lviii 



Nothing would tend so much to induce people in the town to go more 

 in the country than a study of natural history. 



Dr. Agnew said it was rather dangerous to make promises, but he 

 thought it would be well to make application to the Government, and 

 he thought that a very strong plea could be urged in favour of the 

 application, inasmuch as its distribution among the ^schools would be 

 very valuable. 



A NEW FOSSIL. 



Mr. T. Stephens submitted a photograph of a new fossil from the 

 excavations for the dock at Biloela, near Sydney. Identified by Professor 

 Stephens, of the Sydney University, as one of the throat plates of a 

 large Saurian, a representative of a fossil order widely dispersed 

 through the Northern Hemisphere, but not hitherto recorded in the 

 Australian colonies, except as to a specimen of the genus Bothriceps des- 

 cribed by Huxley, from a skull found somewhere in Australia. The 

 photograph showed the natural size of the fossil, which was not quite 

 perfect, but Pcofessor Stephens had no hesitation in describing it as 

 belonging to an individual of the genus Mastodonsaurus, of the order 

 Babyrinthodona, associated in the Triassic series with the Ceratodus, 

 found living in Australia. The discovery was too important to allow of 

 the specimen being kept at home, and it had been sent to England for 

 examination by Professors Owen and Huxley. 



Mr. James Babnard, Vice-President, then delivered the closing 

 address as follows : — " It has become my privilege to again review the 

 proceedings of another year of active work performed by the Royal 

 Society of Tasmania ; and it is cheering to know that there has been an 

 increasing interest taken by its fellows in the discussion of the various 

 papers submitted at the evening meetings. Perhaps during no previous 

 session has there been such a number and variety of subjects brought 

 forward ; and although some of them may probably be considered as 

 scarcely within the strict domain of science, yet it will be at once allowed 

 that they possess no inconsiderable value of their own, as well as being 

 calculated to exercise an important bearing upon the well-being of 

 society. Geology, as usual, has come well to the front in the various 

 excellent papers that have been presented. The first to be noticed is 

 the comprehensive paper by Professor Hutton, of New Zealand, on the 

 geology of the New Zealand Alps, and full of interest from showing the 

 relation of its rocks to those of Tasmania. Mr. R. M. Johnston, P.L.S., 

 follows with an account of the geology of Bruny Island, and embodies 

 an interesting discovery of the position the Adventure Bay coal occu- 

 pies in the coal measures as shown by its characteristic plants. Mr. 

 Johnston, in another paper, dilates upon the Tertiary marine beds at 

 Table Cape, as exemplified by their plant remains, and submits a new 

 catalogue of these tertiary fossils, including some 380 species. In ad- 

 dition to a paper referring to the coal discovery at Longford, illustrated 

 by diagrams, the same geologist, later on, relates some fresh discoveries 

 of foesil plants of the Mesozoic age in Tasmania as disclosed in the coal 

 seams at New Town. Mr. Johnston, also has given a timely and in- 

 teresting sketch of the geology of King River in the Mount Lyell dis- 

 trict, with explanatory diagrams ; and in conjunction with this subject 

 has discussed the various theories of the production of gold. Mr. 

 Johnston, on behalf of Mr. S. H. Wintle, P.L.S., of Victoria, read some 

 notes on certain fossil crabs taken from the deep dredgings of the Yarra 

 River and excavation of the Coode canal, Victoria. We are indebted 

 to Baron A. V. Groddeck, our recently elected corresponding member, 

 for the continuation of his valuable paper on the tin deposits of Mount 



