Geological Society of London. 45 



block, extending as far as the "VVych, consists of the Lower and the 

 lower part of the Middle ; the central block, from the Wych to the 

 fault in Swiuyard's Hill, consists chiefly of the Lower and upper 

 Middle, but with a portion of the Lower at the south end. The 

 southern block, south of the fault on Swiuyard's Hill, consists wholly 

 of the Upper series. 



How far the foliation of these rocks and their main divisional planes 

 represent original stratification must, the author thought, remain an 

 open question. It has been held that the strike of foliation lies parallel 

 to the axes of elevation ; but this is far from being the case in the 

 Malverns. Still, a once uniform strike may have been dislocated by 

 repeated faulting. 



The author further discussed the general question of how far 

 foliation may or may not coincide with planes of sedimentation. He 

 admitted, that the absolute conversion of one rock into another by a 

 process of shearing has been shown to occur, but doubted its appli- 

 cation in this case. Although he is inclined to believe that the 

 divisional planes, with which the foliation appears to be parallel, may 

 be planes of original stratification, yet, as a matter of fact, they are 

 nothing more than structural planes of some sort, between which the 

 rocks exhibit divers lithological characters. 



3. " On Fossil Chilostomatous Bryozoa from New Zealand." By 

 Arthur W. Waters, Esq., F.G.S. 



The fossil Bryozoa described in the present paper are from the 

 localities of Petane, Waipukurau, Wanganui, and some simply desig- 

 nated as from the neighbourhood of JSTapier. The first three represent 

 deposits of a well-known position, which was considered Miocene by 

 Tenison- Woods, but which Professor Hutton (Quart. Journ. Greol. Soc. 

 vol. xli.) has more recently called Pliocene. Some others, sent over 

 as from " Whakati," are thought to be from Waikato. 



The genus Memhranlpora, which is largely represented from near 

 ITapier, is not one of the most useful palgeontologically, because the 

 shape of the opesial opening only, and not the oral, is preserved, and 

 also the appearance of the zooecia is often remarkably modified by the 

 ovicells, which, however, are frequently wanting, and in many well- 

 known species have never been found. 



The author pointed out that in the commoner and best-known species 

 of Bryozoa the amount of variation is recognized as being very great, 

 and considered that in the face of this there is too great a tendency to 

 make new species on slight difi'erences which may be local variations, 

 and that even in some cases, instead of the description referring to a 

 species, it may be that only a specimen has been described. 



A list of New-Zealand Bryozoa has been drawn up by Professor 

 Hutton, and our knowledge of the New-Zealand and Australian 

 Bryozoa is being constantly increased by MacGillivray, Hincks, and 

 others ; nevertheless, enough is not yet known to fix the exact age by 

 means of the Bryozoa alone, but the large number of species entirely 

 identical with those living in the neighbouring seas, and the general 

 character of the others, show that the deposits must certainly be con- 

 sidered as of comparatively recent date. 



Out of the 78 species or varieties, 61 are known living, 29 of these 



