XXXIX. 



The Anniversary Address of the 

 President, 



Professor Ealph Tate, Assoc. Lin. Soc, F.G-.S. 



Prefatory. — At our last Anniversary, when I had the honour 

 of addressing you from this chair, I took occasion to sketch the 

 present state of our knowledge of the Natural History of 

 South Australia. But as that retrospect does not embrace 

 Geology, beyond indicating the chief published sources of our 

 information, and directing attention to the salient points of 

 our geology about which accurate observations are needed, I 

 propose, now, to supply the omission. I shall, however, pursue 

 a somewhat different plan in dealing with the Greology than I 

 did with the other branches of Natural History, and instead of 

 a mere review of what has been published on the subject, I 

 will incorporate all the information that I have acquired by 

 personal observation and by correspondence with what has 

 been written. In this endeavour I hope to present you with a 

 more systematic and fairly comprehensive history of the 

 geological changes that this land of ours has undergone than 

 it would otherwise be possible. An attempt of the kind was 

 made by me in a course of lectures on " The Ancient Physical 

 Geography and Geology of South Australia," delivered during 

 the winter of 1877 under the auspices of the University of 

 Adelaide. 



The following Syllabus is a reprint, as advertised : — 

 Lectuee I. — April 9th. 



Educational value and objects of Geological Science. 



Geological preliminaries, embracing the origin and phenomena of igneous 

 and sedimentary rocks, and the classification of sedimentary rocks. 



Surface features of South Australia. Coast scenery, and its relation to 

 rock structure. 



Lecture II. — April 16th. 



The origin and characteristics of our shingle beaches and sand dunes — 

 The Coorong and Murray bar. 



Nature and origin of alluvial plains. The Biscuit Flat and its charac- 

 teristics. 



Lecture III. — April 23rd. 



South Australia slowly rising : its ancient sea margins. Kaised beaches 

 of Victor Harbour, Aldinga, Brighton, Yorke's Peninsula, &c. Kecent 

 marine limestone and other deposits of Dry Creek, Glenelg, Edithburgh, 

 Victor Harbour, Lacepede Bay, &c. Contemporaneous sandhills of Plympton, 

 Alberton, and Cape Northumberland. 



Distribution of marine life in depth. 



