FOR THE PEOPLE

FOR EDVCATION
FOR SCIENCE

LIBRARY

OF

THE AMERICAN MUSEUM

OF

NATURAL HISTORY

PAPERS & PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

ROYAL SOCIETY

OP

TASMANIA,

FOR

l897

(ISSUED APRIL, 1898.)

Tasmania :

PRINTED BY DAVrES BROTHERS LIMITED, MACQUARIE STREET, HOBART.

1898

J I

0^. ^W^Z.Ovu&.W.

*T

The responsibility of the Statements and
Opinions given in the following Papers and
Discussions rests with the individual Authors;
the Society as a body merely places them on
record.

/

ROYAL SOCIETY OE TASMANIA.

flatron :

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN.

flrtjstbent :

HIS EXCELLENCY VISCOUNT GORMANSTON, G.C.M.G.

Dtce^Jtetbent*;

THE HON. SIR JAMES WILSON AGNEW, K.C.M.G., M.D.,

M.E.C.
HIS HONOR SIR WILLIAM LAMBERT DOBSON, K.C.M.G.,

C.J., M.E.C, F.L.S.
THOMAS STEPHENS, ESQ., MA., F.G.S.
R. M. JOHNSTON, ESQ., F.L.S., F.S.S.

(JlOttttCtl :

* HIS HONOR SIR WILLIAM LAMBERT DOBSON, K.C.M.G.,

C.J., M.E.C., F.L.S.

* RUSSELL YOUNG, ESQ.

■■* HON. C. H. GRANT, M.E.C.

* BERNARD SHAW, ESQ.

HON. Sir J. W. AGNEW, K.C.M.G., M.D., M.E.C.

COL. W. V. LEGGE, R.A.

R. M. JOHNSTON, ESQ., F.L.S., F.G.S.

HON. N. J. BROWN, M.E.C.

T. STEPHENS, ESQ., M.A., F.G.S.

J. B. WALKER, ESQ., F.R.G.S.

R. S. BRIGHT, ESQ., M.R.C.S.,E.

A. G. WEBSTER, ESQ.

^lubttorjs of JHtortti)lfl ^cccnttntjEf :

A. G. WEBSTER, ESQ.

R. M. JOHNSTON, ESQ., F.L.S.

Itttottor* of Annual ^Uconntja; :

FRANCIS BUTLER, ESQ.
JOHN MACFARLANE, ESQ.

Hon. ^reagnrer :

C. J. BARCLAY, ESQ.

^ecretarg anb librarian:

ALEXANDER MORTON.

* Members who next retire in rotation.

PAPERS, 189*.

Page

1. Some Historical Aspects of the Referendum. By Professor

W. Jethro Brown, M.A., LL.D. (Little) ix

2. The Great Lake and its Water Power (Abstract) ... .. xviii

3. On the Occurrence of Limurite in Tasmania (Plates) By

W. H. Twelvetrees, F.G.S., and W. F. Petterd, C.M.Z.S. 1

4. The Mount Dundas Narrow- Gauge Railway. By F. Back,

General Manager Tasmanian Railways ... ... ... 7

5. The Disposal of our Dead by Cremation. By Gregory Sprott,

M.D.,D.P.H., Officer of Health for the City of Hobart... 13

6. Some Igneous Rocks from the Heazlewood District, Tas-

mania. By W. H. Twelvetress, F.G.S. and W. Petterd,
C.MZ.S 24

7. On the Occurrence of Obsidian " Buttons " (Plates). By

Messrs. W. H. Twelvetrees, F.G.S., and W. F. Petterd,

C.M.Z.S 39

8. Notes on a New Trithuria (Plate). By Leonard Rod way ... 47

9. The Iron Deposits of Tasmania. By W. G. Dauncey, C.E. 49

10. Notes on a Specimen of Basalt-glass (Tachylyte), from near
Macouarie Plains, with remarks on the Obsidian " But-

ERRATUM.

In Index :— Professor W. Jethro Brown's Paper, second line, word
(Little) read Title.

of Mt. Bischoff (Plate). By W. H. Twelvetrees, Kli.S.,

and W. F. Petterd, C.M.Z.S 119

18. A List of the Tasmanian Fungi. By Leonard Rodway ... 129

19. Notes on the Aborigines of Tasmania, extracted from the

Manuscript Journals by George Washington Walker,
with an Introduction by James B. Walker, F.R.G.S.
By James B. Walker, F.R.G.S 145

20. Further Notes on Obsidian "Buttons." By Thos. Stephens,

M.A., F.G.S.

21. Some Notes on the Tribal Divisions of the Aborigines of

Tasmania. By James B. Walker, F.R.G.S 176

22. Land Routes for Exploration of the Western Country. By

Thos. Stephens, M.A., F.G.S. (Accidentally omitted

from 1896 Proceedings) 189

23.* The Application of the Hare System in Tasmania. By

Professor W. Jethro Brown, M.A., LL.D 79

* (Professor W. Jethro Brown's Paper will appear at the end of Papers which,
by an error, starts as page 79.)

PAPERS, 1397.

Page

1. Some Historical Aspects of the Referendum. By Professor

W. Jethro Brown, M.A., LL.D. (Little) ix

2. The Great Lake and its Water Power (Abstract) ... .. xviii

3. On the Occurrence of Limurite in Tasmania (Plates) By

W. H. Twelvetrees, F.G.S., and W. F. Petterd, C.M.Z.S. 1

4. The Mount Dundas Narrow- Gauge Railway. By F. Back,

General Manager Tasmanian Railways ... ... ... 7

5. The Disposal of our Dead by Cremation. By Gregory Sprott,

M.D.,D.P.H., Officer of Health for the City of Hobart... 13

6. Some Igneous Rocks from the Heazlewood District, Tas-

mania. By W. H. Twelvetress, F.G.S. and W. Petterd,
C.MZ.S 24

7. On the Occurrence of Obsidian " Buttons " (Plates). By

Messrs. W. H. Twelvetrees. F.G.S. , and W. F. Petterd,

C.M.Z.S 39

8. Notes on a New Trithuria (Plate). By Leonard Rodway ... 47

9. The Iron Deposits of Tasmania. By W. G. Dauncey, C.E. 49

10. Notes on a Specimen of Basalt-glass (Tachylyte), from near

Macquarie Plains, with remarks on the Obsidian " But-
tons." By Thos. Stephens, M.A., F.G.S 54

11. Occurrence of Spherulitic Felsite on the West Coast (Plate).

By W. H. Twelvetrees, F.G.S., and W. F. Petterd,
C.M.Z.S 59

12. Notes on some Recently Discovered and Other Minerals

occurring in Tasmania. By W. H. Twelvetrees, F.G.S.

and W. F. Petterd, C.M.Z.S 62

13. Tasmanian Birds. By Malcom Harrison (communicated by

A. Morton) 66

14. Observations on the Working Results of the Hare System

of Election in Tasmania (Diagrams). By R M. John-
ston, F.L.S., F.S.S., Registrar- General for Tasmania... 69

15. Measurements of the Tasmanian Crania contained in the

Tasmanian Museum (Plates). By A. H. Clarke, M.R.C.S.,E.

and W. E. Harper 97

16. Maori and Moriori Crania. By W. R. Harper ... ... Ill

17. The Topaz-Quartz Porphyry or Stanniferous Elvan Dykes

of Mt. Bischoff (Plate). By W. H. Twelvetrees, F.G.S.,

and W. F. Petterd, C.M.Z.S 119

18. A List of the Tasmanian Fungi. By Leonard Rodway ... 129

19. Notes on the Aborigines of Tasmania, extracted from the

Manuscript Journals by George Washington Walker,
with an Introduction by James B. Walker, F.R.G.S.
By James B. Walker, F.R.G.S 145

20. Further Notes on Obsidian "Buttons." By Thos. Stephens,

M.A., F.G.S.

21. Some Notes on the Tribal Divisions of the Aborigines of

Tasmania. By James B. Walker, F.R.G.S 176

22. Land Routes for Exploration of the Western Country. By

Thos. Stephens, M.A., F.G.S. (Accidentally omitted

from 1896 Proceedings) ... ... ... ... ... 189

23.* The Application of the Hare System in Tasmania. By

Professor W. Jethro Brown, M.A., LL.D 79

* (Professor W. Jethro Brown's Paper will appear at the end of Papers which,
by an error, starts as page 79.)

Sjtogal §$otuty of Casmamm

ANNUAL MEETING.
The annual meeting of the Royal Society of Tasmania was held on
Tuesday, April 6, when there were present : — Sir Lambert Dobson
(Chief Justice) in the chair; R.S. Bright, M.R.C.S..E., Messrs. C. J.
Atkins, Bernard Shaw, L. Rodway, B. Solly, J. R. McClymont, M.A.,
and the secretary (Mr. A. Morton). Apologies were received from Sir
James Agnew (the Senior Vice-President), Messrs. James Barnard,
R. M. Johnston, and A. G. Webster.

ANNUAL REPORT.

The Secretary read the annual report recapitulating the work of
the year, and

The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the report, said it
certainly disclosed that many important and interesting matters had
been discussed and much good work done during the year. The
subjects had been of a very varied character, and some of them had
come home to all. Indeed, several of the papers read and considered
during the year had been of deep importance to the public, and must
contribute to beneficial results. The number of members who had been
elected during the year was considerable. They were keeping up the
numbers wonderfully well. The library continued to increase, and they
were gradually accumulating a very valuable collection of books upon
their shelves. He was sure they felt grateful to the British Govern-
ment for having sent them a copy of the great work on the Challenger
Expedition, which he supposed was the most important scientific work
the world had ever produced. Their finances were in a very healthy
condition and the subscriptions had been £50 more this year than
during the previous year. In these hard times this was something to
be said to their advantage also. The medical section, of which Dr.
Bright was president, was likely to prove a very useful one. Every-
thing which added to the usefulness of the work of the society was a
matter for which they all found grounds for congratulation.

Dr. Bright seconded the motion, regarding the report as exceedingly
satisfactory. One or two preliminary meetings of the medical section
had been held. Almost the whole of the members of the medical pro-
fession in Hobart bad expressed their willingness to join, and had
attended one or more of the preliminary meetings that had been held.
They were deeply impressed with the tact that the Council of the Royal
Society had treated the medical men of Hobart with extreme liberality
in giving them generous help in forming the medical sectioc So much
was this the case that it became more desirable, and more advantageous
to the profession, to affiliate themselves as a branch of the Royal
Society, than to form an indepeadent Medical Society of their own.
The delay in carrying on some of the preliminary work of the branch
was at present partly attributable to Dr. Sprott having gone to
Melbourne at the invitation of Professor Allen, of the Melbourne
University^ to examine *he latest bacteiiological appliances there, and
see what were those most necessary for the bacteriological laboratory
at the hospital.

The motion was agreed to.

Mr. Bernard Shaw moved,— "That the retiring members of the
re-Council be elected, as follows :— Sir James Wilson Agnew, Hon. N.
J. Brown, Colonel W. V. Legge, and Mr. R. M. Johnston.

Mr. L Rodway seconded.

The Secretary mentioned that this was Sir James Agnew's 56th year
of membership.

The Chairman : We shall oelebrate his diamond jubilee before long.

The motion was agreed to.

The meeting terminated with votes of thanks to the press for the
full and accurate reports of the meetings during the year and to the
chairman.

6£:'"'

.'/£*

(i*

JAMES BARNARD, ESQ.
Vice President.

HI

OPENING MEETING, MAY, 1897 SESSION.

The first monthly meeting of the 1897 session of the above Society
was held in the Tasmanian Art Gallery on Tuesday evening, May 4,
under the chairmanship of Vice-president Sir Lambert Dobson, C.J.,
F.L.S. There was a very large attendance, including many ladies.

THE LATE Mr. JAMES BARNARD.

The Chairman said before the business of the meeting was entered
upon a duty devolved upon him. When he last presided at a meeting
of this Society, which was at its annual meeting some few weeks ago,
amongst other apologies was one from their old and much-respected
member, Mr. James Barnard. At the present meeting they knew that
the hand of death had taken Mr. Barnard from them, and he knew
that none present would feel that he was trespassing upon their time
if he ventured to utter a few words with reference to one who was the
oldest living member of the Royal Society. Mr. Barnard had died at
the ripe old age of 89, after a useful and well-spent life. Nature had
dealt with him kindly. He had maintained to the last his mental
faculties, and as far as his physical faculties were oonoerned, those
present were accustomed till within a few days of his death to the
familiar face and the friendly hand. Whilst they could scarcely express
regret at the demise of one who was taken away before the decay of his
mental and physical powers had reduced him to the helplessness of
second childhood, it was meet that they should pay a tribute to his
memory, more especially as a member of that Society. Mr. Barnard
became a member of the old Tasmanian Society in 1841, and in 1843,
when Her Majesty was pleased to constitute the present Society by
charter, he became one of the Council, and in 1878 became a vice-
president. During all that time he had worked faithfully, diligently,
and assiduously for the Society, and they might say, so far as the Society
was concerned, he died in harness ; and in his death he had not for-
gotten them, for amongst other bequests contained in his will was one
of £100 for the Royal Society, to be invested, and the interest thereof
applied to the purchase of scientific works. He was not a man wk©
mixed in the turmoil of public life. He led a quiet and unassuming
existence, and by an uprightness and integrity of character had won
the respect and esteem of his fellow-citizens, and his brother members
of the Royal Society were now desirous of uniting to record the high
esteem in which they held him for the long and faithful services he had
rendered to the Society. JRequiescat in pace.

A photograph of the deceased member, draped in crape and sur-
mounted with a wreath of flowers, occupied a prominent place on the
right of the chairman.

APOLOGIES.
The Secretary (Mr. Alex. Morton) read apologies for non-attend-
ance from His Excellency the Governor and from Sir James Agnew,
the latter of whom was too indisposed to attend.

NEW MEMBERS.
Dr. V. F. Brotherus and Dr. Viklor Brotherus were elected corre-
sponding members of the Society, and Mrs. Jamieeon, Messrs. H. V.
Bayly and Samuel Percy Crisp, Fellows of the Society.

IV

ADDRESS TO THE QUEEN.
The Chairman announced that the Society had decided to send an
address of congratulation to Her Majesty the Queen on the occasion of
the celebration of Her Majesty's Record Reign. He read the address
as follows :—" To Her Most Gracious Majesty— Victoria, Queen of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and Empress of India :
May it please your Majesty,— We, your Majesty's most dutiful
and loyal subjects, the Fellows of the Royal Society of Tasmania, had
the privilege to offer our congratulations on the completion of the fiftieth
year of your Majesty's reigo, and we have now, on the termination of
its sixtieth year, the honour of again tendering our warmest and moBt
respectful congratulations on so memorable an event. We are thankful
that your Majesty's reign has been the most prolonged of all in English
history, feeling that under its benign influences all the moral and
material interests of the community have been most beneficially
affected, while it is gratifying to observe that the marvellous expansion
of the Empire during the same period clearly points to a still more
illustrious future. And while thus recognising the splendour of your
Majesty's reign, we are deeply impressed by the beneficenoe, wisdom,
devotion to duty, and the practical sympathy with suffering and distress
by which it has always been characterised, we pray that the future
may be as the past, and that your reign may be prolonged for the
good of your Majesty's faithful and devoted subjects. On behalf of
the Fellows (Signed) Gormakston, President." It was written on
vell«m and beautifully illuminated by Mr. Albert Reid, and mounted
on a rich dark blue scroll of Morocco leather.

THE HARE SYSTEM.

Professor W. Jethro-Brown, M.A., LL.D., read a paper on "Th»
Application of the Hare System in Tasmania."

In a clear, well-thought-out composition, Mr. Brown dealt with the
merits of the Hare system, the modifications adopted in this colony,
and the extent to which those modifications might be regarded as im-
proving the system of Mr. Hare. The paper was warmly applauded,
and discussion postponed to a future meeting.

A paper entitled—" Observations on the working result of the Hare
system of election in Tasmania, with diagrams," was read by Mr. R.
M. Johnston F.L.S. This paper was divided into eight sections, the
introductory part being devoted to describing what the chief merit of
the Hare system really is. Mr. Johnston showed that many people
unwisely restrict their attention to such minor matters as the element
of chance in the preference of transfers. In his opinion the foundation
stone of the Hare system is the constitution of its electorate. The pre-
ference and peculiar forms of voting of the system are no doubt im-
portant as valuable accessories. The main feature of the Hare electorate
or electoral division is that it shall be sufficiently large and untram-
melled, so as to permit the units of any representative party or body
of opinion to unite together if numerous enough to command a quota.
This provision also involve? the breaking down of all arbitrary and
unreasonable subdivisions, which, as in the ward system of cities,
havej hitherto prevented the otherwise wasted surplus of aggregate
majorities or minorities in one division from joining forces with their
respective parties similarly restricted in a neighbouring arbitrary sub-
division, and so unjustly prevented the real equality of representation,
that is, the representation of minorities and majorities in proportion to
their numbers. Then he went on to show that Hare's method of pre-
ference helped the elector as a sort of special Providence in preventing
the waste of valuable votes by automatically distributing the surplus

strength of a party fairly and properly. The only persons who might
oppose the Hare system, in Mr. Johnston's opinion, were those who
wished to gain or maintain more than was their just rights, and those
who were selfishly indifferent to their rights. In conclusion, Mr.
Johnston gave detailed answers to all the more important questions
usually raised, such as the relative values of the various preference
votes. The paper was illustrated by tables and some excellent diagrams.

Discussion was postponed.

A NEW HOCK.

The Secretary read a paper — " On the Occurrence of Limurite in
Tasmania," by Messrs. W. H. Twelvetrees and W. F.Petterd. This
was an interesting geological and mineralogical paper, which showed
that the peculiar and interesting rock known as limurite occurred in
considerable quantity at North-East Dundas, on the property held under
mineral lease by the Colebrook Prospecting Association. A careful and
minute description of the rock was given, including details of micro-
examination of its constituents, and the paper was illustrated with
photo-micro plates of sections of the rock. A representative specimen
of the rock is on exhibition at the Museum.

The Secretary referred to the excellent work being done by Messrs.
Twelvetrees and Petterd in the microscopical study of Tasmanian
rocks, and characterised it as a most important branch of scientific
work.

NARROW GAUGE RAILWAYS.

Mr. F. Back, General Manager of Railways, read a paper on The
Mount Dundas Narrow Gauge Railway.

The paper was listened to with close attention. It was illustrated
with lantern slides of a number of exquisite photographic views of the
new railway, and of the West Coast generally, taken quite recently by
Mr. J. W. Beattie, which gave the spectator a good idea of the kind
of country the line traversed.

A vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the proceedings.

JULY, 1897.

The monthly evening meeting of the Royal Society of Tasmania wa»
held in the Art gallery on Monday, July 12th. Mr. T. Stephens, M. A.,
F.G.S., Vice-President, presided, and there was a good attendanoe.

VISITOR.
W. G. Dauncsy, C.E., of Sydney, N.S.VV.

NEW MEMBERS.
Messrs. VVm. Cockburn Sharland and Edward Mulcahy, M.H.A.,
and George Elliott were elected Fellows of the Society.

A NEW VICE-PRESIDENT.
The Chairman announced that the vacancy which had occurred in
the list of vice-presidents of the Society through the lamented death
of Mr. James Barnard, the oldest member of the Society, had been
filled by the election by the Council of Mr. R. M. Johnston. It was
not necessary to say much in regard to Mr. Johnston, who was one of
those men whose works spoke for them. The records of the Society
bore ample testimony to the unremitting and excellent services Mr.
Johnston had rendered the Society. He (the Chairman) thought the
Fellows would fully endorse the election.

Mr. Johnston briefly thanked the Council and Fellows for their
appreciation of him.

APOLOGIES.
The Secretary (Mr. Alex. Morton) apologised for the unavoidable
absence from the meeting of the senior vice-president (Sir James
Wilson Agnew, K.C.M.G., M.D., M.E.C.), the Hon. N. J. Brown*
M.H.A., and Professor Jethro Brown, M.A., LL.D.

DISPOSAL OF OUR DEAD BY CREMATION.
Gregory Sprott, M.D., D.P.H., Health Officer for the City of
Hobart, etc., read a paper on this subject.

Mr. W. F. Ward (Government Analyst) said he would like to say
a few words in support of Dr. Sprott's ideas. To overcome the senti-
ment now prevailing against cremation the rising generation must be
inculcated with the scientific aspects of the question. If people would
only think what actually takes place in the ground there would soon
be a revulsion of feeling in favour ot cremation. He had personally
had some experience in regard to the exhumation of bodies and the
oontamination of water in the vicinity of church yards. In regard to
the medico-legal objection to cremation, he thought that it was desir-
able that all poisons sold should be mixed with the bright green
powder, oxide of chromium, This would render the accidental taking
of poisons almost impossible and the felonious administration of them
a matter of very great difficulty. If the oxide of chromium were mixed
with the various poisons in certain definite quantities it would be
comparatively easy after cremation, for oxide of chromium could be
found in the ashes, even if the poison with which it had been mixed
were destroyed by the fire, to detect what poison had been used.

vii

Hon. C. H. Grant spoke in terms of warm praise of Dr. Sprott's
paper, and said there was no doubt that cremation in time to come
would be the indispensable form of burial. He would like to see in
connection with the crematories destructors to burn up all organic sub-
stances liable to putrefy. He assured Dr. Sprott that the audience
had listened with the greatest interest to the paper, and if he had not
oonverted them all to cremation as against earth burial, he had probably
converted a good many.

Dr. Sjprott, in closing the discussion, said cremation as a matter of
sanitary reform must come. He was not competent to deal thoroughly
with the religious objections, but the sentimental objections were
simply a matter of custom. He hoped that the reform would not be
made in a hurry ; that it would not be foroed upon the people, but
that they would be educated to ask for it.

IGNEOUS ROCKS.

The Secretary, in the absence of the authors, read a paper on
"Some Igneous Rocks from the Heazlewood District," by Messrs. W.
H. Twelvetrees, F.G.S., and W. F. Petterd, F.Z.S.L.

Mr. R. M. Johnston spoke of the excellent work the authors of the
paper were doing in that particular branch of science. No doubt in the
future all the rocks of Tasmania would be analysed by them, and their
papers would largely enrich the records of the Royal Society. The
meeting could not do other than accord Messrs. Twelvetrees and Petterd
hearty thanks for their valuable paper.

A VISITOR AND REMARKS ON TASMANIAN IRON.

The Secretary introduced to the Chairman and the meeting Mr. W.
G, Dauncey, C.E., of Sydney, who is on a visit to Tasmania in con-
neotion with the Blyth River and Penguin iron deposits. In reply to
questions, Mr. Dauncey said the chrome existent in much of the Tas-
manian iron ore was deleterious. Chromic iron lacked malleability,
and the demand for it was very limited at the present time. He had,
after considerable research, discovered a substance for which chrome
had a greater affinity than iron, and it was possible by his method to
extract the chrome and leave excellent iron. But when he had made
this discovery he learned that that there were vast deposits in Tas-
mania withoat the percentage of chrome. He had sent home a bulk
sample of Tasmanian iron, for which he was assured by one of the
largest buyers in England he could rely on obtaining about 16s. 6d.
per ton. By sending the ore home as ballast in the wool ships it could
be made to pay at that price. He had had the offer to take any
quantity up to 1,000 tons per month, in the wool season, at 5s. per
ton. He had about 30 analyses of the Penguin ore, and 9 out of 10 of
them showed no trace of chrome.

THE BEN NEVIS OBSERVATORY.
Mr. H. C. Kingsmill, M.A., Meteorological Observer, read the
following letter which he had received from Mr. Alex. Buohan, Presi-
dent of the Scottish Meteorological Society.

Scottsdale Meteorological Society, 122, George-street, Edinburgh, April 13,
1897. Dear Sir,— I had the pleasure some days ago of sending you a parcel
of books and papers relative to our Ben Nevis Observatory, and the im-

portant part it has been and is playing in the development of meteorology
and that department of the science which deals with forecasting the weather.
I enclose also the recent reports of our Council, and in a few days shall send
you a parcel of the publications of the Society. We have in advanced pre-

Earation for the press the hourly observations at the high and low level Ben
'evis observatories, which Will fill two large quarto volumes, along with
which will be incorporated a full discussion of the whole work done down
to date. It is expected this will go to press early in the autumn. The result
was that we carried every point along the whole line, and this the British
Association recognised by giving the Ben Nevis Commit tee a grant of £150
in aid of the work. But matters did not stop here. In November, 1887, Sir
George Stokes required, on becoming a member of Parliament, to re.-ign his
position as a member of the .Meteorological Council. To this vacant Beat on
the Council 1 was nominatod by the Council of the Royal Society, and
H.M, Treasury confirmed this nomination. 1 took my seat in .January,
1888, and have since given a monthly attendance at the meetings. In truth,
I write this letter in London before going to the meeting of the Meteoro-
logical Council today. It was the Meteo -ological Council that really estab-
lished the Ben Nevis Observatory, by offering in 1882, unsolicited, an annual
grant of £100, when observations were made regularly. This grant has been
regularly paid since. Further, it soon became clear that if the Ben Nevis
Observatory would perform its work properly it was necessary to esiabli-h
a first-class observatory at Fort William, at which hourly observations
could be made just as at the top. This matter was brought before the
Meteorological Council, who at once agreed to equip and maintain the
observatory at Fort William, making for it an annual grant of £260. Thus,
then, for the past seven years the directors of the Ben Nevis Observatories
have received £360 annually from the Meteorological Council (out of the
annual Parliamentary grant of £15,500) towards the maintenance of the two
observatories. For the value of the Ben Nevis work, let me refer you to
the three enclosed reports and to the successive annual reports to the British
Association from 1887 to 1896. As you know the great problem of weather
calls for a more accurate and more extended knowledge of the cyclone and
its attendant, the anticyclone, than we yet possess, The Ben Nevis
observations have already put us in the way of predicting whether the
coming cyclone is to be a deep one or a shallow— a piece of knowledge of
prime importance, and of so far foreseeing the future movements of the
anti-cyclone. Further, the hygrometric observations on the top of Ben
Nevis', taken in connection with the pressures and temperatures at both
observatories, indicate whether coming rains will be heavy and wide-
spread, or only merely light and sporadically distributed. Now here is the
part to be played by the high level observatories with their accompany-
ing low level ones in Tasmania and Australia. In the Northern Hemisphere
the irregular distribution of land and sea enormously complicates the
problem, and delays for years the successful prosecution of the weather
problem. But in* the Southern Hemisphere it is water all round the
Antarctic, with its wonderfully low barometric pressure. Hence you have
your cyclones in their simplest and least distracted forms; and no place on
the globe can be named at all approaching Tasmania for the establishing of
a double high and low level Meteorological Observatory, by which the
problem of the weather could be so successfully prosecuted. Our investi-
gations impressively show how essential it is in this inquiry to have
ordinary Meteorological Stations well distributed over the surrounding
country as necessary adjuncts.— Very sincerely yours, (Sg.) Alexander

BUCHAN.

THE HARE SYSTEM.
Discussion of the papers by Mr. R. M. Johnston and Professor Jtthro
Brown on the "Hare System" was postponed owing to the lateness of
the hour.

THANKS.
The Chairman thanked those gentlemen who had contributed papers
or had taken part in the discussion, and the proceedings terminated.

AUGUST, 1897.

A meeting of the Royal Society of Tasmania was held in the Art
Gallery of the Museum on Monday evening, August 2nd. Sir Lam-
bert Dobson presided, and there was a moderate attendanoe. A
number of apologies for unavoidable absence were reeeived.

Mr. C. Cameron Swan was elected a member of the society.

CORRESPONDENCE.

The following letter was read and referred to the Trustees of the

Museum and Art Gallery : —

" Cullenswood House," Cullenswood,

July 26th, 1897.
The Secretary, Royal Society,

Sir,— I beg to bring to your notice, and that of the Council generally, the advisa-
bility of the Royal Society taking some steps this session to have the duty on
" works of art " coming into this colony removed. The Society is the custodian of
the Art Gallery, and among its many useful functions is the stimulation and
encouragement of art, which fact seems to saddle it with some responsibility in the
matter of getting the duty removed. It is not too much to say that a tax, or duty,
on anything which is of educational value to a young community like ours, or which
tends to raise the standard of cultnre in the nation, cannot be too strongly con-
demned. Familiarity with art in its best forms effects a permanent influence for
good in the mind of a young generation, and the objectionable duty in question
strikes a fatal blow at that influence. Tasmania is the only colony in the Australian
group which taxes works of art, and this is a matter of universal reproach against
our community on the continent. The revenue gains but little from the duty,
which is a strong point in favour of its abolition or material reduction. I would
therefore suggest that a deputation from the Council be formed to wait, at an early
date, upon the Treasurer, and request the abolition of the duty either this year or
next.

I have, etc., "W. V. LEGGE, Member of Council R.S.

"Mr. T. Stephens said he had a pleasant duty to perform before
the business of the evening commenced. As that was the first
occasion upon which His Honor had presided since the title in con-
nection with the Jubilee celebrations had been conferred on him, he
desired, on behalf of the society, to congratulate him. Sir Lambero
did not require any flittering remarks from them. Everyone knew
his worth as a citizen and a Judge of the Supreme Court, and those
present knew the value of his services in connection with their
society. On behalf of the Royal Society he desired to congratulate
their chairman upon the marked honour which had been conferred
upon him.

Several other members also congratulated the chairman upon the
recognition of his merits.

Sir Lambert Dobson, who upon rising was received with applause,
thanked the society for its congratulations with regard to the marks
of distinction that Her Majesty had been pleased to confer upon him.
Be had always endeavoured to discharge his duty quietly and hum-
blyt and if his attempts had been so far successful that those who
were in a position to judge thought it right to confer the distinction
of K.C.M.G. upon him he felt proud of having his services so recog-
nised. It was a recognition of work done, and in the future he
would endeavour to discharge his duties es satisfactorily as in the
past.

PAPER ON THE REFERENDUM.
Professor Jethro Brown, M.A., LL.D , read a paper entitled
"Some Historical Aspects of the Referendum."

OBSIDIAN BUTTONS.

A paper "On the Occurrence of Obsidian Buttons," by Messrs.
W. H. Twelvetrees, F.G.S , and W. F. Petterd, C.M.Z.S., was read by
the Secretary, Mr. A. Morton.

A NEW TRITHURIA.

A paper written by Mr. L. Rodway on "A New rritburia," was
taken as read.

The various subjeots dealt with duiing the evening were afterwards
discussed.

SEPTEMBER, 1897.

The monthly meeting of the Royal Society of Tasmania was held at)
the Museum on Tuesday, September 14. Sir Lambert Dobson,K.O.M.G.
presided. There was a moderate attendance.

A letter was received through His Excellency the Governor, from
the Secretary of State for the Colonies, acknowledging receipt of the
Society's address of congratulation to Her Majesty on the occasion of
the 60th anniversary of her accession.

The following letter was read from Mr. Wragge, Government
Meteorologist of Queensland : —

"I beg to call your attention to a letter by me on "High-level
Stations," which appears in the Sydney Daily Telegraph of 3rd instant.
I have also there reproduced Dr. Buchan's letter to Mr. Kingsmill.
You will doubtless be already aware that the Kosciusko Observatory
will commence operations on November 1, all the necessary funds
having been provided, chiefly by the generosity of the Hon. R. Barr-
Smith, of Adelaide, for three months' (at least) tentative experiment.
I now do most earnestly beg that your Society will by every means
In their power arrange for simultaneous observations during this period
on the summit of Mount Wellington, and also at Hobart. The hours
of observation will be, as at present arranged, every three hours during
the 24, commencing 3 a.m. by automatic instruments, 9 a.m. being the
main hour of the period. I am perfectly certain (as far as one can be
certain of anything in this world) that the results anticipated by myself
when I started the station on Mount Wellington (anticipations most
cordially confirmed by Dr. Buchan himself) will be realised in their
bearing upon forecasts, and that very important figures will be obtained.
It is unnecessary for me to say anything more, but simply to again
urge my appeal for assistance in this matter on your Society."

THE IRON DEPOSITS OF TASMANIA.

Mr. W. G. Dauncey, C.E., read a paper dealing with the iron
deposits of Tasmania.

BASALT GLASS.

A paper dealing with a specimen of basalt glass (tachylyte) from near
Macquarie Plains, Tasmania, with remarks on the Obsidian buttons,
by Mr. T. Stephens, M.A., F.G.S., was read by Mr. L. Rodway.

A specimen of basalt was exhibited that had been found many years
ago. It was excavated from a temporary road cutting on the right
bank of the Derwent between Macquarie Plains and Fenton Forest.

MAORI AND MORIORE CRANIA.

Mr. W. R. Harper read a paper giving descriptions and measure*
ments of some Maori and moriori crania.

The Chairman, in moving a vote of thanks to those who had pro-
mised papers, said that in leference to Mr. Wragge 's suggestion he
regretted that the funds of the society would not permit them to da
much in the matter. The society, however, favoured the object, and
he would suggest that the papers be placed before the Government.

The meeting closed with a vote of thanks to the chairman.

xii

OCTOBER, 1897.

The monthly meeting of the Royal Society of Tasmania was held on
Monday evening, October 11, when Mr. Thos. Stephens presided.

METEOROLOGICAL STATION ON MOUNT
WELLINGTON.
The Acting-Secretary (Mr. R. M. Johnston) reported that in regard
to the application to the Government for aid for a high level meteoro-
logical station for three months on Mount Wellington an answer was
expected at an early date.

NEW MEMBERS.

Mr. J. W. Israel and Mr. W. E. Harper, of Sydney, were balloted
for, and were unanimously elected members of the Society.

MEASUREMENTS OF ABORIGINAL CRANIA.

A learned and highly technical paper was partly read by Dr. Clarke,
prepared by himself and Mr. Walter E. Harper, member of the Poly-
nesian Society, on the measurements of the crania or skulls of Tasmanian
aboriginals now in the Hobart Museum, and comparing them with the
measurements of skulls of Europeans. The writers did not attempt
to draw conclusions as to the origin of the Tasmanian aboriginals nor
to define their characteristics. It was simply an account of the
measurements of the skulls of an extinct race, and which was a work
of importance to anthropologists. The reading of the paper was ac-
companied by illustrations in the shape of lantern slides of photographs
kindly lent "by Mr. Russell Young and Mr. Arthur Butler, the latter
gentleman manipulating the lantern. The distinctive features of the
skulls of Tasmanian aboriginals specially mentioned the projection of
the lower part of the forehead, the deep notch at the root of the nose,
and the keel shape of the vault of che skull.

TOPAZ QUARTZ AT MOUNT BISCHOFF

The Acting-Secretary read a paper on "The Topaz Quartz-Porphyry
or Stanniferous Elvan Dykes of Mouiit Bischoff," prepared by Mr.W. H.
Twelvetrees and Mr. W. F. Petterd. This rock formation was first
described by Mr. S. M. Wintle in 1875 as eurite porphyry, which it
had been termed by Professor Ulrich, who, however, did not publish
his description till 1877. In 1875 the late Chas. Gould wrote as
follows : — Mount Bischoff is a conical eminence rising to about 2,500ft,
above the level of the sea It consists of a small pro-
trusion of porphyritic rock bearing a felsitic base with granules and
crystals of quartz and felspar. It weathers white, and is honeycombed
or vesicular on the surface, most probably from the decomposition and
removal of pyrites, which is freely disseminated throughout the place.
Professor G. von Rath, of Bonn, first determined the existence of
topaz in the specimens sent to him by Professor Ulrich, and the descrip-
tion was published in 1879. The rock was further submitted to
investigation in 1884, when A. von Groddeck microscopically examined
specimens from Claushalf, received from Tasmania. Von Groddeck's
two papers on the subject disclose a thorough treatment of the
material available. He definitely negatived the idea of his sample
being quartz porphyry at all, and called it a porphyritic topaz rock.
Since then Mr. H. W. Ferd. Kayser, in his paper on Mount Bischoff,

Xlll

and Messrs. Kayser and Provis speak of the quartz porphyry and
topaz porphyry. Mr. A. W. Clarke in 1892 wrote a short note on the
microscopical appearance of a specimen ot this rock in the collection of
Mr. R. L. Jack, Government Geologist for Queensland ; but while
recognising a radially arranged mineral, highly coloured between
crossed "nicols," failed to recognise it as topaz. Finally, the topaz and
quartz porphyries of Mount Bischoff are recorded in the catalogue of
minerals by W. F. Petterd, p. 90 (1896). No systematic microscopical
examination seems to have been published since von Groddeck's time.
His material was plainly limited, and the essential nature and deri-
vation of the rock were not dealt with in his painstaking inquiry*
After renewed examination in the field, and with the aid of an ex-
tensive series of microscopical slides, Messrs. Twelvetrees and Petterd
restate the problem, and as they believe advance a step in the process
of its solution. In this paper the position is restated at considerable
length, and they sum up the petrogriphical conclusions to which their
inquiries have led them as follows : — •' I. That the quartz porphyry
is not a marginal portion of the main granite mass, but belongs to
dykes running through the granite, and having a slightly different
composition from the latter. 2. That it partakes of the nature of
elvanite with occasionally a quartz felsite facies. 3. That both in its
microcrystalline condition and its felsitic modification, it has been
subject to topazising and touimalinising agencies of a hydroplutonio
nature, which have, when unchecked, transmuted the rock into a
topaz-quartz porphyry. (4.) Tnat the crystallisation of the cassiterite
was contemporaneous with that of the topaz and quartz. As to
whether the tin ore ascended as a fluoride, or stannous acid was derived
from the individual components of adjoining rocks, the microscopical
appearances convey the impression that the condensation or pre-
cipitation took place in the presence of water. (5.) That the great
Brown Face workings are not in the basin of a vent issuing from the
bowels of the earth, but are in the iron gossan ot a fissured and dis-
integrated area enclosed by the quartz-porphyry dykes. Our study
lays no claim to be exhaustive. We have approached the subject
simply with the desire to record such contributions to our knowledge
as may be gleaned from the evidences furnished by microscopical petro-
graphy ; and we lay before the Society this essay to expound the nature
and genesis of the much debated Mount Bischoff rock, hoping that
extended work by others will effect a further advance towards the
solution of the problems which are involved in the inquiry."

Attached to the paper is a list of minerals known to occur in the
elvan dykes of Mount Bischoff, being 34 in number. Also an illus-
trative plate.

TASMANIAN ABOEIGINES.

Mr. J. B. Walker read an interesting paper on the Tasmanian
aborigines from notes from the journal of his father, Mr Geo. Washing-
ton Walker, and was aided in his explanations by lantern slides, Mr,
Arthur Butler manipulating the lantern. He said that in 1832 Messrs.
James Backhouse and G. W. Walker, two members of the Society of
Friends, arrived in Hobart from England, the object of their visit to
the Australian colonies being a philanthropic one. One purpose they had
in view was an investigation of the condition of the prisoner population
and the working of the penal settlements. Another was to inquire
into the treatment of the aboriginals. The reports which they from
time to time made had considerable influence in obtaining an amelior-
ation of the condition of the large number of men under penal dis-
cipline. In 1832 they visited the aboriginal establishment at Flinders
Island. The deadly feud between the natives and the settlers, which

X1T

raged between 1S26 and 1830, led to Governor Arthur's military
operations known as the M Black Line." In October, 1830, some 500
m«n took the field to sweep the island from North to South, with
the view of converging on the Oyster Cove and Big River tribes and
driving tbem into the cul de sac of Tasman Peninsula. The total
resalt of the expedition, which cost about £30,000, was one solitary
aboriginal, and there were only about 100 to take. Then Mr. Geo.
Augustus Robinson, in his daring mission of conciliation among the
blacks, accomplished what the whole force of the island had failed
in. Having got the aboriginals together, for 15 years (from 1832) the
miserable remnant of the native tribes were kept on Flinders Island,
and which was destined to become the grave of most of them. Mr.
G. W. Walker compiled a vocabulary of their language, and collected
some of their songs. Their countenances did not exhibit marked savage
ferocity ; they were a naturally good tempered race. At first the
arrangements for their supplies of food on the Island were bad, and
were at the outset under the control of very uneuitable officers.
Under Lieut. W. J. Darling things improved. At firat, shelters or
M breakwinds" were erected for them, and then huts. To a race of
savages accustomed to sleep in the open air and wear no clothing,
cloeely heated huts and clothes (the latter they would throw off and
put on, and when wet they often kept their clothes on) induced
pulmonary disease — a complaint which existed among some of them —
notably the West Coast tribe, when in their natural state. Hunting
wild animals for food, when in their natural state, kept them far more
hardy and healthy. One great cause of mortality among them was
their home sickness ; their desire to be back in their native haunts,
which inducedjjdepreseion of spirits. But they had to be got together
and taken care of for their own safety's sake, and the safety of the
settlers. Everything was done for them that could be done after their
capture— a great deal of it was mistaken effort, still it was done with
the best intentions. In captivity tea and potatoes were their favourite
diet. Mutton and beef they preferred to salt meat and even kangaroo.
Their appetites were enormous. One native woman was recorded to
have devoured at one meal 50 to 60 mutton bird eggs, besides aa
allowance of bread, and each of those eggs exceeded that of a duck's in
size. They developed our intense liking for tobacco, both male and
female. Their good humour was constantly referred to by the two
visitors, who found that they were n?t naturally treacherous, vicious,
nor vindictive. The outrages which they experienced at the hands of
Europeans had naturally excited their love of revenge, with the result
that they would retaliate on the innocent as well as the guilty. Their
readiness to oblige and the absence of cruelties among them was
evidence of their good nature. Their tractability was remarkable.
They could be induced to do almost anything by kindness — as good-
natured as children, and as imitative as monkeys. They endeavoured
to follow European customs in every way, and the women learnt to
make bread and tc sew, and were very honest. They had not a sluggish
disposition, but they showed the usual improvidence ot savages. Dogs
they got very fond of, being a great aid to them in hunting. At first
it was amusing to see them throw away utensils. It was difficult to
get them to understand the value of the skins of their game, and the
use of barter. Some of the young men even got to read and write a
little. In 1834, five or six of the boys were removed to the Orphan
School at New"Town, where they were taught more systematically,
and, it is stated, they showed verj fair intelligence. Aboriginal chil-
dren, when young, were found not to be inferior in capacity to European
children. In 1835 Mr. Robineon took charge of them on Flinders
Island, and established three schools among them, and they showed a
wonderful advance in civilisation, but it was hardly to be wondered at

that they broke down under it. Whilst this was going on they were
rapidly dying off. The name of the catechist, Mr. Robert Clark,
deserved most honourable mention for his loving labours among them,
and he was held by them in the greatest veneration. In 1847 the
number at the settlement was reduced from over 100 to 44 souls,
including 22 women and 12 children, and some of these children were
half-castes. In the face of much opposition tbey were then removed
to Oyster Cove, which saw the last of them, excepting Fanny Coch-
rane, who still lived on a farm at Port Cygnet, and waH the sole sur-
vivor of that Flinders Island native settlement. In 1854 there were at
Oyster Cove a remnant of three men, eleven women and two children.
In 1865 Billy Lanny and two women remained, and Trugannini was the
last of her royal race. There were four tribes of Tasmanian abori-
ginals, and four different languages or dialects. The greater part of
the island was too densely timbered and ecrubby for even them to live.
They existed around the coast lines, chiefly where they got a good supply
of shell fish, having no hooks to catch other kinds of rish. The West
Coast contained four small tribes, numbering about 100. Then there
was a tribe at Recherche and the Huon. There was the Ben Lomond
tribe in the North, another about Campbell Town and Ross, and a
number about the Tamar, and about the Middlesex Plains. Then
there were the East Coast tribes, Their tribal organisations, however,
were rapidly broken up when settlement began. The Big River tribe
came down from the Ouse to the Der»vent. They were rather smaller
people than the English, generally walked very erect, and in all their
movements evinced remarkable ease and agility. Their complexions
were not quite black, a few approaching the colour of copper, with
thick lips, flat nostrils, and many of their countenances were certainly
pleasing. They made great guys of themselves with red ochre in
their hair, oil smeared on their bodies to resist the influences of the
weather, and incisions into their flesh made with sharp flints. They
had no idea of a Supreme Being, but had an evil spirit, to whom they
attributed all fatalities and misfortunes. Some of them seemed to have
an idea of a future state. Some nominal authority of a patriarchal
kind seemed to have been exercised by their chiefs. Their food included
every animal they could catch, from the kaugaroo to the kangaroo rat ;
birds when they could get them, mutton birds and penguins they could
catch, but seemed to have no special means of catching other bird?.
They ate fern roots, various fungous growth?, and many things that a
civilised individual would think harmful. Their mode of cooking was
to throw the animal killed on to the fire. All were very expert divers,
the women especially so, as it waj their duty to procure the fi3h. They
had native canoes, which they got along the water by swimming along-
side of the craft. The Western tribes generally burnt their dead with
logs of wood built up in a conical structure, and they besmeared their
faces with the ashes,

Votes of thanks to the readers of the papers terminated the meeting.

XVI

NOVEMBER, 1897.

The last monthly meeting of the Royal Society of Tasmania, and the
last of the session of 1S97, was held on Monday, November 15, in their
room at the Museum, when Mr. T. Stephens presided, and there was a
fair attendance of members and visitors.

RETURN OF THE SECRETARY.

Mr. R. M. Johnston said : Before proceeding with the business of the
evenirjg, he would like to say he was sure all very gladly welcomed back
amongst them their esteemed secretary, Mr. Alex. Morton. (Applause.)
Mr. Morton had accomplished good work in Western Australia, and had
enriched both the Museums cf Western Australia and Tasmania to a
very great exter t. He was very pleased indeed to see him back and
looking so well ?\nd hearty, and was &lad now to re-commit to him the
small part of the duties he had performed during his (Mr. Mortons)
absence. (Applause.)

Mr. Morton wished to thank Mr. R. M. Johnston and Mr. Rodway
for having so kindly acted in his absence. He was not going to say
anything that evening about his trip, because there was a full programme
already, and he would defer the subject till their first meeting next
session.

NEW CORRESPONDING MEMBERS.

Mr. Morton recommended to the meeting for election, as correspond-
ing members, the following gentlemen of Western Australia, who had
rendered him much help whik-t in the colony, and took a deep interest
in this society. They were : — Mr. B. H. Woodward, Curator Perth
Museum ; W. J. Greenard, Inspector of Mines, Cue, western division ;
and Mr. H. B. Walsh, Police Magistrate, Upper Murehison, Mileura
Station, West Australia, Mr. Greenard helped him very considerably.
Indeed, he did not know how he would have, got on without him.
On one trip he drove him 100 miles and helped him to get some very
valuable mineral specimens. Mr. Walsh also assisted him in obtaining
valuable ethnological collections.

The gentlemen were unanimously elected.

MEMORIAL TO BARON VON MULLER,

The Secretary (Mr. Alex. Morton) said that during his recent visit
to Melbourne he had met Professor W. Baldwin Spencer, M.A., Pro-
fessor of Biology of the Melbourne University, who had informed him
that the United Scientific Societies of AustraUsia had agreed to unite
ia obtaining sufficient funds for the purpose of establishing some
tangible form of perpetuating the memory of the illustrious deceased
Baron Von Mueller.

The members prcs?nt were of opinion that something in the way of a
scholarship was more preferable than a monument, which, if erected*
should be more of a local character, and decided to support the pro-
posal of the Council of the Royal Society of Tasmania.

TASMANIAN FUNGI.
Mr Rodway tabled a list of all the Tasmanian fungi up to date.
Mr. Johnston mentioned how available this list was.

xvn

OBSIDIAN BUTTONS.

The Chairman (Mr. T. Stephens) produced some farther notes on
•■ Obsidian Buttons."

Since my paper was read at the September meeting, I have received
from Sydney a copy of the passage in Darwin's Geological Observations
on Volcanic Islands, to which reference was made in connection with
the discovery reported by him of a " volcanic bomb " in the interior of
Australia. The following extract completes the early history of
obsidian <: buttons " in Australasia : —

"Sir Thomas Mitche)ll has given me what at first appears to be the
half of a much flattened oval ball of obsidian ; it has a singular
artificiaMike appearance which is will represented (of the natural size)
in the accompanying woodcut.

" It was found, in its present state, on a great sandy plain between the
Rivers Darling and Murray, in Australia, and at the distance of several
hundred miles from any known volcanic regioc The external saucer
consists of compact obsidian of a bottle-green colour, and is filled with
finely-cellular black lava, much less transparent and glassy than the
obsidian. The external surface is marked with four or five not quite
perfoct ridgep, which are represented rather too distinctly in the wood-
cut."

A POISONOUS PLANT.

The Chairman announced that Mr. Rodway had identified a
poisonous plant which had killed some sheep and cattle on runs as
the Zieria Smithii or "stink wood."

RECENTLY DISCOVERED TASMANIAN MINERALS.

Mr. W. F. Petterd, C.M.Z.S., read valuable notes on some recently
discovered and other minerals occurring in Tasmania. 1. Aikenite
(sulpbatio-bismuthite of lead and copper), Block 291, N. E. Dundas.
2, Analcite (hydrated silicate of aluminium and sodium), somewhat
abundant in vesicular basalt at the Penguin River. 3. Bismuthinite
(sulphide of bismuth), common in acicular crystals associated with
tetrahedrite, from the Curtin-Davis group of mines. The tetrahedrite
also contains bismuth, which possibly replaces portion of the antimony
of that mineral. The associated minerals are mainly chalcopyrite and
sidvute. At the Ea«t Hercules mine it occurs in chloritic schist with
pyrite and chalcopyrite. At the South Mount Black P. A. it has been
obtained from tourmaline and quartz in schist rock. 4. Boulangerite
(sulphantimorite of lead). A mineral resembling this comes from Block
291, N.E. Dundae. It is evidently a sulphantimonite of lead with
bismuth, iron, and copper, the first mentioned constituent giving strong
reactions. It is largely noticed with chalcopyrite, arsenopyrite, and
pyrite, and is rich in silver. 5. Chalcotrichite (fibrous cuprite) found
by Mr. R. Williams at the Colebrook mine. It occurred in capillary
tufts of a beautiful crimson colour, surrounded by a thin coating of
native copper in the limurite rock. 6. Datolite basic orthosolicate of
calcium and boron, samples forwarded by Mr. R. Williams, manager
Colebrook mine, N.E. Dundas, being a recent addition to the already
long list of minerals known to occur in this island. This is supposed to
be the first discovery of the mineral in Australasia. 7. Fayalite (iron
olivini) abundant in microscope crystals of a bright red colour in
fayalite basalt from the Alexandra battery, near Hobart. 8. Idocrase
(a basic silicate of calcium, aluminium, and iron) occurs in considerable
quantities at the Hampshire Hills. In some rare instances the crystals
are fully lio. in diameter. 9. Ilvarte (a basic ortho-silicate of iron and
calcium) obtained, associated with idocrase, from the Hampshire Hills ;
embedded crystals sometimes measure up to £in. in diameter. 10. Pala-

XVlll

gonite (hydrous silicate of iron, etc.), obtained near Perth. 11.
Pyroclore"(columbato and lilanate of calcium). This rare mineral, or
a species closely allied thereto, has been discovered on the property of
the Shakelton mining syndicate near Table Cape. It occurs in a
granular condition of a brown colour in alluvial drift with zircon,
sapphire, and quartz. 12. Prosopite (hydrous, fluoride of aluminium,
and calcium), abundant as a white, powdery substance at the " White
Faces," Mount Bischoff. 13. Pyrrnotite (sulphide of iron) occura in
enormous quantities, Colebrook mine, N.E. Dundas, with arsenopyrite
and chalcopyrite intermixed. 14. Sillimanite (a basic ortho-silicate of
aluminium), recently discovered by Mr. W. F. Twelvetrees and the
writer as occurring as sillimanite-schist at the Lucy River, a tributary
of the Pieman, and at Mount Stuart, Heazlewood district. 15.
Tetrahedrite (sulphantimonite of copper) occurs disseminated through
the ore of the Tasmania G.M. Co., lieaconsfield, and at the Hercules
miue, Mount Read, where some remarkably fine bunches occur. 16.
Uralite (a pseudomorphous hornblende with the external form of
augite). 17. Vanadinite (an orthovanadate of lead with chloride of
lead), silver mine near Waratah. 18. Zinkenite (sulphantimonite of
lead). At Block 291, North-East Dundas, some beautifully developed
crystals of this mineral are obtained. They occur attached to siderite,
with pyrite, tetrahedrite, and more lately crystals of argenite. 19.
Zinnwaldite (lettia muscovile) occurs in granite, and thus forms the
common white mica of the stanniferous rocks of the East Coast.

SPHERULITIC FELSITE ON THE WEST COAST.

A papar by Mr. W. H. Twelvetrees, F.G.S., and Mr. W. F. Petterd,
C.M.Z.S. was read, showing that examples of this rock from four different
localities had come under their notice, namely, from Zeehan, the
Castray River, Trial Harbour, and Strahan, and they described the
character of each.

Mr. R, M. Johnston spoke in eulogistic terms of the valuable
contributions to the literature and scientific information possessed
by the society by Mr. Petterd and Mr, Twelvetrees. He would also
compliment the proprietors of The Mercury upon the admirably
executed illustrations prepared in connection with these gentlemen's
papers.

THE GREAT LAKE AND ITS WATER POWER.

Mr. A. Mault read a paper on this subject. He said it was the
largeet and highest above sea level of the more important lakes of
Tasmania. It is situated on the great central plateau of the island,
about 93 miles by rail and road north-west of Hobart. Its watershed
basis has an area of 225 square miles, of which 44 square miles are
occupied by the lake itself. " Walch's Red Book " mentions it as
being 3,700ft. above sea level, but he calculated it at 3,281ft. The
lake is said to be very shallow for its great size, as not more than
between 30ft. to 40ft. in depth has been found. The water is more
discoloured and turbid than it used to be, said to be due to the
ochreous clay that results from the disintegration of the igneous rocks
of the country. The writer then spoke of the enormous water-power
the lake might afford, and how the supply could be regulated so as to
ensure a constant and continual sufficiency. The River Shannon was
the only outlet of the waters, being about 30 yds. wide at the outlet,
where a rocky bottom prevents the lowering of the surface of the
lake more than about 4ft. below high- water level. The Shannon has a
meandering course of about 36 miles, through hilly country to the River

XIX

Ouse, of which it is by far the moBt important affluent. From the
confluence the Ouse has a further course of about 30 miles to its dis-
charge into the Derwent. The valley of the Shannon is a narrow one
of an average width of about eight miles, and consequently the river
has no large affluents. The most considerable one is the Blackman's
Rivulet, bringing in the water of the Lagoon of Islands, which drains a
watershed of about 24 square miles. This rivulet comes in at a point
about 20 miles below trie Great Lake. His observations gave the
Shannon a fall of 1 485ft. in the first 21 miles of its course from the
lake, or 70ft. a mile on the average. Some years ago he levelled up
the Derwent Valley to the Ouse bridge and so could state that in the
course of the Shannon and Ouse for the 45 miles between the place of
which he had given the level and the Derwent there is a further fall of
more than 1,500ft., or an average of 33ft. to the mile. The writer
concluded by referring to the important results that have followed the
modern system of converting by the dynamo the mechanical energy of
the turbine into elctrical energy and its transmission to be reconverted
into mechanieal energy that can be used where the power is required —
so that mills and factories need not be situated on the banks of the
stream in a secluded spot at a distance from means of communication.
In America the total of the larger installations is 72,000 horse-power,
with the prospect of increase to 150,000 when the Niagara scheme is
completed:; Switzerland comes next with 32,000 horse-power, to be
increased to 48,000 by further works on the Rhine ; ; France has
18,000 horse-power, to be increased to 30,000 ; Italy has 18,000 ;
Norway and Sweden, 20,000 ; while England and Scotland have only
4,000- From all this it appears that, in connection with the Great
Lake alone, Tasmania possesses capabilities that, if utilised, would put
her into the front rank of industrial communities employing the most
economical of all sources of motive power — water."

Hon. C. E. Grant thought the paper was a very interesting one.
The difficulty was to utilise the great water-power available. It was
well to know that Tasmania had such an asset ; but he did not see the
necessity at present for making the survey Mr. Mault suggested. The
western part of the district would perhaps require the water-power first.
But he did not think so much as some appeared to do about the
enormous value of water-power, guided by his observations in various
parts of America. They must not as yet think too highly of the
water-power the colony possessed.

Mr. R. M. Johnston thought, perhaps, Mr. Grant did not take into
account the new mode for transmitting the power to great distances.

Mr. Grant : Yes I did. It's expensive.

Mr. Johnston referred to this new development in America, and
believed there was an enormous field for the use of water-power in the
near future.

Mr. Rule, whilst he did not think Mr. Grant did full justice to the
great future for the use of water-power, on the other hand thougnt
Mr. Mault had somewhat exaggerated in his calculation of the amount)
of water-power obtainable from the Great Lake, from the rainfall. He
did not think Mr. Mault had over-estimated the area of the water-
shed. No doubt there would be an immense expense in getting the
same applied. Common-sense told him that there would have to be
several generating stations. Nevertheless, there was strong hope that
this great power would be utilised. The transmission of electrical force
over a distance was not settled yet.

Mr. Grant : It 's very costly.
^ Mr. Mault said the last six years had seen a greater revelation
in the method of profitably applying water-power than the whole of

XX

the previous time put together. It was a system that had been made
less expensive, and far less precarious. The electrical force thereby
generated had been transmitted in America for 70 miles. On the
western slopes of the Great Lake, the whole of the rainfall was carried
away by rivers that had no such reservoir as the Great Lake
afforded, and artificial reservoirs would have to be constructed to use
Buch a watershed. He thought it was a very useful thing to Tasmania
to publish to the world the fact that there was available such an
immense store of water-power in the colony. (Applause.)

THE ABORIGINES OF TASMANIA.

Mr. J. B. Walker read a further paper on Tasmanian aborigines.
He said that the estimates of the black population of Tasmania before
the advent of Europeans vary very considerably. G. A. Robinson
always maintained that in 1804 the number of the aborigines was from
6,000 to 8,000. Captain Kelly, in his evidence before Colonel Arthur's
committee in 1830, estimated the uative population at 5,000 ; but he
supposed that the number was still very great in the unsettled parts of
the colony, which we now know was not the case. On the other hand,
Backhouse puts the number as low as 700 to 1,000. Dr. Milligan
Bays : — " Assuming that the number of tribes and sub-tribes throughout
the territory was about 20, and that each mustered, of men, women, and
children, 50 to 250 individuals, and allowing them numbers proportioned
to the means of subsistence within the limits of their respective hunting
grounds, it does not appear probable that the aggregate aboriginal popu-
lation did materially, if at all, exceed 2,000." A like uncertainty
existed as to their tribal divisions. G. A. Robinson, in a speech made In
Sydney in 1838,shortly after he had left Flinders Island, stated that
he had necessarily learnt four languages to make himself understood
by the natives generally. But as regarded nations, he could truly say
that the island was divided and subdivided by the natives into dis-
tricts and contained many nations. Neither the number of the
aborigines nor their tribal divisions could be determined with any
accuracy. In considering the question, it must be borne in mind that
the parts of Tasmania capable of affording subsistence to a hunting
people were limited in area. The West Coast is shut off from the
centre and east (for long the only settled parts) by a wide region of
mountain and forest, extending throughout the whole leDgth of the
island. In the denEe forests covering a large part of this region, the
heavy timber is tangled with an almost impenetrable undergrowth, in
which very few animals or birds are found. Where the forest gives
place to bare mountain peak, or to so-called "plain," the button-grass
or the stunted scrub, constituting the sole growth, is not much more
favourable to animal life In places wallaby and kangaroo are to be
found, hut as a general rule the badger {i.e. wombat) is the only game.
It will be seen, therefore, that the native population was mainly con-
fined to the sea coasts, where they could obtain an abundant supply of
shell-fish'and crayfish, and to the lightly timbered and open lands of the
central valley, and of parts of the east and north-east, where opossum,
wallaby, kangaroo, emu, and other game were more or less plentiful.
It appeared that the blacks were accustomed to take considerable
pains, by means of periodical burnings, to keep down the scrub and pro-
mote the growth of grass on their favourite hunting grounds. Many
open plains, especially in the North, which were formerly known as
favourite resorts of the blacki, subsequently became overgrown with
forest through the discontinuance of these annuals burnings. Of the
tribal organisation of the aborigines practically nothing is known.
They usually roamed the country in small groups or parties, probably
composed of nearly-related families living together. Their camps rarely

XXI

contained more than 30 to 40 individuals, men, women, and children.
At certain seasons of the year, however, large hunting parties were
formed, in which the whole tribe, or possibly more than one tribe,
joined forces to surround and drive the game. Such was doubtless
the gathering of the Oyster Bay natives at Risdon in 1804, which was
attended with such an unfortunate result. The number of natives,
men and women, then engaged in driving the kangaroo was variously
stated at from 300 to 500, though it is probable that even the smaller
number was an exaggerated estimate. Captain Kelly, in his evidence
before the committee, says that he saw a mob of 300 at Brown's River
in 1806, and about a dozen instances of mobs numbering from 150 to
300 are* reported between 1S04 and 1826, but all these statements must
be taken with considerable allowance for exaggeration. The natives
were in the habit of visiting the coast in the winter, it is said, between
June and October, Though certain of the tribes in the interior may
not have had access to the sea, certain tribes must have lived on the
coast almost constantly. Enopwood says that he had understood
that the natives crossed the country from east to west in the month of
March. This would apply to the East Coast tribes only.

