CXXXIV PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



platform on which the fire rested, and that of trap and greenstone 

 dykes upon the same rock in a neighbouring quarry. 



Mr. J. S. Wilson, Geologist to the North Australian Expedition, 

 has contributed a brief notice of the coal-formation of the neighbour- 

 hood of Sydney. The sandstones and shales associated with the coal 

 resemble those of England, and the coal-shales abound in leaves 

 of plants, with much bituminous matter. There are two seams 

 of coal, the shale covering the upper seam being overlaid by a trap- 

 conglomerate ; a trap-dyke, 9 feet thick, cutting through the whole at 

 Nobby' s Island. Mr. Wilson mentions two examples of fossil forests, 

 the first resting upon a bed of shale generally covered at high water, 

 the roots and stems having been fossilized so as to become a rich iron- 

 stone. In one locality of the shale Mr. Wilson states the discovery 

 of fine specimens of Lepidodendron. Amongst many other remarks 

 upon the igneous rocks and metamorphic rocks, Mr. Wilson doubts 

 the accuracy of the statement of Mr. Odernheimer, that '^ dioritic and 

 syenitic rocks are, in the gold-fields of the Peel, the exclusive bearers 

 of the gold-quartz- veins," as being opposed to his own experience in 

 other respects. 



Mr. S. H. Beckles has described a cliff-section from Hastings to 

 Cliifend. The strata noticed form two remarkable bands, the upper 

 consisting of shale and associated ironstone, which had been described 

 by Mr. Webster (his description, however, requiring some modifica- 

 tion), and the lower of sandstone with several layers of clay of various 

 intensity of colour. These bands undulate in the cliff, sometimes 

 rising on its face to the height of 20 feet, and then sinking down 

 below the water-level. All the organic remains indicate deposition 

 in fresh water. The shale with ironstone at the top contains CyrencBy 

 Unionidce, Insects (as before stated by Messrs. Binfield), and bones of 

 Saurians, whilst the ironstone itself abounds with vegetable remains. 

 The sandstone contains small varieties of Unio and casts of foot- 

 prints, whilst the layer of clay immediately below it affords very 

 fine specimens of a Zamia, and of two other plants, together with 

 a large Anpdonly a small Paludinal, and some small coprolitic 

 bodies of rare occurrence. The lower layer of clay is not rich in 

 fossils, but the discovery of the dorsal rays of Hybodus justifies Mr. 

 Beckles in hoping for further discovery with a more extensive exami- 

 nation. These beds constitute the lowest visible members of the 

 Wealden at Hastings. 



Several short papers of a miscellaneous character were also contri- 

 buted, each communicating some isolated fact ; such, for example, as 

 that by Mr. Bunbury, of a deposit of black peaty mud 20 feet thick, 

 formed at the bottom of a mere near Wretham Hall, Norfolk. 

 This mud is vegetable matter in a more complete state of decompo- 

 sition than ordinary peat, and imbedded in it is an horizontal layer 

 of compressed but undecayed moss, from 2 to 6 inches thick, the 

 moss being the common Hypnum Jluitans. The peat above and 

 below the moss-band is precisely the same ; numerous horns of red- 

 deer are found in the peat at a depth of 5 or 6 feet, some having been 

 cut apparently with a saw ; seams of sand occur, and occasionally 



