126 THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY 



W. Macleay. The rock is an extremely friable fine grained 

 yellow limestone, very much like the limestone beds on the River 

 Murray, in South Australia, but less consistent, as it powders by 

 handling. Unlike the Murray limestones, or any of the Tertiary 

 formations of Southern Australia, there seems to be a total 

 absence of Polyzoa, neither could I detect any Foraminifera on 

 subjecting different portions to microscopic examination. It 

 seems to me to be rock which is derived from the detritus of a 

 coral reef, and formed into a finely levigated limestone paste, 

 stained yellow probably from the proximity of some ferruginous 

 rocks. But there are no traces of coral, which is the more to be 

 regretted, as from no organisms would the position of these beds 

 be so easily determined, and their relation to other Australian 

 Tertiary rocks, as from coral. Situated as the deposit is so 

 near the tropics, the absence of any signs of corals is a matter of 

 wonder. The shells are not numerous, and for the most parts 

 mere casts. Pectens are however well preserved, and this is the 

 case with the same genus in similar tertiary rocks at Mount 

 Gambier. I propose to treat of the Mollusca in another paper. 

 At present I intend to deal with the Echini, which are also well 

 preserved. There were three detached specimens among the 

 loose dust ; two of one species and one of another, which I 

 will now describe. 



The first was Peronella decagonalis, Lesson. This species is 

 a living form which is very wide in its distribution, being found 

 in China, in the Indian Ocean, the Philippines, and in Australia. 

 The Australian specimens are generally tropical, but it is not 

 uncommon at Port Jackson and New Caledonia. The specimens, 

 two in number, are extremely thin and concave on the actinal 

 side, but they are both young specimens, and one scarcely above 

 an inch in diameter. 



Temnechinus Macleayana, sp. nov. I name this fossil pro- 

 visionally, because it comes nearer to the genus described by 

 Professor Duncan (T. lineatus) from Mordialloc, Victoria, than 

 any other form known to me. But the abactinal area is encrusted, 

 and cannot be made out. The test is small, depressed, circular, 



