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O./ A ffm lB (Qe uw f f oO ot f yw" f) Vhs TRANSACTIONS AND PROCEEDINGS AND INE fT OORT H Philosophical Society ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA, FOR 1878-9. Adelaide : D BY WEEB, VARDON, & PRITCHARD, GRESHAM STRE 1879. Philosophical Society of Adelaide. IQ- TABIS- Sul, | —38-<$-4 Our ranges are rather of a composite character, consisting of parallel ridges, often separated by broad and deep plain-like valleys; this feature is most prominent to the north of Kooringa. The first group is that of the Adelaide chain, which com- menees at Cape Jervis and occupies the coast line to the north as far as Normanville, and to the east as far as Port Elliot, and continues with varied height in a nearly north direction to beyond Lake Frome, a distance of 350 miles. It attains its greatest elevation in the Mount Lofty and Barossa districts, and its chief highest points are Mount Lofty, 2,334; Kaiser- stuhl, 1,973; Lagoon Hill, 2,285; and north of Burra Burra, Mount Cone, 2,601; Razorback, 2,834. Itisvery little interrupted in its course, and that only by a few narrow gorges through which are discharged our insignificant rivers, emptying themselves into St. Vincent’s Gulf. Two spurs are thrown off on its western side within our immediate district, one terminating in the sea cliffs between Marino and Morphett Vale, and the second in those forming the southern boundary of Aldinga Bay. The second group is that of the Flinder’s Range, which commences in the elevated land of Northern Yorke’s Peninsula, xii. but more prominently in the conspicuous hills termed the Hummocks at the Head of St. Vincent’s Gulf, thence it follows a curvilinear line with a general northerly direction to round - the head of Lake Torrens. The east coast of Spencer’s Gulf and Lake Torrens has the same general direction as this chain, and to which it is in close proximity ; and also because of the small annual rainfall, about 12 inches, though the elevation of the range is higher than that of the Adelaide chain, the rivers are all short, and for the most part do not reach the sea or Lake Torrens. The highest points in this range are among the highest in South Australia. They are—the Bluff, 2,404; Mount Remarkable and Mount Brown, about 3,000 feet. The third elevated region is that of Hyre’s Peninsula, which does not seem to present any well-defined system. However, the Gawler Ranges, on its north, are represented on our maps as having an east and west strike; and the high grounds about Port Lincoln seem to have a north and south trend ; but to the westward, certainly as far as Streaky Bay, the generally undulating country is dotted over by isolated peaks, or short razor-backed ridges showing no uniformity as to direction. All these elevated regions are constituted of the fundamental rocks and their associated granites. The Adelaide chain is bounded on its western side by the vast and fertile plain of Adelaide, which extends from Marino, on the south, and sweeps round the head of St. Vincent’s Gulf on the north. No inconsiderable portion has been remoyed by the action of the sea, as it is abruptly terminated on the shores of Holdfast Bay and at Ardrossan on either side of the Gulf. The period of its formation is comparatively recent. Plains of a like character are interspersed in longitudinal bands among the parallel ridges of the Flinders Range and northern extension of the Adelaide chain, though not one is equal in magnitude to the Adelaide Plain. The two southern spurs of the Adelaide chain enclose undulating plains, in part partaking of the character of the Adelaide Plain, but mainly constituted of rocks of much older, though of Tertiary date ; the northern one is the Willunga Plain, the southern is the Myponga Flat. On the eastern side of the Adelaide chain there stretches far and wide the Plain of the South-East, towards the western boundary of which flows the Lower Murray. The dimensions of this plain are about 290 miles from north to south and an average of 100 miles from east to west. The general level, which is broken by low sandy ridges, does not exceed 200 feet. The rocks composing it are of the same age as those composing the Willunga Plain and the lower tracts of Yorke’s Peninsula. The prevailing unitormity of scenery is relieved in two limited areas by isolated conical hills of granitic and of volcanic xiii: materials; and towards the seaward margin by immense swamps. No rivers originate in this plain, though a few short ones traverse its western margin in their passage from the Adelaide chain to the River Murray. To the north and west from Lake Torrens there stretch almost unlimitable plains, somewhat similar in their character to portions of the S.E. Plain. The western section is probably coterminous with the Bunda Plateau, around the head of the Great Australian Bight. Jukes (1846), Burr (1846), and other early geological observers recognised these leading surface features of the province, and relegated the strata of the hill ranges to the Paleozoic and metamorphic series, and the fossiliferous beds constituting the plains to the Tertiary epoch. PRE-SILURIAN. Burr, occupying himself with the geological structure of the country between Mount Arden and the South coast, and east- wards of the meridian of Mount Arden, has given us a sketch of the sequence of the strata of these ranges. He notes their southerly dip, and considers them, probably, to correspond with the Cambrian and Skiddaw systems of Sedgwick, having been led to this belief from the circumstance of there being no fossils in them. In his generalised section of the arrangement of these old rocks he has not attempted to give thicknesses ; and it appears to me that he has inverted the true order. In an ascending series he represents it as follows :— 1. Quartzose sandstone. 2. Dark-coloured slate. 3. Limestone beds, frequently very impure, and passing into 4. Slate and slaty beds (metalliferous). 5. Mica slate, chlorite slate, and thence frequently into sandstone (metalliferous). 6. Gneiss, which is metalliferous, resting on 7. Unstratified granite, and other igneous rocks. The strata composing the principal range of South Austraha have a general dip to the south-east, and show a succession of clay slate with quartzite bands, crystalline limestones, mica slate and other decidedly metamorphic rocks, and granite. It is remarkable that the apparently less metamorphosed strata occupy the lowest position, whilst the uppermost stratum is gneiss, unless we regard the granite, which follows next, in the light of the extreme of alteration of which the gneiss is an earlier phase. That the highly metamorphic rocks do not form the axis of the Adelaide chain is beyond dispute. And in various traverses across the strike of the strata of our hills I have failed to detect faults or inversion, which would account for their exceptional position, whilst, on the contrary, xliv. the successional arrangement is sufficiently clear to leave little room for question. These rocks are the chief repositories of our mineral wealth, including ores of copper, lead, silver, bismuth, iron, and gold. They exhibit little disturbance, and the absence of faults is noteworthy ; however, along the line of the anticline, from Hallett’s Cove to the Stockade, and along the Gawler hills, well marked examples of highly contorted strata are to be seen. Mr. Selwyn has given an approximate measure of the thick- ness of the strata in the Cape Jervis promontory between Normanville and Encounter Bay. He states that “ the dip of the beds appears to be very regularly and constantly to the south-east, at an average angle of not less than 30 degrees, and consequently, unless some very extensive faults occur—of which I could see no evidence—there is a constantly ascending series, exposing a vertical thickness of nearly 30,000 feet of strata.” In this connection Mr. Selwyn records an observa- tion that is confirmatory of my opinion of the prevailing super- position of the mica slate and gneiss:—‘‘ From the highly metamorphic character of nearly the whole of these rocks, and particularly of those portions that, from the dips, would appear to be the highest beds of the series, it is often exceedingly difficult to determine whether the dip observed is really that of the beds, or only that of the cleavage.” There cannot be a doubt that the thickness of these fundamental rocks is much greater in those portions of the central chain near Adelaide than in the Cape Jervis promontory ; indeed, Mr. Scoular has led us to infer that 90,000 feet in vertical measure are displayed in the South Para river, and that this thickness is not a moiety of the whole; and | trust that our curiosity in this particular will soon be satisfied by the publication of an extended horizontal section from the Gawler Plains eastward, which, we know, our zealous corresponding member has long been engaged in preparing. Mr. Selwyn was at first inclined to the opinion that the slaty rocks, which underlay unconformably the sandstones, purple and grey shales, and_ siliceo-caleareous beds which occupy the whole country from Mount Remarkable and Port Augusta, north-east of Mount Serle, belonged to a superior set of beds than those which occupy the whole of the country to the south; but he afterwards thought “ it just possible that no such natural divisions exist in the rocks of the South Austra- lian chain, and that the difference in general mineral and lithological characters observed between the northern and southern rocks is entirely due to metamorphic influence.” In the absence of fossil evidence that geologist hesitates to ex- xlv. press any opinion, either as to the probable age or even super- position of the various rock masses forming the central moun- tain chain of South Australia; but, nevertheless, has stated that ‘the only locality in which the rocks of that chain bear any decided resemblance in mineral and physical structure to the auriferous Silurian rocks of Victoria is in the valley of the ‘Onkaparinga ; and, consequently, I was at first inclined to suppose that all those rocks that are doubtless higher in