(2) Notes on the Names given to Minerals and Rocks by 

 :the Aborigines of Tasmania. By Fritz Noetling, M.A., Ph.D., 

 etc. 



Tlie author gives an elaborate description of all the sub- 

 stances of the nature of rocks that were known to or used by 

 the Aborigines, with a comparison of the various terms applied 

 to them by the several tribes, and the meaning of such terms. 

 He concludes by calling attention to the progress of the human 

 race since archaeolithic times, as exemplified by the thousands 

 of names by which modern science distinguishes the minerals 

 and rocks found on our earth. 



SEPTEMBER 13, 1909. 



The Monthly General Meeting of the Society was held at 

 the Museum on Monday evening, September 13. 1909. 



Mr. Bernard Shaw, I.S.O., in the chair. 



ELECTION OF FELLOWS. 



Mr. Russell Young, jun., was elected a Fellow of the Society. 



THE FOLLOWING PAPERS WERE BEAD : 



(i) A Contribution to the Geology of Tasmania — Systematic 

 Geology— The Pre-Cambrian. By L. Keith Ward, B.A., B.E. 



The main object of the paper is to present a succinct ac- 

 ■count of the recent advances in the knowledge of the oldest 

 rocks developed in Tasmania, their stratigraphical relationships, 

 ■and their present physiographical features and distribution. The 

 evidence upon which a Pre-Cambrian age has been assigned to 

 the group is discussed. Some account of the lithological cha- 

 racters of the altered sediments is given, but the description of 

 the igneous members of the series awaits further more detailed 

 examination. The author notes the probability of the existence 

 of two different horizons, the upper of which shows a greater 

 freedom from contortion than does the lower, the two horizons 

 being separated by an unconformity. A brief account is given 

 of the probable origin, growth, and decay of the Pre-Cambrian 

 rocks. The distribution of the rocks is -indicated by an outline 

 map, with a short description of the known boundaries of the 

 areas in which these rocks outcrop. The nomenclature of Pre- 

 Cambrian rocks in extra-Australian areas is discussed, and it is 

 shown that the Tasmanian series belong to the Algonkian divi- 

 sion, although no more definite classification is justifiable. 



Dr. Noetling said that the paper was a valuable contribution 

 to the literature of Tasmanian geology. All the rocks found on 

 the surface of the earth were divided into two periods — those 

 which had no fossil remains of creatures, and which were the 

 earlier rocks, and those which contained such remains, and 

 these two groups were again subdivided into different periods. 

 The Pre-Cambrian rocks belonged to that earlier period in 

 which there was no trace of life, and which must represent mil- 

 lions of years. When life first originated on the earth was not 

 yet decided. Mr. Ward dealt with the structural features of the 



