xxii President's Address 



The coal measures of New South Wales, of Tasmania, and, 

 no doubt, of Victoria also, rest upon a stratum of sandstone 

 rock, containing marine shells and corals, of descriptions 

 similar to those found in the mountain limestone on which 

 the ancient carboniferous formation of Great Britain repose ; 

 but, on the other hand, the beds of shale, in which the seams 

 of workable coal are interspersed, exhibit fossil plants widely 

 differing- from those of the British coal measures, although 

 it happens, strangely enough, that the remains of the true 

 carboniferous flora are yet found in various parts of Australia, 

 but not yet, I believe, in conjunction with coal. 



Notwithstanding this discrepancy, the Rev. W. B. Clarke 

 has always held, that the plant beds of the Hunter Biver 

 coal-field, are of nearly the same age as the underlying beds 

 with animal fossils, and that neither, are of more recent- 

 origin than the close of the first great epoch of ancient life 

 on our earth, termed by geologists the Palaeozoic period. 



Professor M'Coy, on the contrary, published his opinion 

 long before coming to this colony, that avast geological 

 interval elapsed between the deposition of the marine re- 

 mains and the ferns and cycadeous plants above them, and 

 argued that the latter so closely resembled the species found 

 in the oolitic or secondary coal of Yorkshire, that they must 

 (together with nearly identical forms from the coal-fields of 

 India) be referred to the same group, the Jurassic of geo- 

 logists, or second division of the Mesozoic or middle age of 

 life. 



This opinion has been adopted by most of the leading 

 geologists of the day, but that of Mr. Clarke has, neverthe- 

 less, been supported by some distinguished authorities, in- 

 cluding Mr. Jukes, now local director of the Geological 

 Survey of Ireland ; Professor Dana, of the United States 

 Exploring Expedition ; Dr. Hochstetter, of the Austrian Ex- 

 ploring Expedition; Dr. Joseph Hooker, the eminent botanist; 



