IV 



Dr. Agnew said the writer of this paper was a corresponding 

 member of the Society. He was sorry to hear from the Curator that 

 the name of Professor Hutton appeared in the list of people drowned 

 by the wreck of the steamer Taiaroa on the coast of New Zealand. 

 The news might not be true, but if it were it would give a melancholy 

 interest to the paper, which was probably one of the very last he had 

 written. The hon. gentleman then read the paper, which was of a 

 very interesting and comprehensive character. 



Mr. Johnston made some remarks in harmony principally with Mr. 

 Hutton and said the information given would be very serviceable 

 to the Fellows in relating the rocks of Tasmania to those of New 

 Zealand. He also referred at some length to a former paper of his own 

 for the purpose of showing the equivalents of New Zealand rocks in 

 Tasmania. 



NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY OE BBUNI ISLAND. 



Mr. E. M. Johnston read a paper on this subject which gave 

 a general description of the geology of North and South Bruni. 

 In character and relation the rocks are similar to those already described 

 by him in a section between Blackman's Bay and Pearson's Point, 

 and indeed Bruni Island is stated to be a simple prolongation of that 

 spur. The most interesting part of the paper, however, is that 

 in which Mr. Johnston announces the discovery that the coal seam at 

 Adventure Bay belongs to the lower coal measures, and not to the 

 Mesozoic coal measures as hitherto supposed. Thus the Adventure 

 Bay coal belongs to the same horizon as the Mersey coal measures, 

 the Bacchus Marsh sandstones, and the lower coal measures of Greta and 

 Stony Creek, New South Wales. The coal measures at Adventure Bay 

 are described as resting comformably upon the upper beds of marine 

 mudstones of upper palaeozoic age, and contain the characteristic plants 

 of the lower coal measures, viz., Glossopteris Browniana, Gangamopteris 

 spathulata, G. obliqua, etc. No single plant of the Mesozoic coal 

 measures could be found. With respect to the conglomerate beds 

 of the upper marine formation, Mr. Johnston commented upon the 

 absence of organic life in many of the members, and suggested the 

 possibility of the barrenness "being due to the lowered^ temperature 

 of a glacial period, of which there are evidences in various pares of 

 the world towards the close of the paheozoie era. The transport of 

 huge erratic blocks of granite over a ton in weight and other rocks not 

 now found in the vicinity favour the hypothesis of glacial influence. 

 Mr. Johnson gave a complete list of all the fossils of the Upper 

 Palteozoic Marine Beds of Tasmania known to him, together with descrip- 

 tions of 18 new species of fossil molluscs. He also gave a description 

 of the coal seam at Old Beach now being developed by Mr. A. Brock. 

 This seam belongs to the coal measures of mesozoic age, and the forma- 

 tion in which the seam occurs is identical with that exposed at Constitu- 

 tion Hill. The coal is similar in quality to that at Gardener's Bay. 

 The paper was illustrated by drawings ot sections. 



Mr. Sprent followed with some remarks in which he recognised the 

 investigations of Mr. Johnston as having settled a very important 

 point so far as the southern part of the island was concerned. 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



Colonel LEGGE read a portion of a paper illustrative of a catalogue 

 of the birds of the Colony which he had in course of preparation. 



Mr, E, M. JOHNSTON congratulated Colonel Legge on his undertaking 

 a work which would be of so much interest to the ornithologists of the 

 Colony, 



