BY THE REV. J. MILNE CURRAN. 103 



upper silurian age.* The lithological characters of the rocks 

 suggest, almost at first sight, that the slates and limestones are 

 similar in age to well known silurian formations. Very few 

 fossils have been discovered, and all those that have been described 

 point to the same conclusion. De Koninck mentions Slromatopora 

 striatellaj from the Limekilns 1 6 miles north of Bathurst. Recently 

 I have collected specimens of the same fossil from the same place. 

 De Koninck also mentions Favosites fibrosa from this locality. J A 

 short time ago I noticed well preserved examples of the silurian 

 coral, Phillipsastrcea, near the Benglen Caves Limekilns. Mr. 

 Etheridge, jun., palaeontologist to the Australian Museum, to 

 whom I submitted my specimens, informed me that the Phillips- 

 astraea is a new species. § The fossil evidence stands thus : — 



COLLECTED BY. IDENTIFIED BY. 



Petraia sp. ... ... Suttor. ... Mines Department. || 



Stromatopora striatella ... \ ' ... De Koninck. 



( Curran. 



Favosites fibrosa ... ... J ' ... De Koninck. 



( Curran. 



Phillipsastrcea sp. ... Curran. ... Etheridge, jun. 



* Wilkinson, Notes on the Geology of N. S, Wales, p. 39 of Mineral 

 Products of N. S. Wales ; Sydney, Government Printer, 1882. 



+ Recherches sur les Fossiles Paleozoi'ques de La Nouvelle-Galles du Sud , 

 p. 10. 



J Fossiles Paleozolques, p. 22. 



§ Mr. Etheridge considers the Phillipsastrcea a new species. He proposes 

 to describe it at an early date as P. Gurrani. Regarding this coral, he 

 writes, under date 12th February, 1S91 : — " Phillipsastrcea. — This is a very 

 interesting coral and does not appear to be identical with any of the European 

 or American species, so far as the works of reference at my disposal will 

 enable me to judge. P. Gurrani is peculiar in the absence of all trace of a 

 columellarian tubercle, and the central area'or calici being entirely tabulate- 

 vesicular, on to which the septa do not pass. De Koninck records P. 

 Verneuilii, Ed. & H., as a New South Wales species, but speaks, in his 

 description, of the corallum as composed of superimposed layers, and 

 possessing a thin columella. Neither of these features are present in your 

 specimen." 



|| Annual Report of the Department of Mines, New South Wales, for the 

 year 1881, Appendix H. p. 148 ; Sydney, Government Printer, 1S82. 



