320 



a slow and tranquil deposit, assisted by the action of organic bodies, 

 which lived and died on the spots where they are now found ; that 

 on the contrary, the beds of shale and sandstone appear to have 

 been formed mechanically, and contain fossils drifted from a di- 

 stance. Hence these beds are less continuous and regular than the 

 groups of limestone; but some of them, especially two of the coal- 

 beds, may be traced through the greater part of the several lines of 

 section. 



5thly. That the valleys of the carboniferous chain, near the lines 

 of section, are not excavated on lines of fault, but on true valleys 

 of denudation. Notwithstanding this, there has been some change 

 in the distribution of the water channels, at a period very recent, 

 compared with that of the elevation of the carboniferous chain — just 

 before the deposit of the new red sandstone. 



March 30th. — Viscount Norreys, M.P., of John Street, Berkley 

 Square ; Sir John Johnstone, Bart. M.P., of Lower Grosvenor 

 Street ; Samuel Duckworth, Esq. of Trinity College, Cambridge, 

 and Lincoln's Inn, London; William John Hamilton, Esq. of Stanley 

 Grove, Chelsea ; and Charles Hay Carnegy, M.D. of Edinburgh, — 

 were elected Fellows of this Society. 



A paper was read, entitled " Geological remarks on the vicinity 

 of Swan River and Isle Buache or Garden Island, on the coast of 

 Western Australia ;" by the Rev. Archdeacon Scott, F.G.S. 



The author, who was accidentally detained for several months at 

 the settlement recently established on the western side of Australia, 

 describes a line of coast, of more than thirty miles in length, as 

 composed of a highly calcareous sandstone, presenting very similar 

 mineralogical characters throughout its whole extent. At a pro- 

 montory, about five miles to the north of the river Swan, the cal- 

 careous sandstone exhibits a surface in which are numerous concre- 

 tions having the appearance of inclosing vegetable matter. This 

 character is by no means confined to that spot, but is very commonly 

 observed; and on a rising ground, to the east of a space marked out 

 for the intended town of Fremantle, the sandstone assumes the 

 appearance of a thick forest, cut down about two or three feet from 

 the surface, so that to walk on it becomes extremely difficult, and 

 even dangerous. 



The author gives a detailed account of the sections which accom- 

 pany the paper, and notices the beds passed through in sinking 

 various wells in the calcareous sandstone. 



At Mount Eliza, which rises above Perth, ten miles from the 

 mouth of the Swan, and the principal place in the settlement, the 

 calcareous sandstone attains the height of about 300 feet, and is 

 observed to be based upon a ferruginous sandstone fitted for the 

 purposes of building. From Perth to the foot of Darling's Range, 

 red clay and white marl are found after passing the Helena River. 

 Darling's Range is estimated at about 1500 feet above the level of 

 the sea, and is composed, where visited, of greenstone and sienite ; 

 and he was also informed that clay slate had been discovered more 

 to the southward in the same range. 



