120 
GRAPTOLITES OF VICTORIA 
it among the Monograptidae. The polypary is robust. Near 
its proximal end it is TO mm. wide, at its distal extremity 2 0 
mm. ; both measurements of dorsally compressed portions of 
the polypary. Thecae on convex margin, are straight, circular 
tubes of small diameter, overlapping a small fraction of their 
length, with even apertural margins; 5 or 6 in 10 nun. On 
the proximal thecae, thick blunt spines originate from the 
outer lip; on more distal thecae the spines become thinner 
and longer; and on the most distal thecae, no spines are 
visible, but they may have been obscured by the mode of 
compression. There is some evidence of a virgula. 
The straight, circular, scarcely-overlapping thecae suggest 
that it is a primitive type, one that shows “simplification in 
branching, and change in direction of growth ...” (1) charac- 
teristic of Silurian species occurred very early in the evolution 
of the Monograptidae. 
The specimen was found in Tucker Gully, Bendigo, bearing 
N 39° 10' E, 27 75 chains from the True Blue shaft; Reg. 
No. 14050, National Museum collection. 
Bibliography. 
Elies, Gertrude L. 
1. The Graptolite Faunas of the British Isles. Proc. Geol. Ass., Vol. 
xxxiii, 1922. 
Elies, Gertrude L., and Wood, Ethel, M. R. 
2. A Monograph on British Graptolites, Pt. viii. Palseont. Soc., Vol. 
lxiv, 1910. 
Geinitz, H. B. 
3. Die Graptolithen, 1852. 
Lapworth, C. 
4. Notes on the British Graptolites and Their Allies. Geol. Mag., 
Dec. 1, Vol. x, Table i, 1873. 
Description of Plate XVII. 
Monograptus sp. Polypary, No. 14050, Nat. Mus. Coll., from the Lower 
Ordovician Beds, Zone B2, Bendigo. X 6 approx. 
