TJie Older Tcrtiaries of Maude, etc. 195 



the Gellibrand River, are the the lowest members of the tertiary 

 group occurring in Victoria, and are referable to the oligocene 

 period, while the beds at Spring Creek are divided into upper, 

 middle, and lower miocene. Selwyn states* that the older 

 volcanic rock marks the close of the miocene period. These 

 views are adopted by Mr. R. A. F. Murray in his work on the 

 Geology of Victoria. 



Professor Ralph Tate and Mr. J. Dennant in their paper on 

 the Correlation of the Marine Tertiaries of Australia,! do not 

 attempt any subdivision of the eocene beds, but state that by 

 Professor McCoy the deposit at Mornington " is correctly placed 

 at the base of the tertiary series,":|: though, whether they intended 

 to imply that it is the oldest of our eocene beds is not clear. Of 

 the older basalt it is said that it may " ultimately prove to l>e 

 cretaceous,">; while more recently Professor Tate, as above 

 indicated, refers it to pre-eocene age. Below this series of rocks 

 we have, as shown by Selwyn,|| at any i-ate one set of leaf-beds, 

 namely those occurring below the older basalt. AVhether these 

 beds are still to be retained in the tertiary period, or are to be 

 referred to cretaceous times is, as we have previously shown, 

 still an open question. 11 



SUMISIARY. 



Judging by the percentage of recent species of mollusca occur- 

 ring in the various deposits, we should expect those of the Spring 

 Creek type to underlie the clays of the Lower Muddy Creek 

 type, and the detailed stratigraphical evidence that we have 

 brought forward points in the same direction. We are then, 

 on these grounds, justified in arranging the eocene rocks of 

 Victoria, in so far as they have been critically examined, in the 

 following order, beginning with the highest beds. 



1. Clays of the I^ower Muddy Creek Type. — Occurring at 

 Muddv Creek, Mornington, Belmont, Curlewis, Lake 



* Exhibition Essays, 1866-67, p. 29. 



t Trans. Roy. Soc. SontU Australia, 18113. 



X Loc. cit., p. 216. 



5 Loc. cit., p. 212, 



I Exhibition Essays, p. 21. 



1 Aust. Ass. Adv. Science, Adelaide, 1893, p. 338. 



