502 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



closer co-operation between various institutions and colleges could be brought 

 about. 



The presidential address to Section L (Education) was given by W. Temple. 

 After a protest against the tendency to mould our national educational system on 

 German lines, he passes on to give his idea of education. The address deals 

 mainly with public schools and university, and the various components of a com- 

 plete education, classics, sciences, physical development, and moral training are 

 considered. A strong claim is made for religious education on the ground that 

 only two educational systems are possible, "one is the religious, the other is 

 atheistic." 



In view of the conditions that the war has brought about in this country, it 

 would be hard to find a more fitting subject for the presidential address to 

 Section M (Agriculture) than was chosen by E. J. Russell. A short history of the 

 development of agriculture is given and followed by a critical survey of the 

 present position of that industry. The scientific investigations into the question of 

 the rotation of crops, manuring, and the treatment of various soils were all passed 

 under review. In all cases immediate lines of improvement in view of our present 

 knowledge were suggested, and what is perhaps more useful from the scientific 

 point of view, the various gaps left and the difficulties to be faced, some of which 

 can be tackled straight away, were clearly indicated. It was also claimed that 

 much can be done to bring scientist and farmer into closer relations. 



Many of the sections held discussions on subjects of national and economic 

 importance. The dominant note running through all these was the same, a con- 

 siderable alteration in the present conditions is absolutely necessary for the future 

 welfare of the country. The Government on the whole has been terribly negligent 

 of science and its advice, there is too great a gap between theory and practice, 

 and there must be a great deal more co-operation and co-ordination in all our 

 activities. Whether these warnings will be taken and the exceptional oppor- 

 tunities for improvements now available be utilised to the full, only the future can 

 tell. If not, it will indicate a state of ignorance or apathy on the part of the 

 country at large with which it will be hard to cope, and which bodes ill for the 

 future of the Empire. 



C. H. O'D. 



Geological Notes of Queensland 



From the Gulf of Carpentaria to the Darling Downs, north to south, the fossil 

 remains of extinct mammalia have been found in indurated muds, the beds of old 

 watercourses. The fossils are Dipi-otodoii aiistralis, Macropus titan, Thylacoles, 

 Phascolomys, Nototherium, crocodile teeth, etc. The Diprotodon inhabited the 

 Queensland valleys freely, and the Crocodilus aiistralis had a great range inland. 

 The Diprotodon remains are found chiefly in the most permanent waterholes. No 

 human bones, flint flakes, or any kind of native weapons have yet been discovered 

 with the extinct mammalia of Queensland. 



Desert sandstone is the most recent widely spread stratified deposit developed 

 in Queensland. Since it became dry land the denudation of this formation has 

 been excessive, but there is still a large tract in situ. Probably this desert sand- 

 stone covered the whole of Australia at one time. (It is possible that desert 

 sandstone in Queensland has value for free gold.) On the vast plains west of the 

 dividing range cretaceous strata are found ; hot alkaline springs occur in these 

 plains, and the discovery of these suggested the possibility of the existence of 



