i > FF * @ F i i i | mem SP Sek § AAR RRP A OM f & ‘roeee eee oe ee ever agarea eee eagneeeh ae eer OB See hee eee ee hee ee Oe he ae wet Oh awe & tien 8 A eek ee ee ee . ‘ ea + a ee ee ee oe ee ~~ o rt ARRAAAD A RLAA DA CTA OS LAR ALAR BL a set tti eee seri ee Oat Eek ina eee ‘owe . +t 75% * “7 ) ONES T wes rh May ev ee ' alae’ vey va 2 RSA, 4 A A, AEN KEE veer 2468 8 ~ber 6% ste eleehaae : tee” AA ARSE OE AOA LE ECA DO . Ap ‘ s4 (eh tp eee ee ee ede tee er ee eee ne DP o-Ore Pee eee ee ere renee rey yey . 4. mh D meee g Wek " tea shay e * shes eop eet eehr ease ere or » ha ‘* 4 ee © tere ee o1eitey Oa A AA AAD z > ‘ ~~ we Vee hee Ee eer ee hare het wm eLearn ee aes * eth va ee eh ee eke OO Oe eee FeO e eh ek eee * ee | Py NAR AS CARA AN LR , AAS ~Reeae '* test Pe ees +**e ee? te hae ’ 4 > ® a@-t¢ese% BEA OLY Wo AA YAY 4, SAS ‘ ' WAAR SAAS ECT KAR. I ‘ — : ‘so : ‘ ei ree 40444 SA eet 4 ae Tar ev ee DV ee peat ey teoreas **, 4 * ‘ . ae 2 “-* 4 aN, && Ag ‘7? . 'es8e ee eee “a4 | te ee ss erage : SE eee ehh es OO he Pe Eee A Oey om ee 8 : 4 ‘ees ee ett iue wae} ‘ee oy a * “ee ers) & OR he vor ee dee pene 4 6 vr, . S*Be ter hee vreasee ‘eer . ‘eeu ta | ee ee ee ‘ ere $+ eee ve eet eran ee Fer taiw sor s . * ‘? + +oe ~~ +e 4 S\ oe ss 44 ° see ~ | eee "3 ee tl eeee ghee de oe & +* Sr ah he rd Foe ee hehe Hh ewe Tee ae pa S ‘ heeoeed son ey Het ee CKD EPTa Peed ee ees ~~" >a ee '+3.2% + +44 see G&S « »* erants¢ . ‘ ~~ ‘Hue h AO deewe Leer Beene ae a © — ‘+. eee oe ee hee errs ’ ae? *** we dee ee ee ee ee oe ee ' , ae , og Fae PR Tee eas tee we Pm. Qe om . : . eewe tpn et aet '*ss ave 8 +e? ‘soe ee V4 th O RO wD HEP Oe Eee ti eetewet +’ *o.4 “a - ee ee tab Se et ee Seba s PRR Ee Meee > Be eae oN! Lx » 4 _* ’ : "** *s* ea a ae L+eca*® . a 8 ov Vee Vee nerh DAY LR Ae ~~ eh ap ee LH Op a Ree OE ai 8 ae he be oe) 8) CH ROL wh owe eS ee eh ere hg oe * 4 eee ‘r tes een TAS ee hE ue 3 A i eae tate && i & © ¢¢eahi Peay y > a4 +. + mae dot “% J-2.% 29% © De Dw ot a] i : 7 \* -? + ‘ teas ewe -. ® +» .% A AA SE A SA AS hn 8 { ** a-« *. | 7 s © 4 . ca . ae 6 6 Oh AAA AP were thy : ofet oe ne BY a os Ae ‘2 ors ee beer retiGe SP Oe Sem es yaw eee a yeuer ar . ee ee A a ee “ee este’ “oe , ee ee ee ee ee eh ea Verh, eet MASH YER HL! es a yiewys ab . aeaade > Sr Pe we HeHY's & BO & +a2VeE eer BP 4e — : * io tt) St seve 67) “ > raas teu te ss” > . Ae bees ra-> s < ¢ : Tt. te *v hen 5 e ee eee ee ee ee 7. Oe . Fo t hh AVE Bee Oe OF Oe Oe Wee o> 7 ’* . . ok ae © ' | ati we hod 4 . P . . ee and ot & Oe he ey ve oo * L.2 +t a4 oo oe er oe oe ea ue e et 4 ‘* ‘ oye st eta ee he RTAS PD «4 Vea ee + > pe et A ee ee : . 1 -* ~i'e + 4 PP Poe =o + “ R, As ofp stent a J -*5 + Vite y oe et Ole 5h Beg aw We eae ’ +4 ¥ at aye ¥ St Be - , P , nee ku € ee ee Le 4 ort b>. oo Ow J _ 9 _ ‘ua wee ‘hte PD. > tem ES "se ore MMe ARR E LR aA aks SEXES IRS II Nea al . A v -*.3* . es. i Meta ° years EAA, ty Ve pele Peay Laney Fe . +s Pel Prt Ft A A ok ~ ‘ s,) “5 4 3 ¥ < $ LES ERR, a he i .¥ +s% Oe bry . Pee +3 J eB te bpd > eee ** * . « s r? ‘ ‘ Pee ge Se Low ove ? nh Nh hone a | a oF 4 y Z vil otek Teg tl " -~7 ul i coe he » Su a4 0 a ‘sy “y i Agi Wen i See ‘ diy! ean, Mey ranges Na “9% Pry, “ia mse | wy * 3 ‘ > re Ped Gy Fe ’ Cie he cRES ESE & ty = ke PPS vs ist SAD £744 hES Dy A rice ve WEI Ge PSP ee PRS SSS Me Fe : ° a° i ©, A Bs ne PF 9° . ° A | é cu 3 4 ; &-s Fe eos Ff 8-23 ee | 4 F. ¢ ARAMA ARR Cpe te aperpe ces see Pa edi ei me et 2 ey vee Pee PETS PH w Hae 8S “ FF “24 +s tree hn ts she 1S ish FF Ss . Si dd : : ; PeF tet er rie ye = ovr et Fs PF 8- RELA ot FS ‘ as #3 © »-> ai 2 a A trv; Ff “5 ‘7 a:3 ¢ 7 $s 7+ +2 F ? a Ps * 1oi-4 Sn As ie a ee ee a ee et A eR Oe FA 27 3 ; . >> ee a en ee eee Pee See Se RO Re ee : ated es ** 2 t-3 > ; ae ot ad * hee ae be et Dee BS ee = : -* =e + 70. £2 Pk-8 S72 Fd OF PECTS Boe OSE i oe ri é a 22 OE © FFAs 2 e FS Fs Ae) oe: . * oe <7 2s % Ps PTY OR AD fe ee ee “9 ti 77 33 > oto | art &F 4 oo rt: Pet ore 7h ” 7* t+ os tee ee eee A DDoS te ok pe P ‘ és wa eat nee 7 fg & ee eS bp er Pols roe 3 ¥- $+: Tte > b4 he ee) eee es eee eT eS oe 5 OE POETS EFT eG STF SEES CARS re Ee : ry erve het tn A Me ep ee te bgt 5 Ae pak BOS SAS fi : itereia es -° 7% = t.> > io Verena s Fe EV Fee OS EB eo "4 “ t+ : Zi s¢ Dy per We *% HF 4 ie ee ae $3,574 . rvi > " p Po ; ee 77% i i i oe | > a ; tyhess yr rs ee ne Be Sereree - ‘ vi? we Fes res a Ae vie ra : iw? ¥ J % ee ee ee ot Oe ee ee og : ee ee oe ee | +) 22 8 8 9 OE 2-15 PG fe See eit ete sie Fe Kees OTF ET Fiabe eh Eee F ee ee ee ee ee Mt eee y + ¥ 1S Ge RP e St rt eee Fee ele Freee ea 5 ws eu, | rt o> i “Fz, Oe ee ee ee OR oe ek tre ‘ PUT Oe Sey ey REET SF OP TT ESE SY TES FIGS > &~ § ne ee ee ee a ee er oe ee . PCW SE ew Saks eee Fis Fieve 5 ERG an ii ’ = i ee ee ee ee ee ee bes ie 4% ee ey a ie ee ee ee ee ee a : fever} ee ee i ee eee eo ie ee oes Lo = v -* : oe eee ee. eee ee. ee eee ee te es ee ** oth oe oe ee ok ee oe 2 ee oe 2 oe 2 ae 7 S~ ei PC Ee HARES 4wE DEES FF OF EES Ge Set eesvr Prien scivt ser ves eas v.39 3 FP S34 4 rt ae Pees e TE Se Pere tT re eee ee < 53,90 528 parte Pec pew ee ei Pes Se FETS e SPER Pp F-FF = t 4 ee ee ee i ce ee ee ee ee Dt ey a i, $i eee BS Pt & we 2 | BF + ye 4a SS ES oe 4*4 «5 / 4 + 197 ADH 4 APrK | ! LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS Al URBANA-CHAMPAIGN BIOLOGY ACES LIBRARY Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/transactionsproc2187phil Le on 12) 1 Tie 8 ey anh Ae ‘ iy g t “ . Ay a. = * a ee 2 #: ‘ | t i =I / Y i = ft = x = ‘ ; ge \ { 3 q 7 i 4 i] OS) te i me aks y Ma es f 7 yey: i / as Leal ( win, Ae if al 1 er ae ‘Asn ¥) +) on 7) PO ae FO are ev yh = yal ' ? & ‘ . } ri WA 1 = ‘ 7% tf ~ * aM dy 4 } > t >" \ KN > —= di ‘ ie re ij i + r= ts \ i . ‘ wow i are ew <« " ay" f kr F ot i i ' hy ee ry a vy Lit TRANSACTIONS AND/PR ROCERDI its, / ¢ 2 2N QV 1993 2% D a REPORT pitas Society FOR 1878-9. Adelaide : WEBB, VARDON, & PRITCHARD, GRESHA’ 1879. ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA, bie. Philosophical Society of Adelaide. Patron : HIS EXCELLENOY SIR W. Ff. D. JERVOIS, G.C.M.G., CB. &e. Aresident : PROFESSOR RALPH TATE. Wice-Aresidents : CHARLES TODD, Esq., C.M.G., F.R.A.S., &c. F. CHAPPLE, Esq., B.A., B.Sc. Hon. Secretary : How. Crewswrer : WALTER RUTT, Esq., CE. | THOMAS D. SMEATON, Esa. atlenvbers of Gonncil: D. B. ADAMSON, Esq. WALTER RUTT, Esq, C.E. F. CHAPPLE, Ese, B.A., B.Sc. THOMAS D. SMEATON, Esq. R. HICKSON, Esq., M.I.C.E. PROF. R. TATE, F.G.S., &c. S. J. MAGAREY, Esq., M.B. J. C. VERCO. Esq., M.D. CHARLES TODD, Esq., O.M.G., F.R.A.S., &c. (REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNOR.) Assistant Secretary: MR. A. MOLINEUX. 506 ACES LIBRARY Vi Ce “T* CONTENTS. AOE A / List of Members Rules and Regulations Abstract of Proceedings Annual Report Anniversary Address by Professor R. Tate Dr. Magarey on Our Climate and Infant Mortality Dr. Verco on the South Australian Statistics of Consumption Mr Otto Tepper on the Insects of South Australia ; an attempt at a Census ... Mr. Gavin Scoular on the Geology of the Hundred of Munno Para: Part I. The Newer Tertiary Deposits Mr. Otto Tepper: An Introduction to the Rocks and Cliffs of - Ardrossan (plates i. to iii.) Mr. J. T. Cloud on the Artificial Formation of Atacamite ... “et Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods: A list of Australian Starfishes Mr. J. D. Woods on the Aborigines of South Australia Prof. R. Tate on The Natural History of the Country around the Head of the Great Australian Bight (plate iv.) A af Prof. R. Tate : Zoologica et Paleeontologica Miscellanea (plate v.) 11 3d 60 LIST OF MEMBERS, SEPTEMBER 30rn, 1879. Those marked (F) were present at the first meeting when the Society was founded. ‘Those marked (1) are Life Members. Those marked with an asterisk have contributed papers. Date of HONORARY MEMBERS. Election. Angas, Geo. French, F.L.S.,0.M.Z.S. Norland-square, London ... 1879 Barkely, Sir Henry, G.C.M.G., K.C.B. co ee Ellery, R. L. 7 F, BS. Kar Observatory, Melbourne te eee *(F) Feignagle, Cc. G. <4 ... Melbourne 2 0868 *Garran, A., LL.D. s es! PORDENY Tote a ia s8aS *Hull, H. M. Hobart Town ay ... 1855 Jervois, H. E.Sir W.F.D., eX C.M. a C.B. 3 Government House ... 1878 Little, E. , ge te *e .. 1855 Macleay, W.., Hii ae ite, yeaney | a we) see Russell, H. Co, B.A., F.R.AS ... Observatory, Sydney ... 1876 Von ifuellor. Bat on Ferd., K.C.M.G., Eo, OC. . Melbourne ee lah ae Warburton, Col. P. Rigerton ... Beaumont oe oi *Wilson, C. A. .. Supreme Court... ... 1853 *Woods, Rev. J. E. T,, F.L S., P.GS., &. +7 . Sydney ... a se, gee: (x) Young, J. L, 1 Parkside ... a ... 1853 CORRESPONDING MEMBERS. *Hayter, H. H., P.8.8." ... ... GovernmentStatist, Melbourne 1878 *Scoular, Gavin ... ch ... Blair, Smithfield... 1878 *Tepper, Otto ... sy ... Ardrossan, Yorke’s Peninsula 1878 ORDINARY MEMBERS. Adamson, Adam, jun. _... ... Angas-street sss . LSre *Adamson, D. B. re ... Angas-street lis aie (LSBT Addis, WL... ... ne ... Currie-street - 3° 2S Angas, J. H.... me ... Collingrove, Angaston 1874 Bagot, U.N. ... as .... Melbourne-street, N. Adelaide 1877 Biggs, Col. J. H. . ... Edwardstown ci 1878 Billiatt, J. W. ... id ... Jdetty-road, Glenelg J... (1870 Brookes, Joseph aA ... Survey Office ie os gee Broom, E. F. ... se .. Glenelg ... wv we ope Brunskill, George, J.P. ... as Nema Ir, 4 a) ae Burgan, T. se ... Gilles-street hp «ve, ADS *Chalwin, Thomas pan ... Currie-street wth LOFT Chapple, F., B.A., B.Sc. ... Prince Alfred College nay FTLOEO Coffee, F. f., C.E. ae .... Engineer-in-Chief’s Office ... 1879 *(z) Cooke, E., M.P. sae ... South-terrace ‘xe ae Crawford, F. 8. < ... Surveyor- General’s Office... 1865 *Davenport, S. ... Beaumont * | L866 Davidson, Rev. Professor, University of Adelaide .., im ... deffcott-street, N. Adelaide ... 1876 Dobbie, A. W. ... oes ... Gawler-place ik . 1876 | \ t } Duffield, W_... Elder, Sir Thomas *FPletcher, Rev. W. R., M.A. Gall, D. Giles, Ae *(F) Gosse, William, M. D., “E.R.GS. Gosse, Chas., M.D. ; : *Gunson, J. M., M.D. *Hamilton, George, Commissioner of Police Harrold, Aythur Harry, Thos. ... Hay, Hon. Alexander, M.Z.0..... Hickson, R., M.I.C.E., + jig socal of Harbours and Jetties ... *Hill, W. *Hosking, > ip Inspector of Schools .. ma, W. B., CH, Assistant Hydraulic Engineer au) Hullett, J. W. H., C.E. ... *Ingleby, R., Q.C. Johnson, J. ae *(F) Kay, R., Secretary South Aus- tralian Institute up Knevett,S. *Lamb, Professor Dea M. A. Uni- versity of Adelaide *Laughton, E. ... Lees, S. E. H. ... *Lloyd, J. 8. *Macgeorge, Jas. Madley, L. G. ao of Training College i‘ Magarey, T. Magarey, A. T.. *Magarey, 8. J., MB. Mayo, G., MD. Mayo, G. G., C.E. *Murray, A. (L) Murray, David Nesbit, E. P., jun. *Ponton, T. a Rees, Twland, M.P., C.E. Russell, W. . *Rutt, Walter, C. EB. Sanger, a: ae Sawtell, T. H., M.R.C. S. #Schombur gk, R., Doctor Ph., &e. Director , *Smeaton, T. D. Smith, R. Barr Sparks, H. Y. ... Stuckey, J. J., M.A. *Tate, Prof. Ralph, F.G.S. Univer- sity of Adelaide Thomas, J. Davies, M.D. Gawler ... Grenfell-street ie North-terrace, Kent Town Tynte-street, N. Adelaide Government Offices ... North-terrace North-terrace Kent-terrace, Nor wood Adelaide Club Hindley-street: Penn Chambers Beaumont Umer eA ‘i ae ‘ vA SF co oe re yt. het 4 3 ite st eal hae As ae XXXVi. REPORT OF THE Qi iiGaEE OF THE ADELAIDE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, For tHE YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER 30TH, 1879. The Council has the satisfaction of stating that the useful work of the past year is at least equal to that recorded of any previous year in its history. The following papers were laid before the Society during the year :—“ Our Climate and Infant Mortality,” by. J. Magarey, M.B. ; “ The Philosophy of Consciousness,” by Hon. B. T. Fi inniss ; “The Aborigines of South Australia,” by J. D. Woods; “ Statistics of Consumption in South Australia,” by J. C. Verco, M.D.; “The Rocks and Cliffs at Ardrossan, eta OF Tepper ; “The Physical Features and Natural History of the Country around the Great Bight,” by Prof. Ralph Tate, F. G. S.; ‘Will: the Effect of Physical Forces acting on the Brain,’ by Hon. B. T. Finniss; “ Census of the Insect Fauna of South Australia, Part I,” by O. Tepper; “ List of, Australian Star- fishes,” by Rev. J. E. T. Woods, F.L.S., F.G-S.,*&c.; “ Sun- stroke,” by J. F. Joyce, M.D.; ‘“‘Museums in Australia and New Zealand,” by E. Cooke, M.P.; “Census of the Insect Fauna of South “Austr alia, Part IT, fF by O. Tepper; “ The Newer Tertiaries of Munno Para,”’ by Gavin Scoular ; “ Recent and Fossil Species of Australian Salenariade,”’ by Rev. J. E. T. Woods, F.LS., F.G.S., &e.; “ Zoologica et Paleontologica Miscellanea,” by Pr of. Ralph Tate, F.G.S.; “ Note on the Artificial Formation of Atacamite,” by J. F. Cloud, FE.CS. ~ The Council hasfelt that the Society was not obtaining from its affiliation to the South Australian Institute all the advantages which had been intended by the Legislature to attend such a connection, and has represented to the Government that although the Institute Act provides that the affiliated Societies may share in the moneys provided for Institute purposes by the annual vote of Parliament, the estimates were worded in such a manner that they were precluded from the enjoyment of this privilege. The Government has acknow ledged the justice of the representation, and the wording of the estimates, as passed this session, places the affiliated Societies on the XXXV21. same footing as country Institutes, the subscriptions to which are subsidised by the Government at the rate of pound per Sts The augmented income which will result from this ecision will enable the Council to fulfil the hope expressed in their last report, and to publish the transactions and proceed- ings annually, and in a more complete form than was possible in the volume for 1877-78. The transactions, being forwarded to the leading scientific Societies of the world, afford an oppor- tunity of putting before students facts in connection with the natural history of this Province, which, though very valuable, would otherwise be lost. The Council therefore urges upon al] the members that they should place upon record their own observations and such as may come under their notice by communicating them m the form of papers or memoranda to the Society. A correspondence has taken place between the Society and the Council of the Adelaide University, in which the Society urged upon the Council the advisableness of adding to the University curriculum lectures upon the practical application to the profession of mining engineering, of the subjects already included in the course of study as laid down in the University Calendar, with the object of inducing the more scientific, and therefore the more economic, development of the mineral resources of the Province. The University Council has acknowledged the importance of the subject, but, after a long consideration of the Society’s suggestions, has come to the conclusion that financial considerations must prevent any steps being taken in this direction at present. Death has again removed from our midst one of our oldest members. Mr. Benjamin Herschel Babbage, C.E., may almost be considered to have been one of the founders of the Society, having joined it on 17th January, 1853, one week after its formation. He has throughout taken a deep interest in the Society’s work, and has several times held the office of Vice- President. There has been during the year an increase of six in the membership of the Society. This is a matter for con- sratulation, but the Council feel that there are many gentlemen in the Province who are interested in the progress of science, and who might materially advance the same by connecting themselves with this Society, whose names do not appear on our roll. They also regret that only two young men, and no ladies, have availed themselves of the advantages held out by the recently adopted rule forming the class of associates. In conclusion, the Council expressed a hope that their successors _ may receive the support of every member, and that the progress which has characterised the Society during the last two years may continued in the future. XXXVI111. "LOAUSBILT, “NOLVHIWS ‘Cd SVNOHL G & Shs , Steer ‘2 2 us aoUBleg 0 = F ae "* SUOTJOVSUBLT, JNO SuIpuas “og 0 Sia =" “¢ Axvpeg 8 Acejotoog JuvysIssy $ i & a suoTydiaosqug SuTyoIT]OO WOIssTUMUUOD OLS P a y a) solIpung pus osvysog 0 £0313 2: a "a at SUISTJIOAPV o art ¢: " SIV "OT 0 OF so-.c ies ‘et SUOTJOVSUBLY, SUTJULLT 0 0 Gl =" oe OJUITSUT “VY “g 03 UOTynqtAqUOD Ag m0 “LOJIPLY “6L8T “1940PO YIP ‘LIASUN SSLUVd ‘Hh LZ St Lets" ots a 6 6 ShCEF *qooIL00 PUNO pus poqyrpuy UMOP JYSNOIG oouvpedT * ‘''pjos sdodug jo sordoo vaqxe puv suorovsuucy, ase % - “ suotgditosqug ooUL[V OT, "SL8T “1990990 ud “ALHIOOS 'TVOIHGOSOTIHd WCIVIECVY WHE HLIM INHYYOO INNOOOV NI UWMUOSVAUL AHL - XXXIX. THE ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT, Proressor Rateu Tarr, Assoc. Lin. Soe., F.G.S. Prerarory.—At our last Anniversary, when I had the honour of addressing you from this chair, I took occasion to sketch the present state of our knowledge of the Natural History of South Australia. But as that retrospect does not embrace Geology, beyond indicating the chief published sources of our information, and directing attention to the salient points of our geology about which accurate observations are needed, J propose, now, to supply the omission. I shall, however, pursue a somewhat different plan in dealing with the Geology than I did with the other branches of Natural History, and instead of a mere review of what has been published on the subject, I will incorporate all the information that I have acquired by personal observation and by correspondence with what has been written. In this endeavour I hope to present you with a more systematic and fairly comprehensive history of the geological changes that this land of ours has undergone than it would otherwise be possible. An attempt of the kind was made by me in a course of lectures on “The Ancient Physical Geography and Geology of South Australia,” delivered during the winter of 1877 under the auspices of the University of Adelaide. The following Syllabus is a reprint, as advertised :— Lecture I.—April 9th. Educational value and objects of Geological Science. Geological preliminaries, embracing the origin and phenomena of igneous and sedimentary rocks, and the classification of sedimentary rocks. Surface features of South Australia. Coast scenery, and its relation to rock structure. Lecture IJ.—April 16th. The origin and characteristics of our shingle beaches and sand dunes— The Coorong and Murray bar. Nature and origin of alluvial plains. The Biscuit Flat and its charac- teristics. Lecture IIJ.—April 23rd. South Australia slowly rising: its ancient sea margins. Raised beaches of Victor Harbour, Aldinga, Brighton, Yorke’s Peninsula, &ce. Recent marine limestone and other deposits of Dry Creek, Glenelg, Edithburgh, Victor Harbour, Lacepede Bay, &c. Contemporaneous sandhills of Plympton, Alberton, and Cape Northumberland. Distribution of marine life in depth. xl. Lecture IV.—April 30th. The plains of Adelaide, Willunga, &c., the beds of deserted lakes. General character of their deposits, and of the auriferous drifts. Are we drying up? The erosive action of rivers ; the recession of the Wannon Falls. The origin of the gorge of the River Murray, and proofs of a former lake-expansion of the Murray waters over the Murray plateau. Nature and origin of the white limestone of Adelaide. Lecture V.—May 7th. The origin of our salt lagoons and of the brackish waters of our wells. Lake Torrens—an arm of Spencer’s Gulf, or a salt lagoon? Underground drainage in the South-Hastern Districts. The Adelaide hills once enveloped in perpetual snow : the ice-worn aspect, and other evidences of glacial action. Ice-borne granitic blocks on Yorke’s Peninsula ; ice scratches in the valley of the Inman. Lecture VI.