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rear the nascent establishment of Adelaide, at the same time that a 
most valued member of our own body, Sir John Franklin, is ren- 
dering Van Diemen’s Land a school of natural knowledge. Under 
the more euphonous name of Tasmania (derived from its real 
discoverer Tasman), the intrepid polar voyager, though now un- 
aided by the great zoologist, the companion of his former toils, 
assembling together a few men of science and letters, has founded 
the “ Tasmanian Philosophical Society,” to the. first Number of 
whose published labours, printed at Hobart Town, I beg to refer 
you as containing an introduction and several memoirs which would 
do credit to any Society in this metropolis. The geological articles 
contained in it refer only to the structure of Kerguelen’s Land, and 
fossil wood from Macquarrie Plains; but.as some very remarkable 
fossils of very ancient forms have already been procured from the 
vieinity of Hobart Town, I trust that the energy of the governor 
and his known devotion to our pursuits, will induce him to procure 
from some one of the intelligent scientific staff which surrounds him, 
a detailed account of the position and relations. of these organic re- 
mains, the possession of a good suite of which is still a desideratum 
in the Geological Society of London*. 
In estimating the progress of inquiry in this department of 
geology in our own country, the recent work of Professor Phillips 
upon the Paleozoic fossils of Devonshire and the adjacent tracts 
claims our special attention, not only on account of the talent 
which he has shown in describing many new forms, but also on ac- 
count of the classification which he suggests. We are already sig- 
nally indebted to this author for inquiries in various departments of 
geology, and especially for his volume upon the organic remains of 
the Carboniferous Limestone, Without the previous existence of 
that work, there might have been some difficulty in asserting that 
the Silurian is, asa whole, independent of the Carboniferous system, 
The recent inquiry is a part of his duty in a public office in which 
he is fortunately employed, and the suggestion of which does infi- 
nite honour to Mr. de la Beche, and credit to the government who 
sanctioned the appointment.. From Devonshire the Ordnance geo- 
logical forees, directed by these able leaders, have moved into the 
Silurian region. Doubtless, under such discerning eyes, and with 
such a number of assisting hands as are now turned into this for- 
merly deserted tract, many new forms may be expected to appear. 
If, however, the Silurian catalogues should be much augmented 
* The geological notices in the Tasmanian Journal of Natural Science, 
consist of a description of some silicified wood from Macquarrie Plains by 
Dr. J. D. Hooker, and a sketch of the mineral structure of the northern 
part of Kerguelen’s Land by Dr. M*Cormick, both attached to Captain 
James Ross’s expedition. The latter acquaints us that this tract is exclu- 
sively composed of trappean (basaltic) and metamorphic? rocks, with the 
exeeption of certain truncated and dismembered beds of ¢oal which are 
traceable at intervals, pretty much J presume, like the broken and isolated 
pertions of coal which are found in the trap rocks of the northern end of 
the Isle of Skye. ; 
