THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 159 



a little below. Over it is the upper sand, which here also con- 

 tains a few shells of recent species, and consists of a loose white 

 sand. This deposit— but without the shells — continues along the 

 coast and inland, and in some places seems to have been deposited 

 on land. Part of the alluvial deposits on the Carrum swamp and 

 other low-lying places are probably contemporaneous with this. 

 Above this a line of recent shells of a few species occurs, which 

 continues all along the coast, with few interruptions, from Point 

 Ormond to Mordialloc. 



The deposits in progress consist chiefly of alluvial on the 

 swamps and blown sand hills at low parts of the coast. During 

 the progress of these deposits various movements must have taken 

 place. The ferruginous sandstones, or the second series, were 

 uplifted and denuded to some extent, after which the deposit of 

 the carbonaceous beds of the lower sand commenced, south of 

 Picnic Point, probably in swamps or salt lagoons. A slight 

 elevation interrupted this deposit north of Beaumaris, but in the 

 southern part it continued. On subsidence again taking place 

 the main portion of the lower sand was deposited over a large 

 area, extending as far as the ranges beyond the Koo-Wee-Rup. 

 Elevation followed and this deposit was eroded, the gravels 

 being probably formed by marine action during the movement. 

 The lower sand on Picnic Point was then formed and the upper 

 sand of the district ; after which the land was again submerged 

 to a depth of about 60 ft. at least when the raised beach along 

 the top of the cliffs was formed. The gravel at Point Ormond 

 may also have been formed at the same time. From that time 

 there appears to have been a gradual elevation. Many of these 

 movements may have been only local, and it is certain that the 

 elevations were not equal, or nearly so, at different parts of this 

 district. Thus the fold at Beaumaris shows a difference of eleva- 

 tion, in a Very short distance, of nearly 100 ft. ; and the lower 

 shell bed at Picnic Point shows that more recent movements were 

 also unequal. In particular, the last subsidence appears to have 

 been local ; so that, though contemporary marine deposits may 

 occur up to some hundreds of feet, it does not follow that this 

 district has been raised to that extent as well. But though no 

 volcanic rocks appear in this district, there was great volcanic 

 activity near at hand, for two series of volcanic rocks are found 

 in the Yarra Valley of more recent date than the lower sand ; 

 and these irregular movements are only another evidence of the 

 unstable state of the country at that time. 



Exchange. — To Entomologists. — Mr. W. B. Waterfall, 

 Thirlmere, Redland Green, Bristol, England, desires to exchange 

 English Coleoptera for Australian, and will be pleased to open up 

 correspondence with collectors. 