—May 14th. The extinct gigantic animals of the Pliocene period, and their relationship to the existing fauna. Retrospect. The subsequent climatic changes which gave rise to the present order ofthings. The extinction of the large animals. The volcanoes of the South-east; proofs of their comparative recentness. Distribution of voleanic material beyond the present volcanic centres. Lecrures VII. and VIII.—May 21st and May 28th. South Australia an archipelago during the Miocene period. The rocks of the period, as exhibited in the cliffs of Aldinga Bay, Yorke’s Peninsula, the River Murray, &c. The origin of the sediments constituting the same. The littoral character of the deposits at Gawler, Morphett Vale, Lake Torrens, &c. The semi-tropical character of the marine productions of the period— colossal sharks, carnivorous whales, &c. The relation of the fauna to recent and past periods. Deep-sea soundings, and life off the Australian shores. Lecture [X.—June 18th. Jurassic formation of the interior. The geological structure of the Adelaide hills ; two distinct sets of strata —the older and metalliferous, the younger and non-metalliferous. The ancient voleanoes of the Adelaide hills, and their association with the gold and copper bearing rocks. LecturRE X.—June 25th. On the probable presence of true coal in South Australia; and on the relative ages of true coal and lignites. Nature and origin of the substance called ‘‘ Coorongite.” As most of the facts, then communicated, were chiefly acquired by personal observation, extending over the brief period of fifteen months, I doubted whether my generalizations about such a vast and unexplored region as South Australia would not require considerable modification as the result of more extended observation. This fear restrained me from publishing the lectures ;-but having greatly extended the area of observation, and having been assisted by other workers, in the interval of more than two years, which has elapsed since the delivery of the lectures, I present you with more confi- dence these “ Outlines of South Australian Geology,” which are, however, based on them. The interest that is shown for xli. the subject will justify the issue of the ‘ Outlines,” despite that imperfection which inevitably belongs to it as a pioneer work. To conclude these introductory remarks, | may state that the field of unexplored facts is so vast that there is ample room for an army of workers, acting independently and for many years to come. If amateurs would only give to the Society what they know of the geology of particular localities in their neighbourhood, we should make a great advance towards a complete geological history of the colony. I owe to nota few in the Far North, on the Murray, in the South-East, and elsewhere hearty thanks for their active co-operation in my geological investigations, and for the promise of future help. That there are men, who are not altogether absorbed in money- getting, able and willing to add to our stock of knowledge, L have good reason for saying. LEADING PHYSICAL FEATURES OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. If we inspect the map of South Australia proper, we observe that the mountain ranges follow the general direction of the two Gulfs, St. Vincent’s and Spencer. "The elevated regions of the southern part of the Province occupy three well-defined areas, separated from each other by the gulfs mentioned ; but in their northerly extension they approach each other, and to the north of Lake Torrens no well-defined mountain system obtains. Our ranges are rather of a composite character, consisting of parallel ridges, often separated by broad and deep plain-lke valleys; this feature is most prominent to the north of Kooringa. The first group is that of the Adelaide chain, which com- mences 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, 2,235; and north of Burra Burra, Mount Cone, 2,601; Razorback, 2,834. Itisvery little interrupted in its course, and that only by afew 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 ne 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, xlii. 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 removed 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 Plam. 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 uniformity 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 8.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 Australia have a general dip to the south-east, and show a succession of clay slate with quartzite bands, crystalline hmestones, mica slate and other decidedly metamorphic rocks, and granite. Jt 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, meluding 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 I 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- xly. 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 lime- 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 in the Durness and Assynt limestones, that will enable them to be at once assigned their true position in the geological scale.” According to the Rey. 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 miles south, and at 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 moreancient epoch. The chief facts are— that m the neighbourhood of Ardrossan, a lower series of metamorphic slates and limestones is covered unconformably xiv. 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. Scoular 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 Elhot ; its intrusive origin is obvious by the veins passing from it imto 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 xlvii. 2 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 rad eritty quartzose 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 syneclinal 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 Angorigina, Appealina, and Oratunga. 4, The dark blue fine-grained arenaceous flags and sandstones of Appealina. We need to place 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, “unless, 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 nardoo 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 xlvul. Orthis ealligramma, 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 Palwozoic 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 Ecculiomphalus, 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 Paleozoic rocks should the lime- 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. cit., and Mr. Daintree, same Seat 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 ©. Clarkeit. 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 : 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 Jurassie 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. Cretacreous.—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 Queensland 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- hi. erature of 108 degrees, and others of them are hot and cold. he description of Blanche Cup Springs by Mr. F. G. Water- house will serve as a type:—‘ This is the most beautiful voleanie 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 a very hard and compact nature, of a grey colour, and much resembles siliceous limestone.” OnpER 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- lil. 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 isnow 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 accor dance with those at. Aldinga, briefly sketched by me in last year’s “ Transactions.” The Bunda Basin, details concerning which haye been com- municated to you in my paper ‘On the Natural History 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 I 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 :— a ee ee | Bunda | Chalk rockiGlaucon- | of MacDonnell) itic lime- | Bay. stone. | R. Murra . Yorke’s Olifts. 7 South-East. Aldinga. Peninsula, Cliffs. | we | | Upper Aldinga | Upper Murra- | series. Crystalline vian. Calciferous) limestones af Shelllimestones sandstone,| Tickera. Marbles. oyster beds,| impure lime-|Turritella grits! | and sands. stones, oyster| at Ardrossan. | | banks. tr ter ol | Middle Murra- a | vian. - Yellow polyzoal| & | Calciferous| limestone of, “% | ‘ Polyzoal! sandstone with| Narracoorte.| 3 2 a limestone. | polyzoa a6 - S | ‘ wd a 2 ree Dot Tr on 2) 9 | Lower Murra- p & ws 5 | vian. White polyzoall $+ bg = | |Ferruginous} limestone off as = S | sandstoneand| Mount Gam-| Orc < “af . 7 > 9 } polyzoal lime-| bier. eee SS | 2 | stones. ) | 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 :— | Classes represented. No. species in Upper/No.speciesin Muddy No. species Murravian. Creek Beds. | common. | | Cephalopoda 3 i 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 complete 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 point. 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. I therefore think that we may safely refer the Muddy Creek beds to the Miocene period. Even by taking collectively the fossils in contemporaneous beds, the proportion of living to extinct species is not more than six ae cent. The living species fossilised in these beds are as ollows :— The identification of those species marked by an asterisk (*) is on the authority of the Rev. J. HE. 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 *t 7 2s N. Zealand. 2. *Syrnola bifasciata, Woods .. ae 2 wa ‘Fasmania. 3. Cochlolepas foliaceus, Quoy .. +7 oo ae S. Australia. 4, *Liotia discoidea, Rv. ? oe ea si i Tasmania. 5. Fissurellidea concatenta, Crosse +t Res od ia S. Australia. 6. Fissurella nigrita, Sow. es we si ae S. Australia. 7. Tugalia parmophoridea, Quoy % oid bi i Ap S. Australia. 8. Emarginula striatula +4 ae ae Se N. Zealand. 9. Emarginula dilecta, Angas ? *+ “al me z S. Australia. 10. Cylichna australis, Quoy .. ae “us A | Tasmania. 11. Cadulus acuminatus, Deshayes Se *+ its S. Australia. 12. *Dentalinm lacteum, Deshayes ? os as ‘ India. 13. Ostrea (cf) edulis, Lin. ht aa i a sa Temp. Seas. 14. Pecten bifrons, Lk. te *+ es - S. Australia. 15. Pecten asperrimus, Lk. bs oy - ma S. Australia. lv. 16. *Leda inconspicua, Rv. rs Me . wit 17. Limopsis Belcheri, Adams *} | i - S. Australia. 18. tLimopsis aurita, Sassi oe AIK *F ie Europe. 19. Pectunculus laticostatus, | Quoy 7 Ar *+ ‘ N. Zealand. 20. {Trigoniaacuticostata, McCoy*t va 4 es K. Australia. 21. tCorbula sulcata we “e i | a W. Africa. 22. Terebratella Cumingiana, Davidson is a a ? N.S. Wales. 23. *Sphenotrochus _ variolaris, Woods -s oe 7 i N.S. Wales. 24. Flabellum candeamum, Ed. and H. 7 China. Other fossils have been reeatred to living pheno Trivia Europea, Leiostraca subulata, Lima subawriculata, Liotia lamel- losa, Woods, &c., but competent authorities have not confirmed these identifications. On the other hand, the Geelong coral, Deltocyathus italicus, Hd. & 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 P 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 :— 1 | | a patie common ~ . inga Series an Classes. | No. 8p oe Aldinga the Unie Murravian | and Muddy Creek : Beds. mn CODRBIODOGA, sinnsces esses | 3 | 2 RTHBUOTOINMGN. 5 6c els waren» s 3 40 | 15 COMCTITIOTE Tah CP. dale ite-e% 23 | 9 Palliobranchiata .........- | 18 | 6 Hchinodermata ....«sece- | 21 | 1 OOPEIE sigs pak Meo sie whats we 11 | 1 ———— — os ee ee | See | | aL els pone 116 34 lviil. The living species present in these beds are :— TEREBRATELLA Cumrnarana, Davidson. Very rare in the middle beds of the Aldinga section, but plentiful in the Lower Murravian, and in the Mount Gambier beds. FLABELLUM pistrinctuM, Ed. & H. Common. Limorsis aurrra, Sassi. The Aldinga fossils are identical with the New Zealand and Chilian Eocene form, JZ. insoluta, Sow., which may be synonymie with the above. EMARGINULA DILECTA, Angas. An Hmarginula from Aldinga is doubtfully referable to EF. transenna, Woods, of the Table Cape Miocene, which may possibly prove to be the recent South Australian ZL. dilecta. Accepting the above determinations, the proportion of living to extinct forms in the Lower Aldinga series is, expressed by percentage number, 3°5. 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 Eocene 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. Uprtanp MiocENnE and 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 fiuviatile 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 Casuarine and Eucalyptus. The process of silicification took place subsequent to entombment in the marine or estuarine beds, because the stems are not untrequently 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 evenly-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 Lyndoch, 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 lke nature, and doubtlessly similar origin, forming the gold-field of Echunga. 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 Caaieiie 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 biel 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. Summary.—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. 1S | 2S Sere oun F96-66| 9 99 C6 | EST 8 S6I | &-8 COG AVN 400-08 | 3-2 oy 6-8 | 6FL | 66 Lee | 8-OL | 629 |“ pady 996.62| &1I | OFT | 68 | OSL | GOL | SSG | FET | 9E4 F YoreyA €/9.66| 8-ZE |'SSl | G4 | 161 8 10s | 8-0L | 689 |"° ‘qoaq7 919-621 8-ZI | Z8E.| DS (9st a Se-.| 90G | 6-TL Sao ee ‘tg sivoh g *savok G *savad ‘savod G & “UO 10F ‘yuo OF *UquoUL TOF ee I0F B ey eae Die al eee ce a Tene ee 3 12401 ELON F 12400, [e901 eI VIJSUY “avod T 1040 ‘eITeajsny Yynog puv sivad ¢ 1apun eI[vaysny [nog ut UsIpTIyO Jo syzvod ul sJUvjuy Jo syyvod ‘oprepopy jo AqpD ut I yynog ut sivod G sjuvjuy jo syzvod IOAO SYgvOC ‘(OAISNOUL) LIST-EL8T Wows (ATHINOW SAYVUAAV Po ee eee ll THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN STATISTICS OF CONSUMPTION. By Josrru C. Verco, M.D. It has long been known that the prevalence and fatality of consumption of the lungs vary greatly at different places and under different climates. But there does not seem to be any one climate which specially opposes the disease. It has been shown to be almost unknown in some of the cold and stormy islands off the western coast of Scotland. The number of invalids with pulmonary affection who yearly flock to the temperate regions of Italy and Southern France testify to the popularity of the impression that a mild, genial atmosphere is highly beneficial. Yet our southern sub-tropical colony does not fail to attract a host of sufferers seeking amidst all the discomforts of dry and dusty heat the cure for their complaint, while there are not wanting those who extol the rarified and bracing air of lofty mountain chains as par excellence the remedy for phthisis. It would appear, then, to be almost im- possible to decide from the physical or meteorological data of a given locality whether it would prove beneficial or otherwise. A guess might be made either right or wrong. The appeal must be made to the statistics of the place; whatever the a priorz conclusion may be, the real decision must rest upon the death returns. In spite of all we hear in depreciation of statistics to the effect that anything may be proved from them, it is certain that very little could be proved without them—all that could exist would be a mere floating, unsatisfactory general impres- sion, J wish to point out what, that is fairly definite, can be learned about consumption in South Australia from this source. Where the materials from which deductions are to be drawn respecting a complaint consist entirely of death returns, the study of phthisis presents an advantage over that of almost every other affection, viz., that so large a proportion of the patients attacked ultimately die from its ravages. I would not be understood to suggest that it is incurable—it most certainly as curable; still so many of those seized are eventually destroyed, that the mortality tables give a very approximate idea of the prevalence of the disease. 12 It is only during the last five years that the annual returns of vital statistics have been issued in their present fulness ; so that it is to these five years—1873-77— that our attention must be confined, and from which our deductions must be drawn. Because our community is so small, numbering less than a quarter of a million persons, and because the reports extend over so few years, it may be suggested that the figures are not large enough to permit of any very certain conclusions, inas- much as a tew exceptional cases might lead to generalizations, which but for these stray cases would wear a very different complexion. Without doubt this may be in degree true. But these statistics constitute almost all the material at present at our disposal; and we must be content to reduce them, if we would learn anything about the disease as it now exists; and leave the confirmation or disproval of our conclusions until our population and our returns furnish us with more ex- tensive data. There are several points, too, which seem plain and prominent on the very face of our statistics; and it is quite improbable that future returns will prove them temporary or circumstantial. Because our attention will be almost wholly confined to these reports, we shall be unable to touch upon many questions of. interest, much less to decide them; since no hint respecting them is contained in our tables. For example, of what moment would it be to determine whether the acclimatised immigrant is more predisposed to the disease than the native-born South Australian ; whether the natives of the second generation are more lable than their parents; whether, in fact, the South Australian race is becoming more obnoxious to it, and in that sense is constitutionally degenerating, or is acquiring a resisting power, and so developing. In the death certificates provided by Government for the use of medical men, there is provision made for obtaining the information requisite to decide the first query. But no return founded upon this information is issued, owing, I believe, to the fact that the information is not sup- plied by the medical men. Now, it will be seen as we proceed that more than one question of great importance might be satisfactorily replied to did we know how long the deceased had been in the colony. This is the point on which we require and might have had returns, on which it was intended we should have had—as witnesseth the blank space in the death certificate. ExtrEent oF THE DISEASE. The first question that naturally arises is to what extent does consumption prevail in South Australia, and how does the mortality here compare with that elsewhere? During the five 13 years 1873-77, 969 deaths have occurred in the province. Estimating the population at 210,516, the mean for the five years, we obtain an annual deathrate of 920 per 1,000 for both sexes at all ages. From the Thir ty-ninth Annual Report of the Registrar- General of England we learn that the deathrate from consump- tion, during the twenty-five years 1850-74, was 2°5672 per 1,000 ; and during the five years 1870-74, 2°2828 per 1,000. ‘So that the mortality there is from 2} to 2} times greater than here. This is a result highly favourable to our ‘colony, and proves that there are in South Australia certain circumstances which do not exist in England, or exist in much smaller degree, and which confer upon the people some sort of immunity from this affection. Whether those circumstances are the healthier constitutions of the earlier settlers and the later immigrants, the absence of overcrowding and poverty, the larger proportion of agriculturists, certain social or moral conditions, or climatic influences, we cannot just now stop to inquire. We simply state the fact that the deathrate in England from phthisis 1s from 23 to 2? times higher than here. Our statistics, then, eb ho 198 957 153 77 1874 .. ke ne .. 204,883 179 OT IBID. « = - sia, UL OOe 208 “99 Ba a ee .. 224,488 226 1:00 ISTT 2. ee oe .. 