BY THE HEY. J. E. TEXISOX- WOODS, F.G.S. 377 



An entirely different series of plant remains, wliieh seems to 

 have nothing or very little in common with those of the Hnnter 

 EiYor, are found in connection with rich coal seams in Queens- 

 land, Ipswich, Barrum E-iYer, Bundaberg. The characteristic- 

 fossils of these beds are Thinnfeldia odontopteroides, Eqidsetum 

 rotiferum, and species of PalmacecB and Gijcadacecd. These beds 

 are also found in Tasmania. The age to which they can be 

 referred is still a matter of doubt. They cannot be older than 

 the lias, and possibly considerably higher in the secondary series. 

 In many respects they have considerable resemblance to the 

 Indian (Raniganj) coal plants. Some plant remains found at 

 Bacchus Marsh, the "Wannon RiYer, and at Bellarine (all at 

 places at considerable distances from one another in the colony 

 of Victoria), are referred to the same age. The evidence of the 

 connection so far is not very strong. There is no coal associated 

 with such remains, whereas it abounds in Queensland if worked 

 profitably. 



It is just possible that the Wiannamatta beds of Xew South 

 Wales may belong to this formation, but if so, it must be under 

 the Hawkesbury Sandstone, which is a different horizon from 

 that hitherto given. This is only a suggestion, which more careful 

 examination may confirm or disprove. 



Covering these remains is a sandstone in thick layers with 

 much cross-bedding and oblique lamination, and containing coni- 

 ferous wood with equisetaceous stems, leaves of cycads or palms 

 and ferns f Thinnfeldia) , &c. The species are often the same as 

 those of the Ipswich coal basin. The contained grains of sand 

 are rounded, and the deposit is in my opinion a sub-aerial one, 

 mingled no doubt in places with swampy and fresh water remains. 

 IS^ear Sydney such strata reach in the Blue Mountains a thickness 

 of over 1,000 feet. The same kind of formation is scattered 

 throughout the Continent in isolated masses of various extent . 

 They are generally precipitous, and consist, in my opinion, ot* 



