts of the mouth to 
introduce the leafy twigs between the jaws. That the prehensile 
organs of the mouth were largely developed to this or other end 
is clear. ‘The peculiar protuberance on the face edge of the lower 
jaw is significant of a muscular, expansive lip. The depth of the 
mandible and its dilation in front of the teeth would afford space 
for a powerful tongue, and in the lateral wear of the crowns of the 
upper premolar and succeeding tooth we have ample evidence of 
the frictional action and, consequently, protrusibility of that 
member; to the same cause being due, perhaps, the curious 
groove on the outer side of each upper incisor just below the level 
of the gum. Finally, the width of the apertures of the suborbital 
and dental canals testifies to the large size of the vessels and nerves 
distributed to the muzzle, and consequently to the activity and 
tactile sensibility of its several parts. 


The subject of the present notice was discovered by Mr. Kendal 
Broadbent in April last at Chinchilla, on the Darling Downs. <A 
few months at most after death it had come to rest on its side, half 
buried in fine grey sandy silt, mingled with a little black iron sand. 
Not only the lower jaw, but the right moiety of the atlas and part 
of the axis, remained in place and before the exposed parts had 
received much damage from the accidents of the time, the 
whole was protected from further injury by a covering of ferrugin- 
ous sand, ‘lhe crushed and shattered condition of the brain case 
and fragile parts of the mandible seem chiefly to have been the 
results of the pressure and alternate contractions and expansions 
of the matrix during subsequent ages. It would be a task by no 
means difficult to select from among the undermined bones in the 
Queensland collection several which, for all we know to the con- 
trary, might have belonged to the present animal. But the 
temptation to refer any one of them to Owenia Is put aside on two 
considerations—first, the animal seems to have been rare. 
Among a considerable number of unknown teeth there is not a 
single one which can be positively said to have been derived from 
it. In the second place, bones of the trunk and limbs as yet 
unrecognised shew so evidently that there were in existence several 
species or genera of animals of somewhat similar size and general 
relations, that any such determination would be quite hypothetical 
and worse than useless to science. The validity of many refer- 
ences of the kind already made grows more doubtful as materials 
accumulate, and our perception of the wealth of this early quater- 
nary fauna in species is quickened. Cases do undoubtedly occur 


106 ON AN EXTINCT MAMMAL. 


wherein determination of the kind seems justified by reason, but 
even in them the argument scarcely carries us over the misty valley 
between the possible and probable. Natural association is for the 
present our only safe guide to the actual. 


TABLE OF MEASUREMENTS: 


mm, 
Upper Morar SERtES—length : : : - oh USE 
Premolar—length . . : : $ ‘ : : 15 
Premolar—breadth 5 F : : ‘ ; ; 145 
Penultimate Molar—length . ; ; : P : 38 
Penultimate Molar—breadth : : : : ; 20% 
Incisor—length at inner fore angle ; : : / 55 
Incisor—length of basal section . : , j : 31 
Incisor—breadth of basal section . . . ‘ : 20.5 
Second Incisor—breadth of crown ; - : : 7-5 
Second Incisor—length of crown. : - : ; 8 
Lower Morar SERIES—length ‘ é : ; ce LGN 
Premolar—length . : : d : ; ; 14.5 
Premolar—breadth : 4 ? ; ; ; : 8.5 
Penultimate Molar—length . ; : . ; : 34.5 
Penultimate Molar—breadth . f : : : : 22 
Incisor-—length at inner fore angle : : : : 50.5 
Incisor—length at base : : i : : - 32 
Incisor—breadth at base : : 3 : ; : 20.5 
ManpistE—total length . : ; : - ; = 440 
Depth at premolar ; , : ; : : + 105.5 
Depth at condyle . : : : F : > s 109 
Length of diastema A : 2 A ; ; : 7o 
CraNiuM—total length . ‘ ; . ; : « 523 


ON AN ACARUS ASSOCIATED 
WITH A DISEASED CONDITION MA tae 
BANANA, 

HENRY TRYON. 

(Read on 5th August, 1887.) 


Upon a specimen of the banana plant forwarded some weeks 
since by the secretary of the East Moreton Farmer’s Association 
to the museum for examination, and described as “‘ Young plant 
and old root—-the rust,” the objects exhibited were procured. 
These are male and female examples of a minute mite belonging 
to the family Sarcoptidz and to the tribe which Mr. Mégnin has 


ON AN ACARUS ASSOCIATED WITH BANANA. 107 


named Detriticole (frequenters of rubbish).* They are of such 
small dimensions as scarcely to be visible to the naked eye, or 
not at all when placed upon a white ground. When fully grown 
this acarus is of a very taint pink colour, and its somewhat broadly 
elliptical body is terminated in front by a conical snout. ‘This latter 
is composed of a central portion with two three-jointed “feelers” 
applied to it on either side. Outside these feelers are large 
mandibles, the toothed shear-like extremities as well as the swollen 
bases of which are very conspicuous objects. ‘lhe nature of the 
attachment of these organs is such as to endow them also with 
considerable movability, and their structure renders them also 
very effectual organs in procuring food. These mites, too, have 
four pair of five-jointed legs, each terminated by a single stout 
strongly-hooked claw. The legs all bear stout bristles of various 
form, and the first and second pair have on the upper surface of 
their terminal joints a single club-like body of even breadth. In 
addition to the limbs the body bears also a few stout and relatively 
long bristles, and its two chief outlets are guarded by curious 
suckers, the two on each side of the genitalia being raised on 
nipple-like protuberances, whilst the single haustellum, on either 
side of the cloacal aperture, is not raised, but carries, in the male 
sex especially, a sub-triangular appendage. 


‘This little mite belongs to the genus Rhizoglyphus (root gauger) 
of Claparéde, as restricted by Murray, a genus which contains at 
least two species, both of which have been described and figured, 
amongst others, by the former of these authorities. 


Concerning the habits of acari belonging to this genus, it may 
be sufficient to remark that Claparede procured numerous examples 
of both the species alluded to, in the neighbourhood of Geneva, 
Switzerland, where they occurred in the tubers of potatoes and 
dahlias and in the half-decayed stems of cabbages, situations in 
which they were met with in great quantity. Reference to his 
descriptions and figures in the “Zeitschrift fur Wissenschaftliche 
Zoologie” for 1868 shows that the banana mite is not the first of 
these two species, his Hypopus Dujardinii (Rhizoglyphus echinopus, 
Fum. et Rob.), and though it certainly much resembles the second 
species— his Rhizoglyphus Robini, it is distinct also from it. 


Authors include the species of this genus, together with others 
also generically distinct from it, under the common term ‘Tyro- 
glyphus, which according to Karpelles contains thirteen species. 


* Les Parasites et les Maladies Parasitaires,” 1880, p. 138. 


108 ON AN ACARUS ASSOCIATED WITH BANANA ; 


It is not likely that the banana mite is T. Queenslandiz*® of 
Canestrini, found with quite different habits a few years ago in 
this colony, and which, like other Detriticolee that occur at 
Brisbane also, is probably a typical ‘l'yroglyphus. 


This species of Rhizoglyphus has been observed wandering 
on the stems of the banana in question; between the chaffy 
scales which occur in these plants just above the ground; and 
on the roots. In the last situation it was met with beneath 
the epidermis, which was split transversely, at the seat of injury. 
When this epidermis was removed it was found that it had become 
detached from the subjacent tissue, which, darkened in colour, had 
either shrunk, or been gnawed, back to a level with the central 
bundle. The surface of this discoloured portion was covered with 
a meal-like substance, characteristic of the presence of mites of the 
tribe to which the banana acarus belongs. ‘The term ‘“‘ rust,” as 
applied to the diseased condition, has been assigned owing to the 
occurrence on the surface of the stem of the banana, and on the 
exposed portions of the fleshy parts of the leaves generally, of small 
purplish specs, which, by confluence, form spots, blotches, or 
clouds of the same colour. Microscopic examination reveals the 
fact that these specs surround minute punctures in the epiderm. 
To account for the presence of these coloured specs it is only 
necessary to bear in mind that every portion, perhaps, of the 
banana contains a large quantity of tannin, and even so the fruit, 
according to the analysis of Mons. Marcano and Munz (Comp. 
Rend. 88, 156-158.) Under the natural process of maturation 
this tannin in the latter position is converted into glucose and 
another substance ; but in those parts in which this resolution does 
not take place, the tannin, on exposure to the atmosphere and by 
reason of its avidity for oxygen, especially in the presence of an 
alkali, is converted into a dark purple coloured body. Hence 
the use of the juice of the banana as a marking ink. Hence also 
the occurrence of the specs, spots, or blotches of purple colour, 
according to the extent of the affections, on plants which may have 
been injured owing to the attacks of insects or through other 
causes. ‘This disease, though found on bananas, Is quite distinct, 
in the symptoms which manifest its presence from that occasioned 
by the rhabdiform worms which constitute the “ flask worm” dis- 
ease of Dr. Bancroft, or from the following maladies of fungoid 
origin :—The black felt-like spots on the leaves and the brown 
confluent ridges on the surface of the fruit, known to be caused 


* Berl. Ent. Zeitsch, 1884, p. 721, fig. 


BY HENRY TRYON. 10g 


respectively by Gleosporium cucurbitaceum and Meliola musee— 
both first observed here by Mr. F. M. Bailey, or the “rot” in the 
same plant whose occurrence is attended by the presence of a 
fermentaticn fungus—a torula—in the cell tissue. But all these 
affections are accounted for, perhaps, by the unhealthy conditions 
under which the plants, subjected to their presence, are grown. 


ON THE MINERAL 
SCOLECI TE, OCCURRING ONCEGRANITE, 
CHARTERS LOWERS; 


BY 
A. W. CLARKE, Esqa., Government Mineralogical Lecturer. 
(Read on 5th August, 1887.) 


THE occurrence of calcite with gold-bearing quartz in granite 
country on Charters Towers goldfield is of some interest to 
geologists. Mr. R. C. Ringrose first suggested to me that the 
gradual decomposition of lime felspars might account for its 
presence; as yet, however, I have, not succeeded in finding 
anorthite, labradorite or andesine in the few specimens of country 
rock brought in by students, but last week I observed the enclosed 
mineral, now submitted for inspection, on the cleavage planes of 
granite rock through which a shaft is being sunk. The specimen 
comes from about 600 feet below the surface of the Queen Block 
Extended. An analysis of 15.43 grs. (1 gram.) yielded :— 


Silicama: ‘ : : ; 46.25 
Alumina F ; : : Diy 
Iron C ; : : : traces 
eines. : ; : ¢ 13.95 
Water (by ignition) é : 13.47 
IO1.02 


The mineral is probably Scolecite (véde Collins’ Mineralogy, 
vol. IL., p. 220).* A few blebs of calcite occur in a kind of forma- 
tion through which the shaft is now passing. ‘The carbonate of lime 
is in the form of calcite, not arragonite, pointing to crystallization 
in the cold. 


