1872.] ETHERIDGE QUEENSLAND EOSSILS. 319 



HlSTOET. 



So early as 1831-2*, Major T. L. Mitchell, Surveyor-General of 

 Australia, brought Palaeozoic fossils from the basin of the Hunter 

 river, and submitted them to Mr. J. D. Sowerby for identification. 

 These appear to have been Carboniferous ; for Atrypa glabra and Spi- 

 rifera are mentioned amongst the few forms occurring. 



Shells resembling Astarte and Hippopodmm are also mentioned, 

 of which latter there were four species named by Mr. Sowerby ; Me- 

 gadesmus, an Isocardiiform shell, and Trochus (T. ocidus) complete 

 the list. No conclusions as to age or stratigraphical position were 

 attempted, either by the explorer or Sowerby, it being evident that 

 they had not materials enough upon which to base reKable con- 

 clusions. 



A. E. C. Selwyn, Esq., in 1858 1, mentioned in a letter to Prof. 

 Ramsay, having in his possession many known and new forms of 

 Silurian fossils, and that Prof. M'Coy was about to examine, describe, 

 and figure the new species ; this, however, does not appear to have 

 been done. 



Mr. Selwyn distinctly describes the occurrence, near Melbourne, 

 of the equivalents of the May-HiU Sandstone of England, and, to 

 to the eastward, of a gradually ascending series, including Wenlock, 

 Ludlow, Devonian, and true Carboniferous rocks, with Oolitic coal- 

 bearing beds, resting unconformably upon the Palaeozoic strata. Sel- 

 wyn also recognized to the westward, towards Ballarat, a descending 

 series, believing them to be Cambrian ; he also mentions that about 

 sixty Silurian genera occur in that area, and many new species ; 

 these are all enumerated in Mr. Selwyn's paper (loc. cH.) ; but owing 

 to genera only being mentioned, and the chief occurring in the 

 older Palaeozoic rocks, they are of little value for a general table 

 of distribution. 



In 1860 the Rev. "W. B. Clarke, M.A., published J a valuable con- 

 tribution to the history of Atistralia. In the appendix, p. 282 (H), 

 "Fossils of the Southern Districts," Mr. Clarke refers to the assist- 

 ance received by him from Mr. Lonsdale and Mr. J. W. Salter in 

 determining the Silurian, Devonian, and Carboniferous species ; and 

 a copious horizon-table is given at pp. 285 and 288. No less than 

 269 fossils are enumerated, but only 124 species determined ; the 

 genera therefore have little value. At p. 284 Mr. Clarke refers 

 to the resemblance, if not identity of the Carboniferous species of 

 Australia with those of Ireland, as determined by Prof. M'Coy (Ann. 

 Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. xx.). " We find," says M'Coy, " so extraordi- 

 nary and unexpected an amount of agreement between those beds 

 and the similar Shales, Sandstones, and Inferior Limestones form- 

 ing the base of the Carboniferous system in Ireland, that it is im- 

 possible not to believe them on the same parallel, and there is equal 



* Three Expeditions into the interior of Eastern Australia, Australia Felix, 

 and New South Wales. By Major T. L. Mitchell, F.G.S., 1838 (now Lieut.- 

 Colonel Sir T. L. Mitchell, C.B.). 



t Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. xiv. p. 533, 1858. 



I ' Eesearches in the Southern Gold Fields of New South Wales,' Sydney : 1860. 



