JSew South Wales . 
3 1 
Xt is this required proof which renders it, in some cases, no 
wilful scepticism to call in question the identification of any 
plants ; and it may be questioned whether any of our fossils are 
capable of such complete identification as to make their recog¬ 
nition a matter of positive certainty. On the other hand, even 
in organic remains of Marine origin there may he difficulties of 
another kind. Wo need only refer to the very interesting 
report of the meeting of Members of the Geological Society of 
Prance at Roannc in 1878,* to see how a plant, noticed above 
(j Boritia radial a) , occurs in the Coal-beds near Roanne, in a 
variety of deposits all apparently of one formation, which M. 
Douville shows to comprehend in itself two distinct and 
independent formations, exhibiting singular and extraordinary 
concordance and discordance, owing to certain physical derange¬ 
ments which bring as it were the strata of Sarrebruck Coal-field 
and that of Saxony into Central France, and, at the same time, 
according to M. De Rouvillc, exhibit a concordance between the 
Coal formation and the Permian, and discordance between the 
mountain limestone and the true Coal-beds without mixture of 
the flora. After well considering such a condition of things as 
this, one should be very cautions in the matter of stratification, 
especially in a country so distant from Europe and America as 
is Australia. It was my lot to pass through the district in 
question in 1825, and 1 still retain impressions of the geology, 
so far as I noticed it; but 1 regret that I did not know it, as 1 
now find, to be in many more points than those just mentioned 
like that of some portions of out Australian Coal-fields. A 
more striking instance of the conformity of stratification of 
widely separated formations may be found in a memoir of 
Casiano de Prado, “ Stir Vexistence de In Faunc Primordialo 
dans la chaine Cantahriquc read by M. de Ycrneuil before the 
same Society, on 7th May, 18G0,—in which is shown a section of 
vertical rocks perfectly conformable to each other without the 
slightest break, Lower D'evonian rock and Red Sandstone with the 
Devonian fossils side by side and on both sides of a band of 
Lower Silurian, as determined by Barrande and lie Ycrneuil, 
whose descriptions of the fossils is given in the memoir. The 
whole of the rocks mentioned, which are succeeded by carbon¬ 
iferous strata equally vertical, were considered at one time to be 
Devonian. On this most instructive example M. Barrande 
makes the following excellent remark, which will bo sufficient 
apology on my part for calling attention to the necessity of 
carefuily examining the Stratigraphy as well as the Paheontology 
of the rocks in Australia, — “This example is so important in its 
results that it deserves to he cited in the number of those which 
* “ Bulletin 
3‘‘ scric, tome 1, pp. 411--450. 
