BY H. C. RICHARDS. 115- 



Imported Basalt. 



The Footscray Basalt from Victoria has l)een used tO' 

 some extent in Brisbane. It is a dull, dark, bluish-grey 

 in colour and has been used to a large extent in the recently- 

 erected Union Bank (1916). in Queen Street and Creek 

 Street fronts up to the level of the first cornice. 



A great deal of work has been put into the basalt in 

 this building and the carved heads show the extent to which 

 the basalt can be Avorked. Quite large stones of this 

 basalt are obtainable but in this bank the stones appear to 

 be rather on the small side for the part they have to play, 

 and the}' might have been larger with adAantage to the 

 appearance of the building. 



In several of the stones little groups of holes over a 

 circular area of a few square inches may l>e seen. These 

 mark the passage of steam particles up through the basalt 

 when in a molten condition. 



This basalt has, among other places in Brisbane, been 

 used in the base courses of the London Bank, of the Queens- 

 land Trustees Building, of Perry Bros. Warehouse, and in 

 the foundations in part of St. John's Cathedral. 



Sedimentary Building Stones. 



SANDSTONES. 



It is a noteworthy fact that almost all the most 

 serviceable building sandstones of the Eastern Australian 

 States are lacustrine deposits of Lower Mesozoic age. 



In Queensland a"l the sandstones which have been used 

 and, as far as the author knows, all those Avhich have re- 

 ceived any serious attention belong to these deposits. 



In New South Wales the famous Hawkesbury sandstone, 

 used to such a large extent and to so much advantage in 

 Sydney and elsewhere, belongs to a Jake deposit of Triassic 

 age. That State, however, has two grey sandstones of 

 Permo-Carboniferous age which have been used to some 

 extent — ^the Waratah and the Ra\ensfield sandstones. 



Victoria has utilised very many sandstones at different 

 times but the one most extensively used is the brown 

 Barrabool Hills stone from the Geelong district, which 

 is a lacustrine deposit of Jurassic age. Another yexy 



