380 Heports and Proceedings — 



The last rests conformably on beds of coal and shale, with leaves 

 of Dicotyledonous Angiosperms, forming the base of the Waipara 

 system. To this system Nos. 4 and 5 of the above section have also 

 been referred by Dr. von' Haast and the writer. The upper beds are 

 the Oamara system of the same authors. The question to be decided 

 is the limit between the two. The green sandstone (No. 5) and the 

 coal shales are generally admitted to be Cretaceous. 



The geographical distribution of the beds enumerated was briefly 

 described, the grey sandy marl (No. 2), the Amori limestone (No. 4), 

 and the green sandstone having a northerly extension to Cook's 

 Straits, whilst the other beds have been traced to the south only. 

 An examination of the stratigraphical evidence shows that at Weka 

 Pass, and also on the Waipara, the Weka-pass stone rests on a 

 waterworn surface of the Amori limestone, and near the Pass the 

 former overlaps the latter. The grey marl (No. 2) is evidently 

 unconformable to the lower beds of the Waipara system, whilst at 

 Waipara and Weka Pass it passes down conformably into the Weka- 

 pass stone. The grey marl also passes up conformably into the 

 Mount-Brown beds. The author concludes that the break in suc- 

 cession is between the Weka-pass stone and the Amori limestone. 



The geological evidence is in accordance with the palteontological 

 data. The fossils hitherto found in the Weka-pass stone [Valuta 

 elongata, Scalaria rotunda, StrutJdolaria senex, JPecten Hochstetteri, 

 Meoma Craiofurdi, ScJiizaster roiundatus, and Flabellum circulare) 

 are found in other parts of New Zealand in Upper Eocene beds. 

 None of them are known from the Cretaceous Waipara system. 

 The fossils from the grey marl are also in some cases identical with 

 those found in the Mount-Brown beds. 



The author concluded by giving reasons for not agreeing with 

 Dr. Hector, who classes all the beds mentioned as belonging to one 

 system pf Cretaceo-Tertiary age. 



9. " On the Chemical and Microscopical Characters of the Whin 

 Sill." By J. J. H. Teall, Esq., F.G.S. 



The Whin Sill is an intrusive sheet of basic igneous rock which 

 occurs in the Lower Carboniferous strata of the north of England. 

 It is remarkably uniform in character, the principal varieties 

 evidently depending merely on the conditions of consolidation. 

 Close to the junctions the rock is compact ; the dominant variety, 

 however, is of a grey or bluish-grey colour and medium grain. 

 Irregular masses of a very coarse variety, characterized by long flat 

 prisms of pyroxene measuring an inch or more in length, occur here 

 and there in the dominant medium-grained rock. 



The principal constituents of the rock of the Whin Sill are plagio- 

 clase felspar, a pyroxene having certain special characters, and a 

 magnetic titaniferous iron-oxide. Apatite is invariably present in 

 very small quantity. Interstitial matter may generally be recognized, 

 also in very small quantity ; in the coarser varieties this interstitial 

 matter takes the form of micropegmatite. The accessory consti- 

 tuents are a rhombic pyroxene (bronzite), hornblende, biotite, pyrite, 

 and various green decomposition-products. Olivine has not been 



