our knowledge of the younger geological formations, and it is 
hoped that steps may shortly be taken to accurately define in 
the field its relationship to the Jurassic Beds to the north, and 
the artesian water-bearing strata which underlie the metropolitan 
area. 
(, h ) Perhaps the most important recent additions to our 
knowledge is the recognition of a deposit made up solely of fossil 
sponge spicules in the so-called Deep J.ead at Princess Royal 
township, near Norseman, at an altitude of about 700 feet above 
sea-level. Dr. G. J. Hinde, F.R.S., into whose hands the De- 
partment entrusted this material for examination, reports that 
the deposit is not merely local, but must have been formed in 
the open ocean at some distance from the coast line and probably 
at a considerable depth. This discovery is of considerable im- 
portance and will have to be thoroughly examined some day as 
it involves a whole series of important conclusions regarding the 
physiographical changes in the district, which depend upon the 
geological age of the deposit. The solution of the many economic 
questions involved in the stratigraphical research w'hich such an 
investigation entails is of no less importance to the community 
than the purely scientific results which of necessity follow. 
(t) Important additions have been made to the sum total 
of our knowledge in regard to the geological conditions obtaining 
in the various portions of the State in which artesian water 
occurs. Actual boring operations have demonstrated the accu- 
racy of the geological deductions, and land that hitherto could 
not' be made effective use of has been taken up and stocked, 
thus increasing the woolclip and the stock-carrying capacity of 
the State. 
My self-imposed task is now ended and in the fulfilment of 
the task I have endeavoured to show' concisely how the Depart- 
ment came into being, the purpose for which it exists, how it 
carries out its work, something of what it has been able to accom- 
plish, and how in the highest sense it has endeavoured to justify 
the conception that “ Geological Science is not only the interpreter 
of Nature, but the Servant of Humanity.” 