the series—including the crystalline limestones of Finniss Vale, Macclesfield, Mount Torrens, Keyne’s Hill, Angaston, and the Burra—were altogether newer than Silurian. Now, however, I am inclined to think that this view is probably erroneous, and that they are all true Silurian rocks. At all events the difference in mineral character is no greater than exists between the slaty lower Silurian rocks of Wales and the siliceous hme- stone, gneiss, and quartz rocks of the same formation in the Northern Highlands of Scotland. . . . I was much struck with the remarkable accordance in lithological character and general sequence of the siliceous limestones, quartz rocks, and micaceous flagstones of the Durness and Assynt Silurians, with that of the siliceous limestones, quartzose sandstones, and micaceous slates and flags of the northern part of the South Australian chain; and I have little doubt, though rare and not easily detected, that fossils will eventually be found in some portion of the latter, as they have been im the Durness and Assynt limestones, that will enable them to be at once assigned their true position in the geological scale.” According to the Rev. J. E. Tenison Woods (Geol. Obser. in S. A., pp. 20, 21) fossils have been found at two portions of the Adelaide chain—at Willunga thirty milessouth, andat Nuriootpa, forty-seven miles north from Adelaide. At the former locality it was reported to him that Pentamerus oblongus had been found; but from the latter, a fossil which had been collected by his brother has been recognised by the Rev. J. E. T. Woods as Cruziana cucurbita—a species of alge described from the Silurian rocks of Bolivia. Until the observation of the occurrence and identification of Pentamerus oblongus be verified it would be well to expunge it from our list of local fossils ; indeed the Rev. Mr. Woods inclines to its rejection. And as the very nature of the fossil, Cruziana cucurbita, precludes it from being used as a test of geological age, I conclude that the Lower Silurian age of the rocks of the Adelaide chain is not proven. Indeed, recent discoveries, which have been com- municated to this Society by Mr. Tepper, necessitate their relegation toa much more ancient epoch. The chief facts are— that in the neighbourhood of Ardrossan, a lower series of metamorphic slates and limestones is covered unconformably xlvi. by fossiliferous limestones of the Lower Silurian epoch. And though the lower series underlying the fossiliferous limestones and associated strata about Ardrossan cannot be brought into direct relationship with the fundamental rocks on this side of St. Vincent’s Gulf, yet their mineral character and sequence place them in accord. And the same may be said of the rocks constituting the high lands on Eyre’s Peninsula. Evidences of a missing chapter in the geological history of this province are afforded by the occurrence of rolled pebbles of stratified rocks in the oldest known of our sedimentary deposits. These are well-rounded quartzite pebbles, discovered by Mr. Seoular in the grit bands in the basal beds of the Gawler hills, and subangular pebbles of gneiss in the siliceous clay-slates at Hallett’s Cove. Associated Eruptive Rocks—Though I have expressed the opinion that the great masses of granites, eurites, and syenites associated with the metamorphic strata of the Adelaide chain are probably altered sedimentary rocks, yet I do not wish it to be understood that all South Australian granites are to be included in that category. One undoubted dyke of granite is that which forms the headland of Rosetta Head, and Granite Island, and is continued to Port Elliot ; its intrusive origin is obvious by the veins passing from it into the adjacent mica slate, fragments of which are also found entangled in it, and particularly by the circumstance that its course cuts directly across the line of strike of the mica slate and clay-slates. According to Mr. Burr, a similar granite is visible above water at Cape Jaffa and at Cape Morard de Galles. Granite dykes of small dimensions, but numerous, traverse the sandstones and metamorphic rocks as you approach the extensive granite area at Palmer from the west; but the two rocks are mineralogically very different. Intrusive rocks are, however, infrequent in the Adelaide chain; Mr. Selwyn noticed felspathic granite at Mount Bryant. In the Flinders Range he observed a small greenstone dyke on the east flank of Mount Remarkable, and Mr. Ulrich has described dioritic dykes at three other places in the Flinders Range to the north of Port Augusta. Lower Sinurtan Rocks. Mr. Selwyn describes the whole of the country from Mount Remarkable and Port Augusta, north-east of Mount Serle, as occupied by sandstones, purple and grey shales, and siliceo- calcareous beds resting unconformably on the more slaty series which covers the surface to the southward. This unconformity is illustrated by a sketch section of Mount Remarkable, the description of which runs as follows :—“ At Mount Remarkable xlvi. a soft aluminous stone of reddish white, pink, and brown tints is used for building. Immediately to the west of the village these beds are dipping 85 degrees to the westward, and are over- laid by soft red gritty qu uartzose sandstones; and towards the summit of the Mount thick bedded quartzose sandstones and siliceous freestones dipping at about 15 or 25 degrees to the westward.” These beds occur in great anticlinal and synelinal undula- tions, such as is seen in the singular and picturesque Pound Ranges at Wilpena and Warraweena. Their sequence, as determined by Mr. Selwyn, is as follows, in descending order :— 1. The upper quartzose sandstone and quartz rock series, which, commencing with the summit of Mount Remarkable, extends through all the peculiar flat-topped and tent-shaped hills west of Port Augusta, and forms generally the summits of all the higher peaks and ranges as far north as Mount Serle. 2. The hard fine-grained and micaceous green, grey, and purple slate, sandstone, and flag series underlying the above, as seen in the Flinders Range at Horrock’s Pass, and in Elder’s and Chase’s Range, and on the west side of Spencer’s Gulf. 3. The siliceo-caleareous series, forming the axis of the great anticline at Arqueba, and at Angorigia, Appealina, and Oratunga. 4. The dark blue fine-grained arenaceous flags and sandstones of Appealina. We need to place 1 in this group of strata the coarse siliceous sandstones that form the higher portions of the Mount Lofty Ranges, which Mr. Selwyn considered as part of an upper un- conformable formation. From a cursory examination I was led to form the same opinion, and estimated the thickness of the unconformable beds on Mount Lofty at 700 feet. The extent of the coarse sandstones is fairly well defined by the forest of the Stringybark Eucalyptus. No trace of organic remains had been found by Mr. Selwyn, “umless, indeed,” he writes, “the peculiar circular and oval shaped markings in the quartzose sandstones west of Port Augusta are annelide tracks.” Strong presumptive evidence of the fossiliferous nature of some of the rocks which occupy the surface of the Northern Areas is afforded by the following observation :—I have in my possession an ovoid stone, such as is used by the aborigines for pounding zardoo seeds. It was picked up by Mr. Gipps (then on the Ordnance Survey) in the Lake Torrens district, who noticing traces of fossils on the exterior broke it across, and thereby happily displayed several well preserved specimens of xlviii. Orthis calligramma, a characteristic Lower Silurian fossil. The matrix is a calciferous sandstone of a grey colour. Though Mr. Selwyn has not assigned the upper unconform- able series to any geological epoch, yet he leads us to infer the probability of its belonging to the Devonian period. Another geologist, Mr. Ulrich, who has had opportunities for forming an opinion upon the successional order in the rocks to the north from Port Augusta, does not fully confirm the observa- tions of Mr. Selwyn. He says, “I agree with him, for the same reasons he advanced, in unhesitatingly assigning them to one of the older epochs of the Palzozoic period—the Lower Silurian being perhaps the most likely one. Owing, probably, to my rapid mode of travelling, I was not able, however, to recognise the features upon which Mr. Selwyn based their subdivision into older and newer; for, throughout the country traversed, from the Burra northward, I saw no evidence of any unconformity in the strata; they seemed to me to represent one and the same grand series, only in places more or less meta- morphosed by contact with intrusive rocks.” (Mineral Re- * sources north of Port Augusta, Parl. Rep., p. 18). The discoveries made by Mr. Tepper, and referred to on p. xlv. confirm Mr. Selwyn’s opinion that our Paleozoic rocks belong to widely separate periods; but they, at the same time, necessitate an alteration in the terms by which they have been designated. The fossils, which have been obtained from the thick “ Parara”’ limestone, overlying mica slate, marbles, &c. (see Tepper’s paper, Phil. Soc., Adelaide, p. 71), consist chiefly of heads and other fragments of a species of blind trilobite, pro- bably an Olenus; but other forms observed are several examples of a small species of Heculiomphalus, a Capulus, slender conical casts of an Orthoceras or Creseis, and fragments of corals (some of which showing a cystiphylloid structure). That we have herein a Silurian facies is not likely to be questioned ; but to what group of the Lower Palaeozoic rocks should the lme- stones yielding the fossils be referred, is a question that had better be reserved till more tangible evidence is forthcoming. That we are on the eve of a great discovery, so far as concerns the classification of South Australian Primary rocks, must be conceded. MESOZOIC. Jurasstc.