61 



boforc mentioned, as it is very diffieult to reconcile the presence in 

 the same geol(){)^cal matrix of an existing fauna and an extinct flora ; tho 

 bones were quite unaltered chemically, and no bone was whole except 

 the teeth ami minute phalanges, every long bone being ground up in 

 to small pieces. They were all found in one limited area beneath, 

 and amongst blocks of Travertin, not in solid Travertin, as the 

 impressions and seeds are, but in an arenaceous and slightly c^alcareous 

 matrix. Much of the fossil wood found in the Travertin is more 

 or less silicified, the rest being converted to cai-bonatc of lime, and 

 if the bones had been subjected throughout the same period to the 

 same chemical conditions as this fossil wf>od, I cannot doubt that they 

 would have been silicltied, or at any rate bedded in solid carbonate of 

 lime. Taking all the circumstances into accovmt, it seems probable that 

 when the biusalt dyke displaced the bed of Travertin, it caused the mass 

 to be broken and rent in various ways, especially near the points of contact 

 between the molten basalt and the Travertin, and that long after the cooling 

 of the mass some of the fissures thus made were occupied by some of the 

 carnivorous marsupials, and in the course of time these fissures, with the 

 layers of comminuted bones — the remains of the prey devoured by the early 

 inhabitants — have been choked up with the constantly accumulating dilu- 

 vium, consisting of washed sand and particles of the Travertin weathered 

 oflf the adjacent rocks. K this conclusion is correct, we must of course 

 regard the basalt referred to as an earlier formation than the diluvium 

 from which the bones referred to were obtained, but still as of later date 

 than the Travertin. Mr. R. M. Johnston, who is so indefatigably working 

 out the tertiary deposits on the North side, will doubtless throw much 

 light on the subject of these recent basalts, and I therefore look forward 

 with considerable interest to the reading of his paper, postponed from 

 to-night, under the impression that we should get no meeting. 



The Secretary reported that, in reply to the letter addressed by the 

 Royal Society to the Municipal Council in reference to the destruction 

 of the trees and ferns on Mount Wellington, he had received, from the 

 Town Clerk, a copy of the correspondence which had taken place on the 

 subject. Several extracts from this. coiTespondence were then read from 

 which it was evident that the powers of the Town Council in the matter 

 were very limited. Discussion (in which Mr. P. T. Smith, Mr. Grant, 

 Mr. Shoobridge, Dr. E. Crowther, the Chairman and Secretary took part) 

 ensued, when the feeling of the meeting appeared to be that as the 

 various Fern-tree Valleys were of little value to their possessors, enquiries 

 might be made if they could be purchased back at a reasonable rate for the 

 purpose of being secured to the public for ever. 



The Secretary, in connection with a matter which he desired to intro- 

 duce, observed it might, perhaps, be necessary to inform some of the junior 

 Fellows that Sir John Franklin was the founder of this Society. To 

 assist it in its infancy, he very kindly placed at its disposal a room at 

 Government House for the monthly meetings, and in addition to this, at the 

 close of the proceedings, the members generally foimd a liberal bancjuet pro- 

 vided for them. Perhaps, indeed, for the latter they were indebted to 

 the kindness of Lady Franklin, whose zeal and enthusiasm in all matters 

 connected with the scientific interests of the colony were known to all. Not 

 long ago a marble tablet bearing an inscrijjtion from the pen of the poet 

 Laureate, had been placed in Westminster Abbey to the memory of Sir John, 

 and recently he (the sjjeaker) had observed in The Mercury a note signed 

 "Jack Tar," in which it was suggested that this inscription might very 

 appropriately be engraved on the granite pedestal of the bronze statue to 

 Sir John in Franklin Square. The suggestion appeared to him to be a 

 very good one, and considering how much we owed to Sir John he thought 

 the Society would gladly entertain the motion he now begged to prop(Jse, 

 which was to the effect that a communication should be addressed to 



