lxvi President's Address 



so that he could not advance our knowledge on the matter 

 He mentioned, however, in the course of the discussion, a 

 fact of the highest importance, and which may be found in 

 some measure to reconcile the views of Mr. Clarke and my- 

 self, namely, that Mr. Clarke in making his original collections 

 for determination had mixed together the fossils of the upper 

 and lower beds. Now, as a portion of the fossils could be iden- 

 tified with European species, and there were among them 

 two genera of Trilobites (Phillipsia and Brachymetopus) ^ 

 characteristic of the mountain limestone as found in Ireland 

 and Russia, the clearly marked age of these would have 

 determined the age of the whole, if, as was supposed, they 

 came from the same beds ; and in this indirect way the 

 Pachydomi and other new generic and specific forms, which 

 from their novelty could not afford any indication of age of 

 themselves came to be considered as Palseozoic forms from 

 their supposed associations with those which certainly were 

 of that age. It is obviously, therefore, necessary to collect 

 and investigate the evidence afresh from each bed by itself 

 with care, and I am happy to be able to announce the recent 

 receipt of a letter from Mr. Keene, the New South Wales 

 Inspector of Coalfields, in which he informs me that in con- 

 sequence of the suggestions which I made at the meeting 

 referred to of our Society, as to the scientific necessity of 

 having the materials collected anew with scrupulous care, 

 and which suggestion was forwarded by his Excellency, our 

 then President, Sir Henry Barkly, to his Excellency, Sir J. 

 Young, he was now engaged officially in making such a 

 collection, which he promises to send to me to enable me to 

 determine, as I suspect may be the case, whether the marine 

 fossils over the coal beds may be of a newer geological period 

 than the Palaeozoic strata under the coal beds. The result of 

 the examination will, of course, be brought before our 

 Society, for which purpose the investigations are being made. 