* The crystals float in Sonstadt’s Sol. (S. gr. 2.6), therefore their S. gr. is 
lower than 2.6. I have no appliances for accurate determination. 


IIo ON THE MINERAL SCOLECITE ; 


The following are samples of rocks [exhibited at the meeting, 
Ep.], whose faces are covered with the hydrated silicate, probably 
Scolecite :— 


No. 1.—From the Mary Claim (5 miles west of Queen Block 
Extended), occurring at a depth of 300 feet. A complete analysis 
of the mineral in question found under these circumstances 
gives :— 


Swe, < ; : : : 49.04 
ALGO, : : c : 26.64 
Ca@Ores , 4 : F 12.24 
H, O (by ignition) ; P 13.30 
Fe, O; : : , - traces 

101.22 


This analysis differs from that derived from the mineral obtained 
from Queen Block Extended. As the per cent. of SiO, is higher 
and the remaining constituents all lower than the previous sample, 
it may be mixed with a little quartz. The sample was obtained 
by floating off the mineral with Sonstadt’s Sol. (Sp. gr. 2.6). 
The quantity taken was only 15.43 grs. 

No. 2.—From the North Australian, occurring at a depth of 
280 feet. Analysis incomplete. 


No. 3.—From the Rainbow Claim, and derived from deep 
ground, but exact depth not known yet. The Scolecite occurring 
in this gave on analysis :— 


SUOL > : ‘ : é 47.0 
Hi OF *: F : : : ae7 


No. 4.—From the Mexican Claim, the mineral derived from 
which samples gave :— 


SEO; : : : : 47.24 
Jl (O)rs ‘ ’ : ; 26.64 
Cal@Or sy - : : : : 12.95 
HevOn se : - / ‘ 14.20 
Fe, O; - ; : : ; traces. 


Calcite abounds in all the claims mentioned as the source 
of these illustrative examples, and the clains are all situated, 
moreover, in gold-bearing reefs. 


NOTE ON PRECEDING PAPER. PE 


INQUGE CO ING A. Pave BIR 


ENTITLED 


OWN (ee? NEN BARA. “"S COLEC TV 
Oc CL Re NN GasO DL. GR AN TE, 
CHARTERS TOWERS*.” 


BY 


E. B. LINDON, A.R.S.M- 


As regards the mineral sent from Charters Towers by Mr. A. W. 
Clarke, and considered by him to be Scolecite, I beg to differ 
from him in this determinaiion, while I confess to having given 
the subject much less attention than he evidently has done. 
Scolecite differs from Natrolite in containing lime in place of soda; 
according to Dana, it is found only in trap and amygdaloidal 
rocks; furthermore, its name is derived from the Greek word skolex 
(a worm), referring to its blow-pipe re-action, for before the blow- 
pipe Scolecite curls up like a worm, fusing to a voluminous, frothy 
shining slag (G. J. Brush). Scolecite, as a rule, if not always, has 
its rhombic glassy prisms longitudinally twined, as is shown by 
the meeting of two ranges of striae at an angle, or near the central 
line of opposite planes (Dana) and as seen in the sample of this 
mineral exhibited. ‘These characters are absent from the mineral 
sent by Mr. Clarke, which seems to me to more nearly coincide 
with Laumontite, another hydrous silicate of lime and alumina. 
Laumontite becomes opaque on exposure and readily crumbles 
(wherein it greatly resembles Mr. Clarke’s specimens), owing to 
loss of water. Further, Laumontite, before the blow-pipe, fuses, 
emitting air-bubbles, to a white translucent slag (Brush), and this 
re-action I have obtained from Mr. Clarke’s mineral. 


But, even if I am wrong, and the mineral be really Scolecite, 
the presence of calcite in the Charters Towers veins is not solved 
thereby, for Scolecite is a derived mineral, and the same question 
arises, only in its altered form it becomes: whence was the lime 
for the Scolecite obtained ? 


* This Note, and Mr. Clarke’s reply thereto, although read at the 
September meeting of the Society, are inserted here for convenience of 
reference.—Eb. 


EL2 NOTE ON PRECEDING PAPER. 


It is very generally granted that lateral secretion has played a 
very large part in the filling up of veins, and that the lime, among 
other minerals, has been obtained from the surrounding country 
is therefore more than probable. Let me then refer to Mr. 
R. L. Jack’s Report on Charter’s Towers (1879), p. 15, from 
which I take the following extract :— 

“ Occasionally, where the ‘greywackes’ are fresh, and seen to contain 
little iron, they somewhat resemble blue limestone, while their joint surfaces 
are sometimes coated with calcspar. These circumstances havé led, in at 
least one case, to the erection of a kiln, and the experiment of burning a 
kilnful of the grey wackes for lime.” 

Without absolutely saying that the greywackes are the source 
of the calcite in the lodes, I think this a more probable theory 
for the origin of the latter than its derivation from the so-called 
Scolecite ; and I might further point out that Hornblende, which 
is not infrequent in the Charters Towers rocks, is another mineral 
containing a considerable percentage of lime. 


REPLY TO THE PRECEDING NO@iia@e 
Eo) Ba cLIN DOWN, AnRoopm ie 


BY 


A. W. CLARKE, Government Mineralogical Lecturer. 


In this Mr. A. W. Clarke stated as follows :— 


1.—That both Scolecite and Laumontite crystallized according 
to the same system, and that owing to this fact, and also because 
of the variations of crystalline form, which both Laumontite and 
Scolecite exhibited, it would be difficult to distinguish by this 
physical character between the two minerals. 


2.—That Scolecite, according to Dana, sometimes vermiculated 
before the blow-pipe, but not always. 


3-—That the chemical composition of the mineral in question 
was different from that of Laumontite, as might be seen on 
comparing the analyses now furnished (vzde pp. 109-10) with those 
given as of Laumontite by Phillips, in the ‘“‘ Mineralogy” of that 
author. Here we were informed that the latter mineral according 
to different analyses contained :— 
(1.) (2.) (3-) (4.) 


SiO,  < : » 48:3 52:47 50:34) =aso100 
Mis) OVS : 2) (22.7, 22 "50" 21AGe Ne eAeae 
Cal@rr se: : ee eB 4 TTA iene 


Ie UAW ON he : 2) 16:0) "5's 16i15) eneaae 


REPLY TO THE PRECEDING NOTE. 113 


4.—That assuming that the mineral was Scolecite he did not 
intend to imply that the calcite had been immediately derived 
from it, but rather that the former, owing its presence in all 
probability—as according to Geikie is the case generally with 
other zeolites—to the existence of triclinic felspar undergoing 
processes of decomposition, indicated, by its presence in the 
Charters Towers granites, a probable source of the calcite in the 
triclinic felspar also.* 


EXEIBTYS: 


Amonst the exhibits, in addition to those illustrating the above 
papers, and which included the skull of Owenia grata, and speci- 
mens of both sexes of the banana mite and of species of the 
allied genus Tyroglyphus, was a curious fish—Opesthognathus 
Facksontensts—previously overlooked in Queensland waters, but 
recently found in Moreton Bay by Mr. D. O'Connor. Dr. Lucas 
also drew attention to four probably new butterflies belonging to 
the general Hypochrysops, Lyczna, and Hypsa (2 species), the 
first from Gippsland and the last from New Britain. 


FRIDAY, 91TH SEPTEMBER, 1887. 


Tue VicE-PRESIDENT, A. NorToN, M.L.A., IN THE CHAIR. 


The following visitors were in attendance, viz.:—Mr. A. Griffiths, 
Boc, A.R:S.M., and Mr./€. J. Wild. 


DONATIONS. 
“The Victorian Naturalist.” Vol. IV., No. 3, July, 1887, and 
Vol. IV., No. 4, August, 1887; Melbourne, 1887. From the 
Field Naturalists’ Club of Victoria. 


“Bulletin of the American Geographical Society.” Vol. XIX., 
No. 2, June 30th, 1887; New York, n.d. From the American 
Geographical Society. 


“Tzviestija Imperatorskago Russkago Geographeskago Obsht- 
ehestya.”. Tom; X XID, 1887, Part I[ .;.St.. Petersburg, 1887. 
From la Sociéte Imperiale Russe de Geographie. 


* The author subsequently remarks on the occurrence of triclinic felspar 
in the granites at Charters Towers.—Vid. infra. 


H 


114 DONATIONS. 


“List of Members of the Geological Society of Australasia, &c.” 
From the Society. 


“The Journal of Conchology.” Vol. V., No. 7. July, 1887; 
Leeds, 1887. From the Conchological Society of Great Britain. 


“Results of Meteorological Observations made in New South 
Wales during 1887, under the direction of H. C. Russell, Govern- 
ment Astronomer.” Sydney, 1887. From the Government 
Astronomer. 


“ Mittheilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wein,” 
XVII, Band, II. Heft; Wein. 1887. From the Society. 


The following Papers were read :— 


“NOTE ON A PAPER ENTITLED ‘THE MINERAL SCOLECITE 
OCCURRING ON GRANITE AT CHARTERS ToweERSs,’” by E. B. 
Lindon, A.R.S.M. (vide pp. 111). 


“A REPLY TO THE PRECEDING Norte,” by A. W. Clarke, 
Government Mineralogical Lecturer (vde pp. 112). 


THE FIRST DISCOVERY OF GOLD 
IN QUEENSLAND: 


BY 


N. BARTLEY, Esa. 
Communicated by HENRY TRYON. 
(Read oth September, 1887.) 


As some published statements on this subject are incorrect, I have 
thought it worth while (having been in the colony from its earliest 
“golden days”) to make a few notes for record on it; and this 
subject is one of importance, as Queensland is destined to be the 
leading gold producer of the world, and all that bears on her 
earlier efforts in that direction is consequently worthy of rescue 
from oblivion and error. I was one of the first to go North to 
California in 1849 and I helped to excavate the first properly 
timbered gold tunnel in Australia in August, 1851, at the Turon. 
I was an original shareholder in the first registered gold mining 
company formed in Australia in 1852, at Louisa Creek, and I 
claim therefore some interest in the subject. 


FIRST DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN QUEENSLAND. I15 


I once owned a copy of “ Dampier’s Voyages to Australia.” It 
was published nearly 200 years ago, and is now in the Government 
Library of the Government Botanist. In it old Dampier figures the 
animals and plants he saw on our north coast—iguanas, bananas, 
&c.--but he never names gold; nor do Captains Cook and 
Flinders, in any of their notes on New Holland hint at it. Sir 
Thomas Mitchell and Leichhardt, whatever minerals they saw in 
their explorations, seemed never to have suspected the existence 
of gold, though the latter traversed the Cape River and the Gilbert 
River, both the sites of famous golden reefs. 