—The Rev. W. B. Clarke, in his “Sedimentary Formations of New South Wales,” p. 84, does not credit South Australia with the possession of Mesozoic rocks, fossiliferous evidence of which had been publicly made known previous to the publication of that work. He had evidently overlooked the very brief announcement made by me, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., p. 258, 1877, that Belemnites allied to B. australis, xlix. Phillips, and other Jurassic fossils occurred at Stuart’s Creek ; and had lost sight of the fact that Mr. C. Moore, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., 1870, records the existence of a Jurassic fossil of Queensland, Cytherea Clarkei, Moore, on the Gregory, north of Finniss Springs. The history of the discovery of Mesozoic fossils at opposite extremities of the continent will be found in the papers by Mr. Moore, op. czf., and Mr. Daintree, same journal, 1872. The Jurassic fossils from Queensland are referred to 89 species, not one of which is, with certainty, identical with European forms, whilst those from West Australia, which belong to 30 deter- mined species, are for the most part of European origin. It is also noteworthy that there are no species in common to the two Australian areas. The distinctness of the faunas renders it highly probable that widely separated periods are repre- sented by them, and I am strongly of opinion that the Queens- land type approximates to a Cretaceous facies. However, there are no decided points of contact between the marine faunas of the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods of Queensland. The South Australian localities affording Jurassic fossils are in the interior and on the line of the transcontinental telegraph; the more distant locality is the Peake, 700 miles from Adelaide ; the nearer one is Stuart’s Creek, where Stuart found the species of Cytherea, first mentioned by Clarke, and subsequently named by Moore C. Clarket. Mr. F. G. Waterhouse, in his report “On the Features and Productions of Country on Stuart’s Track across Australia,’ records the discovery in the following terms :—‘‘I was fortunate to find in the vicinity of the Gregory and the Welcome Springs, in small portions of argillaceous rock, which here and there crop out on the surface of the plain, some fossil wood and shells. The shells are marine, and consist of mussels and three other species of bivalves. I am not able at present to ascertain whether these fossil shells are identical with the recent ones found on our coasts, but I am inclined to think they are not. I hope at some future time to be able to decide this, as it would throw much light on the geological formation of this part of the country by showing to which of the divisions of the Tertiary formation this argillaceous rock belonged” (p. 2.) Seventeen years have elapsed since the above observations were made, and so far as I can ascertain the inquiry has not advanced one iota. An examination of the specimens has proved that they belong to species forming part of the small Jurassic fauna made known to me through the collections forwarded by Mr. Canham, of Stuart’s Creek, The following notices of fossiliferous rocks, made by Mr. Water- house, doubtlessly refer to the same formation:—‘‘ Near the base of Mount Beresford I found in some detached portions of 4% 1. an argillaceous rock some fossil marine mussel shells.” And again, they ‘were kind enough to collect for me some valuable fossils from the vicinity of Mount Margaret.” From the vicinity of the Peake I have received from Mr. Canham Belemnites and other Jurassic species identical with those at Stuart’s Creek. Of the fossils which admit of specific determination, five occur in Queensland, whilst one only is referable to a Western Australian species. List of Jurassic Fossils from Central Australia. Belemnites australis, Phillips. Belemnites Canhami, Tate (m.s.) Natica variabilis, Moore. Monotis Barklyi, Moore. Modiola unica, Moore. Modiola sp. Cytherea Clarkei, Moore. Cytherea, or Chione spp., in casts. Rhynchonella variabilis, Moore. Cretracrous.—The Cretaceous rocks occupy in Queensland, at a rough approximation, 200,000 square miles, for the most part good pastoral land. They present the physical aspect of vast plains stretching westward from the main dividing range to about the meridian of Central Mount Stuart. That this portion of the Mesozoic system extends throughout the whole of Central Australia is more than probable, hidden, however, over large areas by the ‘‘ Desert Sandstone.” Though we have no internal evidence of the existence of Cretaceous strata in this province, yet as those of Central (Jueensland have been traced up to our boundary by Mr. Dain- tree, it can only be a question of time that is involved in substituting the presumptive by the positive. Mineral Springs—There is one subject of practical interest connected with the distribution of the Jurassic rocks, and that is the occurrence of hot mineral springs, which suggest the probability of obtaining supplies of water on the Artesian principle over some portions at least of the Mesozoic plains, and possibly over those portions covered by the ‘‘ Desert Sand- stone.” These springs are situated around the southern and western shores of Lake Eyre, and as they flow to the surface of an open level plain in an arid climate they are doubtlessly natural artesian wells. Some writers have attributed to them a volcanic origin, from the circumstance that from their overflow a crater-like mound of sinter has been deposited. One of the Primrose springs on the Neales River has a tem- las) = perature of 108 degrees, and others of them are hot and cold. The description of Blanche Cup Springs by Mr. F. G. Water- house will serve as a type:—‘‘ This is the most beautiful volcanic cone I have seen. It rises about the height of from thirty to forty feet, and the cup or crater at the top is about forty feet in diameter, and is filled with fine limpid water en- circled with fine tall green reeds. This lava is of avery hard and compact nature, of a grey colour, and much resembles siliceous limestone.” OxpER TERTIARY. The older Tertiary deposits of undoubtedly marine origin occupy three basins, which are not now coterminous. They are :— 1. The Murray basin. 2. That of Aldinga and Southern Yorke’s Peninsula; and 3.That of Bunda, Great Aus- tralian Bight. The Murray basin is the most extensive, and embraces nearly the whole of the country in South Australia to the east and south of the River Murray, and, moreover, a considerable tract resting on the west and north bank of that portion of the river within our territory. The strata, which constitute the vast plain of the South-East, extend across the Victorian frontier, and occupy the basin of the Lower Glenelg River, thence the coast line by Portland, Warrnambool, and Cape Otway to Geelong. This portion of South Australian geology has had not a few historians, the earliest of whom was Sturt, who, in tracing down the Murray from the Murrumbidgee in 1829, found that the river at about 130 deg. long. (somewhat eastward of the boundary of this province) entered a gorge, the limestone walls of which were highly charged with marine fossils. The description of the River Murray Cliffs given by Sturt (see Expeditions in South Australia, vol. II., p. 189, 1843) is to this day the only published source of information respecting the most interesting of the geological features of this colony. Nevertheless, the rocks and fossils of the River Murray have a long story to tell, for though Sturt’s observations are accurate, yet he did not view with the -eye of the experienced geologist. Passing to that portion of the Murray Basin which centres around Mount Gambier, we have in the scveral works of the Rev. J. E. Woods, F.G.S.—particularly in his “ Geological Observations in South Australia,’’ 1861—an exhaustive treatise on the stratigraphical phenomena, not only of the Older Tertiary beds, but of the newer deposits, of this the most diversified portion of this province. The Aldinga and Yorke’s Peninsula Basin. I have already referred to the occurrence of Older Tertiary strata in two discon- li. nected areas on the east side of St. Vincent’s Gulf, viz., the Myponga Flat, and the Willunga Plain. Other patches of smaller size are the ridge which extends from Adelaide to the Stockade, and at Gawler, and at further points still further north towards the head of the Gulf. These are remnants of a vast sheet which must have occupied the greater part of what is now St. Vincent’s Gulf, as similar beds form the north-west coast line of Kangaroo Island, and the whole of Southern Yorke’s Peninsula, extending as a littoral fringe as far north as Ardrossan. On the shores of Spencer’s Gulf these strata continue northward beyond Wallaroo, and probably continue around the head of the Gulf. Mr. Tepper has occupied himself with the stratigraphical phenomena of these rocks about Ardrossan, and has endea- voured to bring them in accordance with those at Aldinga, briefly sketched by me in last year’s “‘ Transactions.” The Bunda Basin, details concerning which have been com- municated to you in my paper “On the Natural Histor y of the Bunda Plateau,” published herewith. It is pr obable that the marine beds do not in either the Murray or the Aldinga Basins rise to more than 200 feet above sea level, and that the general upper level does not exceed 150 feet ; but their elevation is certainly as much as 250 feet in the seaward edge of the Bunda Plateau, and must be at least 100 feet more in its interior. Correlation and Age—The Rev. Mr. Woods has grouped what T have called the Older Tertiary rocks of the South-East Plain into three divisions, based upon physical, lithological, and paleontological differences. Independent observations on the rocks of the Murray Cliffs and of the Aldinga and Bunda Basins have led me to the adoption of a like classification ; though I am not sure that the arrangement is identical in each case, and it is certain that we are not in accord as to the cor- relation of the various members in the eastern and western parts of the Murray Basin, and their relation to the Victorian beds. In the following table I have arranged the divisions recognised by me, in reference to typical sections in each of three basins :— lini. a ey South-East. Aldinga. Sees eo | 5 Upper Aldinga Upper Murra- series. Crystalline! vian. Calciferous| limestones at Shell limestones sandstone,| ‘Tickera. Marbles. oyster beds, impure lime-|Turritella grits! and sands. stones, oyster} at Ardrossan. banks. Middle Murra- a vian. Yellow polyzoal) $3 | Calciferous| limestone of, ~% | ; Polyzoal sandstone with} Narracoorte.