E. F. PITTMAN AND T. W. E. DAVID. CXVII. 
nature as well as their colour. The colour is of a dull 
reddish-grey due to peroxide of iron, and it is probable that 
they have resulted from the disintegration of ferruginous 
beds in the Desert Sandstone. They occupy irregular 
shaped isolated areas, and their level is generally slightly 
higher than that of the surrounding black soil or flood loam 
deposits. In the present state of our knowledge it would 
be unsafe to venture an opinion as to the thickness of this 
red soil formation, and its relation to the underlying strata, 
(newer than the Cretaceous), which in many places yield | 
supplies of brackish well water. The following is an 
analysis by Mr. F. B. Guthrie, F.1.c., F.c.S., of this red soil: 
Locality, Pera Bore. 
Nature of soil, light sandy loam, red. 
Reaction, very slight alkaline. 
Capacity for Water, 28°3. 
Mechanical Analysis—Root fibres, 0°12; stones, none; 
coarse gravel, 0°12; fine gravel, 0°91; sand, 79°04; 
clay, 19°81. 
Moisture, 3°21. 
Volatile Matter, 3°94. 
Nitrogen, °03. 
Soluble in Hydrochloric Acid—Lime, °13; potash, 36; 
phosphoric acid, °25. 
Sandhills and Claypans.—What is known as sandhills and 
claypan country forms one of the most remarkable features 
of the north-western portion of the New South Wales 
artesian area. Typical examples of this formation are 
particularly noticeable between the Clifton Bore, and the 
town of Milparinka, on the road between the latter place 
and Wanaaring. They consist of a series of hills of blown 
sand alternating with more or less regularly shaped depres- 
sions (claypans) the floors of which are composed of clayey 
material. These have already been described by one of 
