206 TERTIARY ROCKS OF AUSTRALASIA, 



erratic boulders of granite and striated rock surfaces on 

 the beach near Adelaide, and the opinion of such an 

 experienced observer has great weight with me ; but 

 these signs, in the absence of further evidence, are not quite 

 satisfactory, and they have, moreover, received different 

 interpretations by other observers. Besides, as Professor 

 Tate states (p. 53, Jour, and Proc. R. Soc. of S. Australia, 

 1884-5) that " a glacial period and a pluvial period mean 

 the same to me (Professor Tate), being referable to the 

 same cause — rain or snow — according to latitude or eleva- 

 tion," it is evident that his views do not differ materially 

 from those concurred in by the author, who at present is 

 inclined to hold that, although astronomical conditions 

 may have been the initial cause of that intense form of 

 glaciation which characterises a true glacial epoch, their 

 direct influence would not have pi'oduced this effect, even 

 in the Northern Hemisphere, had they not been supple- 

 mented by geographical changes which barred the warm 

 equatorial currents from northern latitudes ; and it is 

 solely because of the absence or imperfection of the latter 

 combination necessary to produce a true glacial period, 

 that he dissents from the view Avkich attributes the milder 

 form of local glaciation in the Southern Hemisphere to 

 the combination which resulted in the glacial epoch of 

 Europe and North America during the Pleistocene period. 

 Dr. von Lendenfeld quite recently has discovered traces 

 of ancient glaciers in the Wilkinson Valley leading up to 

 the elevated plateau of Mount Kosciusco*, in the shape of 

 numerous rochs montonees and polished rocks, and his 

 observations are also of much interest. His interpretation, 

 however, is that (1) at the time of the glaciation of the 

 Southern Hemisphere Australia was subjected to a glacial 

 period as well as New Zealand ; (2) that the climate was 

 then not very cold, so that the glaciers only covered the 

 highest part of the Australian Alps, and were consequently 

 very small ; (3) that, with the exception of small glaciers 

 at the source of the Murray and at the head of the 

 Crackenbach, he concluded that it is not hkely that 

 glaciers existed anywhere else in Australia at the time, 

 although believed to be isochronous with similar alpine 

 glaciers in New Zealand. 



* " The Glacial Period in Australia," by R. von Lendenfeld, Ph.D. (Proc. 

 Lin. Soc. N. S. Wales. Vol. X., Part I., pp. 44-53, plates). . 



