President’s Address. 
5 
flown from isolated craters ; and this by its decomposition 
forms a rich soil for pastoral purposes ; while, as in Victoria, 
the older Basalt is found in dykes cutting through the older 
rocks. The general geology of the country resembled that 
of Victoria, except at Fitzroy Downs, where the beds are 
found containing the Wollombilla Fossils, which I had the 
pleasure of determining at one of the former meetings of our 
Society, and so proving, for the first time, tiro existence of 
marine Oolitic formations in Australia, from the characters 
of the Ammonites, Belemnites, and other Molluscs found in 
them. 
Mr. Daintree also tried to settle the points in dispute 
between the Rev. Mr. Clarke and myself, relative to the 
age and position of the beds associated with the coal of 
New South Wales, but failed, from the very spot where 
sections might have given a definite result being covered up, 
so that he could not advance our knowledge on the matter. 
Ho mentioned, however, in the course of the discussion, a 
fact of the highest importance, and which may be found in 
some measure to reconcile the views of Mr. Clarke and my- 
self, namely, that Mr. Clarke in making his original collections 
for determination had mixed together the fossils of the upper 
and lower beds. Now, as a portion of the fossils could be iden- 
tified with European species, and there were among them 
two genera of Trilobites (. Phillipsia and Brachymetopus), 
characteristic of the mountain limestone as found in Ireland 
and Russia, the clearly marked age of these would have 
determined the age of the whole, if, as was supposed, they 
came from the same beds ; and in this indirect way the 
Pachydomi and other new generic and specific forms, which 
from their novelty could not afford any indication of age of 
themselves, came to be considered as Palaeozoic forms from 
their supposed associations with those which certainly were 
of that age. It is obviously, therefore, necessary to collect 
and investigate the evidence afresh from each bed by itself 
with care, and 1 am happy to be able to announce the recent 
receipt of a letter from Mr. Keene, the New South Wales 
Inspector of Coalfields, in which he informs me that in con- 
sequence of the suggestions which I made at the meeting 
referred to of our Society, as to the scientific necessity of 
having the materials collected anew with scrupulous care, 
and which suggestion was forwarded by his Excellency, our 
then President, Sir Henry Barldy, to his Excellency, Sir J. 
