812 



RKPonT— 1884. 



(A) Chf'cks by tt'lepraphic lonpitudps. It is but very recently that lintM Imvc 

 been constructed admitting of these, the only appliciition, so far, of the incthhd 

 liavinjf been that in which the position in lonfjitude of the first initial meridian 

 ■was lixed by conjoint operation of the lioyal Kn^'ineers enirajred in the houiidarv 

 survey at llembina and the 'reader' at Ohicngo, used as a datum point. It i. 

 intended to api)ly the method where serviceable, now that means of doing so are 

 beginning to be available. 



5. Vartorjraphij. — An account of several maps, of detail maps, and of processe-i 

 of multiplying copies. 



0. A statement of the area surveyed in a season, and of the total area surveyed 

 to present time. 



6. On the former Conncctian lietween North Aynerica ami the Enslem sldt 

 of the Atlantic. By Professor W. BoYi' Uawkins, M.A., F.h'.S. 



The former connection of Ncirtli America witli Greenland, Iceland, and Nditli. 

 Western Kurojie, is mo.-t conclusively proved by the distribution of thi' fos.'ijl- 

 plants and animals in the remote ^'eological past — in the eocene and miocciie aijes, 



The mairnolia, for example, is a form winch was abundant in the eocene forests 

 of Europe and the far north of America. The sequoia, too, now confinnl to th>' 

 slopes of the Sierra Nevada, may be quoted as an exanqile of the vegetation i^nmmnn 

 to North America and to Europe ; as well as the fox-^'rape. Theconnnnnscnsitiv- 

 fern so usually found in this repon of Canuda occurs, buried under sheets of basalr. 

 in the island of Mull. The Lepidusteus of the American rivers was living in tli- 

 eocene rivers of the south of England. Among the higher mammalia common 

 to both may be quoted the Cfryphmhin. The route by whicli tliese animal 

 arrived is shown by the soundings. The tract of comparatively shallow 

 water which ranges from Greenland past Iceland to the Faroes and Northern hicot- 

 land, and isolates the deep waters of tlie Arctic Sea from tiie deptlis of tlio 

 Atlantic, formed the bridge across which the migration took place, the 'lOO-fathom 

 line representing' approximately the line of tlie ancient shores. This bariierhecann' 

 submerged during tiie stupendous geographical changes which took pliico at tlit- 

 close of the miocene age. Then, for ihe first time, were the Arctic waters united 

 with the Atlantic, and Arctic shells gradusilly found their way southwards iiit(r 

 the area of the British Isles. 



7. On Charles Winnecke^s E.tploratluun in Central Aiistralia, vnth Notes on 

 the Employment of Canieh. liy J. S. O'Hallouan, F.R.G.S. 



The author gave a brief account of an adventurous journey through an unknown 

 region lying between the Overland telegraph and (Queensland, by collating Mr. 

 Charles Winnecke's diary, which has been laid before the South Australian iiegi>- 

 lature. The members of the Association iiaving iiad the privilege of listening to a 

 stirring description of the perils encountered by the heroes of the Arctic, it seemed 

 appropriate that the meetings of this section siiould close with a reference to th* 

 hardships braved by one of those who followed in 1 lie t rack of men wiio have laboured 

 to throw light on the unexplored interior of the great island continent of Australia. 



Iiaving furnished a broad outline of the physical features of the interior of 

 Australia, the author stated that the introduction of the camel rendered possihle 

 the journeys of many explorers, who without such aid could hardly have survived 

 the sufferings involved by traver-sing the tracts of arid, inhospitable co'iutry whicli 

 too frequently occurred. 



iMr. Winnecke's party started on August 10, 188o, from the Cowarie station ('U 

 the Warburton Kiver, attained its ' furthest " on the Field Kiver, in lat. -'2° ')0', 

 and returned to lieltaua on December 2. About 400 miles of new country had 

 been traversed, 40,000 square miles of new land had been sketched, ar.d a collection 

 of plants found in Central Australia between lat. 22° .'JO' and 28° S., and long.L'Hf.W 

 and 139° 30' E., had been examined and classified bv Baron Ferdinand von Mueller. 