In 1830 Robinson stated that he had been in communication with 16
"tribes." As this was long after many of the native hunting-grounds
had been invaded by the whites, and the original tribal organisation
consequently much disturbed, it is probable that the number of tribes
was originally greater. Milligan conjecturally puts the number at 20.
Although Robinson dignifies the tribes with the name of " nations,"
they were known to the settlers by the designation of "mobs." This
conveys a more correct idea of their numerical strength, which was
often as low as 30, and probably never exceeded 250. These " mobs,"
or sub-tribes, group themselves into several broad divisions, more
properly deserving the name of "tribes," These large divisions spoke
separate languages or dialects, the vocabularies of which were widely
different, as appears from Milligan's vocabulary. Minor differences of
dialect must have been numerous, for Robert Clark, the catechist
states that on his arrival at the Flinders Settlement in 1834 there
were eight or ten different languages or dialects spoken amongst the
200 natives then at the establishment, and that the blacks had to instruct
each other to speak their respective tongues. Robinson, as already
cited, says that there were four main languages. Of these Milligan
gives us the vocabularies of three, viz. : — (1) South ; (2) West and
North-West ; and (3) East Coast. To these we may add as (4) North-
East tribes.

The Chairman mentioned there were several places called " Native
Tier " " Native Corners," and so on.

Mr. Mault had found a few native flint implements in the valley
of the Derwent, but of a very rude character. Probably they found
very little good fruit, and used shells to a great extent as implements.

Mr. Morton mentioned that 750 miles from Perth he found the
natives using implements exactly similar to those that were used by the
Tasmanian ones. They 'had not the slightest idea of bevelled edges.
Their waddies were identical with those of the Tasmanian aboriginals,
and many of the natives of West Australia had fair hair. Mr.
Morrisby ploughed up some native weapons at Muddy Plains, which
were in the Museum.

Mr. Walker wished to specially mention that he would be grateful
for any information that would help in the bringing out of a new
book (in hand) on this subject, by Mr. Ling Roth.

In moving a vote of thanks to the readers of the papers which was
duly passed, the Chairman mentioned that this was the 56th year that
their venerable and respected friend, Sir James Agnew, had been con*
nected with the Society.

XXII

VALUABLE DONATION OF SCIENTIFIC BOOKS.

[From the British Museum.]

On Saturday, the 3rd inst. , the Council
of the Royal Society of Tasmania received
from the trustees of the British Museum
(Natural History), through the kind offices
of Sir Wm. Flower, K.C.M.G., F.R.S., the
Director of the Museum, a very valuable
gift of bound works, issued by the authori-
ties of the British Museum. The whole of
the works are beautifully illustrated, and
will form a valuable addition to the Society's
library. The following is a complete list of
the publications : —

Catalogue of the Picariae in the collection
of the British Museum. Upupae and
Trochili, by Osberfc Salvin. Coraciae, of the
families Cypselidae, Caprimulgidae, Podar-
gidse, and Steatornithidae, by Ernst Hartert.
Vol. xvi., 1892.

Coracise (contin.) and Halcyones, with
the families Leptosomatidae, Coraciidas,
Meropidae, Alcedinidae, Momotidae, Todidae,
and Coliida?, by B. Bowdier Sharpe. Buce-
rotes and Trogones, by VV. R. Ogilvie-Granfc.
Vol. xvn., 1892.

Scansores and Coccyges, containing the
families Rbamphastidae, Galbulidee, and
Bucconidae, by P. L. Sclater, and the
families Indicatoridae, Capitonidse, Cuculic'ae,
and Musonhagidae, by G. E. Shelley. Vol.
xix., 1891.

Catalogue of the Psittaci, or Parrots, in
the collection of the British Museum, by T.
Salvadori. Vol, xx, 1891.

Catalogue of the Columbae, or Pigeons, in
the collection of the British Museum, by T.
Salvadori. Vol. xxi, 1893.

Catalogue of the Game Birds (Pterocletes,
Gallinse, Opisthocomi, Hemipodii) in the
collection of the British Museum, by W. R.
Ogilvie-Grant. Vol. xxn.

Catalogue of the Fulicariae (Rallidae and
Heliornitfcidse) and Alectorides (Aramidae,
Eurypygidae, Mesitidae, Rhinochetidae,
Gruidae, Psophiidae, and Otididse) in the
collection of the British Museum, by R.
Bowdier Sharpe. Vol. xxiii, 1894.

Catalogue of the Limicolae in the collec-
tion of the British Museum, by R. Bowdier
Sharpe. Vol. xxiv, 1896.
#. Catalogue of the Gaviae and Tubinares in
the collection of the British Museum.
Gaviae (Terns, Gulls and Skuas), by Howard
Saunders. Tubinares (Petrels and Alba-
trosses, by Osbert Salvin. Vol. xxv, 1896.

Catalogue of the Chenomorpbae (Pala-
medcac, Phcenicopteri, Anseres), Crypturi,
and Ratitoi, in the Collection of the British
Museum. By T. Salvadori. Vol. xxvu., 1895.
Catalogue of the Perciform Fishes in the
British Museum. Second edition. Vol. i.,
containing the Centrurchidse, Percidae, and
Serranidaa (part). By Georee Albert Bou-
lenger, F.R.S. Vol. I., 1895.

Catalogue of the Snakes in the British
Museum, Vol. I., containing the families
Typhlopidae, Glauconiidae, Boidae, Ilysiidae,
Urcpeltidae, Xenopeltidae, and Colubridae,
Aglyphae. Part 1893. By George Albert Bou-
lenger. Vol. n , containing the conclusion of
the Colubridae Aglypbae. By George Albert
Boulenger, F.R.S. , 1894. Vol. in., contain-
ing the Colubridae (Opisthoglypbae and Prq-
teroglyphae) Amblycephalidae and Viperidae.
By George Albert Boulenger, F.R.S., 1896.

Descriptive Catalogue of the Spiders of
Burmah, based upon the collection made by
Eugene W. Oates, and preserved in the
British Museum. By T. Thorell, 1895.

Catalogue of the British Echinoderms in
the British Museum (Nacural History.) By
F. Jeffrey Bell, M.A., 1892.

Catalogue of the Fossil Birds in the
British Museum, Natural History. By
Richard Lydekker, B.A., 1891.

Catalogue of the Fossil Fishes in the
British Museum (Natural History) Part in.,
containing the Actinopterygian Teleostomi of
the orders ChondroBtei (concluded) Pro-
tospondyli, Aetheospondyli, and Isospondyli
(in part). By Arthur Smith Woodward,
F.G.S., F.Z.S., 1895.

Catalogue of the Mesozoic Plants in the
Department of Geology, British Museum :—
"The Wealden Flora," Parti.; Thallophyta-
Pteridophyta, Plates i.-xi., Part n. ; Gym-
nospermae, Plates i.-xx. By A. C. Seward,
M.A., F.G.S., University Lecturer in
Botany, Cambridge, 1894.

Systematic Yi»t of the Frederick E.
Edwards' collection of British Oligocene and
Eocene Mollusca in the British Museum, with
references to the type specimens from similar
horizons contained in other collections
belonging to the Geological Department of
the Museum, by Richard Bullen Newton,
F.G.S., 1891.

Catalogue of the Fossil Bryozoa, in the
Department of Geology, British Museum.

xxm

" The Jurassic Bryozoa," by J. W.
Gregory, D.Sc, F.G.S., F.Z.S., 1896.

A Monograph of Mycetczoa, being
a descriptive catalogue of the species in
the Herbarium of the British Museum.
Illustrated with seventy-eight plates and
fifty-one woodcuts, by Arthur Lister,
F.L.S., 1894.

A Monograph of Lichens found in Britain,
being a descriptive catalogue of the species
in the Herbarium of the British Museum,
by the Rev. Jas. M. Crombie, M.A., F.L.S.,
F.G.S., etc. Part i, 1894.

Catalogue of the British Bees in the
collection of the British Museum, by F.
Smith, late assistant-keeper of the Depart-
ment of Zoology (new issue), 1891.

Catalogue of the Madreporarian Corals in
the British Museum. Vol. I., The Genus
Madrepora, by Geo. Brook. Vol. II., The
Genus Turbinaria, The Genus ' Astrseopora,
by Henry M. Bernard, M.V., Cantab.,
F.L.S., F.Z.*., 1896.

Illustrations of Typical Specimens of
Lepidoptera Heterocera, in the Collection of
the British Museum. Part VIII., The
Lepidoptera Heterocera of the Nilgiri 1 dis-
trict, by G. F. Hampson, 1891. Part IX.,
The Macrolepidoptera Heterocera of CeyloD,
by G. F. Hampson, 1893.

Guide to the Galleries of Mammalia
(Mammalian, Osteological, Cetacean) in the
department of Zoology of the British Museum
(Natural History). Illustrated by 57 wood-
cuts and 2 plates. (Fifth edition), 1894.

Do. do. do,, of Reptiles and Fishes. Il-
lustrated by 101 wood cuts and 1 plan.
(Third edition), 1893.

Do. do.,Mollusca, Echinodermata, Vermes.
Illustrated by 51 wood cuts and 1 plan. 1888.

Do. do. to the Fossil Mammals and Birda
in the department of Geology and Palaeon-
tology, with 116 illustrations'. 1896.

Do. do. to the Fossil Reptiles and Fishes,
with 165 illustrations. 1896.

A Guide to the Exhibition Galleries of the
department of Geology and Palaeontology,
Part II. Fossil Reptile?, Fishes, and Inver-
tebrates, with 94 illustrations and 1 plan.
1890.

An Introduction to the Study of Rocks
in the British Museum. By L. Fletcher,
M.A., F.R.S., Keeper of Minerals in the
British Museum. 1896.

The Students' Index to the Collection of
Minerals in the British Museum. 1896.

An Introduction to the Study of Minerals
in the British Museum, with a guide to the
Mineral Gallery. 1895. By L. Fletcher,
M.A., F.R.S.

A Guide to the Mineral Gallery of the
British Museum. 1896.

An Introduction to the Study of Meteor-
ites, with a list of the meteorites represented
in the collection of the British Museum. By
L. Fletcher, M.A., F.R.S. 1896.

A General Guide to the British Museum
(Natural History), Cromwell-road, London,
S. W., with plans and views of the build-
ing.

Guide to the British Mycetozoa, exhibited
in the Department of Botany, British
Museum, By A. Lester, F.L.S., 1895.

Guide to Sowerby's Models of British
Fungi, in the Department of Botany in the
British Museum. By Worthington G.
Smith, F.L.S., 1893.

Presented by the Trustees of the British
Museum, July 3, 1897.

d

ta
m
d
ii

XXV

DONATIONS TO THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF TASMANIA.

I BOUND VOLUMES.

I The following is a list of books received
filuring the week as a presentation to the
library of the Royal Society of Tasmania : —
Annual Report of the American Historical
^Association, 1895, containing the following
papers :-- Report of Proceedings of Eleventh
Annual Meeting in Washington, December
26-27, 1895, by Herbert B. Adams, secretary;
Report of the Treasurer ; List of Com-
mittees ; Necrology ; Inaugural Address, by
Hon. George F. Hoar, President of the
Association, on Popular Discontent with
Representative Government.

The Surroundings and Site of Raleigh's
Colony, by Talcott Williams.

Governor Edward Winslow : His Part
and Place in Plymouth Colony, by Rev.
William C. Winslow, D.D.

Arint Van Curler and His Journal of
4634-35, by General James Grant Wilson,
t).C.L.

1 Political Activity of Massachusetts Towns
during the Revolution, by Harry A. Cushing.
The Land System of Provincial Pennsyl-
vania, by William R. Shepherd.

The Electoral College for the Senate of
Maryland and the Nineteen Van Buren
/Electors, by Dr. B. C. Steiner.

Libraries and Literature of North Carolina,
by Dr. S. B. WTeeks.

Suffrage in the State of North Carolina
^776 — 1861), by Professor J. S. Bassett.
I locating the capital, by Gaillard Hunt,

/ree Burghs in the United States, by
Hmes H. Blodgett.
The Employment of Indians in the war
1812, by Ernest Cruickshank.
mmodore John Barry, by Martin F. J.
l,

sement of 1817, Reduction of Naval
. on the American Lakes, by J. M.
an.

i Underground Railroad, by Professor
'.. Siebert.

ne Bold Diplomacy in the United
es in 1861, by Gen. Marcus J. Wright,
he Battle of Gettysburg, by Harold P.
odnow.

Historical Testimony, Dr. James Schouler.
i plea for the Study of History in
rthern Europe, by Professor A. C.
olidge.

The French Revolution, as seen by Ameri-
18 of the Eighteenth Century, by Pro-
or C, D. Hazen.

Napoteon's Concordat with Pope Pius
VII., 1801, by Professor Charles L. Wells.

The German Imperial Court, by 0. G.
Villard.

Dismemberment of the Turkish Empire.
An Historical Sketch, by Professor E. K.
Alden.

Colonies of North America, and the
Genesis of the Commonwealths of the
United States, by Dr. J. M. Toner.

Classification of Colonial Governments, by
Professor H. L. Osgood.

Slavery in the Province of South Carolina
(1670—1770), by Edward Macrady.

Bibliography of Historical Societies, by
A. P. C. Griff en.

Index of Bibliography.

General Index.

Annual report of the Board of Regents of
the Smithsonian Institution, showing the
operations, expenditures, and condition of
the institution for the year ending June 30,
1894, Report of the U.S. National Museum,
Washington, 1896. From the Institution.

Astronomical, Magnetic, and Meteorologi-
cal Observations made during the year 1890
at the United States Naval Observatory.
By Captain J. V. McNair, U.S.N. Superin-
tendent, Washington, 1895.

Biennial Report of the President of the
University of California, 1894-96. From
the institution.

Catalogue of the African Plants collected
by Dr. Frederick Welwitsch in 1853-61.
Dicotyledons, Pt. 1, by William Phillip
Hiern, M.A., F.L.S., London. 1896 (bound).
Presented by the Trustees of the British
Museum. Catalogue of Tertiary Mollusca
in the department of Geology. British
Museum (Natural History), Pt. 1. The
Australasian Tertiary Mollusca, by George
F. Harris, F.G.S., London, 1897 (bound).
Presented by the Trustees British Museum.
Catalogue of the Fossil Cephalopoda in the
British Museum, Ft. III., containing the
Bactritidas, and part of the suborder Ammon-
oidea, by A. H. Foord, Ph. D. (Miinch),
F.G.S., and Geo. Chas. Crick, Assoc.
R.S.M., F.G.S. London, 1897. Presented
by the Trustees British Museum.

Fifteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of
Ethnology to the secretary Smithsonian
Institution, 1893-94. From the Department.

Fourteenth Annual Report of the Bureau
of Ethnology to the secretary of the Smith-
sonian Institution, 1892-93. By J. W.

XXVI

Powell, Director. Fart 1, Part 2. " The
Ghost Dance Religion ami the Sioux Out-
break of 1890." By James Mocned (illus-
trated), Washington, 1896. From the
Department.

Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative
Zoology at Harvard College. Vols. XX,
XXI, The North American Crinoidea Ca-
merata. By Chas. Wachsmuth and Frank
Springer, in two vols., with 83 plates.
Cambridge, U.S.A. May, 1897. From the
Department.

Proceedings of the Royal Colonial Insti-
tute. Vol. "XXVIII, 1896-7. From the
Society.

Report of Work of the Agricultural
Experiment Stations of the University of
California, 1894-95. From the Department.
Researches on the Evolution of tne Stellar
Systems, Vol. I. On the Universality of the
Law of Gravitation and on the Orbits and
General Characteristics of Binary Stars. By
T.J. J., See A.M., Ph D., Berlin. From the
author.

Transactions of t;he Institution of
Engineers and Shipbuilders in Sootland.
Vol. XXXIX. 39th sessioe, 1895-96.
Glasgow, 1896. From the institution.

The Study of Human Foods and Practical
Dietetics, by M. E. Jaffa, Ph.B. Sacra-
mento, 1896. From the University of
California.

University of California— College of
Agriculture. Agricultural Experiment
Station. Report of the viticultural work
during the seasons 1887-93, with data
regarding the vintages of 1894 95. Sacra-
mento, 1896. From the Department.

United States Geological Survey, Chas. D.
Walcott, Director, Fifteenth Annual Re-
port, 1893-94. Sixteenth Annual Report,
1894-95. Pt. I.— Directors' Report and papers
of a theoretic nature. Pt. II. — Papers of an
economic character. Pt. III.— Mineral re-
sources of the United States, 1894, metallic
products. Pt. IV. — Non-metallic products,
Seventeenth Annual Report, 1895 96. Pt.
III. — Mineral resources of the United States
metallic products and coal. Pt. III. — Con-
tinued non-metallic products except coal.
Illustrated maps, bound vols. From the
Department.

United Scates Coast and Geodetic Survey,
1894, in two parts. Pts. 1 and 2. 1S95 ;
bound. From the Department.

University of the State of New York.
New York State Museum, 48th annual re-
port of the Regents 1894, Vol, I. Report of
the State Geologist, Vol. II., Albany, 1895.
From the Institution.

Wine, Classification. Wine-tasting, Quali-
ties and Defects, by Prof. G. Grazzi-Soncini,
Director of the Royal School of Viticulture,
Alba, Italy. Sacramento, 1S92. From the
Department.

PAMPHLEIS AND MAGAZINES,
UNBOUND.

Abhandlungen der Mathematisch-Physi-
kalischen classe der Kiiniglioh Bayerischen
Akademie der Wissenschaften-Miinchen,
1893-96. From the Akademie.

Anales del Museo Nacional de Buenos
Aires. Tomo IX. Buenos Aires, 1895.
From the Department.

Analele Institutuloni Meteorologic al
Romaniei Tomul, X. 1891, XI. 1895. From
the Institution.

American Museum of Natural History
Report for the year 1896, New York. From
the Department.

Annales de la Socie\© Entomologique de
Belgique Tome • trente - Neuvieme, 1895.
From the Society.

Bulletin de la Soctete' de Geographic, 1896-
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Bulletin of the American Museum of
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Chicago Academy of Sciences. The
Lichen Flora of Chicago and Vicinity, by
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Department of the Interior — Bulletin of
the United States Geological Survey.
Nos. 123 — A Dictionary of Geographic
Positions, Gannett. 124 — Revision of the
American Fossil Cockroaches, with descrip-
tions of new forms, Scudder. 125— The
Constitution of the Silicates, Clarke. 126 —
A Mineralogical Lexicon of Franklin,
Hampshire, and Hampden Counties, Massa-
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Formation and its Characteristic Fauna,
White. 129 —Earthquakes in Californian in
1894, Perrine. 131 — Report of Progress of
the Division of Hydrography for the
Calendar Years 1893 and 1894, Newell.
132 — The Disseminated Lead Ores of South-
Eastern Missouri, VVinslow. 133 — Contribu-
tions to the Cutaceous Palaeontology of the
Pacific Coast : the Fauna of the Knoxville
Beds, Stanton. 134 -The Cambrian Rocks
of Pennsylvania, Walcott, From the De-
partment of the Interior, Washington.

Field Columbian Museum, Vol. 1, No. 1,
contribution to the Ornithology of San

XXV11

Domingo, by'G. K. Cherrie, No. 3. On
sundry collections of mammals, by D. G.
filliott, F.R.S.E., Nos. 4 and 5. On some
collections of fishes, and on the skeleton of
Toxochelys latiremis, by O. P- Hay, Ph.D.
Annual report of the director to the Board
of Trustees for the year 1895-96. Contribu-
tion II. to the coastal and plain Flora of
Yucatan, by C. F. Millspaugb, M.D. Cata-
logue of a collection of birds obtained by
the expedition into Somaliland, by D. G.
Elliott, F.K.S.E. List of mammals from
Somaliland obtained by che Museum's East
African expedition, and remarks upon two
species of deer of the genus Cervus, from the
Philippine Archipelago, by D. G. Elliott,
F.R.S.E. Archaeological studies amongst
the ancient cities of Mexico, by W. H.
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Oaxaca and the Valley of Mexico. Obser-
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with a review of the geographic and geologic
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ton, Ph.D. From the Field Columbian
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Gedachtnisrede auf Karl von Nagell
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Iowa Geological Survey. Vol. V. An-
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Journal of the Royal Statistical Society.
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Kansas University Quarterly. Vol. V.,
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Linnean Society. London. The Journal
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Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative
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Dyliscidse et Gyrimdse, D'Afrique et
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Proceedings of the Californian Academy
of Sciences. Zoology, third series, Vol. I,
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ated Erythrocytes, as free and independent
elements of the blood of Batrachoseps
attenuatus Esch. By G. Eisen, Ph D. No.
2 Diemyctylus Torosus Esch. The life,
history, and habits of the Pacific Coast
Newt. By W. E. Ritter. Botany, Vol. I,
No. 1. A Morphological Study of Naias
and Zannichellia. By D. H. Campbell.
Geology, Vol. I., No. 1. The Geology of
Santa Catalina Island. By W. S. T. Smith,
San Francisco, 1897, From the Academy.

Proceedings of the Academy of Natural
Sciences of Philadelphia, Part II, III, 1896.
Part I, 1897. From the Academy.

Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of
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Proceedings of the Boston Society of
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butterflies, by A. G. Mayer, Boston, 1897.
From the Society.

Proceedings of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science, 44th
meeting, held at Springfield, Mass., Aug.
and Sept. 1895; 45th meeting, held at
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xxvm

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lation of the Atomic weights, by F. W.
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of the Foraminifera, by C. D. Sherborn,
pt. II., Washington, 1896-97.

Smithsonian Institution. — Bulletin of the
United States National Museum, No. 47.
The fishes of North and Middle America,
by D. S. Jordan, Ph.D. B. W. Ever-
mann, Ph.D., pt. 1, Washington, 1896.
Atmospheric Actinometry and the Actinic
constitution of the Atmosphere, by E.
Duclaix, 1896. From the Institution.

Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections.
Smithsonian Physical tables, by T. Gray,
1896. Methods for the determination of
organic matter in air, by D. H. Bergey,
B.S , M.D. Equipment and work of an
iEro-Physical Observatory, by A. McAddie.
Mountain Observatories in America and
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by Dr. J. B. Cohen. The Atmosphere in
relation to Human Life and Health, by F.
A. R. Russell. Virginian Cartography, a
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From the Smithsonian Institution.

Transactions of the Wagner Free Institute
of Science of Philadelphia, Vol. IV.,
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Transactions of the Academy of Science,
St. Louis, Vol. VII No. 4. The law of
minimum deviation of light by a Prism,
by Francis E. Nipher. No. 5. Relations of
Salix Missouriensis, Bebb, to S. Cordata
Muhl, by N. M. Glatfeller, M.D. No. 6.
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XXIX

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University.

PAPERS, 1897.

ON THE
OCCURRENCE OF LIMURITE IN TASMANIA.
By W. H. Twelvetrees, F.O.S., and W. F. Petterd,

C.M.Z.S.

Bead May 4, 1897.

Limurite (Frossard), described by F. Zirkel (N. Jahrbuch
fiir Mineralogie, 1879).

This peculiar and interesting rock occurs in considerable
quantity at North-east Dundas, on the property held under
mineral lease by the Colebrook Prospecting Association
(Section 216, 93m). It apparently consists of a huge contact
mass, which is of an irregular lenticular form, being bounded
on its eastern side by a hard dark-coloured metamorphic
slate, probably of silurian age, and on the western side
wholly or partially by green serpentine, which is in places
much decomposed.

So far as known, no granite rock exists in immediate con-
nection with its occurrence, but such acidic rocks are
abundant within a comparatively short distance. By the
decomposition of the rock itself, as well as of the iron-bearing
ores it contains, the actual outcrop of the mass has been con-
verted to a gossan material, which projects with extreme
irregularity above the surface of the enclosing rocks, after
the form of a laccolite. Samples of the rock broken from,
beneath its outer crust present a very attractive appearance
and show clearly the violet-coloured mineral axinite in
extremely well-formed oblique rhombohedral plates, which
are almost tabular, the browner augite and milk-white calcite
with occasional patches of actinolite.

Macroscopically the axinite is found in large lustrous
crystal masses, the individual crystals often reaching half an
inch in length, thus forming specimens of great interest to
the mineralogist. The augite is also in large crystals, but
scarcely distinguishable from the more abundant axinite.
The calcite is at times obtained in somewhat large masses, in
which are often imbedded isolated crystals of axinite, which
can be readily freed from the matrix by digestion in acid.
The actinolite varies from felted aggregations of microscopic
size to radiating collections of blades, occasionally some
inches in length, in the latter case presenting unusually fine
examples of the species. Various metallic minerals are found
as accessory constituents, of which pyrrnotite is apparently

most abundant ; but pyrite, chalcopyrite, and more rarely
leucopyrite, occur in patches of variable size throughout the
rock. These are decomposed on the surf ace to iron-oxide,
thin films of native copper, and small quantities of the car-
bonates of the same metal. In thin sections, when examined
under the microscope, the bulk mass of the rock is seen to
consist of axinite, augite, and calcite, with some hornblende.
The other minerals appearing in lesser quantity are quartz,
chlorite, actinolite, tourmaline, ami granular sphene.

Details of Micro Examination : Axinite. — This is in large,
irregular, and also sharply defined crystals, in section of a
pale lavender colour to a deeper shade of the same tint.
Interference colours, lavender, yellow, blue, sometimes inter-
penetrating twins. Cleavage lines irregular, Pleochroism
scarcely perceptible. The axinite has enclosures of quartz
and fibrous augite, and has been replaced occasionally by
clear quartz and vermicular chlorite, the latter light green in
colour, pleochroic, showing fixed dark cross, and polarising
steel grey. The quartz is very clear, and contains small
prisms and needles of strongly absorptive tourmaline. The
tourmaline-bearing quartz is probably original, and the tour-
maline may be looked upon as resulting from the same boracic
acid emanations which were involved in the crystallisation of
the axinite. Where the quartz is secondary, replacing axinite
and augite, it contains long needles of actinolite.

Augite.

This mineral is in large plates and crystals, sometimes
twinned. The sections out of the zone of the vertical axis
give an extinction angle as high as 40deg. The augite is
changing to hornblende ; sometimes it is quite uralitic, i e.,
the crystal form is still that of augite, though its substance
has been converted into fibrous hornblende. The substance
has often been replaced by calcite and quartz. Iu the
granite contact zone of Cornwall the augite of the foliated
diabase is often uralitic, becoming hornblende at the margins,
whereas in the Colebrook rock it has suffered uralitisation all
through in patches. The uralitic fibres, greenish in colour,
are parallel and pleochroic, and between them are parts of
the non-pleochroic augite which have remained unaltered.

Hornblende.

There are a few lozenge-shaped sections, colourless without
the cleavage lines or pleochroism of hornblende, but which
appear to be that mineral. They resemble many of the
sections occurring in amphibolites.

Calcite.

This is in variable quantity, sometimes very plentiful. It
fills the angles of the rock, and is generally limited by sharply
defined linear boundaries. Its rhombohedral cleavages are
strongly marked.

Quartz.

This is everywhere clear. There seems to be two phases
in which it occurs. Its original condition is where it con-
tains tourmaline prisms, its secondary one where its
enclosures are needles of actinolite.

Sphene.

This is always granular, is abundant, and has probably
separated out during the alteration of the augite.

The rock constituents seem to be present in about the
same proportions as those assigned by Zirkel to limurite, and
vary in the same manner. Thus he remarks that the axinite
is the basis of the rock, in which it appears now and again in
the form of large homogeneous crystals, while other parts of
the rock show augite and hornblende intergrown plentifully.
Professor Zirkel has been good enough to send to one of us
a sample of his limurite, and a copy of his paper " Limurit
aus der Vallee de Lesponne," from which we take the follow-
ing abstract of the occurrence of the rock : — " This rock was
first seen in the river bed of the Adour, but was found in
large blocks at the Bridge of G-erde. At last Count Limur
found it in situ as a rock covered with moss above the Cabin
Chiroulet in the valley of Lesponne. Nothing further is
known of it geologically beyond that in the upper parts of
this valley there is mica schist, with andalusite, garnet,
vesuviante, as well as tourmaline-bearing granite. The rock
is tough under the hammer. To the naked eye there are
visible dark violet-green individuals of pure, sometimes
striped, axinite, nearly an inch long sometimes ; also other
confused flakes of axinite, traversed by very fine deep grass-
green grains with other green parts which consist of an
aggregate of these grains. Here and there are large cavities
into which the sharp edges of axinite crystals protrude, or
small cavities where the green mineral forms little crystallised
heaps like warts, whose component individuals under the
magnifier look like little fassaites. Besides these are some
granules of clear quartz, specks of iron pyrites, and the fresh
rock effervesces in parts with HCL. Under the microscope
the following constituents are recognisable : —

" 1. Axinite, with sections blue, grey-brown, to nearly
colourless, no particular cleavage. In coloured sections pleo-

■chroism is perceptible, though not specially strong. The
homogeneity of the mineral is only disturbed by some fluid
inclusions and steam pores. Where the axinite protrudes
into the clear quartz it gives very sharp sections of its small
crystals.

" 2. Plenty of monoclinic augite, greenish-yellow to colour-
less. Many of these small sharply contoured augites show
pinacoidal surfaces, and such sections have parallel cleavage
cracks. Extinction angle about 45deg.

u 3. Dark-green hornblende, not so plentiful as augite.
Very fibrous and pleochroic, sometimes in transverse sections,
extinction angle about 17deg. Often hornblende and augite
are so related that one is inclined to believe that the former
issued from the latter. In the large light-coloured long
sections of augite you often see dark green fibrous hornblende
patches, and both merging into one another without sharp
boundaries. If it is here probable that the hornblende
belongs to uralite, the proof of it has not been found, viz.,
in hornblende with augite cross sections.

11 4. Water-clear quartz, with fluid inclusions and movable
bubbles. In the quartz are little crystals of augite and
titanite.

" 5. Carbonate of lime, with sharp rhombohedral cleavages ;
quartz and carbonate of lime where they touch each other
are always separated by quite rectilinear boundaries ; in the
lime are also augite grains.

" 6. Pale brown-grey titanite in wedges, usually several
crystals together.

" 7. Ores. — Iron pyrites and magnetic iron.

" The axinite forms 60 per cent, of the rock, augite and
hornblende 30*35 per cent., and lime 105 per cent. Axinite
seems to be the basis of the rock, but parts of it are so
traversed by augite and hornblende that these seem to form
the rock. Quartz and lime are only sporadic, and look as if
they only filled holes in the rock, though they are probably
primary constituents, The rock is characterised by the
absence of felspar, also of mica chlorite, or a lime mineral.
Petrographically it is a rock quite as typical as eklogite or
cherzolite."

In a letter dated October 17, 1896, Professor Zirkel writes :
— "According to the latest observations of M. Lacroix in
Paris (Comptes rendus CXIV., 1892, 955), this limurite
geologically does not belong to the series of crystalline slates,
but forms small veins in the metamorphic palaeozoic lime-
stones and the adjoining granites, it must be considered as a
product of the granitic action, and is, as topaz, tourmaline,

and tin-stone in other places, probably formed bj fumaroles,
■which accompanied the eruption of the granites."

Professor A. Lacroix, in his " Memoire sur l'axinite des
Pyrenees, ses formes et les conditions de son gisement, 1892,"
alludes to limurite as follows : — " This latter variety of
axinite is associated with calcite, quartz, pyroxene, and green
hornblende. It consists occasionally of small veins several
decimetres wide, and at some spots forms a compact very
tough rock, found as stones in the bed of the Adour, and
described by Zirkel under the name of limurite. This rock,
the geological relations of which were hitherto unknown,
does not belong to a definite petrographical type. It varies
in structure and mineralogical composition in the different
parts of the same bed."

Professor Lacroix considers it probable that the formation
of axinite in the Pyrenees has proceeded under the influence
of boric acid emanations acting on the walls of the sedimen-
tary rocks which they traverse. He has established the con-
stant appearance of axinite at the contact of granite with the
palsezoic rocks, and concludes that it owes its origin to
granitic fumaroles following the intrusion of the eruptive
rock.

M. Daubree has cited axinite as produced in a palaeozoic
limestone of the Vosges at its contact with a hornblende or
mica porphyrite (Comptes rendus t. XVIII., p. 870, 1844).

In Cornwall axinite, garnet, brown mica, and tourmaline
are minerals of the contact zone in foliated diabases and basic
hornblende slates, the latter possibly altered lavas, when
tourmaline-bearing granites have acted upon them.

Mr. J. Collett Moulden, A.R.S.M., Lond., is the author of
" Petrological observations upon some South Australian
rocks " (Trans. Roy. Soc, S. Aust., 1895, Vol. XIX.), in
which he has described an axinite amphibolite from JKosetta
Head. He says the rock consists mainly of hornblende with
a colourless augite, and axinite as a rock-forming constituent
in considerable quantity. Accessories are biotite, quartz,
and chlorite.

Eosenbusch states (Microscopical Physiography, Rosen-
busch-Iddings, 1895, p. 344), "Axinite occasionally occurs
on the borders of diabases and granites, and among their
contact products."

It is thus fairly well established by high authorities that
the axinite rock occurring in the Pyrenees and at North East
Dundas is of remarkable petrological interest as a rare
example of an igneous contact occasioned by acidic plutonic
action causing emanations of boracic acid with other matter
in the form of fumaroles. Notwithstanding the known occur-

6

rence of an aberrant form of axinite rock at Kosetta Head,
S.A., the discovery here described is unique in Australian
petrology, so far as is known, and moreover the only other
recorded occurrence of what may be termed true limurite is
that originally detailed by Zirkel. The association of
copper ores with the Colebrook rock lends additional import-
ance to the discovery, although it is not within the scope of
this paper to deal with its economic aspect.

The specimen sent fairly represents the general charac-
teristics of the rock.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE.

LlMURITE FROM NORTH-EAST DUNDAS.

Fig. 1. Limurite. x 14. Crossed nicols. The dark periphery is
uralitic augite. The crystals in centre of field are actinolitic
hornblende. The white portion is calcite. No axinite in this
section.

Fig. 2. Limurite. x 14. Crossed nicols. The light areas are axinite.
The striped portion is calcite showing cleavages. The dark
crystals right and left are augite.

Fig. 3. Limurite. x 20. Crossed nicols. This represents large
twinned crystal of augite, bounded by calcite with rhombo-
hedral cleavages.

Fig. 4. Axinite. x 20. Crossed nicols. Section cut through an aggre-
gate of axinite crystals.

Twelvetrees, Photo-Micro.

LIMURITE.

NOTES ON MOUNT DUNDAS NARROW GAUGE

RAILWAY.

By F. Back, A.M.I.C.E., F.S.S.

Read May m, 1897.

In speaking of narrow gauge railways in Tasmania, we
must accept the term in its comparative sense. It is a
general practice to describe all railways of a less width than
4ft. 8|in. as narrow gauge. Indeed, not many years since
the term "narrow gauge" was applied to the 4ft. 8|in.
guage, which is now called the standard gauge of England.
The Tasmanian Railways, being of a gauge of 3ft. 6in.,
should properly be described as a narrow gauge system.
What we have attempted to do on the West Coast is to
construct a narrower gauge, viz., a 2ft. line, as being more
suitable to local and financial conditions.

Although oar 2ft. gauge line on the West Coast marks a
new era in Government railway construction in Australasia,
it must not be regarded in the light of an experiment. The
oldest 2ft. gauge line, as far as I am aware, is the Festiniog
line in Wales. To be accurate, the width of this line is
lft. lljin. The Festiniog Railway Company was originally
incorporated in 1832, and commenced work as a tramway
from Port Madoek to certain slate quarries near Festiniog.
In 1869 the Company was re-incorporated and the present
line constructed at a cost of ^£10,727 per mile. The ruling
gradients are comparatively easy as compared with our Tas-
manian grades, viz., 1 in 80. The line is worked with double
Fairlie engines, weighing 24 tons, and the Company pays
rather better than 5 per cent, on its capital.

Of late years narrow gauge railways have been constructed
in almost every country in the Continent of Europe, and
largely in India.

The principal opponents to the construction of these
narrow gauge lines are railway men who have had little or no
experience in working them, and who make a bogey of the
break of gauge. No railway manager would, of choice,
agree to a break of gauge, but under certain conditions it
becomes a necessity. Such a condition, for instance, as where
the construction of a broad gauge railway would be an im-
possibility on account of the cost ; when in fact it becomes a
question of a narrow gauge railway or no railway.

The late Mr. Grierson, for many years General Manager of
the Great Western Railway of England, whose name is a
household world amongst railway men, was perhaps the one

English railway manager who had a practical experience of
a break of gauge. Great as he found the disadvantage of it
on his system, he admitted that there were conditions under
which a break of gauge was necessary. In a discussion on
the subject he spoke as follows : — i( The truth was that some
of those who were opposed to break of gauge under any
circumstances had very much exaggerated the cost and
damages arising from a transfer from one gauge to another.
The delay and difficulties arising from a break of gauge
were not of a serious nature. With regard to the construc-
tion of new lines of railway on a different gauge from that
of existing lines, he could quite understand that there would
be, and were, cases in every country in which that was a
necessity, and even a desirable course to adopt, where, from
the nature or amount of traffic, the character of the country,
or other circumstances, narrow gauge branches would be
sufficient for all commercial purposes without any serious
disadvantages. It would then, and then only, be a question of
constructing railways on the narrow gauge, or of having no
railways at all ; and in such a position he would distinctly
say (although it would be a misfortune to be placed in the
position of choosing such an alternative) that the railway
should be made, notwithstanding that the evil of a break of
gauge was incurred."

I think the time is close at hand when we shall see
country hitherto unoccupied in many parts of Australasia
opened up by narrow gauge railways, as although every rail-
way manager would do his utmost to avoid a break of gauge,
the Australasian colonists cannot afford to throw away, as
they have done in the past, millions of pounds upon unprofit-
able railways, that is, railways which do not pay interest on
their enormous capital cost.

It is our great misfortune in these colonies that when rail-
way construction commenced we followed too closely the
practice of the Old Country. In England, where the rail-
ways are in private hands, they have been constructed purely
on commercial principles, and the one thousand millions or so
of capital invested brings in an average return of rather
better than 4 per cent. Force of circumstances compels
these companies to construct lines of a costly character (the
average cost being rather more than .£45,000 per mile), and
keen competition has compelled them to furnish luxuries
which the sparsely populated colonies of Australasia will not
be able to afford for many years to come. Although it may
be travelling outside the subject of my paper this evening, I
may perhaps be permitted to remark that the conditions
which brought railways into existence in these colonies were
widely different to those pertaining to the lines in the Old

Country. Political and local considerations, more than com-
mercial considerations, governed oiir railway construction in
the past. And for this reason, unfortunately, we have even
in Tasmania some lines which will not pay in the lifetime of
our children, and possibly of our grand-children. The two
principal reasons for this state of affairs are the high cost of
construction (the average cost of the 3ft. 6in. gauge Tas-
manian Railways being =£8,400 a mile), and the policy of
successive Governments of carrying our small quantity of
goods traffic at a less average cost than the much larger
quantities of goods are carried for in the other Australasian
colonies. It may be an excellent thing for the country that
it is the policy of the Government to carry the native coal of
Tasmania at a rate averaging 50 per cent, less than the same
article is carried for in New Zealand, as well as many other
lines of traffic at rates less than the average of the other
Australasian colonies. But it is only fair, I think, when dis-
cussing the financial position of our railways to take into
consideration the hidden profits and the great advantages
which are derived by the users of our railways.

It may be some satisfaction to us, however, to remember
that Tasmania is not the only country which has constructed
unprofitable railways. America, which takes the lead in so
many matters, has beaten us here. By the last returns I
have in my possession I find that considerably more than 60
per cent, of the total stock of the American railways was
paving no dividend whatever. =£562,000,000 invested in
railways returns nothing to stock holders. During the first
six months of the year 1892, 24 railway companies, owning
between 9,000 and 10,000 miles of railways, became insolvent,
and during the history of American railways considerably
more than half of them have at one time or another passed
into the hands of receivers. With all her errors, Tasmania
is not likely to put up a similar record.

But, to come to my subject, the 2ft. gauge line from Zeehan
to North-East Dundas. There is a large area of country
waiting to be opened up in this colony. On the North- West
Coast, inland from Table Cape, through Flowerdale, are
thousands of acres of valuable land unoccupied, or carrying
a few head of cattle, because there are no means to bring
produce to market. The same may be said of other districts
in the North of the island. On the West Coast there is a
large tract of country rich in minerals, rugged, broken,
difficult of access, and in a climate where the rainfall is
measured by feet instead of inches. Without means of
access the minerals cannot be developed. The colony is not
in a position to continue its past policy of railway construc-
tion. It cannot construct another Sorell line at a cost of over

C

10

«

c£9,000 per mile, nor another Apsley line ending at a stump
iu a paddock, 1<> miles from anywhere. Some means had to
be found to open up the country at a cost which the circum-
stances of the colony could afford. After much consider-
ation the Government decided to initiate a scheme of rail-
way construction within the means of the colony, and which
would he fully capable of carrying all the traffic that might
offer. In constructing the line from Zeehan to North-East
Dundas, that is to say to the foot of Mount Read, we have
adopted the gauge of the Davjeeling line, a narrow gauge
railway which has given most successful results, and there is
every reason to believe that our line will achieve a similar
success. In this connection I am pleased to be able to say
that the cost of our line will be less by at least one-half the
cost of the Indian line referred to.

The North-East Dundas Line, starting from the Zeehan
terminus of the Strahan- Zeehan Railway, runs north-eastward
during the whole of its course. The first four miles are
through comparatively easy country. The line then com-
mences to ascend, and at 10f miles, after twisting and
turning in the remarkable manner which you will observe
from the beautiful limelight views which will be exhibited
this evening, it reaches an altitude of 1,015ft. above Zeehan,
or 1,550ft. above sea level. After the first five miles the
country is extremely broken, and the line consists entirely of
steep gradients and sharp curves. The steepest grade on
the line is 1 in 25, in combination with curves of If chains
radius.

The scenery in parts of this line, especially where the
rivers are crossed by timber bridges, is particularly beautiful
and interesting. Further than the eye can reach, say for a
distance of 40 miles, there is an immense myrtle forest, the
foliage of which is so dense that when viewed from a dis-
tance the tops of the forest present the appearance of rolling
downs.

The rolling stock in use on the line has all been constructed
in the colony, with the exception of the locomotives. Our
standard locomotive was built by Messrs. Sharp, Stewart, and
Co., of Glasgow, and weighs in working order 19 tons 15 cwt.
It takes a load of rather better than 50 tons up a grade of
1 in 25. The goods trucks carry a net load of 10 tons, the
weight of the truck being only 2 tons 14 cwt. Thus, we are
able to negotiate grades of 1 in 25, in combination with curves
of If chains radius, with a paying load of 40 tons per train.
Therefore, supposing the traffic grows sufficiently to run four
full trains each way daily, the carrying capacity of the line,
with four daily trains in each^ direction will be 100,000 tons

11

per annum, and this could be doubled by increasing the
number of trains.

I am afraid that I have already occupied your attention
too long, and should weary you too much were I to touch
more than briefly upon the dry subject of figures. In a few
words, the class of railway will be understood from the follow-
ing short description :—

Gauge, 2ft.; maximum gradient, 1 in 25 ; curves, minimum
radius 99ft. ; width cleared, 30ft., to be increased where
necessary.

I may here mention that the clearing for a chain on each
side of the liue is being let to firewood getters, wbo clear the
line for the value of the firewood, paying freight for its
carriage to the terminus of the line. The wood is stacked at
convenient places and picked up by ballast trains.

The cuttings are 10ft. in width at base, and banks 10ft. in
width at top. The bridges are all timber, built of stringy
bark and blue gum. The culverts are log culverts and
timber boxes, made from local timber, chiefly celery top
pine.

The quantity of ballast is 800 cubic yards per mile, being
4in. in depth under the sleepers.

The sleepers are 5ft. by 8in. by 4in. of stringy bark and
blue gum.

The rails and fastenings (except dog- spikes which have
been made in the colony) are second-hand from the broader
gauge railways. The rails are of steel, 461bs. and 401bs. to
the yard.

The goods trucks, which are on bogies, have a carrying
capacity of 10 tons, and weigh 2 tons 14 cwt. each. Passenger
cars seat 18 passengers, but we have had a car designed,
which we are about to construct, seating 26 passengers. The
carriages and trucks were designed and built in the railway
workshops.

In addition to the usual hand brakes, all the stock is fitted
with the vacuum brakes.

The construction of the railway is being carried out in all
its branches by piece work and day work, under a resident
engineer, with very satisfactory results, both as to workman-
ship and cost. The daily wage paid on this work is 7s. The
cost of the line, including surveys, construction, and equip-
ment, is approximately .£2,000 per mile.

In further justification of the adoption of the class of line
I have described this evening, I may say that we are con-
structing and equipping nearly 20 miles of railway at a cost

12

of about =£40,000, and it is doubtful if a line of our ordinary
or 3ft. (>in. gauge could be constructed through the same
country at a cost of <£10,0CO per mile, or say ,£200,000. The
interest at 3| per cent, on .£40,000 is <£1,400 per annum.
The interest on .£200,000 (which would be the cost of a
3ft. Gin. gauge line) at 3£ per cent, would be £7,000 per
annum, showing a saving in interest in favour of the 2ft.
gauge line of .£5,600 per annum. This difference in interest
on the cost of the two lines at compound interest would in
less than seven years be more than the total outlay in con-
structing and equipping the 2ft. gauge railway. In other
words, by constructing the line on the principles we have
adopted, its total cost is defrayed by what would be the
interest on a 3ft. 6iu. gauge line during the first seven years
of its existence.

13

THE DISPOSAL OF OUR DEAD BY CEEMATION.
By Gregory Sprott, M.D., D.P.H.

Officer of Health, for the City of Hobart.
Hon. Pathologist General Hospital, Hobart.

Bead July 12, 1897.

The subject of to-night's paper is perhaps a somewhat sad one, and
appeals largely to the sentimental part of our natures, but it is nevertheless
of the greatest importance from a sanitary point of view, and that shall be
my apology for bringing it under your notice. The disposal of our dead
by some other and better method than earth burial is one of the sanitary
reforms that must be adopted sooner or later. Cremation is the only
practicable mode that we know of at present, which gives the greatest
protection to the living, and if decently and reverently carried out cannot
insult the dead nor hurt the feelings of those left to mourn their loss. Old
time usages and predjudices have led many to believe that earth burial is
the only Christian method, and that cremation is of heathenish origin, and
all those who advocate the burning of dead bodies are without religious
feeling. I trust I will be able to show you that not only need no religious
feelings be violated, but that the beautiful service for the dead may be
made even more impressive. Still there are some who will have sentimental
objections to urge, but as we become better acquainted with the life history of
disease germs, and the part they play in the causation of infectious diseases,
we will be forced, whether we like it or not, to find a more sanitary way of
disposing of our dead than by our present mode of burial. It may be the
full benefit of cremation would not be felt in our time, but assuredly our
children's children would enjoy the good that would come of it when our
colony is more densely populated and our cities more crowded.

Perhaps before dealing with cremation, it might be well to briefly men-
tion some of the more common methods of disposing of the dead in ancient
and modern times.

One of the commonest methods is what is known as exposure — that is
without any burial at all. This was practised by the ancient Syrcanians,
who abandoned their dead to wild dogs, while Kamschatdales keep special
dogs to devour their dead, believing that those who are eaten by fine dogs
will have fine clogs in the next world. Many of the Indians of North
America, some of the Kaffir, as well as some of the Australian tribes,
simply carry their dead into the bush to be eaten by wild animals, in this
way following the customs of the ancient Asiatics. In some parts the
Hindoos at the present time expose their dead on the banks of the sacred
rivers to be carried away by aquatic animals. Nowhere do we find this
method carried out more fully than by the Parsees of Bombay. Here we
find the " Towers of Silence," at the top of which the body is exposed —
to be devoured by vultures the moment the friends and mourners with-
draw. The bones which have thus been picked clean, often in less than
half-an-hour, are allowed to dry in the sun for some days and then put
away in an ossuary to decay. "Sea Burial" is another method of exposure
and carried out by the inhabitants of the Chatham Islands and those
living around the Persian Gulf. In our naval and mercantile marine
service we are familiar with this method in cases of death at sea, and
although it must be carried out in such cases in the interest of the survi-
vors, there are many objections to its adoption as the principal mode of
getting rid of our dead. The late Dr. E. A. Parkes favours this method in
his Practical Hygiene, but the expense and the difficulties inland towns
would experience would render it wholly impracticable, not to speak of the
feelings that might arise amongst a community, whose food, to a large
extent is fish.

14

In the early part of the Stone Age, when man gave up his cave to live in
tents, we find the caves being used as burial places for the dead. Similar
to the cave we get Tomb Burials, and many of these tombs have been
found in Algeria, Poland, and France, as well as in Devonshire. Later we
find the common mode of sepulture was that of "Dolmens." The simplest
form of Dolmen was that of three or four upright slabs of stone fixed in
the ground, with another laid on the top of them. The body was then
placed inside in a sitting position, the whole was then covered over with
earth, making what is known as a Dolmen or Funereal Mound. These
Dolmens can be seen from the Baltic to Morocco, also in Asia and South
America. They are common in England and France, and their use lasted
till the Bronze Period.
Dolmens simply covered over with stone were known as "Cairns."
"What is known as " Barrows " was simply an earth mound piled over a stone
chamber, with a passage leading into the centre, so that the body could be
seen or the tomb cleansed. While Dol mens and Barrows were common in the
first half of the Bronze Period, burning was practised to a large extent in
the second half. But as civilisation progressed, strange to say, cremation
was given up, and we meet with, in the early part of the Iron Age, earth
burial. This earth burial took the place of cremation it is said because
of the expense of fuel, and partly because of the increased power of man in
using efficient tools. From whatever cause, it became common in Europe
several centuries before the Christian era. Since then it has been practised
by all Christian people, in fact any other mode of disposing of the dead
was, for a time, looked upon as pagan. The most persistent practisers of
this method are the Chinese. They have never carried out any other
method, and no nation of people pays greater respect to the dead than the
Chinese ; their idea being that unless the body lies comfortably in the
grave that misfortune will follow the family, This is the secret why the
celestial is so anxious in life that his bones should be sent back to lie with
his forefathers in the Flowery Land from the many and different parts of
the world where he may have migrated to.

The Jews, like the Chinese, have always practised burial, first in tombs
and then in graves. Men of wealth bought tombs, while the poor were
buried where they died in their wauderings. Criminals and unclean things
wTere thrown into the fire. Of recent years the Jews in the East End of
London have adopted a method of half-and-half cremation, viz., by adding
quicklime or caustic soda to the body. This is scarcely ever likely to
become common.

As you know, the ancient Eg}Tptians had a dread of decay, believing that
the soul returned to the body in about 3,000 years, aud hence they practised
embalming. This process of embalming was confined to the Egyptians
except iu the case of Jacob and his son Joseph. We are told that "Joseph
commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father, and the
physicians embalmed Israel," and when Joseph died "they embalmed him
and he wras put in a coffin in Egypt." Some have advocated embalming at
the present time, but for what purpose ? — there is no object in keeping from
Nature her own, and what she insists upon, whether we return it to her in
an hour, a year, or 1,000 years. Besides, embalment could only be carried
out in a dry hot climate such as Egypt is, and it is questionable even if
the Egyptians would have cherished the idea of having a "mummy" of
their beloved friend placed in the Hobart Museum — on exhibition, even to
satisfy our indefatigable curator. The last process which I will mention
before speaking of cremation, is one practised by the ancient Peruvians
and I believe also by some of the South Australian tribes, and is known as
"Desiccation." The body is dried in the sun, then bandaged, and the
saltpetre in the ground completes the process with the Peruvians, while
the South Australian hangs up the body on the limb of a tree. It was
some such process as this that enabled the remains of that great and good

15

man David Livingstone to be carried back to be buried amongst his own
people. Some years ago Dr. Bayles, of Orange, N. J., tried this process of
drying, and with some slight chance of success, but the expense of the
process will practically prohibit it. Such are a few of the methods that
have been adopted, but I must pass on to my subject.

Cremation has been in vogue more or lees since all time, and was
commonly practised ia the second hdlf of the Bronze Period by the
Greeks and Romans, and also in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and to
some extent in England. It has been practised by nearly every
Dation at some time or other of its history— the Chinese being the
exception. Even amongst the Jews we find that the bodies of Saul
and his three sons, after the battle in Gilboa, were burned, and their
ashes buried under a tree, and that in time of pestilence fires were
kept burning in the Valley of Tophet to consume the dead. It ia
impossible to eay why the ancients burned their dead. It may have
been as a sanitary measure with some, while others believed that fire
was the only way of freeing and purifying the soul from the unclean
body. Associated with the burning of the dead there are some strange
customs— the practice of putting ashes in urns was almost universal,
and the finding of these urns in Great Britain shows that the prac-
tice was common in these parts. The Greeks originally buried their dead ;
then they learned cremation from the Phoenicians ; then they went
back to burial, With the Greeks the custom was to burn with the body
everything esteemed by the deceased.

The Aracan tribes of Further India burn thdr dead, and leave
packets of rice on the spot. Neglect of this duty is a bar to inheri-
tance. Hindoos have always practised cremation, and in former times,
when too poor to buy enough of fue), they half burned the body, and
then cast it into the sacred rivers, lhis was prohibited, however, by
Sir Cecil Beadon, who erected a cinerator on the banks of the Hooghly,
whe.e all could be burned at very nominal cost, something about 4°. I
have seen cremations in this cinerator at Calcutta, and though it was
extremely simple and nothing done to destroy the fumes, I did not
perceive anything very offensive, neither did I notice any want of
reverence in the ceremony. The revival of interest of recent years in
the cremation movement is altogether of a sanitary reform, and the
result of scientific investigation. In England the prime mover is the
well-known and highly accomplished surgeon, Sir Henry Thompson,
ably assisted by the late Mr. Wm. Eassie, sanitary engineer, and Sir
Spencer Wells, whose remains were recently cremated at Woking.

In 1874 Sir Henry Thompson's first article appeared in the Contem-
porary Re new , and soon after its appearance a society was formed,
having as its original members many well-known names : — Shirley
Brooks, William Eassie, Ernest Hart, Rev. H. R. Haweie, G. H.
Hawkins, John C. Jefferson, F. Lehmann, C. F. Lord, W. Shaen, A.
Strahan, Henry Thompson, Major Vaughan, Rev. C. Voysey,T. Spencer
Wells, and Mrs. Crawshay.

These formed the committee, and Sir H. Thompson was elected
the first president. He still holds that office. In 1879 a crematorium
was established, but the then and succeeding Home Secretaries
threatened adverse legislation if the society attfmpted to put it
into operation. The society therefore deemed it prudent to adopt a
quiet policy, and delay all operations for the time being.

In 1884 Dr. Price, the Welsh Druid, burned the body of his child,
against the order of the Coroner. He was charged, first, with
having prevented the holding of an icquest on the body ; and secondly,
in having attempted to burn the child's body. Sir James StepheD,
who presided over the court at Cardiff, addressed the Grand Jury at
some length on this case, and finally declared, *' After full consider-

16

ation I am of opinion that a person who burns instead of burying
a dead body does not commit a criminal act unless he does it in such
a manner as to amount to a public nuisance at common law." After
this decision the Cremation Society decided upon the execution of their
project, and issued notices stating that the crematorium would be used
under certain regulations, which were strict in every detail, and left
very little chance of any concealment of crime.

Although the burniog of a body is not illegal, the law does not
recognise it as a legal way of disposing of the dead. In the year 1884
Dr. Cameron, M.P. for Glasgow, brought up a bill in the House of
Commons " to provide for the better regulation of cremation and other
modes of disposal of the dead." His bill was defeated by 142 to 79
on the second reading— not a very great majority, considering the
whole facts of the case.

In 1S86 Dr. Creed, M.L.G, Sydney, got a bill through the N.S.W.
Legislative Council, making cremation a legal means of disposing of the
dead, but the Assembly threw it out. Since 1885 cremation has gone
on steadily in England, and up to the end of 1896 870 bodies have been
cremated at Woking, while at Manchester there have been 52, at Glas-
gow 11, and at the new crematory, opened in Liverpool in September,
1896, there have been 3 cremations.

While all this trouble was going on in England, cremation was
already recognised by law on the continent of Europe, and many cre-
matories had been established.

Italy. — In Italy we find Professor Coletti writing of it in 1857, and
in 1869 the Sanitary Congress at Florence passed a resolution recom-
mending it. The law sanctioned it in 1873, and a crematorium was
erected in 1876 at Milan, through the munificence of Baron Kellar.
In 1880, a Gorini furnace was put up at Milan, and since then another
at Rome. The practice is becoming very common in Italy, and in
this, as Professor Sacchi stated at the above Congress, the Italians are
only following up the custom of their forefathers.

France. —France was not slow to follow the example set by Italy, and
Dr. de Pietra Santa was a strong advocate for it. In 1880 a society
was formed, and in 1887 a crematorium was erected in the Pere la
Chaise on the Gorini principle, and since then four furnaces have been
erected. Cremation is indeed common in Paris, and in the first quarter
of 1896 over 1,200 bodies were cremated.

Germany. — In Germany the Government permitted cremations as
early as 1879, since then a crematorium has been established at Gotba,
where the practice is regularly followed.

Crematories or societies for the promoting of cremation, have been
established in many other European countries, notably Denmark,
Switzerland, Holland, and Sweden, while in the Australias we have
societies in Melbourne and Sydney.

America. — In the United States cremation has become very popular.
There are at the present time about 26 crematories, and the advance in
favour of it is shown by the fact that in 1885 there were only 36 bodies
disposed of in this way, while in 1895 there were 876 cremations.
From this short history of the movement you will at once see that cre-
mation is slowly, it may be, but nevertheless surely, growing in favour
with the people of every civilised community.

It is not to be expected that a reform of this nature will be effected
until the people are educated up to it, but I feel convinced that as
Boon as the advantages of cremation are appreciated, so soon may we
expect those in authority to move in the matter.

It will now be my duty to place before you the advantages of cre-
mation over ail other methods of disposing of our dead, and to explain
a way some of the objections which have been urged against it.

17

What are the advantages ?— (1) Sanitary reform. (2) Economic
undertaking. (3) Prevention of premature burial. (4) Beautifying
our church yards, etc.

Objections.— (1) Religious feeling and sentiment. (2) Defeating
ends of justice and increasing crime,

Sanitary Advantage. — Whatever objections may be urged from a
sentimental or religious point of view, it must be clear to all that, as
a sanitary measure, cremation has much to recommend it.

It may be urged that there is no need for it in country places where
population is not great, and burial successions are not too frequent, as
the earth will assimilate her share of the remain*. In practice, how-
ever, we find that graveyards are generally overcrowded, and that the
earth is not able to assimilate all the putrid gases which are given off
from the putrefying organic matter. This has been demonstrated over
and over again. The late Dr. Parkes wrote 30 years ago : — " The air
over cemeteries is constantly contaminated, and water which may be
used for drinking is often highly impure. Hence, in the vicinity of
graveyards two dangers to the population arise, and, in addition, from
time to time the disturbance of an old graveyard has given rise to
disease. It is a matter of notoriety that the vicinity of graveyards is
unhealthy."

These words are as true to-day as they were the?, and from scientific
investigations made in bacteriology we know why these places are so
unhealthy, and how they may become public nuisances by disseminating
the germs of disease, either through the air or contaminating the water-
courses, or by the germs being wafted about on particles of dust
brought to the surface by the common earth worm.

Of late years our burial system has been much improved — that is, by
having our cemeteries outside the cities, but the suburbs of this gener-
ation will probably be the centres of business and activity in the next
— e.g., Sydney Town-hall stands on a former graveyard — and so we are
only putting off, and not getting rid of, the evil ; as Sir Henry
Thompson says — "Laying by poison nevertheless, it is certain, for our
children's children."

That graveyards do give off noxious gases is undoubted, as was
pointed out by the Special Commission appointed nearly 50 years ago
" to inquire and report on a general scheme for extra mural sepulture."

I will not read to you at any length the details of that report, but
I must quote one paragraph bearing on the pollution of the air, " We "
(say the Commissioners) " may safely rest the sanitary part of the case
on the single fact that the placing of a dead body in a grave, and
covering it with a few feet of earth, does not prevent the gases gene-
rated by decomposition with putrescent matters which they hold in
suspension from permeating the surrounding soil, and escaping into the
air above and the water beneath."