Leichhardt disappeared in 1847, and it was not until the 
beginning of the next year, when the bullets were flying about in 
Paris over the Louis Phillipe revolution in February, that London 
was startled by the still more momentous news of the gold in 
California, then newly acquired by the United States from Mexico. 


This led, indirectly, to the discovery of the metal in Australia, 
in 1851, through Hargreaves noticing the resemblance of the 
formations in Australia with those of California; and—strange to 
say—it was first found in both countries on the land of a Mr. 
Suttor. Mr. Toms disputes with Hargreaves the merit of being 
the first to drop on to the gold in New South Wales, but the latter 
got the reward. 


Neither of them, however, was the first to find it. I was in 
Melbourne in March, 1851, and in the window of a jeweller’s shop 
in that city, I saw, suspended by a thread, a lump of pure gold 
the size of a musket ball, and labelled ‘from Clunes.” Knowing 
people in Collins Street shrugged their shoulders, and said ‘‘ from 
California,” and pooh-phooed the Clunes idea, or that of gold in 
Australia at any price; but, Clunes proved golden later on. How- 
ever, on roth May, 1851, New Holland attained her majority, and 
Australia became of age; for on this day the Sydney “‘Government 
Gazette” officially announced to the world that gold existed in the 
colony; apropos of which I may here be allowed to express 
my surprise that such an anniversary is not kept regularly as a 
supreme holiday, seeing how much more important a bearing the 
4,300,000,000 of gold unearthed in the past has had on the 
destiny and expansion of Australia, than the few hundred of con- 
victs, landed on the 26th January, 1788, at Port Jackson have had. 
Yet, this latter event is religiously observed. But we shall, I hope, 
grow wiser intime. I say nothing here of the £1,000,000,000,000 
of gold that has yet to be dug out in ourcontinent. My argument 
is sufficient without that. 


116 FIRST DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN QUEENSLAND ; 


The discoveries in New South Wales in 1851 were quite eclipsed 
by the gold finds in Victoria in 1852, in the November of which 
year the gold came rolling into Melbourne at the regular rate of 
£400,000 a week, enough to demoralise a poverty-stricken city then 
smaller than Brisbane, and having no export but wool, tallow, and 
hides up to that period. Let anyone try to imagine what would 
come over Brisbane if gold were found at this rate within 100 
miles of our General Post Office. 


People now began to wonder if ‘‘ Moreton Bay” (as we were 
then called) had any gold; but it was voted in Sydney that the 
Darling Downs (the supposed garden of Australia then) and gold 
together, would be ‘‘too much joy” for any one place, and people 
there scouted the idea, as the Collins-street men did the Clunes 
gold of March, 1851. However, at the end of 1853, Mr. 
Stutchbury, the Government Geologist of New South Wales, was 
sent up here to explore, and he, in about December of that year, 
found gold near Port Curtis, at the Calliope, and this was the first 
authenticated discovery of gold in the territory of Queensland. 
The Dawson River was at that time the very outside limit of 
settlement, 


Messrs. Charles Moore (of the Sydney Government Gardens) 
and P. L. C. Shepherd (nurseryman of the same place) were up 
in Brisbane about the same time on a botanising tour. They 
stayed at the same hotel with me for a month, and they informed 
me that, although looking for plants and not for minerals, they had 
found gold by washing in the same locality that Mr. Stutchbury did. 


The next discovery of gold in Queensland was in August, 1856. 
I was up in Warwick then, and a shepherd on Canning Downs 
brought in from ‘Lord John’s Swamp” 8 dwts. of gold, which 
I bought and still have by me, the oldest uncoined specimen now 
extant of Queensland gold, I suppose. I had as far back as 1854 
noticed the quartz formation at Talgai, and anticipated the dis- 
covery of gold in the reefs there. About this time further 
discoveries of gold took place. Brisbane, a village, and weary of 
waiting for separation and finding trade dull, sent out expeditions, 
one of which found gold at Boonoo Boonoo, New South Wales, 
and another at Emu Creek, on the way to Gympie; but these 
were small affairs by the side of the Canoona rush, which came 
off in 1858, and for a time left Brisbane cut off from the world, 
every Northern steamer and schooner from Sydney being diverted 
to the Fitzroy River trade for the time being. Apropos of which 
I remember writing, from the Union Club, a letter in 1857 to the 


BY N. BARTLEY, ESQ. 117 


Surveyor-General in Sydney, asking him if he knew that there was 
a river up North named the Fitzroy, as wide and deep as the 
Thames, where wool was produced, and which had neither a 
wharf nor a township. In reply, a surveyor was promised to be 
sent up to lay out a township below “the rocks.” ‘The panic in 
Brisbane in August, 1858, amongst the holders of Brisbane corner 
lots, during the Canoona fever, may be imagined when I state 
that a full town allotment, corner of Edward and Mary streets, 
sold for 4300, and the vendor was only too glad to ‘pull that 
out of the fire,” as he thought. However, Canoona died away, 
Mount Morgan and the Crocodile as yet ‘‘ were not.” 


The Dee River and Westwood were credited with copper merits 
only. Gold slept, pretty well, till 1862, about which period Peak 
Downs, Gayndah, and the Star River were heard of. The 
Gayndah people made an effort and offered £2,000 reward to 
anyone who would find a payable goldfield whose trade would 
pass their door, and the ubiquitous digger took advantage of every 
shower of rain with his tin dish ; and it soon became known that 
in the country that stretched eastward trom Eidsvold and Rawbelle 
to Reid’s Creek and Mount Perry, alluvial gold existed and could 
be got out in wet weather. But nothing worthy of note occurred 
till, in October, 1867, Gympie, with its wondrous yield of 350 lb. 
of gold from 7 cwt. of stone, startled Queensland into a knowledge 
of the fact that reef and not alluvial gold was her strong point in 
~that metal. And then the grand mineral district that extends 
from Glenbar and Merodian on the north, eastward to Glastonbury 
and Gympie, and through Kilkivan and the Black Snake southerly 
to the head springs of the Brisbane River, began to show forth its 
powers in gold, cinnabar, and copper production. Similar develop- 
ment took place up North, where the lamented Richard Daintree, 
a geologist and explorer, who carried the camera and lens ona 
pack-horse wherever he went, brought under notice the golden 
capabilities of the Cape, Gilbert, and other districts, and gave us 
those undying realistic pictures of old Queensland life in the 
bush, and still older eruptions of subterranean forces, that keep 
his memory green amongst us. Ravenswood and the Cloncurry 
in 1870, Charters ‘Towers in 1872, now became known and 
famous, and the latter soon passed the more ‘ patchy” Gympie in 
the race for auriferous honours. 


The ante-Californian prophecies of Sir Roderick Murchison, 
and especially the later inductions of the Rev. W. B. Clarke, 
found ample fulfilment in North Queensland as well as further 


118 FIRST DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN QUEENSLAND. 


South; and whether it was quartz or gossan, poryphry or lime- 
stone, syenite or slate, that formed the matrix, there lurked 
“El Oro” in all his glory. 


It would unduly prolong this paper were I to follow the subject 
down to the Mount Morgan era, or to tell of the possible glories 
of the Mackinlay Range and other places that now hide—even as 
Mount Morgan once did—their gold so well. Suffice it when I 
say that, great as we think our development in gold and gold- 
extracting machinery in 1887, the time is near when we shall 
consider them as rudimentary as we do the days of Cancona and 
early Gympie. Our yield will astonish the world and make us 
famous, when the over-inflated, London-floated Queensland gold 
mines of 1886-7 have ceased to leave their sting behind them, 
and have been replaced by mines floated and sold for: fair value 
only, and the grand struggle for supremacy that will take place 
during the next twenty years between the vast golden mundic 
beds that lie beneath the surface at Charters Towers and the 
Etheridge country in North Queensland; in the Crocodile, 
Cawarral, Rosewood, and Morinish districts south of the Fitzroy, 
in Central Queensland; and the equally mighty (regarded in 
nature’s grand mineral upheaval) Burnett and Mount Perry 
districts in Southern Queensland, will—whichever of the three 
comes finally to the front—be all the while tending to the fame 
and prosperity of our colony; for the three, though seeming 
rivals, will be always pulling together, and whatever is the out- 
come of their rivalry this will go similarly to the credit side of 
the Queensland ledger. 


At the conclusion of this paper, several members bore testi- 
mony to the interest of the subject, and to the accuracy of the 
leading dates referred to by the author as marking epochs in the 
discovery of gold in the colony. 


ON AN UNRECORDED HABIT OF WHITE ANTS, 11g 


JUDICIAL ENTOMOLOGY 
AND ON AN UNRECORDED HABIT 
OF WHITE ANTS: 


BY 


HENRY TRYON. 
(Read on the oth September, 1887.) 


Our bodies, after death, unless they are hermetically sealed up, 
are tenanted by different insects, and these, whilst they live at the 
expense of the different tissues of which it is composed, gradually 
determine its dissolution. ‘The body is not, however, occupied by 
these various insects at one and the same time, but there is a 
definite and remarkable succession in which their presence is 
manifested, one class of insects existing in it, till, partly by its 
agency, the body is rendered suitable for the members of a second 
class, and so on for those of a third—for these several insects do 
not feed indifferently on the same juices or tissues. Moreover, 
each of the insects composing these classes requires a definite 
time to multiply and undergo its metamorphosis and different 
evolutions. Owing to these facts, entomologists have of late years 
been able to lend important aid in judicial inquiries, and especially 
at such times as when a body has been found, and it is important 
to know what period has elapsed since the death occurred of the 
individual to which this body may be referred, whether that indi- 
vidual met with his or her end by homicide or through the 
operation of natural causes. (This general statement was consider- 
ably amplified by the author, who exhibited numerous insects and 
arachnids, representative of the different and successive classes 
of destroyers, and dilated on the rdle they severally performed— 
these belonged to the dipterous, coleopterous, and lepidopterous 
families, &c.—ED.) 


In the Comptes Rendus, 96, 1883, I., pp. 1433-1435, M. P. 
Mégnin, introduces the subject of ‘ L’Application de l‘entomo- 
logie & la Médicine légale,” with the statement that “there is an 
occasion on which the medical jurist finds himself especially 
embarrassed ; this is, when he is brought face to face with a dead 
body which is quite dry, and, in fact, reduced to the state of a 


120 ON AN UNRECORDED HABIT OF WHITE ANTS ; 


mummy, and a question arises as to the circumstances which 
determined the death, or at least as to the time when it took 
place;” and, after referring to the phenomena which attend the 
invasion of dead bodies by insects, he adds that he feels authorised 
to state ‘“‘medical jurisprudence can, in some cases, call in the aid 
of entomology with as much certainty of success as it does human 
physiology and pathology in others, with the end of furnishing 
those tribunals, which deal with questions pertaining to criminal 
proceedure, with the principles which should guide their application 
of the law.”— Zrans. 