236,864 203 *86 1,075,191 969 *898 This table gives the estimated population of South Australia of both sexes. _on the 31st of December of each year, the absolute number of deaths from. phthisis, and the rate of mortality to 1,000 of living persons. The annual. ' rate, the mean of the five years, is ‘898. As the population reckoned here is. ‘ that of the /asé¢ day in each year, and as this is greater than the mean popu- lation for the year, it is evident that the deathrate from consumption is slightly lower than it should be. To be as accurate as possible strike the mean between the population on the 31st of December for each year and that of the last day of the previous year, and take this as the more approxi- mate population. For 1873, suppose an increase during this year equal to that of 1874, viz., 6,626, and subtract the half of this amount—3,313—from 198,257, the population of eens 31st, 1873. PPT oy iy) xa 08944 ee SS ak 200,878 gs 207,791 ee ee 817,598 Ree ee ee PR NYY 2S 5 880.876 1 052,579 ‘The total population for the five years: is thus reduced from 1,075,191 to. Pt ,052,579, and the deaths remaining the same, the rate per 1, 000 of the - _ people i is ‘raised from °898 to °920. This may be considered’ as approximate. an estimate as can be obtained of the mortality from phthisis in South Australia—-920 per 1,000 for both sexes, at all ages, throughout the province.. | 14 support strongly the general impression afloat that South Australia is a very favourable place for those who are predis- posed to this disease, and negative such assertions as that phthisis “is very common and malignant in the South Sea Islands, Australia, and New Zealand,’’* at least when the com- parison is with its prevalence and fatality in England. Ts South Australia thus comparatively free from consump- tion alone, or is there the same proportional freedom from disease as a whole? It is of course conceivable that there might be certain conditions antagonistic to disease generally, and not to phthisis specially. If this were the case, then on comparing the deaths from consumption here with those from all diseases, the ratio would be the same as that of the phthisis mortality to the total mortality of England. If, on the other hand, there were in South Australia a special immunity from this affection, then the ratio here should be less than that at home. And so itis. During the seven years 1871-77, the ratio of the deaths from consumption to those from all diseases was 5764 per cent., while the English returns show the proportion of 10°2 per cent. Hence, we conclude that in South Australia there is a special immunity from phthisis as compared with all other disease ; that there are certain conditions which exert an influence twice as favourable to life in the case of consumption as in other disease; that South Australia is a residence specially for those of consumptive tendencies. Perhaps the most important inquiry that arises among the many regarding our mortality from consumption is this—Is the deathrate rising or falling in South Australia? Is the above shown favourable state of affairs merely temporary, or have we ground for hoping that our mortality may remain permanently low, or even be reduced? This question becomes more interesting from the fact that may be observed in the 1871 a ils oS BET ae 1 PB nmr ee ee 1872 id a" oe, EAD. ee) (BeOS oe 5 UR IBIS «Mica ike ’co1ek) eRode eR, ace) eee Wiecuccas vite.) ed oe ony 1876 ws ve. wll Vd AMR iene 4d 16; .. .. 1. 888 os Bee. ihe. <0.) SOB. 8 296 1,272 22,999 “17°35 This table gives for seven years the number of deaths from phthisis of both sexes and all ages, the number of deaths from all diseases, and the ratio which those bear to these.. The result is 1 in 17°35, or 5°764 per cent. The English returns for 1876 show that 49,795 persons died of consumption and 510,315 from all diseases; so that 10°2 per cent. were accounted for by this complaint. bigatyy: i * Hirsch, cited in Waters’s ‘‘ Diseases of the Chest,” page 223. \ 15 English returns. These make it evident that for the last five-and-twenty years the deathrate from consumption has steadily decreased during every quinquennium from 2°8112 for 1850-54 to 2°2828 for 1870-74. By some means, either municipal hygienic measures, or personal, direct medical treat- ment, or otherwise, fewer persons, proportionally to the population, are dying of phthisis than formerly in England. In England, the deaths were per 1,000 from phthisis— 28112 for 1850-54, 2°6476 for 1855-59, 2°5664 for 1860-64, 2°5278 for 1865-69, 2°2828 for 1870-74. What is the state of affairs amongst us? Had the statistics been investigated at the end of 1876, one would have been inclined—would have been forced—to admit the very disagree- able fact that the rate was rising so rapidly as to be quite alarming, and so steadily as to furnish ground for fear that at no very distant date it would even reach that of the countries at the antipodes. Not only have the deaths been increasing yearly with the increase of population, but out of proportion to it; so that the mortality from 1873 to 1876 has risen from ‘77, through ‘87, ‘99 to 1:00 per 1,000. However, in 1877, although the population had increased by 12,000 souls, the deaths from phthisis had absolutely diminished, and were even fewer than in 1875, when the opulation was less by more than 24,000 persons. The ratio for the year was thus reduced again to that of 1874. This circumstance might have encouraged us to hope that the steadily-increasing mortality of the previous four years was but temporary, and did not indicate a rapid and continuous progress of this scourge of humanity. But I find from the monthly returns of 1878 that during that year there were 267 deaths from this complaint, while the population at the end of December, as nearly as I can calculate it from the monthly means, was about 250,000, which gives a deathrate for the year of about 1°067. This is higher than that of 1876, when it stood at 1:0067 ; higher, in fact, than in any other year of which I have returns. So that it would seem that the fall in 1877 was an exceptional circumstance, and that the hope excited by the low mortality of that year is completely dispelled by the returns for this; and we must, however we may account for it, reconcile ourselves to the uncomfortable fact that our mortality is increasing, and that it has increased to nearly half as much again as it was six years ago. This is brought into bolder relief by contrasting our rising deathrate with the falling mortality of England. How is this growing fatality _to be explained? Surely our climate cannot be changing to such a degree as to account for the rise? Are South Australians degenerating to this extent? Are we importing a 16 race of immigrants constitutionally so unsound? Are our sanitary arrangements becoming so exceedingly defective? Is our social or moral condition becoming so deteriorated? Or is it that the diminution in the mortality at home and its increase here are to be attributed to the increased facilities for travel, in consequence of which more invalids are yearly leaving the old country and seeking in climates accounted more favourable to their constitutions health and longer life. To this explanation, in part at any rate, I am inclined, viz., the exodus of the phthisical from England in search of cure, and the influx of such persons into our colony, not only as voyagers at their own expense, but as immigrants introduced by the Government. This is a matter that might be very approximately settled by a careful filling up of the space provided in the medical death certificates, whereby we should learn how long each individual had been in the colony, and how much of the mortality should be debited to South Australia, and how much to other countries. Until this question is decided, and unless this suggestion is confirmed, the prospect for the phthisical in South Australia is gloomy. A growing cloud threatens to obscure the brightness of our skies from which the consumptive has been accustomed to draw some rays of hope. Having demonstrated above that fewer persons die of con- sumption here than in England, one is curious to know whether among consumptives life is lengthened in our colony or not. In England the mean duration of life among those who succumbed to this disease in 1876 was 33 years and 2 months. In South Australia during the five years it was 31 years and 10 months. The difference is in favour of England to the extent of one year and four months. It appears, then, The mean duration of life has been thus calculated :—In England 1,242 males died under 5 years of age. It would be manifestly wrong to consider them as all dying at five; this would give too high a mean, so it is taken at 24. The 1,242 then lived a total of 3,105 years. 418 died between 5 and 10; their average was 74; their total age 3,135, and so on. Accordingly _ the years lived by the males and females who died of phthisis in England in ' 1876 are as under :— Z 25,127 males lived 872,736 years, or 34 yrs. 7 mos. per m. 24,668 females “ 777,691 ‘“ ‘ 3lyrs.1lmo. ‘* f. 49,795 both sexes 1,650,427 ‘* * 33 yrs. 2 mos. In South Australia the totals are as follows :— 517 males lived 17,691 years, or 34 years 3 mos. per m. 450 females ‘“ 13,009 ‘* ‘6 28 years 11 mos. ‘* f. 967 both sexes 30,691 « “ 31 years_9 months. § When grouped together in the same periods as the English deaths the ~ mean age for both sexes is found to be 31-years 10 months. 17 that phthisical patients out here not only do not live longer than they do there—they do not live so long. Now, here we require to be careful in the use of words, so as not to mislead or to be misled. We ought, perhaps, to say “they do not live to be so old,” because the matter involved really is the duration of life, and not the duration of disease. Those who die out here of phthisis do not live to be so old as those who die of consumption at home. This is due, evidently, to one or two circumstances. Either with the same average age at which people are attacked the disease is more rapid and kills sooner out here, and so the duration of the disease and hence of life is less, or else with the same malignity of disease the people who are attacked out here are younger. Which of the two is it? As to the average duration of the disease, we can learn nothing from our statistics. The popular impression and that of the faculty is that people with this disease at least prolong their days by leaving England, taking a voyage to Australia, and remaining here. But if their life is really extended and they eventually succumb, then the mean duration of life here ought to be greater than in England, where they would have died by so much the sooner as their days have been prolonged by the change. But our mean duration is actually less ; therefore, either life is not lengthened in those who come out with the disease, or their prolongation of life is more than counterbalanced by the other early deaths out here. So we have to come back to the disease as it begins in South Australia, and face this difficulty “that people die of con- sumption at an earlier age here than in England ’’—a difficulty increased by the probability founded on popular and medical belief that people who come here with the disease have their life prolonged. LHither the people attacked out here are younger than in England, or else the disease is more rapid and malignant. Whether the disease is more rapid or not, our statistics cannot inform us. This the doctors must tell us from a reduction of their private notes. Does it attack the people at an earlier age? Our tables show only the age at death, and not at the commencement of the disease. May it be that the disease does not attack the people at an earlier age than in England, but that the people to be attacked are not so old in South Australia. This would explain the difficulty. For if our population consisted mostly of young people, and the English of much older persons, even though the disease attacked the people living of the same ages in an equal degree there and here, and the duration of the affection were the : Same in the two instances, yet the mean age of death would, ef course, be less in South Australia than in England. If we take the census of 1876 as a basis we find our average age to C 18 be more than four years less than that of the persons living in England in 1876. Our colony is very young, not fifty years of age: our community is young, time has not been allowed even for our early settlers to attain to extreme years. There is a constant immigration of persons, none of whom are above forty years of age, and so it comes to pass that our mean age is four years less than that of the mother country. But the shorter duration of life is only one year and four months. So we may believe that this is fully explained by that, and more than explained ; and that although our mean duration of life in those who die of phthisis is sixteen months less than at home, yet it is quite possible, nevertheless, that we may be attacked at a later rather than an earlier age, and our duration of life after invasion, both among those who are attacked here and those who contract the complaint elsewhere, may be longer than in England. There is one other circum- stance which may be mentioned, too, by way of explanation and palliation of our lower age at death. It is this:—There is contessedly considerable immigration of people in the early stages of consumption from Britain to these colonies. These come out here and die. Now it seems very natural that these should consist almost entirely of the young. Jor when men have attained to middle age they are engaged in business pursuits which to leave would be to ruin, or are surrounded by families, to whom domestic necessities and domestic affections inseparably bind them. But the young, more sanguine of benefit than the old, more attracted by the novelty of travel, less fettered by business and by family ties, find it more convenient and congenial to take the voyage. They come out here, and they die. The older die at home. These raise the mean duration of life in phthisis in England—those lower it in South Australia. Again we require the blank space filled up in our death certificates, that we may know among those who die at early ages, how long they have been in the colony. INFLUENCE OF SEASON. If we prepare a table showing the number of deaths which have occurred during each of the twelve months of the years 1872-77 we find that in January 84 died, in February 71, in— March 102, in April 113, in May 102, in June 85, in July 89, in August 102, in September 93, in October 105, in November » 90, and in December 77. Whence it appears that the fewest deaths during any three consecutive months occurred in. December, January, and February, with a total of 232; most deaths in the next three months of March, April, and May, viz., 317; during the next quarter, June, July, and August, the 19 total is 276, and during September, October, and November 288. The hottest three months in our year are December, January, and February, the coldest three June, July, and August, while the other quarters are intermediate in their temperature. Therefore the smallest number of deaths occur during the hottest three months, our summer; the next smallest during the coldest threée, our winter ; then during the three spring months ; and the largest number during the three autumn months. So it seems that our southern summer, with its heat, is by no means inimical to the phthisical patient, but manifestly beneficial ; that the settled cold of our winter is not to any great degree unfriendly ; that the seasons most to be dreaded are the milder ones, the transition periods ; and that the quarter of falling temperature, the autumn, is more disastrous than the spring, with its gradually increasing heat. Now this, I imagine, though it must accord with the experience of medical men—for our statistics are but the embodiment of such experience—is almost the reverse of what we should have been inclined to prophesy. We should have anticipated that B= ie ee | Sinden Seer eg . ORS SR a aol = =n Od | Sle l|aeial/eis /sla/a | ee EES IG OS OY Oa ees ie ee ee ee 1 Sees ust ae aS 7 1S 9 | 9 were wer se| a2) io | 7 | 16; 8 | 13 mere ge 2s) 2076 7 20) 28°) 18 | 13'| 8 20 Bereiee o2pl0)) 16) 199/25) 18 | 18 | 14 | 20 16 | 15 | 15 | 16 1876... ..| 15 | 12 | 13 | 16 | 23 | 20 | 29 17 eee ado aL.) 20) | 19.) 27,).| 16 ae ee Total ..{ 84 | 71 |102 113 |102 | 85 | 89 |102 | 93 105 90 77 | Dratus FRom Aut DisEases In Soutn AUSTRALIA IN THE 12 Monrus. 1871. | 1872. | 1873. | 1874. | 1875. | 1876.| 1877.| Total. | January ee se! ae,.| Ot | 269 | 237 | 461 | (264 | 339 |. 1,854 | toe wo aul Ge | 21k | 217'| 2107) 398 | 317-4 324-| 1,677 ‘March Oe eye. © 825" 1/276 | 298 495 “| 325 | 367. | 2,084 | April... .. +. «.| .. | 329] 233°| 290 | 462 | 272 | 364} 1,950 | Re kairo ach vee |) 204) | 9261 1:.280.| 402°). 286 | 282: |. 1,729 ee cet. | 245) ) 196. 1 :935 |'311,):276,| 228,)' 1,488 te ewe eal cu | 216 | 212 1.177 | 290 | 322 | 199 | 1415 | ae os Ph ss 225) 192 | 237 | 283 |) 362 | 197 | 1,496 |.. September <. ..} .. | 184 | 208 | 251 | 255 | 256 | 196 | 1,350 1 Ostober «2. -.. os 165 | 169 | 315 | 246 | 271 | 211 | 1,377 November , .. ..| .. | 216 | 184 | 885 | 274 | 246 | 235 | 1,540 DOE os: scue se! Soe | 247 | 251 | 546. | 259.) 853;), .. 1,878 20 the genial autumn and spring would have been most beneficial, and the extreme seasons the most baneful. But so it is not. The hot, dry, dusty summer is the most propitious of all, and next our winter, with its sub-tropical rains. | Now it may be suggested that since this is a chronic and not an acute disease, although during the autumn the mortality is highest, this may be the effect of the excessive heat of summer ; the effect not being perceptible until after the lapse of some months, because the heat does not kill the phthisical patient at ~ once, but only after an interval. This suggestion is plausible, and moreover it derives no litttle support from the figures, for we might thus explain that it is not only the great heat of summer that produces the great mortality of autumn, but that the milder autumn weather accounts for the smaller deathrate of winter, the comparative severity of winter again the increased mortality of spring, and the genial influences of spring the minimum mortality of summer ; allowing thus three months for the production of the effect by its cause. But although its ingenuity is attractive, this theory must not, I think, be entertained. Rather than receive it, we must lay the statistics aside, with the impression that we can come to no certain and definite conclusion about the influence of season. For how do we know what length of time must. elapse before the deleterious influence ,acting on the phthinode will kill ? Why should it be three months, and not six? Why should we suppose that the higher mortality of the autumn is the expression of the baneful influence of the summer, manifested after an interval of three months, rather than that the lower mortality of the winter is the expression of its beneficial influence visible after six months? No; unless we conclude that the small summer deathrate 1s due to the summer, we must abandon all conclusion on the effect of season. Did we find in reference to phthisis a state of things similar to what we observe in considering the question of infant mortality, we might admit the hypothesis perhaps. There we see the death- rate zncreasing very rapidly during the hot months of December, January, and February, to a high figure, but reaching the maximum only in March, when the temperature has begun to fall, and then decreasing as the heat continues to fall during the succeeding months. In such a case it is admissible as an explanation, and highly probable, that the maximum in March is the climax of the ill effects of the high temperature of December, January, and February, and is not due to the March temperature alone. But the case is very different in regard to consumption. If the summer influences were dele- terious, we should at least expect that during the summer the deathrate would increase to some extent, even though it should 21 reach its acme in the autumn. But the reverse takes place. During our quarter of extreme heat our deaths are fewest ; therefore, we cannot suppose our summer is inimical, but friendly, to the patients, and must credit it with its own minimum mortality. And when we review the cases that have fallen under our notice, we must remember how these patients nearly always enjoy the hot weather more than any other season of the year, and require medical services less. If we throw the monthly deaths from phthisis into the form of percentages, and so facilitate a comparison with the monthly mortality from all diseases, the special influence of the summer upon consumption becomes more evident. 