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of corals are not rare in the limestones and calciferous sandstones of the 

 River Murray cliffs, at Mount Gambier, at Adelaide, and elsewhere. 

 Bat certain beds forming part of the sea cliffs of Aldinga Bay, St. 

 Vincent's Gulf, and at a few very circumscribed spots on the River 

 Murray, contain corals as well as other forms of life in a good state of 

 preservation. From these I have gathered 21 species, 7 from the Murray 

 cliffs and 14 from the Aldinga series of beds. 



The palselontological differences between the highly fossilferous 

 portion of the Murray beds and that of the Aldinga rocks, so strongly 

 marked in the case of the corals, has for some time past been regarded 

 by me as indicative of a difference of age, the older series being the 

 latter;' and not due to difference of habitat. I do not intend on this 

 occasion to substantiate this statement, but will content myself by 

 pointing out the relative positions of our coral bearing strata. 



A generalized section of the strata of the River Murray cliffs is as 

 follows : — 



1. — Lacustrine (?) sand and marls. No fossils, exceeding 60 feet 

 in thickness. 



2. Upper Marine Series ; shelly limestones (false bedded) and oyster 



beds, with occasional argillaceous and sandy bands. Rich in 

 gasteropods and corals. About 50 feet thick. 



3. Middle Marine Series ; usually a yellow calciferous sandstone ; 

 40-45 feet thick. Rich in echinoderms, brachiopods, pectens, and 

 polyzoa. 



4. Lower Marine Series. — Ferruginous sandstones and polyzoan 



limestones. Rich in echinoderms and brachiopods, but for 

 the most part of different species to those in the upper beds. 

 The Upper Marine Series is the direct equivalent to the Muddy Creek 

 beds, which are variously referred by the Victorian geologists to the 

 Upper Eocene, Oligocene, and Lower Miocene, and which Mr. Selwyn 

 (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc , vol. xvi., p. 147, 1859) considers to be the 

 oldest tertiary deposits in Victoria. 



The Aldinga section admits of division into — 



1. Lacustrine (?) clays. No fossils ; 48 feet. 



2. Upper Series. — Calciferous sandstones and impure limestones, 



with oyster banks ; 22 feet. 



3. Lower Series, consisting of beds of a most diversified character — 



clays, limestones, and sands rapidly replacing one another in 

 horizontal and vertical extension ; not less than 80 feet. 

 Corals occur in the clays and limestones. 



