392 



Western Australia (Bufo occidentales musicales), the 

 skin of a new species of little green pigeon, from Port Keats, 

 N.T. (Chalcopliaps occidentales, North), and a fine specimen 

 of Voluta Bednalli, from the same district. Also a puff-ball 

 from Blackwood, which when bursting takes the form of a 

 globose network. Dr. Pulleine exhibited five stone axes from 

 Queensland, one of which, the largest, was from the Leich- 

 hardt Ranges. These axes are generally found when clearing 

 the forest lands. Mr. W. Howchin, F.G.S., remarking on 

 these, said that the rock selected by the natives is a basic 

 igneous rock, chosen on account of its hardness and tough- 

 ness, and was probably used in barter between tribes. It 

 was also stated at the meeting that a quarry originally 

 worked by the natives had been discovered in Gippsland. 



Mr. W. Howchin, F.G.S., read the discussion which took 

 place at a meeting of the Geological Society of London upon 

 the occasion when his paper on Glacial Beds of Cambrian Age 

 in South Australia, was read. 



Papers. — ''Notes on Some Species of the Isopod Family 

 Sphceromidw from South Australia," by W. H. Baker, 

 F.L.S. ''Secondary Gamma Rays," by J. P. V. Madsen, 

 D.Sc, B.E. 



Ordinary Meeting, August 4, 1908. 



The President (J. C. Verco, M.D., F.R.C.S.) in the 

 chair. 



Ballot. — Mr. Howard Whitbread was elected to act as 

 Auditor during Mr. Smeaton's illness. 



Exhibits. — Mr. W. Howchin, F.G.S., exhibited (by the 

 courtesy of Mr. J. W. Jones) a portion of the core of a bore 

 on Mr. Ind's property, near Paradise Bridge. The specimen, 

 obtained at 160 ft., was a good example of glauconite, or 

 green earth (a hydrous silicate of iron, alumina, and potash). 

 Geologically it represents the lowest member of the Eocene 

 beds in South Australia, and is found at the base of the series 

 at Aldinga and in the Kent Town bore. Its occurrence in 

 the neighbourhood of Paradise shows that the sea in Lower 

 Tertiary times extended to what is now practically the base of 

 the hills. Glauconite is forming at the present day in the 

 deep seas at a depth from about 100 to 1,000 fathoms, and 

 is often found deposited in the shells of the foraminifera ; the 

 shells weather away, and the glauconite grains have the form 

 of internal casts of the shells. Mr. A. G. Edquist exhibited 

 two examples of Lcpidurus — fresh-water crustaceans. They 

 are found only in rainwater pools that dry up. The eggs 

 undergo a process of desiccation before they will incubate. 



