38 



already proved, and in examining those upper members of tlie 

 series which have not yet been tested. 



There is, however, a large area with in the settled districts'of 

 which little or nothing is known, and my chief object in 

 penning these remarks is to call attention to the necessity of 

 obtaining more complete and satisfactory information re- 

 specting the palaeontology of the rocks which are supposed to 

 belong to the carboniferous series, as well as of all others 

 which contain any organic remains. The fossiliferous sandy 

 shales, mudstones, and limestones of the Southern districts 

 have always been spoken of as underlying the coal measures. 

 But they are also believed to be contemporaneous with the 

 marine beds at the Mersey, containing Fenestella, Stenopora, 

 Spirifera, Froducta, &c., and overlyiog the coal, and it is very 

 important that this point point should be settled by a careful 

 comparison of all the specimens which can be collected from 

 the two formations. There are numerous localities in which, 

 if we can only obtain some certain data to start with, good 

 grounds may be shown for attempting a systematic examina- 

 tion of the country with a reasonable prospect of success, 

 among which I may mention the western bank of the Tamar, 

 the basin of the Piper's E-iver, the north-western flanks of 

 Ben Lomond, and various portions of the midland districts, 

 and of the basins of the Derwent and Coal Eiver. I see little 

 prospect of the profitable working of the magnificent seams 

 of the Fingal district for many years to come ; but there is no 

 reason why we should not, at any rate, endeavour to establish 

 their geological position, of which little is known, except that 

 they are evidently much more recent than those of the Mersey, 

 and that there are some grounds for classing them in a totally 

 distinct series. For myself, I regret very much that, with 

 good opportunities for forming general conclusions as to the 

 geology of the greater part of Tasmania, I have had no leisure 

 for many years past for the collection of evidence, or the ex- 

 amination of any particular formation ; and all that I can do at 

 present is to urge the importance, on scientific as well as on 

 economical grounds, of stimulating the exertions of all col- 

 lectors whose services can be enlisted in the good cause, and 

 securing by every available means what is now the chief 

 desideratum in our museum. 



Note. — I have to report the discovery of a rock in the 

 Mersey district containing casts of Trilohites, and what I take 

 to be Orthis and JSellerophon, as well as other forms, which are 

 too indistinct to be made out with any certainty. It is at no 

 great distance from the spot where impressions of trilohifes 

 were discovered by Mr. Gould some years any ago, and may 

 prove to belong to the same formation. 



