and cliloritc In one place it gave way 
gradually to a grey granite containing 
white orthoclase, frequently twinned, 
quartz, biotite, chlorite, and a finely- 
divided reddish-brown mineral. 
On the geological map of Tasmania 
Coles Bay is marked as being on the 
contact between the granite and dia¬ 
base, thought to be of cretaceous age, 
and of frequent occurrence around 
Swansea. As no diabase was seen, it is 
evident that the sea at Coles Bay must 
have advanced some distance into the 
granite. Diabase probably appears on 
the point between Coles and Hazard 
Bays. On the map, again. Hazard 
Bay is marked as being in diabase. An 
inspection showed that the country 
rock, at the north end at least, was 
granite of a similar character to that 
observed at Wineglass Bay; but small, 
watorworn nodules of diabase found on 
the beach show that the diabase is not 
far away. 
ZOOLOGICAL RESULTS OF THE 
EXPEDITION. 
(By T. Thomson Flynn, B.Sc.) 
So little lias been done of late years 
on the fauna of Tasmania, and such a 
great deal remains to be done, that it 
is a matter for congratulation to the 
organisers that the recent trip of the 
Field Naturalists to Freycinet Penin¬ 
sula was, from a biological standpoint, 
undoubtedly a success. In some re¬ 
spects, however, the zoological results 
were disappointing; the dredging was 
poor, and the surface tow-netting was 
only passable. However, the poor re¬ 
sults of the former were, probably, to 
bo attributed to the fact that the floor 
was principally of white sand, which 
allows of very little marine life beyond 
shells, other tortus having a partiality 
for oozy, muddy, and weedy bottoms. 
The life of the surface water, obtain¬ 
ed by dragging a surface net after the 
boat, was not as plentiful as it would 
have been in the warmer parts of the 
year, but some interesting material 
was obtained, including examples of a 
“one-eyed” crustacean, called Cyclops 
(which, though microscopic, is one of 
the cousins of the ordinary crayfish), 
and some developing eggs of a marine 
worm, well worth study. 
We arrived at Wineglass Bay on the 
afternoon of Good Friday, and on the 
following morning some of the party 
icported having found a number of 
' jelly fish” stranded on the beach. On 
examining the specimens T was agree¬ 
ably surprised to find that they were 
examples of a large species of Salpa, 
which, so far from being a jelly fish, is 
a somewhat distant r(dative of man 
himself. To look at the adult animal 
one would hardly imagine such a fact 
to be true, but as is often the case, it 
is only on studying the development of 
the creature that its real place in 
Nature can be determined. Its rela¬ 
tion to man and higher animals is bas¬ 
ed on the fact that in its young state 
it posseses a structure known as a noto¬ 
chord or chorda dorsalis, which is com¬ 
mon in their embryonic condition, to 
man and other mammals, birds, rep¬ 
tiles, fishes, and related animals. In 
most of these, however, it is aborted 
by the time the animal reaches the 
adult stage. 
This structure often occurs in fishes; 
take the backbone of a fish and separ¬ 
ate two of the portions composing it 
(vertelmu); they will be found to be 
concave, and in the hollow between 
will be seen shreds of some material 
which has been used or dried up. This 
substance is the vestige of the noto¬ 
chord. In the larval fish it stretches 
right from the head to the extremity 
oi the tail. As the fish develops the 
notochord becomes replaced by the 
backbone, which gradually grows round 
it. 
The larval Salpa posseses a similar 
notochord, which disappears as the 
animal grows older, hut the very pre¬ 
sence of it in the young animal is suffi¬ 
cient to determine it as a near relative 
of the higher animals—the vertebrates. 
There are a number of other points 
worth noticing about this interesting 
little animal. It has a most peculiar 
and complex life history. The adult 
Sftlua is somewhat cask-shaped, with 
a series of muscle bands round the 
body, causing contraction, this again 
causing movement through the water. 
It possesses digestive, nervous, and 
reproductive systems. This form gives 
rise to a young Salpa, which is quite 
different in some respects to the parent, 
and this, instead of being the origin of 
free or separately swimming forms, 
grows out into a long chain which, 
when examined, is found to consist of 
a number of these animals joined to¬ 
gether. They now swim about in long 
chains, with a sort of serpentine move- 