M. Mégnin then relates two occasions on which his opinion 
had been requested by Professor Brouardel, who nad suggested to 
him the value of the investigations of an entomologist in such 
cases in eliciting facts not otherwise accessible. He found, in 
one instance, that a boy had met with his death two years prior to 
the date at which he conducted his inquiry, and that this boy also 
had been previously much neglected. And in the second instance 
—that of an infant, that only a year had elapsed since its death— 
a verdict, whose accuracy was subsequently sustained by the con- 
fession of the mother of the child, 

Still more recently, Mariano de la Paz Graells, in the Aezesta of 
the Meal Academia de Ctenctas, 1., xxi.. No. 8, p.p. 458-471; 
Madrid, 1886, and in an article entitled ‘‘Entomologia Judicial,” 
even further enlarges upon the subject, and expresses the opinion 
that the investigations of an entomologist should decide, in an 
approximate manner, the days, months, and even years, which 
have elapsed since a death has occurred. of. ct, p. 462. This 
author then cites a number of instances in corroboration of this 
assertion, in which successful investigations, in cases the subject of 
judicial inquiry, had been conducted by Brouardel in 1882; more 
recently by Descoust, Mégnin, Bergeret, and lastly, by the justly 
celebrated entomologist, 1). Julio Lichtenstein—giving a verbatim 
translation in Spanish of their several reports. 


As, then, such important issues are connected with a proper 
understanding of the nature and life history of the different insects 
which affect the carcase of man, there needs no apology for intro- 
ducing to the notice of the Society a new fact in this connection. 


All the insects referred to, either by M. Mégnin or by Mariano 
de la Paz Graells, or the savants, whose reports are quoted by the 
latter of these authorities, confine their operations to the soft 
tissues of the body and do not attack the skeleton, or only the 
ligamentous and cartilaginous attachments to it, But there are 


BY HENRY TRYON. 12! 


also bone-eating insects, which a judicial entomologist should have 
regard to, and in this category must be included the ‘“ white ants” 
which have suggested this note. ‘Termites are accounted the most 
destructive insects in existence, with what justice we need not stop 
to inquire ; but howsoever great and how variously directed their 
depredations, the writer has never before heard of their consuming 
bone, much less man’s bone. ‘The insects before you represent 
‘““white ants” addicted to this habit, and are examples of the 
following of the several forms of individuals usually met with in 
the termites’ nests, namely :—(1) The larve not fitted for repro- 
duction ; (2) the soldiers; (3) the workers; (4) the larval forms 
fitted for reproduction; and (5) the ‘‘nymphs of the first and 
second classes.”* It will thus be seen that we have here nearly all 
the forms usually found in a complete termitarium, especially at this 
time of the vear, and those who are familiar with Fritz Muller’s 
investigations into the habits of the termites of Brazil will re- 
member that the nymphs of the second class never leave the nest, 
and so will readily conclude that these specimens if found together, 
as was the case, must have lived in or near a termitarium, and have 
formed a component part of the community inhabiting it; or, in 
other words, a colony of white ants must have established itself in 
the immediate spot whence these exhibits were procured. Now, 
this was within the cavity of the skull, and from the long bones 
of a human skeleton—that of an aged female aboriginal—found 
in the bush near the Junction Hotel, Brisbane. 


These termites had eaten circuitous grooves into the inner sur- 
face of the calvaria—the only portion of the cranium which 
remained—and these grooves were in several instances so deep as 
in several places to involve the outer table of the skull, which they 
pierced so as to occasion the presence of numerous irregular holes 
of various size, occurring not only on the anterior regions, but on 
the sides and behind, in fact all over the skull. From the appear- 
ance of the calvaria, it was very evident that the remaining portions 
of the skull had already been destroyed by the termites. Within 
that portion of the cavity which still remained, and in juxtaposition 
to the bone itself, was the peculiar substance usually composing 
termites’ nests, and ina similar cellular condition. ‘The white ants 
had also eaten into the heads of the long bones. 


* In the absence of winged forms it were hazardous to express an opinion 
as to the species which these insects represent ; but notwithstanding this 
uncertainty which attends their reference to one of the described species it 
is probable that they belong to Hagen’s Eutermes fumipennis. 


122 ON AN UNRECORDED HABIT OF WHITE ANTS ; 


It remains now to show the connection of this subject with the 
special branch of Judicial Entomology alluded to by M. Mégnin 
and Mariano de la Paz Graells. In this particular case it does not 
appear that it is possible to realise M. Mégnin’s views as to the 
possibility of finding the cause of the death of the individual 
whose remains furnished the material for this note. We may, 
however, in this instance, examine into the claims of any verdict 
put forward in reference to this subject, and though we may not 
be able to pronounce what the cause was, we may investigate the 
reasonableness of anyone which might be alleged in explanation of 
the occurrence of the remains in question under the circumstances 
mentioned. 


From a previous examination of these remains, another observer 
who, in his investigations, removed the white ants and their nest, 
was led to regard the holes, which we have shown to have been 
caused by ‘“‘white ants,’ as shot holes; and to conclude, as I 
presume, ‘‘on grounds phrenological,” that the man to whom the 
remains had belonged had died a violent death”—a conclusion 
equally commendable with those given expression to on the same 
occasion, but with which we are not now concerned.* 


As concerning the time which has elapsed since the individual 
owner of the skeleton in which the termites occurred ceased to 
live, we can only state—Should one have previously ascertained 
(1) the time which must have been occupied by the usual 
destroyers of dead bodies, spoken of respectively as Coprophagt, 
Adtpophagt, Necrophagt, ana Detriticole to have played their 
successive parts ; (2) the time during which the skeleton underwent, 
if any, such changes as would serve to convert the bone into 
suitable food for the termites; and (3) the time which must have 
elapsed since the original ant colony was established in the remains 
as judged from its present state of social development, and from 
the degree in which the bones evince the destructive attacks of its 
members. ‘These factors would, when summed up, tell us what 
these investigators, in other instances, have sought to discover— 
namely, how long a time had elapsed since this aboriginal passed 
away. Not having as yet estimated the values of these factors we 


* Professor J. Bumenthal has examined the skull, which was among the 
bones, and has found that it evidently belonged to a male aboriginal not 
more than 25 years of age, and that it must have been buried for at least 
fifteen years. On scraping away the encrustation of dirt he found no less 
than nine shot holes in the skull, leading to the conclusion that the man to 
whom it belonged had died a violent death.— Courier. 


BY HENRY TRYON. 123 


cannot at present supply this information,-but are contented at 
having brought under notice what, in a climate like ours, might 
prove an important method of investigation in solving difficult 
questions of a particular description. 


A discussion then arose in which Messrs. A. J. Turner, A. 
Norton, L. A. Bernays, and W. Fryar took part, and in this the 
general views enunciated by Mr. ‘Tryon were subjected to criticism 
from several points of view ; but the members, having examined 
the numerous insects and human remains exhibited, bore testi- 
mony to t!:e accuracy of Mr. Tryon’s conclusion as to the part 
played by the white ants. Mr. Tryon having replied, he then 
exhibited, on behalf of Mr. F. M. Bailey, several new plants from 
the Musgrave River. 


FRIDAY, 14TH OCTOBER, 1887. 


J-- THORPE, EsQ., IN THE CHAIR. 


DONATIONS. 


‘Proceedings of the Linnean Society of N. S. Wales,” 2nd 
Series, Vol. II., Pt. 2. Sydney, 1887. From the Society. 

“The Victorian Naturalist,” Vol. IV., No. 4. Melbourne, 
September, 1887. From the Field Naturalists’ Club of Victoria. 


“Register of Papers published in the Tasmanian Journal, and 
in the Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 
from 1841-1885,” compiled by Alex. Moreton. ‘Tasmania, 1887. 
From the Society. 


“Twenty-first Annual Report of the Acclimatization Society of 
Queensland,” and “ Report of the Council for the year 1887.” 
Brisbane, 1887. From the Society. 


“Royal Album of Arts and Industries of Great Britain.” 
London, 1887. From Messrs. Wyman & Sons, publishers. 

“Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India, Pateeontlogia 
Indica :—(1) ‘The Fossil Cephalopoda of the Cretaceous Rocks 
of Southern India (Belemnitide-Nautilide).’ Calcutta, 1861. 
Reprint, 1886. (2) Series XII., ‘The Fossil Flora of the Gond- 
wana System.’ (3) Vol. IV., Pt. 2, ‘The Fossil Flora of some 
of the Coal-fields in Western Bengal.’ Calcutta, 1886. (4) 
Series X., ‘Indian Tertiary and Post Tertiary Vertebrata ; Vol. 
III, Pt. 7 and 8, ‘Siwalik Crocodilia, Lacertilia and Ophidia, 


124 DONATIONS. 


and Tertiary Fish.’ -Calcutta, 1886. (5) Series X., Vol. IV., 
Pt. 1, ‘Siwalik Mammalia,’ Supplement I. Calcutta, 1886. (6) 
Series XIII., ‘Salt Range Fossils—Productus-limestone Fossils, 
6 Ccelenterata.’ Calcutta, 1886. (7) ‘Title Page and Contents 
of Vol. I.’ (8) ‘Catalogue of the remains of Siwalik Vertebrata 
contained in the Indian Museum, Part I., Mammalia.’ (g) ‘ Do., 
Part. II., Aves, Reptilia, and Pisces,’ 8vo. (Caleuttayameas: 
(10) ‘Catalogue of the Remains of Pleistocene and Prehistoric 
Vertebrata in the Indian Museum,’ 8vo. Calcutta, 1885.” From 
the Director, Geological Survey of India, Calcutta. 

“Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of N.S. Wales,” 
Vol. XI., Pt. 2: Sydney, 1887. From the Society. 

“The Victorian Naturalist,” Vol. IV., No. 6. Melbourne; 
October, 1887.. From the Field Naturalists’ Club of Victoria. 

“ Verhandlungen der Deutschen Wissenschaftlichen Vereins zu 
Santiago,” 4 Heft. Valparaiso, 1886. From the Society. 

‘“ Proceedings of the Royal Society,” Vol. XL., No, 245; XLI., 
Nos. 246-50; XLII., Nos. 251-55, from May 23th, 1886, to May, 
5th, 1887. From the Society. 

“ Bericht der Senckenbergische naturforshende Gesellschaft,” 
1887. Frankfurta M. From the Society. 

