36 INAUGURAL ADDKESS. 



between the successive formations and their contained fossil 

 remains ; and we must not, in our eagerness for geological progress, 

 expect to establish at once in Australasia such close harmonious 

 relationships as have been determined in Europe by the accumu- 

 lated labors of several generations of distinguished workers." 



Discussing the subject of the nomenclature of the Australian 

 Tertiaries, Professor Martin Duncan'^' says : — "It would be as Avell 

 not to establish a too local terminology, for sooner or later the 

 Cainozoic deposits of New Zealand, which attain probably a greater 

 magnitude in depth than those of Australia, will be found to render 

 the establishment of a great southern series necessary." So far as 

 regards the magnitude of the Cainozoic beds, New Zealand has an 

 advantage, but it may not be generally known that the Australian 

 equivalents are much thicker than has usually been supposed. 

 The Pre-Pliocene strata in the Croydon bore, for instance, near 

 Adelaide,' have a thickness of 2,200ft., and in the vicinity of Mel- 

 bourne very considerable thicknesses of Eocene deposits have been 

 proved. But, apart from this, the faunas of our Cainozoic forma- 

 tions are vastly richer than those of New Zealand, and of these and 

 other geological periods the fossil contents are in course of careful 

 elaboration and have largely been made diagnostically known ; so 

 that, considering the little progress which New Zealand has made 

 in this direction, Australia is the more likely to furnish a standard 

 for reference, at least for palaeontology, if not for stratigraphical 

 sequence. 



CIRCUMSTANCES RETARDING GEOLOGICAL 

 PROGRESS. 



The study of geology for its own sake is extensively pursued in 

 Great Britain. The science has its devotees in all ranks of the 

 community, whilst its educational value is attested by its popularity. 

 The official geologist draws largely upon his unofficial brother for 

 local details of stratigraphy, whilst progress in palaeontology is 

 almost entirely dependent upon him. In Australia the enthusiasts 

 ha-\e always been few in number. Thus, on analysis of Etheridge 

 and Jack's "Bibliography of Australian Geology," I find the names 

 of only 110 au.thors, covering a period of eighty years, who have 

 contributed to our literature from personal observations made 

 within our boundary. The last decade added from twenty to thirty, 

 but at the present time I doubt if there be more than twenty 

 workers outside the official ranks. 



• Quart. Jouni. Gcol. Soc, 1870, p. 315. 



