54 



FOEAMINIFERA IN UPPEE PALEOZOIC EOCKS. 



By T. Stephens, F.G.S., M.A. 



At former meetings of the Eoyal Society I have incidentally 

 mentioned a foraminiferal limestone as occurring among the 

 Upper Palaeozoic rocks of the North-Eastern district. 

 Several years ago on one of my official cross-country journeys 

 I met "witli specimens of limestone dotted witli minute white 

 spots, and on closer examination detected two or three more 

 or less perfect forms of Foraminifera, one of them resembling 

 genus Spirillina ( Trochammina,) and another like Valvulina. 

 In tlie absence of any local palaeontologist competent to 

 determine the specific character of these fossils, and having 

 myself to attend to other business, I had put the specimens 

 away until a few months ago, when I had an oj^portunity of 

 submitting them to Mr. E. Etheridge, jun., who is engaged in 

 working out the palaeontology of New South Wales, and the 

 following is an extract from a letter lately received by him : — 

 " I have at last had time to examine the pieces of supposed 

 foraminiferal rock you left with me. There is no doubt but 

 that is their nature, and, so far as I know, it is the first 

 record of such in the Permo-Carboniferous rocks of Australia 

 or Tasmania. I have sent the material to a foraminifera man, 

 so we shall hear more about it soon." The difficulty of 

 separating these small fossils from the matrix is very great, 

 but I have roughly mounted a few for inspection. 