“Transactions and Proceeding of the Royal Society of Victoria, 
Melbourne,” Vol. XXIV., Pt..1. Melbourne, 1887. From the 
Society. 

‘The following Paper was read : — 


GOLD OCCURRENCE IN QUEENSTA Oy 


BY 


N. BAR TEEY, Ese: 
Communicated by HENRY Tryon. 
(Read on rth October, 1887.) 


I pip not in my former paper on gold in this colony carry the 
subject on from the great alluvial Palmer rush of 1874 to that 
time in 1883 when the Mount Morgan men first found out that 
they had a good thing in the ‘ironstone mountain,” for I only 
proposed to treat of the first discovery of gold in Queensland, 
and the nineteen years from 1853 to 1872 were, I considered, 
a sufficiently long period to trace that epoch through. I now 
purpose to bring forward some arguments to show that our colony 


GOLD OCCURRENCE IN QUEENSLAND. 125 


is likely to take precedence of all other countries in yield of gold. 
It is an old and homely proverb that you cannot have both 
meal and malt from your barley, also that one cannot eat a cake 
and have it as well, and this proverb has a great bearing on what 
I am about to advance. 


It is well known that for hundreds and thousands of years there 
has been a steady export of gold in the shape of alluvial ‘* dust” 
from the continent of Africa, alike on its west coast, and from 
those parts that border the Levant and Red Sea, and this has 
held good from before the days of King Solomon, Ophir, and 
Tarshish, until now. Statistics are silent as to the quantity of 
gold, but it must have been very great indeed. ‘Then again, we 
have it on record that the princes of Hindostan possess uncounted 
treasures of gold in coin and jewels, the produce of their country, 
whose alluvial gold resources could alone have furnished them ; 
for there was neither there nor in Africa any gold quartz crushing 
machinery fifty years ago. Hence the gold exported from and in 
use in both places must have been both local in origin and alluvial 
in character. ‘The same remark may apply to Peru and Mexico, 
where gold was so abundant and used for domestic utensils 300 
years ago, and which must all have been alluvial in the absence 
of the stampers of our nineteeth century. I cannot speak with 
certainty of the produce in gold of the Ural Mountains in Russia, 
but I fancy that reef gold must predominate there. Some massive 
specimens that I have seen show free gold and malachite, exactly 
like the early raised stone from the “ Alliance” reef at Morinish, 
near Rockhampton. 


We may fairly infer from what I have here stated that the 
confessedly rich alluvial gold deposits of Peru, Mexico, Africa, 
and India, must have greatly impoverished the reefs in all these 
places. Indian and African reefs will rarely ‘‘ pay.” No place, 
with the exception, possibly, of Brazil and the country lying north- 
ward between it and the Spanish main, will ever come to rival 
Queensland in the production per ounce per ton of reef gold. 
California and New Zealand can never do it, for they are both 
handicapped in the alloying mixture of silver with their gold, to 
an extent which affects its value greatly. The colony of Victoria 
affords us a striking example of the way in which the alluvial gold 
has ‘‘robbed” the reef. The full yield of alluvial, so far, from all 
Victoria, may be safely put down as between 150 and 200 millions 
sterling, and to this extent the reefs have suffered, and the result 
is that something like g‘dwts. of gold per ton is the average reef 
produce of Victoria. Contrast this with Queensland, where, with 


126 GOLD OCCURRENCE IN QUEENSLAND ; 


the exception of the great alluvial deposits on the Palmer River, 
there was no water-washed gold found in the soil to a large 
amount anywhere, and so it comes to pass that our reefs yield 
all round, as nearly as possible, 40 dwts. of gold to the ton—an 
average result which not only challenges, but (in racing phrase) 
“distances” all the world besides. 


And there is an advantage in this to our colony that does not 
appear in the surface of matters. Reef gold has to be (very much) 
worked for, and one-half at least, of its £3 10s. per ounce value 
has to be spent and remain in the colony in the shape of wages, 
machinery, &c. We clearly gain by every ounce of gold won 
from the reef in our vast territory. There is none of that system 
of taking £30,000 worth of gold in nuggets and water-worn 
pieces out of one hole, in one week, that used to obtain in the 
colony of Victoria, enabling the lucky finders to go home to 
Europe with their plunder, and leave the colony only the richer 
by their week’s rations and the purchase of their mining tools. 
Fortunately we in Queensland get considerably more, though 
indirect benefit, from our gold yield than this. 


The Southern limit of payable gold in this colony may be 
considered to be at Gympie, where it occurs in a tolerably pure 
state in quartz that traverses what miners call “slate,” but which 
more resembles diorite (or basalt). There is a little galena and 
copper and some calcspar with it, but it is much more “free” than 
the gold at Kilkivan, which is so mixed up with copper, lead, and 
other metals as to be difficult to extract, though very plentiful. 
Eidsvold, in the same district, gives good “straight” quartz and 
gold. Passing north we come to the Mount Perry, Reid’s Creek, 
and Rawbelle districts, where gold is also plentiful, but much 
incorporated with the ores of iron, the same as at the Crocodile 
Creek and Charters Towers. Passing over the minor reefs at 
Cania and the Boyne, we come to that grand ‘ Central emporium” 
of gold in Queensland, that lies grouped to the south of the Fitzroy 
River. Rosewood and Mount Morgan produce the purest gold 
in our colony. Clermont and Cloncurry being “well up” in point 
of fineness also. Ridglands and Blackfellows’ Gully show free 
gold in decomposed sulphuret of lead, and at Morinsh it shows 
free and very pure in iron and copper ores. Mount Britton and 
Clermont are minor goldfields, but Charters Towers is a proof of 
the prolific nature of good mundic in the concealment, entangle- 
ment, and useful reservation of gold in wholesale quantities free 
from all risk of alluvial escape or of being cheaply raised and 
borne out of the country without benefiting its native land, as so 


BY N. BARTLEY, ESQ. 127 


much of the alluvial gold of Victoria did. Ravenswood, at the 
upper camp, carries some very refractory gold ores, as shareholders 
have found to their cost, albeit very rich in the precious metal. 
The Cape River reefs have very free, pure, and thread-like 
filaments of gold in them, and the Etheridge produces beautiful 
waxy, white needles of cerussite (carbonate of lead) crossing 
each other in every direction and with little “pinheads” of pure 
gold adhering to every intersection, and everyone wonders how 
it came there. 


At some reefs, such as the Aurora, so mixed is the stone that 
three distinct ores of copper, one of lead, and one of iron may be 
seen with the native gold on a piece not larger than a boy’s fist. 
The Hodgkinson reefs are much troubled with peacock copper 
ore. The Croydon is too vast an area, and too little explored for 
anyone to pronounce as to what form of stone predominates there 
beyond saying that there is plenty of iron in it, and much silver 
with some of the gold. The Palmer reefs, though much “robbed” 
by the heavy alluvial deposits, are so well in the tropics that there 
is plenty of gold left in them, for reefs and gems grow rich as you 
approach the equator. Gold is found to the east of our meridian 
in New Caledonia and New Zealand, and in the former 64 ozs. to 
the ton has been assayed, but none of it is of high purity; and 
west of our meridian we have Kimberley and Borneo, as gold- 
producers of as yet unknown value ; but nothing has been found 
to surpass the Eastern Cordillera, of Australia, from Cape York to 
Gippsland latitude, while for ‘‘unrobbed” reefs that will employ 
labour and produce gold, locked up meantime in trust for future 
generations, long after the alluvial beds of Victoria have been 
cleaned out, we shall have to look solely to that vast territory at 
present known under the general name of Queensland. 


Mr. E. B. Lindon expressed regret at the unavoidable absence 
from the meeting of the author of the paper. Not only could 
Mr. Bartley have enlarged on some of the topics touched upon in 
his interesting paper, but he would no doubt have shown speci- 
mens in illustration of it, and amongst others, for instance, ores 
displaying the association of gold and copper as found at Kilkivan. 
Any remarks which he had to make were merely by way of 
supplement. His own previous experience in Brazil, Victoria, 
and elsewhere had led him to conclude that the presence of gold 
in “alluvial” did not imply the impoverishment of any portion of 
a reef occurring at the same place beyond that portion which by 
denudation had supplied the alluvial. Especially this was so, he 


128 GOLD OCCURRENCE IN QUEENSLAND. 


had thought, in the case of those Victorian reefs, which Mr. 
Bartley must have had in view, and from which gold was won at a 
depth of from two to three thousand feet beneath the surface. 
The gold at Eidsvold was, it was true, much of it “straight” 
gold; but, then again, a great part, as he had seen, was associated 
with arsenical pyrites and other sulphides. In referring to Mount 
Perry, more stress might have been placed on the great develop- 
ment of auriferous copper lodes which ebtained there, and which 
would yield up their gold when the conditions of the labour 
market would profitably admit of the adoption of one or other of 
the excellent processes already known for treating ores of the class 
which they contained. His experience also enabled him to state 
concerning the general nature of the Croydon stone as follows :— 
It was a very white amphorous quartz containing druses, or rather 
nests, of crystals of this mineral, and amongst these the gold was 
met with in a very finely divided state. This ore was much 
impregnated and stained with iron of a clayey nature. As might 
have been expected, when lower levels were reached it was found 
that the free gold was associated in the quartz with galena and 
iron pyrites. In conclusion, Mr. Lindon bore testimony to the 
great work which Mr. Bartley had accomplished, ever since the 
inception of the mining industry of the colony, in bringing 
together specimens showing the characteristic mineral associations 
of the different fields, and placing these at the disposal of all who 
might consult them or him for the lesson which they taught. 


Mr. D. O’Connor, who had long resided'in Ballarat, said that 
he was of opinion that the occurrence of gold in the “alluvial” 
there had little influence in affecting any impoverishment of lodes 
worked far below the level of the deepest leads. 


Mr. Pritchard had come to a similar conclusion, and remarked 
that the low average yield of Victorian reefs was in consequence 
of the fact that owing to the perfection of the mining appliances, 
by the use of which miners could make a very low percentage 
pay, much of the casings of the lodes was crushed at the same 
time as the richer mineral actually contained within their walls. 
Having been in Sandhurst and in other mining centres of Victoria 
since the very early days, he was able to instance several reefs 
in which their actual contents had proved immensely rich in gold, 
and this was especially so in those portions which, from their 
proximity to the alluvial, should, if Mr. Bartley’s generalisation 
were correct, have been greatly impoverished. But that reefs 
were actually robbed by alluvial was the popular belief amongst 
many miners. 


