PEOCEEDINGS OF THE SCIENTIFIC SOCIEriES OF LONDON. 4:37 



most beds horizontal deposits of tlie same material ; but that in its 

 poverty of vertebrate remains the former, so far as it has been ex- 

 plored, is a remarkable contrast to the latter. Dr. Falconer then 

 reverted to an opinion expressed by Sir Proby Cautley and himself 

 many years ago, namely, that the Colossochelys Atlas may have lived 

 down to an early epoch of the human period, and become extinct 

 since ; and he concluded with some general observations on the an- 

 tiquity of the human race, suggested by more recent discoveries. 



April 5tk, 1865. 



The following communications were read : — 1. "On some Tertiary 

 Deposits in the Colony of Victoria, Australia." By the Eev. J. E. 

 T. Woods, P.L.S., F.a.S.— The author first referred to a former 

 paper on the Australian Tertiary strata, and then described the beds 

 of Muddy Creek, near Hamilton, mentioning the principal fossils 

 occurring therein, especially a species of Trigonia ; he also stated 

 that the same formation occurs at Harrow, on the river Grlenelg, 

 about sixty miles to the north-east, as well as in Tasmania. In dis- 

 cussing the age of these beds he adopted Professor M'Coy's views, 

 that they are of Lower Miocene date ; but he considered the Mount 

 Grambier limestone to be more recent, probably older Pliocene, and 

 the Murray Eiver deposits as possibly holding an intermediate posi- 

 tion ; the latter he therefore considered to represent the Upper and 

 Middle Miocene of Europe. Older than all these are certain strata 

 occurring at Port Phillip and elsewhere, which the author referred 

 to the Upper Eocene period. In conclusion, Mr. Woods gave a 

 sketch of the salient features of the Bryozoon-faunse of the deposits 

 occurring at Hamilton and Mount Gambler, chiefly for the purpose 

 of showing that the latter is much the more modern of the two. In 

 a note, Dr. Duncan enumerated the species of Corals which had been 

 sent him by Mr. Woods, but he stated that, although they had a 

 very recent aspect, no exact geological date could safely be assigned 

 to them. 



2. " On the Chalk of the Isle of Thanet." By AV. Whitaker, 

 Esq., B.A., E.G.S., of the Geological Survey of Great Britain.— 

 In this district a bed of comparatively flintless chalk overlies one 

 with many flints. The higher division, or Margate Chalk, contains 

 but few scattered flint-nodules, and shows well-marked N.W. and 

 S.E. joints. The lower division, or Broaclstalrs Chalk, on the other 



