260 Transactions. — Geology. 



that bones of Kekenodon have been found in the Weka Pass 

 stone, near the caves behind the Waikari railway-station, a dis- 

 covery which strongly confirms the correctness of my opinion. 

 I can also now add that the limestone of Castle Hill, in the 

 Trelissick Basin, is of the same age. In the Canterbury Museum 

 there are some remains of a large bony fish from the "Weka 

 Pass stone. They are caudal vertebra?, and look to me much 

 like those of Histiophorus (sword-fish). 



This series forms the upper part of Dr. Hector's Cretaceo- 

 tertiary formation, and he considers it to be not younger than 

 Lower Eocene. His reasons for this opinion appear to be : (1.) 

 The series is stratigraphically associated with rocks of creta- 

 ceous age ; (2.) It contains many fossils in common with the 

 cretaceous rocks ; (3.) It contams no recent species of Mollusca ; 

 And (4.) decidedly mesozoic forms, such as Belemnites superstes, 

 are found in it.* On these I would remark : (1.) The series is 

 often found quite unassociated with cretaceous rocks — e.g., Wai- 

 kato, Golden Bay, Oamaru, Winton;t a stratigraphical break 

 between it and the cretaceous rocks has been proved in Trelissick 

 Basin. (2.) No list has ever been published of the fossils that are 

 said to be " common throughout the formation," and, of course, 

 Dr. Hector cannot expect other geologists to attach much weight 

 to a statement which is not supported by any evidence. (3.) This 

 is not quite correct, for Voluta elongata, Swainson, and Wald- 

 heimia lenticularis, Deshayes, are both found in the Weka Pass 

 stone ; and Dr. Hector himself, in the list of fossils sent to the 

 Indian and Colonial Exhibition, mentions six recent species 

 of Mollusca from his Cretaceo-tertiary formation (" Catalogue," 

 pp. 12-14) out of thirty-four species which are named. (4.) 

 The Belemnite is said by Dr. Hector to come from " the black 

 marls under the chalk with flints in the Coverham or Middle 

 Clarence Valley Section "—that is, from below the Amuri lime- 

 stone, and not from the upper beds, which appear to be absent 

 in the Clarence Valley. 



With regard to the correlations of this series with rocks in 

 other parts of the world, it must be remembered that it con- 

 tains Kekenodon, Palaeudyptes, Carcharodon angustidens, and 

 Aturia ziczac. Undoubtedly it is the equivalent of the rocks 

 at Bird-rock Point, Portland Bay, Aldinga Bay, Mount Gambier, 

 and the banks of the Murray in Victoria and South Australia; 

 and these rocks are considered to be Oligocene or even Mioceue. 



3. Mount Brown beds. — Fossils in these beds are not very 

 numerous, or, at any rate, have not yet been catalogued, and 

 the following list is taken from Sir J. von Haast's "Geology 



* " Indian and Colonial Exhibition, Catalogue and Guide to the Geo- 

 logical Exhibits," p. 55. 



t See " Quar. Jour. Geol. Soc. of London," vol. xli., p. 275. 



