436 



NOTE ON THE OCCURRENCE OF SPONGE REMAINS 

 IN THE LOWER SILURIAN OF NEW SOUTH 



WALES. 



By W. S. Dux. 



Until last year it was thought that fossiliferous rocks of Lower 

 Silurian age did not occur within the geographical boundaries 

 of New South Wales. Mr. J. E. Carne, who was then making a 

 geological examination of the south-eastern border countiy, came 

 across extensions, from Victoria, of the graptolite-bearing slates. 

 From several localities in the County of Wellesley he collected 

 numerous specimens of a blue-black slate showing in great number 

 rather indistinct remains of Graptolites. These remains were, 

 unfortunately, rather unsatisfactory, being preserved as white 

 films, showing only the outlines of the colonies. A preliminary 

 note on these has already been published,* and tentative specific 

 names have been given to some of the forms. As will be seen 

 from the list, the forms belong chiefly to D Iplograptus : — 

 Dicranograptus fitrcatus, Hall. 

 Dicellograptus extensus, Hall. 



sp. 

 Didy mograpUis (? caduceus, Salter). 

 Diplograptiis, cf. mucronaius. Hall. 



,, cf. rectangularis^ McCoy. 



,, cf. pal mens, Barrande. 



Phyllograptus (?). 

 CUmacograp tus. 

 It has already been pointed out by Mr. T. S. Hall that the 

 general facies of the graptolite fauna of Ordovician slates in 

 north-eastern Gippsland would appear to point to the rocks being 

 of a more recent age than the slates containing Phyllograptus, 

 Ac, in the Castlemaine and Bendigo District. t It is, I think, 



Records Geol. Survey N.S. Wales, 1897, v. Pt. 3, pp. 124-127. 

 t Proc. R. Soc. Vict., 1897, ix. (N.S.), pp. 183-186. 