But hear the testimony of one well qualified as a Professor of
Chemistry, and who has had honour after honour thrust upon him.
Lord Play fair, writing in 1885, stated : " In most churchyards the dead
are harming the living by destroying the soil, fouling the air, conta-
minating water springs, aud spreading the seeds of disease. I have
officially inspected many churchyard?, and made reports on their state,
which, even to re-read, makes me shudder."

Those who believe in earth burial are themselves alive to the danger
of polluting the air as well as water, and the Local Government Board
of England in 1888 issued a memorandum on the sanitary requirements
of cemeteries, in which they state that " certain requirements mint be
observed in the establishment of a cemetery to prevent it becoming a
source of nuisance and danger to the living." This is certainly an

18

admission, showing they are alive to the dangers themselves. The
memorandum statts : — " Nuisance and danger to health may be occa-
sioned not only to grave-diggers and persons attending funerals, but
also to the inhabitants of houses in the neighbourhood of the burial
ground."

They advise that no one should live nearer than 200yds. to a grave-
yard.

They then speak of water-pollution, and state that, in order to
obviate risk, the cemetery should be at a sufficient distance from
subterranean sources of water supply, and in such a position in respect
to them that the percolation of foul matter from one to the other may
be impossible.

I need not say more on the pollution of air or water, but will pass
on to what is of greater importance to my mini — namely, the property
the earth has of preserving for a long time the specific organisms of
boiies dead of infectious diseases.

It is well known that these bacilli and their spores live and thrive

in the earth, and, when we know that the body of every person dying

of an infectious disease contains myriads of germs, we can easily

imagine how cemeteries may become a source for the dissemination of

he seeds of death.

Mr. Wheelhouse, an eminent surgeon, of Leeds, records one case of
scarlatina germs germinating after 30 years : — "In a Yorkshire village
part of a closed graveyard was taken into the adj ining rectory garden.
The earth was dug up and scarlatina broke ouc in the Rectory, and
spread to the village. It proved to be of the same virulent character
that destroyed tbe villagers 30 years before, who were buried in that
precise spot."

The late Sir Spencer Wells quotes a case where the "earth sur-
rounding the body of a man who died of yellow fever a year before
contained the germs of the disease. Animals placed in a confined space
along with some of the mould from this grave died in five days, their
blood and tissues being found crammed with the germs of yellow
fever."

Pasteur has shown that the specific germs and their spores of anthrax
keep alive a long time in the earth. He examined the surface mould of
a grave where a diseased cow had been buried two years previously,
and although the carcase had been buried 7ft. below the surface,
and the earth had not been disturbed in the interval, he was able
to obtain the germs, which, when inoculated into guinea pigs, produced
anthrax.

It has been argued by some, notably by Mr. Haden, that an " earth
to earth " system would get rid of many of the evils attached to our
present mode of burial, but while decomposition would be more rapid,.
it is more than likely that the germs immediately set free would be
more virulent than they would have been had they been closed up in
coffins for some years.

It has been shown that the earth worm is instrumental in bringing to
the surface these germs, Pasteur demonstrated that the bodies of the
worms found over the cow's grave were full of germs of anthrax.
What is true of anthrax is true of all infectious diseaee, and more
especially of tuberculosis, typhoid fever, tetanus, leprosy, etc. If you
will only think of animals eating the herbage in graveyards, as we
sometimes see, and imagine the effect of heavy rains washing the earth
mould into streams, you will have some idea of a channel of infection
not generally thought much about.

Darwin long ago told us that the whole earth surface in old pasture
land passed through the bodies of the earthworm in the course of years
burrowing deeply down in the dry seasons, and coming to the surface-

19

in the damp onep. You can readily perceive, then, how disease germs
may be brought up to the surface in graveyards, where bodies have been
buried that died of infectious diseases.

Nothing short of destruction by chemicals or fire will destroy these
specific germs, and "hence it is vain to dream of wiping out the re-
proach to our civilisation, which the presence and power of these
diseases in our midst assuredly constitute, by any precaution or treat-
ment, while effective machinery (earth burial) for their reproduction is
in constant daily action."

Lately, in Victoria, the health authorities gave permission to burn
the bodies of two persons who had died of leprosy, the disease being
due to a soil micro organism.

Economy. — While as a sanitarian I would advocate cremation on that
score alone, there is a commercial view of the question. It cannot be
overlooked, however, in considering this question, though it may be
repugnant to the feelings of some. You may say we have plenty of
land, and with our small population we need not trouble for some
time ; but that is not the question. Nature has intended that after
our life here the material elements of our body must go to form food
for plant life; but when we place the bodies of deceased ones under
the earth, are we returning to Nature what we ought, and in such a
way as we ought ? I say no. Nay, more, we are huddling together
bodies at a depth that are absolutely useless and a source of danger.
Since every dead body must sooner or later become part of the vege-
table kirgdom, is it not better that it should become so in an hour's
time rather than after a long series of years, during which time it may
be doing a vast amount of mischief to the living ? The amount of land
used for cemeteries is enormous. In London the estimate is 2,000
acres, worth over a quarter of a million sterling.

In Hobart district alone there are 10 cemeteries with 104 acres. The
using up of the land in this way is simply a question of time and popu-
lation.

The late Bishop Fraser, speaking on this subject at the Social Science
Congress in Manchester in 1879, said : — " On Friday last I consecrated
a portion of a new cemetery, provided by the Corporation, on the
south side of Manchester, fully five miles from the centre of the city,
containing 97 acres, at a cost of £100,000.

"It is very beautiful, but two thoughts occurred to me. First,
this is a long distance for the poor to bring their dead ; and, secondly,
here is another 100 acres of land withdrawn from the food-producing
area of the country for ever. I feel convinced that before long we shall
have to face this problem, how to bury our dead out of our sight,
more practically and more seriously than we have hitherto done. I
hold ihat the earth was made, not for the dead, but for the living.
Cemeteries are becoming not only a difficulty, an expense, and an in-
convenience, but an actual danger." But besides this indirect expense,
if one might use that term, the lavish expense which accompanies the
ceremony of burying our remains would be greatly diminished.

It is estimated that the cost of funerals alone in England and Wales
is not less than £5,000,000 per annum, and in London £1,000,000, and
one- third of this amount would amply suffice for cremation. What
a blessingthat would be to the widow and orphans whose small portion
is often enough cheerfully parted with, so that they may testify to
their loving memory of a kind husband or affectionate father. I say
there are many other ways of paying the last "tribute of respect"
more fitting than by mere vulgar display of funerals.

Premature Burial. — Among other advantages that one might claim
for cremation is that of preventing premature burial. I do not think
that premature burial ever does actually take place amongst us, who

20

keep our dead so long before burial ; but that the secret dread does
exist in some I am fully convinced ; even in my short experience in
this colony I know of a case where two doctors were called in to
certify that death had actually taken place. The deceased had many
times expressed a fear that she might be buried alive.

With cremation, and a proper inspection of all cases after death,
there need be no such fear. And, again, what is the history of our
graveyards? It is this — and this is the common history all over the
world — they are placed on the outskirts of the city and used for the
burial of our dead for a generation, or it may be two. Then it is
found they are too near the city and its dwellings, and also that they
are becoming overcrowded. An order is issued that they be closed,
and no more burials can take place in them. A new cemetery is found
again on the outskirts, which will serve for another generation ; but
what has become of the old ? Those who have relatives or friends
buried there have passed away or ceased to take any interest in it.
The graves are uncared for, the tombstones begin to crumble and tumble
dowD, and sooner or later we find the " last resting place of our dead "
being dug up, the remains removed to some other cemetery, so that
the ground may be built upon, or it may be, as we find it in our own
city here, converted into a sheeprun. One has only to look at some
of the burial places, such as the one at the top of Campbell-street,
Davey street, or Trinity Hill, to appreciate the full meaning of what I
lay. '

With cremation and urn burial all this would be changed. The
ordinary burial ground would then be able to accommodate the remains
of our dead for many generations, and the neglect and desecration of the
resting-place of the dead, inherent to the present system, would give
place £to unremitting and loving care, for the simple reason that each
living generation would be as much interested in the preservation of
the cemetery as those that had gone before were at any previous time
in its history. We should at once have what is so much to be desired
from artistic and other points of view — a permanent resting-place for
our dead. No one can admire the art displayed in these disused
cemeteries. Consider how different it would be with urn burial. Here
all tombstones will be done away with, and instead we would have
artistic urns, carefully placed in well - designed columbaria, or, if
desired, in family tombs. These would protect all memorials of the
dead from the weather and the ravages of time. In Rome tombs may
be seen with urns in them as good as when they were placed there
some thousands of years ago. Such, then, are the advantages of
cremation over earth burial. What are the objections?

The first objection raised is that it shows a want of feeling and
reverence for those whose memory we ought to cherish.

It must be admitted that ancient custom and the lcng standing
prejudice ag&inst any other than earth burial, which has always been
associated with re'igious rites, will make people very slow to adopt
sny other than the present mode of burial.

With many whom I have discussed this suVject it is a matter of
indifference what becomes of their bodies after death, but they shrink
from the sudden destruction of the body of those whom they have
loved and honoured in life, by the process of burning. I am proud
to think our nation does respect the memory of its dead, but
would not cremation and urn burial tend rather to keep the memory
of those we love ever fresh with us ? Is it not a fact that after a grave-
yard has been officially closed, that the graves become uncared for, and
the memory of those lying there has faded became, forsooth, we are
never reminded by anything in the church vault as we would be with
urn burial ? Admiring sentiment up to a certain point, we must be
careful Lnot to allow it to dictate to science, and what does chemical

21

science teach us if not this", whether we bury or cremate our dead, the
ultimate result is the same— though the process in one case may take
20year8 and the other bat an hour. But those of you who reject the
flame because of the sudden destruction of the body, pause and think
what takes place in that cold and dismal grave. We often hear of
respected ones being placed in their "last resting place," but the grave
is no place of rest. The moment life has passed away and before the
body has yet been buried, a new life has begun, myriads of micro-
organisms have set to work to resolve that body into the elements of
Nature.

In Nature's harmonious cycle of developement it is imperative that
that body must be dissolved so as to become plant life, and so we
ultimately find that after a long and slow process that it has been
resolved into carbonic acid, ammonia, water, and mineral elements.
Now this is just exactly what happens when we destroy a body by fire,
but in the case of burial there is great risk of doing injury to the living,
while with cremation there is absolutely no such risk. If then the
ultimate result of burying or cremating dead bodies is the same, why
should we run the risk of mischief being done to the living if the same
end can be accomplished without that risk by another method — more
imple, more economic, and altogether quite as reverent ? Is it not
enough to do harm to others while we live without having any wish to
inflct injury after death ?

Religious objections. — I have already told you that on the advent of
Christianity that cremation was looked upon as heathenish and against
the Christian idea of the resurrection; others object to it because the
body of our Saviour was not so treated, but we must not forget that our
Saviour was a Jew and that the manner of the Jews is to bury. But
even with the Jews cremation was not unknown, as I have already told
you. We may dispose of this argument simply by saying if we are to
take the burial of our Saviour's body as being the right way, then we
ought to bury in sepulchres.

I need not offer any opinion of my own relative to this objection;
true it is that Bishop WTords worth did say ''some weak minded
brethren " might have their belief shaken in the doctrine of the
resurrection, but the reply of the late Lord Shaftesbury to such an
objection was unanswerable. In a letter to Sir Spencer Wells he dis-
poses of this objection simply by asking " What then will become of the
blessed martyrs who have died at the stake in ancient and modern
persecutions ?"

The late Bishop Fraser, who was deeply interested in the cremation
movement, speaking at Bolton in 1874, said : "The ancient Romans
believed in immortality, and yet they believed in the burning of the
bodies of their dead. Urn burial was quite as decent as the practice of
interment for anything he saw, and urns containing the ashes of the
dead were more picturesque than ceffine. Could they suppose that it
would be mere impossible for God to raise up a body at the resurrection.
if needs be, out of elementary particles which had been liberated by the
burning, than it would be to raise up a body from dust and from the
elements of bodies which had passed into the structure of worms ?

" The omnipotence of God is not limited, and He would raise the dead,
whether He had to raise our bodies out of churchyards, or whether He
would have to call our remains1, like the remains of some ancient Romans
out of an urn in which they were deposited 2,000 years ago." Speaking
again in 1879, he said : "No intelligent faith can suppose that any
Christian doctrine is affected by the manner in which this mortal body
of ours crumbles into dust and sees corruption."

Canon Liddon, preaching in St. Paul's, London, stated, " The resur-
rection of a body from its ashes is not a greater miracle than the resur-
rection of an unburnt body ; each must be purely miraculous."

22

Such testimony as this ought to convince the most sceptical, I cannot
myself iei how cremation instead of burial ia the earth, should outrage
in any way religious feelings, but decently and reverently carried out
with those beautiful words, "ashes tD ashes, and dust to dint," I
believe it cou'd only add solemnity to that very impressive ceremony
for the ln-ial of the dead. I leave further dhcussion on this part of
the subject with our clerical friends, trusting they will gi^e m their
views and assistance, knowing what a power and influence they have in
the matter of the disposal of the dead.

Medico-Legal Objection. — The last objection which I shall deal with
is, to my mind, the only reasonable one against cremation — the medico-
legal one— that is, if a body poisoned or murdered is burnt, all trace
of the crime is destroyed. This, of course, applies in cases where
suspicion has not been aroused until some time after death. To over-
come this objection, those who advocate cremation say we must have
greater care exercised in the giving of death certificates It is better
to provide the means of detecting crime before the disposal of a body,
rather than rely upon the slight chance of finding it out from an exhu-
mation. Hence, in France, Italy, Germany, and some other continental
countries, we find a "medicin verificateur" who examines every body
before it is buried or burned. With such an inspection it would be almost
impossible to overlook cases of poisoniog ; and it is recorded that at
Milan the parentR of a deceased child, after having received all certifi-
cates necessary for its burial, decided to have it cremated. The ex-
amination required by the rules of the Cremation Society there was
such as to reveal the fact that the child had been poisoned by eating
sweetmeats containing copper. This fact shows you that cremation
carried out with a strict inquiry as to the cause of death would be
more likely to prevent crime than to hide it. Rest assured the
murderer will not seek to dispose of a victim by this method if he
or she knows such inquiries must be made. With our present system
we are surrounded by dangers. Many bodies are buried without any
medical certificate at all ; and even with medical certificates there is a big
risk, because the medical man may not be called in till the case is in
extremis, and then gastro enteritis might easily simulate many cases of
poisoning. But when we consider the number of poisons that could be
detected on the body after exhumation we find there are practically only
four, viz., arsenic, antimony, lead, and mercury. All the vegetable
poisons, such as strychnine, prussic acid, morphia, aconite, etc., would
decompose very shortly after burial ; while the irritant poisons would
not escape notice at the time of inspection.

Under our present burial system in England about 5 per cent, of
the deaths are certified to by the coroner, and 3 per cent, are buried
without any certificate. In Scotland the percentage of uncertified deaths
is even greater.

Now, while this large percentage of deaths is allowed to be buried
without any certificate at all, it is surely inconsistent on the part of
those who object to cremation on the slender chance they have of dis-
covering crime by exhumation.

In 20 years in England and Wales there have been 102 exhumations,
giving an average of five annually, and about one (1) to every 6,100
inquests.

Of this 102, Sir H. Thompson gives the following details :—
Natural causes, 57 ; accident causes, 20 ; murder, IS ; manslaughter,
4 ; open, 8 — 102. And very few of these are cases of poisoning.

I think, therefore, I have shown you that there is little protection
against murder under our present system of burial, and so near home
we are told by Judge Williams, speaking in Melbourne in November,

23

1893, that "Scores of people are poisoned and laid in the ground, and
the crimes are never detected."

With cremation, under the precautions recommended by the various
societies taking an interest in it, such a state of matters would be im-
possible. No friend of this movement will be satisfied with any
rales which do not include a proper examination of every dead body
by some disinterested person before being disposed of.

In this way the medico-legal objection is practicilly gone, and that
crime, instead of being undetected, will be more likely to be dis-
covered.

Such, then, sir, is a brief outline of the history, advantages, and so-
called disadvantages of cremation, and I will not at this time move any
formal resolution asking this society to decide in favour of cremation as
against our present system of burial.

I believe if the people as a whole knew the risks of our present mode
of burial, if they were coatident that no religious rites would be
interfered with, and that cremation could be carried out without shock
to the feelings, that a large majority would desire cremation to burial.

Time does not permit me to speak of our local cemeteries ; their con-
dition and management wou d, I am sure, be sufficient matter for an
interesting paper. I have only now to thank you very heartily for the
patient and attentive way you have listened to my remarks on this
melancholy but important subject, the disposal of our dead by cremation.

24

ON SOME IGNEOUS ROCKS FROM THE HEAZLE-

WOOD DISTRICT.
By W. H.Twelvetrees,F.G.S., and W.F.Petterd, C.M.Z.S.

Bead July 12, 1897.

The Hecazlewood District is situated directly south-west
of the township of War at ah, in the county of Russell, and
has of late years been made fairly accessible in consequence of
its importance as an active centre of mining industry. The
geology is in several respects unlike that of any other
portion of the island, as far as known; though no system-
atic investigation of it has yet been undertaken. It lies
south of the great coastal basaltic sheet, and north of a series
of ancient metamorphic schists, with the interpolated gneisses
and masses of crystalline limestone of the Pieman River area.
Geologically, its characteristic features may be said to com-
mence at a locality situate on the main Waratah-Corinna
road, and known as the 10-Mile, and to continue thence to the
immediate neighbourhood of the 18-Mile Camp. It extends
in a northerly direction a small distance beyond Mt. Cleve-
land, and is crudely bounded on the south by the Parsons'
Hood Mountain, with an irregular interruption by the
stanniferous granites which form the main feature
of the Meredith Range. The characteristic which renders
the area of special interest to the geological student, and to
the petrologist in particular, is the occurrence of a series of
local rocks, which include fine grained granitites and syenites
with masses of serpentine, the latter being closely associated
with gabbros and ultra-basic rocks. These last commonly
appear as comparatively large intrusive dykes. Rocks of
the diabase and altered andesite families also occur, but are
by no means numerous. The granitites and syenites usually
form bosses of medium altitude, embracing and forming the
boundary lines of the intrusive serpentinised rocks, which are
remarkably pronounced on both sides of the Heazlewood
River. The gabbros are of several distinct types, and often
have their essential mineral constituents preserved in a very
fresh condition, although there is conclusive evidence that in
at least one instance the serpentine has originated from the
alteration of such a rock. In the limited class of ultra-basic
rocks we find a most attractive and varied series, such as is
rarely offered for petrographical investigation. These range
through the true peridotites to the varied mineral aggregates
of the pyroxenite family. In some instances only one of the
two crystal systems is present, but occasionally the rock con-
tains both the rhombic and monoclinic pyroxenes. In this
group also a considerable variation is noticeable in the state of

25

preservation ; in some cases a pronounced chemical ehange
has occurred, whilst in others the rocks are in a perfectly
unaltered condition ; thus furnishing strong evidence in favour
of their intrusion at a later geological epoch.

The sedimentary rocks are not extensively represented, so
far as observed. They consist of three distinct superimposed
beds, which are fairly well exposed in parts of the Bell's
Reward mine. The lower bed apparently rests mainly on
the granitoid rocks as a pale-coloured non-fossilised lime-
stone of some irregularity ; on this is a bed of sandstone
in which no fossils have been found. The whole is sur-
mounted by a layer of sandstone containing the casts
of numerous testacean remains, which show this formation
to be of silurian age. Occasionally, in other parts of the
district, argillaceous rocks are met with, but they are almost
invariably of limited extent.

On account of the readiness with which many of the less
acidic rocks of the Heazlewood disintegrate and form soil, it
is often a most difficult matter to make a satisfactory ex-
amination, and it is thus needless to say that much work
remains for the field geologist, both as regards the relation-
ship and mode of occurrence of the rocks of both igneous and
sedimentary origin. This difficulty is further augmented by
the dense, in places almost impenetrable, nature of the
vegetation. In many localities, more especially on the banks
of the numerous small streams, there exists a somewhat heavy
overburden of tertiary sands, gravel, and clay, which, in
favourable places, have boen extensively worked for alluvial
gold.

The series of rocks herewith described by no means
exhausts the petrological wealth of the Heazlewood, but an
endeavour has been made to present a fairly representative
series, taken from the rocks exposed by the construction of
the Waratah-Corinna road traversing the district. These
have been further increased by samples collected from
several of the silver-lead mines visited by one of the authors,
and by specimens received from the veteran prospector, Mr.
W. E. Bell.

1. Harzburgite.

Harzburgite : Eosenbusch, Massige Gesteine, 1896. p 355.

Saxonite : Wadsworth. Lithological Studies, 1884. jp 85.

Sp. Gr. 3 21.

This is a typical peridotite, composed of olivine and
enstatite, harzburgite in accordance with the nomenclature
of Eosenbusch. Such rocks are not usually met with in

D

26

large masses : they shade off into felspathic rocks, becoming
enstatite — olivine — gabbro — olivine — norite, and even among
themselves they appear to be subject to much local variation
in one and the same mountain mass. It is unusual to find
them in such a fresh condition as on the Arthur River.
The saxonite of the Red Hill, West Coast, New Zealand,
containing the nickel-iron alloy awaruite * is said to be
the only other occurrence in the world where the rock is
fresh or nearly so: generally it is strongly serpentinised.
Oliviue — enstatite rocks have been described from the Straits
of Magellan, Borneo, Oregon (nickeliferous), Greenland,
Finland, Norway, United States, and the Hartz.

Macroscopical Structure. — This is a characteristically heavy,
somewhat dull and dark-coloured rock, in which the brown,
waxy olivine is the predominating feature : occasional and
fairiy distinct plates of the rhombic pyroxene may be
detected, but to the eye they do not appear to be by any
means abundant. It occurs as a dyke of limited extent at
the upper Arthur River (W. R. Bell). The structure is
hypidiomorphic granular. Rosenbusch calls a structure
granular, in which only one generation of the constituents
exists, no recurrence of phase having taken place, and
hypidiomorphic when mostly allotriomorphic and partly
crystalline forms prevail.

Microscopical Appearance. — Olivine forms nearly one-half of
the rock. In transmitted light this mineral is colourless
and remarkably fresh in appearance. Still it is traversed
by fissures, sometimes darkened with the deposition of some
iron oxide, or filled with yellow serpentine. The olivine
grains are sometimes rounded, but often show a marked
disposition to form idiomorphic crystals.

Enstatite is generally in somewhat larger forms than the
olivine ; is colourless and non-pleochroic in thin sections,
but where the section is thicker, it is faint yellow and feebly
pleochroic. As a rule its cleavage cracks serve to distinguish
it from the olivine, and in the larger crystals the forms are
less perfect than those of the other mineral. It encloses
small intergrowths of a monoclinic pyroxene. It is in a
fresh condition while the olivine is frequently meshed with
serpentine, and sometimes wholly replaced by it.

Magnetite is not so prevalent in peridotites as chromite or
picotite, but we see no translucent forms, and hence refer
the scattered rounded quadrate and other opaque grains
to magnetite. At any rate we see none of that translucency
at the edges which would indicate chromite or picotite.

* On the discovery, etc., of Awaruite on the West Coast of the South Island
of N.Z., by Prof. G. H. F. Ulrich. Q. J. G. Soc, Nov., 1890, p. 619, 632.

27

2. Olivine-Norite.

Olivine-Norite : Rosenbusch.

Hyperite : TiJrnebohm.

Sp. Gr. 2-90.

The rocks of deep seated or plutonic origin, of a coarse
grained granitoid texture, composed of a basic plagioclase
felspar, and the laminated augite called diallage, with or
without olivine, are known as gabbros. In addition to, or in
place of, the diallage, common augite is sometimes met with,
without, however, affecting the name of the rock. Further,
the monoclinic pyroxene is occasionally replaced by a
rhombic one, and when this happens we have norite. At the
same time gabbros exist, in which both the rhombic and
monoclinic forms of pyroxene occur, and this tends to show
that the line separating gabbros and norites is not a sharp
one. Still it is the habit of modern petrographers to reserve
the name norite for those gabbros in which the pyroxene is
solely or mostly rhombic. Olivine-norite is the hyperite or
hypersthenite of Norwegian geologists. It has also been
recorded from Finland, France, Austria, Canada, United
States, Sumatra, and Madagascar ; always associated with
gabbros. It does not appear to occur in Britain.

The macroscopical appearance of this rock is perfectly
fresh ; it shows a somewhat compact but coarse granitoid
structure from the closely embedded plates of pyroxene.
In colour it is a mottled dark greenish black. The pyroxene
is the darkest coloured constituent, it being almost black,
with a glimmering surface; the interspaces which are
occupied by the felspar and olivine are of much finer texture,
rather dull and pale green in colour. It is found forming a
mass of considerable extent associated with the serpentine
and augite-syenite of the district.

Microscopical Appearance. — Its texture is granitic, that
is to say, the free crystallisation of the constituent minerals
has been interfered with mutually, and the forms (with the
exception of the olivine) are those of broad irregular plates.
The component minerals in order of importance are bronzite,
plagioclase felspar, olivine, a little monoclinic pyroxene,
and titaniferous iron oxide in grains.

Rhombic Pyroxene. — The irregular ophitic plates of this
mineral have no tendency to idiomorphism. It is light
brown to bronze in colour with slight pleochroism where
clearest, markedly pleochroic where the lustre is most
bronzy. The striation resembles that of diallage, but the
straight extinction and pleochroism distinguish it. The
interference colours between crossed nicols are of a lower order
than those of monoclinic pyroxene. Enstatite proper is

28

theoretically non-pleochroic, bronzite slightly so in the slices
usually prepared for the microscope. The colour, pleochroism
and enclosures, point to the mineral being the ferriferous
enstatite called bronzite. The boundary between enstatite
and bronzite is vague : there has been great divergence
of opinion as to wha/fc constitutes enstatite and what
bronzite. Professor Eosenbusch f unites them, while pre-
serving their separate names. Generally enstatite is applied
to the non - ferriferous and bronzite to a ferriferous
variety. In the rock from the Heazlewood the colour
and pleochroism which are sometimes relied upon as
distinguishing characters J vary even in the same plate.
It will suffice, however, if we assign to this mineral the
name bronzite. Everywhere it encloses rounded serpentinised
grains of olivine, and has familiar interpositions, consisting of
lamellar intergrowths of nionoclinic pyroxene. In some places
it is in course of change into its serpentinous modification,
bastite, in which there is some general approach to parallelism
of the fibres, quite distinct from the open meshed arrange-
ment of the serpentine in the olivine crystals.

Felspar. — This is abundant in the broad forms usual in
gabbros. The albite plan of twinning prevails and the extinc-
tion angles exceed 40°, pointing to anorthite. The pericline
type of lamellations, traversing the albite twinning lines, is
also observable. The felspars often not only penetrate the
pyroxene, but are to be seen occasionally wholly included in
its substance. They frequently enclose olivine grains, and
consequently the order of consolidation of the three constitu-
ents of this rock is very plainly revealed. They are often
traversed by cracks filled with serpentine proceeding from
included and adjacent olivine grains, but whether the fels-
pathic substance itself has been attacked and serpentinised is
doubtful. On the theoretical possibility of this see Teall,
British Petrography, p. 107.

Olivine. — This appears to have been the first mineral to
separate, and it occurs chiefly in the form of rounded grains,
sometimes in nests, but also scattered abundantly through
the rock. This mineral is always meshed with serpentine, and
is enclosed in the pyroxene and felspar, the latter also being
often embraced by the bronzite. It illustrates the lustre-
mottling structure in a very striking way. The olivine is
colourless, the serpentine reticulations pale green and greenish
yellow, and their course is often indicated by magnetite
grains. The fibrous serpentine forming the meshes polarises
faintly and extinguishes at 90°. The cracks in adjoining
crystals, due to expansion, caused by the serpentinisation

t Mikroskopische Physiogr : der Petrogr. wichtigen Mineralien, 1892, p. 449.
t Hatch. Intr. Study of Petrology, 1891, p. 43.

29

process, are well seen, and recall the well-known appearances
in the troctolite of Volpersdorf . Where the olivine has been
completely serpentinised, the resultant substance is inert on
polarised light.

3. Pyroxenite.

Sp. Gr. 3-10.

This rock is exclusively a pyroxene ; it contains no olivine,
and consequently conies within the group pyroxenite, as
established by Dana in L880. Pyroxenites are considered as
intimately related to the gabbro family ; and as pei'idotites
are ultra basic olivine representatives of gabbro, so we may
call these pure pyroxene rocks the olivine-free ultra basic
members of that family. They vary greatly, and the varieties
have been classified by G. H. Williams as websterite, bronzitite,
hypersthenite, diallagite. The Heazlewood rock appears to
occupy an intermediate position between the first two divisions.
Websterite typically consists of a rhombic pyroxene and augite
(or diallage) in equal quantities, but varies into bronzitite or
hypersthenite by losing its augite, or, on the other hand, the
rhombic pyroxene disappears and the rock becomes diallagite.
Our rock in thin section shows nearly exclusively large crystal
faces of enstatite, accompanied sometimes by a more ferriferous
variety (bronzite) with characteristic wavy cleavage lines and
bronzy lustre. There is, besides, a small quantity of laminated
augite. What is known as the mortar structure may be seen,
which is very common in this type of rock. The large crystals
are separated from each other by a channel filled with as
breccia of small crystal fragments of enstatite, a colourles
non-striated augite (diopside?), and sometimes with brightly
polarising talcose matter, which has infiltrated by cracks into
the substance of the large enstatites. The development of
this structure is due to rock crushing, and the appearance of
talc is a frequent feature in altered pyroxenites. The rock is
evidently a passage one between websterite and bronzite.

MacroscopicaUy the rock is seen to be composed of closely
packed lamellar crystals of considerable size ; those of the
principal essential, enstatite, sometimes reaching several
inches in length and proportionate width. In colour the
mass of the rock does not vary to any material extent ; it is
in a general way of a greyish green to pale brown hue, with
occasional patches of a fairly bright green. The uniform
lustre is silky, vitreous, and slightly metalloid, but when
individual crystals are exposed parallel to the face of the
rhombic prism they are usually highly polished, and this
character lends itself to add to the peculiarly attractive ap-
pearance of the mass. The rock is very tough under the
hammer, with a hackly fracture when broken across the
embedded crystals. The interstices sometimes show bright

30

green specks (chrome diopside ?), and still more rarely
patches of a talcose substance. In weathering the ex-
posed surface becomes a dull yellowish brown, which does
not penetrate deeply into the mass of the rock. This
pyroxenite occurs exposed in the road cutting on the sideling
across the Bald Hill, immediately west of and close to the
bridge across the Heazlewood River on the Waratah-Corinna
Road. The eastern portion of the road is apparently mainly r
if not entirely, composed of the rock, but its extension north
and south has not been traced. It is probably an intrusive
of considerable extent.

4. Attgite-Syenite.

Sp. Gr. 2-84.

This is a plutonic rock of the intermediate group, in which
there is very little free quartz. The primary constituents are
orthoclase plagioclase, augite, hornblende, biotite, quartz,
secondary quartz, chlorite.

Macroscopical Structure. — A somewhat handsome rock of a
comparatively fine granitoidal structure. It forms a
thoroughly crystalline mass, although the crystals of the
predominating essential minerals cannot be distinctly outlined
by the unassisted vision. It presents a remarkable resem-
blance to many gabbros, and might readily be mistaken for
such, if not carefully examined. It has an evenly distributed
mottled apperance on the surface of a fresh fracture, and for
a syenite is unusually dark in coloration. The prevailing
tint of the ground mass is a pale greenish-white, with
numerous extremely irregular and closely packed blotches of
a dull greenish-black, but with an occasional minute area of
reflecting lustre. The exposed portions of the rock are much
weathered to a dull greyish-white. As might be anticipated
with an intermediate rock of its nature, it is hard and
tenacious. It occurs as an eruptive mass of apparently
restricted extent, which forms portion of an abrupt hill of
medium elevation near the workings on the Bell's Reward
Silver Mine. Associated with it is a fine-grained hornblende
granitite, the whole being mainly flanked by the sandstone and
limestone of the locality, together with the serpentine-gabbro
rocks so abundant in the district.

Microscopical Structure. — The predominating felspar is
orthoclase in simple tabular forms and carlsbad twins ; a
soda-lime felspar is present in considerable quantity, with the
extinction angles of oligoclase-andesine. The felspars are
turbid in their interiors, with the usual kaolinisation pro-
ducts, but the peripheral parts often remain perfectly clear
and transparent. The augite is pale green, often twinned
parallel to the orthopinacoid, with a second lineation parallel

31

to the base. Basal sections give unequal octagonal forms i
sometimes idiomorphic, sometimes allotriomorphic, in relation
to the felspar. It is fairly abundant. Biotite is represented
by green chloritic pseudomorphs, and a few outlines are
those of hornblende.

5. Lheezolite.
Sp. Or. 2-93.

This is another rock belonging to the varied peridotites
which are found at the Heazlewood. The mineral com-
bination is olivine + enstatite + monoclinic pyroxene, and it
has been called Lherzolite after the lake Lherz in the
Pyrenees. Of these three minerals, olivine greatly pre-
ponderates, and it is not difficult to imagine the pyroxene
failing entirely, and a dunite or purely olivine rock to result.
The rhombic pyroxene is the only other constituent present
in any quantity, for there is very little monoclinic pyroxene
indeed. The structure is hypidiomorphic - granular, and
both pyroxenes and olivine are reticulated with serpentine
meshes. Olivine grains are often enclosed in the enstatite,
and there is no approach in the latter to hypersthene. The
augite resembles the diallagic variety rather than
diopside, and neither pyroxene is serpentinised to the same
extent as the olivine. There is some chlorite in the rock,
besides grains of magnetite (?) and wisps and meshes of
titaniferous iron, and its alteration product, leucoxene.

This is a close textured rock, without any striking peculi-
arity. It is greyish green in colour throughout in the solid
portions, but where slight fractures occur, a dark green,
almost black, tiut prevails, with a slight glaze, otherwise the
mass is dull in general appearance. It occurs in the form
of an intrusive dyke of restricted dimensions at the 10-Mile,
Waratah-Corinna Road.

6. Websteeite.
Sp. Or. 2-82.

Mineral Composition, Diallage and Enstatite.

Websterite, as established by O. H. Williams, is a pyroxe-
nite, consisting of monoclinic and rhombic pyroxenes. These
are the constituents of the Heazlewood rock, the augite being
predominant. In parts it consists of long prismatic forms,
which have not been attacked by serpentinising agencies : else-
where it seems to have formed somewhat larger diallagic
plates, which are nearly wholly replaced by serpentine. It is
difficult to determine precisely whether olivine in small
quantity was present, as the serpentinisation of the rock has
obscured its original facies. The enstatite is not abundant,,
and it is mostly enclosed in and intergrown with the diallage.

32

Leucoxene may be detected in patches, and a little chlorite
occurs here and there throughout the sections.

At the Heazlewood, extensive masses of serpentine occur of
comparatively limited width. These have a considerable
extension in a northern and southern direction. It is of
common occurrence for several miles north of the main
Waratah-Corinna road, and has been traced as far south
as the Parson's Hood mountain. With it numerous varieties
of olivine and pyroxene-bearing rocks are intimately as-
sociated, from the alteration of which the serpentine doubt-
less originates. In the immediate neighbourhood of the
Heazlewood S.M. Co.'s property, the rock now under con-
sideration— websterite — is extremely abundant, occurring in
protruding masses of somewhat large size, and apparently in
places passing into a more pronounced serpentinised form.
When met with in a fairly fresh condition, it is extremely
dark in colour, almost black, with an occasional green tinge.
The lustre is dull and obscure, except for the occasional large
patches of diallage, which have a glimmering surface. On
weathering, the outer crust is invariably very irregular, with
numerous sharp, jagged protuberances, the whole surface
then becoming of a dark brown colour.

7. G-ranitite.
Sp. Gr. 2-68.
Granitite, or as it is sometimes called biotite-granite, gene-
rally carries some hornblende, but that mineral does not
appear to be present in this rock. In general macroscopical
appearance this is a granular and compact rock of somewhat
even texture, without any of the essential mineral constituent-
becoming porphyritically developed. In colour it is yellowishs
white, intermixed with dull green, the first mainly arising
from the felspars, and the latter from the abundant chlorite
it contains. On the exposed surface it is coated with a thin
crust of a rusty hue, which does not penetrate deeply into the
solid rock. It occurs in considerable quantity in intimate
geological association with the augite-syenite herewith de-
scribed, and with it forms the principal mass of the higher
elevations on the Bell's Reward Silver Mine and the immedi-
ate vicinity, apparently running parallel with the serpentine
rocks. It is one of the many varieties of rock that have been
generally termed " diorite " in this colony, and more rarely
"greenstone," its true penological nature having apparently
escaped detection.

Min. Constit.: Orthoclase, plagioclase, hiotite, quartz, sphene,
magnetite, chlorite.
Microscopical Appearance :
Orthoclase in irregular forms, sometimes graphically inter-

33

grown with quartz : prevailing forms columnar Carlsbad
twins.

Plagioclase in some quantity, but less than orthoclase.
Generally in short stout idiomorphic prisms. Extinction
angles, those of oligoclase-andesine.

Biotite represented by pseudomorphs of a green pleochroic
mineral, polarising in the steel grey tints of chlorite. This
chlorite is also plentifully distributed throughout the rock in
aggregations, and between the boundaries of the felspars.

There is not quite so much quartz as in normal granites :
a little sphene occurs in grains, and magnetite in grains and
crystals.

8. Hornblende Granite.

Min. Const. : Orthoclase, plagioclase, hornblende, quartz, sphene.

Sp. Gr. 27.

Nearly two miles north-west of the main road, and near
the south bank of the Heazlewood Eiver, is a small boss of
this holocrystalline rock. It projects but a few feet above
the level of the surrounding country, which is mainly serpen-
tine, of the usual character common to the district. So far
as known it is exceptionally local in its occurrence.

Macroscopical Character.— In general features this granite
bears a strong resemblance to its congeners, being dense and
compact. The exposed surface is but slightly decomposed to
a thin incrustation of kaolinic matter of a pale rusty tint.
The colour of the ground mass is light grey, approaching
white, with indistinct cloudiugs of a somewhat darker hue.
Throughout the substance of the rock are scattered irregular
elongated flakes of hornblende, which appear black to the
unaided vision. These give it an obscure graphic appearance.
Small patches of copper and iron pyrites may be frequently
detected, which decompose to rusty stains.

Microscopical Structure. — The quartz is intergrown very
generally with the felspars, especially with the triclinic ones,
in a micrographic way. The hornblende is usually without
terminal outlines, and pale green in colour, preserving its
pleochroism, but not intensely. Crystals of sphene are
present in the usual forms. There is some tendency to a
micro-porphyritic architecture, small prisms of orthoclase and
plagioclase, especially the latter, abounding as a kind of
ground mass. Small grains of ilmenite may be seen scattered
throughout the section, and this is often converted into the
white variety of sphene named leucoxene, as may be seen
by changing the transmitted light to reflected, when the
black iron mineral becomes white.

34

9. Hornblende Granitite.

Min. Const. : Orthoclase, plagioclase, biotiie, hornblende?
quartz.

Sp. Gr. 2-9.

Macroscopical Characters. — The general ground mass of
this rock is of a pale greenish grey colour thoughout, with
but slight variation of tint. It has a perfectly fresh
appearance, although dull in lustre. The abundant niagnesian
mica forms a strong contrast to the general colouration,
being an extremely dark green, approaching black, with a
glimmering surface on the basal cleavages. It usually
occurs in aggregated bunches with occasional comparatively
large flakes. The hornblende is also dark in colour, but
it may be detected here and there by its longitudinal
striation. Of the several varieties of granitite which have
been observed in this district, that under notice is not only the
coarsest in general structure, but is also the most conspicuous
in colouration. It was obtained on the higher ground near
the 14-Mile Camp, associated with the augite-syenite.

Microscopical Structure. — The dominant coloured consti-
tuent is biotite, a green hornblende being quite subordinate.
Hence we can hardly call the rock a hornblende-granite.
As granitites (biotite-granites) do not always carry biotite
exclusively, they may vary into hornblende-granitites, and
often contain a good deal more hornblende than the present
rock. There is a fair quantity of quartz and oligoclase-
andesine felspar with albite twinning. Plates of orthoclase,
optically continuous, sometimes enclose crystals of plagioclase
snd biotite. The mica is in irregular disjointed plates and
shreds, often bent and wavy, in colour deep brown,
bleaching to bronze and pale greenish yellow, retaining
always strong pleochroism.

10. Gabbro without Olivine.

Min. Const.: Diallage, enstatite, plagioclase felspar, titaniferous
iron.

Sp. Gr. 2-88.

Macroscopical Structure. — This is a dense crystalline
granular gabbro without any marked external peculiarities.
It is uniformly dark in colour ; the ground mass of the
rock is grey, with greenish-black irregular markings plenti-
fully distributed throughout its substance. It occurs in
masses of considerable extent in close proximity to the
serpentine belt, and is associated with some of the pyroxenite
rocks.

Miser oscopical Structure. — A noncrystalline gabbroid
aggregate of pyroxene and felspar. The diallage pre-

S5

dominate?, but there is much serpentinised enstatite. The
diallage is present in too great quantity for the rock to
be a norite, but the rhombic pyroxene stamps it as a
passage rock between the gabbros proper and norites. The
felspar is not plentiful, and from its high extinction angles
may be assigned to the anorthite group. Some of the crystals
of felspar show incipient decomposition in the form of opaque
dusty patches, which is probably the commencement of
saussuritisation. The titaniferous iron is granular, and in the
state of leucoxene. No olivine is visible.

11. Porphyritic Diabase.

Min. Const. : Augite, plagioclase felspar, magnetite, and
secondary chlorite.

Sp. Gr. 2-9.

Macroscopical Structure. — A fine grained, compact rock,
presenting a uniform dark grey colour throughout, with the
exception of the porphyritic crystals of triclinic felspar, which
are milk "white aud shining on the principal cleavages. The
numerous porphyritic felspars form the most conspicuous
feature of this peculiar diabase. They occur semi-distant
and irregularly embedded ; in size they vary in a marked
degree, the majority probably averaging about 8 millimetres
in length, with an occasional specimen of comparatively large
size. Under the hammer this rock is exceedingly tough,
breakiug with an irregular sharp-edged fracture. It was
observed in the form of loose blocks on the Waratah-Corinna
road, near the bridge which spans the Arthur River. As it
was not obtained in situ it is uncertain whether it is effusive
or a penetrating mass.

Microscopical Structure. — Its main feature is the marked
development of the diabasic or ophitic structure, the large
shapeless masses of augite looking as if cut up by narrow
felspar prisms in all directions. The orientation, however,
remains the same, showing the pyroxenic substance to be one
and the same crystalline mass. This division of the augite
is essentially an optical effect ; in reality, the felspars had
crystallised out in their present form before the augite had
consolidated. When it did consolidate, it enwrapped the
felspars, which then remained fixed in different positions.
The latter is now pale green in tint, and all of it is in a
chloritised state.

Another noticeable point is the presence of a few large
crystals of plagioclase felspar, imparting a porphyritic appear-
ance to the rock. This is what Rosenbusch calls the diabase-
porphyrite facies. It is often connected with the peripheral
parts of diabase intrusions. Notwithstanding this, the rock

36

is noncrystalline, the rest of the field appearing to consist of
smaller felspars and augite, and feathery chlorite after augite.
This rock in its primitive state was an ophitic dolerite, but
it has undergone a thorough chloritic alteration. The term
diabase in Tasmania, as elsewhere, should be reserved for such
occurrences, and not applied to comparatively fresh rocks
like the mesozoic dolerite of Launceston.

12. Websterite.
Sp. Gtr. 2-94.

This is a second type of websterite, a species of the
plutonic group of distinctly pyroxene rocks, of which several
. peculiar varieties occur in the Heazlewood district. They
form, in conjunction with other members of this group, one
of the most characteristic features of the locality. They
are almost invariably intimately connected with tlfe serpen-
tine area, and consequently soon attract attention. That at
present under consideration has a strongly noncrystalline
granular structure throughout. The enstatite is readily
discernible scattered throughout the substance of the rock in
the form of translucent lamina3 of a yellowish-brown colour,
which have a pseudo-metallic lustre, in this respect closely
resembling its ally bronzite. The more plentiful monoclinic
diallage is apparently of a darker tint, with little or no pro-
nounced lustre.

The two forms of pyroxene are closely packed together, so
that they give the fractures a distinctly roughened surface
by the projecting angles of the numerous crystals. The em-
bedded individual crystals of both pyroxenes are fairly
uniform in size, rarely exceeding 5 millimetres in length, and
are entirely without the scattered large flakes of diallage
which form such a pronounced feature in the variety of
websterite already described. This rock is sometimes found
to enclose elongated, crudely lenticular blocks of perfectly
serpentinised material of an intensely black colour ; these
often reach a considerable size, wdiich then tend to give the
mass a brecciated appearance. It is often met with in a par-
tially decomposed condition, in which case the components
are more readily reduced to powder, and the general appear-
ance of the rock is considerably altered. In this condition it
becomes of a dull greenish-brown colour, with here and there
thin patches of ferrous oxide, and has occasionally an indis-
tinct fissile structure. On weathering, the exposed surface of
the rock generally becomes of a dark rusty brown colour.

Microscopical Structure. That of a pure pyroxenite, being
solely pyroxene, mostly monoclinic in elongated forms accom-
panied by enstatite in sufficient quantity to rank it as the

websterite of Williams The diallage is made up of lamellse,
orientating optically in different stripes, and the crystals have
sometimes been mechanically beat into deformed curves. The
enstatite is in squarer forms, much serpentinised and in parts
altered into bastite.

13. Enstatite Porphyrite.

Sp. Gr. 2-84.

Min. Const.: Chloritic pseudomorphs after enstatite, augite, fel-
spar in a ground mass of felspar laths and quartz,
magnetite in vesicles, quartz, calcite, epidote.

Macroscopical Structure. In general appearance this is a
dull, greenish-grey coloured and finely granular rock,
with numerous distinct but minute pittings of a darker,
almost black, shade scattered throughout ; these are
apparently the chloritic pseudomorphs after the pyroxenic
constituents. These markings are, although usually plenti-
ful, more pronounced in some samples than others. The
most noticeable feature in this rock is its highly vesicular
character throughout. The vesicles vary from small cavities,
which are scarcely discernible to the naked eye, to others
which reach a comparatively large size, occasionally
measuring from two to three inches in diameter, They are
almost invariably lined with a thin coating of colourless
shining secondary calcite, many of the larger ones being
quite filled with this substance. There is sometimes a rather
large quantity of dark coloured epidote in fibrous fan-shaped
aggregations in close association with the calcite. This
porphyrite is fairly hard and tough, breaking with a hackly
fracture. The exposed surfaces are usually weathered to a
pale rusty brown. It occurs in the form of an intrusive
dyke, which is apparently about two chains in width, as seen
exposed by the road cuttings near the 11-Mile Peg on the
Waratah-Corinna road. In the near vicinity are rocks of
sedimentary origin, but now much altered, and mainly
represented by cherty quartz.

Microscopical Structure. — Nearly all the phenocrysts have
been converted into chlorite of a pale greenish hue, slightly
pleochroic, and giving a blue slate interference colour. F rom
their forms we judge the original minerals to have been,
in their order of frequency, enstatite, augite, felspar. In one
instance one of the porphyritic felspars has resisted the
process of change. Its extinction angle is moderate : it is
probably labradorite. The enstatite crystals are entirely
idiomorphic, of prismatic habit and often cross jointed.
From these tranverse fissures and from the margins the

38

change to bastite is in process, very visible by polarised
light. The crystals of augite are much fewer in number, and
are mostly somewhat octagonal in section.

The felspar of the ground mass comprise striped and
simple laths, and often show fluxion phenomena. The small
extinction angle of the twinned felspars points to oligoclase,
and the straight extinctions of the simple laths to orthoclase.
There is a quantity of granular quartz in the ground mass,
but it is doubtful whether all of it is primary. If it is, it is
rather an exceptional occurrence in enstatite-porphyrite. The
rest of the ground mass consists of diffused chloritic matter
and brown granular aj>parently micro-felsitic substance.
Large amygdaloidal cavities are occupied by quartz, epidote,
and calcite. Here and there in the ground mass, especially
in the neigbourhood of the amygdaloids there are aggre-
gations of granular magnetite, obscuring the felspar micro-
liths, but little or none elsewhere. The rock evidently
belongs to the intermediate division, and is essentially
andesitic.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE.

Fig. 1. Harzburgite. x 13. Crossed Nicols. The larger crystals are
enstatite. Most of the smaller ones are olivine.

Fig. 2. Olivine Norite. x 13. Crossed Nicols. Shows poly synthetically
twinned felspars and meshed olivine. The dark parts are
principally enstatite.

Fig. 3. Pyroxenite. x 18. Crossed Nicols. The field is occupied by
part of large diallage crystals, separated by a brecciated vein
of small crystals of monoclinic pyroxene, the " mortar structure "
of petrography.

.Fig. .4. Lherzolite. x 13. Crossed Nicols. Shows the granular
association of olivine and pyroxenes. This is No. 5 in the paper.

HAZLEWOOD ROCKS.

39

ON THE OCCURRENCE OE OBSIDIAN "BUTTONS

IN TASMANIA.

Read August 2, 1897.

By W. H. Twelvetrees, F.G.S., & W. F. Petterd, C.M.Z.S.

The little grooved aud rounded discs of lava known as
obsidian buttons (and among local miners as fossil gum
seeds [eucalyptus] or pods) found occasionally in the tin
drift at Thomas Plains, Eastern Tasmania, and at Long
Plain, near Waratah, have not attracted much attention
hitherto, but are now acquiring particular interest from
European researches in connection with similar occurrences
•elsewhere. They are by no means plentiful, and only eight
specimens have come into our hands ; six from Thomas
.Plains : one from Mr. Cherry's property at Springfield, near
Scottsdale ; and another from Long Plain. Their occurrence
has been recorded in the work cited below.* They are
generally nearly hemispherical in shape, with a few concentric
rings or flutings round the hemisphere. The edge of the
disc is smoothly irregular, with distant sub-depressions. The
flattened side or base is slightly concave, with a central
convex elevation, which is ringed round with a distinct
beading. In colour they are intense black, somewhat dull
from a thin epidermal skin. The merest fracture,
which is conchoidal, shows a lustrous glass beneath. On
their edges the colour becomes deep grey to yellowish
brown, and the glass translucent. They are somewhat
constant in size, both as regards diameter and thickness, the
largest measuring l|in. in diameter by fin. in height.

There are only two exceptional forms which we have seen
or heard of, viz., one which has been likened to the outline of
the elytra of a large beetle, which is shown by a specimen in
the possession of Mr. Aug. Simson, and another of a more
elongated form. In the first of these, the general pattern of
its grooves, beading, and wrinkles is similar to that of the
others ; and it is in fact a circular button drawn out while
viscous into an elongated ellipse. This, as well as several
other specimens of the normal circular buttons, was obtained
by Mr. Simson from Thomas Plains. That from Long
Plain is also of an abnormal shape. It was found in the
alluvial quartz drift of Smith's Creek, ten feet from the
surface, when sluicing for gold in the year 1891. It is
sub-cyclindrical or bolt-like, somewhat constricted in the

* " Obsidian . . . has been found in circular and concave or buttondike
flakes of an intensely black colour in stanniferous drift, apparently igneous
■ ejectamenta, Thomas Plains." Cat. Minerals of Tasmania. W. F. Petterd, p. 64.

40

middle, measuring 2|in. long by fin., narrowest diameter,
and fin. at the ends. Its sides are grooved vertically, and
what may be called its base is bounded all round by a sharp
edge. In both of these respects it resembles a type of button
found in West Australia. Its sp. gr. is 245.

The occurrence of specimens both on the east and west
sides of the island makes their non-discovery hitherto in the
central portion remarkable.

The specific gravity of the glass ranges in different speci-
mens from 2*45 to 2*47. This definitely excludes it from the
basaltic glasses (tachylyte, etc.). Tasmanian tachylyte,
which we have subjected to a specific gravity determination,
varies from 272 to 277. Perhaps the lightest basalt glass
recorded is that of the Siisebuhl, 2*50 to 2-54. The Icelandic
sideromelane is also very light, viz., 253. These are very
exceptional figures for the density of the vitreous form of
basalt, which in general probably averages near 27. We
have been asked whether the buttons in question may not
consist of tachylyte, but a glance at their specific gravity is
sufficient to dispel all doubt, irrespective of their micro-
scopical appearance, to which reference will be made directly.
The density, indeed, is that of obsidian. Under this term is
understood the glassy form of the acid and sub-acid rocks,
namely, rhyolite — and trachyte-glass, the specific gravity of
which varies between the extremes of 2 26 and 2'55.
Ehyolite glass is stated by Teall to reach a density as high
as 2-41*.

Without a chemical analysis it is hazardous to say precisely
whether the Tasmanian glass is rhyolite— or trachyte-obsidian,
but that it is one of the two admits of no reasonable doubt.
Judging by the specific gravity, it is highly probable that it
belongs to the trachytic variety.

Its microscopical characters may be summarised as follows :
—Transparent, colourless glass, puckered by irregularly
sweeping curves in its substance, the result of cooling, and
exerting a faint indefinite action on polarised light, indicative
of strain. Under a low power the section looks like clear
glass, but dusted with minute specks, which under a one-
eighth or a one-twelfth objective, are resolved into tiny gas
pores and globulitee. The latter are sometimes stringed
together in threes and fours, forming the linear groups called
margarites. These are crystallites, and have no reaction on
polarised light ; short crystallitic rods also occur. All these
incipient devitrification products are most numerous near the
margin of the button. The gas pores may be distinguished
by their dark refraction border, due to the difference between
the refractive index of the empty cavities, and that of the

* British Petrography, p, 49.

41

glass which surrounds thein (1 and T488). Some large
circular gas pores are seen in the section surrounded bj glo-
bulites and yellow glass. Here and there aggregations of
globulites occur, associated with yellow or brown glass.
Glass inclusions are also present. Obsidian from the Thames
district, New Zealand (sp. gr. 2-41), has the same globulitic
devitrification, but is sprinkled with belonites and forked
inicrolites. The Hungarian and Mexican obsidians are crowded
with crystallitic and microlitic forms, and, judging from our
slides, are not comparable either with the New Zealand or the
Tasmanian obsidian.

The purest natural glass in the world is perhaps fulgurite
glass, which is supposed to have been produced by the fusion
of rock by lightning. This structureless glass contains no
crystallisation products whatever, and contains nothing
beyond glass enclosures aud gas vesicles*. The Tas-
manian obsidian does not attain this degree of purity, but
approaches to some extent the clearness of bouteillenstein,
which is a remarkably pellucid natural glass. The buttons
under review must not be classed with the bombs which are
ejected from modern volcanoes in New Zealand. The latter
are of an entirely different nature, for they belong to the
basic division of eruptive rocks. They are somewhat cylindrical
in shape, of a dark grey colour, externally scoriaceous, with
the internal texture of a compact lava. A section which we
have made of a bomb ejected from Rotorua shows it to be
an olivine-basalt lava, containing phenocrysts of olivine,
(invaded and corroded by the magma) and augite in a glassy
base in which microliths of felspar and augite have crystal-
lised. In accord with these basic features, we find its specific
gravity to be 2737.

The strange feature of the Tasmanian occurrence is that no
glass of similar igneous rocks is known in the island, nor
any trace whatever of tertiary or recent rhyolites or trachytes.
The specimen from Thomas Plains which we figure was
found in the old Union claim near Weldborough in 1875
below the surface soil, about 5 or 6ft. deep, in the clay which
caps the stanniferous quartz drift. In all, three examples
were obtained in comparatively close proximity to each
other. A few years later another was obtained from a heap
of tailings on Thomas Plains,, only two or three miles from
those just mentioned.

Mr. John Cherry, of Springfield, in reply to our inquiry,
informs us that he found a button in a bed of quartz wash
six inches thick, overlaid by two feet of alluvium, the whole
resting upon granite. He found a second specimen about
a mile from the first, lying on the surface of the ground.

* On Fulgurite from Mt. Blanc : F. Rutley, Q. J. Geol. Soc. Vol. xli., 1885, p. 152.

E

42

Granite crops out in the side of the hill, which is capped by
basaltic rock. He also states that he has not heard of any
other being found.

Although so few have been actually obtained, it is not un-
reasonable to suppose that they may be far from rare, for such
objects might easily escape the notice of the ordinary miner
in his search for more profitable material. They would
probably be passed for "black Jack " (pleonaste or tourma-
line) or other useless stuff.

But these remarkable productions are not confined to
Tasmania. They have been found, according to Professor
Krausef on the plains of Northern Victoria, New South
Wales, in Central and Northern Australia distant from any
volcanic rock. He adds also that they have been discovered
embedded in the surface soil and drifts on and adjacent
to lava flows, the nature of which, however, is not stated.
Mr. B. Hy. Walcott, curator of the Technological Museum,
Melbourne, informs us that they occur in the western parts
of Victoria at Mts. Elephant, Eccles, etc., and remarks that
their occurrence is surrounded with mystery. Mr. H. Y. L.
Brown^ also cites them from South Australia in alluvium,
and on the surface, most frequently on the stony downs and
table hill country of the far north, likewise distant from any
volcanic rock.

Obsidian balls are also met with in Western Australia,
scattered, as we are assured, over a large ar^a, but no expla-
nation of their origin has been offered*. We are informed
that in the Coolgardie district these buttons are collected by
the aborigines and used as charms by pressing them on the
part of the body which is suffering pain. We have
examined one of these West Australian bombs. It is
sub-globose in form, lin. in diameter and fin. thick, with
one hemisphere rathered flattened. The median line is
produced to an edge, which divides the ball into two unequal
halves. There is a little iudistinct vertical fluting on the
larger half in proximity to the equatorial edge. It is, how-
ever, without the concentric rings, grooves, and flange which
give the majority of the Tasmanian bombs a decidedly button-
like appearance. The surface of both is structurally iden-
tical, as well as the colour of the dull crust and the vitreous
interior. Its specific gravity is 2 45.

A specimen from Thomas Plains, found by Mr. Gaylor in
1895, bears a strong resemblance to those from near Cool-
gardie, W.A. It is intensely black, sub-globose, with a

t Introd. Mineralogy, F. M. Krause, 1896. p. 214.

J Cat. S. Australian Minerals, H. Y. L. Brown, 1893, p. 25.

* "Obsidian bombs are found all over the interior, but where they come from
no one knows." Mining Handbook to the colony of W. Australia. H. P. Wood-
ward, 1894, p. 34.

43

somewhat broad median band, which is irregularly finely
indented. The outer margin of one face has a row of
extremely minute crenulations which are almost microscopic.
This is the only specimen which has come under our notice
of the Australian type, as it is without the flange or beading,
which is apparently characteristic of the buttons obtained on
the East Coast.

The Australian bombs have been compared with the
nodules of bouteillenstein (pseudo - chrysolite, moldavite)
translucent to brown in colour, found in sand near
Moldanthein in Bohemia, and in tuff in the Auvergne,
as well as with the glassy marekanite balls of the Mai'ekanka,
near Okhotsk, in Eastern Siberia. But the nature of mare-
kanite is now well understood. It is the perlitic or sub-
pumiceous modification of a glassy rhyolitic rock in situ on
the Marekauka, the concentric jointing of which detaches
onion-like spheroids. The nuclei of these spheroids are the
marekanite glass balls, which vary in size from that of a pea
to that of an orange. In his paper on marekanite, Professor
Judd* refers to the description by Damour, in 1844, of a
black obsidian ball from India, 2|in. diameter. This ball
had the composition of dacite glass (sp. gr. 2"47), but unfor-
tunately its locality was not known.

The nodules of bouteillenstein are undoubtedly obsidian,
but the localities in which they are found do not suggest any
serious difficulty in accounting for their presence, though no
detailed comparison appears to have been instituted between
their nature and that of the rocks belonging to the adjacent
volcanic centres. In Australia and Tasmania, volcanic rocks
are either absent from the vicinity, or belong to quite a
different penological family, aud consequently could not have
been a source

Mr. Verbeek records similar obsidian balls from the quar-
ternary, or perhaps pliocene tin ore deposits of Billiton; from
quarternary tuff strata in Java, and from gold and platinum
mines of the same age in South Eastern Borneof. We
may here draw attention to the circumstance that all over
the wide area of the earth's surface in which these bombs occur,
they are found only in deposits of the later tertiary or the
recent period.

Analyses of some of the Victorian specimens were made
by Mr. Cosmo Newbery, and published in the " Descriptive
Catalogue of the Rock Specimens and Minerals in the
National Museum, 1868." Bv the courtesv of Mr. B. H.
Walcott, we are able to give the particulars of one of these
analyses, and we append, for comparison, Cohen's analysis of a

* On Marekanite and its allies. Prof. J. W. Judtl, Geol. Mag., 1886, p. 245.
t " Nature," May 13, 1897.

