Dr. F. A. Bather — The Mount Torlesse Annelid. 533 



tnicaceous shale bearing the imprint. It may represent the " obscure 

 plant remains " of Hector (1885, p. 339).^ 



The other specimens are all representatives of the fossil, or rather 

 fossils, long known to the geologists of New Zealand as " the Mount 

 Torlesse Annelid." This fossil is so abundant in certain dark- 

 coloured slates and sandy shales, as to have procured for them and 

 their associated sandstones thfe' name of " the Mount Torlesse Annelid 

 Beds " or " the Annelid Beds." These beds are usually regarded as 

 the uppermost division of the Maitai Series, since they appear to be 

 conformable with the underlying limestones, slates, and sandstones 

 of that series. The fossils found in the Maitai Limestone, the 

 basement bed of the series, as quoted by Mr. A. M'Kay (1879 and 

 1881) and by Captain F. W. Hutton (1885) are obviously Carboni- 

 ferous, and, if correctly identified, should be regarded as Lower 

 Carboniferous. Unfortunately the country in which the undoubted 

 Annelid Beds occur is much disturbed, so that the stratigraphical 

 evidence as to their relations is not free from uncertainty, and other 

 beds have, it is now known, been confused with them in several 

 cases (see, for example. Von Haast, 1885). Unfortunately also, 

 the supposed Annelids are the sole fossils found in the beds. Thus 

 the opinion published by Mr. M'Kay in 1881 still expresses the 

 truth, namely, that "the placing of these Annelid beds in their 

 •correct position is unquestionably the most difficult problem that has 

 yet to be dealt with in perfecting the classification of the older 

 sedimentary rocks of New Zealand." "Much therefore," he con- 

 tinues, " depends upon the presence, absence, or correct identification 

 of the annelid, which importance it must retain until other and 

 more determinate forms are discovered " (op. cit., p. 90). Mr, M'Kay 

 consequently proceeded to give a brief description, but up till now no 

 figure has been published, and no comparison has been made with 

 other fossils. 



The material, as recognised by Mr. M'Kay, contains two quite 

 distinct forms, which, however, are said to be found in precisely the 

 same strata. One of these is straight (Nos. 17, 18, 19, 21, 24), the 

 other curved (Nos. 22, 23). The former is the most widely dis- 

 tributed, being especially abundant and well preserved at Ashley 

 Gorge, whence comes our specimen No. 24. The latter, according to 

 M'Kay (1881, p. 91), is found only on the west coast of the South 

 Island. The Kowai River, however, whence comes our No. 22, is on 

 the east coast, disembogueing a little north of Port Lyttelton. With 

 this exception, the localities quoted by Von Haast (1872 A-B), 

 M'Kay (1881), Hector (1885 and 1892) may be supposed to refer 

 to the straight form. It is pointed out by M'Kay that, although this 

 fossil is called the annelid of Mount Torlesse, and although a long 

 list of localities for it has been published, " it is nowhere spoken of 

 as actually having been collected from Mount Torlesse." Hector, 

 however (1885, p. 339), quotes it from "the south-eastern end of 

 Mount Torlesse," while Mr. Ferrar found it to be " quite abundant 

 near the summit of the hill." 



1 See end for List of Papers referred to. 



