178 
Mines and Mineral Statistics. 
beds in tbe coal measures ^\'e^o deposited over various older 
formations, some here, some there, vdiich occur at different levels, 
80 that some of the strata are missinp; in a few of the localities, 
and all are seldom seen together. Tlius the coal series at the 
height of 3,000 feet does not contain so many seams as near 
the sea level. And, perhaps, in describing them it would be 
preferable to separate the deposits into various local basins or 
saucers ; though the conditions of a true basin can only be exhi- 
bited on the large scale. 
It is at least certain, that in the "Western districts, though 
many of the conditions of the Newcastle and Illawarra beds exist, 
there are found certain fossils which are not found in the latter, 
and which would lead to tlie presumption that, as wc ascend in 
height above the sea we find the introduction of genera gradually 
approximating to a more recent epoch. Por example, the upper 
beds of the Lithgow AAlley coal measures contain a fossil wliich 
I first collected in 18()3, and of which Mr. A^^ilkinson has lately 
gathered some striking examples. These coniferous fossils con- 
sist of stems and branches ending in Strobilites. Professor 
Dana, to whom I sent specimens, informed me that he had never 
seen such before. To me they appear not unlike the Strobilites 
from the Gri!ii hujarre of Soulz-les- Bains, in the A^osges, figured 
by Schimperand Mougeot {Monograplde des Plantes foss’des do 
la Chaine des Vosges. Leipzig, 1814, tab. xvi, p, 31.) 
In another direction, viz., on the Clarence Eiver, there is a 
patch of coal measures in which there are forms resembling that 
of AValchia, with abundance of fragments of a plant common in 
the Mont d’Or coal measures of New Caledonia, together with 
plants tliat have a Tivniopteroid character, but are notTa^niopteris. 
On the other hand, on Bundanoon Ci'eek, in the county of Cam- 
den, there is a Dictyopteris. 
As far as some of the plants are concerned, it may bo admitted 
that they are in an unsatisfactory condition at present; but the 
balance in favour of a “ Carboniferous'* age for the Grlossopteris 
beds is, to my mind, conclusive. 
'With Dr. Oldbam’s arrangement in view, as given above 
(p. 174), there is no difficulty in admitting that in New South 
AYales there might be as many groups as in India, each younger 
than the other, without underrating the antiquity of the oldest 
AVith respect to the upjmrmost Palaeozoic rocks, Mr. Etheridge 
states that “The occurrence of Permian strata has not been 
confirmed in Australia,” which Professor M‘Coy surmised from 
Productus caJva and Aulosteges or Siroplialosia, submitted by me 
to the latter naturalist in 18G0. It is but just to Professor M‘Coy 
to explain, that they were collected in 1856 by Mr. Gregory on 
the Mantuan Downs, and for-warded to me by him in 1860. 