44

"compact basalt obsidian" (basalt glass) from TCilauea, in
the Sandwich Islands*.

Victorian Obsidian Buttons.
Specimen No. 21.

Sp. Gr. 2'47.

Sc 0,

... 73-70

Fe, 03

... 608

Fe 0

—

AL 0,

... 4-99

Ca 0

... 420

Mg 0

... 010

MnO

—

MnO,

—

Ti 02

—

Na» 0

5-20

K2 0

4-83

H2 0

—

Loss by

Ignition 0 "5 5

}

Total

9965 ...

Basalt Glasf

, Kilauea.

Sp

Gr. 2-75.

• . . ...

5381

.

...

3-05

7 39

13-48

1034

6.46

.

.

trace

3-23

064

0-57

98-94

Under the circumstances which we have detailed, how these
bombs came to be where they are now found is a perplexing
question, and one which has caused varied speculation. Prof.
Krause approves of the suggestion that the aborigines may-
have used them as articles of barter, and thus distributed
them broadcast over the Australian continent. This is not in
accord with what is known of the habits of the native tribes.
Mr. Brown states the problem, but leaves it in statu quo,
remarking that their presence is most difficult to account for.
Mr. Verbeek has lately offered a solution in his paper read
before the Royal Academy of Sciences, Amsterdam, March
27, 1897, on the Geology of Bangka and Billiton. Seeing
that the nearest volcanoes are too distant, and over there, as
is well known, have emitted rocks of a different chemical
composition, he is led to seek an extra-terrestrial origin for
these buttons. Assuming the surface of the moon to consist
largely of acidic rocks, he believes these objects to have had
their source in lunar volcanoes.

That they are volcanic products is unquestionable; conse-
quently it is probable that their spheroidal or discoid form
has resulted from masses of fluid lava being thrown up to a
great height from the throat of a volcano, separating into
independent drops — rotating in the air, and thus acquiring
uniform grooves, which remained impressed upon them after

* Petrography of the Sandwich Islands : E. S. Dana.

45

they had cooled. They are solid to the centre, and this
points to their rotation having been comparatively slowf
The inference that the volcano was a lunar one is, in our
opinion, unnecessary, and is moreover open to more than one
objection. Admitting that the energy of a large volcano on
the moon's surface may be sufficient to discharge a piece of
lava from our satellite, tbis projectile would then revolve
round the earth in an orbit of its own, and as has been pointed
out by Sir R. S. BallJ if it once completed that orbit it
would never fall on the earth. On the theory of probabilities
the chances of the orbital path coinciding with the position of
the earth in space are infinitesimal ; but it must absolutely
coincide on the first revolution, if the projected lava disc is
ever to find a resting place on our globe. And yet we are
asked to believe, not in one such coincidence, but in thousands.
It is highly improbable that small bodies like these buttons
would survive the friction and heat of their descent through
the air. This friction reduces countless meteorites to meteoric
dust, or to the small fragments which occasionally succeed in
reaching us. Further, it is difficult to believe that objects of
such a symmetrical figure had ever begun to revolve in a
planetary orbit. To our mind the elliptical form of one of
the bombs is decisive against the theory of a lunar origin,
showing as it does that it was still in a viscous state when it
fell upon the soil.

There seems therefore no other source to resort to than
terrestrial volcanoes of an acid or sub- acid type. This
hypothesis only requires that the molten spray should have
been carried by winds as far as Tasmania and Australia.
Having regard to the Krakatoa ash being transported in the
air to enormous distances from its point of ejection*, we
cannot make distance a reason for denying to these singular
buttons of obsidian a source in some pliocene or quarternary
volcano of the southern hemisphere. The nearest known
source of tertiary obsidian is New Zealand, but whether
these objects have been brought from that island, or from
the Antarctic continent or elswhere, it is as yet impossible to
say.

Note. — Since the above paper was read, additional information
has been received from various sources respecting further localities
in Tasmania. These are the Norfolk Range, in stanniferous
drift ; Camden Plain, Mount Barrow, in auriferous wash ; at
Lisle, in auriferous wash.

t The Ancient Volcanoes of Great Britain. Sir A. Geikie, 1897, vol. i., p. 60.

J The Story of the Heavens. Sir R. S. Ball, 1892, p. 355.

* "The speed and distance attained by the pumice ejected from the volcano
may be conceived from the fact stated in Mr. Douglas Archibald's contribution to
the report, that dust fell on Sept. 8th, more than 3,700 English miles from the seat
of its eruption." Dr. W. Marcet's address, " Nature," March 20, 1890, p. 477.

4G

EXPLANATION OF PLATES.
Platk I.
Fig. 1. Obsidian button, from near Coolgardie, Western Australia.

Fig. 2. Do. do. Reverse.

Fig. 3. Do., from Thomas Plains, Tasmania. Convex surface showing
annular beading and pittings.

Fig. 4 Do. do. Flat surface with beading, and rounded central area.
Slightly eularged.

Fig. 5. Do., from Thomas Plains, Tasmania. Abnormal form, appa-
rently drawn out in viscid condition.

Fig. 6. Do. Reverse.

OBSIDIAN BUTTONS.

"■ .'v ' ;

.

Twelvetrees, Photo-micro.

OBSIDIAN BUTTONS.

47
ON TRITHURIA F1LAMENTOSA.

By L. Rodway.
Bead August 2, 1897.

The genus Trithuria lias hitherto been represented by one
species only. Like the order to which it belongs, it is pro-
bably the remnant of an ancient stock that nourished in past
ages. It can hardly be said that the type is being extermi-
nated, in the struggle for existence its peculiar locality is
hardly otherwise occupied, it seems rather to be dving out
from some more obscure cause, a senility that renders it
unable to adapt itself to small, gradual change.

All Centrolepidse of the present day are small and
herbaceous. The characteristic pistal remains soft, and the
seeds are not clearly distinguishable from those of ad-
joining orders, so there is little hope that we shall ever trace
their ancestors in leaf-beds. But their geographical distribu-
tion, confined as it is to regions supporting an ancient
terrestrial flora, and the small number of species, together
with their clear differentiation from adjoining types, mark
them as ancient survivors rather than recent productions.

The genus Trithuria itself is of exceptional interest, in so
far that the ovulary has somewhat the form of that organ in
the neighbouring order Restiaceae, apparently indicating a
philogenetic relationship, but similarity ceases here. The
habits and tissues, the inflorescence and floral members have
a type of their own. The late Baron von Mueller, on the
strength of this apparent similarity of ovularies, combined
the two orders, but his view is not generally accepted.

The plant to which I now refer grows in abundance in
pools on the mud flats at the head of the Broad River on the
Field Range. It is certainly very closely allied to Trithuria
submersa, Hook., but differs in important details from the
type as described and figured in Hooker's Flora Tasmanise
and all forms in Herb. Mueller. The erect bracts give a
Centrolepis-like appearance to the inflorescence, and the
stigmatic branches are long and numerous, forming a con-
spicuous pink brush when the plant is in flower. The
filaments also, instead of being short, are greatly lengthened,
so that the anthers are remotely protruding. Again, unlike
T. submersa, stamens are not freely interspersed amongst
carpels, but are absent from those flower heads which bear
many carpels, and where present are usually only two in
number and accompanied in the head by but few carpels.
Finally, the fruit, instead of being somewhat trigonous, is
elliptical or oval, with three inconspicuous ribs.

Owing to the kindness of Mr. Leuhman I was permitted
to examine forms from von Mueller's collection, and amongst

48

them was one from Tasmania bearing the erect bracts of
this plant, but with the short stigmas and filaments and
interspersed stamens of the type.

Trithuria jilnmentosa, n.s. Ccespitose and tufted, leaves
linear, acute pale green, 1 — 2 in. long. Scapes slender,
usually shorter than the leaves. Bracts 2 — 5 erect, en-
closing the flowers 2 — 2\ lines long. Stameus, usually 2,
confined to heads with but few carpels, filaments filiform
5 — 6 lines long, anthers linear obtuse, nearly 1 line long.
Carpels numerous in the purely female heads, stipitate, nearly
globose, angles obsolete, stigmatic branches mostly 4 — 6,
filiform 2 — 3 lines long. Fruit elliptical, hardly differing
from youug carpel.

Common in niarsh at the head of Broad River, Field
Range.

Mllfi

^

A^4<.

^

/^

BB

-&*x^z£e*z_. /i^

49

THE IEON DEPOSITS OF TASMANIA
By Mr. W. C. Dauncey, C.E., M.E.

As the initial effort to establish the iron industry in Tasmania
failed owing to the presence of the element chromium in the product,
it will, perhaps, be wise for us to examine the influence of this element
on iron and steel. It may be considered by some as unnecessary for
this matter to be dealt with, but as it caused failure before, and
certainly exists in a large proportion in some of the Tasmanian ores, we
will note a few of its chief characteristics, and see in what way its
influence ia likely to bs felt in future ventures connected with iron
manufacture. Before proceeding, however, let me point out one
peculiarity in connection with chromium, and its presence in iron ores.
It is seldom found in the iron at or near the surface, but generally at
some considerable depth down. This is important, because a surface or
high level sample might lead to the belief that chromium was not
present, while samples taken towards lower levels might be very
strongly impregnated with the element, and consequently useless for
any but special purposes, and this only after special treatment.

Nearly 80 years ago Berthier publicly described and recognised
the value of chrome-steel, and the method used by him for its pre-
paration was practically the same as that of to-day. When chromium
combines with iron, which it will do in almost all proportions,
certainly up to 80 per cent., it appears to oxidise very readily ; to raise
the saturation point for carbon ; to increase the hardness of the alloy,
especially of that of hardened steel ; and probably also the tensile
strength and elastic limit, while it has a very marked influence in
lessening the welding power. It does not, as soma have stated, take
the place of carbon in giving to steel the power of being hardened
upon sudden cooling, but, when present tvith carbon, it tends to
increase the degree of hardness taken by the steel. The influence
of chromium upon the hot malleableness and ductility of steel may,
in my opinion, be ignored, as also its influence upon the material
when under impact or quiescent load.

The well-known ease with which chromium oxidises has suggested the
use of chrome (ferrochrome) instead of spiegeleisen as a re-carburizer
for the Bessemer process. But there is no reason to suppose that
success would be achieved by such a method. The oxides of manganese
arising from the reaction between the oxygen of the blown steel and
the manganese of the spiegeleisen are fusible and scorifiable, they
coalesce and rise to the surface of the molten metal. Chromium oxide,
infusible and practically unscorifiable, would remain mixed with the
steel, and thus break up its continuity and impair its forgeableness. To
prove this contention one has but to refer to the crucible method, in
which the chromium has but little chancs to oxidise ; the presence
of any Cr3 04, formed while the steel is molten, is liable to cause
deep, ineradicable veins in chromium steel, particularly if the percen-
tage of carbon be low, or that of chromium high. Even in working
chromium steels, a very strong and adherent scale forms, which renders
welding very difficult, if not quite impossible. The suggestion
to substitute chromium iron ore and calcined limestone for ferro-
manganese does not appeal to me in any way, and if not condemned
untried, should at all events be looked upon as a very doubtful
experiment. Sufficient has been said to indicate the chemical influence
of chromium upon iron and steel, and we may now turn our attention
to its influence upon the physical properties. It is usually supposed

50

that the presence of chromium raises the tensile strength of iron,
but of this there is no certain proof. The greatest increase of tensile
strength, supposed to be due to the presence of chromium, that has
come under my notice, was only about 4001b. per 0 1 per cent, of
chromium per square inch, ani in this case it would be unsafe to
assume that the increase was due to the presence of chromium,
because other elements were present and might have had some influ-
ence. At all even's one case, and that a doubtful one, could not be
taken as proof that chromium did materially increaee the tensile
strength of iron. Again, it is stated that the elastic limit is raised
even more by this element than the tensile strength; this, however, is
altogether unproved. One cise came under my notice where the
elastic limit was nearly identical with the tensile strength, but in
other samples of the same material it was either normal or un-
usually low, so that no reliance can be placed upon this one case.

As regards the ductility of steels, all the available information seems
to show that the presence of chromium has neither a beneficial nor
deleterious influence. Chromium does exert a hardening tendency.
Unhardened chrome-steels are harder and more difficult to cut
than chromeless steels of like carbon content, and their hardness
increases with the percentage of chromium.

Judging from recent and reliable information, my belief is that
chrome steel has an enormous future in front of it, and I have no
hesitation in stating that the true article is fully entitled to rank as a
most important material fo^ many purposes. Several of the Tasmanian
ores are eminently suitable for the manufacture of this material, and,
providing the metal b.j produced of a uniform quality, there is every
reason to anticipate the establishment of a most remunerative industry
on the Northern coast of Tasmania.-

Careful chemical supervision and absolute honesty between the
manufacturer and consumer are the most important factors to be con-
sidered, and providing these conditions are complied with, there is
no reason whatever why the venture should not be an unqualified
success. Of course there are many points of importance to be con-
sidered, but a paper such as this is not the proper medium, they being
purely matters of detail, and consequently uninteresting to any but
those engaged in the industry.

So much then for the chromium ores and the prospect of their being
developed and utilised ; now we can consider the enormous deposits of
iron ore that are free from this element. These are of infinitely more
importance to Tasmania, and are amongst the finest in the world. Two
assay reports now in my possession give the percentage of oxide of iron
as 99.05 and 99.41, which is equal to 69*33 and 69*58 metallic iron.
Chromium and alumina are both entirely absent, of phosphorus, there
is only a slight trace, and the sulphur is too low to be of any trouble
either in the manufacture of pig iron or in the finished article. This
is an exceptionally pure class of ore, easy to mine, and peculiarly adapted
for treatment in the blast furnace.

It would require very little flux, and for this purpose excellent
limestone exists inthe neighbourhood This is only one of the deposits
of non-chromium ores, but there are several others with practically
the same composition, and which could be treated with equal facility.
It is not the object of this paper to advertise the merits of one
particular deposit, but rather to indicate the broad lines along which
any venture must travel if the manufacture of iron and steel is to
become an accomplished and remunerative fact for Tasmania. There is
no doubt in the near future the great problem of localy manufac-
turing the iron and steel required by the Australasian colonies will
have to be faced. But for the indifference and apathy shown by

51

the different Governments of New South Wales, the manufacture of
these materials would have been in full swing years ago, and they
have no deposit of iron ore equal to that of Tasmania. The
so-called statesmen fail to see that manufactures are the backbone of a
country, and that the iron and steel trade is the basis of all other
industries. If it were possible to withdraw all iron and steel from use
man would soon revert to a state little better than barbarism. From
the iron trade all other manufacturing industries will grow with
remarkable rapidity, as has been proved in innumerable other places,
and until this has been established little headway will be made towards
a sound commercial prosperity. Look at America. Seventy years
ago she produced only the smallest possible amount of iroD, and
practically no steel, while to-day she produces one-half the total
output of the world, and this in the face of enormous natural
difficulties. By natural difficulties is meant the awkward distribu-
tion of the three essential materials — coal, limestone, and iron. In
some cases one or other of these materials has to be carried upwards of
1,000 miles to the other two, and then back, as a finished article, to
the distributing centre.

We may now see in what way it would be advisable to proceed in
the utilisation of these deposits of iron ore, both the chromiferous
and nonchromiferous. The two classes are specially mentioned
because, in the author's opinion, the secret of commercial success lies
in treating the two ores at one works.

Taking the chromiferous first, it would be advisable to work in the
direction of producing a steel containing a certain definite proportion
of chromium. For this purpose a mixture of the two ores— chromifer-
ous and non-chromiferous — might be made in smelting, or a percentage
of the chromium pig might be added to the pure pig when melting
for the production of steel. Owing to peculiar characteristics, before
detailed, it would be impossible to satisfactorily deal with chromifer-
ous pig iron in the puddling furnace for the production of malleable
iron.

To utilise this material it will be necessary to convert, the pig
iron direct into steel, and for this purpose the Bessemer process
would undoubtedly be the best. A description of this process would
take too long, but it may be mentioned that its leading feature is
the introduction of large volumes of atmospheric air — under pressure
— beneath a bath of molten metal. The air as it forces its way
upwards and through the molten metal oxidises and burns out most
ot the foreign elements and chemical impurities. By this method of
production the material is more under control, while under skilful
supervision a steel containing any desired proportion of chromium can
be produced. The other foreign and deleterious elements could be
removed, or neutralised, by oxidation or the introduction of some
element possessing a stronger affinity for them than they have for
iron : in tbe same way that dolomitic limestone is used in the basic
process of steel manufacture to extract the phosphorus.

The most suitable method of adding the required proportion of
chromium would be as follows : — Melt pure pig iron (iron free from
chromium) in the Bessemer converter, and reduce it to as nearly pure
ferrum as possible, then add the necessary amount of chromiferous
pig, and after a few moments' violent agitation, to ensure perfect
mixing, cast in the ordinary way into ingot moulds.

By this means a steel possessing all the advantages and none of
the disadvantages attendant upon the presence of chromium would be
produced.

There is little doubt but that a metal so produced would command
a ready and profitable sale, providing buyers knew that they could buy

52

such material, and rely upon getting a steel containing the necessary
percentage of chromium, and not varying between a maximum and a
minimum with a wide range.

There are innumerable purposes for which such material would be
eminently suitable, and for these purposes alone should it be used.
It baa been stated that chromiferous pig iron ought to be used for the
production of chilled shot. Beyond a doubt it would do admirably
but considering that a very much commoner iron can be used at a
great saving of expense it will never be adopted for such a purpose.

It will never do to try and force this material on the market
except for those purposes for which its peculiar characteristics
render it specially adapted.

The limit of useful application for chrome steel is clearly defined, and
no efforts should be made to take it outside of this.

The blast furnace and smelting plant erected for the production
of the chrome iron and steel would be equally suitable for the pro-
duction of non-chromiferous or pure metal.

With the materials at hand a very fine kind of wrought iron and
steel could be produced, and for best) purposes nothing finer need be
desired, for the materials are such that the product would be a
magnificent sample, and up to any possible tests and specification
requirements.

So far as the writer is aware, the Tasmanian coals are all unsuita-
ble for smelting purposes, and even if this is not the case, the cost of
transport would be prohibitive. Apart from this, the best results,
both as regards the product and the financial aspect of the venture,
would be achieved by smelting with charcoal. For this purpose the
adjoining bush country will supply ample timber of a suitable quality
at a minimum cost.

To sum up in a few words the opinions held by the writer concern-
ing these mineral deposits of the North coast :

The non-chromiferous ores are amongst the finest known to exist in
the world. They are eminently suitable for the manufacture of iron
and steel of the highest possible class, they are easily mined and
smelted, require very little flux, and should be reduced by means of
charcoal. The best and most suitable method of producing steel from
the pig iron would be the Bessemer. These ores make the finest flux
lor the treatment of galena and silver-lead, and should find a ready
sale in this direction at remunerative prices, their freedom from
alumina and chromium rendering them peculiarly adapted for such a
purpose.

The manufacture of a charcoal-iron of very fine quality could
be made to pay handsomely, quality being more considered than
quantity.

The chromiferous ores could be utilised for the production of a high
class of chrome steel, for which a good market already exists, and
could be enormously increased.

The running of the two branches of the iron trade together would
render the chances of success very much greater. Provided the proper
course be followed. I see no reason whatever to fear failure, although
maDy of the points and arguments in favour of such a scheme cannot
be enumerated in a paper of this length.

The site for the works must be carefully selected, so as to minimise
the cost of handling both raw and finished material as much as
possible ; the works must be laid out and constructed on the most
modern design ; the furnaces and plant erected according to the best

53

scientific knowledge ; the materials assayed, analysed, and accurately
graded, or classed ; and the whole business carried out under careful
and competent management.

The success of such an undertaking depends in a very large measure
upon two things ; first, an accurate, minute, and scientific knowledge
of the materials at hand ; and, second, the ability to deal with
such material so as to achieve the best possible result.

Providing these conditions are complied with the author of these
notes is prepared to guarantee success. The industry must be developed
gradually, so as to avoid swamping the market, and to allow consumers
to gradually acquire faith in the articles produced, Beyond a doubt
Tasmania possesses enormous potential wealth in her iron deposits
alone, and it will be matter for sincere regret if it is not soon turned
from a potentiality into an actual source of revenue and wealth. These
notes have dealt only with iron deposits, bub the writer has seen
magnificent samples of manganese (black oxide), asbestos, wolfram,,
and scheelite, all of which would pay well if worked properly.

54

NOTES ON A SPECIMEN OF BASALT-GLASS (TACHY-
LYTE) FROM NEAR MACQUARIE PLAINS
TASMANIA, WITH REMARKS ON OBSIDIAN
" BUTTONS."

By T. Stephens, M.A., F.G.S.

Read September 14, 1897.

The absence of any reference iu the records of this Society
to the class of volcanic product? to which basalt-glass belongs
may justify a brief account of the history and character of
the specimen now exhibited. It was originally about two
and a half inches long and two inches thick, irregularly
angular in shape. The colour is a dark olive-green, but a
weathered face is bright blue ; the fracture is conchoidal.

This specimen was obtained by me many years ago from a
heap of basalt and scoriae, excavated from a temporary road-
cutting on the right bank of the Derwent between Macquarie
Plains and Fenton Forest. Near the same spot I found, on
a block of basalt, thin bands of a dull black glass, bearing
some resemblance to the glassy selvages of basalt dykes,
which have often been described as constituting the chief
sources of obsidian and basalt-glass. The basalt of this part
of the district is probably of late tertiary age.

In the early days of geology, the terms " obsidian,"
" pitchstone,"" volcanic glass," etc., were often used indiscrimi-
nately for different varieties of glassy lava without reference
to the essential conditions of the rocks of which they formed
a part. With the advance of the science of petrology it soon
came to be recognised that they may be divided into two
principal classes, representing respectively the acidic and
basic types of volcanic rocks. These are readily distin-
guished by chemical analysis, and by the test of their density
or specific gravity ; but a further test of structure was
required, and this has of late years been admirably supplied
by microscopical examination, without which no test of a
volcanic rock is now considered complete. The name
"obsidian" is now restricted to glassy varieties of rhyolitic
and trachytic rocks, while basalt- glass is usually classed as
tachylyte — a term first introduced by Breithaupt in 1826, in-
dicating its ready fusibility before the blowpipe.

The specimen from Macquarie Plains has this quality,
and it is distinctly magnetic when pulverised, another charac-
teristic of tachylyte. A small piece was sent to Mr. Twelve-
trees for comparison with the specimens of obsidian which
have been lately examined in Launceston, and he reports the
specific gravity as 2-74, while the maximum for obsidian was

55

247. These results are sufficient to determine the class and
name, and there can be little doubt that this determination
will be corroborated by analysis and microscopical examina-
tion.

Another form of the same substance, from the volcano of
Kilanea, in the Sandwich Islands, and known as " Pele's
hair," is exhibited for comparison. This condition is pro-
duced by jets of liquid lava coming in contact with strong
gusts of wind, which instantly cool them, and carry the pro-
duct away in the form of spun glass.

Obsidian Buttons.

As a supplement to the valuable paper contributed by
Messrs. W. H. Twelvetrees, F.G.S., and W. F. Petterd,
C.M.Z.S., on the subject of obsidian "buttons," the following
particulars of the history of their occurrence in Australia may
be of some interest : —

In Darwin's Geological Observations on the Volcanic
Islands visited during the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, 1832-
1836, mention is made of a "volcanic bomb " found in the
interior of Australia, and presented to him by Sir Thomas
Mitchell. Incidental reference is made to this circumstance
by various writers, but unfortunately there is no copy of the
original work, either in the Library of the Royal Society, or
in the Public Library, so that no quotations can be given
from the actual observations of the distinguished author.
In a paper read before the Geological Society in 1855,* ten
years after the publication of Darwiu's book, the Rev. W. B.
Clarke refers to Darwin's description of " a volcanic bomb of
green obsidian, from the plain between the Rivers Darling
and Murray," and cites several instances of the discovery of
similar specimens which had recently come under his own
observations. Mr. Clarke says : — " Sir T. L. Mitchell's
specimen would seem either to have drifted from a very long
distance, or, which is more likely, from the known habits of
the aboriginals, to have been dropped by one of them, who
probably found it in the trap-hills of the Lachlan, to the
north-eastward. This specimen was unique in Australia
until recently.

"During the last two years several similar specimens have
been found in the auriferous detritus of the western and
northern gold-fields.

" The first which I met with was found in the cradle of a
gold- washer on the Turon River, who dug it from a depth of 30
feet below the surface. This wras a small, irregular, roundish

* "On the Occurrence of Obsidian Bombs in the Auriferous Alluvia of New
South Wales. By the Rev. W. B. Clarke, M.A., F.G.S."— Quarterly Journal of the
Geographical Society, March, 1835.

56

substance, 0*6 inch in diameter, having a specific gravity of
2*7 al a temperature of 66 degrees. It was undivided, and
more like those examples described by M. Beudaut than the
figure given by Mr. Darwin. A similar specimeu, but of a
rude elliptical form, half an inch in diameter in the major
axis, and having a specific gravity of 2-57 at a temperature
of 63 degrees, was iouud in the washing stuff of the Uralla,
or Rocky River.

"From the same locality were derived two other specimens,
which I have examined. These are perfectly round, having
diameters respectively, including the rim, of liulf an inch and
about three-quarters of an inch. These, except in the shape
and in the extension of the cells over the rim, as well as in the
nucleus, agree with Mr. Darwin's figure. Their colour is
also bottle-green, and they are translucent, the surface
appearing black, as in Mr. Darwin's specimen. But this
blackness does not arise from any difference in the composi-
tion. It is merely the effect of greater opacity. The external
concentric rings are evident in all three. The specific gravity
of those from the Uralla is respectively 242 and 2*51, at a
temperature of 63 degrees. The smaller very much re-
sembles a button without the shank, and from this appear-
ance the diggers call them ' button-stones.' They appear
as if they had been cast in a mould, but there is no reason
to doubt the imputed origin."

The latter part of Mr. Clarke's description clearly identifies
the Uralla specimens with those described by Messrs. Twelve-
trees and Petterd. The high specific gravity of the Turon
specimen places it with basalt-glass rather than true obsidian.

Mr. Clarke states that the alluvium of the Uralla is in.
granite country, but that a plateau in which the river rises
has ranges which are created by basalt, and he infers " that
the bombs had their origin in the outburst of the trap."

In the following year, Mr. Clarke reportsf the discovery
of two additional specimens. One of them was found at the
Supply Rivulet, River Tamar, Tasmania, by Dr. Milligan.
The other, " like a bung in shape, an inch high, and 1^ of
an inch thick in the upper part," was found near the River
Wannon, in Victoria. No other particulars are given.

Mr. G-. H. F. Ulrich, now Professor in the University of
Dunedin, while connected with the geological survey of
Victoria, prepared for the Melbourne International Exhibition
of 1866, a paper on " The Mineral Species of Victoria/' from
which the following remarks on obsidian are quoted : —

" Button-shaped and spheroidal pieces of this mineral, from
a quarter of an inch to several inches in diameter — the larger

+ " Additional Notice of the Occurrence of Volcanic Bombs in Australasia. By
the Rev. W. B. Clarke, M.A., F.G.S. (Abstract)." Quarterly Journal of the
Geological Society, December, 1856.

57

ones sometimes hollow inside — are found abundantly
distributed over the surface of the basaltic plains round
Mount Elephant, Mount Eeles, etc.; also, strangely enough,
over the tertiary mud plains of the Wimmera, far removed
from any known basaltic craters or points of eruption.
Small, button-shaped pieces have also been found in the post-
pliocene gold drift of Spring Creek, near Daylesford."

The specific gravity of a Wimmera specimen which was
examined by Mr. C. Newbury is given as 2*47, with a silica
percentage of 73*7, which definitely identifies it with obsidian.

How these singular objects found their way to some of the
localities in Tasmania, where their occurrence in undisturbed
quartz drift far away from any known volcanic source has
been reported, is still a mystery. Those which have passed
through my hands could not have travelled far with the drift
itself, for the long-continued grinding action, which has
reduced quartz crystals, topazes, and angular pieces of quartz
rock to smooth rounded pebbles, would have been fatal to the
preservation of these " buttons," which, though hard enough
to withstand ordinary " weathering," are exceedingly brittle.
That they had their origin from sub-aerial jets of liquid lava
is almost certain, though it may be doubted whether the
well-marked, sharp, concentric rings on some of the specimens
are entirely due to their rotatory movement while falling from
a great height. As to the difference in form of some of the
specimens, this would be materially affected by the degree of
resistance in the body on which they fell, and by the force of
impact. Supposing that they fell while the gravel and
shingle drifts were in course of formation, these would be at
the bottom of old river channels, under a greater or less
depth of water, which would receive them as the drops of
lead falling from the top of a shot tower are received in the
tank at its base. But some might fall on mud-banks or soft
earth, and the spheroidal or button-shaped drop, while in a
viscous state, might be drawn out into that ellipsoidal form
which has been noticed in some of the specimens. The
subsequent accumulation of fresh supplies of drift material
might bury these interesting strangers without materially
disturbing them ; so that they would appear to be synchronous
with the formation of the pebbles themselves. It should be
noted that though the "buttons" have often been found in
gold or tin bearing drifts, they have no special connection
with those particular deposits, and that they are found in
them because such drifts are the only ones that are minutely
examined by the working miner.

That the aborigines of Australia are largely responsible for
the distribution of the buttons over the mud-plains of
Victoria and Eiverina seems highly probable ; but no such

58

explanation can be given in reference to some of the places
where they have been found in Tasmania. The theory that
they may have come from lunar volcanoes, or even from
distant terrestrial volcanic centres such as those of New-
Zealand, should not be seriously considered until all other
hypotheses on the subject have been exhausted.

Since the above paper was written, I have received
from Sydney a copy of the passage in Darwin's Geological
Observations on Volcanic Islands, to which reference was
made in connection with the discovery reported by him of a
"volcanic bomb " in the interior of Australia. The follow-
ing extract completes the early history of obsidian " buttons"
in Australasia : —

" Sir Thomas Mitchell has given me what at first appears
to be the half of a much flattened oval ball of obsidian ; it
has a singular artificial-like appearance, which is well repre-
sented (of the natural size) in the accompanying woodcut.

" It was found, in its present state, on a great sandy plain
between the Rivers Darling and Murray, in Australia, and at
the distance of several hundred miles from any kuown
volcanic region. The external saucer consists of compact
obsidian of a bottle-green colour, and is filled with finely-
cellular black lava, much less transparent and glassy than
the obsidian. The external surface is marked with four or
five not quite perfect ridges, which are represented rather too
distinctly in the woodcut."

Copy of woodcut of Volcanic Bomb from Australia
referred to by Mr. Darwin.

59

ON THE OCCURRENCE OP SPHERULITIC FELSITE

ON THE WEST COAST OF TASMANIA.

By W. H. Twelveteees and W. F. Petteed,

Bead November 15, 1897.

Examples of this rock from four different localities have
come under our notice, namely, from Zeehan, the Castray
Jliver, Trial Harbour, and Strahan, and upon these occur-
rences we now offer a few observations.

Zeehan. — Specimens broken from a loose boulder in a
swamp on the Montana Company's ground at Zeehan have
been handed about rather widely in the colony, and have
attracted attention from the exceptionally beautiful develop-
ment of spherulites in the substance of the rock. Well
preserved portions of these have been polished and used as
pendants and other ornaments. Speculations have been
made on the economic value of the iron-stained spherulites,
and altogether no small amount of curiosity has existed
respecting the nature of this handsome rock. The boulder
in question has been laid under such constant contribution,
especially recently, that only a few broken fragments now
mark the spot where it lay, and notwithstanding numerous
inquiries, we have been unable to hear of any similar rock
mass in the neighbourhood from which it may have been
derived.

Macroscopically,the rock from Zeehan presents a dull milk-
white compact base, with numerous spherulites irregularly
scattered throughout its substance. The spherulites average
about five millimetres in diameter ; they are of a grey colour
with occasional splashes of a bright red, and have a glimmer-
ing glassy lustre. The specimens from the Castray River
are solid and somewhat granular throughout, with the
spherulites diffused with extreme irregularity. Occasionally
they form protuberances on the exposed surfaces, and, more
rarely, aggregates closely pressed together. The general
colouration of the rock varies from a dark grey to a rich
brown, the spherulites being equally varied in colouration.
Sometimes they are almost white, and by varied gradations
approach the darker shades of the general rock mass. Minute
patches of a bright red colour can be sometimes detected in
the vicinity of the marginal radiations, and a distinct nucleus
is often observable in the form of a small perforation or solid
core. That from near Trial Harbour is ajjparently of an
intermediate character in its general colouration and arrange-
ment of the spherulites, although it more closely approxi-
mates to the samples from the last mentioned locality.

00

The rock, as a whole, consists of siliceous spherules, some-
what smaller than peas, in a closely packed mass, occasionally
separated by tracts of quartzose, or quartzo-felspathic
(felsitic) ground mass. Viewed with the naked eye, these
spherules are grey or pale green in colour, or sometimes
stained red, which gives the stone an attractive appearance.
A quantity of porcellanic alumina silicate (resembling por-
cellanite, but very siliceous) surrounds many of the spherulites,
and is probably derived from the ingredients of the ground
mass.

Microscopically, the spherulites show a radiation hardly
recognisable in thin section by ordinary light, but plain enough
under cross prisms, when the fixed black cross declares them
to be true spherulites. Their central point is often indis-
tinguishable, or it consists of one or two quartz grains, which
have been the nuclei of the segregation. Where the
spherulites are closely set together, they are united by
sutural lines, interlocking and mutually interfering with
one another. Their margins are always well defined, aud
usually somewhat crenulate. Wherever they are surrounded
by the ground mass, they are adorned by a marginal fringe of
felspar fibres. The Hues of radiation are wavy, and the general
surface appearance of the microscopic section is puckered or
crumpled. The ground mass presents, under polarised light,
the speckled field of a felsitic substauce, and occasionally
showrs a tendency to develop minute spherulites.

From the preceding there appears to be little reason to
doubt that this rock is an unusually fine example of spheru-
litic felsite. Figures of somewhat similar spherulites will
be found in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society,
vol. xxxix., 1883, pi. x., illustrating spherulitic quartz-
porphyry from. St. David's, discussed by Sir A. Geikie in his
paper " On the supposed Pre-Cambrian Rocks of St. David's."
The ground mass in that rock, however, is entirely micro-
crystalline, while in the Tasmanian one it is felsitic. Many
of the British spherulitic felsites are devitrified rhyolites ;
whether the Tasmanian one is rhyolitic or not must remain
an open question at present, though the absence of known
rhyolites here favours the reference of the Zeehan boulder
to a granitic source. Its parent rock was probably connected
with some granite protrusion on the West Coast. Its specific
gravity is 2"63.

Castray River. — A similar rock has been found as a
boulder in the bed of the Castray River. The spherulites
are of the same size as those in the Zeehan boulder, and are
much the same in appearance. They interlock along their
crenulated margins, and are often pressed into a more or less
polygonal form. When elongated, the centre of the dark

Twelvetrees, Photo-micro.

SI

01

cross occupies a position analogous to one of the foci of an
ellipse. The margins of the spherulites are without the re-
markable fringes of the Zeehan variety. An aggregation of
minute colourless to brown granules (quartz-orthoclase) fre-
quently forms a kind of central nucleus. This centre
decomposes, and finally disappears, leaving a foramen. The
sectional surface is broken up by radial lines and a reticulate
venation marked by iron dust, and the interspaces are orna-
mented with a feathery crystallisation of some alumina silicate.
The general colour in thin section is grey, stained warm
brown by iron. There are some fine examples of double
centres and a triple change of crystallisation from centre to
circumference. A little quartzo-felspathic ground mass
occurs between some of the spherulites containing specks of
iron oxide. The specific gravity rauges from 2*62 to 2 64,
and in the more ferruginous variety is 2 '66.

Trial Harbour. — A piece of loose rock which we have
examined from this locality is sphernlitic, but has a very
different appearance from the preceding ones. Composite
spherulites are abundant, and their boundaries are ill-
defined. The structure may for the most part be described
as of the nature of spherulitic aggregations rather than that
of true spherulites. There is a want of symmetry in the
arrangement of the component crystals, consequently their
axes of elasticity are in different azimuths, and the arms of
the cross are disturbed and difficult to locate, "We seem here
to have an approach to a pseudo- spherulitic structure,
although as the crystalline constituent is only quartz, it may
be more strictly correct to describe it as imperfectly spheru-
litic. Here and there a little felsitic ground mass is
discernible.

We have an additional sample of a spherulitic rock picked
up two miles from Strahan. A noteworthy feature of all
these occurrences is that none of them are in situ. The
nearest granite appears to be that of Mt. Heemskirk, but
whether these several boulders and stones were derived from
that particular exposure is, for the present, purely a matter
of speculation.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE.

Fig. 1. Spherulitic Felsite from Zeehan.

Figs. 2, 3, 4. Spherulitic Felsite from Castray River.

Ths figures are photo- micrographs under polarised light and a magnifi-
cation of 13 diameters. The dark cros3 is caused by the axes of elasticity
in the individual fibres of each spherulite being coincident with their axis
of figure. In other words, the arms of the cross represent the directions
of the vibration planes of the polarising and analysing prisms.

G2

NOTES ON SOME EECENTLY DISCOVERED AND

OTHER MINERALS OCCURRING IN TASMANIA.

By W. F. Petterd.

Bead November 15, 1897.

1. Aihenite (Sulphatiobismuthite of lead and copper).

Occurs in small acicular crystals which are longitudinally
lined, also massive. It is commonly tarnished copper tints.
Rare in siderite with bismuthinite. Block 291, North-East
Dundas.

2. Analcite (Hydrated silicate of aluminium and sodium).

Small crystals are somewhat abundant in vesicular basalt
at the Penguin River.

3. Bismuthinite (Sulphide of bismuth).

Common in acicular crystals associated with tetrahedrite
from the Curtin-Davis group of mines, North-East Dundas.
The tetrahedrite also contains bismuth, which possibly re-
places portion of the antimony of that mineral. The
associated minerals are mainly chalcopyrite and siderite. At
the East Hercules Mine it occurs in chloritic schist with
pyrite and chalcopyrite. At the South Mount Black P.A. it
has been obtained from tourmaline and quartz in schist
rock.

4. Boulangerite (?) (Sulphantimonite of lead).

A mineral resembling this, but of which no quantitative
analysis has been made, comes from Block 291 mine, North-
East Dundas. It is evidently a sulphantimonite of lead,
with bismuth, iron, and copper, the first-mentioned constituent
giving strong reactions. It is largely mixed with chalcopyrite,
arsenopyrite, and pyrite, and is rich in silver. (R. H.
Walcott).

5. Chalcotrichite (Fibrous cuprite).

Found by Mr. R. Williams at the Colebrook Mine. It
occurred in capillary tufts, of a beautiful crimson cclour,
surrounded by a thin coating of native copper in the liniurite
rock.

63
6. Datolite (Basic orthosilicate of calcium and boron).

Mr. R. Williams, mine manager of the Colebrook mine-
North-East Dundas, has kindly forwarded me some fine
s]3ecimens of this recent addition to the already long list of
minerals known to occur in this island. They were obtained
at that mine in sinking a shallow shaft in the western portion
of the limurite outcrop. This mineral occurs in irregular
crystalline masses, with a glassy lustre, and of a pale green
colour. Mr. E. H. Walcott writes me regarding some
samples which have been sent to him, that " one specimen
shows a rough crystal outline of what might be the ortho
and clinodomes, each of which is built up of a number of
incomplete monoclinic crystals. It gives at once a strong
boric acid reaction on introduction into the blowpipe flame,
aud fuses readily." It is supposed to be the first discovery
of this mineral in Australasia.

7. Fayalite (Iron olivine).

Abundant in microscopic crystals of a bright red colour in
fayalite-basalt from the Alexandra Battery, near Hobart.

8. Idocrase (A basic silicate of calcium, aluminium, and
iron).

I am indebted to Mr. W. R Bell for some extremely fine
specimens of this mineral, which he informs me occurs in
considerable masses at the Hampshire Hills. It is commonly
in well-developed imbedded crystals of a rich brown colour,
with the facets highly polished. In some rare instances the
crystals are fully one inch in diameter, and often show
peculiar modification. The massive portions sometimes con-
tain patches of highly coloured amethyst, with occasional
groups of black ilvaite, and then form very attractive speci-
mens for the cabinet.

9. Ilvaite (A basic orthosilicate of iron and calcium).

Obtained associated with idocrase from the Hampshire Hills.
It occurs as imbedded crystals, occasionally measuring up to
half-an-inch in diameter.

10. Palagonite (Hydrous silicate of iron, etc.).

This substance has been obtained near Perth, in the usual
amorphous masses of a yellowish brown colour.

U

11. Pyroclore (Columbate and titauale of calcium, lanthanum
ceruim, etc.).

This rare mineral, or a species closely allied thereto, has
been discovered on the property of the Shekelton Mining
Syndicate near Table Cape. It occurs in a granular condition
of a brown colour in alluvial drift, with zircon, sapphire, and
•quartz. The Australian Mining Standard of October, 1896,
states that an analysis by Dr. W. H. Craze gave the following

a variety of

%

result, niobate

of uranium

and

ch

romium,

pyroclore : —

Ur.

5

%

to

0-5

Ch.

... 105

5»

n

125

Ti.

... 12

>>

u

13

Ni.

4-5

9 9

11

2-5

Fe.

... 25-5

9f

11

27-7

Al.

73

5 J

11

6-2

Ca.

2-6

J»

11

1-5

Si.

... 15

?>

11

12

Di.

7-5

91

11

0-5

La.

6-2

11

11

22

Th.

10

11

11

traces

Yt.

1-5

11

11

traces

12. Prosopite (Hydrous fluoride of aluminium and calcuim).

Abundant as a white powdery substance at the " White
Face " at Mount Bischoff, apparently derived from the
decomposition of the topaz porphyry characteristic of the
locality.

13. Pyrrhotite (Sulphide of iron).

At the Colebrook Mine, North-East Dundas, this mineral
occurs in enormous quantity in the limurite rock ; with it
arsenopyrite and chalcopyrite are intermixed. It has, when
freshly broken, a shining bronze lustre, but on exposure
readily tarnishes, then often showing blue and red coppery
reflections.

14. Sillimanite (A basic ortho-silicate of aluminium).

In the " Catalogue of the Minerals of Tasmania," 1896,
this is mentioned in error as occurring at Mount Bischoff.
More recently it has been discovered by Mr. W. H. Twelve-
trees and myself as occurring' as sillimanite-schist at the
Lucy River, a tributary of the Pieman, and at Mount Stewart,
Heazlewood district.

65

15. Tethrahedrite (Sulphantimonite of copper).

Mr. R. H. Walcott, curator of the Industrial and Techno-
logical Museum of Melbourne, has kindly furnished rne with
the following note regarding this mineral : — " Occurs dis-
seminated through the ore of the Tasmania gold mining
company, Beacon sfi eld, associated with chalcopyrite, arseno-
pyrite, and pyrite. The gangue from this mine at times
contains a large amount of magnesian, lime, and iron
carbonates, probably as dolomite and siderite, but also
perhaps in minerals containing all three. Calcite appears to
be present in small quantity. The tetrahedrite contains little
or no silver, as far as can be ascertained." At the Hercules
mine, Mt. Read, some remarkably fine bunches and druses of
small but well-developed crystals of this mineral have
recently been obtained, associated with diallogite and barite.

16. Uralite (A pseudomorphous hornblende with the external
form of augite).

This secondary mineral has been optically detected in
petrographical work, and in the liniurite of the Colebrook its
presence is very pronounced. It is in all instances derived
from the alteration of augite, which, in this rock, occasionally
shows a more advanced alteration to actinolite.

17. Vanadinite (Anorthovauadateof lead with chloride of lead).

Occurs in groups of closely compact hexagonal prisms and
incr listing on sulphate of lead, of a deep rich reddish brown
to almost crimson colour with a resinous lustre. Magnet
silver mine, near Waratah.

18. Zinkenite (Sulpha ntimoniate of lead).

At Block 291 mine, North-East Dundas, some beautifully
developed crystals of this mineral have been obtained, some
few reaching nearly an inch in length. They belong to the
orthorhombic system, and commonly have the lateral faces
longitudinally striated with a low pyramidal termination. In
habit they are often grouped together, and mackles are
common. The specific gravity of the Dundas specimen is
5*16. Colour and streak, light steel grey. They occur
attached to siderite, with pyrite, tetrahedrite, and more
rarely crystals of argentite.

19. Zinnwaldite (Lithia muscovite).

Occurs in granite, and thus forms the common white mica
of the stanniferous rocks of the East Coast.

66

TASMANIAN BIKD&
By Malcom Harrison
(Communicated by A. Morton).
On Mr. A. J. North's Book re Tasmaeian Birds.

Page 51. No. 85 Gould. Pardalotus affinis.

Mr. North says — " This bird constructs its nest," etc.,
etc., " in a hole in some decayed branch of a tree."
In the sandy cliffs on the banks of the Derwent,
at Berriedale, these birds nest in considerable
numbers, mating tiny burrows into the cliffs
after the manner of Pardalotus punctatus. I am
not aware, however, of any other locality in which
they nest underground.

Page 144. No. 231 Gotjld. Ephthianura albifrons.

This bird is not mentioned in Mr. North's book as
inhabiting Tasmania. It is, however, fairly
plentiful in localities suited to its habits in
Southern Tasmania, but I have no record of its
being found north of Eoss. I have seen the birds,
nests, and eggs at Bridgewater, Saudford,
Brighton Plains, etc.

Page 220. No. 339 Gotjld. Acanthorhynchus tencjirostris.
Tasmania is not mentioned in connection with this
bird, but possibly Mr. North may not consider
the Tasmanian species identical with that of
Australia. They are found wherever Epacris
impressa abounds, but I have seen them in the
greatest numbers on the East Coast. About
Eaglehawk Neck they are particularly plentiful.
The nests, which somewhat resemble those of
Zosterops cerulescens, though more compactly built,
are rather difficult to find, being coated with
green moss and artfully concealed in the surround-
ing foliage. Last season I took two nests, each

67

containing two eggs, the usual clutch, although
three are occasionally met with. In each instance
the nests were in the topmost twigs of Acacia verti-
cillata, about 12 feet from tbe ground, but
Lejptospermum Ian is another favourite shrub for
nesting.

Page 252. No. 402 Gould. Calyptorhynchus xanthanotus.
As to time of nesting, Mr. North quotes Gould,
who gives October and November, on the authority
of Mr. G. French Angus. I do not think this
can be correct as regards the Tasmanian bird, for
I can obtain no authentic data as to its nesting
before Christmas. Mr. Gordon Allport knows of
trees having been felled and young birds found
just hatched well on in the new year; and two
sets of eggs in my collection were taken, one on
January 23, 1896, the other on January 2, 1897,
quite fresh. Both sets were obtained by Mr.
Leslie Burburv.

No. 573 Gould. Porzana fluminea.

This bird is not mentioned by Mr. North. The
first nest of this species found by myself was at
Bridgewater on the 29th September, lb94, the
bird flying from the nest at my feet and con-
tinuing the flight for about 100 yards. The nest
itself contained four eggs (partly incubated and
thickly coated with mudj, and was placed in a
small tussock of rushes about a foot or so above
the water, the materials used in construction
being the fibres of rushes and grass. Eggs, olive
green, spotted and blotched with dark brown.
Another nest found by myself on 19th September,
1896, contained five eggs, and was placed in the
centre of a large clump of " cutting grass," about
18 inches above the water. Judging by the colour
and measurements given, these eggs were mistaken
by Gould for those of Lewin's Water Eail. The
eggs of the latter are considerably larger, and of
a creamy white ground colour, while the markings
are red brown and light purple grey.

No. 533 Gould. Gallinago australis.

No mention made. Arrives in Tasmania in Sep-
tember.

66

The following birds are not mentioned as being
found in Tasmania: —

No. 13 Gould. Tinnunculus cenchroides.

36 ,, Spiloglaux boobook.

246 ,, Calamoherpe australis.

275 ,, Oreocnicla lunulata.

271 ,, clnclosoma punctatum.

502 ,, Sarciophorus pectoralis.

577 ,, Chenopis atrata.

584 „ Casarca tadornoides.

595 ,, BlZIURA LOBATA.

656 ,, Phalacrocorax stictocephalus.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE WORKING RESULTS
OF THE HARE SYSTEM OF ELECTION IN
TASMANIA.

BY

R. M. Johnston, F.L.S.

The chief Merit of the Have System.

The deep interest taken in all matters relating to the Hare
system of voting and counting at the recent elections in Hobart
and Launceston is indicated by the large number of queries
put to the writer during the last three months. It is curious,
however, that the large body of enquirers and critics restrict
their attention mainly to questions relating either to the mode
of voting, or to the mode or modes adopted for determining
the quota-excesses ; but, most of all, the general attention is
restricted to obscure details of no importance concerning the
infinitesimal influence of the element of chance still unelimi-
nated by the Tasrnanian Clark-Hare method provided for
the transfer and distribution of the quota-excess of the
second order.*

This unfortunate restriction is equivalent to a representation
of the play of Hamlet with the part of the Prince of Denmark
cut out.

The Hamlet of the Hare system, as a whole, is not the
mere mode of preference and transfer vote to which general
attention is too often restricted. The latter aids are important
no doubt, but of themselves they can only be regarded as
valuable accessories of the Hare system. The keystone of the
Hare system, upon which commonly too little or no attention
is directed, is the Hare-constitution of large electoral divisions.
Without the latter all the nice arrangements of first, second,
third, &c, preferences, and transfer of quota-excesses and
lowest excluded candidate votes, would be a cumbrous farce.
With the former secured, together with even the ordinary one
man one vote principle, the results attained would be such an
improvement upon methods hitherto prevailing that they would

* That is, on all quota-excesses obtained after the first count by the aid of
transfer ballot-papers. Those quota-excesses which are produced by the
distribution of the first count alone are treated differently by our law, and
for the sake of reference and distinction are here designated quota-excesses
of the First Order.

70 OBSERVATIONS ON THE HARE SYSTEM

not fall far short of the more complete Hare scheme with its
method of preference and transfer voting.

Those who ignore this keystone or foundation of the Hare
system, and restrict their attention entirely to peddling or
unimportant details — such as the element of chance involved in
quota-excess transfer votes — fail altogether to comprehend the
grandeur and perfection of the cardinal features of the system,
which secures just and equitable representation of all forces
whether of majorities or minorities. The main feature of the
Hare-Electorate or Electoral Division is, that it shall be
sufficiently large and untrammelled so as to permit the units of
any representative party or body of opinion to unite together,
if numerous enough to command a quota ; that is, such a pro-
portion of electors, as on the basis of numbers, would entitle
the latter to return their just share, viz. one parliamentary
representative. This provision also involves the breaking
down of all arbitrary and unreasonable sub-divisions which,
as in the unequal ward system of cities, have hitherto pre-
vented the otherwise wasted surplusage of aggregate majorities
or minorities, in one division of common locality interests,
from joining forces with the weaker members of their respec-
tive parties similarly restricted in a neighbouring arbitrary
sub-division ; and so unjustly preventing the true ideal of real
equality of representation, i.e., representation of minorities and
majorities in proportion to numbers. That this should be
regarded as the most important feature of the Hare system is
certain, and is so regarded by ail great thinkers who have
devoted any attention to the subject. This opinion is suf-
ficiently supported by a quotation from one of England's
greatest thinkers— John Stuart Mill (p. 56, 57, " On Repre-
sentative Government ") : " But real equality of representation
is not obtained unless any set of electors amounting to the
average number of a constituency, wherever . . . they
happen to reside, have the power of combining with one
another to return a representative. This degree of perfection
in representation appeared impracticable until a man of great
capacity, fitted alike for large general views and for the con-
trivance of practical details — Mr. Thomas Hare — had proved
its possibility by drawing up a scheme for its accomplishment,
embodied in a draft of an Act of Parliament ; a scheme which
has the almost unparalleled merit of carrying out a great
principle of government in a manner approaching to ideal per-
fection as regards the special object in view, while it attains
incidentally several other ends of scarcely inferior importance.
. . . . The more these works are studied the stronger I
venture to predict will be the impression of the perfect feasi-

OF ELECTION IN TASMANIA. 71

bility of the scheme and its transcendent advantages. Such
and so numerous are these that, in my conviction, they place
Mr. Hare's plan among the very greatest improvements yet
made in the theory and practice of government." The italics
are mine.

It cannot be too strongly emphasised, therefore, that the
chief causes which tend to produce and perpetuate unfair and
unequal representation are (1) inequalities in the magnitude of
the population of the various electoral divisions, and (2) the
unnecessary multiplication of artificial boundaries, restricting
unjustly the voting force to too narrow an area, and thereby
preventing the necessary and fair combination of persons who
desire to act together, without which their forces are wasted
or misdirected.

The following illustration will help to convey more clearly
how any great inequalities in the size of electoral divisions,
conjoined with unnecessary artificial barrier sub-divisions, may
prevent the reasonable combination of the elemental forces, and
may even prevent a strong majority within a city from securing
representation justly proportionate to their total numbers.

Let us conceive the City of Hobart as having 6000 voters,
returning six Members to Parliament. On the basis of numbers
it is clear, if there were no artificial barriers to reasonable com-
binations, that any body of persons properly organised could
return that proportion of representatives which would fairly
correspond with their numbers.

But suppose the major party X, constituting two-thirds of
the City electorate, to be distributed unequally, and their voting
force restricted within the limit of six separate unequal electoral
divisions of the City, as in the following illustration, and that
for simplicity they are opposed by one other party Y in each
division, thus —

City. Distribution. Total.

X

Y

Division

A

800*

550

1350

?»

B

1050*

300

1350

?j

C

1200*

150

1350

<5

D

345

355*

700

I")

E

320

330*

650

5?

F

285

315*

600

TOTAI,

4000

2000

6000

* Local majority returning one representative.

72 OBSERVATIONS ON THE HARE SYSTEM

By this curious illustration it is shown how, notwithstanding
its superior numbers in the aggregate, the major party X has
been robbed of a fourth of its representative power by the
combined adverse circumstances of artificial inequalities in
the size or composition of its electoral divisions, and the
unnecessary artificial restriction of voting power within each
unnecessary artificial subdivision. By such unfair artificial
barriers the major party X — even aided by the wisest organisa-
tion— can only return half the number of representatives,
whereas, in equity, it should return tmo-thiras ; and, con-
versely, the minor party Y by such means returns half the
number of representatives, when in all fairness and equity they
should, under ideally proper conditions, only return two, or
one-third.

It is the chief merit of the Hare system that it entirely
removes all such artificial barriers to just and real representa-
tion of the various parties ; for, by its abolition of unwise
artificial restrictions it gives full fair play to all the individual
forces, and it enables the surplusage of any one division to
come to the aid of its own party in any other division, so that
no vote would form the element of a lost or wasted surplusage.
By the Hare system the inequalities of electoral subdivisions
are practically rendered equal and harmless.

The major party X would in all fairness return four
members, and the minor party Y would, in returning two
members, be also justly dealt with, as this is the number which
in all fairness it has a right to claim or expect.

The constitution of electoral divisions is thus shown to be
the most important feature of the Hare system, and this
importance must not be disregarded when acknowledging the
full merit of its splendid accessory, the Hare method of
preference and transfer vote.

The Merits of the Preference and Transferable Vote.

The most valuable accessory, not the primary principle, of
Hare's system is the scheme of the Quota-excess and. lowest
excluded Candidate Transfer Vote. In the ordinary system
of voting it often happens that the fair power of majorities
and minorities is wasted by the manner in which the votes are
given. The voter has no certain knowledge, and is often
obliged to guess his own party's strength. If the voter's one
particular choice gets, unnecessarily, too many votes from his
own party, and, therefore, useless to him, it may so happen
that the second, third, &c. in the order of the voter's preference

OF ELECTION IN TASMANIA. 73

are, from this lack of knowledge, deprived of votes to such an
extent that an opposite party's representatives are returned in
larger number than their aggregate strength, if fairly measured,
would entitle them. Hare's method of preference vote in a
very large measure obviates this defect. By indicating his
other favourite candidates in order of decreasing preference or
increasing order of detestation by 1, 2, 3, &c. no previous
knowledge of strength is necessarv. The Hare method is
per se a sort of special providence, preventing the waste of
valuable votes by automatically distributing surplus strength
fairly and exactly to the next and next of preference* until at
last the full fair strength of the particular party is properly
determined. If combinedly in this way any party fails to
return one representative, it is because all the members of the
party are too feeble in numbers to have the right to be repre-
sented ; if the party on the whole returns one, two, three, or
more representatives it is, for the best of all reasons, because
this is the exact representation to which, by force of numbers,
it is justly and reasonably entitled.

Thus the method of the Hare preference index, and the
transfer in order of preference, effects the part of a never-failing
providence, preventing the waste of valuable forces; or, in other
words, determining exactly the fair and reasonable repre-
sentation of all, in spite of difficulties concerning lack of
organisation, or perfect foreknowledge of the strength and the
proper allotment or distribution of voting forces. The only
persons who may oppose the Hare system aie the selfish
aggressor or the selfish indifferent; the former craves to main-
tain or gain more than justice; the latter too indifferent or
lazy to demand it.

Popular exaggerated estimates of the influence upon Results
of the Distribution of the Quota-excess of the First and
Second Order.

In the Hobart election the distribution of quota-excesses of
the first and second order, although differing to a great extent
relatively, was, as is the general experience, of little or no
absolute importance in altering the effect of the values of first
counts and lowest excluded candidates' preference votes in
determining the final order of the results of the election. In
Launceston, it so happened, there was no quota-excess of the
first order, i.e., on the first count, and, consequently, there

* Tf not preference it equally serves to indicate usefully order of detesta-
tion or dislike, No. 1 being least detested, No. 2 next in order of dislike,
No. 3, 4, 5 in a similar way next in order of candidates disliked. Even in
the order of dislike it must be of service to the elector to see that his most
disliked candidates are handicapped by his influence.

74 OBSERVATIONS ON THE HARE SYSTEM

could be no inclusion of this first to form a subsequent redis-
tributed detail element of chance in the determination of its
only one quota-excess (Hartnoll 16) of the second order. The
total influence of all orders of quota-excess transfer votes in
Launceston was, therefore, for each candidate not excluded
actually 1 (minimum) to 9 (maximum) votes = 16 in all.
That is, the influence proportionate to the total effective votes
of all kinds was min. 0*04 per cent. ; max. 0*38 per cent. ;
total, 0*68 per cent.

The feebleness of this influence in altering the final deter-
mination of the all-powerful influences, viz., the first count
and the votes (two or higher preference) of the previously
excluded candidates, is seen by the results. For, although the
lowest candidate (Sutton, 283) before distribution was only
nine votes behind the next lowest in order (Fowler, 292), yet
the inclusion of quota-excess distribution of the second order,
although differing in force only by six votes, to the advantage
of the lowest, the same order of importance was undisturbed,
Fowler still keeping the lead by three votes ! This inevitable
result is beyond any shade of dispute, as, in the distribution of
the quota-surplus 16, there entered no element of chance
selection. Such an element could only enter where there was
a possibility of a portion of this 16 being afterwards redistri-
buted. In Launceston such a possibility could not occur. It
is proved, therefore, that in the Launceston election the possible
influence of the element of chance was positively nil.

In Hobart the final results, although affected by four quota-
excesses (one of the first order and three of the second), were,
even in the aggregate, too feeble to exercise any disturbing
influence upon the true relative positions which, as in Laun-
ceston, wrere altogether dominated and determined by votes of
first counts and by next in order preferences of lowest excluded
candidates.

The total force of the transfer votes of quota-excesses of the
first and second order in Hobart only amounted to 3*54 per
cent, of all effective votes, as shown by the following analysis : —

pr Per cent.

Analysis. Trans- totot(!1

f effective

J ' votes.

