ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 19 
The Rev. J. M. Curran was engaged during the early part of 
the year on the gems and precious stones of the colony, and the 
results of his observations will appear in the coming volume of 
this Society. Mr. Curran has also continued his observations on 
the Mount Kosciusko Plateau, and notes additional evidence to 
support his conclusion (already made known through the Linnean 
Society), that (1) there is no evidence of glacial action in the 
valleys at the base of Mount Kosciusko ; (2) there is absolutely 
no evidence of any extensive Post-Tertiary glaciation on the 
Kosciusko Plateau. During a tour in the Cretaceous area of the 
north-west of the colony, the same gentleman found evidence to 
show that in the north-west, as well as at Coonamble, the artesian 
water is derived from Triassic rather than from Cretaceous beds. 
Mr. Curran was by good fortune on Salisbury Downs in September 
last, when an artesian supply was tapped at a depth of 1,700 feet, 
and amongst the debris brought to the surface by the first rush of 
water was a well preserved specimen of J’aeniopteris, together 
with a number of fragmentary impressions of the same fern, and 
this may be taken as conclusive evidence of the water-bearing 
beds being Triassic and not Cretaceous. This discovery is an 
important contribution to Australian geology. 
4, CuEemistry anp Meratturcy.—The work done by Mr. W. M. 
Hamlet, the Government Analyst, although essentially of a 
Scientific nature, largely consists of routine work; it embraces 
Such items as the following which were analysed, examined, and 
Teported on during the past year :—drugs, chemicals, articles of 
food and drink, condiments, cosmetics, antiseptics, disinfectants, 
textile fabrics. such as cloth, silix, cotton, blanketing, paints, fuels, 
dyes, soap, sealing wax, patent medicines, sewage effluents, bitumen 
and building materials. Investigations have also been made on 
the subjects of air-pollution, water supply and sewage disposal. 
Mr. Hamlet’s opportunities for research during the past year 
have been seriously diminished through having to remove his 
laboratory to other premises pending the erection of the Board of 
Health building, a floor of which will be set apart for hisimpor- 
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