4 
In putting these ideas into practice I have been able to convince 
myself that about a third of the species examined and represented by more 
than a thousand specimens belong to the Silurian and Devonian, and that the 
greater portion of the remaining two-thirds belong to the Carboniferous 
System. I think I should state that I take all the responsibility for the 
determination of the sj)ecies described or recorded, as well as for the con- 
clusions deduced from their study and set forth later on. 
No general work on the Silurian and Devonian fossils of Australia lias 
appeared up to the present. Professor McCoy has published a list of a 
number of species observed by him in the Silurian beds of Victoria,^ and Dr. 
Bigsby has recorded them in the important work to which he has with justice 
given the title “Thesaurus Siluricus,” and tiiere has added some others that 
have been reported to him by Salter f Mr. B. Etheridge, junior, has recently 
published some observations on the Graptolites of the Lower Silurian Bocks 
of Victoria.^ The Carboniferous fossils on the other hand have been the 
subject of interesting memoirs by Messrs. J. D. and G. Sowerby, Lonsdale, 
Morris, McCoy, Dana, A. d’Orbigny, and lastly Mr. B. Etheridge.'^ 
These various works, the titles of which will be found in the footnote, 
have been of great help in my own work. It should be noted also that 
Professor McCoy’s Memoir that appeared in 1847 was based on material sent 
by the Bev. W. B. Clarke to Professor Sedgwick of Cambridge ; in this way 
one gains proof positive of the considerable time this indefatigable Geologist 
has already given to the study to which he is whole-heartedly devoted, and 
which has gained him the honour of sharing with Sir Boderick Murchison 
the honour of foretelling the discovery of auriferous deposits in Australia 
long before it was realised.® 
^ Exposition intercoloniale, 1866. Notes sur la zoologie et la paleontologie de Victoria, in 8vo. Melbourne. 
The Rev. J. E. Woods mentions only Pentamerus oblongus as having been found about thirty miles to the 
outh of Adelaide. Geological Observations in South Australia, 1862, p. 20. 
Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 1874. 
(1) T. J. Mitchell, Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia. 2 vols., 8vo, 1838 (Fossils by 
J. D. Sowerbj'). 
(2) Darwin, Volcanic Islands (fossils by G. Sowerby). 
(3) McCoy, On the Fossil Botany and Zoology of the Rocks associated with the Coal of Australia (Ann. 
Mag. Nat. Hist., 1847, xx (1), p. 145). 
(4) Dana, Geology of the U. S. Exploring Expedition during the years 1838-1842, under the command of Ch. 
Wilkes. 4to, with Atlas in folio, 1849. 
.(5) J. Grange, Geologic et mineralogie dii voyage au pole sud et dans I’Oceanie, sous le commandement de 
J. DuTnont d’Urville. 2 vols. in 8vo, with Atlas, fob, 1848-1854 (fossils by A. d’Orbigny) 
i(6) R. Etheridge, Description of the Mesozoic and Palaeozoic Fossils of Queensland (Quart. Journ. Geol. Sog. 
1872, xxvi, p. 317). 
5 Woods, Geological Observations in South Australia, p. 4. 