Quota-excess Votes r First Order (1) Fvsh 44 1*25

Ditto \ Second „ (3) Bradley,

I 81 2-29

I Mulcahy

VBoth (4) ... 125 3-54

All other effective votes 3411 96-46

Total effective votes 3536 100-00

OF ELECTION IN TASMANIA. 75

PCY C€llt

Difference between lowest candidate elected and to total.'

the highest of the candidates excluded 129 3*39

Highest number of votes originally transferred to
any one candidate of the quota-excess of the
first order (Fysh 44) which in case of re-
transfer still involves an infinitesimal element of
chance 27 0*76

Actual number of votes re-transferred by quota-
surpluses of second order and by transferred
votes of lowest excluded candidates in which
any element of chance selection was involved... 39 1 ' 10

Average number of such votes for each candi-
date 3-25 009

The above analysis is interesting and instructive. It shows
that among the 3536 total effective direct and next in order of
preference votes, only 125, or 3*54 per cent., were derived from
all quota-excesses ; that of these only 39 were redistributed in
which any element of chance entered under the method pro-
vided by Mr. Clark, Clause 115, Sect. VI., for the deter-
mination of the proportion by which the 39 papers were actually
distributed ; and that this, in the aggregate, only represents
1 -10 per cent, of all effective votes, or a mean of 325 votes per
candidate. As the total redistributed quota-excess votes of the
first order (39) only represent 3*25 per cent, of the final
difference between the lowest candidate elected and the next in
order— the highest candidate who was last excluded from the
poll — it is clearly demonstrated that the remaining element of
chance selection in practice is infinitesimal in its influence, and
did not in the slightest degree affect the relative order of can-
didates as mainly determined by the combined influence of
(No. 1 preference) votes of the first count, and Nos. 2 and 3
preferences of transfer votes of the lowest excluded candidates.
These latter together (3411) represent, as already shown, 9(r46
of the total effective voting force ; and this fact alone should
show that too much importance, by far, has been commonly
attached to all rival modes for dealing with the distribution of
quota-surpluses and their possible but small element of chance.
The reduction of the original small element of chance from
1*25 per cent, of all effective to O09 for each candidate should
surely satisfy anyone that the ideal elimination of elements of
chance, so far as the true order of final results are concerned,
have been practically and successfully achieved by the Clark-
Hare method introduced at the last general election in Hobart
and Launceston.

If still, however, it is desired to entirely eliminate the
remaining infinitesimal element of chance in the redistribution
of any portion of quota-surpluses, the law may, with a very

76 OBSERVATIONS ON THE HARE SYSTEM

slight modification of Clause VI., Sect. 115, secure this end by
two simple practicable methods. The first method introduced,
but afterwards altered by Parliament, eliminated all element of
chance in the distribution of quota-surpluses of the first and
second orders, by first determining the full or aggregate force
of all ballot-paper preferences 1, 2, 3, respectively, and pro-
portionally distributing First-order quota-excesses on the basis
of the independent aggregate distribution of all No. 2
preferences ; and all quota-excesses of the Second order
similarly on the basis of the ascertained aggregate distribution
of all No. 3 preferences.

The second method suggested for arriving; at the same end
almost as perfectly as in the first method described is, while
determining, as in the existing law, the force of the No. 2
preferences for the purpose of allotting a corresponding
distribution of first order of any candidate's quota-excess, also
determine the full force of the No. 3 preferences in the same
individual candidate's original parcel {i.e., his first count).
Should a second order of quota-excess be secured subsequently
to any other candidate by the aid of the first quota-excess
division, let the latter portion of any quota-excess be allotted
according to proportion, ascertained under the original No. 3
preference votes of the elected candidate from whom such
surplus was obtained ; but, at the same time, limiting the
number of ballot-papers to be transferred to the proportion
which such original quota-surplus division bears to the
aggregate of all votes which go to form the quota-surplus of
the second order. The distribution of the due proportion of
votes which may have been derived from first votes and
lowest excluded candidate transfers to be distributed as nearly
as practicable in the proportion which the next available order
of preference is indicated upon such ballot-papers. The only
objection to this second method is that it is more complicated
and would involve more trouble and time in the final deter-
mining of the ballot. The balance of advantage, therefore,
remains in favour of the first method suggested.

General Questions regarding the Working Remits of the Hare

System.

The question most frequently put to the writer during the
last four months regarding the working results of the Clark-
Hare System of voting at the recent election at Hobart and
Launceston shows how wide and deep is the interest taken in
the matter, and the ordinary forms of misconception of several
of the more essential features of the Hare system enable him
to understand more clearly what are the points which it would

OF ELECTION IN TASMANIA. 77

be well to discuss more particularly, and, if possible, to eluci-
date. For this purpose I have thought it best to select the
more important of such questions in a systematically arranged
series in the form of Question and Answer. This method will
enable the ordinary enquirer to concentrate his or her attention
upon each point separately as it arises.

An endeavour has been made also to arrange the order of
the several queries or subjects so that the answers given to the
first in order may facilitate the comprehension of explanations
or observation of those which follow. The following are the
series of Questions dealt with in this way: —

First Query. — What is the special nature of the modification
of the Hare system introduced by Mr. Clark at the last
General Election apart from the provision which restricted
its operation to the two cities, Hobart and Launceston ?

Answer. — The special modification introduced by Mr.
A. I. Clark, Attorney-General for Tasmania, is the pro-
vision devised by him for eliminating the element of
chance in the selection and distribution of quota-excesses
or surplus transfer votes.

In the original scheme of Mr. Thomas Hare there was an
element of chance connected with the appropriation of the
voting papers of any candidate polling in excess, of the ascer-
tained quota, inasmuch as it would depend upon the chance
position of the papers forming the excess. If the excess
papers were taken, however indiscriminately, from either top,
bottom, or middle of the whole parcel of first counts, it is
almost certain that the second and higher preferences would
vary with each chance selection, and the voters whose papers
were selected for transfer to next in order of preference would
thus by mere chance have an undue advantage in the determi-
nation of the candidates next in order of choice. Mr. Clark's
scheme disposes of this element of chance in quota-excesses of
the first order or first count, by giving each voter of the suc-
cessful candidate equal power in determining what papers
shall be selected for transfer. This is accomplished by redis-
tributing the whole of the successful candidates' voting papers
among the candidates not yet excluded from the poll on the
basis of the next in order of preference — i.e., No. 2 — and after-
wards allotting to each candidate such a proportion of papers,
so distributed, to each candidate as is equivalent to the propor-
tion which the quola-excess bears to the total parcel of first
counts of the successful candidate.

Thus, if we assume that A secured 560 papers in the first
count, and the quota was determined to be 460 ; and also

78 OBSERVATIONS ON THE HARE SYSTEM

assume that the redistribution of A's 560 on the basis of No. 2
preference among1, say, B, C, and D, gave the following
results : —

B, 230; C, 115; D, 115:

f B 50 : 230
Then, as quota-excess 100 : 5G0 :: \ C 25 : 115

(D25 : 115
In this manner each voter has equal power (viz. -J $) in
determining the quota-surplus transfer distribution. B appro-
priates 50 of the 230 papers having No. 2 against his name;
C and I), respectively, appropriate 25 from among the papers
similarly having the No. 2 preference against their names.
This is a just distribution, and entirely removes the element of
chance, so far as the second preference is concerned. A
similar provision is made for removing, or rather minimising,
the very trifling element of chance in quota-excesses of the
second order — i.e., where a former transfer paper may again be
transferred to the third or next in order of preference — the
determinants in the latter case being the whole of the
transferred papers, only, which may have helped to complete a
candidate's quota. The process is extremely simple and
effective. The only objection to the method is that it may add
about 20 per cent, to the work of handling the papers, as in
the Hobart election. Where there are no excesses of the first
order, as in tfte Launceston election, it may add only about 4
per cent, to the work of handling and counting.

Second Query. — What is the probable total effective value of
all surplus votes transferred to candidates in next order
of preference in comparison with the totality of all other
forms of effective votes ?

Answer. — It varies considerably, according to the
number of quota-excesses of the first and second orders.
In Hobart the quota-excess votes of the first order
represented 1*25 per cent, of all effective votes. Those of
the second order represented 2*29 per cent. All quota-
excesses represented 3*54 per cent. In Launceston
election the whole of the quota-excess transfer votes only
represented 0*66 per cent, of all effective votes.

Third Query. — Does the Clark-Hare method entirely eliminate
the element of chance in the transfer of quota-excesses ?

Answer. — Yes, entirely, as regards quota-excesses of
the first order. As regards transfers of the second order,
I estimate that the element of chance for each candidate
only represents 0*09 per cent, of all effective votes. This
is so trifling an influence that it may be safelv ignored in
practice.

OF ELECTION IN TASMANIA. 79

Fourth Query. — What, approximately, are the relative effective
values of preference votes 1, "2, 3, and over, in determining
the return of any candidate ?

Answer. — For Hobart, the effective values were as
follows : —

First preference 77*66 per cent.

Second ditto 20-47

Third and higher 1*87

»

n

The relative values for Launceston closely agreed with
those for Hobart.

Fifth Query. — Whether is the first count, all effective votes,
or the aggregate of all counts (effective and ineffective)
the best index of the real measure of favour in which
the several candidates stand towards the electorate ?

Answer. — The aggregate of all counts, whether effective
or not, would seem to bo the truer index of the general
favour in which each candidate stands, because the
numbers polled at the first count may be greatly disturbed
by the action of those who are interested in the success of
two or more favourites who may be pretty well assured of
success, but whose order of preference might by some be
altered if sudden rumour suggested fears ibr any one of
the favoured group. This accidental action would tend
to conceal the true or exact measure of favour in the first
count. In the aggregate of effective votes polled the
true measure of favour is not quite correctly revealed by
the actual numbers recorded as regards successful candi-
dates, inasmuch as those who obtain the quota first are
by exclusion from poll deprived of the full force of the
second, third, and next in order of preference, all of which
are received, and swell the volume of the last successful
candidate. Thus, the first candidate who polled a quota
in Hobart, Sir Philip O. Fysh, was deprived of the latent
force of preference, 2, 3, &c. in his favour contained in
10 succeeding counts; Mr. Bradley was deprived
similarly of the latent force of seven succeeding counts ;
Mr. Clark of five. Of the successful candidates, Messrs.
Mulcahy, Crisp, and Page alone received the full force of
all effective preference votes. The fairer index of the
measure of general favour therefore seems to be the
aggregate of all preferences, whether effective or non-
effective, as shown in one of the appended tables.

Sixth Query. — What is the effect of the voter's restricting his
choice of order of preference to three candidates (the
minimum number compulsory by the Tasmanian law)?

80 OBSERVATIONS ON THE HARE SYSTEM

Answer. — It renders the voter's influence useless in the
determination of the fate of other candidates should his
own three preferences, without his aid, obtain a quota, or,
otherwise, be excluded, or eliminated, from the poll. Such
useless papers are said to be "exhausted.1' No less than
200 votes, representing 7 per cent, nearly of all votes
polled, were rendered useless in this way by the voters'
self-imposed sacrifice of his own right or privilege. This
is a matter which demands more serious consideration, as
nearly twice the voting force of all the invalid papers (104)
were practically lost in the determination of the elections.
It is natural to suppose that the ordinary voter's interest
diminishes after his first three favourites are chosen in
their order of preference. But it should be borne in mind
that a further extension of indication of preference might
be serviceable to the voter in excluding those whom he
thought least desirable as representatives; for the order
1, 2, 3, need not be regarded as the index of favour. It is
just as serviceable in determining order of dislike, No. 1
being regarded as the candidate who is least in disfavour ;
the others, in sequence, being regarded as next in order of
greater disfavour.

Seventh Query. — How far was the voting force as a whole
reduced by invalid or defective ballot-papers ? — and what
was the nature of the defects which rendered the papers
invalid ?

Answer. — The voting force lost to the elections at
Hobart by reason of invalid papers is represented by 104
ballot-papers, equivalent to 3*65 per cent, of all ballot-
papers. The following is a summary of the defects : —

Per cent.
No. No. to total
Defective preference numbering 45 ballot-paper.

Defective or unrecognisable
figures 4

49 1-72

Disfiguring or blank papers 1

Illegal marking and scoring ... 52
Adding signature 2

55 193
Total invalid papers 104 3*65

Only 61 of these invalid papers can be traced to their
first preference, and of these 46 were lost to successful
candidates, and 15 were lost to the unsuccessful candidates,

OF LECTION IN TASMANIA. 81

From this analysis of defective ballot-papers it will be
seen that only 49, representing 1*72 per cent, of all ballot-
papers, can be attributed to the Hare system ; and upon
the first introduction of any new system such a result
might naturally be expected. The defects of 55 papers,
representing 1*93 percent, of all ballot-papers, are of such
a nature as might occur under any system of voting.
Some of the defects might have been avoided if the
ballot-papers gave clearer indication where the preference
numbers were to be written against each candidate's name.

If the preference number position were indicated by
a printed enclosing circle or square, and each name
separated by a clearly printed line, the defective papers
would be greatly reduced, thus : —

j

BURNS.

i i

DRYDEN.

MILTON.

i

POPE.

SHAKESPEARE.

i

WORDSWORTH.

Eighth Query. — Can you suggest any improvement in the
method employed ibr determining the results of the poll ?

Answer. — The work of counting and determining the
results of the poll within, say, an hour of its close, might
be accomplished with ease and accuracy if the following
plan were adopted : —

First.— Set a room apart for the counting staff— properly
safeguarded as regards privacy and scrutiny — adjacent to
the chief polling-room ; and let the work of sorting,

82 OBSERVATIONS ON THE HARE SYSTEM

counting, and distributing ballot-papers be carried on
simultaneously with the work of polling.

Second. — Depute the duty of transmitting in due order
from time to time the various ballot-boxes (one at a time)
to counting-room to a particular officer, who shall see that
the contents are discharged upon the first sorting-table by
the Superintendent of the counting-room, who alone
possesses the power to unlock the boxes. A spare box
should be always available in the polling-room to take the
place of the box during its transmission and return from
counting-room.

Third. — Let the chief returning officer periodically
examine and finally determine all doubtful and invalid
papers set apart for his decision.

Fourth. — Prior to the day of election, the Superinten-
dent of the counting-room should make the necessary
calculations which would determine the number of
separate sorting and counting tables and the necessary
staff. The staff, prior to the day of election, should
receive an object lesson from the Superintendent in the
work that they are to be engaged, and the latter should
by actual trial satisfy himself that each one thoroughly
understands the particular process entrusted to him.

Fifth. — In the work of sorting and recording each
subdivision, marked A, B, C, D, E, F, no conversation or
discussion should be allowed. If a paper is challenged as
doubtfully invalid, it should, without discussion or com-
ment, be placed in the place set apart for doubtful
papers, to be finally determined by the decision of the
chief returning officer.

Sixth. — Apart from the candidates' onlooking scruti-
neers, there should be three officers set apart for each
recording table, which latter should be equipped with as
many named cells as there are candidates, and with two
extra cells for the reception of doubtful and invalid
papers respectively. The chief officer at each table
should take the central position, and his duty is to
examine each paper, and see at a glance whether valid,
doubtful, or invalid. If valid, he should quickly call
out name and preference number; thus : — Fysh, 1 ;
Bradley, 1 ; Clark, 1 ; Fysh, 1 ; Clark, 1 ; and simul-
taneously place each paper in its proper receptacle. The
recorders, one on each side, both enter a 1 in the proper
column for each name called out.

As each pair of sheets is completed, the chief clerk
should compare the totals of the one with the other, and
if they agree the pair of recording sheets should forthwith

OF ELECTION IN TASMANIA. SS

be initialled and transmitted to the superintendent's com-
piling table. If they do not agree the error must at
once be traced out and corrected. A septum of coloured
paper, placed in each cell above the last ballot-paper
entered in a former pair of recording sheets, will greatly
aid in facilitating the detection of such errors.

During the last general election at Hobart each record-
ing sheet had 50 lines, numbered from 1 to 50 at each
side, with a separate column for each candidate. As each
recording tick 1 was marked under each name on the line
immediately succeeding the last recorded tick for the same
person, it followed that as soon as any one candidate's
recording tick reached ihe fiftieth line the sheet was
complete, and the numbers of all the other candidates
could be ascertained by inspection without counting ; For
the line number of the last entry in each column would
indicate exactly the number of votes to be carried to total
at foot of recording sheet.

In this way the work of the superintendent in com-
piling the recording sheet totals was greatly facilitated,
and enabled him to show at any moment the aggregate
number polled for each candidate.

If the plan here indicated is adopted at any election,
there is every reason to believe that it would work satis-
factorily, and the final results of the election might be
ascertained and published within an hour of the close of
the poll.

The only work of the Hare system of ballot which
would have to be postponed until the close of the poll
would be the distribution of transfer votes from quota-
surpluses and lowest eliminated candidates.

HOW TO SIMPLIFY THE BALLOT BY THE
HARE SYSTEM TO THOSE WHO CANNOT
READ OR WRITE.

Many who otherwise regard the Hare system of voting with
favour, have objected to its introduction in Tasmania, on the
ground that the difficulties of instructing voters wTho can
neither read nor write would be practically insurmountable ;
and they believe that attempts to record the preference 1,2, 3,
or even I., II., III., against the persons chosen in this order
of preference by those who cannot read or write would involve
many mistakes, and largely increase the number of invalid
ballot-papers. Another, and perhaps a more serious objection

64 OBSERVATIONS ON THE BARB RY8TEM

to the use of written figures, ia thai t<> ;i great extent it invades
or endangers the wisely guarded secrecy <»f the ballot ; for the
figures written by many persons are as characteristic as their
writingi and might be recognised, and the name of the voter,
and how he recorded his vote, might thus be improperly
disclosed by persons subsequently handling the ballot-papers^

There arc. therefore, three difficulties to be met, and for

which BOme means should he devised to dispose of them, or, at
any rate, to lessen their evil effects, viz : —

1. To devise means wherehy voters, who are unable i<> read

or write, may readily determine the position and names of the

candidates preferred by them upon the ballot-paper when the
latter is placed in their hands.

k2. To record the figures 1, 2, »'J, &c, against eaeli name
indicating voter's preference accurately and easily, without the
necessity of writing by hand.

3. To record these figures, showing order of preference in
such a manner as will fail to disclose to anyone the identity of
the voter who lnis privately recorded them. Having devoted
some attention to this very important matter, I think I cp.n
disclose a simple plan which would remove all such difficulties.

now TO DETERMINE THE NAMES OP PREFERRED
CANDIDATES UPON BALLOT-PAPER.

First, to help those who cannot read and of themselves are,
therefore, unable to determine the position of the names of the
candidates they prefer upon the hallot-paper, 1 would suggest
that immediately the names of candidates for election are
declared let there be prepared a large printed poster bill
recording in large print the names of the various candidates
exactly in the same style of type (except size), and in the same
order of sequence as the names will he printed on the ballot-
paper proper. A.gainst each name, in front, print boldly the
litho-photo of the head and features of the candidate. If these
large posters were affixed to the principal hoardings throughout
the city, where the names continuously associated with the
candidate's photograph would frequently meet the eye of the
citizens, it is certain that every voter, even though unable to
read or write, would within seven days be well acquainted with
each candidate's printed name ami could locate the exact
position when* such name would be found upon the ballot-paper
when placed in his hand, on the day of election, without the
aid of anyone. The secret of the manner in which such
person voted would thus be as secure as it is now to persons
who aro able to read and write.

OF ELECTION IN TASMANIA.

85

HOW ILLITERATE PERSONS — WITHOUT PERSONAL AID — MAY
RECORD THE FIGURES 1, 2, 3, ETC., IN THE DESIRED
ORDER OF PREFERENCE WITH THE GREATEST EASE AND
WITH PERFECT ACCURACY.

In addition to marking-pencils let there be provided in the
veiled recording chamber a shelf holding as many figure
stamps as there are seats. For Hobart six, for Launceston four.
Let the size and sequence of position of these stamps correspond
exactly with the figures which the several stamps are devised
to impress when stamped against, and in front of, the name
selected ; thus : —

•

I

2

3

4

5

i

SBnflBOi

1

1. Thus, for the first choice, let the voter select the first and

tallest, stamp and stamp it exactly in front and level with
the name of his first choice.

2. For the second preference, take the second stamp in order

and the second in height, and impress it similarly
against the name of the second candidate of his
preference.

3. For the third preference, take the third stamp in order and

the third in height, and impress it similarly against the
name of the third candidate of his preference.

4. Continue to impress the remaining three stamps in the

order of place and height (if desired) against the names

of candidates whose degree of favour in the voter's eye

is marked, in every case, by the order of position

relative to the first ; and the gradually diminishing

height of the stamp corresponding with this order, and

with the diminishing interest of the voter.

When an illiterate person grasps the fact that the first and

bigaest stamp is to be used only for the first preference, and the

smallest and last stamp for that of one of the six

candidates who stands lowest in his esteem, all his difficulties

of recording his choice, secretly and accurately, vanish.

A separate ink-pad for the stamps may be avoided by the
use of the seif-inking and self-adjusting stamps now commonly
used in public offices. To ensure greater success, a lesson in

86 OBSERVATIONS ON THE HARE SYSTEM

the simple method of impressing the stamp against any name
might be jriven in some convenient ante-room, and the care
that due order of the stamps in proper position is preserved in
the veiled recording chamber might be seen to by some officer,
after each candidate has recorded his vote.

I hope the suggestions made will commend themselves to
those who have the responsibility of securing the success of
the election by the Hare system of ballot, and also to all
who are jealous of preserving intact the secrecy of the ballot.

THE ACTUAL DISTRIBUTION OF QUOTA
EXCESSES BY THE CLARK-HARE METHOD.

Some persons are fearful that the able returning officers at
Hobart and Launceston — Messrs Davies and Sadler — supported
as they were by the best legal opinion, and assisted as they
were by persons skilled in the particular work, have failed to
carry out the law in all its entirety in the distribution of quota-
surpluses at the last general election.

But, from the expressed statements of some of the critics it
is very obvious that their fears arise either from an imperfect
or hazy notion of the exact processes expeditiously and
correctly carried out by the responsible officers referred to, or
from a very faulty notion of what our law required to be
carried out. From my official position at Hobart— under Mr.
Davies (acting-superviser of the counting processes) — I had
the best opportunity of knowing how the various operations of
the counting and distribution of ballot-papers were performed,
and I can trust that I will be credited when I assure all persons
that every process was faithfully carried out, expeditiously and
smoothly, in strict compliance with every provision of the law
as embodied in Section 115, i — x.

It would be altogether inexcusable on my part, having such
responsibilities, if I had not made myself thoroughly acquainted
with every provision of the law affecting each of the stages of
counting and distribution, for I had the advantage of ample
time and opportunity for making myself fully acquainted with
all the nice points where some difficulties of interpretation
might arise. Moreover, I had the advantage of familiar
discussion and helpful advice from the law officers of the
Crown, and from other trained legal authorities on every
occasion that a possible shade of doubt presented itself to my
mind as regards some of the more obscure provisions. The
result was that I had the comfort of knowing before I engaged
actively on my duties that in the methods for every stage

OF ELECTION IN TASMANIA. 87

arranged and ultimately carried out by me as supervising1
assistant under Mr. Davies, I had the sanction and hearty
approval of the law advisers of the Crown. With my own
judgment independently concurring with the special advice of .
the law officers, who originally drew up every one of the
provisions of Section 115, I have no fear that any person,
however astute, who has not had the grave responsibilities
of execution, and who has not devoted the same time and
trouble to the study of our Electoral Act, 1896, Section 115,
will be successful in the discovery of any flaw either in the
interpretations put upon its various provisions, or in the pro-
cesses adopted for carrying it into effect.

Those who profess to have discovered a flaw in the mode of
determining the quota-excess in Hobart have misled them-
selves by taking hold of only a part of the truth — a source of
danger in most cases to inexperienced persons.

So far as the ordinary misconceptions are concerned regarding
the provisions made for determining the division of transferable
quota-surpluses, it is apparent for the most part that they arise
from unskilled or hasty reading of clauses v. and iv\,
Section 115. Both of these clearly provide for the manner in
which quota-surpluses are to be distributed, and both have for
their object the distribution of the excess, freed altogether
from arbitrary selection by returning officer, and freed, as fairly
as practicable, from the element of chance selection. But the
stumbling block of the average inexperienced or incautious
critic is his failure to discern that the law recognises and
distinguishes two distinct orders of quota-excess, while the in-
cautious critic either only recognises one, or confounds or
mixes up part of the provision of the one when dealing with
the other. For the sake of greater clearness we may call the
quota-excess provided for in Clause V. as quota-excesses of the
first order, and the quota-excesses contemplated in Clause VI.
as those of the second order. Now the manner in which the
quota-excess of the first order is to be determined in distribution
is altogether different from the manner provided in Clause VI.
for the determination and distribution of quota-excess of the
second.

For the former (i.e., first order) the quota-excess — as in case
of the only one of this order, the Fysh surplus, 44 — Clause V.,
" Shall include as nearly as practicable in respect of each
candidate the same proportion of ballot-papers having the
figure 2 set opposite to his name as the number of such ballot-
papers included in the whole parcel bears to the total number
of ballot-papers in the whole parcel.'" The quota-excess of
the first order has been derived wholly from the successful
candidate's l's without the aid of a single transfer ballot-paper

88 OBSERVATIONS ON THE HARE SYSTEM.

Irom any other candidate, and hence the law provides that for
such first order quota-excess the determinants of mode dis-
tribution are, as in the Fysh surplus — the whole of his own
original ballot-papers of the first count.

For determining; the manner in which quota-excesses of the
second order shall be distributed the law is entirely different ;
for it excludes altogether the successful candidates' first count
ballot-papers as determinants, and restricts the determinant of
distribution solely to the total ballot-paper* previously trans-
ferred.

The successful candidates of the second order quota-excesses
cannot by this provision — whether desirable or otherwise — have
their own first count papers included among the determinants
of distribution ; the law clearly confining this function 1o the
various subsequently transferred ballot-papers obtained pre-
ferentially from other candidates, and by whose aid the quota
and its excess were actually obtained.

I hope this explantion will satisfy all reasonable persons
that the various processes of the ballot in Hobart and Laun-
ceston were correctly carried out, and were not marred in any
way by flaws in the manner in which the whole work was
carried out.

It is interesting to note that Hobart alone had a quota-
excess of the first order to distribute, while of quota-excesses
of the second order Hobart had three and Launceston only
one.

In conclusion, let me record gratefully, not merely my own
personal indebtedness, but that of Tasmania, to the pioneer
advocate of True Representation of the People in Australia
(Miss C. H. Spence, of Adelaide), whose life's devotion to
the cause of True Representation has not only greatly in-
fluenced, but has won the admiration and respect of England's
greatest statesmen. To Miss Spence's unwearied advocacy,
by word and pen, the success of the introduction of the Hare
System in Tasmania by Mr. Clark is largely due. I only
hope she will live to see throughout the civilized world the
general adoption of the Hare System of voting, which alone
secures any practical approximation to a Fair and True Repre-
sentation of the People.

THE HARE SYSTEM AT HOBART

Ballot Recording Sheet,

Results of the various C(
Parliamentary Election.

Giving the Actual Results of the various Counts at the recent

no

OBSERVATIONS ON THE HARE SYSTEM

THE HARE SYSTEM AT HOBART.-The Complete Returns.-!

at the recent Parliamentary Election, worked out

Total

_

Count.

Votes
Distri-

Bradley.

Clark,

Cox.

Crisp.

Dillon.

Fulton.

Fysii.

buted.

-

First ....

! 2746

448

393

34

202

143

1 118

501

Second..

44

4

27

3

1

i

Elected-'

Third ...

34

3

5

(-34)
Out

13

2

4

*

Fourth...

122

28

483
Elected-26

18

12

10

: (—122)
Out

*-

Fifth

26

4

...

4

o

• • •

*

Sixth ....

145

*

29

476
Elected- 19

16

13

...

*

Seventh..

19

sfc

*

...

5

...

• ••

*

Eighth...

171

*

*

...

53

6

*

Ninth....

177

*

*

. ..

36

(-177)

*

Tenth....

221

*

ii;.

...

23

Out

...

*

Eleventh

36

1

&.

!

5

...

*

Total..

3742

483

476

34

372

177

122

501

Elected. j

Elected.

Out. ;

Elected.

Out.

Out.

Elected.

Obtained

OF ELECTION IN TASMANIA.

91

lowing Ballot Recording Sheet gives the actual results of the various counts
ality. The quota, it will be remembered, was 457 : —

[DDLE-

roxE.

MULCAHY.

Page.

Patox.

St. Hill.

Exhaust
Papers.

Particulars of
Distribution-.

137

264

235

140

131

■

First count.

2

4

2

1

...

Fysh's surplus.

1

1

3

...

o

...

Lowest out (Cox).

11

13

10

12

8

...

Next lowest out (Fulton).

3

2

2

7

3

...

Bradley's surplus.

15

21

14

21

(-145)
Out

16

Lowest out (St. Hill).

o

2

2

1

...

7

Clark's surplus.

-171)
Out

82

18

8

...

4

Lowest out (Hiddlestone).

51

28

32

...

30

Next lowest out (Dillon).

53

24

(-221)

• . .

121

Next lowest out (Paton).

Out

493

Elected-36

171

-;.-

3

...

...

28'

Mulcahy's surplus.

493

341

221

145

206

)ut.

Elected.

Elected.

Out.

Out.

quota.

92

OBSERVATIONS ON THE HAKE SYSTEM

GENERAL ELECTION, HOBART.

20th January, 1897.

Analysis showing the separate and cumulative value and
distribution of the effective portion only of the various
Preference and Transfer Votes : —

Candidates.

Preference 1.

Preference 2.

Prefer
and

ence 3
aver.

All Effectives.

No.

i

i per cent

|

No.

per cent

No.

per cent

No.

per cent

Fysht

501

18*24

501*"

14-17

Mulcahy t ....

264

! 9-61

205

28-86

24

26-36

493 ,d

13-95

448

1631

34

4-70

1

1-52

483*b

13-66

Clarke t

393

j 14-32

78

10-79

5

7-58

476*c

13 46

202

7-36

161

22-27 !

9

1363

372e

10-52

235

8-56

99

13-69

7

10-61

341'

9-64

t

2043

74-40

577

79-81 |

46

69*70

2666

75-40

140

5-10

72

9-96

9

13-63

221?

625

Dillon +

143

5-21

32

4-43 i

2

3-04

177h

5-01

Hiddlestone $ . .

137

4-99

28

3-73

6

9-09

171*

4 84

St. Hillt

131

4-77

11

1-52

3

454

J45i

4'10

118

j 4-30

4

•55

—

122k

344

Cox +

34

1-23

—

—

—

—

34»

•96

I

703

j 25-60

147

20-19'

20

30-30

870

24-60

Totals . .

2746 !

r2±

—

66

—

3536

—

Percentages —

i

Vertical ....

—

100

100

—

100

—

100

Horizontal . .

77-66

^~

20-47

—~

1-87

~™ "

100

•"~

* Obtained a quota. + Elected. \ Excluded.

Results of Exclusion from Poll, f
Notes. — * Latent force of preferences 2, 3, &c. contained in 10 lower
counts not recorded, having been transferred to next in order
of voters' own preference among remaining candidates.
b Ditto ditto, contained in 7 lower counts, ditto ditto ditto.

c Ditto ditto,

5

>' Ditto ditto,

»

1

»»

' Ditto ditto,

5?

2

}t

j Ditto ditto,

)5

5

it

k Ditto ditto,

>J

7

ii

1 Ditto ditto,

>J

9

)j

def& alone received the full benefit of the whole of their own
effective transfer preferences from all counts.

% Those who at the several counts are either elected or lowest are thence-
forward by present law excluded from the Poll.

OF ELECTION IN TASMANIA.

93

Further Analysis of the Results of the Ballot for Election
of Representatives at Hobart, 20th January, 1897, show-
ing the Separate and Cumulative Value of all Preference
Votes (1), (2), and (3), whether effective or ineffective : —

Candidates.

Pre-
ference

1

Pre-
ference
2

Pre-
ference

3

Cumulative Results
op Preferences.

One & Two.

One, Two, &
Three.

Claik*t

No.
393

501*
448
264
202
137
235
143
131
118
140
34

No.
592*
427
344
231
218
251
167
158
101
121
90
46

No.
401*
314
321
396
270
269
169
156
143
130
129
42

985$
928
792
495
420
388
402
301
232
239
230
80

1386 1

Fysh*t

1242

1113

891

Crisp*

690

Hiddlestone

657
571

Dillon

457

St. Hill

381

369

359

122

A11 j Gross Total

" ( Legally effective

2740
2746

2746
724

2746
66

5492
3470

8238
3536

Quota— 457.
* Elected. t Obtained quota. $ Highest in order of general favour.

94 OBSERVATIONS OX THE HARE SYSTEM

ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE CLARK-HARE SYSTEM
OF ELECTION ADOPTED IN TASMANIA.

Examples of marking Ballot-papers.

(i.) Where there are NINE Candidates for SIX Seats.

Austin
Dickens
Fielding

Ciissing 4

Lytton 3

Meredith 5

Richardson 6

Scott 1

Thackeray 2

Austin 5

Dickens (}

Fielding 4
Gissins

Lytton
Meredith

Richardson 2

Scott 3

Thackerav 1

(ii.) Where there are SIX Candidates for FOUR Seats.

Burns 4 Burns 4

Drvden Drvden 3

Milton 2 Milton 2

Pope Pope

Shakespeare 1 Shakespeare

Wordsworth 3 Wordsworth 1

Examples of an Election of more than One Mem-
ber FOR THE SAME DISTRICT.

Suppose there are Four Members to be elected, and there
are Six Candidates, and the total number of valid votes polled
is 3000.

In accordance with the directions contained in Section 115,
the number of valid votes (3000) will be divided by the
number of Members to be elected (4), and the result (750)
will be the quota of votes required to elect a Member.

First Count.

A has 800 first votes. A and D are declared elected,

and the surplus of A's first votes
is transferred to the other candi-
dates who are marked 2 on th«

B has 420 first votes. same ballot-papers(in pursuance

of Sect. 115, Sub-sect V.) in such
a manner that each of the other
candidates receives the same pro-

C has 180 first votes. portion of such surplus votes as

all the papers on which his name
is marked with the figure 2 in
the parcel bear to the whole 800

D has 780 first vote? ballot-papers in the said parcel.

OF ELECTION IN TASMANIA.

95

E has 720 first votes.

F has 100 first votes.

The numbers on the Second Conn

A, 800 — 50 votes transferred to
other candidates = 750 (elected).

B, 420 + 20 votes transferred from
the surplus votes of D — 440

C, 180 -f- 10 votes transferred from
the surplus votes of D = 190

D, 780 — 30 votes transferred to
other candidates = 750 (elected).

E, 720 + 40 votes transferred from
the surplus votes of A = 760
(elected).

F, 100 + 10 votes transferred from
the surplus votes of A = 110.

A has 50 surplus votes, and as
E is marked 2 on 640 out of the
800 papers, and F is marked 2
on 160, it follows that E is
entitled to four-fifths and F to
one-fifth of the surplus. The
Returning Officer will therefore
transfer 40 of A's surplus votes
to E, and the remaining 10 of
A's surplus votes to F.

D has a surplus of only 30
votes, and, following the same
course, 20 of his surplus ballot-
papers are found to be trans-
ferable to B, and the remaining
10 to C.

t will then be as follows : —
A, D, and E are now declared
elected, but another Member is
required, and there must there-
fore be another transfer of any-
surplus votes and a Third Count.
The only candidate who had a
surplus on the Second Count
was E, who had a surplus of
3 0 votes in consequence of
having had 40 of A's surplus
votes transferred to him. He
will retain permanently 30 of
those surplus votes because
the)r are necessary to give him
the requisite quota of 750 votes,
but the other 10 of A's surplus
ballot-papers will now be trans-
ferred to the candidates whose
names are marked on them with
the figure 3, and on them the
name of B is marked 3.

The numbers on the Third Count will therefore stand as

follows : —

A 750 (elected)

B,440 + 10 votes
transferred from
E's surplus on the
Second Count = 450

190

D ,,,.., ., 750 (elected)

There still remains a Member
to be elected, and there are not
any more surplus votes to be
transferred. It therefore be-
comes necessary to reduce the
number of candidates by ex-
cluding- the one who is lowest

•

on the poll as it now stands,
and to transfer his votes to the
candidates who are marked 2
on the ballot-papers which have

m

OBSERVATIONS ON THE HARE SYSTEM.

E 750 (elected)

110

hitherto been counted for him.
The lowest candidate on the
poll is F, with 1 10 votes, and
be is now excluded. Upon 80
of the ballot-papers hitherto
counted for F the name of B is
marked 2, and on the other 30
of them the name of C is
marked 2.

The numbers on the Fourth Count will therefore be as
follows : —

A 750 (elected) Only three candidates have

succeeded up to the present

B, 450 -f 80 votes time in obtaining the requisite
transferred from quota of votes, and it therefore
F = 530 (elected) becomes necessary to reduce

again the number of candidates

C, 190 -f 30 votes by excluding the one who is
transferred from lowest on the poll as it now
F = 220 stands. The lowest candidate

is C, and he is excluded, leaving
D 750 (elected) only the same number of candi-
dates as there are Members to

E 750 (elected) be elected, viz., A, B, D, and

E, who are therefore declared
elected, and the election is
closed,

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97

NOTES ON THE MEASUREMENTS OF THE TAS-
MANIAN CRANIA IN THE TASMANIAN MUSEUM,
HOBART.

By Walter R. Harper, Member Polynesian Society,
and Arthur H. Clarke, M.R.C.S., etc.

(PLATES.)

The crania of which the measurements are hereinafter
given are all in the Tasmanian Museum at Hobart, and have
never before been measured. It is to be regretted that more
were not available, and that those in the Museum were so
damaged and incomplete. However, as, comparatively
speaking, very few complete craniometrical tables of Tas-
manian skulls have been published, we believe that our efforts
in this direction may prove of some value. We have not
attempted to draw conclusions as to the origin of the
Tasmanians, nor to define characteristics, we have simply
taken the measurements as accurately and carefully as pos-
sible, and hope that our masters, the savants of the Old
World, will find in their researches some use for these records
of an extinct race. So that our measurements may be com-
pared with those of other craniologists, we have thought it
best to preface our tables by a short description of the system
followed.

Practically the whole of the straight and curved measure-
ments were taken as directed by Broca*. The vertex has
been considered always as at the bregma, and the cephalic
index arrived at by the formula : —

Maximum transverse diameter x 100,
Glabello-occipital length.

The " ophryo-occipital and nasio-occipital lengths are also
given.

The " minimum frontal " and Stephanie diameters are the
inferior and superior transverse frontal diameters of Broca,
and the circumferences are those of the same master.

In taking the infra-auricular circumferences we have
adopted the suggestion of Professor Scott f, and used a
piece of fine cord instead of the usual tape. The palate was
measured according to the directions given by Sir William
Turner %, the length extending from the alveolar point to a

* "Instructions Craniologiques et Cranionietriques," 1875, and '• Anthropologic,"
Topinard.

+ " Osteology of the Maori and Moriori," Scott. Trans. N.Z. Institute. 1S93.
X Challenger reports, vol, x.

98

line drawn across the hinder borders of the maxillary bones,
and its width between the outer borders of the alveolar arch
immediately above the middle of the second molar tooth.
The zygomatic projection is shown by the terms Phaeuo-
zygous (P.) and Cryptozygous (C), and was ascertained by
Sir William Turner's method. The breadth of the ramus is
its antero-posteria diameter on a line with the alveolar
border.

The projections given were determined by Topinard's
craniophore, and the two angles arrived at by trigonometrical
calculation.

We greatly regret that we have been compelled to omit
several angles and curves owing to our inability to procure
proper goniometers. However, we hope shortly to remedy
this. By the way, we found the craniometer figured in
Flowers' Osteological Catalogue very useful in measuring the
various diameters.

In taking the important measurement of capacity, we have
used No. 8 chilled shot, and a funnel made according to Sir
William Turner's instructions. In fact, we here followed
closely Turner's method, excepting that as we could not
obtain the two litre measures, we were compelled to use the
one litre and half litre measures of Broca. This measurement
was taken separately by each of us, and again together in
each case.

The Indices chosen are as follows : —
Cephalic ... ... Maximum transverse diameter x 100

Grlabello-occipital length.

Vertical ... ... Basi-bregmatic length X 100.

Glabello-occipital length.

Frontal ... ... Minimum frontal diameter x 100.

Maximum trans-diameter.

Stephanie ... 4.. Minimum frontal diameter x 100.

Stephanie diameter.

Foramen magnum ... Width x 100.

Length.

Orbital Height x 100.

Width.
Nasal ... ... ... Width, anterien naves x 100.

Nasio-spinal height.

Gnathic .., ... Basi-alveolar length x 100.

Basi-nasal length.

Palato Maxillary ... Breadth x 100.

Length.
Facial ... ... ... Opkryo-alveolar length x 100.

Bizvg-omatic diameter.

99

In grouping the skulls according to their indices, we have
used the divisions as named and defined by Flower and
Turner.

Dolicho-cephalic. Cephalic index, below 75.
Mesati-cephalic. „ „ between 75 and 80 inclusive.

Brachy-cephalic. ,, „ above 80.

Tapeino-cephalic. Vertical index, below 72.

Metrio- cephalic. „ „ between 72 and 77 inclusive.

Akro- cephalic. „ „ above 77.

Micro-seme. Orbital index, below 84.

Meso-seme. „ „ between 84 and 89 inclusive.

Mega-seme. ,, ,, index above 89.

Lepto-rhine. Nasal index, below 48.

Meso-rhine. ,, ,, between 48 and 53 inclusive.

Platy-rMne. ,, ,, above 53.

Ortho-gnathous. Gnathic index, below 98.

Meso-gnatlvAis. ,, ,, between 98 and 103 inclusive.

Pro-gnathous. „ „ above 103.

Dolich-uraiiic. Palato-maxillary index, below 110.

Mes-uranic. „ . „ „ between 110 and 115

[inclusive.
Brachy-uranic. ,, ,, „ above 115.

The grouping of the skulls according to their cranial
capacities is as follows : —
Micro-cephalic. Below l,350cc.

Meso- cephalic. Between 1,350 and l,450ce. inclusive.
Mega-cephalic. Above ],450cc.

There are in the Museum 19 crania described as Tas-
mauian. Of this number we rejected at once three skulls as
being incorrectly classed, and upon comparing the skulls
after measurement, we decided to exclude three others, which
in our opinion are those of half-castes. The measurements
of these three crania are given in our table, but they are
otherwise disregarded. Our table therefore gives the
measurements of 12 Tasmaniau crania, six male and six
female.

A word with regard to No. 2. Viewed from above, it pre-
sents all the peculiarities of the cranial vault noticed in the
Tasmanians, but differs from most of the other crania in the
face. The upper border of the orbit does not project beyond
the lower, but on the contrary is 5mm. behind, and al-

100

though the depression at the root of the nose is very notice-
able, still the height of the face does not appear so contracted
as in the remainder of the skulls. Again, while the molar
bones are similar to the Tasmanians, the subnasal prog-
nathism is greater. However, we have decided to class it
amongst the Tasmanians.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION.

Cranial Vault — The most striking feature of the cranial
vault is that which is so well described by Dr. Paul
Topinard* and quoted by J. Barnard Davisf. It is as
follows : —

" At two or three centimetres from the bregma there begins
to be marked out a convexity of an oval form which contracts,
and freeing the bregma is transformed into an an tero- posterior
crest. This hollows in the middle to receive the sagittal
suture, seems to double itself, and terminates about half way
between the anterior and posterior fontanelles. Upon the
sides of this crest, at about a centimetre before the coronal
suture, take their rise at the same time two antero posterior
grooves, which hollow more and more as they proceed, and
end equally at half the length of the parietal. Lastly, quite
outside, are situated the parietal bosses, very much developed,
even conical."

This keel-shaped vault is noticeable in all the crania under
consideration ; in Truganini's skull it is particularly notice-
able, as it is also in skull No. 2.

The parietal eminences are well-defined and prominent in
every case, and the roof of the skull is markedly obovate in
shape. Six of the skulls have the obelion depressed. The
parietal foramina are very minute in most cases, but are
present in all the skulls. Viewed sideways, the rounded form
of the skulls in the region of the squamosals is striking in
all the crania, and in the majority the temporal fossse are
deep and extensive. The temporal ridge is well marked,
especially so in the male crania. The face presents features
so pronounced as to lead one to believe it impossible to
mistake a Tasmanian skull J, even leaving out of consider-
ation the characteristic keel-shaped vault. All the skulls
show the depression at the root of the nose, a-nd the projec-
tion of the glabella aud supra-orbital ridges noticed by Dr.
Topinard and others. No. 3 (a photograph of which, kindly

* " Etude sur les Tasmaniens." Mem. de la Soc. d'Anthropolegie de Paris, iii ,
309. " Daily life of the Tasmanians." Bonwiek, p. 116.

t The Osteology and Peculiarities of the Tasmanians. J. Barnard Davis, p. 10.

1 1 have seen in Australian skulls a depression of the root of the nose, a projec-
tion of the glabella and supra-orbital ridges equal to that of the average Tas-
manian skull, but the contraction of the face, the size and shape of the
orbits, and usually the position of the molar bones all serve to distinguish the
latter— W. R. H.

101

taken by Mr. Russell Young and Mr. Arthur Butler, accom-
panies this paper). Nos. 3 and 4, especially the latter, have
a very sinister appearance on account of this.

Truganini, in her photographs taken during life, appears to
have this appearance strongly marked, but it is hardly notice-
able in the skull ; however, in a 'photograph of the cranium
the peculiarity is more apparent. The molar bones as a rule
are small if anything, and their front thrown well forward.
The anterior nares are broad at the base and narrow very
gradually ; in some of the skulls they appear almost rect-
angular. The nasal spine is almost obliterated in most of
the skulls, in the remainder it is distinctly double. The
nasal bones, where present, are high and very concave at the
ends, and then sink somewhat abruptly, and at the root have
that pinched appearance noted by Topinard. The superior
maxilla adds to the contracted appearance of the face, the
ascending process dips backwards, and further, just below
the inferior border of the orbit, and near its junction with
the molar bone, quite a well is formed in the majority of
the skulls.

Topinard in his report on six Tasmanian crania, published
in Bonwick's " Daily life of the Tasmanians," notices that
the superior border of the orbit projects over the inferior, and
compares this with the Australian skulls, in which the con-
trary is the rule. His table shows that the average projection
in five male Tasmanian crania is 72, while in 10 Australian
skulls the mean is — 1 §. Our measurements do not go to prove
this projection of the superior border of the orbit to be con-
stant in Tasmanian crania, though it is usually the case.

The projection was determined with a Topinard' s cranio-
phore, the skull being placed on the alveolo-condylar plane.
Owing to the very broken state of the skulls, especially of
the base, we could only take the measurement satisfactorily
in six skulls. In four of these the projection in question
was noticeable, and averaged 3*7, while in the fifth, an un-
doubted Tasmanian skull (that of Augustus, a male, aged 50
years), the lower border projected beyond the upper for 3mm.
The sixth (No. 2) has already been referred to. In all the
skulls, the orbits are rectangular in shape ; in the male
skulls this is particularly noticeable ; in fact, in three or four
they are almost perfectly oblong.

In all the male skulls the palate is parabolic in shape, but
the female palates show the IJ formation ; in Truganini, the
palate is slightly elliptical.

Sutures. — The coronal suture is simple in every case except
in the region of the stephanions ; the sagittal suture is some-

§ In one undoubtedly Australian skull in my possession, the superior border of
the orbit projects over the inferior 7mm. — W. R. H.

102

what complicated, and the lambdoidal greatly so, as a rule.
Wormian bones are of frequent occurrence in the lambdoidalr
and at the pterion. Epipteric bones also appear in several
instances. The pterion assumes quite a number of forms,
although in the majority of cases it is of the usual H shape ;
in three skulls (Nos. 2, 4, and 6) it is K shaped, and in No. 8
the temporal pushing back the sphenoid touches the frontal
for 13mm. on both sides. None of the skulls are metopic,
nor are there any traces of an interparietal bone. The
obliteration of the sutures starts from before backwards in
every case.

Unfortunately, there were only four skulls with the lower
jaw complete, one male and three female. The lower jaw is
small in all measurements, the condylar height exceeds the
t-oronoid in every case, with the exception of Truganini. In
two skulls, the gonion shows a very wide angle, but this is
merely due to old age.

In no skull is there a complete set of teeth. In most cases,
however, the teeth have been lost after death ; but in a few
of the older skulls (such as Caroline) the teeth have been lost
from old age, and the alveolas absorbed. In most skulls,
three molars were present at the time of death, but in some
specimens (e.g., Augustus, No. 1), though well past middle
life, the third molars are not fully erupted. There are no
carious molars. All the molars are well worn, with the
exception of some of the third molars, which are distorted.
The incisors and canines have been lost in nearly every skull,
as have also the bicuspids, but those which are left show the
same grinding down as the molars, and the same absence of
caries.

Capacity.
No. Average. Minimum. Maximum. Class.

Male ... 3 1282 1155 1450 Micro- cephalic
Female ... 5 1089 1050 1135 „

Total ... 8 1161 1050 1450

The average male capacity of these specimens classes them
as micro-cephalic, the females also have a very small capacity.
The variation from the smallest female to the largest male
capacity is 400cc. In comparing our measurements with
others, we find that the skulls in the Tasmanian Museum
have a smaller mean capacity than any other collection
of Tasmanian skulls that have yet been measured^, with
the exception of two skulls in the Cambridge Museum,
the measurements of which were kindly sent to us by Ling
Roth. Flower, in six male and five female skulls in the

^f Broca and Topinard rammed the shot, while we only used the thumb to push it
down. J. B. Davis measured his capacities with sand, and Flower with mustard
seed.

103

Museum of the Koyal College of Surgeons of England, finds
the average male capacity to be l,309cc, and the female
l,140cc. Broca, in seven specimens, finds the male to be
1,452, and the female 1,201. J. Barnard Davis, six male
1,392, four female 1,273. Topinard, male, 1,376, female
1,103. Mr. W. L. H. Duckworth, in two male skulls in
the Cambridge University collection, finds a capacity of
1,130.

These figures combined give an average capacity of
l,323cc. in the male, and l,161cc. in the female, thus classing
the Tasmanian skull as micro-cephalic.

Cephalic Index.

No. Average. Minimum. Maximum.

Class.

Male ... 6 74-0 73-1 75-6 Dolicho-cephalic

Female ... 5 77.0 75-4 78*5 Mesati-cephalic

Total ... 11 75-4 731 78"5 Mesati-cephalic

Our average of 11 skulls gives a cephalic index of 75*4,
which places these specimens in the mesati-cephalic class.
The males, with an index of 74*0, have a longer skull than the
females, 77*0. The variatiou, however, is small, 5*4. Broca,
in 10 Tasmanian skulls, finds a cephalic index of 76 11*.
Barnard Davis, in 17 Tasmanians, one of 75'6f. Topinard
finds an index of 77'4 in the male, and 74*9 in the
female^, which makes the female skull the longer in propor-
tion, contrary to our experience. Flower gives an index of
76*3, but as his measurement of length is taken from the
ophryon instead of from the glabella, as in the other authors
quoted, this makes his index higher than it would otherwise
be§. Duckworth, in the two Cambridge skulls, finds an average
cephalic index of 731. These figures combined therefore
give an average cephalic index of 75*4, which, strangely
enough, is the average of the skulls in the collection at the
Tasmanian Museum, and classes the Tasmanians as mesati-
cephalic.

Vertical Index.

No.

Average.

Minimum.

Maximum.

Class.

Male

. 4

70-0

66-8

73-9

Tapei no-cephalic

Female ..

. 4

72-5

68-0

78-2

Me trio-cephalic

Total ..

. 8

71-2

66-8

78-2

Tapeino-cephalic

This table of vertical indices shows that our collection of
skulls should be classed as Tapeino-cephalic, having an

* " Sur la Classification et la Nomenclature d'apres les indices cepbaliques."
Paul Broca. Revue D'Anthropologie, vol. 1, p. 385, 1872.
t " Thesaurus Craniorum." Barnard Davis.
J " The Tasmanians." H. Ling Roth.

§ " Osteological Catalogue of the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of
England." W. H. Flower.

104

average index of 712. The male skulls, with an index of
700, are not as lofty as the female, which average 72-5. The
variation in this table is larger, 11 4. Topinard gives an
average index of 71*0 for the male, and 6S5 for the female,
thus making the male skull the higher in proportion, which
is the opposite to what we have found in our specimens. In
one specimen in the Cambridge collection the index is 68*4.
These figures combined give an average of 69*8 in the male,
and 70*5 in the female, or 70 1 in both sexes. The Tas-
mauians should therefore be classed as Tapeino-cephalic.

Orbital Index.

No. Average. Minimum. Maximum. Class.

Male 6 79-4 667 919 Microseme

Female ... 4 84-8 800 889 Mesoseme

Total 10 81*6 667 91-9 Microseme

This table gives an average of 81*6 in these crania, classing
the skulls as microseme ; the males have a lower and wider
orbit (index 79*4) than the females (84'8). The variation is
considerable (25'2). The variation of the male skulls
(25*2) is much greater than that of the female (8'9). Topinard
gives an average index of 766 in the male, and 81 in the
female. Flower finds the male index to be 767 and the
female 84'9 in 14 skulls which he measured. In the two
skulls in the Cambridge collection the average index is 77 3.
These figures combined give an average male index of 77*5 ;
and female of 83'6 ; the average for both sexes is 80*5. The
Tasmanian skull is therefore microseme.

Nasal Index.
No. Average. Minimum. Maximum. Class.

Male 6 540 49'1 622 Platvrhine

Female ... 3 55'2 49'0 58*7

Average ... 9 544 49'0 62-2

In nine skulls we find the average nasal index to be 54*4.
In the male the index (54) is lower than that of the female
(55 2). Both sexes therefore belong to the platyrhine group.
The variation is 132. Broca, in eight Tasmanians, finds a nasal
index of 56-92. Flower, in 14 Tasmanians, one of 57*4. In the
Cambridge collection the average nasal index of the two
skulls is 64*1. This is much higher than any of the other
nasal indices ; it is indeed higher than the maximum nasal
index in our collection (62#4). On working out the nasal
index from the measurements of Topinard, quoted in Ling
Roth's " Tasmanians," we find it to be 551 in the males, and
60-5 in the females. These figures combined give an average
nasal index of 58"1, and class the Tasmanians as Platyrhine.

105
Gnathic Index.

NO.

Average.

Minimum.

Maximum.

Class.

Hale ..

. 4

107-5

103-0

1100

Prognathous

Female ..

. 2

1027

1010

1040

?>

Total ...

, 6

106-0

101-0

110-0

5>

In six specimens which we have measured we fipd the
gnathic index to be 106, classing the skulls as prognathous.
The male index, 107*5, is greater than the female, 102'7.
The variation is 9. Flower, in 11 specimens, finds an average
index of 103'3 The two Cambridge specimens measured
give an average of 108*1. These figures combined give an
average gnathic index of 105*8, which classes the Tasmanian
skull as prognathous.

Palatc

)-MAXILLARY INDEX

NO.

•Average.

Minimum.

Maximum.

Class.

Male . . .

2

1180

1164

119-6

Brachyuranic

Female ...

3

111-5

103-5

1220

Mesuranic

Average

5

114-6

103-5

1220

>>

The male palate, with an average index of 118, is broader
than the female, with an average of 111*5. The total average,
1146, classes these specimens as mesuranic. The two
Cambridge specimens which were measured give an average
of 1145. These averages combined give an index of 114*55,
which classes those Tasmanian skulls of which we have
measurements as mesuranic.

Frontal Index.

No. Average. Minimum. Maximum.

Male 6 67*9 65*4 70-4

Female 6 667 62*9 73*5

Total 12 67-3 629 73-5

This index is fairly constant, averaging 67'9 in the males,
and 667 in the females, or 67*3 in both sexes. The greatest
variation is 10*6. Broca finds in eight Tasmanian crania an
index of 67*0. In deducing this index from Topinard's
measurements in Ling Roth's " Tasmanians," we find it to be
65*7 in the males and 70*2 in the female. These figures
combined give an average index of 67*4, so that this index is
fairly constant in the skulls of whose measurements we have
a record.

NO.

Average.

Minimum.

Maximum.

6

915

86-5

97-8

6

88-6

83-0

97-9

12

90-0

830

979

4

87-0

79-4

100-0

5

85-1

765

88-6

9

85-9

76-5

100-0

106
Stephanic Index.

Male

Female

Total ,

This index again is fairly constant, averaging 90 in 12
skulls; the average being 91'5 in the males, and 886 in the
females. The greatest variation is 14"9.

Index of Foramen Magnum.

No. Average. Minimum. Maximum.
Male

Female

Total

This index averages 859 in nine skulls ; 87 in the male, and
85'1 in the female. The variation is considerable (235).
Topinard's figures are approximate to this being 85*5 in the
male, and 81*2 in the female. These figures combined give
an average of 86*7 in the male, and 83*1 in the female, or 84*7
in both sexes.

Facial Index.

No. Average. Minimum. Maximum.

Male 3 726 684 76.7

Female 1 697

Total 4 71-9 68-4 76'7

This index averages 71'9. In the three males which we
have measured it is 72*6, and in the one female, 69*7. Broca,
in eight Tasmanian3, finds an average of 62*6. Calculating
from Topinard's figures in Ling Roth's " Tasmanians," we
obtain an index of 692 in the male, and 65*0 in the female.
In one skull in the Cambridge collection which was measured,
the facial index was 70*2. These figures combined give an
average facial index of 67*9.

Median Circumference. — In measuring the arcs of this cir-
cumference, we find in eleven skulls that were available that
the average length of the parietal arc, 1261, is longer than
that of the frontal, 1257, or the occipital arc, 11] *5. This
is borne out by J. Barnard Davis's measurements of 10 skulls,
where he finds the same condition ; his figures also are fairly
approximate to ours, viz., frontal arc, 125mm.; parietal,,
130mm.; and occipital, 110mm.

107

Horizontal Circumference. — We find the average horizontal
circumference of six males and five females to be 502. J. B.
Davis, in 10 skulls, finds an average of 507. Topinard,
taking the averages of the two sexes combined, as in the
other instances quoted, one of 514. In the Cambridge col-
lection, two skulls give an average of 500. Combined, these
figures give an average horizontal circumference of 506mm.

Bizygomatic Diameter. — The diameter, which shows the
maximum breadth of the face, averages 129mm. in the five
skulls which we were able to measure. In 10 skulls, J. B.
Davis finds an average of 130. Topinard, one of 127. In
one skull in the Cambridge collection this diameter measured
124mm. These figures combined give an average bizygomatic
diameter of 127mm.

In conclusion, we wish to express our thanks to the Fellows
of the Society and to the other gentlemen who have given us
assistance in various ways. First of all to the Museum
authorities for their courtesy in allowing us the use of their
room in the evenings. To Mr. J. B. Walker for the loan of
books and papers. To Mr. Russell Young and Mr. Arthur
Butler for the excellent photographs which accompany this
paper. To Mr. Ward and others for the loan of measuring
glasses, instruments, shot, etc. Lastly, Mr. Chairman, ladies,
and gentlemen, we thank you for your kind attention to a
paper which, in order to be scientifically accurate, must
necessarily be somewhat tedious to any but an enthusiastic
anthropologist.

EXPLANATION OF PLATES.

Plate 1. — (a) Truganini, No. 7. Full Face.

(b) „ „ Profile.

(c) „ „ Base of Skull.

Plate 2.— (a) No. 3. Full Face.

(b) „ Profile.

(c) „ Base of Skull.

N.B — The figures refer to the number of the skulls in the table of
measurements.

PLATE 1. (b)
No. 7. TRUGANINI. PROFILE.

PLATE I. (c)
No. 7. TRUGANINI. BASE OF SKULL.

PLATE 2. (a/
No. 3. FULL FACE.

PLATE 2. (bj
No. 3. PROFILE.

PLATE 2. (c)
No. 3. BASE OF SKULL.

Ill

DESCRIPTIONS AND MEASUREMENTS OF SOME

MAORI AND MORIORI CRANIA.

By Walter R. Harper.

Read September 14, 1897.

As the subject of my paper will probably be new to many
of you, it may be as well to make a few introductory remarks.
We were all aware of the great value scientists attached to
the brains, hair, etc., of various individuals and races, but, to
quote Topinard, " Bones, on the other hand, have the in-
estimable advantage of presenting to us all that remains of
ancient peoples of which there are no longer any living
representative ; some extending back to one and two thou-
sand years, others to ten and twenty thousand, when the
various types had become less changed. When making a
comparison of races, therefore, it should not be matter of
surprise that such importance is attached to the study of the
bones, and particularly of the skull — that noblest part of the
human animal." When man was first studied in relation to
the animals, early in the present century, it was noticed that
in the former the brain case was directly above the face, and
in the animals smaller aud further back. From this arose
the study of the facial angle, one of the earliest attempts of
craniometry. Many angles were suggested, but it is only
within comparatively recent times that the measurement has
taken definite form.

At first the skull was placed on a plane and studied from
above, without the use of instruments — craniology was
merely a descriptive science — but now it has become exact
and is capable of expressing characteristics with precision.
First the brain-case was considered the part of the skull
most worthy of attention, then later it was recognised that
more certain characteristics were to be discovered in the face,
aud now was found in the various facial indices, projections
and angles, the best aids for defining race differences. It
was not claimed for craniometry that it was the one means
by which the mystery of man's origin and early life and
history on this planet might be solved, but it was a most
important branch of the master science of anthropology.
However, I have this evening to lay before you not an
essay on comparative craniometry, but just a table and short
description of seven skulls in the Tasmanian Museum.

112

Descriptions and Measurements of Some Maori
and Moriori Crania.