OBSERVATIONS ON CATARACT. 129 


OBSERVATIONS ON CATARACT: 


“A METHOD NOT GENERALLY KNOWN BY WHICH 
OBSTACEES, TO DISTINCGE VISION SITUATE* WITHIN 
ONE’S OWN EYES MAY BE OBSERVED ;” 


BY 
E. J. BENNETT. 
Communicated by HreNry TRYON. 


(Read on rath October, 1887.) 


(PLATES V. anp VI.) 


AN oculist is able, by the application of his knowledge and skill, 
to detect the existence of Cataract, and so also is the patient, as 
far as failing or loss of sight will afford the information ; but I am 
not aware that hitherto the means of seeing or representing the 
actual Cataract has been attained by the patient. I myself 
suffer from Cataract, and, in consultation with an oculist, have 
learnt the general form which the opacity assumes in one eye, and 
have at the same time been led to conclude that viewing any 
object through a small circular perforation may enable me to see 
this object more distinctly. I have experimented accordingly. 
One, the size of an ordinary pin’s head, did not yield the desired 
result, and so I was led to reduce the size of this perforation until 
I had arrived at one not larger than would admit the point of a 
fine needle. Experimenting with these different-sized holes, I 
have found that, when looking through one of the size of an 
ordinary pin, I have noticed the presence of some obstruction to 
the ingress of light into my eyes, and when the perforation was 
a little smalier this obstruction became defined, and I was able to 
sketch the form. ‘This I did for both my eyes. On submitting 
the pictures thus procured to the oculist, I was informed that 
I had obtained representations of the appearance of the actual 
Cataract. I have since experimented with the smaller sized per- 
forations and with the smallest mentioned I have found that I 
obtain a much more elaborate representation. Parts of the original 
picture which appear of the most indistinct filmy character were 
then brought out in sharp well defined outline, and the clear parts 
of the picture were no. longer clear, but spotted over with apparent 
nuclei, from which the thread and films of the Cataract were 
I 


130 OBSERVATIONS ON CATARACT ; 


probably extending and growing. In a similar way with my 
second eye the features presented by the Cataract in it were more 
vividly brought out. Removing the perforation, through which 
light was admitted, away from the eye had the effect of substituting 
a smaller perforation. ‘lhe fact might be better understood by 
looking at the perforated piece of metal with which I have ex- 
perimented, and examining the pictures which I have obtained, 
as representations of the Cataract in both eyes, these being 
numbered to correspond with the particular sized perforation 
which had been used in obtaining them. (These exhibits—Plate 
V.—were then examined by the members present). 


The explanation of what I have stated is to be found in the 
following facts :—Any opacity lying between the retina and the 
front of the eye will offer an interference definite in amount 
and character, to any light coming from external illuminated 
objects. This interference willl be the more appreciated by 
the retina as the total quantity of light, a portion of which is 
thus shut off, becomes less. For this opacity in the course of any 
light entering the eye will cast a shadow in front of the retina, 
which will be the more intense in proportion as that light 
which enters the eye, but which does not pass through the 
opacity, and which therefore tends to illuminate this shadow, be- 
comes less. Also, as the shadow caused by this opacity becomes 
more intense, so the outline corresponding to its figure will 
become more distinct, and the different degrees of intensity in the 
shadow, answering to the varying translucency in different parts of 
the opacity, will become more pronounced. 


In conclusion, I do not suppose that I have made a discovery, 
but merely wish to direct attention to facts of my own observa- 
tion, which are not generally known. I will not presume to 
suggest any benefit which may accrue to the professional oculist 
from these observations. A patient may, however, now be able 
to test the progress or otherwise of the Cataract in his own eyes 
and represent for the information of his professional adviser, more 
or less fully and accurately, the shape and character of the ob- 
struction to his vision. ‘This will be of eminent service when 
circumstances prevent the two from confronting each other, and 
in their absence may obviate the necessity of the patient having 
to submit to a tedious operation—the professional examination of 
his eyes by aid of strong light and magnifying glass. Nor does 
the scope of this means of research appear to be limited to cases 
only in which the obstruction to vision is due to Cataract. 


BY E. J. BENNETT, ESQ. PK 
EXPLANATION OF PLATES. 


Plate V.—The Cataract—see 1st paragraph. 


Plate VI.—Effect, due to the presence of the particular Cataract 
depicted, in viewing printed matter or simliar object 
with both eyes. 


On the motion of Mr. D. O’Connor, a vote of thanks was 
unanimously accorded to Mr. N. Bartley and E. J. Bennett, 
insomuch as, though non-members, they had written valuable 
papers for the Society. 


NOTE ON EE OCCURRENCE OF 
PRICLINIC KT EL SPARS Ny kik GRAM Tie 
OF CHARTERS, TOWERS. 


BY 
A. W. CLARKE, Government Mineralogical Lecturer. 
) g 
(Read on 14th October, 1887.) 


THIS note comprised the substance of a letter to the honorary 
Secretary, and was read by him in the absence of its author. 
Mr. Clarke, in his endeavour to determine the origin of the 
auriferous calcite of the Charters ‘Towers goldfield, had been led 
to examine the granites to be met with there and their constituent 
minerals, and amongst the latter the felspars. Of these last was 
one which, when suitably prepared and viewed with the polari- 
scope, displayed precisely similar optical characters to those 
afforded by the triclinic felspars which occurred in felsite porphyry 
from Germany. ‘This was seen on comparing two illustrations 
forwarded by Mr. Clarke and representing :—1. A drawing showing 
the appearance, as observed by the use of the polariscope, of a 
section of felsite porphyry which contained triclinic felspar, and 
which had been prepared by Fuess, supervised by Professor 
Rosenbach. 2. A drawing derived in a similar manner from a 
section of Charters Towers granite, prepared by Mr. Clarke 
himself. Further, the author had analysed a portion of the stone 
from which his section had been cut, and in 15.43 grains had 


132 NOTE ON TRICLINIC FELSPARS. 


detected more than a trace of lime. Meanwhile he was con- 
tinuing his examination of his Charters Towers granite, chemically 
and microscopically, in order to find out whether this triclinic 
felspar, which it contained, was a pure lime felspar or was a lime 
and soda one, and also with which species of felspar it might 
be associated. 


Mr. Clarke’s note concluded with the statement that if the 
occurrence of triclinic felspars containing lime, in the granites at 
Charters Towers, was general, the suggestion that the calcite there 
resulted from the decomposition of lime felspars would be most 
probable, and that the zeolite, too—the subject of his previous 
communication—owed its origin to the same source. 


ON’ A THIRD SPECIES ae 
THE AUSTRALIAN TREE KANGAROO; 


BY 


C. W. DE VIS, M.A. / & 
(Read on 14th October, 1887 ). 


AN accident similar to that which last year brought to light a 
second species of Dendrolagus in Queensland, has quite recently 
delivered up to knowledge a third kind, intermediate in habitat 
but not in features, between D. bennettianus and D. lumholtzi. 
The dogs of some sportsmen hunting in a scrub near Herberton 
encountered and killed an animal which was recognised as a tree 
kangaroo, and the interest excited by the recognition fortunately 
led to the preservation of the skin, which after some time was 
presented in fair condition to the Queensland Museum by D. 
Mowbray, Esq., P.M., of Herberton. Of the specific distinctness 
of the animal represented by this skin from the red shouldered 
species, bennettianus, of the Daintree River, and the smaller 
lumholtzi of the Lower Herbert, there is no room for doubt, and 
under the suggestion of its tawny colour the writer proposes for it 
the name Dendrolagus fulvus. 


Sp. Char. adult male. 


Coronal crest between the ears ; centre of radiation of the 
dorsal hair at anterior, third of the length of the body; form, 


THE AUSTRALIAN TREE KANGAROO. 133 


robust ; limbs, sub-equal in length and thickness; size, superior; 
fulvous, brown ; back and sides much pencilled with black ; from 
the hind neck to the occiput nearly black ; muzzle, black ; top of 
head and temples, rufo-fulvous ; facial ridge, a patch on the throat 
and one below the armpit pale buff; hinder part of the arm and 
hinder edge of forearm and wrist, dull rufous; mid-region of the 
leg, dark brown, defined above by a faint haunch stripe ; hinder 
lower part of shank and hinder upper part of metatarse, bright 
buff; upper base of tail with an obscure stain of chestnut brown ; 
beneath and inside limbs dingy buff. 


The hairs of the back and sides are light yellowish brown, many 
of them entirely so, but most of them tipped more or less with 
black ; the black tips not being equally distributed the result is a 
streaky mixture of tawny yellow and black. Anterior to the centre 
of radiation, black tipped and wholly black hairs begin to pre- 
dominate and yield on the nape a nearly pure black surface. 
The hairs of the upper surface lose their black tips entirely on the 
mid-line of the flanks, and, becoming yellower, pass into the 
impure buff of the under surface, which spreads with a redder 
tint on the hinder edge of the fore leg, and posteriorly extends 
over the base of the tail. ‘The upper surface of the proximal half 
of the tail beyond the base is yellowish brown, passing gradually 
into the brownish black of the tufted end; the lower surface is 
brownish black to near the base, and here a faint continuation ot 
its hue upwards into the suprabasal stain shews the persistence 
of the generic pattern of colouring in this region. ‘The dark 
brown tint of the thigh and knee fades as it passes down the front 
edge of the shank, and vanishes above the ankle. The inner 
surface of the ear is clothed with fulvous hairs and fringed 
anteriorly with rufous. ‘The hands and feet are, as usual, black. 
The pads of the hind feet are very broad and short and are 
covered with rough irregular granulations. The fifth toe-nail 
reaches as far forward as the end of the pad of the fourth toe. 
The fourth toe-nail is-—at least in one foot—compressed, regularly 
arched and acuminate; in the other its form is somewhat less 
that of a prehensile claw. In the hand, which is armed with 
powerful claws, it is interesting to observe a distinct tendency to 
the separation of the toes into two groups, as in the native bear 
and some Phalangers, but with this difference that in the present 
animal it is the two outer toes only which are in some degree 
opposable to the rest. A similar tendency is observable in D. 
bennettianus, 


134 THE AUSTRALIAN TREE KANGAROO, 


MEASUREMENTS. 

mm, 
Total length (tail imperfect) . : ; . 1481 
Head ; é : : : < c PDS 
Body 4 : . . : : - . 645 
Tail : ? : : : : : . 685 
Tibia : ; : ‘ : : : . | 160 
Fore arm ' : - : : 5 « ga 
Hind foot : ; : : c : ose: 
Fore foot ; : - : 5 4 - 102 
Hind limbs, without feet : A 5 . 220 
Fore limbs ba * ‘ : ‘ : 196 
Skull : : : 5 ; : ; fears 


The forward direction of the hair of the neck in these animals 
is explained by their posture when asleep in the trees; they then 
sit with their heads and fore quarters bent down between their 
hind legs. In this position the direction of the hair from all 
sides of the summit of the back enables them to endure with less 
discomfort the incessant rainfall of their habitats. 


