Correspondence— Prof. J. Morris. 289 
THE TERTIARY FLORA OF AUSTRALIA. 
Str,—In the interesting paper on the above subject which appeared 
in the April Number of this Macazrnz, p. 153, Prof. von Httings- 
hausen describes the flora of the Travertin near Hobart Town, and 
refers to previous investigations on this deposit, specially those of 
Mr. Johnson. He appears to have overlooked, or at least does not 
allude to, two short notices on this limestone published about 40 
years since, which however are referred to by Mr. Johnson (Roy. 
Soc. Tasm., 1879, p. 81). 
The first notice is by Mr. C. Darwin, who states :— 
‘Behind Hobart Town is a quarry of hard travertin, the lower strata of which 
abound with distinct impressions of plants. Mr. Robert Brown looked at my speci- 
mens, and he informed me that there were four or five kinds, none of which he 
recognizes as belonging to existing species. The most remarkable leaf is palmate, 
like that of a fan-palm, and no plant having leaves of this structure has hitherto 
been discovered in Van Diemen’s Land. ‘lhe other leaves do not resemble the most 
usual forms of Eucalyptus (of which tribe the existing forests are chiefly composed), 
nor do they resemble that class of exceptions to the common form of the leaves of 
Eucalyptus, which occur in this island. The travertin containing this remnant of a 
lost vegetation is of a pale yellow colour, hard, and in parts even crystalline; but 
not compact, and is everywhere penetrated by minute, tortuous, cylindrical pores.” 
[ Volcanic Islands, 1844, p. 140, also Journal of Researches, p. 448. | 
The second notice is in Strezelecki’s New South Wales. Having 
been requested by Count Strezelecki to examine his collection of fossil 
plants and invertebrata, with the exception of the Corals and Bryozoa 
described by Mr. W. Lonsdale, I found among them a few specimens 
of plants and shells which were thus referred to under the Pliocene 
Flora :— 
‘<The two specimens of leaves and another peculiar form represented on Table vii. 
figs. 5—7, are from the yellowish compact limestone near Hobart Town which has 
been described by Mr. C. Darwin. These impressions have been submitted to Mr. R. 
Brown, who is unable to refer them to any species known to him, although one speci- 
men has somewhat the aspect of a Proteaceous leaf. This fact is interesting because 
associated in the same limestone are two species of land testacea, a Helix and a 
Bulimus, which Mr. G. B. Sowerby cannot at present identify with any existing 
analogue. 
« These observations, taken in conjunction with the discovery by Mr. Darwin of a 
palm-like leaf in the same deposit (of which no similar leafy structure has been 
hitherto found in Van Diemen’s Land), may lead us to infer that the species imbedded 
in the travertin probably represents the fauna and flora of a period slightly anterior to 
the present.’’ [Physical Description of New South Wales, 1846, p. 254.] 
The two species of shells, H. Tasmaniensis, and B. Gunni, G. B. 
Sow., have been also described by Mr. Johnson, who has added three 
more species from the yellow limestone of Geilston, near Hobart 
Town. 
The above notices may perhaps be of interest as supplementary to 
Baron C. von Ettingshausen’s paper. J. Morris. 
April 11th, 1883. 
THE PEBBLES OF THE BUNTER SANDSTONE. 
Srr,—The papers on the subject of the origin and composition of 
the pebbles in the Bunter Sandstone which have recently been con- 
tributed to the GroLocicaL MaGaziInE give me an opportunity of 
briefly explaining my present views on this interesting problem. 