So few Maori and Moriori skulls being available for
measurement in the Tasmanian Museum, the value of this
paper, outside its use as a Museum record, must lie in its
beiuur comparable with the tables of other craniologists. It
is for this reason I have followed closely the system used by
Professor Scott in preparing bis paper on " The Osteology
of the Maori and Moriori," read before the Otago Institute
in 1893. I have been compelled to omit the " facial angle "
for want of a suitable goniometer, but have added several
projections, taken with Topinard's " craniophore," and from
these I have, by trigonometrical calculations, arrived at the
angles of prognathism. The important measurement of
capacity was taken at least twice on each skull — once by
myself, and again by Dr. Clarke, of Hobart. The system of
Sir William Turner was carefully followed, excepting that,
not being able to procure a two litre measure, I used a one
litre graduated glass. Of the Maori skulls measured, three
were male and one female ; and of the Moriori, two were male
and one sex uncertain. No. 5, which I have classed amongst
the Moriori, is marked on its label, " Maori," but I think
this is an error, for it presents all the features of the Moriori
skull as described by Sir William Turner and Professor
Scott, and certainly differs very much from the four preceding
crania. No. 7 is marked " female " on its label, but I am
inclined to think it is "male." It appears on the table as
doubtful.

Description.

Cranial Vault — Maori. — Viewed from above, Nos. 1 and 2
are quite oval, No. 3 is rounded, and No. 4 obovate. This
last presents the roof-like shape so frequently met with in
New Zealand crania, and, owing to the prominence of the
parietal eminences, is distinctly pentagonal viewed from
behind. The forehead is rather high in every case, thus
distinguishing them from the Moriori skulls. In No. 2 a
hollow is formed just above the superciliary ridges by the
projection of the glabella and the frontal eminences. In
No. 1 the glabella is prominent, and in the remaining three
well marked. The zygomatic arches of the first three skulls
are plainly visible from above, while the fourth is crypto-
zygous. The obelion is depressed in Nos. 2 and 4. The
greatest width is at the squamosals on No. 1, and the
parietal s on Nos. 2, 3, and 4. No. 1 rests upon the mastoid
processes ; No. 2 upon the mastoid processes and the con-
ceptacular region ; No. 3 upon the conceptacular region and
one of the mastoid processes ; No. 4 upon one of the condyles^
one of the mastoids, and the conceptacular region.

113

Moriori. — The thive of these skulls exhibit the retreating
forehead ; Nos. 6 and 7 show the median ridge and the
flattening of the parietals noticed by Professor Scott. Viewed
from, above, the skulls are obovate ; the glabella is prominent,
and the obelion depressed in all three. The " maximum
transverse diameter " was taken on the parietals in every
case, and the three skulls are phaenozygous. Nos. 5 and 7
rest upon the condyles ; No. 6 upon the conceptacular region
and one of the mastoids.

Circumference —Maori. — In the majority of cases (three out
of four) the parietal arc is the longest. This would not be
the case, however, if a larger number of skulls had been
available for measurement. Sir William Turner found the
frontal longer than the parietal in 10, equal to it in four, and
less in four skulls. While of the large number measured by
Professor Scott, 82 per cent, show the frontal arc exceeding
the parietal. The occipital arc is shortest in every case.

Moriori. — In Nos. 5 and 7 the parietal arc is longest, and
in No. 6 the frontal The occipital arc is shortest in Nos. 5
and 7, but exceeds the parietal in No. 6.

Sutures. — In all the skulls, except Nos. 1 and 5, the sagittal
suture is clearly marked and complicated. In No. 1 it is
obliterated, and in No. 5 nearly so, starting from the bregma.
Except in No. 1, where it has disappeared, the lamboidal
suture is very complicated, and frequently beset with large
wormian bones. A wormian bone also appears at the pterion
in No. 7. In No. 6 the temporal pushes back the great wing
of the splenoid, and touches the frontal on one side, thus
forming a K, In every other case the pterion is distinctly of
the usual H shape. • None of the skulls examined were
metopic, nor were any traces of an inter-parietal bone
discovered. In No. b' the infra-orbital suture is clearly
marked, and traces of it appear in several others.

Parietal Foramina. — These are apparent on all the skulls,
generally one on either side of the suture, and in Nos. 4 and
5 in the median line. No. 7 has three foramina, two on one
side and one on the other side of the sagittal suture.

Nasal Bones. -As a rule, the nasal bones are high and
curved at the end, and sunken at the root.

Anterior Naves. — In six of the skulls this is wide beloiv
and narrow above. In No. 2 the opening does not narrow so
much, and the base is rounded off by the obliteration of the
nasal spine. In five of the remaining skulls the nasal spine
is well marked and two-lipped — in No. 4 somewhat bevelled.

114

Alveolar Arch. — AH the skulls show the alveolar arch in
the parabolic form, although in No. 2 it approaches the form
of the letter U.

Lower Jaw. — Only two of the skulls, Nos. 6 and 7, had the
interior maxilla. No. 6 is light, and the angle nearly a right
angle. No. 7 is much more massive and more rounded at
the angle.

Teeth. — In none of the skulls are all the teeth present,
three have none at all. No. 3, the skull of a young man,
has remarkably good and ^ell preserved teeth, and. in this
skull the upper wisdom teeth are to be seen just breaking
through. In the other skulls such teeth as are present are
very much worn, but show no signs of decay.

Classification.

Cranial Capacity. — The average of the three Maori skulls
is 1392, thus placing them in the mesocephalic class. Pro-
fessor Scott's averages for 64 skulls of both sexes was 1420.
Of the Moriori skulls, two (Nos. 5 and 6) are in the micro-
cephalic class, and one (No. 7) is mesocephalic, the average
being 1310. This is very low, for the 38 skulls measured by
Professor Scott averaged 1416. One Moriori skull measured
by MM. de Quatrefages and Hamy gave 1785 cubic ceuti-
metres capacity. It will be noticed on my table that No. 7,
which was marked female on its museum label, but which I
mark " ?," has a much greater capacity than the two male
skulls. This is one of my reasons for doubtiug the accuracy
of its label. Professor Scott's highest capacity of a female
Moriori skull is 1358.

Cephalic Index — The average of four Maori crania is 77*8,
or mesati-cephalic. The individual indices vary greatly, No.
3 (86*1) being very brachy-eephalie, and No. 2 (71 '3) dolicho-
cephalic. The average of these four crauia, owing to the
exceptionally high index of No. 3, is not a fair one, since
Professor Scott's average for 76 skulls is 75*4, and Sir
William Turner's for 72 skulls is 74. The mean of the
three Moriori crania is 761, or mesati-cephalic. Professor
Scott's mean for 40 skulls is 763, and Sir William Turner's
mean for eight skulls is 75*2.

Vertical Index. — The average of the Maori skulls is 74*7,
or metrio-cephalic. The height is less than the breadth in
three out of the four skulls, and in the remaining one it is
greater. Turner's mean of 16 skulls was 73*5. Of the
Moriori, in two cases the breadth exceeds the height, and in

Ii5

one it is less. The mem vertical index of these three skulls
is 73-5, also metrio-cephalic. Professor Scott's mean of 41
skulls was 72*7.

Frontal Index. — The average frontal index of the Maoris is
66'6, and of the Morioris 67*2. The asterionic diameter
exceeds the stephanic in four of the skulls, and is less in the
remaining three.

Foramen Magnum. — The mean of the Maori skulls is
87*3, and of the Moriori 87*9. Professor Scott's averages
were 87*8 Maori, and 87*3 Moriori.

Orbital Index. — The average of the four Maoris is 92*7, or
megaseme. This is very high, and is owing to the almost
rounded orbits of some of the skulls examined. Professor
Scott's mean is 86*1, thus placing the Maoris in the mesoseuie
group. The Moriori skulls averaged 91 (megaseme). Pro-
fessor Scott's average was 89, and Sir William Turner's 88.

Nasal Index. — The average of this index is 46*3 for the
Maoris, and 44*1 for the Moriori, thus placing both in the
Leptorhine class. Professor Scott's averages were 48*1
Maori, and 46*8 Moriori. Sir William Turner's were 47-5
and 47. The index varies greatly in the Maori skulls, the
minimum being 36*1, and the maximum 56'0.

Gnathic Index. — The Maori skulls averaged 99 (meso-
gnathous), and the Moriori 97*7, or just within the ortho-
gnathous group Professor Scott's mean places both the
Maori and Morioris in the ortho-gnathous class, his average
for the forn/er being 96*9. and for the latter 97'7.

Palato -maxillary Index. — These indices average 123'5 for
the Maoris (brachy-uranic), and 110*5 for the Moriori
(mesuranic). Turner's average for the Morioris (113)
places them in the mesuranic class, and Professor Scott's
means are 121 for the Maori, and 1208 for the Moriori, or
brachy-uranic in both cases.

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119

ON THE TOPAZ QUARTZ PORPHYEY OE STAN-

NIFEEOUS ELVAN DYKES OF MOUNT BISCHOFF.

ByW. H. Twelvetrees, F.G.S. and W. F. Petterd, O.M.Z.S.

Read October 11, 1897.

(PLATE.)

This rock was first described by S. N. Wintle in 1875* as
eurite porphyry, which it had been termed by Professor G.
H. F. Ulrich, who, however, did not publish his description
until 1877f. In 1875 also the late Chas. Gould wrote as
follows : —

" Mount Bischoff is a conical eminence rising to about
2,500ft. above the level of the sea. ... It consists of
a small protrusion of a porphyritic rock having a felsitic
base, with granules aud crystals of quartz and felspar ; it
weathers white, and is honeycombed or vesicular on the
surface, most probably from the decomposition and removal
of pyrites, which is freely disseminated throughout in places!."

Profeesor G. von Eath, of Bonn, first determined the
existence of topaz in specimens sent to him by Professor
Ulrich. His description was published in 1879§. The rock
was further submitted to methodical investigation in 1884,
when A. von Groddeck microscopically examined specimens at
Clausthal, received from Tasmania. Von Groddeck's two
papers on the subject disclose a thorough treatment of the
material available*. He definitely negatived the idea of his
sample being quartz-porphyry at all, aud called it a por-
phyritic topaz rock. In 1892 Mr. H. W. Ferd. "Kayser in
his paper on Mount Bischoff, read before Section C,
Australasian Association for the Advancement of
Science at Hobart, 1892, refers to dykes of Eurite or
Quartz-porphyry and Topaz-porphyry, and in a subsequent
paper by Messrs. Kayser and Provis (1895-6)f , the dykes are
called Topaz-porphyry and Quartz-porphyry. Mr. A. W.
Clarke, in 1892, wrote a short note on the microscopical ap-
pearance of a specimen of this rock in the collection of Mr.
E. L. Jack, Government Geologist for Queensland, but while

*" Stanniferous Deposits of Tasmania." Trans. Roy. Soc. N.S. Wales, vol. ix

1875, p 87.

t " New York Year Book of Mineralogy," 1877, p. 494.

t " Q. Journal Geolog. Soc," vol. xxxi., 1875, p. 109.

§ " Berichter der Niederrheinischen Gesellschaft," Bonn, 1S79.

Proc. Roy. Soc. Tasmania, 1885 p. 38S, and 1886, p. 189.
t Proc. Inst. Civil Engineers, vol. cxxiii., 1895-6, p. 4.

120

noticing " a radially arranged mineral highly colored between
crossed nicols," failed to recognise it as Topaz*. Finally, the
topaz and quartz-porphyries of Mount Bischoff are recorded
in the work mentioned at foot§. No systematic microscopical
examination seems to have been published since von
Groddeck's time. His material was plainly limited, and the
essential nature and derivation of the rock were not dealt
with in his painstaking inquiry.

After renewed examination in the field, and with the aid
of an extensive series of microscopical slides, it may be per-
mitted to us to re-state the problem, and, as we believe,
advance a step in the process of its solution.

That dykes of an acidic porphyritic rock traverse the
Palseozoic slates and sandstones at Mount Bischoff is well
known. This rock carries topaz both crystalline and
amorphous, and that mineral at Mount Bischoff appears
always to bo associated with Cassiterite. Professor Krause,
alluding to these dykes, says : "The white porphyry com-
posing the summit of Mount Bischoff contaius in a felsitic
base crystals of quartz and an abundance of fine-grained
amorphous topaz, with here and there a cavity lined with
groups of radiating acicular crystals of topaz. Pseudomorphs
of topaz after quartz are also not uncommon."* This,
perhaps, is the latest description of the rock in question, but
it applies to only one variety of a very variable rock. In
prosecuting our investigations our aim has been to obtain
samples as little altered as possible, in the hope of being able
to detect the presence of minerals of the parent rock. We
have succeeded in finding specimens showing constituents
which have not succumbed to the obliterating processes of
tojDazisation. When sliced they reveal quartz, felspar, and
mica as porphyritic constituents. The felspar outlines are
mostly filled in with talc and radiating crystals of topaz
(pycnite). This explains the rarity of felspars in the altered
rock. Topaz crystals settle in the interior of a crystal of
felspar, replace its substance, and filially its outline is lost in
the ground-mass of the rock. In this way mauy phenocrysts
are now indeterminable.

This topazisation is what Rosenbusch calls a pneumatolytic
phenomenon, viz., the development of topaz and tourmaline
rocks in veins proceeding from granite. Fluoric and boracic
acid vapours, given off at the time of intrusion aud consoli-
dation of the vein matter, are recognised as agents competent
to effect the observed results. These solfataric vapours

t " Geology and Paleontology of Queensland." R. L. Jack and R. Etheridge,
jr., 1892, vol. 1, p. 729.

§ Catalogue of the minerals sf Tasmania. W. F. Petterd, p. 90, 1896.

* An introduction to the study of mineralogy. F. M. Krause, 1896, p. 220

121

under bydroplutonic conditions act upon a magma protruded,
from a deep-seated rock mass containing the elements of a
granite. The protruded vein-rock thus becomes topazised
and tourmalinised. It is bardly possible to separate physi-
cally the moments of topazisation and final consolidation, for
we must conceive of this process being at work while tbe
vein-mass as a wbole was still viscous. Tbe pbenocrysts of
felspar were probably attacked and digested during their
passage from below. Tbe Mount Bischoff rock is essentially
a vein-rock, and we are disposed to refer it to the elvan group
as a topazised elvan rock (now topaz quartz-porphyry). It
has been called "eurite" in Grenville A. J. Cole's sense of
compact granite = quartz-felsite, quartz-porphyry, etc. Tbe
origiual definition of eurite by D'Aubisson de Yoisins
described eurite as a compact granite with dominant felspar,
but the name has been applied to quartz-felsites of varying
origin, and has long since lost its significance as a rock title.
Professor Cole lias sought to revive it, but it apparently has
not come into use in precise petrography. Eurite often
occurred in a rock-mass as porphyritic granite or micro-granite,
being the fine grained peripheral part of a body of granite,
while elvan is always a vein-rock. The term elvan has been
objected to as being somewhat indefinite, for the material of
the veins has consolidated sometimes as granite-porphyry, at
other times as felspar or quartz-porphyry. .Again, the
boundary line between grauite-porphvry aud quartz-porphyry
is not sharply defined, for though the ground-mass of the
former is typically microgranitic, it often passes over into the
compact felsitic ground-mass of quartz-porphyry. Quartz-
porphyry indeed is simply a modal term applied to acidic
rocks. Sometimes it characterises effusive sheet?, lava
flows, otherwise it is applied to the material of compact
intrusive veins (elvan). Some high authorities consider that
#the loose way in which " elvan " has been used ought to
disqualify it as a scientific term : but this does not prevent
us from attaching a definite meaning to the word, which we
do when we employ it as signifying granitoid and quartz-
porphyry veins extending from masses of granite into the
surrounding rocks. Such veins consist typically of felspar
and quart z-phenocrysts (accompanied by mica, hornblende,
or augite) in an orthoclase and quartz ground-mass, which
is micro-crystalline, crypto-crystalline, or felsitic. In the
Mt. Bischoff rock the felspar of the ground-mass has been
replaced by topaz. The analysis recorded by von Groddeck
showed no alkali, and the rock consisted practically of quartz
and topaz. But this would naturally be the case in parts of
the rock where the topazisation process had proceeded to its
ultimate stage.

122

In certain of our slides the substance, as well as the form
of the felspar, has survived, and we are then able to diagnose
the original rock as containing porpbyritic crystals of quartz,
felspar, and mica floating in a ground-mass, which is some-
times composed of granular allotriomorphic quartz, some-
times of crypto-crystalline or felsitic matter, but usually
profusely besprinkled with scales of talc, derived from felspar
and mica. Where the dykes contain less topaz, as on the
North Valley side, we have detected a felsitic ground-mass.
We may here mention that the survival of felspar is a rare
occurrence ; what penological observers have seen hitherto
have been crystal for (lis only; and what is pointed out to
visitors at the Mount as kaolin is really a white decom-
position product of pseudomorphous topaz and tourma-
line. The quartz phenocrysts are idiomorphic, sometimes
with perfect outlines, or with rounded coiners and indent-
ations. Fluid inclusions are preseut with fixed and moving
bubbles.

In quartz-porphyry primary muscovite phenocrysts are not
admitted by the best authorities as constituents, and it there-
fore becomes of some importance to establish the nature of
the mica, especially as muscovite is a characteristic mineral
of the elvan group. In our slices we have found numerous
porpbyritic forms indicating the presence of a mineral of the
mica group, but in most instances the substance is so altered
as to admit of a doubt whether it was a potash or
magnesian mica. However, in one case we have detected a
comparatively unaltered muscovite. Such an occurrence is
excessively rare. This mineral has for the most part been
converted into its alteration product pyrophyllite, aluminous
talc, which has also spread through the substance of the
felspar phenocrysts. It is likewise generally diffused through
the ground mass in formless scales, affecting a larger size
preferentially in the neighbourhood of phenocrysts, and
showing vivid interference colours like those of muscovite.
Whether the muscovite is a lithia-mica or not has not been
determined. Dr. Sommerlad's analyses appear to have
referred only to the dense topazised variety of the rock.

Topaz. — This is a constituent of stanniferous granites all
over the world, but in the Mount Bischoff dykes it has taken
possession of the rock substance to an extent which expels
the original constituents. It occurs in three forms, columnar,
prismatic, and amorphous.

The dense rock from the White Face, usually shown to
visitors as the topaz rock, consists mainly of the columnar
form with radiating crystals, known by the name pycnite.
The radial aggregates give a dark cross in polarised light.
Isolated crystals of quartz, sometimes with good hexagonal

123

sections, are scattered in the interstices of the topaz. The rock
of the Queen lode is a nriss of radiating and prismatic topaz.
The latter shows fine cleavage lines in sections not parallel to
oP. We have found this basal cleavage of great value in
distinguishing crystalline topaz from quartz. The paragenetic
association of quartz and topaz with cassiterite is occasionally
well displayed by prismatic crystals of the two first minerals
being enclosed in crystals of cassiterite. The formation of
all three was evidently synchronous.

In some specimens from the Mount we have the third
form of topaz, in which it forms an amorphous or allotrio-
niorphous granular mass, apparently taking the place of the
ground-mass of the original rock.

A very interesting feature is the conversion of quartz to
topaz, which is visible in hand specimens. A quartz-sintery
looking rock, composed of quartz in hexagonal prisms, shows
its iudividual crystals bordered with a white cloudy marginal
zone of pseudotnoi'phous topaz. Heated in the open tube,
its vapour etched glass. This topaz effervesces slightly when
treated with HC1, owing to the unexpected presence of lime,
derived possibly from the alteration of spliene and apatite.
We witness here a second conversion, that of topaz into
prosopite, a double fluoride of calcium and aluminium.
When this change is effected, topaz loses its transparency,
becomes cloudy and opaque. Its hardness diminishes, and
its specific gravity becomes less. Yon Groddeck describes
this pseudomorphosis fully in his paper " On the tin ore
deposits of Mount BischofT, Tasmania," 1886. Sandberger
quotes this rather peculiar mineral from Altenberg, Greyer,
and Hengsteverb in Saxony, and mentions that he has often
remarked pseudornorphoses of prosopite — aggregates after
pycnite and crystalline topazt. Vauquelin had previously
noticed the presence of calcium and water in pycnite from
Altenberg, which is explicable upon the conversion theory.
At Mount Bischoff this pseudomorphous alteration product
has been mistaken for kaolin.

The pycnite variety of topaz is not often mentioned in
mineralogical works. It is cited from Schneeberg in Saxony,
Durango in Mexico (Bauerman), Altenberg (Collins),
Schlackenwoald and Ziunwald in Bohemia (Bristow),
Maulson in France in steatite, and Kongsberg in Norway
in mica slate (Phillips). We have also found it associated
with tourmaline and quartz in an argentiferous galena lode
traversing syenite at the Lidjessy mines near Kara-Hissar-i-
Sharki, Asia Minor, On the other hand there is dyke rock
at Mount Bischoff destitute of topaz. Thus a specimen
from the West Bischoff Tin Mining Company's ground is a

t " Untersuchuigen iiber Erzgange." F. Sandberger, vol. ii., 18S5, p. 171.

124

quartz rock, which consists of a granular quartz ground-
raass enclosing large phenocrysts of quartz (often with
striking marginal zonal inclusions), but containing no topaz.

Tourmaline is here a rock-forming mineral, making a dense
green stone, which at one time was thought to be chlorite.
It is arranged in microscopical divergent, and felted prisms,
and needles, bluish green in colour. Occasionally, rectangular
crystal forms, which can be no other than those of orthoclase
felspar, are discerned filled with or composed of small rods of
tourmaline, demonstrating absolutely the secondary nature
of this mineral. In the ground-mass of this tourmaline rock
are nests of prismatic and granular topaz. Sphene is
plentiful.

We have had slices cut showing the junction of the
porphyry with the slate. The boundary between the two
is perfectly sharp and well defined, and even where' frag-
ments of slate have been torn oh0 and surrounded by porphyry
the amount of contact alteration is inconsiderable.

The Mt. Bischoff stanniferous ground has always been
looked upon as unique. It has been compared with the
occurrence of the topaz quartz-porphyry of the Saxon
Schneckenstein ; but the latter, though presenting micro-
scopical structural resemblances, differs widely in its
geological relations, being a brecciated dyke in the con-
tact zone of the tourmaline granite. The rock of the
Saubachschlucht dykes in that locality shows a startling
resemblance to the Mt. Bischoff porphyry, both in hand
specimens and under the microscope. It is a quartz-porphyry
dyke rock, with porphyritic quartz and felspar in an
allotriomorphic quartz ground-mass. Secondary muscoviteor
talc is diffused through the rock, and topaz has crystallised
as rods in the porphyritic felspars. There is considerable
difficulty in determining the exact nature of the ground
which is being worked at Mt. Bischoff. Some think it is a
stockwerk ; others a thermal spring deposit. Another
theory is that it is the silicious plug of a vent in which
stanniferous vapours ascended and condensed. Further
work and study on the spot, especially underground, are
requisite before a wholly satisfactory hypothesis can be
framed. The results of microscopical investigation and our
examination in the field lead us to look upon the mass of the
great Brown Face as disintegrated, silicious, ferruginous,
partly detrital rock surrounded by dykes on three sides, and
fissured and affected by the agencies which formed the dykes.
The concentrated material shed by the overhanging dykes
h:is probably enriched the ground, while the mere disinteg-
ration of the enclosed area itself and consequent lowering of
its surface would work in the same direction. The appear-

125

ance of a basin -like vent at the summit of the Mount is
deceptive and suggests false conclusions, for it is due merely
to the directions of the several dykes which enclose the
ground. The only channels from below are the fissures of
the dykes and veins. As the underlay of the dykes is
towards the central area, they most likely intersect in depth,
and hence the inference suggests itself that, sooner or later,
the Brown Face mass will pass down into dyke or lode rock.
Geologically these porphyry dykes have been looked upon as
protrusions or apophyses of the underlying granite, thrust
through the slates, but such microscopical evidence as we
have been able to collect tends to showr that their mineral-
ogical constitution differs from that of the nearest granite
exposures. White mica is not known in the granites of that
part of the island, its place being taken by biotite. It is likely
that, though these dykes have a granite source, they represent
fissures traversing alike the slates and the granite which
probably immediately underlie them.

The nearest exposures of granite rocks occur at four and
five miles from Waratah, viz., porphyritic granitite on. the
Corinna-road, four miles distant, and granitite at Wombat
Hill, five miles. The porphyritic ingredients of the former
are orthoclase aud plagioclase felspars, dark brown and light
magnesian micas and quartz in an allotriomorphic ground-
mass of quartz, orthoclase and mica; consequently there is a
repetition of all three minerals. The most frequent minerals
are the mica and felspar, while quartz is the least abundant
porphyritic constituent. The mica is rich iu inclusions of
apatite ; grains of zircon in ground-mass.

The Wombat Hill granitite consists of orthoclase + plagio-
clase + biotite + a little green hornblende. There is a dis-
position to pegmatitic intergrowth of quartz and felspar.
The biotite encloses quartz, apatite, and zircon, and in colour
is dark brown, sometimes bleached out. Near the 7-mile
peg, on the Waratih-Corinna-road, a limited quantity of
alluvial tin has been worked. The drift consists of quartz
and black tourmaline of the more abundant type, which is
unknown in the Mt. Bischoff elvans.

To sum up, the petrographical conclusions to which our
inquiries have led us are : —

1. That the quartz-porphyry is not a marginal portion of
the main granite mass, but belongs to dykes running through
the granite, and having a slightly different composition from
the latter.

2. That it partakes of the nature of elvanite, with occasion-
ally a quartz felsite facies.

3. That both in its micro-crystalline condition and its
felsitic modification it has been subjected to topazising aud

126

tourmalinising agencies of hydro-plutonic nature, which have,
when unchecked, transmuted the rock iuto a topaz quartz-
phyry.

I. Thai the crystallisation of the cassiterite was contem-
poraneous with that of the topaz and quartz. As to whether
the tin ore ascended as a fluoride, or stannous acid was
derived from the individual components of adjoining rocks,
the microscopical appearances convey the impression that the
condensation or precipitation took place in the presence of
water.

5. That the great Brown Face workings are not in the
basin of a vent issuing from the bowels of the earth, but are
in the iron gossan of a fissured and disintegrated area
enclosed by the quartz-porphyry dykes.

Our studv lavs no claim to he exhaustive. We have ap-
proached the subject simply with the desire to record such
contributions to our knowledge as may be gleaned from the
evidences furnished by microscopical petrography, and we
lay before the Society this e.-say to expound the nature and
genesis of the much debated Mount Bischoff rock, hoping
that extended work by others will effect a further advance
towards the solution of the problems which are involved in
the inquiry.

List op 34 Minerals known to occur in the Elvan
Dykes of Mount Bischoff.

Apatite — Occasionally obtained in small crystals, which can
be recognised with unaided vision.

Arsenopyrite — In considerable abundance in the lower levels,
associated with other forms of pyrites, through the
mass of which are scattered small crystals of
c.-issiterite.

Arsenic, native — As narrow blades aud patches between the
lamina3 of siderite, nuorite, and pyrites in lower
level North Valley workings.

Azurite — Occasionally met with in bunches of minute crystals
in the Brown Face with malachite.

Cassiterite — The pyramidal crystals are often beautifully
formed, with complex terminations and macles.
The colour is invariably intensely black.

Chalcopyrite — The massive form only known in limited
quantity.

Copiapnte — As an efflorescence in the older adits.

127

Copper, native— Occurs as extremely thin foil interbedded in
fissures in the slate adjacent to the elvans.

Cyanosite — On the roof and sides of adit, North Valley.

Diaspore — In the Stanhope Mine, but not abundant, as
shining, flattened, and brittle prisms of a yellowish
brown colour.

Fhiorite — Variety chlorophane. Somewhat plentiful, occa-
sionally in irregular masses without distinct crystal-
lisation.

Hematite — Variety Reddle. The common matrix of the
stanniferous portion of the surface workings of the
mine.

Limonite — Equally as abundant as the last. The Brown
Face is mainly composed of this substance, the
black tin being usually irregularly disseminated
throughout the mass.

Lithomarqe — Commonly soft and unctuous, more or less
coloured by ferric-oxide.

Malachite — Occurs in thin coatings and patches in the gossan,
at the Brown Face.

Melanterite — Found incrustatirg in the old adits.

Monazite — Occurs in aggregation of small crystals of a light
brown colour, with wolframite in the West Bischoff.

Muscovite — The unaltered mineral is extremely rare. As
detailed in the context, it has almost invariably
undergone considerable alteration.

Orthoclase — Can rarely be distinguished, as it Las in most
instances undergone topazisation, and can only then
be detected by optical characters.

Pholerite — In the Stanhope mine this substance is sometimes
met with in considerable masses. It is an extremely
soft aggregate of mineral scales with a glimmering
lustre.

Pyrolusite — The earthy variety is commonly intermixed with
limonite.

Pycnite — As detailed, this is one of the most characteristic
minerals of the Bischoff elvans.

Pyrites — Abundant both in the amorphous and crystalline
forms.

128

]'i/n>i>hi.'I!ltr — Very plentiful in aggregated, fibrous, radiating
masses.

Prosopite— On the western side of the surface workings this
substance is in great profusion. It usually forms a
kaolin-like friable mass, throughout which are
commonly scattered minute crystals of cassiterite.

Quartz— Of common occurrence in extensive masses and
irregular bunches of interlaced crystals.

Siderite — In opaque, interbedded, obtuse rhombohedra of
large size, of a yellow-brown colour.

Sphalerite — Of rare occurrence, in small patches with pyrites
and the last.

SHlphnosiderite — This is occasionally met with in the form of
thin varnish-like incrustations of extreme thinness
of an intense black colour.

Sulphur — A somewhat large pocket was met with in the
Brown Face, intermixed with bunches of minute
quartz crystals and prosopite.

Topaz — This has only been detected of microscopic size as
described.

Tourmaline — This is invariably of the peculiar dark green
colour, characteristic of Bischoff. It is usually in
felted masses of minute crystals, which rarely
exceed 18 millimetres in length.

Vivianite — Has been obtained in groups of crystals in small
fissures in the rock in one of the adits, and also in
amorphous, clay-like masses.

Wolframite — In the West Bischoff this frequently occurs,
intermixed with apatite and quartz.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE.

Fig. 1. Topaz rock of Queeu Lode, Mount Bischoff x 18. The columnar
form of topaz (pycnite) in radiating groups is shown with
insterstitial quartz, differentiated under crossed nicols.

Fig. 2. Topaz quartz-porphyry, Mount Bischoff x 18, crossed nicols.
The rectangular section of a large felspar crystal occupies the
midd'e of the field. The substance of the felspar has been re-
placed by columnar and prismatic topaz.

W. H. TWELVETREES.

TOPAZISED ROCKS OF MT. BISCHOFF.

129

TASMANIAN FUNGI.
By L. Eodway.

The importance of the study of fungi need not be enlarged
upon. Everyone at all acquainted with modern botanical
research is aware of the practical importance and great
possibilities of this pursuit. In Cooke's Australian Fungi,
and subsequently in McAlpine's Systematic Arrangement, we
have our fungi up to their date included, but in view of
recent numerous additions and probable immediate increase,
it is desirable to have a more concise and available list to
which new forms may year by year be added.

Had I followed my own inclination, I should have adopted
a classification more in accordance with modern ideas, but in
the interest of the student I considered it as well not to
depart more than necessary from the order used by Cooke.
The student must be prepared in this study to find much
that is provisional. The subject is so enormous, the proper
pursuit of it is so intricate, and the time devoted to it so
recent that much incorrectness is permitted to remain until
research is more complete. Thus many forms are still main-
tained as distinct plants when there is almost proof that they
are but subordinate forms. This is very common amongst
the Uredinese and Pyrenomvcetes, and perhaps almost uni-
versal amongst Hyphomycetes and Spha3iopsidese.

There is one plant included here in two forms that might
with safety be simplified only for its distinction being still
maintained in Europe. It is possible I have been more
fortunate than other observers in noting its development.

Lasiosphceria ovina, Cesati, is a minute globular fungus,
about ^th of an inch diameter, covered with white wool, and
growing gregariously on rotting wood. The nucleus of each
ascus takes up a position at the apex ; the cytoplasm then
arranges itself in eight sausage-like masses ; in this form it
is L. ovina, Cesati. In the fulness of time the head of
each mass develops a hard dark epispore, or coat, into
which the cytoplasm retreats, with the epispore contracting
below forming an elliptical spore with, in the young con-
dition, a hyaline tail formed of the unabsorbed membrane-
like surface of the sausage-like body. The fungus is then
recognised as Sordaria caudata, Sace.

There is one new fungus I would record here : Stephensia
varia, n.s., subterranean, irregularly spherical. Peridium
rather thick, sub-cartilaginous. Gleba of one or more broad

130

contorted hymenial cells or tubes in a pithy nberoid trama.
Asei narrow, cylindrical. Paraphysis numerous linear.
Sporidia Bpherical, Bmooth, hyaline, 20u. Very variable in
size and proportionate development of tubes and trama.
When small, &-fiii. tube often single and not very contorted,
with copious trama. When about lin. tubes fairly numerous,
trama reduced, the tuber being then of a firmer consistency.
In specimens about 2in. diameter the tubes are very numerous
and large (Jin.), and trama very slight. These three forms
may be persistently distinct, but the asci and sporidia not
differing would lead one to infer they are forms of one plant.
The small softer form is much sought by larvae of small
insects, the empty peridium is often found lying on tha
surface of the soil.

In the following list I have endeavoured to be as brief as
possible. Of plants added since the publication of Cooke's
Handbook, those described by McAlpine, in or not in con-
junction with myself, may be found in Trans. E.S., Vict.,
Nov. 8th, 1894, or the Bulletin Dept. Agri., New South
Wales, Nov., 1895, and Feb., 1896. Those by Massie often
with myself, in the new Bulletin, probably in 1897, but the
exact date of issue is not yet at my service.

I have included in this list the Mycetozoa, though fully
alive to their independence.

HYMENOMYCETES.

Agaricinece.— ^Amanita ananaeceps, Berk.
„ grossa, Berk.

Amanitopsis pulchellus, C. et]M.

Lepiota cristata, Fr.
„ procera, Fr.

Armillaria mellea, Vahl.
,, ramentacea, Bull.

Tricholonia melaleuca, Fr.
„ nuda, Fr.

Clitocybe curtipes,

Fr.

?>

schizophyllus, Ber

5>

inversus,

Scop.

»

laccatus,

Scop.

>>

lilacina,

Mass.

>>

tuba, Fr

Oollybia

morula, I

Jerk.

j»

radicata,

Fr.

»»

velutipes,

Fr.

131

Mycena rubromarginata, Fr.

,, atro-cyanea, Fr.

,, galericulata, Fr.

,, capillaris, Fr.

„ cohserens, Fr.

„ interrupta, Berk.

„ flavovireus, C. et M.

Omphalia carneo-rufula, Berk.
,, epichysiuni, Fr.
,, flavo-crocea, Berk.
,, integrella, Fr.
,, umbellifera, Fr.

Pleurotu° affix us, Berk.

„ applicatus, Fr.

„ bursseformis, Berk.

„ lampas, Berk.

,, diversipes, Berk.

,, phosphorus, Berk.

,, tasrnanicus, Berk.

,, tephrophanus, Berk.

Hygrophorus coccineus, Fr.
„ hypothejus, Fr.

„ subremotus, C. et M,

Lactarius piperatus, Fr.
„ stenophyllus, Fr.
„ subdulcis, Fr.

Russula alutacea, Fr.
„• emetica, Fr.
„ purpurea, Grill.
„ cocciuea, Mass.

Cantharellus cibarius, Fr.
„ cinereus, Fr.

,, pusio, Berk.

,, strigipes, Berk.

Marasinius affixus, Berk.
„ emergens, Berk.

,, eucalpytus, Berk.

.,, hepaticus, Berk.

„ meloniformis, Berk.

,, subsupinus, Berk.

Lentinus faseiatus, Berk.

,, hepatotrichus, Berk.

„ pulvinulus, Berk.

„ hirneolus, Berk et Curr.

132

Panus saccbarinus, Berk.

Xerotus archeri, Berk.
„ papyraceus, Berk.

Scbizopbvllum commune, Fr.

Volvaria taylori, Berk.

P] litems cervinus, Fr.

„ pbaeus, Mass.

Entoloma paniculus, Berk.

Leptonia rodwayi, Mass.

Nolanea pascua, Fr.

Pholiota mutabilis, Fr.

Hebeloma fastibile, Fr.
„ nudipes, Fr.

FJammula aldridgei, Mass.

Galera tenera, Fr.

Tubaria furfuracea, Fr.

Crepidotus auricula, Berk.

„ cassisecolor, Berk.

„ hepatochrous, Berk.

,, insidiosus, Berk.

„ interceptus, Berk.

,, leptomorphus, Berk.

,, palmatus, Fr.

,, tubidulus, Berk.

Cortinnrius arcberi, Berk.
„ cinnibarinus, Fr,

Agaricus arveusis, Scbsef.

,, -campestris, Linn

,, silvaticus, Scbsef

Stropbaria semiglobata, Fr,

Hypboloina dispersa, Fr.

„ fasciculare, Fr.

Psilocybe spadicea, Fr.
Psathyra gyroflexa, Fr.
Psathyrella disseminata, Fr.
Coprinus com at us, Fr.

„ plicatilis, Fr.

„ stercorarius, Fr.

„ atramentarius, Fr.

„ deliquescens, Bull.

133

olyporece. — Boletus fruticola, Berk.

„ megalosporus, Berk.
,, luridus, Schsef.
„ rodwayi, Mass.

Fistulina hepatic a, Fr.

Polyporus angustus, Berk.

,, campvlus, Berk.

,, elegans, Fr.

„ frondosus, Fr.

,, gurmii, Berk.

„ niylittse, C. et M.

,, pelliculosus, Berk.

„ portentosus, Berk.

,, rhinocephalus, Berk.

„ scruposus, Fr.

„ sulphureus, Fr.

,, tephrouotus, Berk.

,, umbilicatus, Berk.

„ varius, Fr.

,, tumulosus, Cooke.

,, lacteus, Fr.

Fomes australis, Cooke.

gourliei, Cooke,
igniarius, Cooke,
lucidus, Cooke,
rimosus, Cooke,
rubiginosus, Cooke,
rudis, Cooke,
tasmauicus, Cooke.

Polystietus brunneo-albus, Cooke.

,, bulbipes, Cooke.

,, cinnabarinus, Cooke.

,, feei, Cooke.

,, friesii, Cooke.

,, intonsus, Cooke.

,, latus, Cooke.

„ lilacino-gilvus, Cooke

,, oblectans, Cooke.

,, radiato-rugosus, Cooke.

,, sanguineus, Cooke

,, vernicifluus, Cooke

,, versicolor, Cooke.

„ xerophyllus, Berk.

134

Poria aprica, Cooke

,, arclieri, Cooke.

„ hyaliua, Cooke.

„ membranicincta, Berk.

,, mevulina, Cooke

„ orbicularis, Cooke.

„ subvincta, Cooke.

,, vaporaria, Cooke.

Trametes ocbroleuca, Cooke.
„ carteri, Berk.

Hexagonia gunnii, Berk.

Dasdalea tasmanica, Sacc.

Favolus pusillus, Fr.

Merulius corium, Fr.
„ pallens, Berk.

Hydnoce.— Hydnum cervinum, Berk.

„ filicicolum, Berk.

,, lsevigatum, Sw.

„ repandum, Linn.

„ uduuj, Fr.

„ graveolens, Delast.

., nigrum, Fr.

„ agresii, Berk.

,, caput-niedusse, Fr.

,, plumosura, Fr.

„ inucidum, Pers.

„ fascicu latum, Berk.

„ isidioides, Berk.

„ pexatum, Mass.

Irpex arclieri, Berk.
,, zonatus, Berk.
„ codsoi's, Berk.
„ depauperatus, Mass.

Grandinia australis, Berk.
„ granulosa, Fr.

Kneiffia wrightii, Berk, et Curt.
„ setigera, Fr.

Porotbelium subtile, Berk.

Odontia secernibilis, Berk.
„ scopiuella, Berk.

135

Thelophorece. — Craterellus multiplex, C. et M.
„ pusio, Berk.

Thelepkora archeri, Berk.
„ riccioidea, Berk.

Stereum acerinum, Fr.

„ con col ar, Berk.

„ hirsutum, Fr.

,, illudens, Berk.

,, lobatum, Fr.

,, ochroleucum, Fr.

„ purpureuni, Pers.

„ pusillum, Berk.

„ sowerbei, Mass.

,, spadiceum, Fr.

Hymenochsete archeri, Cooke.

,, mongeotii, Cooke.

„ rubiginosa, L'ev.

„ tasmanica, Mass.

„ corrugata, L'ev.

„ tenuissima, Berk.

Corticium arachnoideuin, Berk.
„ archeri, Berk.
,, calceum, Fr.
,, laeve, Pers.
„ sebaceum, Mass.

„ sambuci, Fr.

Peniophora rosea, Mass.

,, berkeleyi, Cooke.

Coniophora sulphurea, Mass.
„ viridis, Cooke.

Hypochnus chlorinus, Mass.

Cyphella capula, Fr.
„ muscigena, Fr.
„ pteridophylla, Cooke.
„ muscicola, Fr.

Solenia anomela, Fr.
„ Candida, Pers

136

Clavarice. — Claveria archeri, Rerk.
,, botrylis, Pers.
„ cristata, Pers.
„ flava, Sch.
„ insequalis, Muell,
,, juncea, Fr.
„ rhizornorpha, Berk.
„ tasmanica, Berk.

phyllophila, M'Alf et Rod.
„ arnethystma, Bull.
,, py xi data, Pers.

Tremelince — Auricularia minuta, Berk.

Hirneola auricula-judge, Berk.
,, vittelina, Fr.

Exidia albida, Bref ,
,, glandulosa, Fv.

Ulocolla filiocea, Bref.

Tremella f rondosa, Fr,
,, lutescens, Pers.
„ olecs, Berk.
„ viscosa, Berk.
,, sarcoides, Fr.

Tremellodon gelatinosum, Pers.

Dacryomyces deliquescens, Dal.
„ miltinus, Berk.

,, sclerotioides, Berk.

,, seriatus, Berk.

Gnepinia pezizayfornris, Berk.

Calocera glossoides, Fr.

,, guepinioides, Berk.

GrASTEROMYCETES.

PilacrecBt — Pilacre divisa, Berk.

Pholloidece. — Clathrus gracilis, Sch.

Antliurus archeri, Fisch.

Aseroe* lysuroides, Fisch.

„ rubra, La Bill

Nidularice. — Nidularia fusispora, Mass.
Cyathus colensoi, Berk.
Crucibulum vulgare, Tul.
Sphsero bolus stellatus, Tode.

137

Lycopodece. — Secotium erythrocephalum, Tul.
„ gunnii, Berk.
„ rodwayi, Mass.

Mesophellia arenaria, Berk.

Tylostoma mammosum, Fr.

Calostoma fusca, Mass.

Geaster arclieri, Berk.
,, ausfcralis, Berk.
,, fimbriatus, Fr.
,, saccatus, Fr.
,, tenuipes, Berk.

Diploderuia glauca, C. et M.

Lycoperdon australi, Berk.

„ cselaturn, Bull.

„ gemmatum, Bat.

„ glabrescens, Berk.

„ gunnii, Berk.

,, lilacinum, Spreng.

,, pyriforme, Sch.

,, tasmanicum, Mass.

Sclerodermece. — Castoreuni radicum, C. et M.

Scleroderma geaster, Fr.
,, vulgare, Fr.

Polysaceum australi, L'ev.

Hymmogastrese. — Octaviana archeri, Berk.

Hyraeuogaster rodwayi, Mass.

„ violaceous, Mass. et Eod.

„ albellus, Mass. et Rod.

Hydnangium tasmanicum, Kal.

„ australiense, B. et Br.

,, carneum, Klot.

Hysterangium affine, Mass. et Rod.
„ membranaceum, Yilt.

„ fusiporum, Mass. et Rod.

„ clathroides, Vilt.

„ viscidum, Mass. et Rod.

Gymnomyces pallidus, Mass, et Rod.
„ seminudus, Mass. et Rod.

L38

AsCOMYCETE^E.

Tuberoidece, — Hydnocystis eyclospora, Mass. et Rod.
Stephensia varia, Rod

Endogone australis, Berk.
Genebea tasmanica, Mass. et Rod.

Discomycetece. — Cyttaria guunii, Berk.

Morckella conica, Pers.
„ deliciosa, Fr.

„ elata, Fr.

Helvella monachella, Fr.

Mitrula vinosa, Berk.
„ cocculata, Fr.

Leotia lubrica, Pers.

Geoglossimi australe, Berk.
„ lignicolum, Mass.

Peziza aurantia, Pers.
,, cochleata, LIdii.
,, vesciculosa, Bull.

Discina repanda, Walil.

Humaria carbonigeua, Sacc.
„ 1'usispora, Saec.
,, muelleri, Berk.
„ recurva, Cooke.
„ miniata, Cooke.

Barlsea miltina, Cooke.

Sarcoscypha coccinea, Sacc.

Laclmea scutellata, Gill.
„ stercorea, Gill.
,, hirta, Sch.
,, coprinaria, Phil.

Sclerotinia dubia, Mass. et Rod.

Ciboria firnia, Fckl.

Helotiuni citrinum, Fr.
„ gratum, Cooke.
,, nigripes, Fr.
„ pateraeforruis, Cooke.
„ prasinum, Mass.

139

Phialea byssogena, Sacc.
,, ceratina, Sacc.

Pseudohelotium hyalinum, Fckl.

Chlorosplenium omniverens, Cooke.

Mollisia cinerea, Karst.

Tapesia epitephra, Sacc.

Dasycypha eucalypti, Sacc.
„ lacnoderma, Reh.

„ virginea, Fckl.

Belonidium araneosuin, Sacc.

Ascobolus archeri, Berk.

,, furfuraceus. Pers.

Ascopbanus equinus, Mass.

Urnula rhytidea, Berk.

*
Coryne sarcoides, Tub

Stictis radiata, Pers.

Pseudopeziza medicaginis, Lih.

Patinella tasmamca, Sacc.

Patellar] a maura, Mass.

Exoascus deformans, Fckl.

Hysteriaceae. — G-lonium stellatum, Muell.
„ tardum, Sacc.

Pyrenomycetece. — Claviceps purpurea, Fr.

Cordyceps gunnii, Berk.
„ hawkesii, Gray.
,, scottianus, IlifFe.

Hypocrea citrina, Fr.
,, rufa, Fr.
„ semiorbis, Berk
„ nebulosa, Mass.

Nectria coccinea, Fr.
„ cinnibarina, Fr.
„ fusarioides, Berk.
„ tasmanica, Berk.
" ditissisna, Fr.

140

Hypomyces tomentosus, Fr.
,, fulgens, Karst.

Dialonectria tephrothele, Berk.
,, san guinea, Sib.

Ophionectria agaricicola, Sacc.

Gibberella saubenetii, Sacc.

Melanospora capriua, Sacc.

Xylaria castorea, Berk.
„ corn ifor mis, Fr.
,, ellipsosjDora, C. et M.
,, tuberiformis, Berk.
„ digitata, Fr.
„ cupressiformis, Beccari.

Poronia punctata, Fr.

Nunimularia bulliardi, Tul.

Daldinia concentrica, Ces.

Hypoxylon aunulatuni, Mont.

„ archeri, Berk.

„ argillaceum, Berk.

„ coccineum, Bull.

„ cobserens, Fr.

„ hians, C. et Berk.

„ multiforme, Fr.

,, serpens, Fr.

,, caelaturn, Ces.

Pbyllacbora trifolii, Fckl.
Gibbera fulvella, Mass.
Dothidia alyxiae, Mass.
Darwiniella globulosa, Sacc.
Trabutia eucalypti, C. et M.
Parodiella bauksii, Sacc.
Cryptovalsa elevata, Sacc.
Quarternaria aspera, Mass.

141

Eutypa lata, Tul.
G-ibberidea arckeri, Cooke.
Byssopbseria sequila, Cooke.
Rosellinia mammoidea, Sacc.
Lasiospbaeria ovina, Ces.
Sordaria caudata, Sacc.
Spbserella fragarieae, Sacc.
Pleospora mori, Sacc.

Lsestadia destructiva, B. et V.

,, insidiosa, Mass.

Podosphsera tridaclyla, De Bary.

Spbserotbeca pannosa, L'ev.

Erysiphe graminis, D.C.
„ vitigera, C. et M.

Eurotium herbariorium, Link.

Asterina corrisecola, C. et M.
,, sy sterna solar e, Mass.

Asterella subcuticolosa, Cooke.

Diinerosperium tasmanicuDi, Mass.

Meliola corallina, Mont.
„ amphitricba, Fr.

Antennaria scoriadea, Berk.

Sphceropsides. — Pbyllosticta circumscissa, Cooke.

Pboma arapelina, B. et C.

Staganospora cbalybea, Mass.

Spbseronomella rufa, Sacc.

Leptostromella eucalypti, C. et M.

Glseosporiuui versicolor, B. et C.

,, lagenarium, Sacc. et Rod.

Libertella aurantiaca, Mass.

Hypoderme^e.

Ustilaginece. — Ustilago lageuopborae, M'Alp.
„ caricis, Pers.
„ tritici, Pers.
„ arvenae, Pers.
„ hordei, Pers.

142
Tillet-a tritici, Win.
Sphacolotheca hydropiperis, Berk.
Urocystis solida, Wald.

Viedinece. — Uromyces puecinoides Berk.

JEcidium goodeniucearuiu, Berk.

Uronisyces asteris, M'Alp.
„ betae, Pers.

,, orchidearum, C. et M.

,, auiygdali, Cooke.

,, trifolii, Hedw.

Melarupsora lini, Tul.

Puccinia segra, Grove.

iEcidiuni depauj^eraus.
Puccinia violae, Sch.

iEeidium violarum.

Puccinia alyxise, C. et M.
„ graminis, Pers.

Uredo lineari, Berk.

Puccinia rubigo-vera, Pers.

Uredo rubigo-vera, Berk.

Puccinia lagensphorae, Cooke,
malvacearum, Mont,
pruni, Pers.
correse, M'Alp.
plagianthi, M'Alp.
gei, M'Alp.
epilobii, D.C.

iEcidium epilobii, Berk.

Uredo epilobii, Berk.

Puccinia coprosinatis, Morrison.

iEcidium cystoseiroides, Berk.

Puccinia tetragonise, M'Alp.
„ conglomerata, Sch.

iEcidium senecionis, Des.

143

Puccinia phragniites, Sell.
,, saccardoi, Tud.
,, aucta, Miill.

iEcidium lobelise, Thuni.

Phragmidium baroardi, Plow.

iEcidiuni ranunculacearum, D.C.

,, so] enii forme, Berk.

,, eburnum, M'Alp.

,. beliidis, Thum.

,, monocystis, Berk.

„ coinpositarum, Mart.

,, plantaginis, Ces.

„ veronicse, Berk.

Uredo armillata, Ludu.

Hyphomyceteds. — Tricboderma viride, Pers.

Aspergillus glaucus, Link.

Penicilliuni glaucum, Link.

Rhinotrichum microsporum, Berk.

Botrytis vulgaris, Link.

Verticillium niveuni, Berk.

Fuscicladiuni dendriticuni, Fckl.
„ pyrinum, Fckl.

Scolecotrichum sticticum, B. et Br.

Cladosporium herbarum, Link.

Helniinthosporium inconspicuum, Cooke.

Macrosporium tomato, Cooke.
„ solani, E. et M.

Isaria umbrina, Pers.

„ radians, Berk.

Harpographium corynelioides, C. et M.

Podosporium grande, Cooke.

Fusarium lateritium, Nees.

Strumella patelloidea, C. et M.

1 II

Phycomycetese, — Pilobolus pullus, Mass.

Mucor inucedo, Linn.

„ cervinoleucus, Berk.

Cystopus candidus, L'ev.

PeroDospora schleideui, Ung.

Einpusa musese, Cohn.

Saprolegnia ferax, L'ev.

Mycetozoa — Tubulina cylindrica, D.C.

Stemonitis friesiana, De Bary.
„ fusca, Roth.

Lamprodernia echinulata, Rost.
„ listeri, Mass.

Prototrichia metallica, Mass.

Arcyria rubiformis, Mass.
,, incarnata, Pers.

Trichia affinis, De Barry.
„ contorta, Rost.
„ fragilis, Rost.
„ kelbreyeri, Mass.
„ varia, pers.
„ verrucosa, Berk.

Didymium spuniarioides, Fr.
„ squamulosum, Fr.

Craterium confusuin, Mass.

Badharnia varia, Mass.

Tilmadoche nutans, Rost.

Leocarpus fragilis, Rost.

Fuligo variaus, Sorsure.

Plasrnodiophora brassicse, Wor.

Amongst the Uredines, where aecidial or uredo forms have >
received special names, but their relationship to telento-
fruitifications have been traced, I have placed them together.-

145

NOTES ON THE ABORIGINES OF TAS-
MANIA, EXTRACTED FROM THE
MANUSCRIPT JOURNALS OF GEORGE
WASHINGTON WALKER, WITH AN IN-
TRODUCTION BY JAMES B. WALKER,
F.R.G.S.

In the year 1832 Messrs. James Backhouse and George
Washington Walker, two members of the Society of
Friends, arrived at Hobart from England. The objects
of their visit to the Australian Colonies were philan-
thropic. One purpose they had in view was an
investigation of the condition of the prisoner population
and the working of the penal system. Another was an
enquiry into the treatment of the Aboriginal inhabitants.
The various Governors afforded them every facility in
their enquiries, and the reports which they made from
time to time had a considerable influence in obtaining an
amelioration of the condition of the large number of men
then under penal discipline.

In October, 1832, (just 65 years ago), they paid a
visit to the aboriginal establishment at Flinders Island.
Mr. Backhouse was an accomplished naturalist, a keen and
accurate observer, and rendered good service to science by
his contributions to the Botany of Tasmania ; and his
" Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies," (Lon-
don, 1843), has given an account of the visit to Flinders
Island, and has preserved a mass of information respecting
the aborigines and their habits, which forms a valuable
addition to our very limited knowledge of this extinct race.
On examining Mr. Walker's MS. Journal, which is in
my possession, I found a vocabulary of native words and
also some songs, which have never been printed. The
relics of the native language are so few, that this list of
words, taken down from the lips of the natives, has a
distinct value ; more especially so as it precedes by
nearly fifteen years Dr. Milligan's well-known and
more extensive vocabulary, which was compiled many
years after the blacks had come under European
influences. In submitting these fragments to the Royal
Society it seemed desirable to take the opportunity of.

14G THE ABORIGINES

collecting Mr. Walker's observations on the aborigines,
although part has already been published mliis Memoirs.
(London, L862). The accounts of the race are so
meagre that even the smallest reliable details respecting
it recorded by an independent observer will have a value
for anthropologists.

The deadly feud between the natives and the settlers
which raged between 182,5 and 1830, led to Governor
Arthur's military operation known as the "Black Line."
In October, 1830. some 3000 men took the field, to
sweep the island from north to south, with the view of
converging on the Oyster Bay and Big River tribes, and
driving them into the cul de sac of Tasman's Peninsula.
The march commenced on 7th October, 1830, and the
line advanced southwards. But the blacks easily slipped
through its straggling ranks, and when on 26th November
it closed on East Bay Neck it was found that the prey
had escaped. The total result of this levy en ?nasse, at a
cost of £30,000, was the capture of one solitary aborigine.
Some months later it was discovered that the supposed
formidable force opposed to the 3000 men of the line
was considerably less than a hundred naked savages.

Consequent on the failure of Arthur's Military Move-
ment, efforts were made to capture, either by persuasion
or force, the " mobs " scattered over the island, with the
view of removing them to a place of safety, where they
would be under the care and protection of the Govern-
ment, and powerless to molest the settlers further. By
the end of 1830 some 56 had been captured. They
were placed temporarily on Swan Island, in Bass Strait.
This was only a desolate granite rock, and the blacks
were soon removed to Gun Carriage, or Vansittart
Island. This also proving unsuitable, they were finally
transferred in 1831 to Flinders Island. As George
Augustus Robinson, in his daring mission of conciliation,
accomplished what the whole force of the colony had
failed in, and persuaded other "mobs" to surrender
themselves, fresh captives were continually transported
to the new settlement. For 15 years Flinders was the
home of the miserable remnant of the native tribes of
Tasmania, and for the greater part of them it was
destined to become their grave.

Messrs. Backhouse and Walker visited the settlement
in the spring of 1832 (October), a few months after the

OF VAN DIEMENS LAND. 147

blacks had been transported thither, and it is from a
report made by them to Governor Arthur at his request,
and from the MS. journal of Mr. Walker, that I have
gleaned a few particulars respecting the aborigines as
they appeared when undergoing the process of civilisa-
tion on Flinders Island.

It was in September, 1832, that the friends sailed
from Hobart in the Government cutter Charlotte, placed
at their disposal by Governor Arthur. The vessel
touched at Port Arthur, which had been established two
years before as a penal station, and then proceeded on
her voyage to Flinders Island. After running con-
siderable risk of shipwreck in the dangerous navigation
of the Straits, the Charlotte anchored under Green
Island, and a boat took the visitors to the Aboriginal
Station, three miles off, at " The Lagoons." They say :
" Though, according to their usual custom towards
strangers, they at first seemed scarcely to notice us, yet,
when spoken to by the Commandant, their cheerful
countenances, hearty laughs, and good-natured manners,
produced an agreeable impression." The visitors noted
(perhaps with surprise) that "their countenances ex-
hibited none of that marked ferocity which has been
ascribed to them." Further observation strengthened
the first impression, and they came to the conclusion that
the Tasmanian aborigines deserved the character of a
good-tempered race.

There were at this time at the settlement 78 natives
in all — 44 men, 29 women, and only 5 children. They
looked plump and healthy, notwithstanding that they
had been suffering from shortness of provisions. The
arrangements for supplies had been shamefully deficient.
The white people had for some time been living on
oatmeal and potatoes, which were far from good. The
blacks, who abhorred oatmeal, lived on potatoes and
rice. Fortunately mutton-birds (Nectris brcvicaudus)
supplemented their scanty provision. A little while
before, when left in charge of Surgeon M'Lachlan on
desolate Gun Carriage, if it had not been for some
potatoes they obtained from the sealers, the unfortunate
blacks would have been actually starved.

The site of the settlement at " The Lagoons " was
most unsuitable. It was a narrow sandbank, running
parallel with the shore, and produciug nothing but fern

L48 THE ABORIGINES

and Bcrub. It was bounded on one side by the sea, and
on the other side by a salt lagoon bordered with thick
tea-tree, and cutting oft' access to the main.

Winn Brs1 placed on the islands the blacks had been
put under the charge of most unsuitable officers —
ignorant men, quite unfit for the difficult and delicate
i ask of managing savages fresh from their native forests.
It was not therefore strange that at first there was
much disorder, and that quarrels between members of
different tribes were of frequent occurrence. At this
time, however, they were under the care of a com-
mandant, who threw himself into the work before him
with an unselfish enthusiasm. The commandant was
Lieutenant William J. Darling, a young officer of the
63rd Regiment, a brother of Sir Charles Darling, who
was afterwards (1863-66) Governor of Victoria. He
was ably seconded by the surgeon, Archibald M'Lachlan.
The self-denying exertions of these two officers for the
welfare of the poor blacks cannot be too highly praised.
To promote their advancement in civilisation the Com-
mandant and Surgeon spared no pains. They treated
them with uniform and patient kindness and considera-
tion. They seldom sat down to breakfast or tea in their
own little weatherboard huts without having some
aborigines as guests, with the view of exciting in them a
desire for improvement in civilisation.

Yet the arrangements for the aborigines, well meant
as they undoubtedly were, seem to have been singularly
injudicious. They were lodged at night in shelters or
" breakwinds." These " breakwinds " were thatched
roofs sloping to the ground, with an opening at the top
to let out the smoke, and closed at the ends, with the
exception of a doorway. They were twenty feet long
by ten feet wide. In each of these from twenty to
thirty blacks were lodged. The fires were made along
the centre of the breakwind, and the people squatted or
lay on the ground around them. Blankets were pro-
vided for them to sleep in. To savages accustomed to
sleep naked in the open air beneath the rudest shelter,
the change to close and heated dwellings tended to make
them susceptible, as they had never been in their wild
state, to chills from atmospheric changes, and was only
too well calculated to induce those severe pulmonary
diseases which were destined to prove so fatal to them.

OF VAN DIEMEN'S LAND. 149

The same may be said of the use of clothes. In their
wild state the blacks had gone entirely naked in all
weathers, protecting their bodies against the elements by
rubbing them with grease. At the settlement they were
compelled to wear clothes, which they threw off when
heated or when thev found them troublesome, and when
wetted by rain allowed them to dry on their bodies. In
the case of the Tasmanians, as with other wild tribes
accustomed to go naked, the use of clothes had a most
mischievous effect on their health. In their native bush
the constant and strenuous exertion which they were
compelled to make in hunting wild animals for necessary
food kept them hardy and healthy. Cooped up in the
settlement and regularly fed, they lost the motive for
exertion, and sank into a life of listless inaction, in which
they lost their natural vigour, and became an easy prey
to any disease that attacked them.

