1902] Dr. Alfred R. C. Selwyn. 173 



gold-bearing rocks and auriferous gravels of different ages, and 

 tracing the relations of the latter to the Miocene of the colony 

 and the older rocks. Two of the most important conclusions 

 arrived at, and which were afterwards amply verified by experi- 

 ence, were the permanence and depth to which the auriferous 

 veins of Australia could, and probably would, be profitably 

 worked. The second was the extension of the auriterous'deposits 

 beneath the overlying Tertiary lavas of the plains. In addition to 

 his regular work in Victoria he undertook special examinations of 

 the Tasmanian and South Australian coal and gold fields. He 

 was appointed one of the Victorian Commissioners of Mines in 

 1856 ; a member of the Board of Science and of the Prospecting 

 Board in 1858 ; a commissioner for the Victorian International 

 Exhibition in 1861; a commissioner for the London Exhibition in 

 1862 ; a commissioner for the Dublin Exhibition in 1865 ; and a 

 commissioner for the Paris Exposition in 1S66. For seventeen 

 years (1852 to 1869) he was untiring in the discharge of his duties 

 as Director, travelling over the colony and making detailed exam- 

 inations of its geological structure. In the latter year, however, 

 he retired from this position, the survey having been brought to 

 an abrupt close by the Colonial Legislature refusing to vote the 

 necessary supplies to carry on the work. 



Selwyn, however, was not allowed to remain any length of 

 time idle, tor that same year (1869), on the retirement of Sir 

 William Logan, he was chosen by the Canadian Government, 

 on the latter's recommendation, to succeed him in the Directorate 

 of the Geological Survey of Canada. He arrived in Canada 

 in October, 1869, and took charge on the ist of December follow- 

 ing. On the 2nd of May, 1870, he issued his first " Summary 

 Report of Progress on Geological Investigations," in which, after 

 making mention of the work of the various geologists associated 

 with him, he announces that " It has been decided to institute in 

 connection with the Geological Survey a systematic collection of 

 records of mines, and of statistics of the production and consump- 

 tion of minerals in the Dominion." He invites the co-operation of 

 all persons interested in mining to promote the object in view. A 

 form was also printed for circulation amongst mine owners and 

 managers, asking for prompt answers and returns to the Geologi- 