SKULL —This is remarkable for the development of the parts 
lodging the olfactory organs. ‘The nasal processes of the maxillary, 
and the nasals themselves, are broad, and together form a large 
olfactory chamber, while the frontals are extraordinarily tumid, 
rising into a double convexity from which the profile of tne skull 
descends rapidly fore and aft. What the food of this species is 
we do not yet know, but something of a rough nature is indicated 
by the large deep and rough insertions of the muscles actuating 
the lower jaw. ‘These are bounded by parietal crests which con- 
verge to a distance of 8 mm. from each other, and then sweep 
outwards to the exoccipital ridge, whence/the depression is con- 
tinued forwards to the root of the zygoma. ‘The premolar is not 
very elongate, being equal in length to the first and half of the 
second molar; it is formed of two rather distant lobes connected 
by a ridge on the outer side of the tooth. The front incisors are 
relatively very large; the laterals small, equal, with elongate crowns 
and subtriangular faces of wear. ‘The canines are very small and 
scarcely functional. Palate, entire. 


DONATIONS. 135 


FRIDAY, 11TH NOVEMBER, 1887. 


ea Mi BATE Ey OPeEsS., in ran -CHATR: 


DONATIONS. 


(1) ‘ Magnetical and Meteorological Observation,” St. Helena, 
1810-43; 2 copies. (2) Do., 1844-9. (3) Do., Toronto, 1840-1 
and 2. (4) Do., Cape of Good Hope, Vol. I., ‘‘ Magnetism.” 
(5) Do., * Unusual Disturbances,” Vol. I., Pt. 2. (6) “Ordinance 
Survey, Astronomical Observations made with Airy’s zenith sector 
from 1842-50.” From Captain Heath, R.N. 

“Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan,” Vol. XV., 
Pt. 2. Yokohama, September, 1887. From the Society. 

“Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria,” by Frederick McCoy, 
Decades, I. to IV. Melbourne, 1878-87. From the Public 
Library, Museum, and National Gallery of Victoria. 

“Tconography of Australian Species of Acacia and Cognate 
Genera,” by Baron Ferd. von Mueller, K-C.M.G.. M. & Ph. D., 
F.R.S., &c., Government Botanist of Victoria. Decades I. to IV. 
Melbourne, 1887. From the same. 

‘“Records of the Geological Survey of India,” Vol. XX., Pt. 8. 
Calcutta, 1887. From the Director of the Survey. 


The following paper was read :— 


NAC COUNT Or DHE CHIEF iOB/EGLTS 
Gr BOTANICAL INTEREST 
COLVECTED DURING THE,RECENT Visl?T 
OF PE) Ne. SPeCTION 
TOMPE ECS SCRUBS, 2 NOGGE RA: 


BY 


J. SHIRLEY, B.Sc. 


TuIs paper, the manuscript of which was lost by the Honorary 
Secretary, alluded to the occurrence at or near this locality of 
the following plants, the leading botanical features of which were 
pointed out :—Eugenia Ventenatii; Backhousia myrtifolia; Croton 


‘ 
136 CHIEF OBJECTS OF BOTANICAL INTEREST. 


Verreauxii; Commersonia echinata ; Zanthoxylum brachyacanthum ; 
Phyllanthus albiflorus ; Callitriche verna ; Alsomitra suberosa, sf. 
nov. ; Dissiliaria baloghioides ; Oberonia iridifolia ; Chrysophyllum 
pruniferum ; Colocasia macrorrhiza ; Eurycles Cunninghamii ; 
Passiflora edulis; Passiflora Herbertiana ; Corchorus Cunning- 
hamii; Polyporus xanthopus ; Polyporus flabelliformis ; Polyporus 
venustus ; Lecanora (Patellaria) domingensis; Lecidea planella ; 
Lecidea plurilocularis ; Graphis mucronata ; Verrucaria mastoidea, 
and others, specimens of which properly mounted and classified 
were exhibited. 


FRIDAY, 9TH APRIL, 1888. 


A. Norton, M..A., IN THE Gian 


DONATIONS. 


“ Bulletins de Academie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et 
des Beaux Arts,” 3rd Serie, Tomes X. to XIII. Bruxelles, 1885 
to 1887; 5 Vols. From the Academy. 


“Notices Biographiques et Bibliographiques Concernant les 
Membres, les Correspondants et les Associes, 1886.” Bruxelles, 
1887. From the same. 


‘Annuaire, 1886, 52nd year; Bruxelles, 1886 and 1887, 53rd 
year.” Bruxelles, 1887. From the same. 


*“Annale del Museo Civico di Stori Naturale di Genova,” 
Serie 2A, Vol. II. (XXII.) Genova, 1885. From the Museo 
Civico. 

‘Victorian Naturalist,” Vol IV., No. 7. November, 1887. 
From the Field Naturalists’ Club of Victoria. 


“The Colonial Book Circular and Bibliographical Record,” 
Vol. I., No. 1. London, September, 1887. From the Editor. 


“Annual Report of the Department of Mines, New South 
South Wales, for the year 1886.” Sydney, 1887. From the 
Department of Mines, N. S. Wales. 


“Geology of the Vegetable Creek Tin Mining Field, New 
England District, New South Wales,” with maps and sections, by 
T. W. E. David, B.A., F.G.S. Sydney, 1887. From the Depart- 
ment of Mines, N. S. Wales, 


EXHIBITS. Sy) 


EXE BITS; 


(1.) Mr. F. M. Bailey exhibited some recent botanical acquisi- 
tions. ‘These included plants forwarded by Mr. H. L. Griffith 
from Mackay, the more interesting of which were “xfada scandens 
—the Match-box Bean—of which foliage flowers and fruit had 
been transmitted, and a species of Cordza. 


(2.) The Chairman (Mr. A. Norton, M.L.A.) exhibited the 
following mineral specimens :—(1) Massive oxide of tin in a 
matrix of white mica from the Barrier Range ; (2) Hematite from 
Cloncurry, being a pseudomorph—twined cubes—after pyrites ; 
(3) Micaceous and specular iron-ore from Cloncurry; (4) Auri- 
ferous copper ores, containing a mixture of red oxide, ptile ore, 
green carbonates and iron, also from Cloncurry ; (5) Gold-bearing 
ferruginous quartz and quartzite showing gold, the former from the 
Federation and the latter from the Great Eastern claim, Croydon. 


Mr. E. B. Lindon, after directing attention to the most in- 
teresting features presented by these exhibits, gave an interesting 
resumé of the chief mining developments and discoveries which 
had occurred in Queensland during 1887. 


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Masel ))ESX., 


Acacia, containing saponin, 10 
,  Leichhardtii, 90 
», Juniperina, 90 
Acarus and banana disease, 106 
Aczena sanguisorbe, g! 
Acclimatisation Society, rotifers in 
garden of, 28 
Acronychia, sp., 4 
Actinolite, 65 
Actinurus neptunius, 29 
Adiantum diaphanum, 90 
Aquaricus vaginatus, 89 
Agates, 63 
Agonis Ncortechinii, 2 
Alkaloids, in Cryptocarya, 12 
5 Daphnandra, 14 
Alluvial gold, early source of metal, 
12 
Alluvial gold, ‘‘robbing”’ the reef, 125 
Analcime, 69 
Anglesite, 72 
Annual meeting, 85 
Antimony, oxide, 62 
Antimonial copper, 56 
Apalite, 71 
Argentite, 46 
Ascobolus Baileyi, 89 
Asbolane, 62 
Atacamite, 55 
Augite, 66 
Azurite, 77 
Bailey. F.M., F.L.S., on plants, col- 
lected by F. N. Section, 89 
Bailey, F. M., F.L.S., on plants from 
Mackay, 13 
Banana, rust disease, 106 
- other diseases, 109 
Bancroft, ]., M.D., destruction of 
marine mollusca, 26 
Bancroft, T. L., M.B., on poisonous 
property of Nicotina suaveolens, 
g; on nicotine in Solanum avi- 
culare, 9; on saponin in Acacia 
delibrata, 10; on physiological 
action of Cryptocarya australis, 
12; on physiological action of 
Daphnandra repandula, 13 


Banksia collina, go 

Barium carbonate, 75 

Bartley, N., on first discovery of gold 
in Queensland, 114; gold oc- 
currence in Queensland, 124 ; 
on gold near Warwick, 116 

Barytes, 72 

Bee parasite, H. Tryon on, 17 

Bennett, E. J., observation on Catar- 
act, 129; on method of seeing 
own Cataract, 129 


| Beryl, 66 


Bismuth, native in Queensland, 44 ; 
ochre, 62; carbonate, 77 

Bismite, 62 

Bismuthite, 77 

Black Snake, gold of, 36 

Blacks, ignorant of us of tobacco 
plant, 9 

Blumenthal, J., on human remains, 
o-) 

Bone-eating termites, 121 

Bornite, 48 

Bovine pleuro-pneumonia, 20 

Brachyloma Scortechenii, 2 

Braula czeca, at Brisbane, 17; its life 
and history, 18; distribution, g 

Bulbophyllum Elisz, go 

i exiguum, 90 

Cacoxenite, 71 

Cairngorm, 64 

Calcite, 73; do. in auriferous lodes, 
TIO, 112 

Calicium Queenslandiz, 89 

Calliope, discovery of gold at, 116 

Canoona ‘i > 116 

Cape River, discovery of gold at, 
116; character of gold of, 37 

Cassiterite, 58; do. associated min- 
erals, 59 

Catalogue of Queensland minerals, 
B2 

Cerargyrite, 55 

Cerussite, 75 

Cervantite, 62 

Chabazite, 69 

Chalcedony, 63 


140 


Chalcocite, 50 

Chalcopyrite, 51 

Chalcostibnite, 54 

Chalybite, 74 

Charters Towers, gold of, 36; gold 
discovery at, 117; Bartley, gold 
of, 117 

Chiastolite, 67 

Chlorite, 71 

Chromite, 58 

Chrysocolla, 68 

Cinnibar, 50 

Clarke, A. W., on scolecite and 
granite, 109; on triclinic fel- 
par, 131 

Clay, kaolin, 70 

Cloanthes parviflora, go 

Cloncurry, gold discovery at, 117 

Copper, native, in Queensland, 43; 
antimonial, 54; carbonate, blue, 
77: do. green, 75; glance, so: 
oxide, black, 57; do. red, 56; 
silicate, 68; sulphate, 72 

Copperas, 72 

Corresponding members, 97 

Coriinarius czespitosus, go 

Corundum, 57 

Council report, 1886-7, 85 

Crinum angustifolium, poisonous, 89 

Cryptocarya australis, properties of, 
12 

Cuprite, 56 

Cuttsia viburnea, 90 

Daintree, R., on Cape River, 37; on 
traps and auriferous lodes, 38 

Daphnandra_ repandula, properties 
of, 13; do. micrantha, 16 

Daviesia arborea, 4 
3 Wyattiana. 89 

Dendrobium pugioniforme, g1 

: schneideriz, g1 

Dendrolagus fulvus (de Vis), 132; 
measurements of, 133; specific 
characters of, 132; skull of, 
133 

De Vis, C. W., on Owenia grata, 
99; onathird Australian Den- 
drolagus, 132 

Diamond, occurrence in Queensland, 


44 
Dictyophora multicolor, 89 
Diplois Daviesiz, 29 


INDEX. 


