49 
were numbered with the pleistocene period. As deposits of the most 
recent age , Mantell describes alluvial sediments and magnetic iron- 
sands of the coast with remains of Dinorms , Palapteryx, Notornis etc. 
occurring here and there. Mention is made also of the infusorial earths 
from Taranaki and from Lake Waihora near Bank’s Peninsula , en- 
tirely composed of diatomacese and polycistines. 
To Dr. Mantell’ s treatise a short note is added , in which Prof. 
E. Forbes mentions two localities of South Island , Banks River 
and the cliffs about Nelson, remarking on the fossil specimens from 
the localities named, which were presented by Mr. Gumming to 
the Museum for Practical Geology, that they cannot be identified 
with living species , but that their general habitus reminds the 
observer very much of eocene fossils from the Bognor beds. 
In 1854 and 1855, Mr. Ileaphy of Auckland published geolo- 
gical notes on the Coromandel District near Auckland and on the 
gold-diggings on Coromandel Harbour. The tracliytic rocks found 
there were, however, mistaken for granite. 
In the XII. Yol. of the Quarterly Journal, 1855, C. Forbes, 
Surgeon on board H. M. Ship “Acheron”, gives an interesting descrip- 
tion of the geological features along the coast of North and South 
Islands, attaching thereto remarks on the coal seams upon Preser- 
vation Island, at Motupipi, on the West coast of North Island not 
far from the mouth of the Waikato, and on Saddle Hill near Dunedin. 
In addition to this we find in the same volume a short note 
by Mr. J. Crawford on the geological structure of the vicinity of 
Port Nicholson , where more or less vertical strata of clayslate con- 
stitute the mountain ranges , and the plains consist of tertiary strata 
and alluvial deposits. Mr. Crawford remarks also , that about Port 
Nicholson and likewise near Whakapuaka there are indications of the 
coast having been raised within a very recent period. 
In 1859, Prof. T. II. Huxley gave an account concerning fossil 
bones of Paleudyplts antarcticus , a species belonging to the family 
of Pinguins, and cetaceous remains of Plioccenopsis Mantelli from 
apparently tertiary strata. 
In 1861, Prof. Owen surprised the geological section of the British 
Hochstetter, New Zealand. 
4 
