Wellington PJiilosophical Society. 537 



In the Cretaceous formation occur tlie great coal deposits in New Zea- 

 land. The associated flora, which is very rich in forms, has a large 

 preponderance of Dicotyledonous plants some of which have been referred to 

 generic representatives of the existing flora of this country, forty different 

 species being distinguished. 



The upper -Cretaceous and Eocene formations (Cretaceo-tertiary) are 

 blended and continuous in sequence and altogether of marine origin ; but in 

 some districts the sections are incomplete in their lower sub-divisions, and 

 the coal series, if present, is overlaid immediately by one of the upper 

 sub -divisions, indicating a probable continuity of land surface in some parts 

 of the area throughout the entu'e period. 



In the Miocene there is again evidence of wide-spread land surfaces in 

 the South Island, at the base of the great gravel deposits that represent all 

 the subsequent formations in that area ; but in the North Island the 

 Miocene and lower Pliocene formations are marine, the upper Pliocene 

 being a lignitiferous series, associated with pumice sands. The flora of the 

 tertiary period is badly preserved, and the collections are scanty ; but as far 

 as yet studied, it bears a very close affinity to the recent flora of the 

 country. 



12. " On the Fossil Brachiopoda of New Zealand," by Dr. Hector, 



ABSTRACT. 



The lower, secondary, and upper Palaeozoic formations of New Zealand, 

 afford a remarkable abundance of Brachiopoda belonging to the family 

 SpiriferidcB, and the examination of them has led to the discovery of several 

 forms, possessing characters hitherto undescribed, and has, besides, proved 

 that several well-known genera have a much greater vertical range than has 

 hitherto been assigned to them. 



Thus the peculiar sub-genus of Terebratula represented by the typical 

 Epithyris clongata, which has previously been recorded only from Permian 

 and Carboniferous strata, is abundant in the Liassic (Bastion) series, and 

 extends downwards to the upper Silurian formation. 



In dealing with those Spiriferidse distinguished by the possession of a 

 punctate shell structure and a strong mesial septum in the ventral valve, it 

 has been found convenient to restrict the genus Spiriferina to the middle 

 secondary forms, having rounded cardinal angles, and a moderately extended 

 hinge-line as in Spiriferina ivalcoti, and S. rostratus, while Professor Konig's 

 name of Trigonotreta has been revived for the Permian species, in which 

 the hinge-line is greatly produced, and forms acute processes, as the New 

 Zealand forms clearly support the generic distinctions relied on in Professor 

 King's monograph on the Permian Fossils of England. Thus, while the 

 general form is that of Spirifera, the shell shows a distinctly punctate 



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