Disticophyllum Baileyanum, go 

Donations, 1; 27, 30) O7 ik gnt 23 
135, 136 

Dysoxylon Fraserianum, 90 

Eagle Farm, plants at, 89 

Echinocarpus Woolsii, 90 

Eidsvold, Bartley on gold of, 126 

Elzocarpus Kirtonii, go 

Emu Creek, gold discovery at, 116 

Entada scadens, 137 

Entomology, Judicial, 119 

Enchlais triquetra, 30 

Exhibits, 19, 113, 137 

Fahlerz, 54 

Felspar, oligoclase, 67; orthoclase, 
67; trinclinic and calcite, 131 

Financial Statement, 93 

Flood-watar, destructive to molluscs, 
26 

Floscularia ornata, 29 

Fluorspar, 56 

Galena, 46 

Garnet, 66 

Gayndah, discovery of gold at, 117 

Gilbert, discovery of gold at, 117: 
gold of, 40 

Gismondite, 68 

Gold, first discovery in Queensland, 
114, 116; do. Australia, 115; 
oldest extant uncoined Qd. gold, 
116; character and associations 
of Qd. gold, 34; assay value of 
Qd. gold, 35 

Goldfields of Qd., character of metal 
in, 126 


| Gold amalgam, 43 


Gdthite, 61 

Granite Creek, gold of, 35 

Granite and scolecite, 109-112 

3 triclinic felspar, 131 

Graphite, 45 

Graphis parmeliarum, 89 

Gravatt, Mt. plants of, 89 

Gregory, A. C., on Gympie gold- 
field, 39 

Gympie, 117; N. Bartley on gold 
from, 126 

Gypsum, 72 

Halite, 55 

Hedycarya angustifolia, go 

Helidon, plants of 

Hematite, 57; do. brown, 61 


INDEX. 


Herberton, Dendrolagus fulvus from, 


132 

Hibbertia diffusa, 91 

Hirneda polytricha, 90 

Hodgkinson, gold of, 35 

Hornblende, 65 

Indocroopilly, plants of, 89, 90 

Inoculation for pleuro-pneumonia,21 

Iron, chrome, 58; magnetic, 58; 
oxide, turgite, 61; do. géthite, 
61; do. limonite, 61: do. car- 
bonate, 74; pyrites, 51; titani- 
ferous, 58 

, Jack, R. L., on Mt. Morgan gold 
field, 41 

Jasper, 63 

Judicial Entomology, Mariano de la 
Paz Graells, 120; do. Mégnin, 
11g; do. Tryon, 122 

Kaolin, 70 

Kilkivan, Bartley on gold from, 126 

Knoxia corymbosa, 89 

Labradorite, 67 

Laumontite, 68 

Laumontite and calcite, 111 

Lead carbonate, 75; do. ochre, 56 

Lecidea meiospora, 90 

Lievrite, 66 

Limnias annulatus, 29 

Limonite, 61 

Linarite, 73 

Lindon, E. B., Catalogue of Queens- 
land minerals, 32; on “‘robbing”’ 
reefs, 127; on mining in 1887 
in Queensland, 137 

Lomaria discolor, 90 

Loranthus, n. spp. of genus, 89 

Lutwyche, plants of, 89 

Lysicarpus teretifolius, go 

Magnesite, 74 

Magnetic pyrites, 50 

Magnetite, 58 

Malachite, 75 

Manganese oxide, 60; do. wad, 62 

Mariano de la Paz Graells, Judicial 
entomology, 120 

Marcasite, 52 

Massicot, 56 

Match-box bean, 137 

Mégnin on judicial entomology, 119 

Melaconite, 57 

Melicerta ringens, 29 


141 


Mercury, native, at Kilkivan, 44 

Mesotype, 69 

Mezoneuron Scortechinii, 4 

Minerals of Queensland, by E. B. 
Lindon, 32 

Miskin, W. H., on Papilo parmatus, 


17 

Mispickel, 53 

Mollusca, death of marine, 66 

Molybdenite, 45 

Moore 1nd Shepherd find gold in 
Queensland, 116 

Mt. Gravatt, plants of, 89 

Mt. Mistake, plants of, 90 

Mt. Morgan, Jack on, 41 

Mt. Perry, gold of, 37 

Mt. Pleasant, plants of, 89 

Muscovite, 66 

Natrolite, 68 

Naturalised plants, 91 

New members, I, 20, 27 

Nicotiana suaveolens, nicotine in. 9 

Northcote, gold of, 35 

Norton, A., M.L.A., Presidential 
address, 94; exhibs of minerals, 


MSY) 

Norton goldfield, 36 

Nundah, plants of, go 

Officers and Council, 1886-7, 96; do., 
1887-8, 2 

Oligoclase, 67 

Olivine, 66 

Onyx, 64 

Opal, 65 

Orites excelsa, 90 

Orthoclase, 67 

Owenia grata, n.g. et sp., gg; its 
discovery, 105; description of 
cranium of, 100; dentition of, 
100; affinities of, 103 ; measure- 
ments of, 106; generic charac- 
ters of, 106 

Palmer, E., M.L.A., on bovine pleuro- 
pneumonia, 20 

Palmer goldfield, gold of, 35 

Panax Murrayi, 90 

Papilio parmatus, at Mackay, 17 

Peak Downs discovered, 117 

Pennantia Cunninghamii, 90 

Penninite, 70 

Peechey’s Scrub, plants of, by J. 
Shirley, B.Sc., 136 


142 


Peripatus, occurrence in Australia, 
78; occurrence in Queensland, 
81; desciiption and habits of, 
79; position in animal kingdom 
of, 80; Leuckarti, Senger, 82; 
Leuckarti and P. Nove-zea- 
landiz, 82; description of Qd. 
species of, 84 

Phoma purpurea, 89 

Phosphates in Queensland, 71 

Pimelea ligustrina, 91 

Piper Nove-hollandiz. 90 

Pittosporum undulatum, go 

Pleuro-pneumonia in cattle 20; do., 
loss through, 23 ; symptoms of, 
24; latent form of, 25 

Poa cespitosa, var. latifolia, g1 

Polyarthra platyptera, 29 

Prase, 63 

Prehnite, 68 

Presidential Address, 94 

Pritchard, on low yield Victorian 
crushings, 128 

Psilomelane, 62 

Pterodina patina, 30 

Pyrenomycetes, Australian, 5 

Pyrites, arsenical, 53; do. copper, 
hls do ron.) 51) dom hinyes 0. 
do. white, 52 

Pyromorphite, 71 

Pyrrhotite, 50 

Puccinia graminis, on Leersia, 89 

Pyrolusite, 60 

Quartz, 63 

Rands, W. H., on gold at Chowey 
Creek, 39 

Ravenswood, gold of, 35; discovery 
of gold at, 117 

Redruthite, 50 

Reef gold, advantage of, 126 

Report, Council, 1886-7, 85; F. N. 
Section, 87 

Rhizogyphus, a banana mite, 107; 
habits of, 108 

Rhythiosterium Scortechinii, 5 

Riverview, plants of, 89 

Rock salt, 55 

Rocks (trap). relation to vein-stones, 
38 

Rosewood, plants of, 89 

Rotifers, Brisbane, 28 

Rutile, 60 


INDEX. 


Salpina, sp., 30 

Salt, 55 

Sandgate, plants of, 89 

Saponin in Acacia. to 

Sarcochilus montanus, g1 

Scaridium longicaudum, 29 

Scolecite, A. W. Clarke on, 109, 112 
_ E. B. Lindon on, 111 

Scortechini, orbituary notice, 2; 
on Australia Pyrenomycetes, 5; 
death of, 8; on new species of 
Loranthus, 8; on ferns of Malay 
Archipelago, 8; on ferns of 
Perak, 6; visit to Calcutta of, 8 

Scortechinia, n.g., 5 

Serpentine, 69 

Shirley, J., plants of Peechey’s scrub, 
135 

Siderite, 74 

Silicates, anhydrous, of Queensland, 
65; hydrous do., 68 

Silicon, oxides of, 63 

Silver, chloride, 55; horn silver, 55 

Smithsonite, 75 

Solanum aviculare, nicotine in, 9 

Sphalerite, 48 

Stannite, 52 

Stanthorpe, gold in district of, 40; 
noteworthy plants of, 3 

Star River, discovery of gole at, 117 

Stenocarpus salignus, go 

Sterculia acerifolia, 90 

Stibnite, 45 

Stilbite, 69 

Stream tin, 60 

Stutchbury, discovery of gold in, 
Port Curtis, 116 

Sulphur in Queensland, 44 

Talc, 69 

Tarretia actinophylla, 90 

Tellurium, 44 

Termites, bone-eating, 121 

Tetrahedrite, 54 

Thomsonite, 68 

Three-mile scrub. plants of, go 

Thorpe, J., weather chart, 19 

Thorpe, V. G., on Brisbane rotifers, 


29 

Tin oxide, 58; do. pyrites, 51; do. 
stream, 60 

Titaniferous iron ore, 58 

Titanium oxide, 60 


INDEX. 


Topaz, 68 

Tourmaline, 67 

Tungstates, 71 

Turgite, 61 

Tree kangaroo, D. fulvus, 132 

Triclinic felspars and calcite, 131 

Tryon, H, on Acarus and banana 
disease, 106; on Braula ceca, 
17; on Judicial entomology, 119; 
on Peripatus in Australia, 78 ; 
on unrecorded habit of termites, 


119 
Ustilago axicola, on Fimbristylis, 90 


143 


Victoria, yield of alluvial gold, 70 

Wad, 62 

Witherite, 75 

Whitelegge, on Melicerta, 29; on 
N.S.W. rotifers, 30; on pre- 
servation of rotifers, 30 

Wolfram, 71 * 

W ollastonite, 65 

Wood (fossil), 64 

Xanthorrhza minor, 89 

Zinc blende, 48; do. carbonate, 75 ; 
do. native in Queensland, 44 

Zircon, 66 


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