COLONIAL GEOLOGY. 



27 



later than the deposition, of the latter. The course of the Basaltic dyke 

 seen in the cliff at Tynemouth, where it passes into the Permian Lower Red 

 Sandstone, has evidently a westerly direction, but it has not been traced ; 

 its relations, therefore, are not precisely known. In mineral character it 

 is a compact labradorite. 



Having thus briefly adverted to a few points of geological interest con- 

 nected with the ground traversed during the last winter evening meetings 

 of the Club, it only remains for me to indicate the departments of geological 

 inquiry to which our attention will be directed during the present season. 

 The coal-measures will receive our first consideration, more especially as 

 they immediately succeed the Devonian system, which has already re- 

 ceived some considerable attention. The fauna of the formation, as we 

 shall see, acquires still further development, in harmony with the general 

 law of progression that regulated the introduction of organic existences 

 from the Cambrian epoch, through all the succeeding periods, to the close 

 of the Tertiary, when it culminated in man. It is a curious fact that not a 

 single species of the singular bone-encased fishes of the Old Red Sand- 

 stone survived the close of the Devonian period, these fishes not having a 

 single representative in the coal-measures. Seeing the period of transition 

 from the one to the other was apparently quiescent, free from violent or 

 sudden upheavals of the earth's surface, to what causes are we to attribute 

 their extinction ? The flora of the Carboniferous system is its distinguish- 

 ing characteristic, and its exuberant vigour is very remarkable when com- 

 pared, or rather contrasted, with the paucity and apparent feebleness of 

 the preceding Devonian vegetable forms. The Permian series, another 

 local formation, though not so important, in an industrial point of view, as 

 the Carboniferous, is, nevertheless, one of considerable interest. The at- 

 tention of the Club will also be directed to this series, the last of the 

 Palaeozoic divisions. The formation is so well developed in our immediate 

 neighbourhood, that frequent opportunities will arise for examining to- 

 gether the many excellent sections of the strata it contains. 



In conclusion, the President congratulated the members of the Club on 

 the vigour and success that had hitherto characterized their operations, 

 and on their enthusiastic devotion to scientific investigations at once so in- 

 structive and entertaining. 



COLONIAL GEOLOGY. 



GEOLOGICAL NOTES ON THE COUNTRY NEAR MELBOURNE, 



VICTORIA. 



By Thos. Harbison. 



Australia offers both advantages and the reverse as a field wherein 

 geology may be studied. Mesozoic strata being absent, or very sparingly 

 developed, the variety of fossils is not extensive ; but some of the pheno- 

 mena observable are by no means devoid of interest. 



The very limited portion of the Australian continent which I purpose 

 describing is delineated upon sheet number 1 of the geological map lately 

 issued by Mr. Selwyn, — a reduced sketch-copy of which is enclosed with 

 the present communication (PI. VI.). 



By this map it will be seen that there are at least three classes of 

 strata to be noticed — Silurian, Tertiary, and Volcanic. The site of 

 the Victorian metropolis, together with the suburban townships, com- 



