372 PBOCEEDIKGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [March 26, 



1. Synopsis of tJie Younger, Foeiiatj-oxs of New Zealand. By- 

 Captain F. "W. Hutton, F.G.S., of the Geological Survey of New 

 Zealand. 



The following synopsis is based on an examination of the Tertiary 

 and Upper Secondary marine fossils in the Colonial Museum at Wel- 

 lington ; but to make it more complete I have added the freshwater 

 coal and lignite formations in the positions I believe them to occupy ; 

 this, however, is founded on stratigraphical, and not on palaeonto- 

 logical evidence, as also are the remarks on the volcanic rocks. 



A short account of the older formations of New Zealand will be 

 found in my report on the Southland District (Geol. Survey of N. Z., 

 Reports of Geological Explorations, 1871-72, p. 96). 



Of Tertiary fossils I have been able to determine 375 species of 

 Mollusca, 12 of Brachiopoda, and 18 of Echinodermata, the de- 

 scriptions of which will, I hope, be published as soon as the plates 

 are prepared. The numbers of the species determined for each 

 formation refer to the Gasteropoda and Lamellibranchiata only. 



It must not be inferred from the remarks made in this synopsis 

 that the Tertiary fossils of New Zealand are more nearly related to 

 those of South America than to those of Australia ; for as no de- 

 scriptions of Australian Tertiary fossils have as yet been published, 

 I have not been able to compare them with the New-Zealand fossils. 



I am aware that much may be said against employing the European 

 terminology in classifying rocks so far distant as those of Xew 

 Zealand ; but I believe that much more may be said against intro- 

 ducing new names, which are only supposed even to have a tem- 

 porary value ; and no geologist now thinks that a strict synchronism 

 is implied by placing rocks which are far distant from one another 

 in the same formation ; every one knows that they are only supposed 

 to be homotaxial with one another. It seems to me also to be 

 merely playing with words to object to the terms Miocene and 

 Eocene, and to substitute for them Middle and Lower Cainozoic ; 

 and the latter terms have the great disadvantage of not admitting 

 of any subdivisions without introducing the cumbrous nomenclature 

 of Upper middle, Middle middle, tfcc, while nothing facilitates the 

 working out of the geology of a country more than subdividing the 

 rocks as much as possible. 



CAINOZOIC EPOCH. 



Pleistocene Peeiod. 



Number of species determined S2 



„ of recent species 71 



„ passing down into the "Whanganui group 48 



„ confined to the formation 4 



Percentage of recent species 86 



Localities. — North Island : "Whanganui (Upper Series) ; Cape 

 Kidnappers (north-west side! South Island : Motanau, Canterbury. 



