THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF VICTORIA. 355 



of latittulc — Itut rather upon the subtropical character f)f our tertiary fauna. He 

 coucliiiU'd his paper by sayinu;', " A true glacial epoch in New Zealand would be 

 a puzzling' ftict, and veij dillicult to reconcile with what we see in Australia," 

 and stating hiri belief that the Australian continent is now passing through a 

 colder period than any of which Ave can Jind evidence in its previ(tiis geological 

 history. On the same subject, and discussing these views, Dr. Ilaast, an hono- 

 rary member of this society and geologist to the province of Canterbury, New 

 Zealand, contributed a paper which was read at the October meeting. Referring 

 to Mr. Wood's paper, he stated that he had traced glacial action over the whole 

 If^ngth and breadth of the south island of New Zealand ; he does not accept 

 ]^Ir. Wood's conclusion with respect to the non-existetice of evidence indicative 

 of our continent having passed through a glacial ])eriod, and ])oints out that if 

 geologists want to find traces of this epoch tliey nuist look for it in the Australian 

 alps, where morainic accumulation may have been preserved around the lakes; 

 but from the small altitude of this chain he expects these will be of small extent 

 and dimensions. 



Jlr. Thompson read a paper '* On the Formation of Jilineral Veins and the 

 Deposit of Metallic Ores and ]\Ietals in them," at oiu- Octol)er meeting. In the 

 present stage of our knowledge of geological changes, the mode of occurrence 

 of njinerals in veins, and the formation of the latter, present almost insuperable 

 difficulties to the clear comprehension of them. This subject, although it has 

 taxed the energies of Hopkins, BischofT, and other superior minds, may be con- 

 sidered as still unsolved. In Mr. Thompson's paper, his conclusions are based 

 upon observations of particular cases, and are thus preferable to geological con- 

 ceptions of a purely speculative character. 



i'rofessor McCoy, at the February meeting, announced the discovery in Aus- 

 tralia of EnaJlosauria and other cretaceous fossils, thus establishing the fact — of 

 iiumense geological impoilance — of the existence of the cretaceous period on the 

 Australian c-ontiuent. 



A description of a fine specimen of rubellite or red tourmalin, found for the 

 fust time in Victoria in a mine at Maldon, was read by the liev. Dr. Bleasdale, 

 at our July meeting. 



An account of some bone-caves at Glenorchy, in Tasmania, contributed h\ Mr. 

 Wintle, of llobart Town, was also read on the same evening. 



Turning to the papers liaviug reference to natural history. At the first meeting 

 of the session Professor McCoy described three new species of Victorian birds, 

 and at the .September meeting he contributed a paper " On the species of Wom- 

 bats," in which he showed us that until very recently only one species of wombat 

 was known to zoologists, the Pliascolomys wombat, but that the existence of four 

 species, which he descril)ed, may now be considered as demonstrated. 



At the meeting in May an elaborate paper " On the Australian Coleoptera" 

 was presented to the society by that renowned naturalist. Count de Oastlenan. 

 It contains (h.'scriptions of a large number of new Australian beetles, and forms 

 a most valuable contribution to entomological science. 



Of the two paj^MS which 1 have classed as pertaining to physical science, one 

 was read at the February meeting by Mr. G. AV. Groves, and was entitled ''Con- 

 tributions to Meteorology." The other was a des(;)ipti(m of a new self-registering 

 electrometer, which 1 had the honor of reading at the last meeting of the session. 

 This d<'S( ri])ti<»n referred to an a])paratus I had devised and erected at the obser- 

 vatory for the purj)ose of obtaining a continuous record, by the help ot ])l)olo- 

 grajihy, of the force and variations of atuiospherio electricity. Specimens of tiie 

 jihotographic curves it produced were also exhibited. You will be glad ti> hear 

 that alter exj)erience of its performance we have every reason to consider it a 

 most useful addition to the meteorological appliances of the observatory. 



Some valuable contributions, bearing on the development of our natural 

 resources, were read at the April, May, and October meetings, the first of which 