| = 2 z | limestone. polyzoa. 4 a & | = 2 a 4S os x) Mae Ee Gyan Al Poke 8 = pare fo 7) S | Lower Murra- => = 5 | vian. White polyzoall 23 2 3 Ferruginous| limestone off 38 = s sandstoneand| Mount Gam-| Sr = g polyzoal lime-| bier. Ears x 1 tes stones. oe S | a fo} j | { Blsret les eeslete cn | oes vol of rorahiand meal odd | OD | | Chalk roc k|Glaucon- | of MacDonnell) itie lime- Bay. stone. | | The fossiliferous formations of the River Murray cliffs have, from their first discovery, been referred to the Tertiary epoch ; and those of the South-East have been regarded by their describer as with them forming part of only one deposit. The Victorian geologists recognise different groups of strata in _ their Tertiaries; and have applied to them classificatory terms such as are used by European geologists to designate the primary divisions of the Tertiary epoch. Prof. Duncan strongly condemns this practise, and advises us to speak of the Australian Tertiaries, as older, middle, or newer; and he has set the example by calling the strata under review as Middle Tertiary. But the very same grounds which justifies the application of “ Middle” will justify the employment of “Miocene” or other term, which simply expresses the age of the fauna relatively to that of our own shores. The principle of classification introduced by Sir C. Lyell is equally applicable liv. to the Australian as to the European Tertiaries, as merely expressing the absolute proportion of locally recent to extinct species in a given deposit. And it seems to me that so far as the Australian deposits are concerned, no other meaning is intended to be conveyed by the terms made use of. That the Australian fossil fauna shows an increasing specific relationship to the recent fauna, as we rise in the series of Tertiary deposits, cannot be denied. In other words, our continent has had its successive periods to which the terms Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene may usefully be given, without implying that these were synchronous with those of the European. To what period or periods of the Tertiary era should be assigned the South Australian deposits? I will not answer the question direct, or without reference to the classification employed by the geologists of Victoria. Of the several localities, yielding Older Tertiary fossils, none perhaps has had its organic remains so fully illustrated as Muddy Creek, near Hamilton; and apart from the published data for comparison, I have collected a very large suite of fossils from the beds at that place. If contemporaneity be proved by identity of organic contents, then the Muddy Creek beds are the direct equivalents of the Upper Murravian series, as is shown by the following summary of the results of a careful comparison between the fossils from each. Nearly all the Muddy Creek species described by McCoy and Woods are in my collection, but the few desiderated forms are included in my enumera- tions :— Se ek cies ; Classes represented. No. species in Upper|No. speciesin Muddy No. species Murravian. Creek Beds. | common. Cephalopoda 3 1 1 Gasteropoda 89 210 64 Conchifera 34 43 24 Palliobranchiata, 3 7 2 Echinodermata 2 3 2 Corals 7 24 6 Total. 138 | 288 99 The classes of Mammalia, Pisces, Crustacea, and Annelida show each a few species in common, but the total numbers in each in class are very small. Polyzoa are, however, repre- sented by numerous species at both localities, but their examination has not yet been attempted, though a cursory glance impresses you with the belief of the ane identity of the two collections. The large percentage of seventy-two lvi. of Upper Murravian fossils present in the Muddy Creek beds justifies the assertion made last year (Phil. Soc., p. 121) that the upper marine strata exposed in the River Murray cliffs are the direct equivalents to the Muddy Creek beds. Having thus brought the youngest member of our Older Tertiary into co-relation with the Muddy Creek beds, the next step in the inquiry is to ascertain the age of the latter, the much larger number of fossils contained in which makes this indirect method the more satisfactory. The Victorian geologists do not seem agreed on this pomt. McCoy oscillates between Upper Oligocene and Older Pliocene, whilst Selwyn regarded the Muddy Creek beds as the oldest of the Tertiaries in Victoria, an opinion with which I do not concur. The proximity of the Older Tertiaries of Tasmania, which occur on the north coast at Table Cape, to the Older Tertiary deposits of Victoria, suggests the propriety of correlating them with those of the mainland ; and so far as the examination of a limited number of their fossils goes, I consider them to be the equivalents of the Muddy Creek beds, and, therefore, probably of those at Geelong. Not having critically compared all the Muddy Creek fossils with living forms I am not prepared to express more than a tentative opinion on the proportion of living to extinct species ; but of the 288 species, eighteen are certainly recent, or a little more than 6:2 per cent. J therefore think that we may safely refer the Muddy Creek beds to the Miocene period. yen by taking collectively the fossils in contemporaneous beds, the proportion of living to extinct species is not more than six per cenit. The living species fossilised in these beds are as follows :— ; The identification of those species marked by an asterisk (*) is on the authority of the Rev. J. E. T. Woods, and those marked thus { on the authority of Prof. McCoy. { Indicates that the author has examined the species. Upper Aldinga. Muddy Table Recent. Murray. Creek. Cape. 1. Ancillaria Australis, Quoy *} S¢ ai * N. Zealand. 2. *Syrnola bifasciata, Woods 5: = SC Tasmania. 3. Cochlolepas foliaceus, Quoy .. i cal O6 8. Australia. 4, *Liotia discoidea, Ry. ? si fe ae ¥ Tasmania. 5. Fissurellidea concatenta, Crosse xT 53 ai e S. Australia. 6. Fissurella nigrita, Sow. ae ae a Se S. Australia. 7. Tugalia parmophoridea, Quoy % ae yy ote S. Australia. 8. Emarginula striatula a, Sis Ti Ie N. Zealand. 9. Emarginula dilecta, Angas ? *} 50 5c m S. Australia. 10. Cylichna australis, Quoy .. oe ke al Tasmania. 11. Cadulus acuminatus, Deshayes we Siti hi S. Australia. 12. *Dentalinm lacteum, Deshayes ? ae es - India. 13. Ostrea (cf) edulis, Lin. ati mati se ss Temp. Seas. 14. Pecten bifrons, Lk. : ali as oe S. Australia. 15. Pecten asperrimus, Lk. a at Se we S. Australia. lvii. 16. *Leda inconspicua, Rv. 90 36 50 17. Limopsis Belcheri, Adams *+ Ay of 3¢ 8. Australia. 18. {Limopsis aurita, Sassi 30 60 mi o0 Europe. 19. Pectunculus laticostatus, Quoy a 50 ati * N. Zealand. 20. {Trigonia acuticostata, McCoy*t ali it Bia E. Australia. 21. {Corbula sulcata ii 46 “T Ar W. Africa. 22. Terebratella Cumingiana, Davidson ake O0 ali * N.S. Wales. 23. *“Sphenotrochus _ variolaris, Woods O60 50 , AC N. 8. Wales. 24. Flabellum candeamum, Ed. and H. ay a6 China. Other fossils have been salad & living species—to Trivia Europea, Leiostraca subulata, Lima subaur iculata, Liotia lamel- losa, Woods, &c., but competent authorities have not confirmed these identifications. On the other hand, the Geelong coral, Deltocyathus italicus, Ed. & H., better known from the Italian Miocenes, is considered by Count Pourtales and Sir Wyville Thomson to be specifically distinct from its living analogue inhabiting the deep waters off the coast of Florida—an opposite opinion to that held by Professor Duncan. Flabellum dis- tinctum, Ed. & H., a living coral in the Chinese seas, is fossil in the Victorian and South Australian Tertiaries older than the Muddy Creek beds. If, then, we relegate the youngest member of our older Tertiaries to the Miocene period, where are we to place the older ones, particularly the inferior beds of the Aldinga series ? The Lower Aldinga series contains not only a large number of restricted species, but a small modicum of recent forms. Thus of 116 known forms 34 pass up into the Upper Murravian and its contemporaneous deposits; whilst the number of recent species is not more than four. A summary of the determina- tions upon which the above figures are based is set forth in the following table :— | ie Species common te | dition ‘ . Aldinga Series an Classes. | No. Bpecice in L. Aldinga the Upper Murravian | eres / and Muddy Creek Beds. Cephalopoda.............. 3 2 Gasteropoda..........eee0e 40 15 OCMC MTD “Ssoogaosousoue 23 9 Palliobranchiata .......... 18 6 Hehinodermata .......... 