2 32 NATURAL SCIENCE [October 



erected at Shillong in 1882, and this was thrown to the north- 

 east : it enables the velocity of the wave to be calculated. The 

 range of motion is estimated at 7*4 inches. So Mr Oldham con- 

 cludes that " the violence of the shock at Shillong was at least 

 equal to a backward and forward shake of 7 inches repeated sixty 

 times a minute." All telegraphic communication was of course 

 destroyed, and the accompanying illustration (reproduced from 

 a plate of the Indian Survey Eecords) shows the effect on the 

 railway lines produced by the movement of the surface soil. The 

 rate of transmission of the shock was over 100 miles a minute. 

 The fuller account promised will be awaited with much interest, 

 for it will probably yield suggestive information as to whether the 

 Himalayan movements are still in progress. It is fortunate that 

 the work will be carried on under the supervision of Mr Oldham, 

 who is keenly interested in all the broader problems connected with 

 seismic movements. 



Geology in New South Wales 



The most noteworthy point in the recently issued Eeport of the 

 Geological Survey of New South Wales is the discovery of Devonian 

 plant remains and Lower Silurian graptolites by Mr Joseph Carne. 

 This is the first identification of Lower Silurian Eocks in the 

 Colony, and they are of special interest in that they contain in the 

 neighbouring Colony of Victoria the famous saddle reefs of Bendigo. 

 The graptolites were found in a black slate in the Parish of Lawson, 

 Wellesley Co., and occur as shiny films. Mr W. S. Dun identifies 

 them as Didymograptus furcatus (Hall), D. cxtcnsus (Hall), Dicrano- 

 graptus, Diplograptm, and Phyllograptus. The Devonian plants 

 comprise a Pecopterid fern and a Sphenoptcris. They came from 

 Genoa Eiver, Co. Auckland. 