208 per 1,000 of the deaths from phthisis occur in December, January, and February. 285 in March, April, and May ; 248 in June, July, and August ; 259 in September, October, and November. 273 per 1,000 of the deaths from all causes occur during December, January, and February ; 290 during March, April, and May ; 222 during June, July, and August ; 225 during September, October, and November. Whence it appears that the deaths from consumption are during the summer 8 per cent. less than during the autumn, 4 per cent. less than during the winter, and 5 per cent. less than during the spring. On the other hand the deaths from all causes during the summer are 2 per cent. less than during the autumn, 5 per cent. more than during the winter, and 6 per cent. more than during the spring. So we, conclude that the summer weather, which is maleficial as regards disease in general, causing an increased mortality of 5 per cent. over that of winter, is beneficial—specially beneficial—in phthisis, causing a lowered deathrate of 4 per cent. Can we explain to what this lower mortality in summer is due? Not altogether satisfactorily. May it be due to the heat? Probably to some—to a large extent. The fact that the minimum deathrate occurs in summer points to an anta- gonism between heat and phthisis. But heat will not wholly _ The mean monthly temperatures for the ten years 1865-74 are as follow, with the quarterly means :— Dec., Jan., Feb. Mar., April., May. June., July., Aug. Sept., Oct., Nov. 71:4 73:7 73°38 70°71 646 58:2 544 51:5 53:7 56:9 62°5 66°5 218-9 192°9 159-6 185-9 72:3 64:3 53.2 61.0 The quarterly deathrates from phthisis are— 208 285 248 259 22 account for the seasonal variations, inasmuch as the thermic chart does not indicate the same fluctuations. Although the minimum deathrate coincides with the maximum temperature for the quarter, that is the only correspondence—the minimum temperature does not coincide with the maximum deathrate, nor the falling and rising heats with increasing and decreasing rates. Therefore, heat alone will not explain the variations. Nor will the rainfall, nor the humidity of the atmosphere, nor any combination of these, since they follow very closely the thermic curves, only in a reverse direction. Nor will the diurnal range of temperature—the change that occurs from heat to cold daily—inasmuch as the mean monthly diurnal range corresponds with the ordinary temperature chart, being greatest in the hottest quarter, and vice versa. One circumstance that I would suggest is the settled or unsettled state of the season. During the summer, we experience a settled state of warm, dry weather. At this time we get the minimum of deaths. During the winter we have a settled state of much cooler wet weather, but not extremely cold. This is not so beneficial. During the autumn and the spring the weather is-more fluctuating, days of great heat alternating with others of rain storms and much lower temperature. Now it seems very possible that these milder seasons, because they are so much more uncertain, may be those which, in advanced phthisis, produce such an exacerbation of the disease as is sufficient to cause death. INFLUENCE OF SEX. Has sex any influence upon phthisis in South Australia ? Yes, in more respects than one. , 1. As regards susceptibility to the disease, we find that during the five years there have occurred 517 deaths among males, and 450 among females. When we examine the pro- portion of men and women in our community we find that there are 449,633 males for every 417,859 females, or 517 men The estimated populations in South Australia are as under :— 1873 =% 4: 101,743 males, and 96,514 females. 1874 so -. 104,995 ue 99,888 <*§ 1876 es os tbate +s 107,985 * 1877 oe ce heo,aee 66 113,472 F10 449,633 417,859 In England in 1876 there was a population of 11,801,633 males and 12,442,377 females, while the deaths trom phthisis were 25,127 males and 24,668 females. But if the deaths were proportional to the populations, 26,491 women ought to have died instead of 24,688, or 145 women instead of 135. So the populations being equal, 145 men die for every 135 women; or men are more susceptible to the extent of 1-13°5 part. 23 for every 480 women. Therefore, if consumption were equally an affection of both sexes, for every 517 co that die, there should be 480 females; but there are only 450. So that phthisis attacks men more frequently than women, according to the ratio 480 to 450, or 16 to 15. Men are to the extent of one-fifteenth part more lable to this disease than women. The same is found to be the case on application to the English statistics. In 1876, 145 men died for every 135 women ; so that the mortality among males ruled higher by one-thirteenth to one-fourteenth part. This is not very different from the one-fifteenth part observed out here. It has been suggested by a writer (Dr. Bird) that this greater susceptibility of men influences the comparative deathrate in England and South Australia. For since men are more liable than women, that country where the men preponderate will, other circumstances being equal, show a heavier mortality. Now, whereas the males predominate in this colony, in the mother country the reverse occurs; and therefore in con- trasting the climates in regard to their desirability in this disease, something should be subtracted from our mortality, or added to that of England, so as to compensate for the effect of the difference in the proportion of.the sexes. This is theo- retically true enough, but practically it may be ignored ; for I find that if the proportion of the sexes in England were altered so as to be the same as ours, there would, be an increase in the deaths from consumption of only 4:7 per million of population. Thus with the English population and deaths from consumption as above, the mortality would be 2°0539 per thousand. If the proportion of the sexes were the same in England as here, and the number of women the same as in 1876, the men would be 13,388,495, the male deaths 28,506, and the total deathrate from phthisis 20586, or an increase of only about 4°7 per million of population. When such a fact as the above is elicited, the question naturally arises, How does sex thus modify the deathrate ? Why is it that men are more liable to die of consumption than women? Why should not women die rather than men? Many answers might be suggested. But our statistics furnish us with an explanation, which I am inclined to adopt, namely, the shorter duration of the reproductive function in females than in males. The grounds upon which this theory rest will be shown a little further on in this paper. 2. Sex influences phthisis in South Australia in respect to the duration of life. The mean duration of life among men who die of consumption is 84 years and 38 months, and among women 28 years and 11 months; so that our females may be said to die about five years and a half earlier than our males. 24 In England in 1876 the mean duration of life was among males 34 years 8 months, and among females 31 years 1 month; from which we gather that our men die at almost exactly the same ages as they do there, but that our women do not live so long by a little over two years. This last-mentioned fact has been already shown to be more than explained by the higher average age of the living population in England, the women of England being full five years older than those of South Australia. Can we in the same way attribute the earlier deaths among the females than among the males out here to the same cause, namely, that the average female age is lower than the average male? No, not so as to furnish a full explanation; for whereas the average age of our women in 1876 was 21 years and 11 months, that of our men was only 283 years and 8 months, giving a difference of only 1 year and 9 months. But the difference in the age at death from consumption is five years and four months; therefore women are certainly attacked and destroyed at an earlier period than men. May this be accounted for by their earlier development ? INFLUENCE OF THE REPRODUCTIVE POWER. From consideration of our. statistics we may observe that consumption is, broadly speaking, chiefly a disease of developed mature life, more strictly that it is a disease of the reproductive period of life. If we examine a table of the absolute deaths from phthisis during the five years, among both sexes, grouped under the different ages, we find that the mortality in childhood not very ereat during the first year of life, smks to its minimum between the ages of three and four. From the fourth year upward it rises through each quinquennial period to reach its maximum between-20 and 25 years, and then falls gradually — and regularly to the extreme of life. If we combine these periods so as to form groups of 15 years each, there appear 97 deaths in the first, 370 in the second, 318 in the third, 147 in DEATHS FROM PHTHISIS DURING THE FivE YEARS 1873-77. Under Males. Females. Total. Under Males. Fema'es. Total. 1 year 12 8 , ae 35 years 62 5Y 119 2 years 7 4 rt 24 4 aati 69 48 117 air 3 1 4 Ho 06s AT 35 82 Bh bs sh 0 i 1 BO) eF* 41 16 57 a 5 4 8) a By 14 51 1 8 f 6 13 6] | 26 13 39 T5198 A 28 39 BB t fre 19 3 22 P| 45 75 120 Jeet 2 5 4. 9 5 a 59 69 128 Le. oeens 2 i 3 | 60 62° 122 BU. + vt 0 1 i Totals—Males, 517; females, 450. 25 the fourth, and 84 in the fifth. It is during the second and third periods that the great bulk of people die, between the ages of 15 and 45, more than twice as many as during all the other periods pe together. It seems that having escaped the trying years of infancy, as development proceeds from 4 to 5, from 5 to 10, from 10 to 15, from 15 to 20, so the deaths in- crease ; that is to say, the nearer maturity is approached the greater does the liability become. It is between 15 and 20 years that full growth is in a large proportion of cases attained, hence we find that here the mortality almost arrives at its maximum; but not quite. It is not until from 20 to 25 that this is reached. From this period until 40 there is very little fall, the deaths remain nearly the same; but after this, during the decline of life, down to extreme years, the mortality most markedly diminishes’; so that from a glance at the table of absolute deaths we might conclude that as development proceeds the deaths from phthisis increase, when full maturity is attained the deaths are most numerous, while the period of prime continues the deathrate remains almost unchanged ; and when degeneration sets in and progresses then comes a decline in the deaths. If we examine separately the statistics of the two sexes, we shall find this statement curiously confirmed ; for since women develop more rapidly than men, and come to maturity sooner, we should expect to find the deaths from phthisis increasing earlier and increasing more quickly among females than among males. And such is the case. From 4 years to 5 five males die and four females ; from 5 to 10 seven males and six females ; that is during the period of life at which the development of both sexes is about the same, the deaths from this disease are about equal. But from 10 years to 15 only 11 males die and 28 females—between twice and three times as many ; from 15 to 20, 45 males and 75 females ; combining the figures from 10 to 20 years, 56 males die and 103 females, or nearly twice as many women as men. This more rapid attainment of maturity by females is quite commonly recognised, and is so markedly coincident with the rapid increase in the mortality of consumption as to present itself very prominently in the relation of cause. Nor is this a seeming coincidence from the table of the absolute mortality. It may be traced quite as markedly when we draw up a table showing the proportion which the deaths from phthisis at the various ages bear to the populations at those ages, according to the census of 1876. Hor instance, we see at once the great disparity between the _ deathrate 1-022 of 15 to 20 years for both sexes, and 0°284 of 10 to 15; and the increase of 0°284 from 10 to 15 over 0:084 of 5to 10 years. So also we cannot but be struck with the 26 higher rates of mortality among the females between 10 and 20 years, viz., 0°41 and 1:27 per 1,000, as compared with 0°16 and 0°77 among the males for the same period. In fact, this table confirms most strongly the proposition that consumption is chiefly a disease of maturity, and hence increases as develop- ment progresses, augments greatly on the accession of puberty, and rises almost to its maximum as soon as full physical development is attained. But it is noticeable that although from the table of absolute deaths we might have deduced the proposition that it is more a disease of the prime of life than of the degeneration period, here we should have been wrong, since this table of the relative deathrate shows that the falling off after the age of 40 is almost though not quite accounted for by the smaller population at this advanced period, and that consequently the decline of life enjoys in only an insignificant degree any exemption from this disease. | If now we consult a series of tables giving the deaths at different ages from all diseases, and the ratio which the deaths from phthisis bear to those, we find that consumption is especially a disease of maturity, and in this respect is unlike disease in general. If it were lke other affections in reference to the time of life at which its attacks occur, then the ratio of its deaths to those from all complaints ought to be the same for each period of life. But it is far otherwise ; for whereas between the ages of five and 10 only 16 die of consumption out of every 1,000 deaths, between 10 and 15 years 38 die, or twice as many ; while between 15 and 20 years 232 out of every 1,000 deaths are due to that cause, or six times as many as are accounted for during the previous quinquennium. But the PorpuLATION OF SouTH AUSTRALIA AS PER CENSUS or 1876. Under Males. Females. Total. Under Males. Females. Total. 5 years 15,762 18,852 34,614 50 years 4,709 3,779 8,488 10 ° 15,552 15,232. 30,784 DD * 3,689 3,061 ..6:748 ip * 13,819 138,696 27,515 Bu. 2,0/0 2,227 ~" 5.100 20 ° + 10,691 [01784623475 65 8 1,995 1,755 3,750 95 « 9,865 9,183 19,048 | 70 « 1,307 1,044 2.351. B0.. .* 8.250. °° 6,980) 1 >, 230. vb vma en 754 620 1,374 35 « 7,555 6,320 18,875 | so « 360.) ae ae eee: See 6,537 5,603 12,140 SH tie 182 174 356 45 \* 5,510 5,101 10,611 | Ratio or ANNUAL AVERAGE DEatus PER THOUSAND OF POPULATION. Under Males. Females. Tota'. Under Males. Females. Total. 5 years 34 ot 26 45 years 1:7 1°37 1°546 10, *4 “09 ‘078 084 BO. 1:74 *84 1:342 cs a 16 “41 -284 no. 2°01 “91 1521 ye “77 1:28 1:022 60 <‘¢ 1:81 117 1°528 2a “8° 1:19 1°5 1°344 G5.) a8 1:90 34 1:174 30.“ 1°45 177 1°602 70 = ¢8 ‘76 "76 *764 ap rs 1°64 1°80 1:714 Tp & 53 *32 "436 40 ‘* 2-11 i hor gs § 1:926 ; 27 absolute deaths are only three to four times as great between 15 and 20 years as between 10 and 15, whence we conclude that phthisis not only pa from the table of absolute mortalities as a disease of developed life; but from this table of relative mortalities its tendency to attack the fully grown is made twice as manifest. But to speak more strictly, it is especially a disease of the reproductive period of life. If we turn again to the table showing the absolute deaths from consumption among women, we observe that they in- crease rapidly from 10 to 15 years, but very rapidly indeed from 15 to 20 years, during which quinquennium they reach their maximum for all ages. From this point they gradually diminish regularly and slowly until the age of 45 is reached, when there is a sudden fall to one-half of what it was during the previous five years. For the next fifteen years the deaths vary very little, and then suddenly decrease to insignificance. That is to say, phthisis becomes eminently fatal immediately on the accession of puberty among females, so as to reach its maximum at once, remains very prevalent, though gradually Age in years. A B C D E F 1 gut 2,402 3°26 2,340 3 5,102 3°3 2 as 533 11°25 498 8 1,031 10° 3 <3 212 14:0 194 0: 406 iW 4 ahi 141 0: 141 iW 272 4: 5 ws 230 22° 208 7M i 421 21° 10 ihe 312 19: 301 13° 603 16: 15 ais 198 35° 192 130: 390 38° 20 - 213 183: 236 275° 449 232° 25 a 265 185: 254 232° 519 208° _ 80 aa 236 212: 231 242° 467 228° 35 “- 287 185: 246 203° 533 192° 40 - 3 297 195: 242 149- 539 174: 45 “4 302 at) 216 143° 518 139- 50 293 106: 171 76° 464 116: 55 <4 317 95> 161° 81: 478 90: 60 Fs 316 66° 185 65° 501 66° 65 aw 281 60: 176 bs 457 42° 70 sa 214 23° 175 23° 389 23° 75 ..| 206 Be 154 6° 360 Et 80 as 120 111 ats 228 - 85 a. 61 52 afi 113 90 2. 