110 



would be now constituting part of an Australian desert, even 

 though its climate is a fair average for South Australia. 



Professor Tate has very kindly supplied the subjoined note : 

 — " The following plants are restricted in Munno Para to the 

 Upland Miocene surfaces. Among shrubs and undershrubs 

 — Hybanthus iioribundus, Boronia camilescens, Lcptospermum 

 myrsinoides, Calycothrix tetragona, Hibbertia densiflora, H. 

 fasciculata, Grevillea lavandulacea, Hakea rugosa, Banksia 

 marginata, Isopogon ceratophyllus, and Styphelia Sonderi and 

 other epacrids. Of herbaceous plants the following are con- 

 spicuous by their profusion and brilliancy of blossom : — 

 Burchardia umbellata, Thelymitra longifolia, Diuris maculata, 

 Prasophyllum f uscum, Caladenia Patersoni, Pterostylis longi- 

 folia, and Grlossodia major; Drosera auriculata, Euphrasia 

 Brownii." 



Water-hearing 'Properties of the Beds. — No permanent spring 

 of noted consideration issues directly from these beds. Never- 

 theless, when we consider not only the exceedingly pervious 

 character of the newer rocks, but also the nature of the sur- 

 rounding debris (a pervious sand, in many instances extending 

 far beyond their present limits in actual situ) , it is reasonable 

 to infer that they materially add, in an indirect way, to the 

 subterranean water supply which issues forth at lower levels 

 from the fundamental rocks. 



A rough approximate of the annual storage of water derived 

 through the direct action of these beds and surrounding detritus 

 may be reckoned as follows : — Superficial extent, 1,400 acres ; 

 average rainfall, 22 inches. The usual method of solving such 

 problems, when the upper rock stratum and its superficial 

 covering consist of medium permeative constituents, is to allow 

 two-thirds of the annual rain-water as being carried off in the 

 shape of flood-water and by evaporation. But a personal know- 

 ledge of the exceedingly pervious nature of the beds in question 

 and that of their superficial covering leads me to infer that 

 14f inches exceed the actual amount of loss thus sustained. 

 Consequently I estimate the loss at 10 inches. My calulations 

 are embodied in the following table : — 



Superficial area, 1,400 acres. 



Annual average rainfall .. .. 22 inches. Total in gallons, 697,466,000 

 Loss by flood-water, evaporation, &c. 10 inches. Total in gallons, 317,030,000 

 Stored in the strata .. .. 12 inches. Total in gallons, 380,436,000 



Daily product therefrom .... in gallons, 1,042,290 



Numbers of persons that might be] 



supplied at the rate of 40 gallons V .. . . .. .. 26,057 



per head a day. ) 



It may be observed that though the Upland Tertiaries of 

 Munno Para present a gloomy and weird aspect in so far as 



