XIV 
Carboniferous age in West Australia, lias been described by Mr. A. Gibb 
Maitland, F.G.S., in a letter to myself. He gives the following sketch 
section : — 
This foraminiferal limestone contains also a great abundance of 
exquisitely preserved crinoids. Numerous fossils have been described by 
Mr. A. H. Pool’d from the Irwin River, in the Victoria District . 1 
The general facies of the Marine Fauna, especially the brachiopods, 
is Carboniferous rather than Permo-Carboniferous, as it contains such forms 
as Productus undatus, Spirifera exsuperans , Beticularia lineata , Orthotetes 
crenistria , &c., none of which ascend into the Permo-Carboniferous rocks 
of N. S. AVales. The exact relation of the rocks containing the above 
brachiopods to the foraminiferal limestone has not been ascertained, but 
apparently they all form part of the Carboniferous System . 2 An account of 
the Foraminifera has been given by Mr. Walter Howchin . 3 
They comprise the following: — Cornuspira schlumbergi, Howchin, 
Nodosaria irwinensis Howchin, Frondicularia woodwardi, Howchin. A 
species of Nubecularia is also present in large numbers in a crinoidal 
limestone from the Irwin River, collected by Mr. Panton . 4 Porcellaneous 
types largely predominate. A feature of special interest is the occurrence of 
a bed of glacial erratics a short distance below the foraminiferal limestone. 
In Mr. Foord’s opinion, the Irwin River limestones are of Carboniferous 
Age. If this view be accepted (and the Palaeontological evidence strongly 
supports it), the Irwin River district has a foraminiferal horizon, as well 
as a glacial horizon, of Carboniferous Age, and thus older than the Permo- 
Carboniferous foraminiferal and glacial horizons of N. S. AVales. 
1 Geol. Mag., 1890, VIII (3), pp. 145-155, pis. vi-vii. 
2 Mr. R. Etheridge, however, informs me that he is satisfied as to the occurrence of Productus 
hrachythccrus inconsiderable numbers in the Marine Strata of the Irwin River, and he considers that some, at 
any rate, of the strata shown in the above section beneath the mesozoic sandstone are of Permo-Carboniferous 
Age, in the meaning of that term as used by N. S. Wales Geologists for the period which was contemporaneous 
with the Glossopteris and Gangamopteris Flora of that State. Mr. A. Gibb Maitland, considers that the coal 
seams shown are perhaps the equivalents of the Greta coal-measures (Permo-Carboniferous) of N. S. Wales. 
’ Rept. Austr. Assoc. Adv. Sci., 1893, V, p. 366 ; also Trans. R. Soc. S.A. xix, 1895, pp. 194-200, pi. x. 
4 A thin slice of this is preserved at the Geological Survey offices, N. S. Wales. This was collected by 
Mr. Panton, and labelled “Irwin River.” 
