172 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. 



portions of them appearing as isolated fi-agments on a slaty base. 

 But in a series in which sandstone predominates such effects 

 traceable to contortion were not distinctly noticed. 



A band of slate patches and strings passing into a continuous 

 band of slate occurs near the above at Bald Hills Creek. The 

 slate fragments being mostly angular this might be called a 

 breccia, but as such isolated slate fragments more usually are 

 to some degree rounded, and in extreme cases appear well 

 rounded at all edges, the term pseudo-conglomerate seems prefer- 

 able for the more marked development at Italian Hill, and in 

 some instances mentioned below. 



The surfaces of slate fragments enclosed in sandstone have 

 often a satiny lustre, probably due to development of a film of 

 sericite. This may be helped by sliding at the contact during 

 or subsequent to the isolation of the fragment. 



Conglomerates have been recorded elsewhere in the Ordovician 

 rocks of Victoria, some of which are analogous to that at Italian 

 Hill. 



At Bendigo, Mr. E. J. Dunn^ records the occurrence of a con- 

 glomerate " in several mines and at different horizons " of 

 "rounded often flattish fragments of black slate, very soft, and 

 the spaces between are tilled with coarse-grained sandstone." 

 His explanation is that the shaly material appears to have been 

 deposited, torn up while scarcely firmer than clay and redeposited 

 almost in situ with coarse sand. I visited the typical locality of 

 the conglomerate at the Golden Pyke Mine It occurs close to 

 and at an anticline. The slates are much contorted internally 

 and contortion is also visible in some slate fragments in the con- 

 glomerate. Irregular thickening and thinning of the slates occurs, 

 and they are frequently squeezed into cracks in the adjoining 

 sandstones. The conglomerate is not always clearly marked off 

 from the adjoining sandstone. The general arrangement of the 

 slate is parallel to the bedding ; both the sandstone and slate are 

 sometimes continuous for some little distance. Sandstones greatly 

 predominate in this part of the mine. 



Near Chewton, Mr. T. S. Hall- describes a similar conglom- 



1 Report, No. 1, on the Bendigo Goldfield, 1892. 



2 Proc. Royal Society of A'ictoria, vol. vii., New Series. 



