and Paleontology of Victoria. 195 
‘succeeded by a warmer modern one, but that there has been a 
regular and gradual falling of the temperature to the present day. 
The most abundant living shell in almost every locality of our 
Victorian Miocene or Oligocene beds is the Pectunculus lati- 
costatus of the warm seas of North New Zealand, found in 
thousands, and perfectly identical with the living one, though 
having no relation to any found in the seas of Australia. The 
Cucullea concamerata and granulosa (Reeve), living in the 
warmer seas of southern China, but not found living south of 
the equator, is not uncommon in the fossil state in our Victorian 
Miocene beds. One of the commonest fossils in the same beds 
is the Limopsis Belcheri, previously only known as a very rare 
living species dredged from deep water off the Cape of Good 
Hope, where the Mozambique current heats the sea more than 
the latitude would account for. Almost equally common, how- 
ever, and mixed with it, is the Limopsis aurita (Sassi), perfectly 
undistinguishable, on a: minute comparison of specimens, from 
examples from the Coralline Crag of Suffolk and the Miocene 
Fahluns of Flonheim, Rheinhessen, or from living specimens 
from the seas of the northern hemisphere. The only other 
excessively common living species of shell in our Miocene or 
Oligocene beds is the Corbula sulcata (Lam.), of the tropical 
seas of the west coast of Africa, whence I have procured living 
specimens, so that, as in the other cases of identity of species 
_ spoken of, I might not run the chance of misleading my readers 
by erroneous identifications based on ¢omparisons with figures 
or descriptions only. 
The Brachiopoda, although not very abundant, present many 
representative and peculiar forms, with one doubtful recent spe- 
cies, and another certainly identical with the very rare Rhyncho- 
nella lucida (Gould), found living in the Sea of Japan. The 
Kehinodermata are all extinct, and closely related to Maltese 
species. The corals are few and all extinct, and peculiar to 
the locality. 
| MESOZOIC PERIOD. 
It is generally supposed that no marine Mesozoic strata occur 
in Australia. ‘The announcement will therefore have some in- 
terest, that I have lately determined clearly the existence of the 
lower cretaceous rocks in nearly the centre of Australia, with the 
characteristic genera and closely representative species of the 
corresponding beds in Europe. - 
CRETACEOUS PERIOD. 
_ From the head of the Flinders River Messrs. Carson and 
Sutherland have forwarded me specimens of an olive-coloured 
