Sept. I, 1885.] The Australasian Scientific Magazine. 61 
see that rocky crested mountain which rises high above the ranges to the 
north of us — whose “ capp’d heights appear precipitously steep; those 
rugged heights are built up of waterworn pebbles resting on uptilted sand- 
stones, and the highest peak is called Mount Tambo. Yes, strange as it 
may appear, those massive conglomerates, now fully 3000 feet above us, 
were rounded by the action of water, worn down from pre-existing rock 
formations, and deposited by aqueous agencies in the bed of an ancient 
lake or sea, ages upon ages before the limestone rocks, on which we are 
now reclining, were built up by those lowly denizens of the sea — the coral 
polype. And when we examine those bold, rounded mountains to the 
east of us, we will obtain a clue to the agencies which dominated during 
the past in elevating these massive rocks. And by corrugating and con- 
torting the beds of limestone sediments assisted in forming these ridges, 
hillocks and hollows, which characterise this charming area. See how 
strong a line of demarcation exists between the limestone formation and 
the adjoining rocks, between the thickly wooded slopes of this mountain, 
Mount Buninyong, and the limestone ridges which rise high up on its 
western flanks. Again turn to the westward — that high range with bold 
escarpments of rock on its steep eastern spurs forms part of the Great 
Dividing Range — the backbone of Eastern Australia. Away low down at 
its base, like a silvered thread, winds the zigzag course of the Tambo River. 
And there, nestling in the rich flats on its easern side, is the Bindi 
Homestead. This creek below us, which has worn its passage down 
through the limestones, and which rises in the Buninyong Ranges to the 
east of us, is Bindi Creek, while that deep valley to the south of us 
marks the course of Junction Creek; and that high coned peak on the 
opposite side of the valley was ascended, many years ago, by our venerable 
Chief Justice Stawell, and is now named Mount Stawell in commemoration 
of that event. Let us now descend this hillside and examine that bluffy 
outcrop of rocks. I have here a compass for ascertaining the strike of the 
outcrops, another small instrument called a clinometer for measuring the 
slope or dip, and also a geological hammer for breaking off chips from the 
rock masses ; here are also a few small phials containing some acids for 
examining the chemical constituents of the samples we will break 
off. Now, as our journey is one of mutual instruction, will you kindly 
take this note-book and jot down a few remarks I will make on 
the results of our explorations and examinations. First, then, let 
me pour a few drops of this acid (hydrochloric) on the bluish 
looking fragment I have broken off. Ah ! it effervesces like sodawater, 
and has a peculiar smell ; while the other piece of rock which we 
have carried in our valise from the Tambo River, near Tongio — a piece 
of slate — is not at all affected by the acid. You would like an explanation 
of this peculiar property, which causes the acid to effervesce on the one 
rock and not on the latter. Certainly, the explanation is very simple. 
That bluish rock, which was so powerfully affected by the acid, is a car- 
bonate of lime (limestone) ; or, as the chemists call it, calcic carbonate, 
and the acid we poured upon it (a very powerful and, indeed, dangerous 
substance to trifle with) is a chemical combination of two gaseous elements 
— chlorine and hydrogen. Now the chlorine of this acid has, what 
chemists call an affinity for another substance, not a gas, but a metallic 
element, which is the principal ingredient of our piece of rock (viz., 
Calcium). But you recollect our specimen is a calcic carbonate — that is, 
a combination of lime and carbon, so that before the chlorine can enter 
