2 NEW ZEALAND PALAEONTOLOGY. 



fauna of New Zealand is of the poorest kind as far as we know 

 it. One species of Flabellum and one or two Astrangiacece are all 

 tkat are known. 



Witli the fossil corals in Australia the case is different. In 

 what are called the Muddy Creek beds of Hamilton^ in Western 

 Victoria, there is a deposit which is peculiarly rich in fossil 

 corals. They are all of a simple kind, and, as a rule, well pre- 

 served. About sixteen years ago I sent a small collection to Pro- 

 fessor P. Martin Duncan, F.R.S., who made the first report upon 

 the fossil corals of Australia. They proved to be new and in- 

 teresting, giving quite exceptional and new features. The result 

 of his examination was that seven or eight new species were 

 added to science. All possessed features of singular interest, 

 with an unusual array of Australian abnormalities. The rela- 

 tions were mostly with tropical forms, and the living species 

 amongst them were Australian, but tropical. Professor Duncan 

 subsequently published an elaborate essay on the Australian 

 fossil corals in the Journal of the Geological Society of London 

 for 1870. In this he described two new genera, Conosmilia and 

 Palceoseris, besides species of Trochocyathus, Deltocyathus, Fla- 

 bellum, Placotrochus , Bphenotrochus , Conotrochus, Caryophyllia, 

 Amphihelia, and Balanophyllia. The same learned professor 

 described some other species of the same genera from Table 

 Cape in the Quar. Jour. Geol. Soc. for 1876, together with new 

 species of Dendrophyllia, Thamnastraa, Solenastrcea, and Isis. 

 In 1877 I published, in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, 

 New South A¥ales, a further description of new genera and species, 

 including Sphenotrochus, Conotrochus, Placotrochus, Deltocyathus, 

 and Co7iosmilia. In 1878 I published in the same journal 

 (September meeting) descriptions of other new and remarkable 

 species, including a beautiful and extraordinary genus {Tremata- 

 trochus), and a new species of the almost mesozoic Montlivaltia. 

 In the same year (September, 1878) I published, in the Proceed- 

 ings of the Adelaide Philosophical Society, a description of 

 several fossil corals from Aldinga, near Adelaide, South Austra- 

 lia. This description included two new genera of Astrmdce, 

 Cyathosmilia and Bistylia ; besides new species of Deltocyathus, 

 Cladocora, Trochocyathus, Conosmilia, Amphihelia, and Plesias- 

 trcea. 



The result of all these examinations has been to prove that 

 the fossil corals of Australia possess local peculiarities which 