Mr. R. H. Davies, who has given us one of the most
reliable of all the accounts of the aborigines, remarks
that in spite of their having been treated with uniform
kindness in their captivity, their numbers rapidly de-
creased ; the births were very feAv and the deaths
numerous. " This," says he, " may have been in great
measure owing to their change of living and food, but
much more to their banishment from the mainland of
Van Diemen's Land, which is visible from Flinders
Island ; and the natives have often pointed it out to me
with an expression of the deepest sorrow depicted on
their countenances." In fact, the unhappy captives
pined and died from " home sickness."

How to treat the poor remnant of the native tribes
was a difficulty, perhaps an insoluble problem under the
circumstances. If they could have been left in posses-
sion of a portion of their ancient hunting-grounds — a
reserve to which they could have been confined — they
might have lived healthily and even happily for a long
period of years, though even that would not have averted
the final doom. But the feud between the two races
had been too deadly to permit of their being left in
proximity, and the seclusion of an island was imperative,
as much for the protection of the blacks as for the safety
of the whites.

To the credit of the authorities, it must be said that
from the time Lieut. Darling took charge in 1832 every

[50 THE ABORKilXKS

possible effort was made to secure the well-being of the
tew Burvivors of the native tribes. They were well
supplied with food, and they supplemented the ordinary
supplies by taking mutton-birds and their eggs, and,
while the game lasted, by occasional hunting excursions.
Tea and potatoes were their favourite diet. Of tea
highly sweetened they seemed to be able to drink any
quantity. Milk they grew very fond of. Mutton and
beef they preferred to salt meat and even to kangaroo ;
but such rare luxuries they seldom had the opportunity
of enjoying. Their appetites were enormous. Da vies
states that a native woman at the settlement was one day
watched by an officer, and seen to eat between fifty and
sixty mutton-bird eggs— as large as those of a duck —
besides a double allowance of bread. Whether this
story is true or not, I do not venture an opinion. But it
is well known that the Australian native, like other
savages accustomed to long compulsory fasts, has a boa-
constrictor-like power of gorging himself far beyond the
extreme capacity of a European.

The blacks on Flinders also developed an extreme
fondness for tobacco. When not occupied in cooking or
in hunting they were rarely without a pipe. One pipe
was made to serve several. After the husband had taken
a few whiffs it was passed to the wife, and then to
others. If a stranger was present, nothing would please
them more than that he also should take a whiff from
the pipe.

The care of the authorities extended far beyond en-
suring them plentiful food. No exertion was spared to
drill these children of nature into the habits of a civilisa-
tion unto which they were not born. If not apt, they
were certainly docile pupils. Their good humour, which
struck the French voyagers as remarkable, is constantly
referred to by the Friends. They say : " The opportuni-
ties we have had of forming an estimate of the aboriginal
"character have strongly impressed us with the opinion
"that they are not naturally a treacherous and ferocious
"nor a vindictive people. Their uniform cheerfulness
" and agreeableness of manner forbid the idea of inherent
"ferocity. The treachery and outrages they have ex-
perienced at the hands of Europeans excited at one
"time a spirit of revenge, under the influence of which
"retaliation was made ou some of the innocent people of

OF YAN DIEMEN'S LAND. 151

"Van Diemen's Land as well as on the guilty, a thing
"not uncommon even in what are termed civilised wars.
" Some of those on the Settlement, who are known to
"have taken a part in avenging the wrongs of their
"countrymen, have since proved themselves to be men of
"kind and affectionate dispositions, and have won the
"return of the same kindly feelings which they have
"shown in their intercourse with each other."

Instances of their good-natured readiness to please are
related by the Friends. One woman, on the visitors
expressing a wish to have a sample of the inside of the
fern-tree, which was an article of ordinary food with the
blacks, made a journey of some miles into the bush to
procure it. Another collected a considerable quantity of
fern root, and prepared it in the native manner, because
one of the visitors had desired to see it in the state in
which the blacks were, accustomed to eat it. In their
intercourse with each other they showed a like good
nature. The Friends noticed that in the daily distribu-
tion of food, though the division was often very unequal,
there was no dissatisfaction because one got more than
another. They showed the most perfect good temper
throughout.

The absence of disturbances or crimes of violence
during their captivity on Flinders Island is of itself a
sufficient proof that the idea, so commonly entertained
at the time, of their untamable ferocity, was not well
founded. Yet, the Aborigines Committee, in 1830, in
their Report to the Governor, stated their belief " that
the Aborigines of this Colony are insensible to kindness,
devoid of generous feelings, bent on revenge."

The tractability of the captive blacks at the Settle-
ment was remarkable. They acted like good natured
children, and were as imitative as monkeys. Thus, at a
religious service, at which some of them were present,
they behaved with great decorum, and during prayer
turned their faces to the wall in imitation of the whites.
When they were presented with Scotch caps, the young
men drew themselves up in a line and imitated the
manoeuvres of soldiers. They showed a great desire to
copy the ways of their white instructors. The men were
particularly anxious to be supplied with trousers, but
resented the offer of yellow trousers, the usual garb of
prisoners. They also wanted to have stools to sit upon,

152 THE ABORIGINES

and tables for their meals, and to be supplied with knives
and forks like Europeans.

Some of the women learned to make bread, to wash
clothes, and to sew, and to use soap and water daily.

The Friends remark: "The scrupulous care they
evince not to take anything that does not belong to them
entitles them to the character of honesty. They are
observing, and have retentive memories, affording very
sufficient proofs that they are not deficient in intellect.
Among other traits, we remarked less indisposition to
personal exertion than is usually attributed to savages.
The willingness and promptitude with which they perform
little services for those whom they consider their friends,
as in bringing wood and water for daily use, show that
they are not of a sluggish disposition when there is a
sufficient inducement to labour ... In the morning
daily they may be seen walking in procession, each
bearing a load of wood on his shoulder, which is cheer-
fully deposited in the proper place. They are said to
have taken great pleasure in cutting and bringing in the
wattles and grass for building and thatching ; also in
fencing, breaking up, and planting with potatoes the acre
and a half of ground in front of their cottages [at
Wvbalenna]. The latter was accomplished almost
entirely by their own unassisted efforts. . . They will
generally do anything they are required to do that is
reasonable. It is kind treatment that ensures its per-
formance."

They showed all the usual improvidence of savages.
Though they were finally led to take care of their tin
plates and eating utensils and to keep them clean, it was
at first difficult to prevent them throwing away these
articles. They had been accustomed to a mutton-fish
shell, or something as simple, as a drinking vessel, and
could not understand the necessity of taking care of
things adapted for permanent use. In hunting they
destroyed the game recklessly, and could not be
restrained from killing the kangaroo as long as their
dogs would run. On an adjoining island, where there
were large numbers of wallaby, the blacks in three or
four hunting excursions killed over a thousand head.
By this kind of wholesale destruction, kangaroo, once
very abundant in the neighbourhood of the Flinders.
Settlement, soon became extremely scarce.

OF tax diemen's land. 153

The Commandant found the greatest difficulty in
inducing them to save the wallaby skins, it being the
custom to throw the wallaby on the fire and singe off the
fur. He explained to them the value of the skins, and
the articles they could get in exchange. He gave
presents to those who brought in skins ; but it seemed
impossible to teach them any idea of barter, or indeed to
get them to look beyond the immediate moment.

In January, 1834, Messrs. Backhouse and Walker
again visited Flinders Island at the request of Governor
Arthur. They found the blacks removed to a place
called by the sealers Pea Jacket Point, then rechristened
" Civilisation Point," about fifteen miles north of their
old location. The village was named " Wybalenna,"
signifying, in the language of the Ben Lomond tribe,
" Blackmail's Houses." There were at this time 1 1 1
aborigines on the island — 55 males and 56 females. Of
the whole number only 16 were children. Wybalenna
was a much better location than The Lagoons. There
was sufficient water, good pasturage, and land fit for
cultivation as gardens. The officers of the establishment
had weatherboard houses, and about twenty thatched
wattle and plaster huts had been built for the blacks.

The visitors found that in two years the aborigines
showed progress in at least the outward appearance of
civilisation. They now had a regular instructor or
catechist, who tried to instil into their minds some ideas
of religion. To aid in this work he had attempted a
translation of the first three chapters of Genesis into the
language of the Ben Lomond tribe ! The worthy cate-
chist's version is obviously worthless from a linguistic
point of view, whatever effect it may have had on the
native mind in other ways.

The catechist made most persevering efforts to in-
struct the blacks, and even succeeded in teaching some
of the boys and younger men to read a little.*

* In 1834 five or six of the boys were removed from Flinders Island
and placed in the Government Orphan School at New Town, near Hobart.
It is stated that some of them showed very fair intelligence. Mr. Walker
mentions that two lads (Arthur and Friday) who in 1832 were sunk in the
barbarous habits of their race, showed considerable improvement after
two years' instruction at the Orphan School. One of them — George
Walter Arthur — had not only learnt to read fairly well, but also wrote a
hand which would not have disgraced a European youth of the same a^e.
The master of the school informed Mr. Walker that, with some exceptions,
the aboriginal children were not inferior in capacity to the European
children in his charsre.

154 THE ABORIGINES

At the time of the Friends' visit to the Flinders
Settlement in L834, the health of the surviving abori-
gines was erood. A ereal mortality had occurred in the
rainy season of the preceding year, chiefly among the
men from the West Coast tribes, who had been the
shortest time on the island. Between 1st .January and
31si December 1833, out of some 140 at the settlement,
31 had died : of these, sixteen belonged to the West
Coast tribes. Most of the deaths resulted from sudden
and acute affections of the chest — pneumonia or phthisis.
'This kind of disease appears to have often made great
havoc among them when at large in their own country.
In the previous winter it had been more fatal among the
few aborigines at large on the West Coast than amongst
those at the Settlement on Flinders. It was proposed,
as likely to conduce to the better health of the natives,
that they should wear shoes !

Thus far I have followed Mr. Walker's account. The
rest of the brief and melancholy history of the remnant
of the Tasmanian aborigines is soon told.

In 1835, George Augustus Robinson, who had just
completed his mission by bringing in the last party of
wanderers, was sent by the Governor to take charge of
the Flinders establishment. In a speech which he made
at Sydney some few years later, he gave a long account
of his administration. He boasted that his efforts to
lead forward the blacks in the scale of civilisation had
met with flattering success. Their minds were beginning
to expand. In their intercourse with each other they
were affable and courteous. They were placed under no
restraint, but enjoyed the fullest degree of personal free-
dom. They were instructed in the Christian religion.
Two services were held on Sunday, and others during
the week. The services were conducted in English,
which the natives well understood. Attendance was
voluntary, yet all attended. He had established schools, —
a day-school for boys, a day-school for girls, an evening
school, and a Sunday-school. Periodical examinations
were held, from which it appeared that the youths were
able to answer questions in the leading events of Scrip-
ture, in Christian doctrine, arithmetic, geography, and
several points of general information. Some of them
could write very fairly. The girls were taught sewing

OF VAX DIEMEX'S LAXD. 155

»

and knitting, and conld make clothes. The people had
neat cottages and gardens, and conformed in every
respect to European habits. He had formed an
aboriginal police, and a court composed of himself and
three chiefs, who acted as constables. He had estab-
lished a circulating medium, and also a market to which
the natives brought their produce. The men had in
three years cleared a considerable area of ground, and
had made a road nine miles long into the interior of the
island. He concludes with the remark, " The only
drawback on the establishment is the great mortality
among them ; but those who survive are happy, con-
tented, and useful members of society."

A significant comment on his " flattering success ! "
While Robinson and others were doing their best to make
them into a civilised people, the poor blacks had given
up the struggle, and were solving the difficult problem
by dying. The very efforts made for their welfare only
served to hasten their inevitable doom. The white
man's civilisation proved scarcely less fatal to them than
the white man's musket. Yet it would be wrong to
estimate lightly the disinterested labours of the men who
perseveringly worked for the fading race. Amongst
these men the name of Mr. Robert Clark, the catechist,
stands first. From the time of his appointment to
Flinders Island in 1834 to his death in 1850 this esti-
mable man gave himself with an absolute devotion to the
care of the unhappy remnant of the captive tribes. The
poor blacks on their part showed that they were not
"insensible to kindness, or devoid of generous feelings."
While Mr. Clark lived they regarded him with a touch-
ing love and veneration. When he died, after sixteen
years spent in their service, they mourned him as their
one true and constant friend, and to the last the miser-
able remnant of Tasmania's native tribes affectionately
cherished the memory of their beloved " Father Clark."

In 1838 the aborigines on Flinders, probably at the
suggestion of Robinson, who had been appointed Pro-
tector of the Aborigines in Port Phillip, petitioned
Governor Franklin to be removed to that colony. The
Home Authorities interposed and forbade the removal.
On Robinson's departure from Flinders, Captain Smith,
and afterwards Mr. Fisher, took charge of the settle-
ment. In 1842 Dr. Jeannerett received the appointment

1,56 THE ABOttTGINES

of Commandant from Sir John Franklin. Five years
Inter, in 1S47. there remained only 44 individuals, viz.,
12 men, '2'2 women, and 10 children from 4 to 17 years
of age. Some of the children were half-castes.

In the face of considerable opposition from the
colonists, the Government resolved to remove the few
survivors to Oyster Cove, in D'Entrecasteaux Channel.
Dr. .lames Milligan was appointed superintendent, and
under his care the transfer was effected. Among the
children thus removed was Fanny Cochrane (now Mrs.
Fanny Smith), who is still living on her farm at Port
Cygnet, the sole survivor of the Flinders Island settle-
ment. At Oyster Cove the blacks rapidly deteriorated.
A new phase of civilisation was here presented to them
in the shape of low whites and rum. The mortality was
accelerated by the drunken habits into which many of
them fell. A few lingered on — a disgraced and de-
grnded remnant. In 1854 there remained only three
men, eleven women, and two children — sixteen in all.
In 1865, Billy Lanne, the last male aborigine, died, and
only four women remained. Truganini, the last survivor
of her race, died in 1877.

Such is the melancholy history of the native inhabi-
tants of Tasmania.

OF VAX DIEMEX'S LAXD. 157

NOTES FROM MR. WALKER'S JOURNAL.

The Aborigines of Van Diemen's Land are rather
below the average stature of Englishmen. Both sexes
are stout, and their limbs well proportioned ; a few
incline to corpulency. They walk remarkably erect,
assuming a dignified mien, and in all their movements
exhibit agility and ease. Their complexion is very dark,
almost black ; a few are of lighter hue, approaching to
the colour of copper. The soles of their feet are as
light as those of Europeans who go without shoes. The
palms of their hands are also much lighter than their
bodies. There is a considerable variety of features
among them. Generally, thick lips and flat distended
nostrils are the characteristics of the race. Many of
their countenances are pleasing, and very few of them
forbidding ; one man, with a black beard and moustache,
had a countenance strikingly Jewish. Their hair is
uniformly black and woolly, like the African negroes,
whom, in many respects, they nearly resemble. In their
savage state the men let their hair grow, and ornament
it with grease and red ochre, or, as they term it, ball-
dowinny. The women shave their heads. Neither sex
wear any clothing, unless a few strips of fur, which are
sometimes tied round the thickest part of their limbs, can
be called such. Both sexes wear strings of shells as
necklaces. The shells are of spiral form, varying in size
from that of a pea to a horse-bean. In their natural
state they are not remarkable for beauty, but when the
outer coating is stripped off they show varied colours
of consideralole brilliancy. The aborigines prepare
them for use by burning grass over wood embers, when
the action of the pyroligneous acid removes the thin
coating from the shell. Some of their necklaces were
formed of kangaroo sinews, one twisted round another
so as to resemble braid, and then dyed with red ochre,
their favourite colour, and hung in several folds round
the neck. They are fond of smearing their bodies with
grease and red ochre, which enables them to bear with

THE ABORIGINES

more ease the exposure to the weath< r. They make
Incisions in their flesh, particularly on the thighs, anus,
and breasts. This is done with a sharp Hint, so as
generally i<> form longitudinal lines parallel to each
other. The wounds arc kept open by artificial means
until proud flesh is Eormed, and a lasting protuberant sear
produced. These marks arc rendered more numerous
by a custom which prevails among them of lacerating
any pari <>F their bodies affected with pain. This they
suppose to be productive of relief. The bones of
deceased relatives, which some of them wear about them
as tokens of remembrance, are frequently tied on the
affected limb lor the same purpose. Roomeh-tymyenna,
the wife of a chief, carries constantly on her bosom the
skull of an infant. They connect some superstitious
notions with the practice, evidently regarding it in the
light of a charm.

As soon as it was dark on the evening of our arrival,
preparations were made for a corrobberry, or dance, for
joy at the arrival of the cutter. The men strip off their
clothes, but the women, who occasionally join in the
dance, make no alteration in their adopted dress. A fire
of sticks, or boughs that make a lively blaze, was made,
around which the men formed a circle, and began a kind
of song or chant, consisting of expressions frequently
repeated, and uttered in a drawling monotone. The
subjects of these songs are various ; sometimes the pur-
suits of hunting, and the enumeration of the animals that
become a prey to their dexterity ; at other times the
feats of war, and their sanguinary conflicts with adverse
tribes. A very common description relates to the habits
of animals, such as the emu and kangaroo ; and, since
they have become acquainted with Europeans, to the
horse, the cow, &c. They accompany the words with
significant gestures and actions. Thus in the emu-dance,
by bending forward an arm over the fire, and making a
movement with the hand, like the motion of a bird's
head, they imitate the bird in its peculiar habits. In
the horse-dance, which they call barracoota,* they lay
hold of each other's loins, one following another, and
imitate the prancing of the animal, while a woman stands
by and imitates the driver, gently tapping them with

* Jorgenson gives as the equivalent for " horse," baircoutaua ; Norman
gives parcbutenar.

OF VAN DIEMEN'S LAND. 159

a stick as they pass before her. They have also
the thunder-and-lightning dance, in which they stamp
with their feet and whirl round the fire. A frequent
manoeuvre during their corrobberrys is to leap from the
ground while running in a circle round the fire, and, in
descending, to turn their faces to it, crouching at the
same time to the ground on their haunches, and striking
the earth with their hands. The exertion during these
performances is often very violent, occasioning individuals
to drop out of the ring, bathed in perspiration, until they
have recovered. The good humour they exhibit through-
out the amusement, which generally lasts for some hours,
often till midnight, is remarkable, considering the excite-
ment that prevails. Sometimes one will jostle against
another, and perhaps occasion a fall to both, which is
sure to be succeeded by a general laugh. Though the
nudity of the men must necessarily offend the eye of a
European, there is not the slightest action or gesture
that would offend the modesty of the most scrupulous.

On another evening we visited their shelters or
" breakwinds." From twenty to thirty sleep in each
shelter. Here they generally cook their food and eat
their meals, and here in the evening they sit round the
fire and talk, or one sings, while the rest listen with deep
interest and attention, frequently applauding by a general
shout. At the suggestion of Mr. Archibald Maclachlan,
the surgeon, they sang two of their songs for our benefit.
The first was sung by the chief of the Port Dalrymple
tribe. The same words were repeated many times in
succession, accompanied by many impassioned gestures,
and an exertion of breath almost painful to witness.
Occasionally the singer gave a short sigh, as if his breath
was spent, in which the rest united with one accord.
The shout that succeeded allowed the performer a
moment's pause, when he resumed the song with great
animation. During the course of the song the chief
often became highly excited, pointing significantly with
his finger, and showing remarkable expression in his
countenance, as if the subject was most important, the
people listening meanwhile with profound attention.
After the chief had concluded, the women began a song
in chorus, which showed a greater knowledge of music.
I was very much surprised to hear some sing tenor, while
others sang treble. It was a hunting song, enumerating

100 THi: AHOIIK.IM-

tlic animals 1 1 1 si t the young married women arc wont to
chase. I afterwards took down the words of the song
from the lips of some of the women.*

The tribes now show Utile appearance of jealousy.
M:inv. when in the bush, were in a state of hostility ;
hut their aniniosities are merged in the genera] feeling
of good-will, which seems to pervade the settlement. II'
there is anything that betrays the remembrance of former
lends, it is hunting. They show a reluctance to limit
together if the tribes that compose the party have once
been at warfare, unless the Commandant or Surgeon be
with them, when his influence is considered a sufficient
guarantee against harm.

Two men of the Western or Port Dalrymple tribe
exhibited before us the manner in which quarrels are
decided amongst them ; or, it may be described as the
mode of giving vent to those feelings of irritation which
amongst Englishmen would end in a pugilistic encounter.
The parties approach one another face to face, and,
folding their arms across their breasts, shake their heads
(which occasionally come in contact) in each other's
faces, uttering at the same time the most vociferous and
angry expressions, until one or other of them is exhausted.
This custom is called by them growling, and, from the
specimen afforded us by the Western lads, will not
probably issue in anything worse than a bloody nose
or lip.

Quarrels are rare among the aborigines of the
settlement, but when they do occur some of their tokens
of displeasure are odd and unaccountable. One of the
men had a difference with his wife, because she had
broken something which he highly prized. Instead of
showing his displeasure by taking a stick and retaliating
on the offender, he rose and deliberately cut the feet of
seven who happened to be lying near him asleep, but
offered no kind of violence to his wife. After this burst
of rage, his anger was appeased, and they were recon-
ciled. The Commandant, hearing of the circumstance,
had the man brought before him, and told him that as
through his misconduct the women wrould be unable to
bring their quantum of water from the well, the offender
was required to bring all the water himself. Without
saying a w7ord or making the least difficulty, the man

* See p. 29, for song with interlinear translation.

OF VAN DIEMEN's LAND. 161

set about his task, which he soon completed, and there
the affair ended.

It is curious that the aborigines, on occasions of this
sort mentioned above, do not generally show a disposi-
tion to retaliate on the person who thus wreaks his
vengeance upon them ; they rather endeavour to get out
of his way.

Another quarrel fell out thus : — A married woman
had selected a certain tree, according to their practice
when in the bush, which tree, in such case, is considered
the representative of the person who makes choice of it,
and is regarded as their inviolable property, at all times
to be held sacred. Through some accident this tree,
which had been selected by Iioomtyenna, was pulled
down or mutilated by a party of her countrymen, which
she so violently resented that, snatching up a firebrand,
she ran in amongst them and dealt her blows very freely
around. Her husband, who was of the party, at length
struck her on the head with his waddy, and drew blood.
When he saw that she bled, he was apparently as dis-
concerted as she was, and would have gladly made it up ;
but the lady was not so easily appeased, and it was some
time before Trygoomy-poonauh could regain his wife's
smiles.

On a visit to the site of the intended new settlement,
at a place named by the sealers Pea-jacket Point, we
were accompanied by the Commandant, four native men,
and two of their wives. The history of the attachment
that led to the union of one of these couples is somewhat
romantic. Panneh-rooneh had long felt an affection for
Pellouny-myna, but no persuasions of his could induce
her to become his wife. One day they were crossing a
river along with many more of their countrymen, when
Pellouny-myna was suddenly seized Avith an attack of
illness and became unable to support herself. The faith-
ful lover was at her side. Seizing her in his arms he
bore her to a place of safety, and during her illness,
which was tedious, he nursed her with the greatest atten-
tion and most affectionate assiduity. She at length
recovered, when, overcome with gratitude, she declared
that none but Panneh-rooneh should be her husband ;
and from that time they have become united by the most
inviolable attachment.

On our return the day was very wet and boisterous.

162 THE ABORIGINES

The aborigines are not Eond of travelling in the wet, nor
will they do so except in eases of necessity. They show
the Bame reluctance to travelling in the dark. As soon
as it is dusk they take care to remind you that it is time
to crackney, that is, to rest. It is well known that in
their wild state they hardly ever encamped for two
nights together in the same place, in consequence of
their aversion to the dirt which accumulates about a
cam]). The number of fires which this custom has given
rise to is perhaps one of the causes that the number of
these people lias been so greatly over-rated. I was sur-
prised to remark their susceptibility of fatigue in going
long distances. It does not appear that they have been
in the habit of making long or forced marches. Each
tribe confining themselves generally to a district seldom
exceeding twenty to thirty miles in its widest extent,
this peculiarity may be easily accounted for. Their
principal journeys were those made in the summer season
to the highlands from the lower tracts (the haunt of the
game), which were their resort in the winter ; and these
journeys did not generally require any extraordinary
expedition.

This short excursion has given us a further oppor-
tunity of estimating the character of the aborigines ;
and the favourable opinion we had previously formed of
their disposition, and especially of their capabilities for
improvement, is more than ever confirmed. They re-
quire to be treated with much discretion and forbearance.
They are more easily led than driven ; for, though they
are very tractable and accessible to kindness, it is easy
to perceive that they consider themselves a free people.
If they do service for others, they do it through
courtesy. There is nothing that is servile or abject in
their character when they are not under the influence of
fear. We are perpetually reminded that in their taste
for amusement, and in some respects in their capacities,
they are children, though more tractable than the
generality of children ; but, in many things that occur
within the range of their knowledge and acquirements,
they show a quickness of perception and powers of
reflection that prove them to be a race far from deficient
in intellect, and highly susceptible of improvement.
From anything I have been able to learn, the

Dorigines do not seem to have any notion of a superior

OF VAN PIEMEN'S LAND. 163

and beneficent Being who rules the world. They have
some indistinct ideas of an evil spirit, whom they style
" the devil," especially when talking with Europeans,
but of whom there is reason to believe they have had
original notions, and for whom they have an appropriate
name in their own language. All diseases and casualties
are attributed to the agency of this malevolent power,
who is also thought to preside over the elements, espe-
cially in the phenomena of thunder and lightning, of
which they are accordingly much afraid. When one of
A. Cottrell's party was asked what had caused the death
of one of his comrades at the Hunter's Islands, he
answered " The devil ! " One of them imitated the
symptoms that usually attend consumption in its last
stages. There is no doubt that they entertained the
notion before their intercourse with Europeans. An
idea is becoming prevalent among them which looks
like the recognition of a state of being after death. It
is professed to be believed by some of them that they
are transformed after death into white men, and that
they return under this renewed form to an island in the
Straits, where there is abundance of game, and where
they have the pleasure of again hunting, and subsisting
upon such animals as they killed in the chase during
their lifetime ; but I am disposed to believe that this
has not originated with themselves, particularly as they
connect it with some vague idea respecting the deceased
visiting England, or at least coming from beyond seas
ere he inhabit the island in question. The want of
knowledge of their language renders the information
that can be gathered on these interesting subjects very
vague.

With regard to form of government, very little
seems to have existed among the aborigines. A sort of
patriarchal authority under certain limitations has been
exercised by the chiefs of the respective tribes ; but
they have been far from exacting an implicit obedience
to their commands, and in many respects their authority
appears to have been little more than nominal ; few of
the mob consisting of more persons than might be in-
cluded in one large family, the influence of the chief,
who is generally in years, has probably been of the
parental kind. The people at the settlement call their
chiefs by the appellation of Father, and speak of the

164 THE ABul.'I<.|\l>

members of their own tribes as brothers and sisters.
When a separation for a long period has happened, on
meeting again they show nil tin- attachment of relatives.
An instanceof this occurred at Woolnorth, when two
women, who lmd Lived with sealers, were brought in.
Jumbo, another woman who was present, called one
of these her sister, having belonged to the same mob* as
herself. A. CottreU informed me that their interview
was very affecting. Neither spoke for some time, but,
throw ing their arms round each other's necks, they re-
mained m that attitude, the tears trickling down their
cheeks, until at length, these first emotions having some-
what subsided, they began to talk and laugh, and exhibit
all the demonstrations of extravagant joy.

The natives show a great dislike to allusions to the
absent, whether the separation be caused by difference
of situation or by death. If the name of the absent
person be mentioned, it is customary with them, when
with Europeans, to signify their displeasure by signs, as
if they considered it unpropitious.

Like all persons in a savage state, the natives eat
more than would be convenient to a European. In their
wild condition they were subject to scarcity of food,
which, being succeeded by the return of abundance,
would induce them to fill themselves to repletion. They
eat almost every animal that inhabits the woods, from
the emu and kangaroo down to the kangaroo-rat.
Mutton-birds and penguins are the principal birds used
by them, emus being very scarce. There are some other
birds that are considered good eating, as the swan and
the duck ; but these they cannot often catch, unless it
be the young swans. They are very partial to their
eggs. The emu is considered a great delicacy, which
may be one reason that emus are more numerous now
than a few years ago, when the number of aborigines in
the bush was greater. The roots eaten by the natives
are extremely numerous and abundant, as the fern (a
species much the same as that common in England),
which is eaten either roasted or raw. The upper ex-
tremity of the stem of the fern-tree is also a favourite
article of food, and a number of other things which I am
unable to describe. There is a species of punk or fungus
found on the trunks or among the roots of decayed trees,
which contributes to the support of the blacks, as well as

OF VAX DIEMEX'S LAND. 165

the white grub, which is also found in rotten timber.
Of the latter the natives are extravagantly fond, eating
them raw as well as roasted. A species of truffle, known
in the colony by the name of native bread, found in the
vicinity of decayed wood, and of the order of Fungi, is a
favourite article of food ; so also is a large lizard, often
twelve or fourteen inches in length, and called the iguana.

A custom prevails amongst them for which I can
assign no reason, nor do they seem themselves able to
give any. Some will eat only the male of a particular
species, others only the female ; and 1 am assured by
those who know well their habits, that they will rather
starve than infringe this rule. The morning we arrived
at Pea-jacket, a wallaby was taken by Tommy, at a
time when meat was by no means plentiful ; he, however,
gave the whole of it away, nor could I induce him to
taste it. It was a male, and the only answer 1 could get
from him was that he never ate the male of that animal.
The rest of the party partook of it. Butter, or food that
is fat or greasy, they show at first an aversion to ; the
animals that inhabit the forest, especially the kangaroo
and wallaby, are generally lean.

They seem to have been acquainted with no other
mode of cooking than that of roasting. Boiling was
quite strange to them, and meat prepared in that way
appears less agreeable to them than the other. The plan
they adopt in cooking mutton-birds is, to throw the bird
on the fire until all the feathers are singed off, when it is
withdrawn and gutted. When several are prepared in
this manner, they are spitted on a stick between two and
three feet in length, one end of which is run into the
ground, while the other enables the person who is stand-
ing by to turn the birds, or give them such a direction
towards the fire as ensures their being properly cooked.

The animals were cooked in the usual summary
method ; first, by throwing them on the fire until the
hair was singed, after which the entrails were extracted,
and the carcase returned to the fire until sufficiently
roasted. The eggs were also roasted among the embers.
They cooked the shell-fish (Haliotis, or mutton-fish) very
nicely by placing them on the embers with the fish
uppermost until they are roasted. They then insert the
end of a long stick into the fish, which readily leaves the
shell ; and, were there no better fare, we should have

166 THE ABORIGINES

thought them very tolerable food, though the large ones
are apl to be tough.

The blacks make very neat, or, at least, very useful,
baskets of native grass, which the women plait in such
manner as to render them strong and effective for holding
the few articles they carry about with them. These are
also used in fishing. The women are excellent swimmers,
and are most expert in diving for shell-fish. These
employments devolve almost exclusively on the females,
though the men are generally practised in them in
degree. In diving for crayfish, the women take a
basket in their hand, and, on reaching the rocks at the
bottom, they dextrously seize the crayfish with their
fingers, and, putting them quickly into the basket, ascend
to the surface. In the same way, they procure mutton-
fish, oysters, mussels, and several other kinds of shell-fish,
a species of food they are particularly partial to.

In Safety Cove, Port Arthur, we saw some of the
aboriginal women dive for fish. They appear to be half
amphibious, such is their dexterity in the water, and,
what is more singular, they appear to float with their
heads in an upright position above water, without any
effort, and this in the midst of kelp and other seaweed
that would terrify the generality of skilful swimmers.
They put aside the weed with their hands, or lift it over
their heads as it becomes wrapt round them, and
fearlessly dive head foremost into the midst of it, passing
the branches of kelp through their hands as a sailor
would a rope. When they see a crayfish on the bottom,
they seize it by the back and ascend promptly to the
surface, where they readily disengage themselves from
the kelp and weed, and throw their prey to their com-
panions on shore. Sometimes they put their heads a
little below the surface, and look along the bottom until
they descry a shell-fish, when in a moment their heels
appear above the surface, and, diving to the bottom, they
secure their prey. The men are said to be far inferior
to the women in diving, as they consider it the province
of the females to procure fish. The aborigines are
excessively fond of shell-fish.

On our visit to Macquarie Harbour, in May, 1832
we observed traces of the aborigines in several place
about Port Davey and the sea shore near the mouth d
Macquarie Harbour. There were numerous places wheje

OP van diemen's land. 167

they had had fires, about which the shells of mutton-fish,
oysters, mussels, crayfish, limpets, and periwinkles were
scattered. Near Wellington Head there were the
remains of some boats, formed of strips of the swamp
tea-tree of Macquarie Harbour (Melaleuca decussata).
We learned from the pilot (Mr. Lucas) that, about three
months ago, he saw five of these, containing three or four
persons each, inclusive of children, cross the Harbour
from the northern shore. Each of them was drawn
across by a man swimming on each side of the boat,
holding it with one hand. He therefore concludes the
number that visit that neighbourhood to be from twenty
to thirty. He says they are shy, but have not committed
any outrage. They exchanged a girl of about fourteen
for a dog ; but the girl, not appearing to like her
situation, she was taken back by them, and the dog
returned.

We learned from A. Cottrell some further particu-
lars respecting the aborigines. The Western tribes
appear to have been generally in the practice of burning
their dead. The body is placed in an upright posture on
logs of wood, other logs are piled around it till the
superstructure assumes a conical form. The pile is then
fired, and occasionally replenished with fuel, till the
remains are consumed to ashes. These are carefully
collected by the relatives of the deceased, and are tied
up in a piece of kangaroo skin, and worn about their
persons, not only as tokens of remembrance, but as a
charm against disease and accident. It is common for
the survivors to besmear their faces with the ashes of
the deceased. Those who suffer from the same com-
plaint of which the dead man died resort to the same
practice as a means of cure. It is also customary to sing
a dirge every morning for a considerable time after the
death of their friends. The chief relative takes the most
prominent part on these occasions ; but it is not confined
to relatives ; many others join in the lamentation, and
exhibit all the symptoms of unfeigned sorrow. Be-
smearing the face with the ashes of the deceased is
generally an accompaniment ; and tears may often be
seen streaming down the cheeks of the mourners.

A singular idea prevails among the natives, that no
one actually dies till the sun sets. If the parties are
dead in point of fact, the survivors profess to regard the

168 TILE ABORIGINES

symptoms as mere indications that life will depart as
BOOH as the sun goes down, and until that period they
do not treat them as dead."

Und.r date 9th November, 1832, Mr. Walker
writes : —

kk There are, it is supposed, the remains of only four
tribes at large in the island. Three of them frequent
ilic coast between Macquarie Harbour and Cape Grim.
The fourth tribe frequent the district of Port Davey.
It is the opinion of both G. A. Robinson and A. Cottrell
that these tribes do not include more than a hundred
invividuals, although they are not among those whose
numbers have been thinned by coming into hostile col-
lision with Europeans, with the exception of one tribe,
that has on two or three occasions encountered the Van
Diemen's Land Company's servants. Individuals have
in these encounters been killed on both sides, but the
number is very limited on either. This strongly con-
firms the opinion we have for some time entertained, that
the number of aborigines in the island has been greatly
exaggerated. It does not appear (admitting that there
are about a hundred in the four tribes yet in the bush)
that the number now in existence in the bush and at
the aboriginal settlement exceeds 220 or 230. Allowing
that their numbers have been thinned by the warfare
that has subsisted between them and the whites, and that
disease has also tended to thin their ranks (which
appears to have been the case, especially among the
Bruny Island natives), it does not seem probable that
the whole of the aboriginal population, from the time of
the landing of Europeans to the present moment, has
ever at one time much exceeded five or six hundred
individuals."

Specimens of the Language spoken by the
Aborigines of Van Diemen's Land : — Two
Popular Songs. — Translation of Genesis,
Chap. I. — Aboriginal Names of Men and
Women.

15 October, 1832. — Several of the aborigines were
invited into the Commandant's hut for the purpose of
enabling me to take down a few words as specimens of
the language. The plan I adoped was to point to
different objects, which they named, several repeating

OF TAN DIEMEN'S LAND. 169

the word for my better information. At a subsequent
period, I uttered the words in the hearing of others with
whom I had had no commimication on the subject of their
language. If these understood my expressions, and
pointed to the object the word was intended to represent,
I took for granted I had obtained with tolerable accuracy
the word used by them for that purpose. When I read
to them in their own language one of their native songs,
they were beyond measure astonished and gratified, fol-
lowing the words with their voices, and frequentiy inter-
rupting me with shouts of approbation. Their language
appears to me to be far from inharmonious, and, when
accompanied by a chanting tmie, as in the songs of the
women, is pleasing to the ear.

Pronunciation.

English sound of a, e, z, 0, n — a (as in ball).

Tasmanian orthography, e, ?/, z, 0, u — au.

English, a (as in bar), e (as in left), long sound of a

(as in pale).

Tasmanian, a eh

ai.

Other sounds according to English modes of spelling.
The syllables marked with a long line above are those
on which emphasis should be placed.

Vocabulary.

Paninnywfithinneh the head.

Plennerreh warreh the ear.

Lehpehneh the eyes.

Minnerreh warreh the nose.

Kehmyneh the cheek.

Kehmiinneh the chin.

Tiikk ehkulla the thigh .

Yaneh the teeth.

Myneh the tongue.

Moneh the lips.

Kythinneh the skin or hair.

Nyleh the eyelash.

Tehnyneh the nail.

Bullehbyneh the bones.

Loorenneh the leg.

Langehneh the foot.

Langehnehpyneh-wathinneh the toes.

170 THE ABORIGINES

Annr-h minneh the hand.

Mekkeh thinnefa peppyneh.. the finger.

Trehnytba wathinna the blood.

Myneh I or me.

Nyneh thou or you.

Namennolunny they or them.

Narreh coopeh very good.

Pynicketta quickly.

Paneh peckinninneh a little boy.

Lackyra fern root.

Toppfete to walk.

Pokerrakany to talk.

Noongenneh wangen diinneh to run.

Liingehby nany to strike.

Larny..... to beat.

Crackny to sit down or rest.

Ningenneh to bring.

Lfprenny a house.

Lygunnyeh skin or exterior cover

ing.

Trarty stupid.

Kepehgmneh ,.... to eat.

Tringegmneh to swallow.

Gibleh to eat.

Tyweh rattyneh the wind blows.

Wakeh lenna the sun shines.

Niiggeh tenna it rains.

Lingenneh bunneh a swan's egg.

AVoomerreh wood.

Coantanneh the ground.

Wiber a black man.

Looberreh a black woman.

Lodowinny a white man.

L5oneh woman or girl (white

or black.)

Gadyeh plenty or many.

Trymepa take it.

Nickeh this, the.

Potya ]\To.

Alle ; alia; arpu Yes.

There are some objects, and these very numerous,
for which every tribe, or " mob," has a different name.
There are also some peculiarities (of dialect we may

OF VAN DIEMEN'S LAXD. 171

suppose) in the languages of tribes dwelling in remote
situations that render them not easily, if at all, under-
stood by each other.* Several individuals, particularly
G. A. Kobinson and his colleague, Anthony Cottrell,
are able to converse with tolerable fluency in the native
dialects, but I understand that no one has reduced the
language to writing, which is to be regretted.

Some of the aboriginal terms have a very indefinite
and extended meaning, as in the words "chichiy" and
pomleh. The former means to be, to exist, to rest, sit
down or lie down, to stop, remain, dwell, sleep, and I
know not how many more significations. The latter is
used in a variety of ways, but more particularly where
art, or ingenuity, or an exertion of power is applied to
the production of anything. Everthing that has required
any sort of manipulation has been pomleh, i.e., made, or
put. together, or called into existence.

It is also remarkable that the aborigines have
hardly any general terms. They have not even a term
to represent " trees" or "animals" generally.

Aboriginal Song sung by the Women in chorus, by various
Tribes of the Natives of Van Diemens Land.

Nlkkeh ningeh tibreh nickeh molly ga pollyla...
The married woman hunts the kangaroo and wallaby...

Namii rykenneh trehgana ..
The emu runs in the forest ...

Nabeh thinninneh trehgana.

The boomer (kangaroo) runs in the forest.

* It had been stated on a previous evening (by Dr. Lang) that Van
Diemen's Land had formerly been peopled with four nations, who each
held a particular portion of the island. This opinion must have originated
in the circumstance of his (Mr. Robinson's) having stated that he had
necessarily learned four languages in order to make himself understood by
the natives generally. But, as regarded nations, he could truly say that
the island of Van Diemen's Land was divided and subdivided by the
natives into districts, and contained many nations. Their divisions he
intended at some future period to point out, as he intended to execute a
map of the island on aboriginal principles, with the aborigines' names for
the mountains, rivers, and localities. Maria Island and Tasman's Pen-
insula had also been inhabited ; but the different tribes spoke quife a
different language ; there was not the slightest analogy between the
languages. — Report of the Public Meeting held on October I9£A, 1838, at
Sydney, containing the speech of G. A. Robinson : Reprinted from the
" Colonist " of 31st October, 1838 : Bath, 1865, p. 3. In another place
Mr. Robinson states that he had become acquainted with sixteen tribes.

172 TTTE ABO-RIGINES

N< lmnnrli kehgreuna... nynabythmnMi...
Tlie young emu... the little kangaroo...

tringeh gfiggerra... pyathinneh...

tin1 little joey (sucking kangaroo)... the bandicoot...

ny n a 1 >y thinneh -koobry n e h . . . m a re h te rrc n neh . . .
the little kangaroo-rat... the white kangaroo-rat...

pyathinneh pungoothinneh... lookqothinneh...

the little opossum... the ringtailed opossum...

mytoppyneh... trynooneh...

the big opossum... the tiger-cat...

watherrfinginna... march bunna...
the dog-faced opossum... the black cat.

A popular song among all the aboriginal tribes, of
which I have not obtained the meaning, it being involved
by them in some mystery —

Poppyla-renung — onnyna — Poppyla, &c, Poppyla, &c,
&c.
lemingannya — lemingannya — leming, &c.
Taukfimmmgannya — Taukummingannya, &c, &c.
Nyna tepe rena ponnyna — Nyna, &c, Nyna, &c.
Nyna nara pewilly para. Nyna nara,&c.,Nyna nara,&c.
Nara pewilly pallawoo ! pallawoo !
Nyna nara pewilly para pewilly pallawoo ! pallawoo !
Nyna nara, &c. Nyna nara, &c, &c.

[In Milligan's Vocabulary this song, with certain
differences, is given. It is there entitled " Aboriginal
Verses in honour of a Great Chief," sung as an accompani-
ment to a native dance or Biawe. — Papers of the Royal
Society of Tasmania, Vol. III., p. 273. Also by Davies,
with other variations — Tasmanian Journal, II, p. 411,]

8th December, 1833. Thos. Wilkinson, the Catechist,
has attempted the translation of the first three chapters of
Genesis, and has succeeded as well as could have been
anticipated. It is extremely difficult to come at the
idiom, as every tribe speaks a different dialect, it might
also be said a different language, and even among the
individuals of the same tribe a great difference is percep-
tible. The pronunciation is very arbitrary and indefinite.
The literal translation is confined in great measure to
the verbs and the nouns. It is not clearly ascertained
whether prepositions and conjunctions or anything

OF VAN DIEMEN'S LAND. 173

analogous to the expletives in use with us are contained
in the aboriginal tongue. T. W. has composed a con-
siderable vocabulary of words."

"December 10. — Thos. Wilkinsons Translation of

Genesis, I.

1. In the beginning God created the heavens

troteh Godneh pomleh heavenneh

and the earth.
c5-entanneh.

2. And darkness was upon the face of the deep.

lywerreh crackny.

3. God said, Let there be light, and there was light.
Godneh kany, trytittyeh - trytlttyeh crackny.

4. And God saw the light that it was good.
Godneh lapre trytittyeh - narreh coopeh.

5. God divided the light from the darkness.
Godneh dyvidneh trytittyeh lywerreh.

11. God said, Let the earth bring forth grass,

Godneh kany, coentanneh ninginneh rothinneh,

and it was so.
tibreh.

16. God made two great lights the greater light
Godneh pomleh cathehby weh trytittyeh lackrenneh

to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the
wakehlenneh, tywerreh [moon] :

night : he made the stars also,
narreh pomleh pullenneh.

17. God set them in the firmament of heaven
Godneh propre narreh wyehticketteh

to give light upon the earth,
tringinneh trytittyeh.

21. And God made great whales, and every living

Godneh pomleh lackrenneh [great], pynungyneh

creature that moveth which the waters brought
[fish] gadyeh [plenty] pynungyneh,

forth abundantly.

174 Tin: A.BOHIGINES

25. And God made the beast of the earth,

Godneh pomleh pockilleh [bullock] ilia [brush
kangaroo],

and he saw that it was very good.
Godneh la pre h narreh coopeh.

26. And God said, Let us make man in our own image,
Godneh kany, myneh pomleh wibeh,

after our own likeness,
likeh myneh.

27. So God created man in his own image.
Godneh pomleh wibeh likeh nfirreh.

31. God saw everything that he had made,

Godneh lilpre gudyeh narreh pomleh,

and behold it was very good,

narreh kany narreh coopeh coopeh !

The aboriginal words are for the most part placed
under the analogous English ones. Those commencing
with an English syllable are such as the aborigines have
none representing the idea in their own language. Thus,
they seem to have had no idea of the existence of a
creative presiding power, nor any term corresponding
with such a sentiment, in their vocabulary. The English
word has, therefore, been adopted by the translator with
the native termination added, making " Godneh." The
same with respect to several others. Several of these
anglified terms are now in such constant use among the
natives that they may be considered as incorporated in
the language. The word "grassneh," for "grass," is
much more frequently used among those at the settle-
ment than the original term given above. It is doubtful
whether "myneh," for "me " or " I," may not be traced
to the same origin.

Names of Aborigines.
Men. Women.

Tobelahngta and Roomehtymyenna,

Chief of Oyster Bay Tribe and his wife.

Monnopellyata and Mellonnehmetya,

Chief of Big River Tribe and his wife.

Troolpaneh and Legehnyminneh,

Chief of Port Dalrymple (and Launceston) Tribe
and Iiis wife.

OF VAN DIEMEN's LAND. 175

Trygoomypoonaneh and Roomtyenna.

Panne brooneh and Pellonnymyna.

Koonehbonneh and Mynalattmy.

Labryehnyniiny and Mymehlannyehnany.

Roolpanehny, a great warrior of the tribe.

Trengerehbeh } Ar r x1 n ; i-k i 1

T ~ll~hl~~l f Young men of the Port JDalrynipIe

Wawy j

Tribe.

Ramehlaloonehny,
Munro's woman, ' Jumbo.'

Notyehkehprenna.

Wathylacotye."

176 TRIHAL DIVISIONS OF THE

SOME NOTES ON THE TRIBAL DIVISIONS
OF THE ABORIGINES OF TASMANIA.

By James B. Walker.

The estimates of the aboriginal population of Tas-
mania before the advent of Europeans vary very
considerably. G. A. Robinson always maintained that,
in 1804, the number of the aborigines was from 6000 to
8000. Captain Kelly, in his evidence before Colonel
Arthur's Committee in 1830, estimated the native popu-
lation at 5000 ; but he supposed that the number was
still very great in the unsettled parts of the colony,
which we now know was not the case. On the other
hand, Backhouse put the number as low as 700 to 1000.
Dr. Milligan says : " Assuming that the number of tribes
and sub-tribes throughout the territory was about twenty,
and that each mustered, of men, women, and children, 50
to 250 individuals, and allowing them numbers propor-
tioned to the means of subsistence within the limits of
their respective hunting-grounds, it does not appear
probable that the aggregate aboriginal population did
materially, if at all, exceed 2000."

A like uncertainty exists as to their tribal divisions.
G. A. Robinson, in a speech made in Sydney in 1838,
shortly after he had left Flinders Island, states "that he
had necessarily learnt four languages to make himself
understood by the natives generally. But, as regarded
nations, he could truly say that the island was divided
and subdivided by the natives into districts and con-
tained many nations. Their divisions he intended at
some future time to point out, as he intended to execute
a map of the island on aboriginal principles, with the
aborigines' names for mountains, rivers, and districts."

Unfortunately, this map — if ever made — has been lost
with the rest of Robinson's papers on the natives, and
the information available is not sufficient to enable us to
determine with any accuracy either the total number of
the aborigines or the limits of the respective tribes.

In considering the question of their numbers, it must
be borne in mind that the parts of Tasmania capable of
affording subsistence to a hunting people were limited in
area. The West Coast is shut off from the Centre and
JEast— -for long the only settled parts — by a wide region

ABORIGINES OF TASMANIA. 177

of mountain and forest, extending throughout the whole
length of the island. In the dense forests covering a
large part of this region, the heavy timber is tangled
with an almost impenetrable undergrowth, in which
scarcely any animal or bird is found to disturb the
silence. Where the forest gives place to bare mountain
peak or to so-called " plain," the 4< button-grass "* or the
stunted scrub constituting the sole growth, is not much
more favourable to animal life. In places, wallaby and
kangaroo are to be found, but, as a general rule, the
"badger" {i.e. wombat) is the only game. "It will
be seen, therefore, that the native population was mainly
confined to the sea coast, where they could obtain an
abundant supply of shell-fish and crayfish, and to the
lightly timbered and open lands of the central valley and
of parts of the east and north-east, where opossum,
wallaby, kangaroo, efnu, and other game were more or
less plentiful.

It appears that the blacks were accustomed to take
considerable pains, by means of periodical burnings, to
keep dowrn the scrub and promote the growth of grass
on their favourite hunting-grounds. Many open plains,
especially in the north, which were formerly known as
favourite resorts of the blacks, subsequently became
overgrown writh forest through the discontinuance of
these annual burnings.

They usually roamed the country in small groups or
parties, probably composed of nearly related families
living together. Their camps rarely contained more
than 30 or 40 individuals — men, women, and children.
At certain seasons of the year, however, large hunting
parties were formed, in which the whole tribe, or
possibly more than one tribe, joined forces to surround
and drive the game. Such was, doubtless, the gathering
of the Oyster Bay natives at Risdon in 1804, which was
attended with such an unfortunate result. The number
of natives, men and women, then engaged in driving the
kangaroo was variously stated at from 300 to 500, though
it is probable that even the smaller number was an
exaggerated estimate. Captain Kelly, in his evidence
before the Committee, says that he saw a mob of 300 at
Brown's River in 1806, and about a dozen instances of

* The " button-grass " is a species of sedge ( Gymnoscoemis sphaero-
cephalus — Nat. Ord. Cyperaceae).

178 TRIUAL DIVISIONS OF THE

mobs numbering from 150 to 300 are reported between
1804 and 1926; but all these statements must be taken
with considerable allowance for exaggeration.

The natives Were in the habit of visiting the coast in
the winter, it is said between June and October, though
some of the tribes in the interior may not have had
access to the sea. Certain tribes must have lived on the
coast almost constantly- Knopwood says that he had
understood that the natives cross the country from east
to west in the month of March ; this would apply to the
East Coast tribes only. Upon a consideration of the
scanty available evidence and all th<j surrounding circum-
stances, we may reject as exaggerated the conjectural
guesses of 7000, or even 5000, as the original number of
the natives. We may accept, as the best approximation
to the truth that we are likely to obtain, Dr. Milligan's
more moderate estimate that the total aboriginal popu-
lation of Tasmania did not at any time exceed 2000
souls.

Of the tribal organisation of the aborigines practically
nothing is known, and the limits of the tribal divisions
cannot be laid down with any approach to certainty.
G. A. Robinson and other writers use the word "' tribe "
with a good deal of laxity. Sometimes it is used to
designate a small sub-tribe living in one community — e.g.,
the Macquarie Harbour tribe, numbering 30 souls only —
sometimes to indicate a whole group — e.g., the Oyster
Bay and Big River tribes, which included several sub-
tribes and a considerable population. As the whole
group in some cases took its name from a prominent sub-
tribe {e.g., Oyster Bay) it is often doubtful whether the
group or the sub-tribe is intended.

Gr. W. VV alker says that the members of the same
" tribe " spoke of each other as " brother " and " sister."
Kelly, in his Boat Expedition, 1815-16, says that the
chief, Laman-bunganah, at Ringarooma Point on the
North-East Coast, told him that he was at war with his
" brother " Tolo-bunganah, a powerful chief at Eddy-
stone Point, on the East Coast. The term translated
" brother " must therefore have had a wide application,
being used with relation to tribes or sub-tribes which
were hostile, as well as to those which were friendly.

In 1830, Robinson stated that he had been in commu-
nication with sixteen " tribes." As this was long after

ABORIGINES OF TASMANIA. 179

many of the native hunting-grounds had been invaded
by the whites, and the original tribal organisation had
consequently been much disturbed, it is probable that
the number of tribes was originally greater. As we
have seen, Milligan conjecturally puts the number at
twenty. Although Robinson dignifies the tribes with
the name of " nations," they were known to the settlers
by the designation of " mobs." This conveys a more
correct idea of their numerical strength, which in many
tribes was as low as 30, and probably in no case
exceeded 200, or at most 250.

These " mobs " or sub-tribes group themselves into
several broad divisions, more properly deserving the
name of " tribes." In these larger divisions separate
languages or dialects were spoken, the vocabularies of
which were widely different, as appears from Milligan's
Vocabulary. Minor differences of dialect must have
been numerous, for Robert Clark, the catechist, states
that on his arrival at the Flinders' Settlement in 1834,
eight or ten different languages or dialects were spoken
amongst the 200 natives then at the establishment, and
that the blacks were " instructing each other to speak
their respective tongues."

Robinson, as already cited, says that there were four
main languages. Of these Milligan gives us the vocabu-
laries of three ; viz. : — (1) South ; (2) West and North-
West ; and (3) East Coast. To these we may add (4)
North-East tribes.

We may now proceed to consider these four main
groups more in detail.

1. Southern Tribes.

" Tribes about Mount Royal, Brune Island, Recherche

Bay, and the South of Tasmania." — Milligan s

Vocabulary.

These tribes occupied both shores of D'Entrecasteaux
Channel and the coast of the mainland as far as South
Cape. The French voyagers in 1792, and again in 1802,
had opportunities of observing these natives in their
primitive state. They found them friendly and well-
disposed. Labillardiere and Peron have preserved many
interesting particulars respecting them. In the more

180 TRIBAL DIVISIONS OF TTIE

southerly part of the district the mountains, heavily
wooded, nearly approach the shore, and here the blacks
must have been mainly dependent on the sea for their
food. Further north, towards the mouth of the Huon,
at Port Cygnet, North-West Bay, and North Bruny, the
country was more open and favourable far game. The
banks of the Upper Huon were too heavily timbered
to afford much subsistence. The Brnny blacks were
numerous, especially on the lightly wooded northern part
of the island, which was a favourite hunting-ground. It
seems to have been visited by the mainland natives,
who crossed the channel in canoes. The natives were
numerous on the west bank of the Derwent — at Black-
man's Bay, Brown's River, &c. At the latter place 300
were seen in 1806. In all this country wallaby, kan-
garoo, and opossum would be fairly plentiful. It cannot
be determined how far these tribes extended to the
northward. They may possibly have occupied the pre-
sent site of Hobart, and even further up the western
shore of the Derwent, but it is also quite possible that
this country was claimed as a hunting-ground by the Big
River tribe. There is nothing in the features of the
ground to forbid either alternative, and there is no evi-
dence to decide the point. Kelly (Evidence, Aboriginal
Committee) says that the Southern natives were a finer
race than those in the interior, and also that they " took
no part ,J with the latter.

2. Western Tribes.

" North-West and Western Tribes."— Milligaris
Vocabulary.

The natives on the west of the island must have been
mainly confined to the sea coast, where they could draw
their support from the sea, the country inland being
generally unsuitable for game. Kelly, whose boat voy-
age was made at midsummer, 1815, found natives at
various places all along the coast, from a point opposite
the Maatsuyker Islands off the south coast to beyond
Cape Grim in the north-west. From the nature of the
country we may conclude that those to the east of South-
West Cape belonged to the Western tribes rather than
to the Southern group established at Recherche Bay.
They were bold enough to cross to the Maatsuykers,

ABORIGINES OF TASMANIA. 181

which lie three miles out from the main, for Flinders in
1798 noticed with surprise that the scrub on the largest
island had been burnt. There was a small tribe at Port
Dave j, and another at Macquarie Harbour, which
(according to Stokes and Backhouse) numbered some
thirty souls only. The latter had canoes of bark in
which they crossed the harbour. They made an attack
on Kelly's party.

At Trial Harbour, near Mount Heemskirk, there are
very large extensive shell mounds. Further north, on
the Pieman and Arthur Rivers, there were either one or
two tribes, probably near the coast, though here there
are occasional tracts which would support game. In
1832 Robinson speaks of four tribes, numbering collec-
tively 100 souls, between Port Davey and Cape Grim.
It is not clear whether he meant to include the Cape
Grim natives. The latter were a strong and fierce
tribe. In 1815 Kelly fell in with a mob of 50 on the
largest of the Hunters' Group, i.e., Robbins Island.
They made a fierce attack on his party. It is said that
the natives visited all the islands of the Hunters' Group
by swimming, no doubt with the help of logs or canoes.
They probably reached Albatross Island, seeing that
they had a name for it, Tangatema. Though the main-
land is in many places densely timbered, there are open
downs at Woolnorth and other spots where game would
be fairly plentiful.

There were tribes at Circular Head and at Emu Bay.
Most of the hinterland was covered with dense, almost
impenetrable, forest, but the high downs of the Hamp-
shire and Surrey Hills and Middlesex Plains were
favourite resorts. Other patches of open country at
intervals would probably afford to these tribes the means
of inland communication with their kinsmen on the west,
as well as the more circuitous route by the coast. These
open spaces were formerly more numerous, being kept
clear by burning. Many of them have become over-
grown with timber since the removal of the natives.

Hobbs (Boat Voyage, 1824) says that the natives
travelled along the coast between Circular Head and Port
Sorell, keeping the country burnt for that purpose. This
group of tribes may possibly have extended as far east
as Port Sorell, though the Port Sorell blacks were more
probably connected with the Port Dalrymple tribe.

182 TRIBAL DIVISIONS OF THE

Kelly (Evidence, Aboriginal Committee) states that
tlic West (Oast natives were a finer race than the tribes
in the interior, and had no intercourse with them. The
southern and western groups appear to have been quite
isolated from those on the eastern side of the island.

3. Central Tribes.

" Tribes from Oyster Bay to Pittwater." — Milligans

Vocabulary.

The interior and eastern parts of the island were
occupied by two powerful tribes — the Oyster Bay and
the Big River. Their northern boundary may be
roughly described as an irregular line beginning on the
East Coast south of St. Patrick's Head, passing along
the ranges to the south of the South Esk River to a
point at St. Peter's Pass (north of Oatlands), and thence
to the Great Lake. It was these two tribes who were
the most implacable enemies of the settlers, and it was
against them almost exclusively that Colonel Arthur's
" Black Line " operations were directed.

(a) — The Oyster Bay Tribe.

The Oyster Bay tribe or group of tribes occupied the
East Coast, and extended inland to the central valley.
They took their name from Oyster Bay (Great Swan-
port). The long extent of coast, following the inlets
and peninsulas from north of Schouten Main (Freycinet's
Peninsula) to Risdon on the Derwent, abounds in cray-
fish and in oysters and other shell-fish, affording an
abundant supply of their favourite food. On the East
Coast the hills lie some distance back from the sea, and
the country yielded a supply of game. Here the
natives were numerous, especially at certain seasons. It
is said that as many as 300 have been seen in one mob.
Robinson mentions two tribes on the coast — the Oyster
Bay proper and the Little Swanport tribes. Their
canoes were seen at Schouten and Maria Islands. The
latter was a favourite resort, and here Baudin's expedi-
tion (1802) fell in with a large mob, who showed them-
selves decidedly hostile. Marion came into collision
with them at Marion Bay in 1772. They roamed as far
south as Tasman's Peninsula, resorting to a spot near
Mount Communication to obtain " flints." Tribes

ABORIGINES OF TASMANIA. 183

belonging to this group occupied the country behind the
East Coast Tier — Eastern Marshes, Native Plains, and
Prosser's Plains. They were numerous in the Pittwater
district — comprising Coal River and Richmond, Sorell,
and South Arm. Mobs of 100 were seen at South Arm
and also at Kangaroo Point (opposite Hobart), and 300
at Risdon, in 1804. To this same group of tribes
doubtless belonged the natives who occupied the fine
hunting country in the Jordan Valley, about Bagdad,
Green Ponds, and Lovely Banks, towards the great
central divide. The names Hunting Ground, Native
Corners, Native Hut River, and others, indicate some
of their ordinary resorts. Brodribb (Evidence, Abori-
ginal Committee) says that the eastern natives did not
go further west than Abyssinia, near Bothwell.