23 18 Pe Al oy? Bes _ 10 12 i 22 $8 By aiccascs among Yaak Deaths from all diseases among males in Fouth Australia during 1874-7 Ga C. ‘¢ — females | ee ae es ‘* both sexes * _ ¥, B. Ratio per L ,000 of deaths from phthisis to deaths from all diseases among males. D. as females. _ id - “ " ik “ ‘* both sexes, 28 less so during the continuance of the reproductive period, and — as soon as the grand climacteric is passed suddenly falls to a comparatively low figure and one that remains very uniform through many years. This greater lability during the child- bearing age becomes even more evident when we group the cases. Thus, during the first 15 years of hfe 52 died, during the reproductive period from 15 to 45, 346; and during the next 80 years, 52. So that nearly three and a half times as many females died during the reproductive period of 30 years, as during all the rest of life put together. The reproductive age 1s fairly definitely limited both at its beginning and its ending in women; whereas in men the bounds are not nearly so defined. Therefore, if phthisis is specially connected with the reproductive period, we ought to find that the deaths from phthisis are in the same manner, and in the same degree more sharply confined among women to a certain age than among men. We observe now that among the males 45 die up to the 15th year, 842 between 15 and 45 years, and 180 after the 45th year, or 342 from 15 to 45, and 175 during all the rest of life ; a ratio of 1:96 to 1; but among women the ratio is 3°83 to 1. Therefore, phthisis is more limited among women than among men to this age to the extent of 75 per cent. And it will be noticed, further—and this gives additional support to the theory—that the difference between the ratios does not arise during the first fifteen years of hfe, but is rather lessened.: So it ought to be, inasmuch as reproductive powers are not commonly possessed by either sex below that age ; but females are more likely to possess them, more often possess them, than males. On the other hand, we perceive that the difference between the ratios does arise during the years after 45, owing to a greater number of deaths among the men than among the women; whereas among women, in whom this power so sud- denly ceases, the fall is sudden after 45 years. Among men it does not suddenly fall, but continues much more gradually to decline down to 60 or 70 years of age, until which period this function is known still to persist. So that from the table of absolute deaths we may say that phthisis is very markedly a disease of the reproductive period of life. Moreover, we must modify somewhat our first proposition, viz., that it is especially a disease of maturity, inasmuch as the reproductive function rather than maturity seems to govern the fatality. We may much more accurately affirm that the reproductive function is that which especially rules our statistics of con- sumption. When this begins to be possessed, then phthisis begins to be much more prevalent. Since it is established earlier among women, consumption occurs at an earlier age among them ; since it is suddenly lost by females, consumption 29 suddenly becomes less common amongst them; since it is retained by men down to the extremes of life, consumption loses little, if any, of its virulence among elderly males. “To ask the question whether this is special to phthisis, or common to disease in general seems absurd, for we find that during four years 8,857 females died from all diseases below the age of 15, 1,425 from this period up to 45 years, and 1,215 beyond this age; or 1,425 during the reproductive period, and 5,072 at all other ages, a ratio of 1 to 33 instead of 3} to 1. But we may still inquire whether the table giving the percentage of deaths to the population confirms the proposi- tion deduced from the table of. absolute deaths. Without entering into all the particulars, we may say that it is con- firmed in every point. The deathrate among the females per thousand of living population from 10 to 15 is ‘41, from 15 to 20 it is 1:27, more than three times as great. This is the sudden rise on the accession of puberty in the female. From 40 to 45 it is 1°37; from 45 to 50 it is ‘84, a considerable fall at the cessation of the reproductive function. The rate from 15 to 45 is 77, for all other ages only 1:4, or 4°5 times as great. The rate from 45 to 75 is 4:2, or only a little more than half that of the reproductive period. Among the males the rate from 10 to 15 years is ‘16, only a slight increase over that of ‘09 from 5 to 10, when compared with that among females, viz., from ‘079 to ‘41, explained by the existence of puberty among girls under 15 much more frequently than among boys. From 15 to 20 years it is ‘77, a great advance over the rate of -16 from 10 to 15, concurrent with the setting in of puberty among the great majority of males. From 15 to 45 years it is 69, at all other ages 2°9, or only 2°4 to 1, instead of 4-5 to 1 among the females, corresponding with the absence of any limitation of procreation among men. From 45 to 75 the rate is 8°5 per thousand, an increase over that from 15 to 45, and very different from the 42 per thousand among the females, which is a decrease from that of 15 to 45 amongst them, and presenting very boldly the different liability to phthisis among men and women after 45 years, where the dif- erence in regard to the reproductive function is so manifest. To test this theory, if possible, still further we may consider males as almost certainly in possession of the reproductive function from the age of 20 down to the extremes of life. There were in the year 1876 53,044. men of this age, and among them there were 427 deaths from consumption. Women we may almost as certainly regard as procreative between 15 and 45, of which age there were 44,971 persons in 1876, with 362 deaths in the five years. Here, then, we have the two classes sf such ages, that both are under the action of the one cause, 30 and so far as we can judge about equally. How do the ratios compare ?—427 is to 362 as 53,044 is to 44,965, which 44,965 is. so close an approximation to 44,971 as to be quite remarkable. So that it is evident that when men and women are of the reproductive age, and therefore are both under the influence of this predisposing cause, they are both to an exactly equal degree lable to consumption. Beyond the age of 45 there were 15,327 men with 180 deaths, and 12,376 women with 51 deaths ; but with this number of females there ought to be 105 deaths, if the rate were the same in the two sexes. So that among the women after 45 it is only one-half what it is among men. Since after 45 the mortality among women is but little more than one-half that before 45, it might be laid down asa rule in female insurance that a consumptive history should only be estimated at one-half the importance after 45 that it holds prior to this age. It would seem, then, that so long as women are subject to this predisposing cause they are as liable to consumption as men, but that directly this influence is withdrawn they are only half as hable. This to my mind appears almost like a demonstration of the theory that the reproductive function is a great predisposing cause of phthisis. Would it be presumption to assert that this cause accounts for one-half of the phthisis mortality. If we compare phthisis ——- among the two sexes—up to 20 among males, and up to 15 _ among females—it would seem at first glance as though the deathrates should be equal, because above we have reckoned from these ages. On examination, however, we find them not equal. There are 56,824 males and 47,780 females; 90 deaths among the former and 52 among the latter. But to be in the same proportion the female deaths should be 76; therefore it would seem that even when the influence above indicated is absent from both sexes the deaths from phthisis are among males half as much again as among females. This would seem — to oppose the theory. But the opposition 1s only seeming, for although in our former calculation we started from the ages of — 20 and 15, this was not because all below those ages are free from the influence, but because practically all above those © ages are subject to it, for without doubt many are possessed of this function at earlier years, and it is quite certain that this is the case to a much greater extent among males below 20 than among females below 15. Hence it is not proper to compare the sexes below those ages respectively. We should | expect the rate to be higher among the males. That it ‘is higher rather supports than opposes the theory. On the other hand, it will be. as useless and improper to contrast the sexes, both up to 15 years, because it is fairly — certain that the function is far more likely to exist among 31 females than males, and so the deathrate would rule higher among them. Hence we find that there are 45,733 boys with 45 deaths, and 47,780 girls with 52 deaths; so that the mortality is greater among the girls. And if we limit the examination to the sexes under 10 we have to deal with such an insignificant number of cases and so large a number of children comparatively that any result would decide nothing at all. In this influence of the reproductive function we find, I believe, an answer to the question, Why is it that males are more liable to the affection than females? Why do 16 men die to every 15 women? Because phthisis is ruled by repro- ductivity, and this is more persistent among men than among women, and so acts upon them for a much longer period. If this theory be correct it opens up a very wide field for ae ehon as to whether it may not be through this channel that many supposed causes act. Is it true, as is popularly supposed, that phthisical females are more prolific than others ? If it be, may we not read the fact reversely, that prolific women—women in whom the reproductive power is very strong —are more liable to phthisisP The influence of city life, sedentary employments, indolence, on the one hand; a country life, open air exercise, and muscular pursuits, &c., on the other, may exert their predisposing or antagonising influences through this medium. But we will cease even to suggest, lest we should appear to be riding the theory too far. Such, then, seems to be some of the information to be derived from our colonial statistics respecting this generally interesting disease; of so general interest because there are few if any families that have not been invaded by it. None the less interesting, both to the faculty and the laity, in that the information derived is not altogether in accord with popular notions upon the subject. There are some points for congratulation. Our deathrate is not one half of that in the old country, and probably the disease does not attack us so early, nor run so rapid a course. We may remember, too, while we “ groan and sweat under our weary life’ in summer, that there is at least one class of patients to whom this season comes with comfort and prolongation of days. But we ought to remember especially—and this 1s cause for solicitude rather than congratulation—that the mortality is increasing, and it behoves us in the interests of medical science—and none the less in the interest of our fellows—to find out the reason why: ~ whether because the beneficial influences of our climate are becoming more widely known, and attracting more sufferers, who, as a forlorn hope, come to our colony to die, or whether because of deleterious circumstances, which we are creating 32 and fostering, but which we ought to be lessening or stamping out. The first step to this end seems to be to ascertain the duration of residence in the colony of every victim of this disease. This could easily be effected by the medical men, and being entered henceforward on the certificate in the allotted space, would allow for a return for the last half-year of 1879, and by the end of 1880 we should have data for a fairly correct determination of the question raised. D FELT = 33 THe INSECTS OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA” AN ATTEMPT AT A CENSUS. By Orro Tepper, Corresponding Member. Scientific knowledge concerning the Entomology of South Australia appears to be in a considerably less satisfactory state than in the other Australian provinces, to judge by the researches of the President of this Society contained in the Anniversary Address, and published in the “ Transactions, &c., of 1878.” There is little or no scope to doubt that the facts are as stated. Whatever the causes may be, there is certainly a wide field open for individual and collective effort ere the province will compare favorably in this respect with its neigh- bours. They have splendid handbooks of their living and extinct fauna and flora, well illustrated, and published at a price within reach of all; splendid public collections of speci- mens properly arranged and named; and information can be obtained on any subject at a nominal fee—all through govern- mental foresight. With us httle of the kind is found, and (sad experience compels me to say it) the most zealous amateur, if not possessed of great connections and ample means, soon ceases in his efforts, when he finds it next to impossible to obtain the true name of any but the commonest natural object ; for, without a name there is no real knowledge. How does he know when he discovers anything new? To aid progress he must be able to advance by study to the very confines of what is already known; and this he can only accomplish by means of proper public institutions, else he wastes his energies upon work done over and over by others. The following short review of South Australian insects contained in my private collection is intended only as a small contribution towards. elucidating the subject. The enumeration of the genera and species is interspersed with remarks about the habits, &c., of the most remarkable ones, in order to make the subject less monotonous. For more than twenty years some of my scanty leisure hours have been devoted, among other kindred pursuits, to the obser- vation and collection of insects in various localities within the southern portion of this province, the outer limits being Mount D o4: Bryan in the north and Mount Gambier in the south. Through various causes the earlier collections were lost to me, but not the experience gained. The present collection to be reviewed in the sequel dates in its beginning about twelve years back, was brought together within a very limited area, and comprises, in round numbers, about 2,600 species (while in the anniversary address cited above the author only enumerates 782 species as scientifically known to exist in al/ South Australia !), gathered within a radius of a few miles around New Mecklenburg, Lyndoch, Tanunda, Nuriootpa (N.), Callington, Monarto (E.), and Ardrossan, Y.P. (W.) Having always kept specimens from other parts of Australia, &c., strictly separate, the num- bers given can be confidently taken as referring to really indigenous insects. The three principal centres from which my excursions radiated were—(1) New Mecklenburg, four miles W. of Tanunda, and includes Lyndoch; (2) Nuriootpa, four miles N. of Tanunda; (8) Monarto, eight miles east of Cal- lington, including the neighbourhood of the latter and the scrub to the Murray River, and comprising by far the largest area. These three specialised areas, furnishing quite 95 per cent. of the sects to be mentioned, overlapped each other very little; the remaining five per cent. were got by occasional short visits to other localities, and friendly exchanges in slight proportion. At the first place named 587 species were obtained in four years; at the second, 785 additional in nearly five years; and at ths last, 948 additional, in eighteen months. But it is not to be understood that so many species are strictly peculiar to each locality, but only that they were there obtained first. The following table shows in a condensed form some details of the distribution of the respective orders, but one—the Aptera—has not had attention paid to 1t :— TABLE OF THE NuMBERS OF FAmILIns, GENERA, AND SPECIES OF SOUTH AUSTRALIAN INSECTS. Number of | Number of | Number of Orders. Families. Genera. Species. 1. Coleoptera .. ae 4 Sid 18 198 1,411 2. Lepidoptera .. Ae mi ~ 19 80 395 3. Hymenoptera fe es aa 14 34 240 4. Orthoptera .. ~ An ee 7 16 134 5. Hemiptera .. a: by Pie 12 28 272 6. Neuroptera .. ale she thy 9 16 43 7. Diptera a sé oe xP 8 17 159 8. Thysanura .. Ss se oie Lies iy | 1 TOtK, ¢. he: ae ve 88 390 2,655 35 OrvDER COLEOPTERA. The Cornnoprera, or beetles, form the most numerous order of Insecta, 80,000 species being mentioned by Dr. Leunis (Natur- eeschichte, 1868) as known to exist, and are represe: ‘nted in my collection by more than 1,400 species, constituting 53 per cent. of the whole, yet by no means comprising nearly all the species known to exist in the localities indicated. In the arrangement Latreille’s system has been principally followed on account of its simplicity. Commencing with the CrctnpELm: their rarity is very remark- able, only five species in two or three genera having been obtained. One species of the typical Cicindela occurs near Lake Alexandrina, white and dark-grey in colour, where it is fairly numerous at times. Another, very rare and minute, was taken at New Mecklenburg, near the banks of the Gawler. A brilliant golden green Tetracha, said to have been taken near Port Wakefield, occurs in the Far Nor th, and also near the Australian Bight, as I have been informed. A small, dark-coloured species, elittering as if bedewed by jewels, related to Tetr acha, was taken near Nuriootpa and at Ardrossan. The Caraprip® are more numerous than the foregoing, mustering 123 species in about 28 or 30 genera. Some of the latter are fairly rich im species; thus Bembidium is represented by ten, Carabini (all small) by fourteen, Chlenius by eight, Scaritide by thirteen (the largest about one and a quarter inch TABLE SHOWING NUMBER OF GENERA AND SPECIES OF THE FAMILIES AND Groups OF COLEOPTERA. ° NT . Families and Groups. peer os Number of | Genera. Species. 1. Cicindele oe Si e oy BA yee ae 5 2. Carabide as ve A a .-| 28 — 380 123 3. Natatores Ss de oe a Wa 4 21 4, Staphilini iva ai ‘ be oe 5— 6 26 5. Mordelle ae act he it Pa 3 AS 6. Elateride me oy ae a a 6— 7 42 7. Buprestide .. : a af “M 9— 10 143 8. Rhipicere ap a sis at as uk 2 9. Clerici .. a ey wt ois oy 10 37 10. Lamellicornia . J ae Bg --| 28 — 29 144 11. Clavicornia (Imhoff) . é ae ay --/ 13.— 14 89 12. Baculicornia .. ao se 2 6 13. Heteromera 4 as 15 — 16 113 | 14. Meloideze a3 be oe ‘ i 4— 5 27 | 15. Chrysomelide.. a f 7—.8 123 16. Ciclice.. ai fs : sas me 2 82 17. Rhynchophora ve we ry 20 289 18. Longicornia .. u {t ..| 25 — 26 218° Total ee ee ee ee ee 186 To 196 1,411 36 in length, viz., Searaphites ecrenaticollis—Mount Gambier, Bremer, Glenelg; and Se. donastes—New Mecklenburg, Ard- rossan), Calixia by fifteen, Philophlaus by twelve, Adelotobus by six, Sylphomorpha by five, Pterostichus by four species. Other genera again exhibit but one or two representatives, as Catadromus (C. australis, the largest beetle of the family, attains the size of one and three-quarter inches at Blanchetown, River Murray ; while those captured at Lyndoch and Blumberg are much smaller, and may be, though coloured similarly, a distinct species). Other genera, similarly poor in species, are Calosoma (two), Platysoma, Hellus, and Brachinus (each one). The last is the curious Bombardier Beetle, emitting a small puff of blue smoke several times in succession, with a perceptible noise when approached by the hand. They were taken near Lyndoch and Nuriootpa. In February last I met for the first time, and in a single instance, with a species of Hudema at Ardrossan, resembling a species from Queensland. Some other genera, names unknown to me, make up the total given above. Of Nararores, the Water Beetles, twenty-one species (not including the largest of all, the gigantic Hydrophilus of Lake Alexandrina) have been obtained, forming at least four genera, viz., Dytiseus, four; Gyrinus, two; Hydrophilus, seven; and Hydrocanthara, eight species. The giant of the family measures about two inches; the smallest scarcely exceeds one-twelfth of an inch in length. | The SrapHyLtnt, those curious beetles with shortened elytra, are, except two or three species, generally very rare, showing a total of twenty-six species in five or six genera. “Proceeding to the Serricornta, those Coleoptera. which exhibit more or less serrated or saw-like antenne, we find them in plenty. They will be enumerated under five heads. The MorpE.uipa, a family of small-sized beetles, living upon the sweet juices of flowers, and whose last pair of legs is fitted for leaping, furnish us with twenty-one species in two or three genera. Some of the species are exceedingly numerous in their season, every flowering Eucalypt or Melaleuca hiding numbers of them. | The ELarrertpD® are much more numerous in species than the preceding, supplying a contingent of forty-two in, probably, six or seven genera. All, with exception of one or two, are of sombre uniform colour, ranging from light brown to jet black. One species, not enumerated (because not in the collection), is known by me to occur in the Barossa Ranges. It is of small size, but great beauty, the thorax of a bright red and the elytra of metallic steel blue colour. The largest Hlater, inhabiting the Gawler scrub, is about one and three-quarter inches — long and three-eighths of an inch wide; the next in 37 size, less in length but the same width, was obtaimed near Callington ; and a third, about one inch, at Ardrossan. All three of a dull black hue. In one instance only a single Euecnemis was taken (near Nuriootpa), a genus distinct from Hlater, by the absence of the power to project itself forcibly upwards, when placed upon the back, and the more cylindrical shape of the body. The Burrestip® which are the pets of most entomologists, on account of their varied brilliant coloration, are represented by 148 species in at least ten genera, and form one of the most numerous families. The genus most prolific in species is Stigmodera with 71. Among the Buprestids are some of the largest South Australian Coleoptera, viz., two Stigmodera and one Sternocera, species attaining or approaching the respectable length of two inches and a width of three- quarters of an inch. ‘Two species are peculiar to the pines (Frenela robusta), three or four to Casuarina stricta (sheoak), a large number to the Acacias (A. pycnantha and others), and one or two—viz., Cyria imperialis and another, live upon Banksia marginata (honeysuckle), but by far the largest number have their wants of life supplied by the flowers, &e., of Eucalyptus, Leptospermum, Melaleuca, and Callistemon. The larve of most live (for years it seems) in the living wood and bark of the trees, apparently eating their way downward, as the beetle generally makes its appearance through an opening near the roots. Some larve live in the adhering, dead, —eorky bark of Eucalyptus rostrata and other trees, and the beetles of these are in many instances distinguished by metallic colours. Only one or two live upon grasses, and are very minute. RHIPICERA is only represented by two species, of which one hails from Mount Gambier and the other was obtained at Monarto. The latter is possibly only a variety. The CrERtct show a tolerable variety of forms, presenting 35 species in about ten genera. Watalis, including the largest in size, and Trichodes are the most conspicuous. They are widely different in their habits, some being carnivorous, others licking the nectar of flowers. The larve of some live under the bark of trees; that of one species inhabits a large spongy fungus growing parasitically on the branches of large Eucalypts, and another finds the ne plus ultra of existence in putrid carcases of animals, which the perfect beetle also frequents. The Lametricornta, or Coleoptera with leaf-like extremities to their antenne, are well represented by at least 29 genera with 144 species. The most numerous family is MJelolontha, com- prising, with its near allies, 69 species, some of which attain a considerable size (exceeding one inch), but most are small. All 38 are destructive to vegetation—one species, pre-eminently so at times, I described in a paper published in the “ Transactions of the Adelaide Philosophical Society, 1878,’ and named it provisionally “ Melolontha destructor.’ Some smaller species are occasionally as destructive in proportion to their size upon small bushes, but are seldom noticed The Rutelid@ are repre- sented by two genera—Anoplognathus (one species) and Repsimus (three species, perhaps only local varieties). All are large beetles, and the individuals of the former frequently swarm in hundreds during warm evenings in spring, buzzing among the leafy tops of Hucalyptus rostrata and E. viminalis. Their browsing in zigzag lines betrays them unerringly to the observer, as no other South Australian beetle seems to indulge in this singular habit. Scarabeus, and four or five allied genera, furnish 19 species, most of medium size, some attaining one inch in length. Gryphodes musters 7 species; TLrichius 1; Copris, Geotrupes, and the rare Bolboceras 19 collectively. The commonest of the Copride, also the largest, infests the drop- pings of cattle, &c., in numbers, and drills deep circular holes in the hardest soil underneath for the accommodation of its eges and larve, for which purpose it is fitted with a large horn upon the head and four on the prothorax. Its colour is a dark, glossy chestnut. The family of the beautifully-formed Cetonias contains three genera, ot which Schizorrhina is the most numerous, contaming 8 species, the other two being represented by one each only. The largest of the Schizorrhina, said to be from Mount Remarkable, measures one and a half inches. The smallest Cetonia of another genus exceed half inch scarcely, and was noticed at Callington, but is numerous at Ardrossan. One of the Schizorrhinas, jet black, with green spots upon the upper and bright yellow markings on its legs and abdomen, lives upon, Hucalyptus viminalis, the larve inhabiting the decaying inner portion of the same trees, and when entering into the chrysalis state form oval, cocoon-like cases for themselves by glueing together their own hard, roundish excrements and grains of soil. Passalus seems unrepresented in our neighbourhood, but Mount Gambier furnishes one large species, similar, if not identical, to a Victorian ally, and one and a half inches long. Figulus contains five closely allied species, all of which (and larve as well as imago) inhabit dead decaying wood. Of the magnificently-coloured Lamprimus two species are represented. Both are similarly coloured— the males of a brilliant metallic golden hue, the females of a lustrous golden green; but in the one species, which feeds upon the large native marshmallows, the male exceeds the female much in size, while in the other, feeding 39 upon gum-leaves, this is not the case, or only slightly. Besides these, I obtained once some specimens of a species (in the Barossa Ranges) having the prothorax very conspicuously marked with indentations. Another species observed at Mount Gambier is distinguished externally by both sexes being of the same colour—a golden leek-green—and nearly of the same size. The Zrogide are not very numerous, showing about three genera with nine species, the majority living in putrid matter, one in very moist manure. The Cravicornta, or club-horned beetles, are rich in forms, but fortunately less so in individuals, for most are extremely destructive to animal substances, comprising about 13 or 14 genera and 89 species. Histeride are catalogued with 18, Hololepa with 2, Nitidula with 3, Sylphe (Hemaphila) with 1 species. The last is of large size, above an inch; but, fre- quenting putrid carcases, manure heaps, &c., upon which it and its larve feed, possesses, though looking pretty, a pertectly horrid odour. Oonetelus and its allies number 17; Coccinella 2 species. The Dermestide (Anthrenus, &c., incl.) are at least in one species very numerous in individuals; 21 species are in the collection, and another was observed in a solitary spot near Lyndoch, within the charred hollow of a large Hucalyptus rostrata ; it is jet black and covered with numerous white dots ; length one quarter of an inch, width less than one-twelfth inch. Pausside are very rare; three species were captured. Cephalotes (?) are numerous in individuals ; 11 species (some doubtful) have been obtained. The Ptinide and Anobii are also mentioned here on account of their similarity of habit, and are not very promiscuous in number. Gzbbiwm appears in six and one or two other genera in seven species. The Bacunrtcornia (Dr. Imhoff) appear to form about the smallest group of beetles, Collydiwm comprising four, and Brentus one, perhaps two species. The latter I found rather numerous on ferns at Mount Gambier (which covers there extensive parts of the country), but much less so at other places, and generally under lose bark. The HereromMERA present a great variety of forms in about fifteen or sixteen genera, with 113 species, among which Tenebrio numbers six, Tentyria two, Akis six, Blaps four, Opatrum eight species; these latter are found generally under loosely-adhering bark, where they and their larve feed upon decaying substances, and are all of a dusky hue, but while alive are covered with fine white dust, easily removed by a touch, lending them a purplish tinge. Saragus adds eight, fTelops five (one of these, one inch in length, jet black, while in the larval state, mines through and feeds upon the decayed outer portion of very old dry gum-trees), Adeliwm eighteen 40 species. Some of the last could once be taken in scores at certain spots in the Barossa Ranges, where a few years later very few could be found. They possess in common with the two following genera a curious weapon of defence in one or two hand-like processes, which they protrude from their anal extremity, moistened with some adhesive fiuid of disagreeable odour. Titena comprises ten species, some of which are among the first beetles appearing in spring. The majority of the ten species of Amarygmus are endowed with most beautiful iridiscent colours when alive, owing to the extremely fine crenulation of their upper parts. The largest and most beauti- ful species lives upon mallee (Eucalyptus dwmosa) and is three- quarters of an inch in length; the smallest scarcely a quarter of an inch. There is only one species of Lagria found in the neigh- bourhood of the large common fern, and one Bictomis under the bark. Of Heleus and its near allies there are seven species indigenous (three more besides were taken at Ardrossan), H. princeps, Hope, the largest and commonest, occurring at New Mecklenburg, Monarto, and Ardrossan. Lyctus (with perhaps one or two other genera included) with seven, and Bostrichus with two or three species, conclude the list. The family of the Mrtorp# is sparingly represented. Of the genus Meloe I only know one species, living upon a small shrub in the hills about Williamstown and the South Para, but is not in the collection. The Zyttae in three or four allied genera muster twenty-seven species inall. Informer years some species were fairly numerous, but of late I find them all rare, or even very rare. Some are arrayed in brilliant colours, in one the male entirely different from the female. | The CHRYSOMELID® are rich in species, but all small, none exceeding one quarter of aninch. Their seven or eight genera contain a total of 123 species. Chryptocephalus comprises twenty-six, Haltica nine, Kumolpus fourteen, Podontia, with its near relations, thirty-two, Chlamys twenty-one, and the Casside twenty-six species. The Ciciicm are very numerous, are partly plant-feeders, partly carnivorous ; some fly by day, others by night. The genus Paropsis is the most numerous, furnishing with an ally seventy- SIx species, some of which, while alive, exhibit brilliant red, ereen, and blue colours, fading into a dull uniform yellow a few hours after death; other species change their delicate neutral tints into a bright brick red, within a few days. Among the fifteen species of Polyglypha is one nearly approaching in colouration the notorious Colorado Beetle, but it is rather rare and seemingly harmless. Another species is clothed in resplendent golden ereen, iridising in all colours of the rainbow. It is small in size, but found at times in considerable numbers upon certain 41 shrubs from Mount Bryan to Callington, from the Murray to Ardrossan. The Ruyncnornora, or weevil-like Coleoptera, are the most numerous family here as elsewhere, furnishing at least 20 genera, with 289 species. The Bruchide and their relatives number 22 species, some over an inch in length and some under a quarter of an inch; some of very strange appearance, caused by curious excrescences upon prothorax and elytra; all are wingless, mostly living on or under the ground; their elytra are firmly joined in one piece of armour. The Cur- culionide present 21, the Anthonomide 30 species, some of which are active all the year. Rhynchaena, with Gonipterus, count 29 species, one of the latter in almost endless variety ; Apoderus 20, Anthribus 15, the Apionide with over 20, Cossonus 8, the largest infecting Eucalyptus rostrata, Ehino- macer 5, all rare ; Hurhynchus 3, Hypphorynus 4, imcluding the giant, and also the most beautiful (the black and golden green Diamond Weevil) of the whole family; Balanius, with its kindred, 38; 2hinotia 15, and Belus 26 species. Both the latter genera are peculiar to Australia. Lixws occurs in one species, said to have been obtained near Angaston. The Lonercornta, the long-horned or Wood Beetles, are well represented by 118 species in about 26 genera, but many are very rare. The first in array are the Prionide, with five well- defined species; the larve of the largest feeds within the trunks of the Casuarine, the beetle attaining the length of nearly three inches; another species peculiar to Hucalyptus vimnalis and rostrata, measures 2+ inches. The large oval holes seen in timber are due to their larve, the circular ones being drilled by the larve of moths. Both kinds of larve are eaten by the natives. The Cerambide (Mallodon, Epithora, &c.) number 18 species, the largest exceeding 13 inch in length. Pyrocantha contains 18 species, the commonest, P. recurva, is found sometimes swarming in hundreds after sunset around felled gumtrees, or broken branches, in the bark of which their eggs are deposited, the larve, when hatched, feed first upon the bark and afterwards enter the splinth. This species extends to the Northern Territory. Molorchus contains one species, noticed at Lyndoch and Monarto. Of Clytus (or a closely allied form) there are three species; of Phacodes, Callidypsis, and another one each; Chlythanthus and Leptura two each; Stenodema numbers ten; Stenoptera four ; Hesthesis three species. Both the latter genera have their elytra very much reduced in length, simulating wasps in appearance. One species of Hesthesis seems identical with HT. plorata, from Tasmania, the other is much larger. One species of Hurispa, one resembling Ctenodes, two genera, 42 the larve of one of which appear to feed upon the roots of tufted grasses, and the appearance of which signalizes the approaching end of the insect season, and another with soft elytra, feeding on Eucalypts (both with two species) add a total of six to the number. The Saperde are numerous, Lamida exhibiting fourteen ; Symphyletes twelve ; Hebescesis, seven ; Distema, two species. Besides the above, a Mallodon specimen was in one instance taken by me near Lyndoch, just having made its escape from its larval abode ina large Hucalyptus rostrata, resembling (if not identical) in colour and size a species from the Northern Territory, one and a half inches im length. A _ species of Distichoceras, resembling D. maculicollis, from New South Wales, was once captured by me near Williamstown, by the Victoria Creek, but not seen since. The largest of the South Australian Lamid@ noticed by me was taken by a friend near Callington; it exceeds one and a quarter inches in length. After a somewhat hasty comparison of the beetles captured at Ardrossan with those collected elsewhere, it is found that altogether 266 species of Coleopters were taken, of which 106 are common to other places, while 158, or 62 per cent. of the whole number, were obtained here for the first time. ‘ Two of these Coleopters deserve a short notice. The one is allied to the Prionidex, and seems to form a link between them and the Buprestide, for the form of 1ts body closely resembles theirs; while the antenne, mandibles, &c., denote their other connection. Their colour is a bright-brown, and their length nearly one inch. The other remarkable beetle belongs to the Dorcadie, and to a genus not before represented in the collec- tion, and closely resembles some species of Bruchids, indigenous here, were it not for its antenne, &c. Both species seem very rare. The first was taken in January, the other in February last. The generic names given above have been taken partly from the following works, viz., Dr. Imhoff’s “Studium der Coleopteren,” 1856; Brockhaus’ ‘Text zum Bilder Atlas,” 1857; Dr. Leunis’ ‘ Naturgeschichte,” 1869; Dr. Ruete’s ‘“* Zoologie,” 1848. Some names were obtained through ex- changes with other collectors, notably to Messrs. J. French, Melbourne, and EH. D. Atkinson, Tasmania, my thanks are due. Only avery few names were got from the South Australian Museum. ORDER LEPIDOPTERA. The Leprpoprera of South Australia are characterised by almost total absence of gay and brilliant hues, especially among the nocturnal tribes; the overwhelming majority only 43 resents inconspicuous neutral tints. The cause of this may ce sought for chiefly in the great dryness of the atmosphere, and the obvious protection it affords in seasons of drought in concealing them from birds and other enemies in eager pursuit of anything capable of serving as food. The Parrnioni”®, or butterflies, furnish 26 species in twelve genera, according to the determinations of the Hon. W. MacLeay, Sydney, of a series of figures drawn by me and sub- mitted to him by the President, to both of which gentlemen my thanks and acknowledgment are due. There is one Papilio (P. Erythonius), the largest of the family, and measuring three and three-quarter inches in span. It inhabits the open glades in the Barossa Ranges. The Preride are represented by Pieris Aganippe, Don., and P. Teutonia, Fabr., flying in the neighbourhood of Lyndoch, Nuriootpa, Monarto, and Ardros- san. Terias smilax, Don., sometimes is numerous near Lyndoch, and occurs at Ardrossan. Of Nymphalidae, the genera Pyrameis, with two species, viz., P. cardwi, Linn., and P. itea, Fabr., and Jwnonisa occur; the latter only represented by J. velleda, Linn. The first and last are very common, and fly nearly all the year; P. itea is rare. The Satyride likewise TABLE SHOWING FAMILIES AND NuMBER OF GENERA and SPECIES OF LEPIDOPTERA. No. of No. of Families. Genera. - Species. 1. Papilionids te Be me 12 26 2. Crepuscularia .. “s oe 5 or 6 10 3. Noctua-Lithosidsx 1 3 4. Aretiide .. ies 4 4. 5. Liparide .. 3 8 6. Cossidxe . 2 9 7. Cocliopode ah 2 4. 8. Hepialide ay we 4 9. Psychide ite : 2 12 10. Saturnidse are Pe, 3 3 11. Bombicidz ie wie ate 2 10 12. Notodontids 7 Py es 1 4. 13. Cymatophoride .. rm 1 4 14. Noctuids e ate ie 52 15. Chleophoride .. we 2 4 16. Agaristide Shs ie 2 4 17. Geometre a ws 8 10 78 18. Tortricide sh = 3 39 oe pean ] a — ~] 19. Tinea, Pyralis, Alucita.. .. Total ee ee ee ee 77-80 395 4.4, furnish two genera, but with only one species each, viz., Xenico Klugit, Gner., which is common almost everywhere; and Heteronympha Merope, one of the largest and finest of our butterflies, but rather rare. It has been captured at Lyndoch, and seen at Ardrossan. The occurrence of Danais Chrysippus is very curious, it being at home also in the Grecian Isles and on the Mediterranean shores, according to Dr. Berge. My specimen was caught in Nuriootpa. Of Lycenide several genera are represented, viz., Lycena discifer, Fabr.; Cupido bretica, McLeay, C. agricola, and six others; the largest of which measures one and a half inches, and the smallest only three-quarters of an inch in span. The largest of the family is Ogyris otanes, Feld., occuring in the sandhills near Nuriootpa, which is the only locality I have noticed it. The female has a short, broad cross band of ight yellow upon the anterior wings, of which the male is deficient. The Hesperide furnish one genus, viz., Hesperilla, with two species, both probably new, and rare at the best of times. Of the Uranide we have four species of one genus, viz., Synemon leta, Macleay, S. scaria, Feld., and two others, probably unnamed. The genus is the only one, it appears, peculiar to Australia, and is not referred to in G. Master’s “ Catalogue of Diur. Lepid., 1873 ;” but it is placed here among the butterflies, because the antenne termi- nate with a true club, and they often carry their wings upright like all true day-flyers, while the other genera included in the eroup do not do so. The CREPUSCULARIA, or dawn moths, are still more con- spicuous by paucity of representatives than the foregoing, and mostly very rare. Of Sphine there are only two species known to me, both of medium size, viz., two and a quarter inches im span ; one Macroglossa bred from a chrysalis found at Nuriootpa, a species resembling Thyria; one Zygena from Monarto, and- five of Sesta, or near allies; thus only showing ten species in five or six genera. : The Nocrvuaps#, or moths proper, furnish the great bulk of species, there being no less than 125 Nocturne, 78 Geometre, 39 Tortricide, 106 Tineide, six Pyralide, and five Alucite, and their allies. The work of reference chiefly followed is almost exclusively Berge’s ‘“‘Schmetterlings Buch,” but the four last tribes are not treated, and therefore only mentioned collec- tively in the sequel. Of the 24 families of nocturnal Lepidopters therein described several seem to be entirely absent, notably the Syntomide, Heterogynide, &c., and others are only sparingly represented. ; Of Lirnosta three species occur. The Arcrim® are repre- sented by the genera Deiopeia, Emydia, Huprepia, and Spil- osome. 