ANNr\^EES.iJaY ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. CXV 



the Austrian Governmeut, have been for some time before the 

 public. We have novsr before us two specific works on the geo- 

 logy of New Zealand which deserve notice, as well as a geological 

 and topographical atlas of New Zealand, prepared by Dr. P. 

 Hochstetter and Dr. Petermann. As, however, we may hope to 

 receive shortly the results of the Geological Survey of New Zea- 

 land, which has been undertaken by our own Government, and as 

 the collections made by Dr. Hochstetter during his comparatively 

 short residence on the island were necessarily imperfect, I shall 

 only briefly allude to them at present. 



The first of these memoirs is by Dr. C. Zittel on the Fossil 

 MoUusks and Echinoderms of New Zealand. The oldest fossi- 

 liferous beds which occur in New Zealand are referred to the Trias, 

 on account of the great preponderance of two characteristic shells, 

 Monotis salinaria and Halobia Lo^nmeli. There is, however, some 

 slight evidence of the occurrence of Palgeozoic forms, as Spinigera 

 unclata, Defr., of the Spirifer Sandstone ; these occur in the south- 

 em (middle) Island in the neighbourhood of Nelson. 



On the west coast of the northern island are dark-coloured cal- 

 careous marls containing numerous Belemnites and a few Ammo- 

 nites. It is difficult to assign its exact position to this formation. 

 The Belemnites would lead to the inference that its proper place 

 was Jurassic, whereas the Ammonites and a large Inoceramus 

 show a greater resemblance with Cretaceous forms. 



The Tertiary formations which occur in various localities are 

 referred to two periods. 1. The older formation. With the ex- 

 ception of Waldheimia lenticularis, Desh., this formation contains 

 no species now living in the neighbourhood, indeed they belong 

 almost exclusively to extinct species. A list of the localities 

 where it occurs is also given. 2. The younger formation. This 

 shows a very remarkable contrast to the former, and is closely con- 

 nected with the molkiscan Fauna of the present day. These beds 

 appear to have been deposited during, and to belong to, a period 

 in which climate and the conditions of life, as well as the geogra- 

 phical distribution of animals, were generally the same as at present. 



Full descriptions of the fossils are then given, accompanied by 

 ten plates of illustrations. 



The second work contains an account of the Foraminifera of 

 the Tertiary green sandstone of Orakei Bay near Auckland, by 

 Felix Karrer, with one plate of illustrations. The general conclu- 

 sion at which the author arrives is, that as Globigerina, Miliolidea, 

 and Hhahdoidea, inhabitants of deep water, are on the one hand 

 almost entirely wanting, and Hotalia and Amphistegina found at a 

 moderate depth are the prevailing fonns, the deposit must have 

 been formed at no great depth ; and as Bryozoa are also very rare, 

 he refers it to the lowest portion of the Amphistegina-zone. Of 

 the twenty-one species here described, the majority are new. 



The Atlas, which is preceded by an explanatory notice by Dr. 

 Petermann on the progress of the cartographical knowledge of 

 New Zealand, consists of six maps. Dr. Hochstetter adds a special 