(b)—The Big River Tribe,

The country to the west of the Central and Jordan
Valleys was occupied by the Big River tribe. They
took their name from the Big River, the early name of
the river, now known as the Ouse. They occupied the
valley of the Derwent, — with its tributaries, Ouse, Clyde,
and Shannon, — and the elevated plateau of the Lake
Country, 2000 to 2500 feet above sea level. They
travelled westward to Lake St. Clair and Mount King
William, and probably still further west beyond Mount
Arrowsmith. All this district abounds in game — kanga-
roo, wallaby, and opossum. At Split Rock (near the
Great Lake ), at the London Marshes (near Marlborough),
and at the N ative Tier, on the River Plenty, they found
stone suitable for their rude implements. From the
great central plateau they seem to have made descents
into the district between Bothwell and Oatlands. We
cannot determine the boundary between them and their
eastern neighbours, the Oyster Bay tribes. Brodribb
(Evidence Aboriginal Committee) says that he con-
sidered the Oyster Bay and Big River natives were one
tribe, though the eastern natives did not go further west
than Abyssinia. When harried by the whites the two
tribes made common cause against the strangers, and
finally the Oyster Bay natives took refuge in the Lake
Plateau, where Robinson captured them, not far from
Lake St: Clair or Mount Arrowsmith, It cannot,

184 TRIBAL DIVISIONS OF THE

however, be concluded that they were not originally
distinct tribes. They were hostile to the Northern
tribes. Gilbert Robertson (Evidence Aboriginal Com-
mittee) states that either the Stony Creek or Port
Dalrymple natives had killed many of the Oyster Bay
native-.

4. Northern and North-Eastern Tribes.

There remain to be considered the tribes of the North
and North-East. The language of the Ben Lomond
tribe is described as a distinct dialect by Kelly, Walker,
Backhouse, and others. Kelly (Boat Voyage, 1815)
states that Briggs, the sealer, could speak the language of
the North-East Coast tribes fluently. We may infer
that this was the fourth language of which Robertson
speaks, and it may have been common — with more or less
variation — to the North-East Coast and Ben Lomond
natives. It is difficult to determine the relationship- of
the tribes of the North Centre, the Port Dalrymple, and
the Stony Creek tribes. The balance of probabilities
inclines us to the belief that they were related rather to
the North-Eastern group than to their Southern neigh-
bours of the Oyster Bay tribe (with whom we know they
were at feud), or to the tribes of the North- West. There
is no mention of these tribes using canoes.

(a) — The Stony Creek Tribe.

The pastoral district now known as " The Midlands,"
lying in the centre of the Island, to the north of the
Oyster Bay and Big River natives, was occupied by the
Stony Creek tribe. They took their name from a small
southern tributary of the South Esk, near Llewellyn,
to the north, of Campbell Town. They occupied the
Campbell Town and Ross districts, going south to Black-
man's River, Salt Pan Plains, and Antill Ponds, and up
to the foot of the Western Mountains, probably including
the valleys of the Macquarie, I sis, and Lake Rivers.
A mob of 200 were seen on the Macquarie River in
1819. It is stated that about 1829, under their Chief
Eumarrah, they frequented Norfolk Plains on the Lake
River. If so they must have been allies of the Port
Dalrymple natives. The country they occupied abounded
in game, being lightly timbered and well grassed. They

ABORIGINES OF TASMANIA. 185

had excellent " flint " quarries at Stocker's Bottom and
Glen Morriston, to the south-east of Ross. In the
Tasmanian Museum there is a fine collection of stone
implements procured at Glen Morriston by the late Mr.
Scott. It is said that the Oyster Bay natives also
obtained "flints" from the same localities. The Stony
Creek natives were a strong tribe and gave much trouble
to the settlers. Part of their district was included in the
" Black Line " operations.

(b) — The Port Dairy mple Tribe.

The country to the north of the Stony Creek
natives — including the neighbourhood of Perth, Evan-
dale, Launceston, the North Esk, and probably both
banks of the Tamar — was occupied by the Port Dai-
ry mple tribe.* They are said to have mustered in large
numbers on various occasions. Once 200 of them pro-
ceeded from the neighbourhood of Launceston, by way
of Paterson's Plains (Evandale) to the Lake River.
Native Point, near Perth, a favourite haunt. Here
they got stone for their implements. They probably
roamed westward as far as Longford and Westbury, if
not further. The districts they occupied are some of
the finest in Tasmania ; in its native state, a well grassed
country with abundance of game. Their relation to
other tribes is uncertain. They appear to have been in
league with their Southern neighbours — the Stony
Creek natives — and were, probably, also related to the
North-Eastern group. The tribes as far as Port Sorell,
and even as far as the Mersey, may have belonged to
this group. But there is no evidence to show how far to
the eastward the North- Western group of tribes ex-
tended. Possibly, the boundary may be placed in the
forest country on the west bank of the Mersey. But it
is uncertain to which group the Mersey and Port Sorell
natives belonged. The evidence of language is not of
much assistance. The Tamar was Ponrabbel; the
Mersey was Paranapple or PirinappL The variation is
hardly sufficient to establish either difference or consan-
guinity.

* The settlements on the Tamar were at first known under the name of
Port Dalrymple.

L86 i M BAL divisions of i in;

Kellv ( Kvidenee Aboriginal Committee) states that
the tribes of the North and East take part with the
tribes in the interior. He probably means that the Port
Dalrymple natives (North) were in league with those of
Stony Creek ; and the Oyster Bay natives (East) with
those of the Big River.

(<•) — The Ben Lomond Tribe.

The Ben Lomond natives occupied the fertile valley
of the South Esk, abounding in game. Their neigh-
bours to the west were the Stony Creek tribe. They
may have had access to the sea coast at Falmouth, by
St. Mary's Pass, though this was a dense forest. They
took their name from the great Ben Lomond range,
rising to an elevation of over 5000 feet. The valleys of
the mountain were probably too densely wooded to afford
much game, but that they roamed over the highlands is
shown by their having given the name of Meenamata to
the lagoon on the plateau at the summit of the mountain.
Perhaps the strongest proof of the separateness of the
North-Eastern tribes — or, at least, that of Ben Lomond —
is afforded, by the variation in the word for " river."
The South Esk was Mangana lienta. Elsewhere the
word was linah : e.g., Huon, Tahune litiah (South) ;
Jordan, Kutah linah (S. interior).

(d) — North-East Coast Tribes.

We find mention of tribes or sub-tribes along the
whole stretch of coast from George's Bay, on the East
Coast, to the entrance to the Tamar (Port Dalrymple),
on the North. On various occasions mobs were met
with at George's Bay and George's River ; at the Bay
of Fires and Eddy stone Point ; at Cape Portland, in the
extreme north-east ; at Ringarooma Point ; at Foresters
River ; at Piper's River ; and on the east side of the
mouth of the Tamar. In 1806, a mob of 200 natives
came to the first settlement at George Town, just within
the entrance to Port Dalrymple, on the east bank of the
Tamar. In the north-east part of the island the country
is, in many places, open for some miles inland from the
coast, and in such places there would be game. The
interior is mountainous and heavily timbered, and, very
probably, was not occupied by the natives.

ABOKIGINES OF TASMANIA. 187

In conclusion, to sum up the result of our enquiry, we
find, ( 1 ) That the aboriginal population probably did not
exceed 2000 : (2) that there were four main groups of
tribes ; viz. — (a) South ; (b) West and North-West ;
(c) Central and East ; (d) North and North-East :
(3) that these groups were divided by strongly marked
differences of language : (4) that the Southern and
Western tribes were completely isolated from those on
the eastern side of the island, and that a similar separa-
tion existed between the North and North-E astern tribes
on the one hand, and those of the Centre and East on
the other : (5) that within the groups each tribe and
sub-tribe probably occupied a definite district which was
recognised as its special territory : (6) that the tribes
within each group, though generally leagued together,
were at times at feud with each other : (7) that in later
years, after the European occupation, the tribes — espe-
cially those of the east and centre of the island — laid
aside their differences, and made common cause against
the white intruders.

189

LAND ROUTES FOR EXPLORATION OF THE

WESTERN COUNTRY.

By T. Stephens, M.A., F.G.S.

Read at a Meeting of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 10th

August, 1896.

As in the legendary tales of old, and the true histories of
modern times, the heroes of exploration and adventure turn
their faces to the setting sun ; so those who seek to develop
the comparatively little known mineral resources of Tasmania
are turning to the West as to a Promised Land, and the time
seems Opportune for bringing under the notice of the Royal
Society a subject in which the whole community is interested,
whether it be regarded from an economic or a scientific point
of view.

An irregular line drawn from Port Sorell in a southerly
direction, between the 146th and 147th meridians, by the
head waters of the River Mersey and the ranges west
of Lake St. Clair, and along the western slopes of the King
William Range and the Hartz Mountains to South Cape,
divides Tasmania into two portions of nearly equal area, but
unlike in all other respects. In the eastern half, except for a
fringe of settlement along the North- West Coast, are all the
agricultural and pastoral lands and chief centres of popula-
tion ; in the western half, the general physical conditions
are unsuitable for farming or stock raising, and, with the
exception just noted, the population consists exclusively of
those who are engaged more or less directly in exploiting
such of its mineral wealth as has come under the prospector's
notice.

In the Western Country the enterprising pioneer or pros-
pector is free from the risk of encountering some of the perils
immemorially associated iu fable or in fact with the exploration
of strange lands. Here are no dragons guarding the golden
apples of the modern Garden of the Hesperides ; not even
grizzly bears or man-eating tigers intent on prey, nor savage
tribes fighting for their native fastnesses. But no less
formidable are the obstacles with which the explorer dependent
on his own resources has to contend. There are patches of
open country, but not where he chiefly wants to go ; and he
must be prepared to face rugged and lofty ranges, difficult
either to scale or to descend; deep ravines blocked with every
imaginable kind of obstruction ; or rivers difficult to cross at
any time, and sometimes rising in one night so as to cut off
retreat for weeks. Among the worst of his foes are two

11)0

representatives of the indigenous flora, the formidable
"bauera" and "horizontal," which to at least ninety per
cent, of the people of Tasmania are known only by name.

The former (Bauera rubloides) shows itself here and there
(.n the mount aiii slopes near Hobart as a low trailing shrub,
hardly noticeable but for its pretty pinkish-white flowers. In
the Western Country it flourishes in dense masses and belts,
its pliant and unbreakable stems closely interlaced, so that it
is only with extreme difficulty that any passage can be made
through the tangle. When the general height of the scrub does
not exceed 3 er 4 feet, the explorer may roll over it or tread
it down, and so get on slowly ; but when the matted bines
reach a height of over 6ft. the situation is not one to be
envied. Taking advantage of a chance stump, he may raise
himself on to the top of the unresisting mass, only to sink
into a hollow from which extrication is difficult. Or he may
try to force a way, inch by inch, by tearing apart the inter-
laced bines, every now and then getting his face and wrists
deeply scored by the saw-like blades of " cutting grass "
(Gahnia [Cladium'] psittacomm), a frequent companion of
"bauera," the opening meanwhile closing behind him, so that,
if forced to beat a retreat, he cannot easily retrace his steps.
Or, finally, when this mode of travelling has used up all his
strength, he may throw himself flat on the wet clay in which
this scrub delights to grow, and wriggle himself under it for
a few yards. At this stage the average explorer, single-
handed, will give up the attempt in despair, unless the belt
is evidently a narrow one, or the question of success or
failure involves a question of life or death.

The " horizontal " (Anodopetalum biglandulosum) is of a
different type. Iu the early stages of its growth a belt of
this scrub consists of innumerable slender upright stems in
close order. When these reach the size and height of an
average hop- pole they are usually bent over to one side by
the force of the prevailing wind, and by their own weight, to
which is added an occasional capping of snow in the winter,
gradually sink down until they are nearly parallel with the
ground. The next stage is the growth from every bud
along the prostrate stems of a forest of shoots, which
strive upwards for a few years and then fall in the same
manner, though of ten in a different direction, and this process
may be repeated for an indefinite period. The prospector
who encounters " horizontal " in its advanced stage may have
to climb ten or fifteen feet from the ground before he can
advance a yard, and will be fortunate if he can keep his inse-
cure footing on the slender twigs. A slip means a sudden
drop to the ground below, which he will reach in a more or
less dilapidated condition. The descent to Avernus is easy

191

enough, if not pleasant ; it is the getting back to the miniature
tree tops that is the difficulty, to say nothing of the possibility
of having to spend the night perched on such a roost.

These are no fancy pictures, but are drawn from some per-
sonal experiences of my own when taking bee-lines across
parts of the Western Country during brief holidays, and it is
to emphasise the necessity for cutting tracks which may
serve the purposes of the pioneers of civilization, and espe-
cially of the bond fide prospector, the real discoverer of new
country, that this paper is chiefly written.

The geological history of the Western Country can be
given, in the present state of our knowledge, only in
very general terms. In the eastern division, south of a
line about midway between the 41st and 42nd parallels
of latitude ; or, in other words, in about three fourths
of the eastern half of Tasmania, the oldest sedimentary
rocks are those belonging to the Pernio - Carboniferous
series. The central plateau is not, as is generallv sup-
posed, a vast boss of ancient volcanic rocks, but rather a ring
of massive dykes and caps of diabasic greenstone, or dolerite,
with intricate reticulations. These traverse all the rocks of
pre-Tertiary age, and are interspersed with sheets of more
recent basaltic lavas. Some members of the system extend
well into the western country, the Cradle Mountain with its
outliers, and the Eldon Range, being familiar instances.
The older sedimentary rocks, the source of all the precious
metals, do not show themselves in force in any part
of this eastern division, though I have noted quartzites
and foliated micaceous schists in the Russell Falls Valley,
and between Lake Echo and the River Nive ; but, once
across the boundary, the geological conditions are all changed,
the rocks which form such conspicuous features in the settled
districts being either entirely absent, or playing a very in-
significant part in comparison with the enormous development
of the older rocks. Towards the determination of the exact
stratigraphical relations of these rocks there has been no
great advance made since the discontinuance of the Geological
Survey some 30 years ago ; nor can we even definitely
identify the several formations with their supposed equivalents
in other countries, though much excellent work has been
done in this direction, both by amateur and professional
geologists. The oldest rocks comprise massive bands of
quartzite, of which the most familiar instances are those of
the S.W. Coast, Mount Arrowsmith, and Rocky Cape on the
North Coast, and in the same series occur chloritic and
micaceous schists, with less altered shaly bands in which
evidence may one day be found which will help to determine
the true nomenclature of the system. The country rocks of

192

the Western silver fields may probably be classed as Upper
Silurian, and the well-known massive crystalline limestones
as Lower Silurian, or Cambrian. All the rocks of these
separate systems are much bent and folded, with anticlinal
axes exposing the older members of the whole series, and
tiviuliiiLr generally north and south, but often much contorted
on the line of strike. The effect of this is that the several
formations crop out at intervals across the whole of the
western country, and those which have been successfully
worked, and appear to have run out, may be met with again
at no very great distance to the east or west. It is this
circumstance that poiuts conclusively to the importance of
opening routes fit for horse or foot traffic through the heart
of the unexplored country. If he is but given access to the
scene of operations, the prospector or explorer may be left to
do the rest himself.

Some account may now be given of what has already been
attempted in this direction, with suggestions as to the
character and object of the work that still remains to be
done, and these may be prefaced by a brief notice of the two
schemes for reaching Zeehan by an extension of the railway
system from Mole Creek in the north and Grlenora in the
south.

The first was to follow the general direction of the Y.D.L.
Co.'s old track, but bearing to the south after crossing the
Mersey, and continuing on in a south-westerly direction
between Barn Bluff and Mount Pelion to its final destination.
A trial survey of the greater part of this route was made in
1891-2, but not without encountering serious obstacles in the
shape of almost Alpine heights, steep grades, and other
engineering difficulties, and the survey of the western portion
of the line was not completed. A similar tale may be told of
the railway survey which was projected for the extension of
the Derwent Valley line to the westward Between Grlenora
and the Ouse there are no obstacles of any great importance,
but between this point and Navarre Plains many formidable
difficulties embarrassed the surveyors. The route finally
selected would cross the Nive near its junction with the
Derwent, and follow the left bank of the latter river to a point
not far from the Wentworth Hills, the direction of its con-
tinuation being dependent on the route adopted for
the rest of the line. The surveyor in charge of the
western portion, after a careful examination of the
country between Lake St. Clair and Mount Arrowsmith,
fiually decided on a line skirting Navarre Plains, and
by Lake Dixon and Mount Eufus into the Cuvier Valley.
From the Cuvier Valley the survey was continued south of
Coal Hill, and by a circuitous route around Gould's Sugar

193

Loaf, to and across the only practicable pass in the Eldon
Range. By this time the funds granted for the survey were
exhausted, but the surveyor in charge pushed through to
Zeehan with one man, via Lake Augusta, Lake Dora, and Mount
Dundas, encountering difficulties which can be realised only
by those who have some personal knowledge of the rugged
mountains and dense scrubs of the West, but finding a
practicable i-oute. The time has not yet arrived for the
construction of either of these railways as a matter of public
policy, but the surveys have placed on record a mass of
information for which use may be found at some future date.

Leaving the question of railway communication with the
West Coast, a short description may be given of the tracks
which are already in existence, and the routes which should
be opened without further delay.

For many years past there has been a practicable track from
Mole Creek, diverging from the Y.D.L. Co.'s road so as to
reach the tableland by way of the Fish River, and giving
access to the Great Lake on the east, and the Marlborough
country on the south, passing by the Nineteen Lagoons. Up
to this point there are already sufficient facilities for horse
and cattle traffic, and beyond it, via Bally's Peak, Bronte, and
Marlborough, there is a fairly practicable roai for horse
drays or light carts to Lake St. Clair and Mount King
William, the starting point of the Linda track, along which
small herds of cattle are occasionally driven to Mount Lyell
and Strahan. This route from Mole Creek constitutes an
important line of communication between the northern and
north-eastern districts and the West Coast, and all the
improvements which are required to facilitate traffic along it
may be effected at a very moderate cost.

In order to establish direct communication between Laun-
ceston and the Western silver fields, a route has been
suggested, which, deviating from the last mentioned track
between the head waters of the Mersey and Forth, would
follow the general course of the uncompleted railway survey
between Mount Pelion and Barn Bluff to near Granite Tor,
and either cross the Murchison south of Sophia Peak, or
near its junction with the Mackintosh, according as the
destination is Mount Eead or the vicinity of Mount Black.
This route would intersect an important belt of mineral
country, of which little is, known at present.

A more direct route from the North-Western settlements,
and more convenient for horse or foot traffic, would be
opened by connecting Zeehan with the rich agricultural
district of Kentish bury, via Eailton, Sheffield, Mount Claude,

I'.M

flu- Fortb Valley, Middlesex, Mayday Plain, and Mount Black.
This track would facilitate exploration of the country south of
Surrey Hills, and more than half of it is already practicable
for traffic.

The route known as the Linda Track, from Mount Arrow-
smith to Mount Lyell and the West Coast, to which reference
lias already been made in connection with the cattle-track from
the North, constitutes at present the sole medium of land
communication between Eastern and Western Tasmania. If
it is regarded merely as a bridle-road or cattle-track, the
Linda track must be kept in repair, and improved from time
to time as occasion requires. There is another consideration
which should not be lost sight of. Every road through the
western country should be made to serve, as far as possible,
the purposes of a base line of exploration of the surround-
ing country, and the weak point of this route is that between
the Dee and Mount Lyell, a distance of 84 miles, there is no
j)lace where supplies of any kind could be obtained. A
prospector who has to fight his way through " bauera " and
" horizontal," if he has no depot to fall back upon when his
small stores are exhausted, is indeed heavily handicapped.

The next route to be considered is one which was originally
designed as a main road to the West Coast, but which has
never yet produced any adequate return for the time, labour,
and money expended upon its construction. Its very exist-
ence is now* almost forgotten, and of those who know anything
of " Dawson's-road," there are not many who could give much
information about the line of country through which it passes.
This road dates from the time of Governor Sir William
Deuison. Starting from Dunrobin bridge, it crosses the Broad
and .Repulse Rivers, and winds up and around one of the
outliers of the Mount Field or Humboldt Range, the curves
and grades being laid out with the engineering skill which is
a characteristic of all similar works of that time. Leaving
Mount Misery, the road descends into the Florentine Valley,
where my personal acquaintance with it ceases. Crossing the
Florentine River, Dawson's-road was carried up its left bank
to Gell's Lookout, and thence westerly to the Gordon Bend.
Some selections were made in the Florentine Valley early in
the sixties, and one enterprising pioneer took up his residence
there, but after a few years' trial the place was abandoned,
and the road soon became blocked by fallen timber. It was
again cleared as far as the Florentine in 1878, but is probably
now quite impassable, except where its course lies through
open country. Dawson's-road could be again cleared, and the
Florentine bridged, at a moderate cost ; but, if the object in
view is merely to give access to the Florentine Valley and the
country beyond it, it is now quite evident that a much more

195

direct and in every way preferable route is obtainable to the
south of Mount Field.

The last two routes to be described are those intended to
start from the head of the valley of the Russell Falls River.
The Florentine and Russell Falls Rivers respectively drain the
western and eastern slopes of a comparatively low range of
hills running southerly from Mount Field, and now known as
the Humboldt Divide. It was from this point that I suggested
as far back as 1878, the cutting of a track to the navigable
part of the Gordon. At that time there was no settlement
along the course of the Russell Falls River, and it is only
since the Tyenna district has been settled, and a road made
to the head of the valley, that the importance of this means
of access to the unexplored western country has begun to be
generally recognised.

One of the proposed routes would take the most northerly
of the passes across the Divide, and, skirting the western
slopes of the Mount Field Range down to and across the
Florentine, would cross Dawson's-road not far from the
Gordon Bend. Keeping along the open country of the
Rasselas Valley it would make for the easiest pass in
the King William Range, and continue in a north-
westerly direction past the Loddon Hills to join the
Linda track between the crossings of the Franklin and
Collingwood Rivers. There is reason to believe that a
practicable line for a road will be found along this route,
but for purposes of exploration it would not add muck to the
means of access to the western country that already exist.

The only route remaining to be noticed would be carried
over the lowest and most southerly saddle on the Humboldt
Divide, cross the head of the Florentine Valley, and keep on
in a westerly direction past Mount Wedge to McPartlan
Pass, and thence northerly, by the easiest line of country
available, to the Gordon, striking that river somewhere
between the confluence of the Denison on the north and the
Serpentine on the south. Here means should be provided
for crossing the Gordon at all seasons, whether the track be
continued down the right or the left bank to the head of the
navigation. Unless, however, this track is extended north
of the Gordon, it will lose half its value as a base line of
exploration, to say nothing of the advantage of the direct
communication with western mining centres, which sach an
extension would provide. It is therefore of the (highest
importance that an early attempt should be made to find a
practicable route from the crossing of the Gordon, through
the unknown country north of that river, to the point where
the Linda Track enters the Collingwood Valley.

196

The tract of country which the last mentioned route would
intersect extends from Frenchman's Cap, and the Elliott,
D'Aguilar, and Wilmot Ranges on the west, to the Humboldt
Divide, Mount FieJd, Wyld's Craig, and the King William
Ranu< on the east. Its southern boundary may be roughly
described as a line from the Frankland Range by Huon
Plains and Mount Wedge to the Humboldt Divide, and it is
bounded on the north by the Linda Track. The area of this
tract of country is not less than 1,000 square miles, very little
of which has ever been carefully examined, though it is con-
tiguous to some of the oldest settlements of the colony. The
greater part of it is wholly unexplored and unknown.

Between the Frankland and Arthur Ranges and the South
West Coast there is a great extent of country which is still
almost a terra incognita; but this should be approached from
Port Davey, or other points along the coast line, and the
business of its exploration does not come within the limits of
a paper intended to deal only with the question of land
routes between the settled districts and the mining centres
which are alreadv established.

i

79

THE APPLICATION OF THE HARE SYSTEM IN

TASMANIA,

BY

"W. Jethro Brown, M.A., LL.D. (Cantab )

The fate of the Hare system constitutes one of the most remark-
able incidents in the history of representative government. Mr
Hare's treatise, " The Election of Representatives," was
published in 1859. It claimed to have discovered a remedy for
some of the most serious of the evils to which Democracy is
subject, and almost immediately received an attention not un-
worthy of the capacity of the writer and the magnitude of the
problems discussed. In 1860 the celebrated Henry Fawcett was
responsible for the publication, " Mr Hare's Keform Bill Simplified
and Explained." In the following year there appeared the
" Bfpresentative Government " of John Stuart Mill. The latest
advocate spoke in no uncertain tone : — " Mr Hare's scheme
has the almost unparalleled merit of carrying out a great principle
of government in a manner approaching to ideal perfection as
regards the special object in view, while it attains incidentally
several other ends, of scarcely inferior importance. . . . Such
and so numerous are its advantages that they place it among the
very greatest improvements yet made in the theory and practice
of government." Such commendation, where it failed to evoke the
enthusiasm of the reformer, should at least have aroused the
interest of the citizen. No champion came forward to defend
the older system ; many of the evils which the new was designed
to remedy were becoming increasingly grave. If we attach to
such circumstances the importance they deserve, the issue must
appear surprising. Thirty-five years after the publication of Mill's
treatise, when the Hon. A. I. Clark, Attorney-General of Tasmania,
introduced a Bill to apply the Hare system to city constituencies
he could appeal to no precedent in the Parliamentary experience of
English-speaking peoples!

Weighed in the balance and found wanting I The conclusion
seems irresistible but it is not supported by facts. Neither
experience nor argument has condemned the Hare system. To
what circumstances, then, may we attribute its ill fortune ? Not to
the objections which have been urged, for these are commonly
but the after-thoughts which justify an argument founded in
prejudice. Even where they are serious they are not unanswer-
able. The sDlution of the mystery is rather to be found in two
facts, of which one is a weakness of human nature, and the other
a satire on party government. In the first place the plan of Mr
Hare suggests innovation. In the second place it is one of those
innovations which share the fate of the inconstant lover ; by
affecting all parties it secures the allegiance of none. It might
be added as a third explanation that the most serious of the

80

evils it claims to correct are only beginning to receive adequate
recognition. Each of these facts would admit of illustration and
proof. But it is not so much the object of this paper to attack or
to defend the Hare sytem, as to give an exposition of its applica-
tion to this colony. The Bill of 1896 has become law, and it
includes several important modifications upon the proposals of Mr
Hare, which should be of more than local interest. Before
attempting their consideration, it may be well to indulge the
curiosity of the uninitiated by a statement of the merits which
have been claimed for the system whose defects the Tasmanian
modifications are designed to remedy.

The determination of constituencies by reference to geo-
graphical considerations, is at once the great aversion of Mr Hare
and the most conspicuous trait of the usual system. In substitution,
he proposes the determination of constituencies by voluntary
association. The tie by local contiguity is to be superseded i>y
the bond of kinship — kinship not of blood but of ideas ! The
great law of progress, defined by Maine as from status to
contract, already abundantly illustrated in the sphere of private
law, is to find a new illustration in the domain of Jus Publicum.
Every constituency is to be a partnership " in which there are to
be no sleeping partners, much less partners repudiating 8nd pro-
testing against the acts of the rest and yet unable to extricate
themselves. . . Full scope will be given to every generous
sentiment by which men may be drawn together. Devotion to a
great principle, regard for an illustrious name, affection for an
ancient house, admiration of worthy deeds, attachment to a
particular neighbourhood, love of country or of class, community
of feeling, harmony of taste, may all form so many occasions
of concord, and create innumerable circles, binding together in
society all varieties of rank and station."* But how is this
unanimity to be attained ? If the electors are left to their
own devices, attempts at the formation of voluntary con-
stituencies may end in a Parliament of party leaders. To avoid
such a contingency it is necessary to establish a quota by
dividing the number of voters by the number of seats. Who-
ever obtains the quota is elected, and any excess vote recorded
in his favor is given to the next preference of the voter. This
simple plan of transferring the vote is also followed in cases
where the candidate at the head of the list has no apparent
chance of election. As nothing is to be gained by transferring a
vote to a candidate who is already elected or excluded, " next
preference " must be understood to mean invariably, next available
preference. Such refinements need not perplex the elector who is
only required to express his choice by placing the numbers
1, 2, 3, etc., opposite the names of favored candidates.

However, we may differ in estimating the importance of the
fact, it must be admitted that such a system secures equity
of representation. The Legislature represents the opinion
of the country, with an approach to ideal fidelity; its members are
the representatives of the people — not of the chance majorities of
arbitrarily formed electorates. It is not easy to doubt the fairness
of such an arrangement. " The electors are the dispersed in-
habitants of an extensive and populous kingdom, possessing
*Hare; " Kepresentative Government," pp 38-9.

81

knowledge and powers of thought infinitely varied and diffused ;
and to expect that the electoral forms of a rude and illiterate age
will gather for the national benefit the fruit of this expanded
intelligence, is as reasonable as to suppose that the vast manu-
facturing results of to-day could be produced by the primitive
loom and the hammer. To succeed in this work it is indispensable
that every eleetor should have the widest field of choice and the most
extensive sphere for co-operation." Thus Mr Hare. The unfairness
of the present system in England has been sufficiently established
in the publications of Sir John Lubbock. In 1886, the actual
voting strength in the constituencies was — Unionists, 319 ; Home
Rulers, 320 ; the actual voting strength in the House of Commons
was— Unionists, 394; Home Rulers, 275. The majority, which
should have been 29 was 119. Again, in 1895, the Conservative-
Unionist majority should have been 72 insead of 152. The in-
justice is more glaring where a minority of the electors return a
majority of the representatives. This may happen without the
aid of the mystical gerrymander. In the Canton Ticino the
more numerous party, as a result of its concentration in particular
districts, found itself in a minority ir the Representative Chamber.
It is a significant circumstance that a Reform was only secured
by a Revolution.

Apart from the general question of fairness, equity of
representation means representation of minorities. It would seem
almost superfluous to insist upon the importance of this fact.
The national welfare dermoids the possibility of sustained conflict.
If we would have the wise rule of the strong, we must provide for
the sustained opposition of the weak. Should victory put an end
to strife the days of good government are numbered. For what
can we hope in an age of Democracy, if the tendency of political
life is towards the extinction of minorities ? Yet the reality of
this tendency must appear indisputable. The organisation of
Labour is incomplete, but it will not always remain so. When
the transitional stage is past, what can prevent the Labour Vote
from carrying the election in every constituency? Yet it would
be an unhappy day for the people when education and intelligence
were excluded from a just share in the representation of the
country ; or when the infinitely varied character of the national
life found no correspondence in the National Parliament. No
one claims that the minority should rule ; but it must be heard.
Ultimately, all questions must be decided accordingto the wisdom
of the Parliamentary majority ; but the decision should be
made under conditions which ensure an adequate expression to the
opinion of the minority. Light is the best policeman within as
well as beyond the precincts of our Legislatures. It must
never be forgotten thai the dilemma of the future is not whether
the few or the many shall rule, but whether the sway of
the majority shall be absolute or qualified.

Equity of representation constitutes but the first of those
merits, which a disinterested advocacy nny claim for the Hare
System. The judgment of the impartial, as well as the
expectations of the sanguine, may well indulge the hope of a
deeper and more general interest in the politics of the country .
There are few who will question the reality or the extent of the
evil of popular indifference, the fatal results which must follow

82

from voting without reflection, judgment without deliberation,
or, worst of all, from that spirit which attempts to justify or
excuse a selfish isolation. Does the scheme of Mr Hare hold out
a reasonable hope of remedying such evils ? I believe it does.
The virtual disfranchisement of the minority in each constituency
is a most conspicuous evil of the present system, and one which
must too frequently condone the indifference of the elector. When
the stronger party is well organised, the disfranchisement of the
weaker party acquires a prospect of disagreeable permanency.
Under the Hare method of voting, the extinction of the minority
ceases. Every elector must have a representative in Parliament.
No longer need he console himself with the hope, often faint and
illusory, that unfair losses in some constituencies will be compen-
sated by unfair gains in others. Such a consideration suggests a
fact of great importance. If equity of representation strengthen
the interest of the elector where he is weak, must it not affect him
where he is strong ? By the zeal of the minority we may judge
the energy and often the prudence of the majority. Bat it is not
from the stimulus of a constant rivalry alone, that we may venture
to predict a new and deeper interest in political questions At a
recent election in this colony, two questions excited the interest
and divided the allegiance of the electors — Tattersall's and the
Income Tax. Electors often refused to vote rather than return
a candidate who, thougb^he represented their views on the income
tax, regarded with complacency the revenue derived from
Tattersall's. This is an evil of the system— not a vice in the voter ;
and it is equally common and pernicious. Under the Hare scheme,
the electors can plead no such excuse for inaction. The choice is
sufficiently liberal to gratify the most fastidious taste. While
human nature remains unaltered, there remains a third reason
for connecting the proposed method of voting and a deepening of
political interest. I allude to the circumstance that the classifica-
tion of a Dumber of candidates in an order of merit affords some
occasion for the display of a useful vanity. The elaborate
discussions which took place in this colony at an election just held
under the Hare system, suggest a study no less suggestive to the
thoughtful than engaging to the curious. The arguments were
not always distinguished by exceptional intelligence or an excep-
tional integrity ; but the interest was phenomenal. " Who should
be first ? Who second ?": etc. He is no true friend to liberty
who does not place a high value upon such discussions.

Mr Hare claimed for his system that it would lessen the evils,
if not remove the causes, of political corruption. The arguments
by which this claim is supported are not always convincing ; but
they are invariably respectable, and in one case c inclusive,
When it is open to no one to effect a sale of his constitueney by
turning the scale at an election, the obstacles to bribery
must be materially increased. For this reason, as well as for
others which have already engaged our attention, one may indulge
the hope of a more virtuous legislature. The hope becomes
stronger when reflection has weighed those independent|grounds by
which it is justified. The unrestricted freedom of choice favors
the nomination of intelligence and probity. Parties, anxious to
retain or to recover the confidence of the country, must bind the
allegiance of their followers by the nomination of theacceptable

83

—the wise, the good, or at least the strong. Bat the freedom of
choice affects the character of the Legislature in a manner more
direct and more effective ; it fosters a spirit of independence, since
a candidate can spurn a dishonest compliance whenherelies upsn
the electors of a colony. No longer compelled to humour the
several sections of a single constituency, he is freed from a
disagreeable dilemma— so c jmmon and so demoralising ! Avoiding
alike the mean subterfuge and the fatal avowal, he relies for
support upon the diversity of his electorate. In such respects,
a comparison of the Hare system and the Referendum suggests a
fact of some importance. The Referendum is the natural resource
of a people perplexed by the domination of a corrupt or unrepre-
sentative Legislature. But the reference to the popular vote
implies a diminution of Parliamentary responsibility, and may,
therefore, aggravate those evils whose effects it is designed to
correct. The Hare system seeks, by improving the character of
the Legislature, to remove the causes of the evil.

This seems the proper place to consider the argument of
Bagehot that the Hare system is inconsistent with the indepen-
dence of Parliament ; that a voluntary constituency would be a
Church with tenets, and would, therefore, reserve the despotism in
its own hands. This argument is fast losing whatever importance
might once have attached to it. The difference between the
candidate elected under the Hare system and one elected under
the usual system, is not that the latter is the more independent,
but that the former is bound to a constituency whose general
sentiments he represents, and not to one whose general sentiments
he represents in part but must respect in toto.

I have spoken of the merits of an equality of representation ;
of a new and deeper interest in political life ; of politics made
purer and of a Parliament made more worthy At this stage
it might seem proper to attempt a systematic consideration of the
objections which have engaged the attention of Constitutional
writers. Such objections, however, may mors conveniently be
discussed in connection with the modifications adopted in this
colony for the purpose of weakening, if not destroying, their force.
It will be seen that a compromise has not always been effected
without some diminution ol the merits of Mr Hare's scheme. But
I think in each case there is a great and obvious gain. Of the
modifications tc which allusion is made, the first has been generally
associated in this colony with the name of Sir John Lubbock. It
must be regarded as a complete answer to the objection, so
commonly urged and so difficult to impugn, that the Hare system
is too complicated to be practicable. The student of Mr Hare's
treatise is often tempted to regard the task of the returning
officer as beyond the reach of mortals. In the application of
the method to a whole country, voting as a single constituency,
and returning not less than 100 representatives, the formation of
voluntary constituencies might well involve all the evils of
a constituency - making trade. In the fasmanian Bill, the
method has been confined to city constituencies. These
return six or four members. Though the constituencies
might be larger with advantage, the present arrange-
ment has one very obvious merit ; the argument from
complexity only remains as the frail support of those whose

84

prejudice, or whose indifference, has rendered them impervious
to reason. The simplicity, both of the process of voting and of the
general principle of the Act, is clearly shown by the following
instructions suggested by Miss Spence of Mouth Australia : —
"1. There are here 12 candidates, six tobe elected.

2. Vote by numbering candidates in the order of your choice,

that is to say :— Place 1 to the left of the candidate you like
best. Place 2 to the left of the name of the candidate you
like second best. Place 3 to the left of the name of the
candidate you like next best, and so on.

3. Vote for not less than three names.

4. The same number must not be placed against more than one

name.

5. The numbers must be'placed opposite the names.

Note. — Your vote will be used for one candidate according to
your preference. If the candidate you like most, either (a)
Does not need your vote (has enough votes to elect him without
your vote), or (b) cannot use your vote (has so few votes that
he cannot possibly be selected) ; your vote will be transferred to
the candidate you like next best, as shown by your numbers,,
and used— notwasted."

The work of the returning officer, while less simple than that
of the elector, demands no exceptional qualifications. He need
display the intelligence of a clerk— scarcely more.

The limitation of tho Hare System to districts returning a
small number of members has the additional merit of removing
objections based on an alleged encouragement of faddism. It
is difficult to believe that sincerely Democratic principles can
sanction the exclusion of electors from representation, simply be-
cause they have the misfortune to advocate opinions which the
great majority regard with aversion. Yet the cause of pro-
portional representation has often suffered on this account.
Whatever importance must be attached to the objection, it ceases
to apply to that modification of the Hare System which has been
adopted in this colony. In a constituency returning only six
members, the electors who are strong enough to secure a repre-
sentative may claim to be exempt from the imputation of
singularity. The minorities which the Act encourages must
always be respectable. If it is further objected that the neces-
sity for constant compromise destroys the consistency of party
government, even where only respectable minorities are repre-
sented, the retort is simple. Compromise is equally necessary
under both systems ; under the old, it is effected at the hustings,
in all the excitement and turmoil of an election ; under the new,
it is effected in the relatively calm and judicial atmosphere of
the Legislature.

A perusal of the instructions already mentioned suggests a
further peculiarity. The industry of the elector must be equal to
the task of voting for three candidates. The limit may be raised
when experience of the system forbids the excuse of novelty. The
elector whose capacity or whose interest is taxed by the nomina-
tion of three candidates, fails to influence the election if those for
whom he votes have a quota without his assistance; or, indeed,
if their need be so extreme that his assistance is unavailing.
The elector who pleads a fastidious taste, as an excuse for a

85

limited ?ele ctic.D, must remember that it is possible to classify
candidates in an order of aversion as well as in an order of pre-
fererce. .An entirely different line of argument was taken by one
opponent of the Jbill, a gentleman of much zeal and some origi-
nality. " Compel an elector to vote for three candidates and it will
often end in his choosing as second and third preferences, candi-
dates who cannot be raised up as rivals to his first preference.
This must prove fatal to the success of the Act.'' The statement
is only quoted as illustrating the character of the opposition
to which the Bill was occasionally subjected. It would be difficult
to suggest a more felicitous example of unreasoning aversion.
Second and third preferences can never be employed for the
purposes of defeating first preferences; until the fate of the latter
has beea determined, no reference to the former is permissible.

The distribution of the surplus votes is a subject of great
importance, and one which remains for consideration. The method
adopted in the Tasmanian Bill constitutes its chief claim to the
considertion of Home and Foreign statesmen. One may only
judge of the value of the means which have been employed by
appreciating the difficulties which have been overcome. If a,
candidate obtain 2000 votes when the quota is fixed at 1000,
1000 ballot papers are available for distribution among the
candidates whose names are marked 2. The result of the distri-
bution varies according to the principle which determines the
appropriation of the papers of the favored candidate. If
an analysis of second preferences yield 1000 for Y and a like
number for Z, it would be within the power of the leturning
officer to effect the election of whichever candidate he preferred.
This element of chance has been declared the only really for-
midable obstacle to the practical application of Mr Hare's
system.* How has the obstacle been overcome in the Tasmanian
Act P Mr Clark has suggested a plan at once so simple and
so just, that the fact of its novelty must appear incredible. X
has a surplus ; bow is it to be distributed ? JSot indiscriminately,
nor according to the caprice of the returning officer ; but in a
proportion determined by reference to the second votes on the
whole of X's papers ; or, as was at first suggested, on the whole
of the electorate. For the purposes of this calculation, a
candidate marked 3 is credited with a second vote if the candidate
marked 2 had obtained his quota before the distribution in
question had been commenced. In the case already suggested,
of the lOOOexcess votes, ST and Z alike secure 500. In one re-
spect the plan involves a slight departure from the scheme of Mr
Hare, who proposed to confine the influence of the elector to a
single transferable vote. In the case already suggested, X's
constituents not only return their chosen candidate, but also
have a voice in the distribution of his surplus votes. Such a
voice might almost be described as the fraction of a vote.
While it is difficult to see any serious objection to this
departure, its merit is clear. The element ot chance ceases
to exist.

So far we have only considered the case of a surplus arising
from the first count, and, therefore, without the aid of votes
transferred from other candidates. After every surplus of this
* " Essays and Lectures," H. and M. G. Faweett, 1872

86

"kind has been distributed, it may be found that fresh surpluses
have been crea'ed. How are these to be distributed P We have
supposed a case in which, as a result of the distribution of X's
surplus. 500 voting papers go to Y. If Y only requires 400 to
complete his quota, what is to bs d >ne with the excess ? Is the
returning officer to take the 100 papers on the top of Y's lot and
distribute them according to third preferences ? Thi9 would
leave too mach to chance, or to the discretion of the returning
officer. In pursuance of a principle already illustrated, the Act
requires the distribution of the l'O excess votes in a proportion
determined by reference to third preferences on the whole 500
papers taken from the box of X.

If as the result of the foregoing counts, an insufficient
number of candidates have obtained a quota, the candidate who
has secured the lowest number of votes is excluded from the poll ;
and his ballot papers are then transferred to the candidates whom
the electors have chosen in substitution, Whenever the next
preference of the voter is a candidate already elected, the name
is cancelled and the papers are passed on to a later preference
If any candidate gain a surplus as a result of this distr.bution,
it is to be redistributed in a p-oportion determined by reference to
the next preferences on the whole of the ballot papers previously
transferred to him. The process of elimination, occasionally
alternated with the distribution of a surplus, is continued until
the nnmber of candidates does not exceed the number of vacancies.

Ihe principles underlying the Tasmanian Electoral Act have
been explained with studious brevity. The courtesy of my
audience may excuse, if their curiosity does not solicit, an
account of the election held under its provisions. It will be suffi-
cient to speak of the district of Hobart. Consistently with the
anticipations of the Legislature, the occasion was honored by a
display of interest equally remarkable for its diffusion and its
•nsity. For ten hours the crowd barred the approaches to the
polling booth. The proceedings were enlivened by the usual
humours of the election day : such phrases as "fiabid on the Hare
rated alluring opportunities for distinction, requiring

e intelligence in the wit and less in the auditors. The mode
of distributing the surplus afforded endless occasion for discussion
and mi- tanding, and for that humour which, as it was un-

conscious, we mny perhaps impute to genius. "It all comes to this,"
said ODe elector, " when Clark has all the votes he needs, any other
vote for him goes to the next man on the list who needs it most."
One dialogue deserved to be specially recorded. ''The practical
commo-??nse men tell me the old system is the best." " But I
expect the practical commonsense men of whom you speak do
no understand tne Hare System." ' That's so ; tliey said as much;
but still they are practical commonsense men, and that is sufficient
for me." Such remarks illustrate, with admirable felicity, the
character of the most serious opposition which the advocate of
the Ha rm mist encounter. They further illustrate the

folly of efforts to instruct the electors in the minutise of a Bill
with whose general principles they are unfamiliar. As Mr Hare
remarked in his treatise, a passenger is satisfied to travel by
the express though ignorant of the details of the steam engine.
The justice of the parallel is admirable, and it is a matter for

87

regret that its lesson has been so neglected in the politics of
this Colony. Instead of instruction in the broad principles of pro-
portional representation, its general fairness and distinctive merits,
the elector has been perplexed by theprocesses involved in the
distribution of a surplus. For this reason, among others, the list
of informal votes was large. Even the prophets fell ; a candidate
for Parliamentary honors, deeply versed in the lore of proportional
distribution, rendered his vote informal by scoring out the names
of opposing candidates — the method formerly adopted. His
success at the election may be taken to prove the indulgence of
fate.

At 6.30 pm, soon after the prescribed time for closing the
poll, the process of counting the votes began. The ballot-boxes
were brought to the Beturning Officer, the ballot papers were
removed, unfolded, and taken to the scrutineers, who began to
sort them for the first count Attached to each of the scrutineers
tables, there was a box with several compartments— one for each
candidate, one fordoubtful and one for invalid papers. The work of
the scrutineers consisted in taking the papers one by one and
calling out the names of the candidates marked 1, and placing
them in the compartments appropriated to the respective candi-
dates. Two clerks registered the vote on their recording sheets.
Finally, these recording sheets were tabulated and handed to Mr
Johnston, the Government Statistician and presiding genius of the
election. When the various numbers had been totalled, the
result of the first, or primary votes, became known. The totals
of Mr Johnston were checked by the Returning Officer, who had
previously settled the destination of doubtful papers. It was
found that the total number of valid votes was 2745. As there
were six seats, the quota was fixed at 457. Only one of the candi-
dates (Sir Philip Fysh) obtained a quota as the result of the first
count. As the primary votes of this candidate amounted to 501,
there was a surplusof 44 for distribution among remaining candi-
dates. After the whole 501 ballot papers had been given to the
scrutineers for the purpose of estimating second preferences, it
was found that Bradley claimed 41, Clark 304, Cox 2, Crisp
38, Dillon 9, Fulton 1, Hiddiestone 30, Mulcahy 42, Page 19, Paton
4, and St. Hill 10. A sum in simple proportion followed. If
Bradley is entitled to 41 votes outof 501, to how many is he entitled

44x41

out of a surplus of 44 ? = 3J or, getting rid of the frac-

501

tion, 4 The Returning Officer had then to take from Fysh's
box, any four ballot-papers on which Bradley was marked 2,
and to place them in Bradley's box. In this manner, but by
the aid of Fuller's spiral slide rule, the wholesurplus of 44 votes was
instantly distributed among the unelected candidates. This com-
pleted the second count. Had any candidate secured a surplus as
the result of this count, that surplus must have been distributed
in a proportion determined by reference to the third votes on the
whole of the ballot-papers he had received from Sir Phi'ip Fysh.
As a matter of fact.no additional candidate had secured a quota,
and it remained to begin the process of excluding lowest candidates.
The first victim was Mr Cox, whose 33 votes were now distributed

88

among second preferences, except where Sir Philip Fysh was
second, in which case it went to the third preference. No candi-
date gained a surplus as a result of this count. Mr Fulton, who
was lowest on the poll at. this stage, was then excluded, and his 122
papers were distributed [among the candidates whose fate yet
remained uncertain. The result of this distribution was to raise
Mr Bradley's total to 483. As this involved a surplus of 26, that
surplus had to bedistri buted in a proportion determined by
reference to the next preferences on the whole votes transferred
to Bradley from other candidates, i.e , from Fysh, Cox, or Fulon.
The process of elimination, alternated with the occasional distri-
bution of a surplus, was continued until only six candidates
remained. These were then declared elected. Itwill be seen
from the accompanying table, on pp. (J2, that only four were
successful in obtaining a quota.

It will be interesting to compare with the foregoing, a table
for the compilation of which I am indebted to the courtesy of
the Government Statistician. Ike table shows how different
would have been the result if the cumulative method had been
adopted.

Cumulative
Results of
Preferences.

i-5

03

&$

—

Candidate.

0>

a

0)

o

u

<u £

-3 s

'■<-

t-i

«*H

3 H

<6

o>

0)

o

u ■*"

U

u

u

o

Pn

p-l

No.

No.

No.

Clark*t

393

592J

401 J

985}

1386J

Fysh*t

501J

127

314

928

1242

Bradley*t

418

344

321

792

1113

Mulcahy*+

264

231

396

495

891

Crisp*

202

218

270

420

690

Hiddlestone

137

251

269

388

657

Page*

235

167

169

402

571

Dillon

143

158

156

301

457

St. Hill

131

101

149

232

381

Pulton

118

121

130

239

369

Paton

140

90

129

230

359

Cox

34

46

42

80

122

aii f Gross Total

(.Legally effective..

2746

2746

2746

5492

8238

2746

724

66

3470

3566

Quota — 457.

* Elected, t Obtained quota. J Highest in order
* of general favor.

The result of the election failed to give universal satisfaction.
Rejected candidates found some consolation in unsparing criticism.
On the part of some electors, whose candidate owed to the
system the fact of his election, there was an ignoble disavowal
of indebtedness. Still the results were very generally regarded
with approval. There were few electors so unfortunate as to see
all their preferences rejected ; where such a failure occurred, the
fault rested with the elector in not voting for more candidates. On
a future occasion electors will probably remember this ; if they
soon exhaust their preferences, they hate only to continue the

89

classi fication on the principle of least dislike. Nor does the number
of " exhaust papers " offer occasion for serious criticism. In
many cases such papers were useless because candidates whose
names they bore were elected without their assistance. The
number of informal votes was sufficiently large to excite the
hostility of the censorious ; yet it was not larger than is usual
on the occasion of a change in the mode of voting; indeed, the
percentage was much lower than at the recent elections for the
Federal Convention. In the city of Hobart, the informal votes
amounted to 105 ; 52 had been guilty of extra marking, especially
of scoring out the names of rejected candidates ; 20 had marked
each of their chosen candidates 1, instead of 1, 2, 3, etc.; 16
had failed to mark at least three candidates , four had omitted
to observe a proper sequence in their numbers ; three had written
the figures between the names ; three were illegible ; two had
contributed their signatures ; two had marked all their candidates
2 instead of 1, 2, 3, etc.; one had given his numbers in writing;
and one had scrawled over the whole of his paper, apparently
to express an abhorence of the system.

If we regard the Act as a whole, I am not aware that ex-
perience has exposed its defects. Whatever objections a captious
criticism may discover, there is, perhaps, but one which requires
serious attention. If X receives 2000 primary votes and the
quota be 1000, the resulting surplus is distributed in a proportion
determined by reference to secondary preferences on the whole
of X's 2000 votes. Under sucha mode of distribution nothing is
left tolchance or to the discretion of the returning officer. But
let us go a step further—let us suppose that Y has 800 primary
votes, and that he receives 600 from X's surplus. In that case
he obtains his quota and 400 excess votes. How are these
excess votes to be distributed ? Several modes suggest them-
selves. The returning officer may take the 400 ballot papers
from the top of Y's box and pass them on to next preferences ; he
may do this after having first shuffled the whole of Y's papers ;
or, again, a 3 may exercise his own s^eet will upon them. The
objections to each of these courses is clear. But if the su*plus
of 400 is to be distributed according to a proportion, by re-
ference to what ballot papers is the proportion to be determined ?
The Act, apparently with the intention of simplifying the work of
the returning officer, answers " By reference to the 600 papers
transferred from X to Y." It will be at once seen that this intro-
duces the element of chance. We know that if Y gained 600 of
X's suplus of 1000, he must have been marked 2 on 6-10ths of X's
total number of primary votes. 2000 x 6-10=1200. The actual
600 papers transferred from X to Y were to be chosen at random
from the whole of the 1200 papers on which Y was marked 2.
The proportion among the third votes of one chance selection
from this 1200, might be very different from the proportion among
the third votes of ar.other chance selection. If the returning
officer choose " to take a hand," the variations may be increased.
All such objections may be avoided by distributing Y's surplus
of 400 in a proportion determined by reference to the whole of the
1200 papers, i.e , the whole of the X Y papers. It might save time
if the returning officer, in transferring the 600 papers which con-
stituted Y's share of X's surplus, were to preserve the same

90

proportion of third votes on transferred papers, as existed on the
whole 1800 X Y papers. In the distribution of Y's surplus of
400 it would then be sufficient to make a calculation on the basis
of the pajcrs transferred frcrn Xto Y. It may be interesting to
note that the distribution of Y's surplus might also be determined
by reference (1) to the third votes on the whole of X's original
papers ; (2) to the third votes on the total number of X's original
papers taken together with the sr eond votes on the total number
of Y's original papers ; (3) to the third votes of the whole elec-
torate. The evils of complexity form an answer to the arguments
by which these alternatives can be supported. Any proposal to
effect a distribution by reference to third votes on the whole elec-
torate is open to an additional objection ; it would give an undue
influence to electors voting according to prescribed ticket. The
objection would appiy with peculiar force to any proposal to
distribute surpluses arising as a result of the first count in a
proportion determined by reference to the second votes on the
whole electorate.

In conclusion, I crave your indulgence, while directing your
attention to the dreaded reproach of innovation. Professor
Freeman has observed how often those great reforms, which mark
the progress of our race, have involved a return to the traditions,
institutions, or ideas of an earlier time. The barons who wrung
from a reluctant monarch the Great Charter of our liberties, only
sought to record and to secure the acknowledged birthrights of
Englishmen. The Parliament of De Montfort was a device for
restoring the freedom of the Teuton. For the primitive assembly
of the tribe there was substituted the Representative Parliament
of a nation ; for appearance in person the new conditions re-
quired an appearance through chosen deputies. Yet the great
principle of the right of the people to share in the work of
Government underlay both institutions. Thus it happened that
the privileges which English forefathers had enjoyed in the
forest of Ancient Germany, but which had been sacrificed in the
process of migration and national consolidation, were to be regained
in the great and painful crises of a later century.

If we consider the characteristics of the Hare system in
connection with the Parliament of the thirteenth century, I
believe we shall arrive at a startling conclusion. Mr Hare sought
to introduce an organic element into our system of representation.
The new constituencies were designed to be united by allegiance
to one object, to be animated by one spirit. I believe that
here again in the history of our race, we may discover, under the
semblance of innovation, the reality of an ancient practice. This
is no place to justify &uch a generalisation by an adequate induction
from the facts of mediaeval history. Yet the interest and the
importance of the enquiry may justify an illustration of its mean-
ing. In the first place, the mediaeval Parliament respresented the
estates of the realm — the Clergy, the Baronage, and the Commons.
These were not arbitrary divisions of the State, but organic
parts of .the Nation. The means by which they acquired the reality
and the consciousness of internal cohesion, form one of the most
engrossing chapters in the national annals. The facts of history
lend no encouragement to the suggestion of a residuary class
jn the estate of the Commons. The third estate represented tno

91

alliance of the communities of the shires with the communities of
the towns, and was the result of many causes, amonfc which we may
distinguish the appreciations of common dangers, the inducements
of royal policy, and the similarity of the processes employed in
the exercise of political rights.

8tarting from the established fact that the mediaeval Parlia-
ment was an assemblage of estates, we have yet to enquire the
character of the constituencies of the third estate. Were they,
too, organic ? I confess I see no answer to this question but the
affirmative. The representatives of the Commons were the deputies
of the shires and the towns. Each shire was a unit of the nation,
bo and together by its common court, its common judicial and
administrative organisation. The County was an organised body
of men — a communitas — almost a kingdom in minature ! If we
turn to the towns of the middle ages, despite the infinite variety
of their customs, the reality of their organic character seems
indisputable. Nor should we be altogether unprepared for this
conclusion. When we remember that they were compelled to
struggle for their charters, their liberties, and often for their
existence, against the attacks of neighboring barons and the
tyranny of a ubiquitous monarch ; that, as yet, the centralising
influences of the .Railway and the Press were unknown ; that, as
yet, geographical constituencies were not divided ioto hostile
camps by the contests of national parties - when we remember
these facts, we are prepared to find in the town of the middle ages,
a community of life, thought, and feeling, unattainable under the
complex conditions of modern society. Nor are we disappointed.
The superiority of the old over the tew in this respect, is well
expressed in the 'writings of a brilliant essayist. Each town,
writes Frederick Harrison, had its own patron saint, its own special
church, and its own feudal patron, its corporate life, its own
privileges, traditions, and emblems. On the other hand, the
modern city is almost bereft of any religious, patriotic, or artistic
character as a whole. There is much public spirit — in certain parts,
a love of beauty, taste, and cultivation of a special kind. But it
is not embodied in the city; it is not associated with the city; it
does not radiate from the city. A typical industrial city of modern
times has no founder, no traditional heroes, no patrons Or saints,
no emblem, no history, no definite circuit. It is ever changing,
loose in organisation, casual in form*

If we attach any importance to the foregoing facts, it must
affect our attitude towards the reproach of innovation. Our
methods may be new, but the principle is ancient. It is no longer
possible to combine the organic element with the geographical
constituency. Which are we to retain ? Ordinary usage answers
this question in one way, and Mr Hare in another. I believe there
are a few more important questions of to-day than this, and that
few deserve a more immediate attention on the part of statesmen
and thinkers.

* "The Meaning of History," pp. 250. In the Model Parliament of 1295,
there were 74 Knights representing the Shires and 232 Citizens and
Burgesses representing the Towns.

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PAPERS & PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

ROYAL SOCIETY

OP

TASMANIA,

FOR

189?.

(ISSUED APRIL, 1898.)

Sasmatua :

I'RIM'KD BY DAVIBS BROTHERS LIMITED, MACqiARIK STREhiT, HOHAIU.

1898^

PAPERS, 1897.

]. Some II lum. '

W. Jethro Biro«n, M.A.. LL.D

On i Limui i

W. Jl. Ttvel- I VV. I', I 1

1. The Mount Dun

leral Manager Ta 7

D< I by (
M.D.,D.P.H., Officer of Healtli for the

a the Heazlewood )
mania. By \Y. II. Twelvetr«

C.MZ.S

urrence of Obsidian "Buttons" (Plate*
Messrs. W.-H. Twelvetrees. F.G.S,, and W. I\ I

Notes on a New Trithuria (Plate). By Leonard RqAway
The Iron Deposits of Tasmania. By W. G. Dauncey, CM':.
In. Note- mi a Specimen of Basalt-glass (Tachylyte), from near
Haequarie Plains, with remarks on the Obsidian "But,

tons." By Thos, Stephens, M.A., F.G.S

11. Occurrence of Spherulitic Felsite on the West C Le).

By W. H. Twelvetrees. F.G.S., and W. F.

C.M.Z.S

I'l. Notes on some Recently Discovered and Other Minerals
occurring in Tasmania. By W. H. Twelvetrees. F.G.S.
and W. F. Petterd, C.M.Z.S

13. Tasmanian Birds. By Malcom Harrison (communicated by

A. Morton) ... ... - 66

14. Observations on the Working Results of the Hare System

of Election in Tasmania (Diagrams). By R M. John-
ston. F.L.S., F.S.S., Registrar- General for Tasmania... 69

15. Measurements of the Tasmanian Crania contained in the

Tasmanian Museum (Plates). By A. H. Clarke, M.R.C.S.,E.

and W. E. Harper 97

Maori and Moriori Crania. By W. R. Harper Ill

17. The Topaz-Quartz Porphyry or Stanniferous Elvau Dykes

of Mfc. Bischoff (Plate). BvW. H. Twelvetrees, F.G.S.,

and W, F. Petterd, C.M.Z.S. .. 110

18. A List of the Tasmanian Fungi. By Leonard Rodway ... 129

19. Notes on the Aborigines of Tasmania, extracted from the

Manuscript Journals by George Washington Walker,
with an Introduction by James B. Walker, F.R.G.S.

By James B. Walker, F.R.G.S Ho

2<i. Further Notes on Obsidian " Buttons." By Thos. Stephens,
M.A., F.G.S.

21. Some Notes on the Tribal Divisions of the Aborigines of

Tasmania. By James B. Walker, F.R.G.S 176

22. Land Routes for Exploration of the Western Country. By

Thos. Stephens, M.A., F.G.S. (Accidentally omitted

from 1896 Proceedings) 189

23.* The Application of the Hare System in Tasmania. By

Professor W. Jethro Brown, M.A., LL.D 79

(Professor \V. Jethro Brown's Paper will appear at the end of Papers \\\
by an error, starts as page 70.)

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