45 The Lreartp® furnish three genera and eight species, viz., Leucoma, three; Ocneria, one (obtained from chrysalides at Ardrossan) ; Porthesia, four. The Cosstip#® supply the largest moths in the Province, one species of Cossus, labr., exceeds seven inches in span, and two or three others approach it in size. The larvee of these inhabit the trunks and main branches of divers Eucalypts, drilling circular holes about three-quarters of an inch in diameter through the sound timber. Eight species are in the collection. Of the allied Zeuzera, Latr., one specimen was taken at Ardrossan. The family of the Cocrioropm, of which the caterpillar forms hard, egg-shaped cases for the chrysalis, the latter de- veloping its limbs in distinct and separated casings, the genus Limatodes, Latr., exhibits one, and Promecoderis three species. The Hepratip® furnish four species in one genus. PsycHID®H are numerous; the genus Psyche, Schr., containing five, and Oreopsyche, Sp., seven species. The caterpillars of this family form for themselves a dwelling, consisting of a silky bag over- laid with little sticks, &c., in which also the chyrsalis state is passed. Woods mentions the largest of these bag-bearers under the generic name Ovzketicus, I believe. The SarurNID»® seem scarce, only three species having been found, representing as many genera, viz., Hndromis, Ochs.; Saturnia, Schr.; and Attacus. The latter exceeds three inches in span. Its cater- pillar is of a green colour, and feeds on the leaves of Hucalyptus viminalis, forming an oval cocoon of dark-grey silk one inch in length. Gastropacha is represented by seven species, two of which form the bright green silky cocoons found suspended among the leafy tops of Eucalypts. Hriogaster, Germ., contains three. Of the Noropontip& four species occur, seemingly of the genus Cnetocampa, Steph., the caterpillars of which live and feed in great societies, marching out in procession. They pass the chrysalis state either under loose bark or in large nest-like structures among the smaller branches—(a social spider mimics them)—of the trees on which they feed. Great damage is sometimes done by them. CymatopHora, Tr., furnishes four species, and forms the con- necting link between the foregoing and the Noctuade proper. The latter are rich in species, but often scarcely separable. Among them the following appear, viz.— Panthea, Hiibn, (Bombix, Latr.), with four; Bryophila, with one species ; Leucania contains seven, mostly numerous; Zryphaena, Hibn, three (all rare); Agrotis, Ochs., fifteen; Hpisema, Ochs., ten species ; all of the last genus are very active moths, flying in the glaring daylight of spring and summer. 46 Mamestra, Tr., adds five, and Rhizogramma, Led., two species ; the chrysalis of the latter is enclosed in a cocoon case formed of grains of soil glued together. Xylina, Tr., is represented by two, and the allied form of Calocampa, Steph., by one species; all rare. The Plusizde furnish two species to the collection, but a third is known to exist. The caterpillars of one sometimes attack the potato-plant seriously, feeding at night only, and burymg themselves in the loose soil during the day. Catocala, Schr., one of our finest moths, and numerous in individuals at times, seems to occur only in one species, while Halias, Tr., and Chleophora, Steph., both green coloured moths, and resembling Geometra, present two each. There are three species of Agarista, Walk., and one of another allied genus. They are fine black and white coloured moths, flying high and swift during the afternoons of the summer months. The GroMetr™ offer great variety in their numerous forms, but with the exception of emoria, with one rare species coloured green, and one species of Himeria, habited in pink and yellow, are of the prevalent sombre hue as the rest. Zerene, Amphydasis, and Crocallis, contain each one species ; Aspilates, nine ; Gnophos and Fidonia, each nineteen ; Acidalia, eighteen ; and NMuwmeria, six species. The Torrricips® are represented by about 39 species, but are far outnumbered by the Trner#, of which Lithocolletis alone, with, perhaps, some near allies, musters 34, all very small, and many distinguished by black and orange colour. Two species of Tinea are known to cause and inhabit as larve some curious galls in eucalyptus bushes, within each of which several of them dwell at the same time. One or two species are distin- euished by a small number of hemispherical protuberances upon their upper wings, near their insertion, arranged in a half-circle when at rest, and glittering like veritable jewels. Besides Lithocolletis there are three or four other genera con- taining 72 species, giving a total of 106 Tineide. Of PrraLipz there are six, and of Alucita and kindred genera there are five indigenous species. Many more of these tiny Lepzdopters are known to exist, but have been neglected in the collection, their small size and extreme delicacy offering considerable difficulty in respect of preservation. Yet, small as they are, they are capable of inflicting serious loss at times. One exainple will suffice. Annually a large quantity of potatoes are destroyed by premature putridity, caused by a host of larve of some small Zinea forming tortuous canals within the tubers. : 47 OrpER HYMENOPTERA. Of Hymenorrera, or yoke-winged insects, the province of South Australia possesses a fair share (and, indeed, of at least one family—z.e., ants—rather more than fair), as far as numbers are concerned. According to Dr. Leunis 15,000 species were known in 1868, being at the ratio of three Hymenopters to four Lepidopters, compared with the foregoing order; but as the collection only contains 240 species, giving a ratio of three Hymenopters to five Lepidopters, it proves that this order had not had the same attention paid as the preceding. ‘This is indeed the case, the fact having to be admitted that the ants, Cynipside, and indeed all the small wasps, were greatly but unavoidably neglected for want of leisure and facilities. The remarks made when treating of the Coleopters, in respect of the names mentioned apply to this order likewise. Of the TenruRipips, or saw wasps, the genera Cimbex and another are represented by eleven species, the largest of which, golden green with yellow markings, is about an inch in length, the smallest about a quarter of aninch. They chiefly infect eucalypti. The Crnrpstp#, or gall wasps, are very numerous, to judge by the number and variety of galls met with upon many plants, sometimes of exceedingly fantastic shapes; only four species, the largest seen, were collected. Of the IcHneEv- MONIDH, some seasons exhibit quite a crowd; they deposit their eges in other living insects while in the larval state, and offer one of the most effectual checks to undue increase of any one TasLeE SHOWING FAMILIES AND NUMBER OF GENERA AND SPECIES OF HYMENOPTERA. No. of No. of Families. Genera. Species. 1. Tenthridide vi ‘2 .y 1—2 i} 2. Cynipside wd me ag 1 4 3. Ichneumonid2 .. A if RS Fs) 24 4, Ophionide ce a ie 1—2 21 5. Pteromalide am ae ue 1—2 4 6. Chryside .. Yr: Hy ae 1—: 9 7. Formicidz st cpl ot 2 29 8. Mutillide ea ue ak 2 44 9. Myrmiloide ea kegs se he 1 11 10. Sphegide.. fg s ‘ie 4—5 28 ll. Crabronide Og af ry 6 31 12. Vespide .. ry & £5 1—2 8 13. Polistide .. “ sok : 1 ch 14. Apide .. Pe a ae a 15 Total aati Sahar Rs 28—34 240 fin Ar alee 48 species in the economy of nature. Some species of the genus Rhyssa, represented by six species, are very common, others scarce. Of Ephialtes, with two or three near relations, there are seventeen species ; some of these are provided with very short ovipositors, others with very long ones; thus the largest of the genus is scarcely half an inch in length, but its ovipositor exceeds an inch and a halt. This one is very rare. Of Pimpla only one species is known, nearly the same size as the preceding. The OpxHioniD2, or sickle wasps, are numerous in most species, of which there are 21, !principally appertaining to Anomala. The largest exceeds one inch; the smallest is under half an inch. | The PrreromaLip& furnish four, and the Curys1p@, with some allied genera, nine species, one of which is endowed with strong legs for leaping. The ants are present in immense numbers, mostly of small size, every inch of the ground in “the bush,” except where wet, being haunted by them during the chief part of the year. Some species defy the fiercest heat of the summer; others never appear in daylight. Only a small proportion has been collected yet of Formica, distinguished among other peculiarities by comparatively weak mandibles and small sting, the latter frequently quite absent. Sixteen species of the larger kinds have been collected, and of ALyrmica, with powerful mandibles, terrible sting, and ferocious temper, as many as thirteen. The largest of the winged females of Formica is about three quarters of an inch long, but the neuters are always much smaller. They inhabit burrows in the ground with a solitary shaft; hide during daylight, and hunt about by night. The smallest species is less than one-sixteenth of an inch, of a pale ochreous colour, and never appears voluntarily above the ground in daylight. It is often found in farm-houses with natural floors, to the intense annoyance of housewives, the liliputian armies invading sugar, jellies, &c., and tenaciously refuse to quit these substances alive. Among the Myrmicide are some of the most formidable of their kind, nearly one inch in length, boldly attacking any casual invader of the precincts of their nests, singly and in force, and inflicting a most painful wound with their long stings, scarcely less in effect as that of a scorpion. The popular name ‘“ bulldog ants”’ 1s a very appro- priate designation. Of these there are three distinct species. The allied ‘‘ jumping ants”’ have much shorter legs, are, with the exception of one species, much smaller, and can leap several inches. They live in burrows drilled by them in dead branches, and are black; but others, of a clear brown colour with a yellow spot on each side of the abdomen, live exclusively in galleries of still living wood. Another small species with golden green 49 head and thorax dwells under stones and dead timber. It represents the “fire ant’’ of South America, and, like the others, inflicts very painful stings. The Murrnniam are numerous. ‘The wingless females of the genus Mutilla, repre- sented by fifteen species, resemble the Formicide greatly. Another genus, a description of which [ have not met with, and therefore shall designate provisionally under the name MMyr- miloide, closely mimics the Myrmicide in form of body, wings, and activity of movements, but differs in having a as smaller head, and the antenne thread-like and unbroken. They fly about the lights at mght, and can sting well. Eleven species have been collected. The genus Thynnus, peculiar to Australia, is represented by 29 species, which are very interesting. In Dr. Duncan’s “‘ Transformations of Insects,” 3rd Ed., p. 217, it is said :—‘‘ Verreaux states . . . The male flies about, and “carries the female with him, paying her the greatest atten- “tion, and placing her in flowers, so that she can obtain her ‘‘nourishment. Frequently other males, which have not the ‘happiness of possessing a wingless companion, come near and ‘appear enchanted with her company. Of course they all “ become jealous, and should her protector be wable to conquer the “ others, in order to disappoint them he eats her up.’* This being so exquisite a piece of insect romancing @ la Buffon, it is hardly necessary to state that I have never observed anything of the kind. What has been observed is simply this: The wingless female is so different in appearance from the male that hardly any amount of experience would enable a naturalist, seeing her for the first time, to recognise her as such, being nearly half the dimensions of the male, and gifted with only very short legs. As soon as hatched she climbs to the top of a high stalk of grass, &c., turns her head downwards and her abdomen away from her support in a sharp angle (say 40 to 50 degrees), thus awaiting the pleasure of some male. The latter flitting close by, whisks her up without any stopping, and carries her about while following his usual avocations. The female clings to his waist or legs until copulation is completed, when she drops off and seeks among the grasses, &c., where to deposit her eggs. The SPHEGID£ were much more numerous, it appears to me, than of late. Then some stray or bold individuals often invaded the interior of cottages for the purpose of building their nests of mud on some rafter or in the corner of a window; now the appearance of one is almost an event of note, except hear permanent watercourses. There are four species of Scolia, three being large insects; and one of Ammophila, which digs holes into the soil with great assiduity, stocking each with * The italics are mine.—O.T. EB 50 a caterpillar heavier than itself. Pelopeus musters four species. The smallest lives apparently parasitically in the chrysalis case of a Promecoderis, instead of building a nest. Pompilus, with one or two allied genera, contains nineteen species, and includes the giants of the order. Of the CraBRionID® five or six genera occur. Crabro and Cerceris contain each three species ; Philanthus, nine ; Odynerus, four ; Humenes, with an ally, seven; and another genus, resembling Odynerus, five. The last differs from its next in kin, by having the third abdominal segment so large that the whole of the remainder of the abdomen can be withdrawn within it, telescope-fashion. Almost all of these exhibit one or other interesting trait of character. To mention one will suffice for the present. So- called ‘‘bunged eyes” are of common occurrence during the summer months, but their cause seems still undetected. Now it is well known that at that season certain Muscide infest the eyes of man and animals very annoyingly. A small Odynerus resembling these somewhat in coloration, hunts them and frequently takes them boldly from the human person, dashing boldly among them upon the hand, in the face, or even the eye, wherever they happen to be assembled, attacks one with his sting, grips it with the last pair of legs and flies off with it in less time than it takes to tell. People feeling this uncere- monious onslaught, naturally or habitually put up their hand to catch or kill the intruder. If they happen to succeed in arresting it, it is at their cost, for feeling itself held, the Odynerus inflicts a sting in return and flies off, for its great hardness saves it from harm. The pain at first is scarcely per- ceptible, but grows—creeps, would be a better expression— rapidly more intense, causing a swelling of the affected part, in which it resembles the sting of certain Myrmicides. So far personal experience goes, but having been curiously free from induced swelling of the kind (even the sting of a bee near the eye left but a very slight trace after the abatement of the first pain), I have never suffered by this malady, and cannot testify to the effect upon others not so circumstanced, yet have frequently seen the Odynerus at work near the very eyes of people subject to the complaint. Another point is, that the little insect is especially busy in the early morning of very hot days. Without wishing it understood as attributing to it im toto this malady, yet I suspect it strongly as one of the causes. Further, I found that the application of ammonia in the earlier stages removed the pain in a few minutes in several cases, which would prove to some extent that it was due to some animal virus, if I mistake not. The VrEsprpx number about eight species in one or two genera, some being pretty large insects, but none as fierce as a 51 the European species. Of the Poirsrrp.x, or paper wasps, there is one species, which builds its nest under overhanging rocks on the River Murray cliffs, where they are pretty numerous. The Arty» or bees are not numerous. ‘There is one large one, resembling Xylocapa of steel blue or golden-green hue, forming cells in small hollow branches of trees, not in the collection ; three species resembling Osmia (one having a_ proboscis equalling, if not exceeding its whole body in length), and eleven akin to Megachyle; total fifteen. Small swarms of the latter, varying in number of individuals from a score or two to several hundred, have been frequently observed on the standing wheat crops towards evening, many laden with pollen. This concludes the account of -our Hymenoptera. Fifteen «species were obtained at Ardrossan, Yorke’s Peninsula, the remainder at the localities indicated before. ORDER ORTHOPTERA. The OrrHortera of South Australia are not deficient either in number of species, size, or interest; the collection contains 134 species. Most of these insects are vegetarians, and one species of the Gryllide committed considerable havoc in fields and gardens a few years ago. The Laprpurip4, or earwigs, muster twelve species in the sole genus Forficula. They fold their large transparent posterior wings under very small coriaceous anterior ones, resembling the Staphilini among the Coleoptera ; among our indigenous species are several which have a small coriaceous patch upon the former, otherwise per- fectly colourless, exactly fitting on the square extremity of the latter, thus affording additional aid in protecting the delicate membrane. The Briarrip.s, or cockroaches, are rather rich in species, exhibiting twenty-three, besides Blatta orientalis, but this introduced pest is fortunately as yet only found in the TABLE SHOWING FAMILIES wITH NUMBER OF GENERA AND SPECIES OF ORTHOPTERA. Wassidian. ae. of | No. of enera. | Species. 1. Lapiduride os aes “4 iH 12 2. Blattide .. ae Ke a ? 