21 iL Corals iene cipees.e sicle cies s | 11 1 MCI Sodooooneooe Rol 116 34 lviii. The living species present in these beds are :— TEREBRATELLA Cumrnerana, Davidson. Very rare in the middle beds of the Aldinga section, but plentiful in the Lower Murravian, and in the Mount Gambier beds. FLABELLUM DistiInctUM, Ed. & H. Common. ‘Lropsts aurita, Sassi. The Aldinga fossils are identical with the New Zealand and Chilian Eocene form, Z. insoluta, Sow., which may be synonymic with the above. EMARGINULA DILEcTA, Angas. An Hmarginula from Aldinga is doubtfully referable to H. transenna, Woods, of the Table Cape Miocene, which may possibly prove to be the recent South Australian £. dilecta. Accepting the above determinations, the proportion of living to extinct forms in the Lower Aldinga series is, expressed b percentage number, 35. | And if the species of the Middle and Lower Murravian and of their equivalents in the South-East be similarly compared, I am confident that the percentage of living species will not be materially increased, though a larger percentage of forms will be found to pass from the middle to the upper series. But if we confine our examination to the fossils of the glauconitic limestones at Aldinga and of the contemporaneous chalk rock of the Bunda cliffs, we not only find a larger number of peculiar genera and others alien to the recent Australian fauna, but encounter some points of contact with the Hocene fauna of New Zealand. Regarding the last particular I can speak with confidence as to the identity of six of our fossils with those from the Upper Eocene or Ototara group of New Zealand, but in the absence of actual specimens for comparison I hesitate to refer several others to species from the same deposit. The obviously higher antiquity of the fauna of the glau- conitic limestones at Aldinga necessitates the separation of our Older Tertiaries into two distinct groups—the one referable to the Eocene, the other to the Miocene; and it may be well, for the present, to regard the Upper Murravian series as Upper Miocene, and the middle and lower portions as Lower Miocene, restricting the Eocene as indicated above. Upranp Mi0cENnE snp DESERT SANDSTONE. There succeed in conformable position to the uppermost marine beds at Aldinga, at Adelaide, and along the banks of the Lower Murray River, unfossiliferous clays, which from the fact of their gradual passage into beds presenting unmistakable evidence of fluviatile origin, may be regarded as estuarine. The shore line of the Miocene sea is distinctly traceable at a few points in the Aldinga Basin. Passing inland from the mouth of the Onkaparinga, the marine beds, which form the lix bold headland of Wilson’s Bluff, gradually change their character, and at Noarlunga give place to sands and shingle. Again, ‘the scarped ridge east of the main street of Gawler is made up of coarse sands crowned by rounded gravel; the sands contain blocks of stone, resulting from consolidation of the sands by carbonate of lime, which yield a few marine fossils, and also silicified stems, having a structure resembling that of Casuaring and Eucalyptus. The process of silicification took place subsequent to entombment in the marine or estuarine beds, because the stems are not unfrequently found to be drilled by Teredos. As we proceed towards the ranges, the depressions in the Paleozoic rocks are levelled up by more or less angular gravel, either loose or consolidated into a compact conglomerate ; whilst at higher levels on the foot hills of the Adelaide chain evyenly-bedded sandrock, mottled clayey sands, and ironstone conglomerates occupy flat-topped heights, con- spicuous by their scrub vegetation. If we trace the mottled clays, which cover the fossiliferous limestone at Adelaide, towards the north, we find that they are coterminous with beds identical with those just described. Indeed, strata of this character occur in patches of great or less extent from the Hope Valley Reservoir, Teatree Gully, to Golden Grove, thence to Gawler Town Hill, where they attain an elevation of 950 feet. They constitute the gold drifts of the Barossa and Humbug Scrubs, and stretch away in a narrow band by Liyndoch, Tanunda, and Nuriootpa. No other fossil remains than silicified tree-stems similar to those at Gawler have been met with in these Upland Miocenes. The amount of denuda- tion that they have been subject to is immeasurable. They now occur as disconnected patches, separated from one another by deep ravines, and are only remnants of a long narrow incline plane bounded on the east by the Adelaide chain, but whose western confines are not extant, as in many places they form the highest ground on the Gawler Hills. The littoral beds at Noarlunga conduct us to beds of a like nature, and doubtlessly similar origin, forming the gold-field of Kchunga. In the same category must be placed the Tertiary beds of Myponga Flat, the sandstones and ironstones at Yankalilla, which there overlie marine Miocenes, the varied sandy beds constituting the scrub-lands to near Cape Jervis, among the hills to the north of Victor Harbour, along the eastern slopes of the Adelaide chain, extending northward along the valley of the Bremer to Callington. The character of the gravels and their relation to the marine Miocenes must, in the absence of positive evidence to the con- trary, be regarded as indicating a fresh-water origin. I may remark in connection with the clays overlying the Miocene lx. limestone that it is on their surfaces that the “‘ Bay of Biscay”’ land prevails. This name is applied to tracts covered with mounds or ridges grouped in the most irregular way, and without any relation to the natural slope of the surface. The ridges, which rarely exceed a foot in height, are composed of clay, whilst the depressions are occupied by alluvium or sandy loam ; and though it is generally held that the soil of the de- pressions extend in depth, yet my observations are totally opposed to that view. How the depressions have been formed on the clay soil, and how they have been subsequently partially filled, are questions which I hope will occupy the attention of some member of this Society. On the Murray plain these clays are surmounted by sands, which occupy ridges surrounding plains constituted of the former ; and though proof is wanting of their cotemporaneity with the Upland Miocene, yet it is not unlikely that they belong to the same epoch. Immediately to the west of Lake Torrens the country is occupied by hard sandstones, clays, thin beds of ironstone, and. gypsum ; and, according to my informant, very extensive sec- tions of these strata are exposed in the Bosworth Creek and at Andemokka. At Bottle Hill, at one mile south from Edge Hill, and between the Elizabeth Station and Coondambo, the hard sandstones there have yielded to the researches of Mr. William L. R. Gipps a plentiful supply of fossil leaves, for the most part Eucalyptoid. No other fossils were observed in these sections. * From the published description of scientific travellers, and from other sources of information, we gather that the rock formation of much of Central Australia partakes of the general character of the beds about the western shore of Lake Torrens. It is, however, hidden over considerable tracts by gravelly drift, in part derived from the subjacent sandstones. And I think that there can be little doubt that it forms a part of the “ Desert Sandstone,” so called by Mr. Daintree, because of the sandy, barren character of its disintegrated soil. The same author describes the formation in Queensland as uncon- formably overlying Cretaceous rocks and underlying lava beds, and states that all the available evidence tends to show that this “ Desert Sandstone” did at one time cover nearly, if not quite, the whole of Australia. The position of the formation is presumptive evidence of its Older Tertiary age, as so far as is known the volcanic outbursts seem to belong to the Newer Tertiary period. Mr. Daintree has found in it fossil wood, but no marine fossils; though he had recorded the occurrence of a Tellina, but the locality he gives to it is a mistake. (See Clarke, “Sedimentary Formations,” p. 95). xi. There is much reason for the belief that the ‘“ Desert Sand- stone” is an extensive lacustrine deposit; coeval with the accumulation of the river gravels and sand of the hilly country classed by me as Upland Miocene. Suinmary.—The marine Older Tertiaries, which belong to the Eocene and Miocene epochs, are confined to the existing ,coast- line, and extend inwards from thence in gulf and bay-like projections. They do not attain an elevation much above 250 feet. Beyond these are the vast sterile tracts of the interior of the continent occupied by the lacustrine formation termed the “ Desert Sandstone,” which is contemporaneous with the youngest member of the Miocene marine strata. At various places in South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales plant-deposits occur among silicified sandstones and quartzites, often at great elevations and in several instances associated with the goldfields underlying the basalts. Some excuse may be tendered on behalf of those, who, having no other source of information than that contained in Brough Smyth’s geological map of Australia, have indulged in representing this continent during Miocene times as being for the most part submerged beneath the ocean. These Tertiary deposits were not subjected to any other alterations in their relative level than those of the most local kind. The elevation of the southern shores of the continent at the close of the Miocene period was equable, and measured by the vertical thickness of the deposits and heights at which its littoral margins now exist, it could not be more than about 150 to 200 feet within the Aldinga and Murray Basin. A depression to this amount would not submerge the interior of the continent, and would be too small to materially affect the rainfall, so that the vast rivers which now drain the Cordilleras must have then, as now, flowed in the same direction, but have discharged their waters into the great central basin—bounded on the north by the Highlands of New Guinea, on the east by the Great Dividing Range, extending on the south to the Grampians of Western Victoria. This vast inland lake or estuary was dotted with islands now forming the elevated parts of the Flinders and Adelaide Ranges, and other mountain masses in Central Australia, each with its own river basins in which were accumulated the fluviatile gravels which are scattered at various heights among our hills. The denudation of the Desert sandstone since it became dry land has been excessive, and that of the marine deposits has been very great, as is fully attested by the existence of the wide gulf of St. Vincent’s which is excavated out of them, and by the precipitous front of the Bunda cliffs and their ascertained extension below sea level for a distance of several miles. Lxii. The absence of marine Older Tertiary from the eastern flanks of the Cordilleras may probably be due to removal. The general surface of the marine beds has, however, not been much affected by denudation, but the River Murray has cut deeply into them, leaving high yellow chitts about one and a quarter miles apart. ; PurocENE Drirr or Loxss. This remarkable formation forms the soil of the fertile plains on the western slopes of the Adelaide chain, and among the Northern ranges, and occupies a long strip of country of a few miles in width bordering the w estern margin of the Murray Basin. It everywhere presents the same general character and qualities, and is doubtlessly the residuary disintegrated mate- rial of the