£84 Geological Society : — 



the province of Canterbury, between the Hurunui and Waipara 

 rivers. All of the beds are met with at Weka Pass, on the railway 

 and road between Christchnrch and Nelson, and the following is the 

 section in descending order : — 



1. Mount-Brown beds ; pale yellowish sandstone with bands of 



shells and coral limestone, considered by all New Zealand 

 geologists Upper Eocene or Oligocene. 



2. Grey sandy marl. 



3. Weka-pass stone, yellowish with arenaceous limestone, usually 



with small green grains. 



4. Amori limestone, white, flaggy, and argillaceous. 



5. Green sandstone with remains of marine saurians. 



The last rests conformably on beds of coal and shale, with leaves 

 of dicotyledonous angiosperms, forming the base of the Waipara 

 system. To this system Nos. 4 and 5 of the above section have also 

 been referred by Dr. von Haast and the writer. The upper beds are 

 the Oaniara system of the same authors. The question to be decided 

 is the limit between the two. The green sandstone (No. 5), and the 

 coal shales, are generally admitted to be Cretaceous. 



The geographical distribution of the beds enumerated was briefly 

 described, the grey sandy marl (No. 2), the Amori limestone (No. 4), 

 and the green sandstone having a northerly extension to Cook's 

 Straits, whilst the other beds have been traced to the south only. 

 An examination of the stratigraphical evidence shows that at 

 "Weka Pass, and also on the Waipara, the Weka-pass stone rests on 

 a waterworn surface of the Amori limestone, and near the Pass the 

 former overlaps the latter. The grey marl (No. 2) is evidently 

 unconformable to the lower beds of the Waipara system, whilst at 

 Waipara and Weka Pass it passes down conformably into the Weka- 

 pass stone. The grey marl also passes up conformably into the 

 Mount-Brown beds. The author concludes that the break in suc- 

 cession is between the Weka-pass stone and the Amori limestone. 



The geological evidence is in accordance with the palseontological 

 data. The fossils hitherto found in the Weka-pass stone ( Voluta 

 elongata, Scalaria rotunda, JStruthiolaria senex, Pecten HocTistetteri, 

 Meoma Crawfurdi, Schizaster rotundatus, and Flabellum circulare) 

 are found in other parts of New Zealand in Upper Eocene beds. 

 None of them are known from the Cretaceous Waipara system. 

 The fossils from the grey marl are also in some cases identical with 

 those found in the Mount-Brown beds. 



The author concluded by giving reasons for not agreeing with 

 Dr. Hector, who classes all the beds mentioned as belonging to one 

 system of Cretaceo-Tertiary age. 



9. "On the Chemical and Microscopical Characters of the Whin 

 Sill." By J. J. H. Teall, Esq., F.G.S. 



The Whin Sill is an intrusive sheet of basic igneous rock which 

 occurs in the Lower Carboniferous strata of the north of England. 

 It is remarkably uniform in character, the principal varieties 

 evidently depending merely on the conditions of consolidation. 