23 3. Achetide.. ay “3 a 3 21 4. Locustide be are as 6 62 5. Mantide .. vs 6 ¥ whe 3 12 6. Hydremantis .. ia hn t J it Phasmide Oe ‘ it 2 Total ake Pm, 16 134 LIBRARY he UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URSANA-CHAMPAIGN 52 larger ports and towns. Among the native Blatte is one an inch and a half in length, but rarely found in the perfect winged state. Besides this there are several others, never attaining to the winged state. Several species hunt their prey by daylight, hving upon bushes, and are exceedingly swift in their motions ; all others prefer darkness. The AcHETIDA, or crickets, furnish nineteen species. The largest in the collec- tion is about one inch, the smallest less than one-quarter of an inch in length. Most of them live in fissures of the ground, under stones, &c., but several species, distinguished by much reduced posterior wings (sometimes altogether - wanting), live upon trees and shrubs, enlivening the surroundings with their exceedingly penetrating chirp. Of tree crickets, gifted with excessively long and thin antenne and large wings, some very large ones are found, viz., above two inches in span, and the antenne three to four inches long. They inhabit small hollows, lined with a kind of coarse silk, and appear to be carnivorous. Of Gryllotalpa, or mole crickets, only two closely allied species occur in watercourses and in moist situations. The Loctustipm are represented * by at least six genera. Locusta contains sixteens species, most of which are rare, or even very rare. The body of the largest measures one and a half inches in length, the wings nearly four inches in span. Another, smaller in body, attains five and a quarter inches in span, and inhabits the Murray Flats, near Blanchetown. One species feeds upon the native pine (frenela), and is dis- tinguished by its yellowish-green anterior wings being marked with numerous black dots; another with white spotted wings frequents Melaleuca acuminata, near Ardrossan ; another, with pink-coloured wings, and a flat shield-like appendage to the thorax, feeds on mallee, near Monarto. But the strangest of all is a species living upon some Leptospermum shrubs. Its first pair of wings is narrow and of a greyish colour; but the second is large, and beautifully marked with concentric dark bands. These are rolled closely together, and form then an angle with the cylindrical abdomen. When resting head downwards (its usual position), it so closely resembles in form and colouration a twig of the shrub, that it is almost impossible to discern it, especially as its long thin legs and antenne are laid close along the branch and perfect immutability is sus- tained by the insect. Decticus has been found in one species only near Callington. Its posterior wings are of a beautiful pink hue, while all else is green and white. Of Zetrix four species are known, fairly large insects, some with very large helmet-like expansions of the head. Of Gdipoda eleven species are noted, some of large size, feeding upon woody plants only. Acridium is represented by ten species, five of which are from 53 the neighbourhood of Ardrossan; the latter are small, but distinguished by beautiful red, pink, and black coloured pos- terior wings. Gryllus is prominent as the most prolific genus, containing twenty species, one of which (perhaps two) rendered itself notorious by its extensive devastations in 1871-2. Re- siding at Monarto at the time, Il observed an army of these insects several acres in extent. Counting repeatedly the number included in a square foot, it was found that twelve to thirteen in front by eight or nine deep represented a fair average. At this rate the number occupying an acre exceeded four and a half millions! At the same time scores of such armies were met with im the more open parts of the colony, but very few in the mallee scrub. A wingless species of this genus is of very grotesque appearance, and the female about six times the bulk of the male. Another, but small species, | has wings, by way of contrast, extending about twice the length of body when at rest. The Mantrp® are represented by thirteen species in three or four genera. The genus Mantis contains five species, the largest of which is green and is nearly two and a-half inches in span; the smallest is grey and scarcely exceeds one inch. Phylliwm furnishes two, both from Yorke’s Peninsula; the largest measures two inches in length, two and five-eighth inches im span, with very small posterior wings, and is of green colour ; the other is considerably smaller and of a brown hue, the anterior wings marked with a dark spot near the middle. Cyphocrama musters five species; the largest female is nearly four inches long and the span of the wings of the male exceeds this. The wings of the females are in some cases scarcely one third of the length of abdomen, and never exceeding one-half ; those of the males, on the contrary, are very large and fitted for sustained flight. Their very long legs, upon which the extended narrow body gently sways to and fro, give a spider- like appearance, while their moveable head, with its large projecting eyés, and the devote attitude of the first pair of legs, resembling hands clasped in prayer, add something very human, not belied by their habits. They are the most perfect hunters and robbers, and know well how to hide or to surprise. A very minute species of Hypromantis lives in the North Para, but resembles the Phasmide somewhat in the form of its forelegs. It is only three-eighths of an inch in length, and very rare. | Among the Puasmip#, of which three species have been collected, the largest of all South Australian insects occur. This species is five and one-eighth inches long; span of wings, seven and a quarter inches ; length of first pair of legs, three and one-eighth inches. The whole of the body, the short anterior 54: (length one and five-eighth inches) and a narrow parchment-like strip of the posterior wings are green, except where the latter are covered by the former, where a fine pink line marks the upper surface of the one and the lower of the other. The covered portions of the large anterior wings are transparent and colourless. Some 20 years ago this species was rather numerous near Lyndoch, but for many years few have been noticed. Two other smaller species were obtained at Ardrossan. The larger one is of the same form of body as the preceding and also coloured green, but the covered portions of the wings are bright yellow, and the nervures of the remaining parts of the posterior wings are of a rich rose colour crossed by numerous narrow, concentric bands of the same tint. The smaller Phasma has a thin elongated body (like a straw) three and five-eighth inches in length. and of a reddish brown colour. The transparent posterior wings are tinted along the radiating nervures with many black spots, at almost regular intervals, leaving tran- sparent concentric bands between them. Only one specimen of either was obtained. OrDER HEMIPTERA. The Hemrerera, forming two groups, viz.. HETEROPTERA and Homoprera, are quite as well represented in South Australia as any of the other orders, the Heteroptera, or bugs, being represented by 164 and the Homoptera or Cicades by 108 species. The first family of the former, the Pentaromip”#, comprise the genera Scutellaria with three, and Tetyra with four species, which have their scutellum so enlarged that it covers the whole of the abdomen, and acts as a cover for their wings. These, as most other bugs, are plant-feeders, and some species are very TABLE SHOWING FAMILIES with NUMBER OF GENERA AND SPECIES OF HEMIPTERA. | No. of | No. of ‘No. of | No. of | ra uuee Genera. | Species. SE Genera.| Species. eo HETEROPTERA. HoMoPTERA. 1. Pentatomide .. 5 81 1. Cicade i 1 11 2. Reduviadse 2 41 2. Fulgoride .. 7 93 3. Lygeide .. °.. 2 16 3. Aphide 1 3 4, Pyrrhocoride .. 2 8 4, Coccide 1 1 5. Geocoride 2 8 -——__- | - ———_-- 6. Nepide ny 2 2 Total o)" 37) a 108 7. Hydrometride.. 3 8 -——_-— - - Totaless) be 18 164 | Oa Mebales: te nt net ace iting lly i OSE Daag 28 272 - 55 numerous upon certain native shrubs. Some glitter in most brilliant colours. The genus Cimea furnishes the giant of the family, nearly one inch in length, feeding on Hucalyptus dwmosa, twelve species. Pentatoma is most numerous, 52 having been col- lected. One or two species are notorious as infesting the vine, imparting their objectionable odour to the grapes. This odour is nearly the same tor all the members of the group, excepting the Hydrometride. Another very minute species occasionally attacks the wheat crops to some extent, and has been figured and described by Dr. C. Muecke, M.A., some years ago. Trichius, represented by eight or nine species, has the thorax armed with spines; a very small one is furnished with a globular excrescence upon the prothorax. The Repuvrapm comprise 37 species, mostly of very small size, and are carnivorous, hunting other insects. An allied genus, a description of which I have not met with, is remark- able on account of the singular form of its legs and antenne. Both are thickly set with fine long hairs, forming in one or two species large brushes on the last pair of legs, which much exceed the others in length. They lve under loose bark and in hollows and cracks of trees about Lyndoch, Nuriootpa, &c. ; appear to be carnivorous, and are not very numerous. The LyGEID#, or stinging bugs, are present in several genera, with sixteen species. They can and will inflict a most painful wound, when incautiously handled, by inserting their proboscis. The largest is about three-quarters of an inch in length, but (as most of this family) it is very rare. They hide by day under stones, leaves, &c,, and fly by night. One species is adorned and armed with spikes, and has a very attenuated form of body and limbs. All seem to be carnivorous. The Pyrrhocoride, eight species, are pretty large insects, vegetable feeders, and sometimes very numerous upon certain eucalypts and acacias. In them the distinctive odour is most prominent, being developed to such extent that the birds refuse them as food, and even the ants appear to avoid their approach. Of Geocoris, or underground bugs, eight species have been observed. They live in loose soils, and are not numerous. Of HyproMETRID#, or water bugs, four genera, with ten species, have been noticed. There is one large Nepa, or water scorpion, which frequents stagnant water, and is about one inch long; and one still larger, Ranetra. Both have long tail bristles, and sting with their proboscis. Of Notonecta four species have been captured. They are found in the calm reaches of rivulets, and fly about at night. Hydrometra (Gerris?) and another genus ( Halobates ?), with two Species each, complete the list of the Heteroptera. The Homoprera, or Cicades, are scarcely less numerous than 56 the preceding group; but several families, notably ApHipm and Coccrp2, have been unavoidably neglected as far as collecting is concerned. The Crcap# furnish eleven species, of which the largest ‘known to me measures several inches in span, is prettily coloured in yellow and brown, and feeds upon Casuarina and Acacia pygnantha. The next in size is nearly black, feeds upon Eucalyptus rostrata and E. viminalis, and is common about Adelaide. A third very large species habited in green tints lives about Mount Gambier upon Acacia obliqgua. A much smaller species 1s peculiar to the mallee, another with spotted wing to banksias, and a number of smaller ones to various grasses. They are the principal musicians of the Australian forests, but their strains are more loud than pleasant. The Fulgoride muster seven genera, with 93 species. The typical genus Fulgora furnishes only two species, both very rare. Cercoptis, only one, but numerous, the larve of which produce the so- called “‘ cuckoo spittle.” Two genera not mentioned in Reute’s “Zoology ’”’ are in so far remarkable that the one presents the extreme of lateral, the other of vertical compression. Hight species have been observed, all of which are vegetarians, and their larve in many instances exude a sweet liquid, much in request among ants, which lick the same and never hurt either the larve or the adults. Several species of Aphide have been observed upon divers native plants, besides the introduced Rose Aphis. One species feeding among the roots of the wheat-plants attacked by a Husidiwm (the so-called “ take-all”’), has been described and figured by Dr. C. Muecke, M.A.; and is in some _ seasons exceedingly numerous, flying at night towards the light, and adhering in great numbers to the lamps. Another much larger species was observed by me on the roots of some sickly young plants of Hucalyptus globulus ; 1t is snow-white, and forms protuberances around the rootlets. A large and beautiful species of Coceus occurs in the scrub near Lyndoch and Nuriootpa, and also at Mount Gambier, where it was fairly numerous among the ferns. The female is from one-fourth to more than half an inch in length, exhibiting the usual charac- teristics of the family, and its body is filled with a bright red fluid. It attaches itself to a twig of Santaluwm or other shrub, inserts its proboscis, and never leaves its place again. The male is much less in size, but gifted with two large glassy wings twice the length of the body, and a tail formed of numerous snow-white silky hairs, giving to the insect when slowly flitting in nearly straight course through the shrubs the exact appearance of a tiny comet, suggesting as most suitable appellation the name of Coccus cometarius. 57 OrpvpER NEUROPTERA. The Nevrorrera are not conspicuous either fois size Or coloration, and most genera are also poor in species. Only forty-three species in fifteen or sixteen genera have been collected. Many are insatiable hunters, and therefore useful to man by checking the increase of flies and other insects. The LIBELLULIDA, or dragonflies, furnish twelve species in three genera, viz. _Aishna, Libellula rand Agri ion. Many more are known to exist. The MyrMinEonrp®, or ant-lions, exhibit thirteen species in three genera. J; yrmeleon furnishes six species, the largest about three inches in span. The larve possess very large mandibles and hide at the botton of small, funnel-shaped hollow, in which ants, &c., are entrapped ‘and devoured. Ascalaphus, distinguished by long antennée with spoon-shaped extremities, 1s only represented by one species, but the golden- eyed Hemerobius, whose larve act the lon among aphides by night, musters six. Raphidia and Panorpa present only one species each; the latter is common almost everywhere in the bush, catching and devouring all day long whatever insects it canmanage. Phryganea and Perla comprise three species each, and Hphemera two. Mantispa—so named because closely resembling the Mantide in general form—supplies four species, linking the Neuroptera to the Orthoptera. Semlis and two other genera only add one species each. The Termites are lrkewise represented by one species only. They are small and found nearly everywhere, but not nearly so destructive than elsewhere. Where undisturbed they form low, conical hillocks, generally marking the site of a stump of some tree. The only native timber withstanding their attacks to any extent is the inner red wood of Eucalyptus rostrata and somewhat less EZ. vuninalis. Being kept powerfully in check by the Formicide, their natural enemies, the white ants act rather beneficially by masticating and reducing into fertile humus all animal droppings and decaying vegetable remains. TABLE SHOWING FAMILIES WITH NUMBER OF GENERA AND SPECIES OF NEUROPTERA. ee No. of No. of Families. Genera. Species. 1. Termes .. : 1 4 2. Ephemeridx ; ¥ I 2 3. Libellulide iy : 3 12 4. Myrmeleonide .. ; 2 7 5. Hemerobini : 1 ome 6. Raphidie a s 2 5 7. Panorpini a ‘ 1 1 8. Perlide .. ‘ 4 6 9. Phryganide 1 3 Total Ds cee AGT ate 16 43 58 OrpDER DIPTERA. Of Diprera, or flies, a fair number of genera or species occur, while in number of individuals some species are so prolific that probably only the ants vie with them. On account of their fragility of structure, &c., no great attention has been paid to their systematic collection, yet 158 species have been obtained in about seventeen genera. Some species of the Nemo- cER®, or long-legged flies, are prominent by their number, thus the genus Culer furnishes thirteen species, termed com- monly mosquitoes, of which some are only found near water, in which the larve live, and others in the driest portions of mallee scrub, suggesting a different course of metamorphosis. All are very bloodthirsty, and on two occasions I observed dense clouds of a very small species (not included in the above number) after sunset near Lakes Alexandrina and Albert, that it became difficult to breathe without inhaling some. Tipula furnishes nine species, the largest of which is gifted with legs nearly two inches long, and as brittle as glass threads ; it inhabits the Barossa Ranges, and does not attack man. ‘Of Cecidomyza, the gall-producing flies, several species exist. An ally, the so-called sandfly, is a very minute insect, scarcely one- twelfth of an inch long, yellowish-grey in colour, and its wings speckled, and is found in cloudlets in sandy parts of the country, flymg in the latter part of the afternoon during the spring and summer months. They settle upon any part of a person, move to an exposed part of the skin, and insert their proboscis, thereby causing a pain wholly disproportionate to their size. Hach incision produces a minute swelling—produc- ing great annoyance only by their number. The sensation produced may be compared to that of mild scalding. The Astnipm and their near alles comprise nineteen species, TaBLE SHOWING FAMILIES wiTtH NUMBER OF GENERA AND SPECIES OF yi otal eee be EE oa ecient i a ea No. of No. of Families. Genera. Species. 1. Nemocera - 2 22 2. Asilidze a | 3 36 3. Syrphide.. Sie t 37 4. Tabanide a 25 5. Muscide .. 3 24 6. Volucellidse 1 14 7. Cecidomyia 1 — | §8. Leptatanide 1 1 are ae oi ee Rota PES ae iia, A a tape iene ae ae 159 59 including the giants of the order, which inhabit Yorke’s Peninsula and adjacent parts, and measure one and three quarter inches in length. All are carnivorous. Aistrus musters eight species, but whether any of them really do attack horses, &¢c., in order to deposit their eggs upon them, as the typical species, I have not been able to ascertain satisfactorily. Vermileo supplies nine species, and links this order to the Hymenoptera, resembling certain species of wasps much in outline, with their highly-coloured attenuated abdomen. Syrphus comprises twelve, Stomaxis seven, Sargus eight species; the latter all of very small size. Ohrysops fur- nishes ten species, mostly remarkable fo® the brilliant colour of their eyes while alive, but fading soon after death. Holophilus, with three, and another genus with large hairy body and very small head, with two species, are very rare. The Tasanitp”@, on the contrary, with fifteen species, numerous enough to be unpleasant at times ; some species attack man and beast fearlessly to suck their blood. The allied genus Bombilius, five species, is not ravenously inclined. The Muscrp4, or flies proper, are well represented by four or five genera, with 38 species. Gymnosoma, comprising flies whose larve feed in the interior of other living insects, finally destroying their host, are noted with three species, but many more exist. One of this kind greatly assisted in reducing the locusts some years ago, two or three small flies having been observed to issue from dead ones clinging to shrubs, &c. Of Sarcophaga seven species have been collected, but only two seem to interfere with human comfort by depositing their young larve in meat intended for food. Fourteen species of Jfusca have been obtained, but the actual number may be considerably larger. Several species, including the introduced house-fly, are exceedingly numerous, and increasing in exact proportion with domestic animals— notably of cattle and horses, whose droppings form the domicile and food of the larve. A few pounds weight of manure often contains several scores of larve of flies. The very small fly attacking the eyes of man with most assiduous impudence during the summer months appears to be a native; it first appears in the woods, and, as the season advances, invades human habita- tions in the country. Volucella, with fourteen species, embraces the largest Muscide; some are embellished with brilliant metallic hues and changeable tints; some are numerous, but none interferes apparently with man. Of Lerraramya, or ticks, Several species are to be noted; they attach themselve para- Sitically to native animals. The largest observed infests the native opossum, clinging to the inner side of the ear, and is about a quarter of an inch long when gorged ; as many as three or four have been seen in one ear. 60 THE GEOLOGY OF THE HUNDRED OF MUNNO PARA. | PART L.—THE NEWER TERTIARY ROCKS. By Gavin Scovunar, Corresponding Member. PREFATORY REMARKS. The Hundred of Munno Para, which has its southern boundary about fourteen miles north of the South Australian capital, comprises, in rough numbers, an area of about 120 _ square miles. It is bounded on the west by the Hundred of Port Adelaide; on the north by the Gawler River and Hun- dred of Nuriootpa; on the north-east by, the South Para; on the east by Tenafeate and Little Garden Creeks; on the south- east by Gould’s Creek; and on the south by the Little Para River. In descending order, the geology of the entire hundred may be summed up as follows:—First, recent