158 Geological Society, 



crystalline rocks forming lofty and rugged mountains, and inter- 

 sected by deeply cut valleys which are occupied by arms of the sea 

 on the west, and by the great lakes on the east. These crystalline 

 rocks comprise an ancient contorted gneiss, and a newer (probably 

 not very old) series of hornblende-slate, gneiss, quartzite, &c. East- 

 wards they are succeeded by well bedded sandstones, shales, and 

 porphyritic conglomerates, with greenstone-slates, &c, in patches, 

 all probably of Lower Mesozoic age. Then follow the great auri- 

 ferous schistose formations, which comprise an Upper, a Middle, and 

 a Lower portion ; and upon these occur a series of Tertiary de- 

 posits, the lowest of which may, however, possibly be of Upper 

 Mesozoic date, while the upper, consisting of a Freshwater and a 

 Marine series, are unconformable to it, and are decidedly much more 

 recent. 



In describing the auriferous formations, Dr. Hector stated that 

 the quartz-veins occurring in the schists were not often true " fis- 

 sure-reefs " (that is, reefs that cut the strata nearly vertically and 

 have a true back, or wall, independent of the foliation -planes) but 

 are merely concretionary laminae that conform to the planes of 

 foliation ; the gold occurs segregated in the interspaces of this con- 

 torted schist, but is rarely found in situ. 



Dr. Hector concluded with some remarks on the early Tertiary 

 volcanic rocks, observing that the period of their eruption must 

 have been one of upheaval, and that the great depth of the valleys, 

 which have been excavated by glacier-action since the close of that 

 period, proves that the elevation of the island, at least in the 

 mountain-region, must once have been enormously greater than it 

 now is. 



2. " Note on communicating the Notes and Map of Dr. Julius 

 Haast, upon the Glaciers and Rock-basins of New Zealand." By 

 Sir R. I. Murchison, K.C.B., F.R.S., F.G.S. 



In this note Sir Roderick Murchison states that Dr. Haast has 

 informed him in a letter that he has for the last five years attentively 

 followed the discussions on Glacier theories, that in March 1862 he 

 came, independently of other authors, to the same conclusions in 

 New Zealand that Professor Ramsay did in Europe, and that his 

 views have been printed in his Colonial Reports as Geologist of the 

 Province of Canterbury. 



Sir Roderick also stated that the constant field and other occupa- 

 tions of Dr. Haast have hitherto prevented his carrying out his 

 intention of writing a paper for the Geological Society ; but he has 

 sent the following notes as a r6sum4 of his views. 



Though opposed to the theory of the excavation of basins in 

 hard rocks by the action of ice, Sir Roderick commended the re- 

 searches of Dr. Haast as showing the mutations of the surface in 

 successive geological periods. 



3. " Notes on the Causes which have led to the Excavation of 

 deep Lake-basins in hard Rocks in the Southern Alps of New Zea- 

 land," By Julius Haast, Ph.D., F.G.S. 



Referring first to the submergence of New Zealand during the 



