Vict, Nat. 



82 Excursion — Toorak, Richmond Park, Hawthorn. {^^^seut 



prove there were two flows, the material composing which 

 is of a particularly dense nature, and has a very metallic 

 ring. One portion of the floor cooled in a somewhat nodular 

 manner, while another shows columnar structure fairly. Included 

 in the dense basalt were found pockets filled with scoriaceous 

 material, which seems to show that this had been picked up by 

 the flow while it moved along. This was the concluding item 

 in a pleasant afternoon's outing. — J. Sidney Kitson. 



A.A.A.S. — The next meeting of the Australasian Association 

 for the Advancement of Science will be held in Sydney from the 

 9th to 14th of January next. Intending members should com- 

 municate with the hon. secretary for Victoria, Dr. T. S. Hall, 

 M.A., University, Carlton. 



" The Geology of New Zealand." — Messrs. Whitcomb and 

 Tombs Ltd., of Christchurch, have added another volume to 

 their excellent series of scientific publications in " The Geology 

 of New Zealand," by Prof. James Park, of the University of 

 Otago. The work extends to nearly 500 pages, and is well 

 illustrated, there being a geologically coloured map of New 

 Zealand, sixteen full-page plates (principally of fossils), and 

 about 150 smaller maps and text illustrations. Besides struc- 

 tural and economic geology, the history of the geological survey 

 and the work done by the early observers is fully dealt with. 

 Speaking of the general geological structure of New Zealand, the 

 author says that, though so small in area, the geological record 

 of New Zealand is even more complete and varied than the 

 neighbouring continent of Australia. It is the remnant of a 

 submerged continent of great antiquity, and contains repre- 

 sentatives of almost every rock formation found in the Northern 

 Hemisphere. With its narrow limits and diminutive mass it 

 could offer no effective resistance, and, therefore, since the 

 beginning of . geological time has always responded to vagrant 

 impulse by rising and falling like the unresisting waves of the 

 open sea. The gold and coal resources possessed by the 

 Dominion are dealt with at length, and also the great variety 

 of other minerals of economic value, the Parapara deposit of 

 iron ore, near Nelson, being the largest deposit of iron ore in the 

 world outside the Atlantic basin. A bibliography of about 

 sixty pages will be of great assistance to the student, while an 

 author's index and a very complete general index of twenty 

 pages make up an exceedingly valuable addition to the geologies 

 of the various portions of the Southern Hemisphere, while the 

 cost — ten shillings and sixpence — is very reasonable in considera- 

 tion of the expense of production. 



