president’s address. 
180-5 
evidently requires alteration, and which I therefore omit, together 
with his sketch of the Geology of Eastern Australia. 
The general conclusions at which the author arrives may best 
be stated in his own words. 
§1. “ It is evident that in South Africa, equally with India 
and Eastern Australia, great rock systems occur, which are rather 
nearly related to each other, and certainly agree with each other 
far more closely than with any series yet known in Europe or 
America. The greater part of these formations are evidently 
of Freshwater origin; and huge lakes and vast river systems 
must have occupied the regions where to-day we find the forma- 
tions in question. 
§ 2. “ This observation led long since to the assumption of a 
great continent which in early geological periods extended over a 
great part of the southern hemisphere, and which in area may 
not have been greatly less than the present Asia-European conti 
nent. 
§ 3. “ The story of this continent seems to have been a highly 
singular <jne. Instead of the great chains of foldings which 
compose the mountain elevations in the northern hemisphere, and 
form thus to some extent the skeletons of the continent, v/e here 
find table-shaped mountains built up of horizontal rock masses. 
These, it i.s true, rest on folded rocks, but the rocks effected 
(affected) by the folding action are principally archaic ( Archiean ?). 
Already in the Devonian period we see the intensity of the 
folding forces greatly decreased; great regions like South Africa 
and India [but not Australia?] show the Devonian formations 
mostly in horizontal positions, ami whatever followed was only 
tilted out of its horizontal position here and there quite locally. 
§ I. “ While the fold-making action was decreasing more and 
more on this part of the earth’s surface, immense fallings in 
api»ear simultaneously to have led more and more to the breaking 
up of the once existing vast continent. We know from the 
distribution of the marine deposits, that in the .Jurassic period the 