slates, limestone, gneissic, and granitic rocks of the adjacent ranges. From the circumstance of its occurrence at different altitudes in various parts of the country, as also from the nature of its derivative ingredients, there can be little doubt the material of each plain or flat is of local origin. Among the derivative materials of the loess in the Valley of the Torrens at Adelaide, I have found Miocene limestones enclosing characteristic fossils, derived from the contiguous cliff ; thus proving the Post-Miocene age of the formation. Nevertheless, the margin of each basin is at a uniform level. The loess is a calcareous loam, divided into beds by irregular bands of clay or sand, which thin out at the borders, where they are replaced by angular pebbles and large blocks of stone, derived from the adjacent hills. The loess is very friable, yet consistency is imparted to it by the presence of tubular pores, branching downward like rootlets, which are lined with car- bonate of lime. The uniformity of the surface of each plain is only inter- rupted by the vertical walls between which all the members of a most labyrinthine valley system are sunk. Though the drift is wholly unstratified, its vertical internal structure causes it to break off in any vertical plane, but in no other; hence when a cliff is undermined the loess breaks off in immense vertical lates, leaving again a perpendicular wall. The rapidity with which even the smallest streams cut out deep channels in it isa fact that is patent to all. Channels now several yards in depth and width have been eroded in a few years along the line of a plough-furrow or of a dray-track. Another peculiarity of the loess is that it contains the remains of only land animals and terrestrial vegetation. The land animals are restricted to some of the extinct mamunalia, Diprotodon being particularly abundant in the loess of some of the plains of the Northern Areas. Land mollusea have been found in the loess of the Bunda Plateau, \xiii. The absence of marine organisms, and the fact of the deposit occupying tracts varying from three to ten or more hundred feet above the sea level prove in the most conclusive manner that a marine origin is impossible. I would suggest that the sea- worn pebbles found by Mr. Scoular in the loess of Munno Para have been derived from the waste of the shingle beaches of the Miocene epoch, remnants of which are still im situ at a few places among the Gawler hills. The accumulation of the loess cannot arise from the silt brought by the rivers flowing from the hills into the plain without the aid of some distributing agent, inasmuch as the rivers denude the loess, and only in extreme cases when they overflow their banks do they distribute material over the plains, though it must be conceded that our streams may hays lost their tendency to accumulate, and have in consequence acted as denuding agents. But, nevertheless, the accumula- tions from our short streams would have been concentrated about the points where they debouched upon the plain. Indeed, I cannot resist the conclusion to which I have been led, chiefly from topographical reasons, that the loess has been deposited in a series of lakes; a subaqueous origin fulfils the required conditions, though the subaerial theory of loess for- mation propounded by Richthofen would equally account for the assortment of the material. Wind plays an important part in this colony as a geological agent, writes Mr. Scoular ; and most of us have realised the capacity of wind as a trans- porter of fine material. And it is highly probable that this agent was largely concerned in the accumulation of the loess of the southern margin of the Bunda Plateau (see page 116). One fact pointed out to me by Mr. Smeaton, confirmatory of my opinion that the drift of the Adelaide Plain was assorted in a lake, is that of the northerly trend of all the streams on their emergence from the hills, in which their general direction is to the west. My explanation of the phenomenon is as follows :—In consequence of the prevalence of south-westerly winds then as now, the direction of the current of the stream would be deflected towards the north as its volocity was slackened on coming in contact with the lake water, but before commingling with it. Thus would be formed a subaqueous channel which would be projected lakewards as the waters slowly decreased, and along which the lengthening streams would naturally flow. My theory of the formation of the drift requires climatical conditions somewhat different from those which now obtain; it demands the operation of aqueous agents more active than now. Tt implies a period of greater precipitation. If the loess be the insoluble products of the weathering of rocks, has the material lxiv. been removed by the action of the rain, or as the ground moraine of glaciers? Was there ever a time when large masses of ice descended down the gullies and discharged the ice-borne materials into a lake? We know that such an agency is at work in New Zealand, and in past times its glaciers descended far lower than their present termini. TI cannot connect the accumulation of the loess with the glacial phenomena about to be described, and though the glacial theory of its origin may account for the facts, yet it does not follow that the theory is true. One familiar with the appearance of a glaciated country cannot have failed to recognise a certain resemblance that our hills bear thereto. Mr. Woods writes :—‘ Indeed, it seemed to me that there were very distinct marks of snow, and the action of glaciers. This would declare the range to have been once of extraordinary elevation, probably the axis of some former continent” (Geol. Obs., p. 20). I shall be asked at once whether glacial inscriptions have been found—the grooves, strize, and polished surfaces so characteristic of the rocky surfaces over which glaciers have travelled. I answer that such traces of moving ice do occur. They are—(1) Smooth, striated, and grooved rock surface in the bed of the Inman, Cape Jervis Peninsula, as recorded by Mr. Selwyn in the following terms : —‘“ The direction of the grooves and scratches is east and west in parallel lines; and though they follow the course of the stream I do not think that they could have been produced by the action of water, forcing pebbles and boulders detached from the drift along the bed of the stream. This is the first and only instance of the kind I have met with in Australia, and it at ence attracted my attention; strongly reminding me of the similar markings I had so frequently observed in the mountain valleys of North Wales.” I may quote en passant the words of Mr. Howitt (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxxv., p. 35, 1879) referring to glacial signs in the mountain-tracts of Gippsland, Victoria :—‘‘T have nowhere met with grooved or scratched rocks, &c., or any traces of ice-action; and I think that had such existed they would have been met with ere this. Mr. Selwyn has, I believe, already noted this. The only features of the country which I think could in any way suggest glacial conditions are the apparently ancient lake-basins near Omeo.”’ Tn all the discussions which I have read on the question— Did Australia participate in a glacial period analogous to that of the Northern Hemisphere ?—I find no reference made to Mr. Selwyn’s observation, quoted above ; probably because unknown, possibly because of its uniqueness. Recent discoveries confirm, however, the correctness of that gentleman’s interpretation of the signs. lxv. (2.) Smooth, grooved, and striated rock surface, and moraine debris at Black Point forming the southern boundary of Holdfast Bay. That headland presents a steep cliff face of about 50 feet high to the sea, and there stands back a few yards from its edge a low mural escarpment of Miocene. ‘The intervening space, which is nearly flat, is covered by drift material, chief amongst which are angular stones and blocks of red granite, gneiss, hornblendic slate, and quartzite ; the nearest depot for which is at Normanville, 35 miles to the south. Over some few square yards, the drift has been removed, disclosing a smooth surface of siliceous slate, striated and grooved ina north and south direction. (3.) Passing to the south, across the mouth of Field’s River, moraine debris and larger masses of transported rocks are seen encumbering the flat tops of the sea-clifts. (4.) Other signs, which taken alone would have little value, but read in the light afforded by the indubitable signs of glaciers in the valley of the Inman and at Black Point, come to have significance ; these are the roches moutonnées surfaces of the mica slate on the south flank of Kaiserstuhl, and similarly large rounded surfaces at Crafer’s, both localities in the Adelaide chain. The late Sir R. Hanson had in his possession, so I have been informed, an ice-worn pebble, obtained from the Torrens drift. Mr. J.D. Woods, in letter May 14, 1877, supplies the following particulars :—‘“J think that if you investigate the Torrens Gorge, you will find evidences quite as strong as those quoted by Mr. Selwyn. On one side of a hill there is a stream of debris which my brother (Rey. J. E. T. Woods) considered to have been left by a moraine. In the bed of the river, near the cottage on the right side, there is a lump of rock, which some twenty years ago used to be called the “elephant rock” from its outlne. The front part of it has been broken away, so now it retains nothing of the special characteristics which gave it its name. The sides are indented with strie and there seems to be no doubt that it must have been carried by some force from a long distance.” Such are the signs of the former existence of ice-action in South Australia. If the ice origimated within the country, then it must have been the result of either 1. The prevalence of a very much colder climate, or 2. That the land stood at much greater altitude (say 10,000 feet), or the mountains may have had a more plateau- like form, and therefore need not have been so high, and consequently collected more snow, or 3. A combination of both. lxvi. If, however, the scratches and moraine