MOORE—PLANT- AND INSECT-BED. 253 
preserved to be separated from the matrix. In addition to these, 
there is what appears to be,a secd-vessel, of an oval shape, whilst 
the impressions of what are probably other seeds are to be detected 
on the laminz of the marl. 
Mr. Carruthers, of the British Museum, who has been kind 
enough to examine the specimens, thinks it undesirable, as they are 
not quite perfect, to assign them a place or generic position, without 
further examples; but he states that they are probably of Tertiary 
age, although similar dicotyledonous leaves occur in the Secondary 
rocks of North America, and also, though move rarely, in those of 
Europe. 
It was my intention (having observed these specimens) to 
remark on the probability of finding fossil insects in association 
with these plants, and to advise my Australian friends to keep 
a look-out for them. Subsequently, however, by a closer exa- 
mination of the marl itself, I had the pleasure of detecting their 
existence in it, and of obtaining evidence of the presence of 
the earliest known fossil insects in Australia. The first which 
attracted my attention was a small, black, shining, highly orna- 
mented elytron of a beetle, partly concealed in the matrix ; but in 
endeavouring to uncover it, the specimen sprang out bodily, and 
proved too brittle to be preserved. Ten other insects were after- 
wards obtained from the same block. The most abundant belong to 
the Coleoptera, both double and single elytra being present, some 
of them haying the punctate strie well preserved. There are single 
specimens which may belong to Cyphon, and also a minute annulose 
body which may be a larva. 
As some of these insects are very small, it will be undesirable at 
this time to do more than record their presence in the Australian 
Tertiary deposits, leaving their description until a larger series shall 
have been obtained. There can be no doubt, from the apparent 
abundance of both plants and insects, that a rich harvest awaits those 
palzontologists who will give attention to these interesting beds. 
EXPLANATION OF PLATE XVIII. Figs, 2-11. 
2-9. Remains of Coleoptera, from New South Wales. 
10. Larva, probably of Oxytel cs, from New South Wales. 
11. Insect, probably allied to Cy ydnus, from New South Wales. 
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VOL, XXVI.—=PART I, 
