ATJSTBALASIA. 159 



quently occur in the enclosing rocks, and they are looked upon as a good 

 indication for gold. Above the water-level the pyrites is decomposed 

 into oxide of iron ; and the ferruginous walls of a reef are known as the 

 " ironstone casing," which is sometimes rich enough in gold to be worth 

 working. The reefs average 3 ft. wide, and consist almost entirely of 

 quartz, with a little iron-pyrites, galena, manganese, felspar, mica, and 

 gold. The richer the reef is in minerals the richer it generally is in 

 gold. The presence of galena is particularly favourable for productive- 

 ness. C.L. N.F. 



Purnell, C. W. On the Wanganui Tertiaries. Trans. N. Zealand 

 Inst. vol. vii. pp. 453—457 ; Proceedings, p. 496. 



The oldest fossiliferous bed of the "Wanganui Formation" within 

 4 miles of the town of V/auganui is a volcanic tuff. The characteristic 

 bed is the succeeding stratum of blue clay, highly fossiliferous, and 

 40 feet thick at Shakespeare CHflf. The mollusca indicate a coast-line 

 between high-water mark and a depth of 100 fathoms. The j'oungcst 

 beds consist of volcanic mud, gravel, and loose grit. According to 

 Capt. Hutton the whole series contains 76 p. c. of recent shells, which 

 the author states would make the beds of about the same ago as the 

 Sicilian volcanic tuffs (Newer Pliocene). According to his view, how- 

 ever, the organic remains of the three divisions should be examined 

 separately, and the proportion of recent to extinct shells ascertained in 

 each, before the comparative ages can be determined. 11. E., Jun. 



Smyth, R. B. Report of the Chief Inspector of Mines to the Honor- 

 able the Minister of Mines for the year 1874. No. 14, with ap- 

 pendices. Pp. 37. Fol. Melbourne, 



Geological Survey of Victoria. Report of Progress. No. 2, 



for 1874. Pp. viand 141; 5 plates (maps and sections); wood- 

 cuts of sections, fossils, &c. 8vo. Melbourne. 

 The areas occupied by the Older Volcanic rocks in '^. Gippsland 

 have been found to be greater than was supposed. The Lignite-beds" 

 of the Upper Latrobe River in many places underlie the Older Volcanic 

 rocks, whilst on the R. Tarween beds of gravel and clay, on which 

 rests a bed of lignite supposed to occupy a similar position, are auri- 

 ferous. The horizontal ochreous sand beds at Eagle Point, R. Mit- 

 chell, are marine, and the probable equivalents of the Flemington beds 

 near Melbourne. The relation of the so-called U. Palaeozoic rocks to 

 the Devonian Limestones of Bindi has not been established. The 

 auriferous gravels of the Omeo gold-field appear in places to have 

 formed the beds of lakes. In W. Victoria a large patch of U. Silurian 

 rocks with auriferous quartz-veins occurs S. of Lake Cooper, whilst the 

 country N. is occupied by the Murray Tertiaries. Fossils from a de- 

 posit overlying a gold-drift near Stawell, and figured in this Report, 

 indicate that the beds are of the same age as the Melbourne Flemington 

 series. The auriferous drift, tracoable from Stawell to Ararat, belongs 

 to the fossiliferous series of the Wimmora district. Remarks on the 