debris be attributed to the grounding of icebergs shed from the highlands of the Southern Ocean, as conjectured by Mr. Scoular, then a con- siderable amount of depression must have taken place, and to account in this way for the deposition of the drift and for the presence of the obsidian bombs scattered here and there throughout the whole of the southern parts of this province, the depression must have been great enough to submerge all of the province below 1,000 feet or so in elevation. I need hardly add that the known facts do not warrant such assumption. _ On the limestone surfaces of the Murray Basin and the Bunda Plateau the loess is absent over very large areas, and when present is of very shallow depths. In these areas it could only originate from the insoluble residue of its lime- stone rocks, which from their purity could only yield an appreciable quantity by secular decay continued through prolonged periods. Im the oasis of the Bunda Plateau the subaerial origin of the loess is incontestably shown, and it is highly charged with land shells, vegetable debris, from top to bottom. The loess in the South-east Plain is mainly preserved in the pockets and depressions of the Miocene limestone, and in the neighbourhood of the volcanic cones is covered up by ash beds. It contains the remains of the large extinct Mammalia, and the period of its formation must be coeval with that forming the fertile plains of Adelaide, &c. At this time the caves in the South-east must have been frequented by the extinct mammals whose remains are embedded in their stalagmitic floors. Retrospective Glance—During the Pliocene period the land was much elevated, probably into regions of perpetual snow. The continent was then obviously vastly more extensive than now. Tasmania and New Guinea would then be united to the continent, as is required by the community of species of certain plants and animals. It was during this time that the large mammals roamed over the land, and the wide expanse of country allowed of the development of its peculiar and ex- tensive fauna. The climate moister, and the temperature of lowlands more equable than now, and generally the conditions were favourable to the growth of succulent herbage capable of sustaining a large and varied mammalian fauna. The seas that laved the shores had their inhabitants, but of them we have no vecord, because the sites of their habitats are now far beneath the waters. This period was brought to a close by the lowering of the land—gradually, it may have been—and in consequence of which its glaciers retreated and finally disappeared, and the fertile tracts of the lowlands were submerged, and the produc- 5 lxvii. tive powers of other areas diminished by the gradual dessication going on. In this way the animals would be crowded on limited areas, and a struggle for existence would ensue, in which the less adapted and less easily modifiable would succumb. Of these the larger animals would probably be the first victims, because of their slow breeding powers and of insufficiency of food within easy reach. The clumsy Diprotodon would soon be worsted in the struggle, while the fleeter Kangaroos could continue to hold their own for a longer period ; and the extine- tion of the Thylacoleos would be involved in that of its prey. Comparing the climatic conditions of the Pleocine Period— distant, but geologically recent, with those of the Present Period—we cannot doubt that a great change has come over the surface of South Australia in the decreased amount of water in the lakes or running in the rivers, in the increase of its mean annual temperature, and in the depauperization of its mammalian and avian fauna. Historical evidence affords no data, and exact observations with the raingauge cannot possibly have extended over a sufficient length of time to enable us to decide whether this change has been continued to our time. What little evidence can be adduced from geological observations is to the effect that the tide of dessication has turned, rather than to its continuance. The evidence to which 1 allude is that of the recent elevation of land, by which process our hill-tops are lifted into higher and colder strata of the atmosphere, and aqueous precipitation is increased. That these changes have occupied a vast interval of time is proved by the amount of denudation our “‘ Drift’ has undergone, as exempli- fied by the truncation of the Adelaide and Willunga Plains. In the case of the latter the Drift forms seacliffs rising to an elevation of 350 feet, whilst its western boundary has been totally removed. PLEISTOCENE. The Rey. J. E. Woods describes the coast at Guichen Bay as consisting of rough craggy rocks of coarse-grained sandstone, ‘‘which, though not rising very high, are bold and abrupt, sometimes presenting a perpendicular face to the heavy surf which beats upon that coast.” He recognises the false bedding, notes the absence of fossils, and coneludes “ that the deposit was from ocean current, but also that it was a considerable distance from any land.” He further remarks that it is found more or less all round the coast of the colony of South Aus- tralia, and perhaps it extends all along parts of the Australian Bight. Personal examination of much of the whole coastline between Cape Northumberland and Eucla confirms the state- ment of Mr. Woods. In my paper on the country around the Head of the Bight [ have described this formation somewhat in lxvill. detail ; and the phenomena observed there are common to all sections on whatever part of the coast, namely, coarse sands and sandstones, distinctly false-bedded, and though consisting of minute shelly particles and particles of quartzose and calcareous sand do not contain marine shells, but are often highly charged with the local land shells. These appearances clearly indicate that the deposit was formed from blown sand. From the circumstance that it forms precipitous cliffs and is continued far out to sea, forming those submerged reefs which render the coast from Cape Northumberland to Guichen Bay so very perilous to navigators, I conclude that it is separably from the loose sand dunes, which elsewhere fringe the coast, and not unfrequently overlie it, by an interval of time marked by slight oscillations of level. In other words, that during the period of its accumulation the land stood relatively higher than it does now. This was succeeded by a depression amounting perhaps to not less than 20 feet to allow of the sea to overflow those extensive low-lying areas occupied by deposits econ- taining existing marine species, which occur all along our shore margin. Upheaval of the Land during the epoch of recent species is attested by the occurrence of raised beaches, such as at Edithburg and Victor Harbour, and by the elevated sea beds which in the South-East extend inland for several miles, and which at several pcints along the whole coast occupy considerable areas of what are now salt-swamps, such as those of Port Adelaide and Dry Creek, at Port Wakefield, at Fowler’s Bay, &e. The alterations of soundings on rocky ground at Rivoli Bay and at Cape Jaffa evidence that the elevatory movement is still progressing. As to the height to which the land has been raised in recent times, many erroneous observations have been made. Mr. W. H. Light in a paper on the elevation of the Australian coast read before this Society in 1855 appeals to the fossiliferous deposit under the City of Adelaide in evidence of recent elevation. “The present vertical elevation of the highest fossiliferous stratum near North-terrace above the level of the sea, at ordinary high water is about 94 feet. Add to this the supposed limit of depth below the surface at which the beds of shells have been formed—say 50 feet—and we get a height of 144 feet as somewhere about the probable extent of elevation which this stratum has received.” The Rev. J. E. Woods committed the same mistake in referring (Geol. Obs. p. 208) the Adelaide fossiliferous limestone to the Recent Period, whereas it belongs to the Miocene. And, though correct in identifying the travertine on Tapley’s Hill at about 1,000 feet above sea level, with the limestone crust overlying the Miocene xa: limestone at Adelaide, yet he made a great mistake in attributing to it a marine origin, and in consequence his deduction that our hills had been raised that amount within a very recent period is based on wrong premises. Mr. Selwyn has equally misunderstood the nature of the “ crust limestone.” Mr. Woods, writing about the extensive area occupied by recently-raised marine beds in the South-East, has not been able to give actual heights above sea level, but ventures to estimate the amount of upheaval at not.less than 80 feet. However, it is not clear, that these figures refer to the height of the shell beds or to that of the terraces of Pleistocene sand- stone, similar to those of Cape Northumberland and Rivoli Bay, which divide the plain from the Coorong to Lacepede Bay at every ten miles or so. Accurate measures of the height of the marine beds com- posing the salt marshes resting on the Port Creek, and at Yalata, Fowler’s Bay, determine that the elevation is of only shght amount. The estuarine limestone, which fringes the Dry Creek salt marsh, and which is of about six to twelve inches thick, and crowded with Amphibola Quoyana, Risella melanostoma, and other littoral shells, is not more than twelve feet above ordinary high water mark. The limestone overlies the drift, but graduates into the estuarine muds and sands which occupy the salt marsh. The marsh is at rare intervals overflown, but extraordinary tides do not reach the estuarine limestone. The topmost bed of the marine deposits of the Yalata swamp is only six feet above high water mark, whilst that of the Roe Plains at Eucla is about twelve feet. VoLcaANoES OF THE Souru-East.