Existence of Cambrian Fanna in Victoria. 55 



Silurian in which they occur." On 12th April of the same year 

 Mr. Ferguson forwarded additional material, with the permission 

 of Mr. R. A. F. Murray, Government Geologist. In this 

 communication he remarked: — "The fossils were found and 

 collected by myself in a very limited outcrop of shale near 

 Heathcote. The rock is regarded by Mr. E. J. Dunn as Lower 

 Silurian. It occurs between L.S. slates and a bed of con- 

 glomerate and breccia, and the fossiliferous U.S. sandstone beds 

 of Mount Ida." On the 13th April, Mr. G. Lidgey kindly 

 supplemented these fossils with others from the same locality — 

 "N. 13° W. of Mount Ida, 230 chains." 



On i-eceiving these Trilobite remains, I at once saw that they 

 had the aspect of very old forms, but neither the collections nor 

 works of reference then at my command enabled me to determine 

 their systematic position with accuracy. Grasping the fact that 

 a very large amount of woi^k amongst Cambrian Faunas had 

 been accomplished by our American co-workers, I sent sketches, 

 very carefully prepared by Mr. P. T. Hammond (late of the 

 Geological Survey of New South Wales), to Mr. C. D. Walcott, 

 Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, who has laboured very 

 extensively amongst the life of these old I'ocks. In due time his 

 reply came, to the eftect that the " general facies of the specimens 

 is so much like that of the Middle Cambrian Fauna, that I 

 should not hesitate, were it found in America, to include it 

 within it ! " The sketches further impressed Mr. Walcott as 

 representing forms such as occur in the slates of the Middle 

 Cambrian of Newfoundland, New Brunswick, and the Rocky 

 Mountains. In a second communication the same eminent 

 authority observed: — "The fossils undoubtedly belong to the 

 Middle Cambrian Fauna, as they are not of the type found in 

 the Upper or Lower Cambi'ian." One of the sketches sent to 

 him, Mr. Walcott definitely referred to the type of Oletwides 

 quadriceps., Hall and Whitfield, sp., a Middle Cambrian species. 

 This opinion, emanating from so high an authority as Mr. 

 Walcott, cannot but have due weight. 



The Trilobite remains consist wholly of portions of cephalic 

 shields — the glabella — and pygidiums, with the exception of one 

 or two indistinct fragments of free cheeks. They are all simply 

 decorticated specimens, without any trace of the original test 

 remaining, but even in this condition are fairly well preserved. 



