KlNil I.SI.AN'K SANIi-l{(i(K ANUKKSON. 277 



wind. In exposed areas, where tlie winds are variable and 

 uoii-peisistent, such degntdatiou of similar strata producea 

 most irregular outcrops unless the deposit has been distinctly 

 bedded originally, in which case the stratification becomes 

 emphasised I'ather than obliterated. Among tlie higher ex- 

 posures ol' the sand-rock thei-e are fairly ext.ensive outcrops of 

 light colouredcalcareous and siliceous rocks coutainingnumerous 

 concretions, some of which are of considerable thickness 

 individually and usually irregularly vermiform in chai-acter. 

 Some are hollow, but the majorit}^ are solid. So far as my 

 cursory examination went they showed no plant structure 

 although often a radiating structure is present which is prob- 

 ably aragonite. Hy theii- size ainl the frequency of their 

 occurrence it is possible the^- nia^' i-epresent roots or stems of 

 plants and trees. On the other hand, there are, the world over, 

 calcareous dej)osits in which segregation, due to chemical 

 agencies has produced the most curiously contorted concretions 

 which have had no connection whatever with an organic 

 origin. At the same time, I may mention the fact that in 

 climates which are not so very different from that of the 

 southern part of Australia, 1 have known occurrences such as 

 the following: — On the west coast of Madagascar, and on the 

 opposite east coast of Africa, where the rocks consist chiefly of 

 Cretaceous calcareous strata, the recent deposits now forming, 

 principally among the mangrove swamps, are calcareous. 

 There, one occasionally sees, especially in an estuary which has 

 become more or less silted up, and is in process of geological 

 i-egeneration, that the deposited matter is a calcareously 

 cemented mud exhibiting hollows which originally were occu- 

 I)ied bj^ the roots and in some cases the lower ends of the 

 stems' of the mangrove. In the King Island concretions there 

 are no signs of vegetable structure and to all intents and 

 purposes they might be fulgurites, or worm burrows, filled with 

 calcareous material. 



Otlier calcareous deposits containing similar concretions 

 occur in different parts of tlie island near the coast ; one such 

 outcrop is about a mile to the north of the township of Currie. 

 These deposits, on the southern peninsula, abut against each 

 other in such a way that they would seem to be contempor- 

 aneous with the red sand-roc^k. Besides the concretions the 

 southern calcareous deposits contain isolated specimens of the 