—These have been very fully described by Mr. Woods, and but one question arises in connection therewith, viz., at what period were they erupted? They are newer than the Miocene, because the Mount Gambier limestone forms the base of the cones, and its fragments occur entangled in the ash beds; they are newer than the Pliocene sand and loess which are interstratified between the Mount Gambier limestone and the ash beds of the voleano of that place. The Pliocene sands and loess at this place are of terrestrial origin; they contain remains of Diprotodon, Phasco- lomys pliocenicus, McCoy ; and leaves of. Casuarina and Banksia are impressed on the under surface of the superimposed ash- layer. ‘Did man witness the showers of ashes and the glow of the internal fires of these cones reflected from the clouds? Pro- bably yes! Have we any traditions? No? But palzonto- logical evidence answers in the affirmative. Thus, the dingo (Canis dingo) was the contemporary of the Diptrodon, whose xexe remains are buried beneath the ashes of the Mount Gambier volcano, as proved by their remains occurring together in the Gisborne and Wellington caves. Now, the dingo is an alien; he forms no part of the Aus- tralian fauna; and his introduction by man, as a companion and assistant in the chase, can only satisfactorily explain his presence in this continent, as in some of the Pacific islands. Man and dog may have pursued together the Diprotodon, and in latter times have been awed by the volcanic outbursts. Indeed, no other cause of extirpation of the huge mammals has suggested itself to the mind of Professor Owen save that of human agency. He says, “To a race of men depending, like the blackfellows, for subsistence on the chase, the largest and most conspicuous kinds of wild beasts first fall a prey.” The voleanoes of the South-East, and particularly those at Mount Gambier, are characterised by the emission of much ash and litttle lava. The volcanic energy was weak, and it was the western limit of a force having its chief foci in Western Victoria. Though tranquil as the eruptions had been, yet there is no guarantee that the voleanoes will not again become active, and that the volume of their vomitings will be as insignificant. Volcanic Hjectamenta beyond Present Craters —Osidian bombs, showing no marks of erosive action, have been collected at distant parts of the colony, occurring either loose on the sur- face or imbedded in the ‘crust limestone,’ J have seen a specimen obtained at Gawler, from the centre of a nodule of travertine; and several that were collected about Stuart’s Creek, and one from King George’s Sound. I incline to the opinion that their distribution has been effected by human agency—perhaps the wish is father to the thought—inasmuch as the only feasible explanation of their presence arising from natural causes militates against my theory of the origin of the loess. Briefly, the state of the case is as follows :— 1. The bombs have not been ejected from the voleanoes of the South-east, because they are not found within their neighbourhood. 2. They may have been the outcome of some volcanoes, all traces of which have been removed by the encroachment of the sea. 3. Or they may have been brought by icebergs from the antarctic voleanoes—Erebus and Terror. By these means Mr. Scoular explains at once the ice marks on the sea cliffs of St. Vincent’s Gulf and the distribution of the voleanic bombs, an opinion I do not share with him, as previously explained. These bombs are held in high estimation by the aborigines, Ixx1. a fact which proves inferentially that they are not common— that they are obtained perhaps with difficulty, and possibly by exchange. Other articles of virtw have been transported to different parts of the continent, and why not these? Though we may in this way account for their wide-spread distribution, yet the evidence is not conclusive till they shall have been traced to their natural sites. I submit the following documentary evidence of the value set upon the obsidian bombs by the Australian black. A correspondent, writing from Salt River, King George’s Sound, states :—“ The black stones are very rare, and much prized by the natives, who believes the possessor bears almost a charmed life, and is able also to cure sick people of any complaint they may be afflicted with, as also to bewitch their enemies, or an one with whom they have a grievance, tormenting them with all kinds of diseases and finally destroying life itself.” Mr. Canham, of Stuart’s Creek, writes :—‘‘ With the stones will be found one to which a strange story is attached. I was told by the native I had it from that it was taken out of the breast of a sick man by one of their ‘ koonkies, or doctors, who, how- ever, did not succeed in saving the patient’s life, as some other ‘koonkie’ of another tribe had a greater power than this one who took the stone out. The sick native, I mention, died here of disease of the lungs, and all the koonkies in the country could never have saved him.” In conclusion, I lay before youa summary of such works and papers as have come under my notice bearing upon the natural history of this province which have been published during the past year; and also some addenda to the list furnished last year. “Transactions of the Entomological Society of New South Wales,” vol. 1, 1866; vol. 2, 1873. The Society was founded in 1862, and is now merged into the Linnean Society. The two volumes published during its existence contain, as may be expected, most useful information for the Australian entomologist. Contributors thereto, aware that the descriptions of Australian insects are dispersed through so many different books, and transactions of scientific Societies, have, in treating upon native insects, reprinted the specific descriptions of known species as given by the various authors, and have thereby relieved in some measure colonial entomologists from the disadvantages they labour under from want of access to the literature of the subject. The example set us by the Sydney naturalists might advan- tageously be imitated by workers in various departments, as well as by entomologists. Conspectuses of genera, accompanied lxxil. by pictorial representations of types, when necessary, would greatly facilitate the labours of the student. Mr. W. Macleay, in Presidential Address, vol. 1, p. 21., gives a brief summary of the earlier history of Australian entomology, down to the publication, in 1848, of Germar’s paper in the “Linnea Entomologica’” on the insect fauna of South Aus- tralia, which affords fuller information than I gave in last year’s address. Lepidoptera of the Family Zygaenide: By A. G.; Butler, Journal Linnean Society, 1875, 3 pl. Four new species of Hydrusa from Australia are described, and references are made to some other Australian species. The paper is a correction and emendation of Mr. Walker’s list. Description of Australian Micro- Lepidoptera: By E. Meyrick, Proc. Linnean Soce., N.S.W., vol. 3, p. 175, and vol. 4, p. 205 (1878-9). The author estimates the total number of species occurring on the Australian Continent to be fully 10,000. A certain number of descriptions of Australian micro-lepidopters are stated to be included by Walker, in his Brit. Mus. Cat., and a few by Zeller, Norman, &c. The present communication deals only with the group Crambites, of which 71 are described, 50 being new, and one genus is established. The following species were collected about Adelaide :—Crambus trivittatus, Z.; C. relatalis, Wkr.; C. bifractellus, Wkr.; Etiella Behrii, Z.; EH. chryso- porella, Mey. ; Homaosoma vagella, Z.; and Aphomia latro, Z. Contributions towards a Knowledge of the Curculionide : By F. P. Pascoe, part iv., 4 plates (Journal of Linnean Society, vol. xil., 1873. Forty-one species from Australia are described, four of which are from South Australia. Description of New Species and Genera of Ewnolpide : By J.8. Bailey. (Journal of Linnean Soc., vol. xiv., p. 246, 1878.) Three of the new forms are from this continent ; and “ Descrip- tions of New Genera and Species of Gallerucine.” (Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., August, 1879, p. 108.) A new species of pulmoniferous snail, living in the mangrove swamps about Port Adelaide, is technically described by Mr. _ Brazier, under the name of Alexia meridionalis, in Proe. Linnean Soc., N.S.W., vol. ii., p. 26 (1877). Mr. E. Smith, marine shells from the Solomon Islands, Journ. Linnean Soc., 1876. Figures and describes Nassa bicallosa from Swan River; and Thracia Angasiana and T. Jacksoniana from Port Jackson, and reports the occurrence of Terebra cancellata, Quoy (7. undatella, Desh.) at Port Elliot. Mr. Angas, in Proc. Zoological Soc., November, 1878, gives a list of additional species of marine mollusca to be included in the fauna of this Province. It is a supplement to a former list published in 1865, and includes a few published records of lxxiil. species that have not come under his observation, whilst the bulk of the additions is based upon material communicated to him by Mr. Bednall and myself. The list contains the names of fifty-four gasteropods, twenty conchifers, and one pal- liobranch. Mv. Petterd describes, in Journal of Conchology, April, 1879, seven new species of Tasmanian marine gasteropods, chiefly from Bass Straits. Prof. Hutton, on the structure of Amphibola avellana (Annals and Mag. Natural History, March, 1879). Though the species, whose structure is, herein, so ably described, is not a member of our fauna, yet as it is allied to two very common forms of our maritime marshes and mud shores, the knowledge of the animal must supply very important data for comparison to those who occupy themselves with the physiology of our molluscs. The anatomy of Mayne 8-0L | 6z9 pady POL | 9SL YorvyAl 8-0L | 6¢9 ‘qoy SEIEIE | : i = @ |} D re) : ° f= peal =i ean ea ie I Aer |p |) FS | ESS Sie be) a) S 5:15 | 4 a hoa ile Sil ke) eeralcey| 161 81: 478 90: 60 .. Oo 316 66: 185 65: 501 66: Gomer O° 281 60: 176 ile 457 42° Oey oe 214 23° 175 23° 389 23° TH os 60 206 5° 154 6° 360 5° GX) 56 90 120 S90 111 ee 228 oe SH oa 60 61 O6 52 ete 113 YO oe 5.0|| 23 50 18 ee Al Os 66 6.0 10 90 12 cb 22 A. Deaths from all diseases among males in South Australia during 1874-77. C. 6e 66 6é ee females ce ee 66 ER. ee ce ee ce both sexes ce ee 66 B. Ratio per 1,000 of deaths from phthisis to deaths from all diseases among males. D. 66 oe 6 ce ce 66 66 females. ANS Se #6 “se oe