BY T. STEPHENS. 759 



measures far inland that have been brought down in recent 

 times by the Inglis or its tributaries. 



[Some years after these notes were originally written, speci- 

 mens of this shale were submitted to Mr. Cosmo Newbery, of 

 Melbourne, for analysis. His report is as follows ; — 



Kerosene Mineral from North Coast of Tasmania. 

 Burns freely with a yellow smoky flame, leaving a reddish-brown ash. 

 Contains iron-pyrites. When heated in a closed vessel it melts, forming a 

 fragile coke. A sample dried at 212° F. gives the following results : — 



Water driven off at 230° F 1-59 



Volatile matter ... 67 "36 



Fixed carbon 25 '83 



Ash 5-22 



100-00 



About ten years ago coal measures containing seams of this 

 shale were discovered 14 miles south of Wynyard, and were 

 reported on by Mr. G. A. Waller, late Assistant Government 

 Geologist.*] 



The geological age of this accumulation of moraine-material 

 is a matter of speculation, but it seems probable that it formed 

 the base of the Permo-Carboniferous marine beds and coal mea- 

 sures which are still extant in the Mersey district, and that they 

 approached the present coast-line. These after long periods of 

 successive subsidence and elevation were eventually removed by 

 denudation, leaving the consolidated till as the floor of a 

 shallow estuary bounded on the east by the slate ridges near 

 Woody Hill, and on the west by a similar formation at or near 

 the meridian of Table Cape. Such a theory implies that on this 

 foundation, after a further period of subsidence, were deposited 

 the Tertiary marine beds originally extending from Table Cape to 

 Woody Hill, where detached masses of the fossiliferous sand- 

 stone were noticed cropping out from under the basalt, and it 

 also shows itself on the banks of the Inglis some distance 



*Report on the Recent Discovery of Caunel Coal in the Parish of 

 Preolenna. By George A. Waller, 9th November, 1901. 



