74 
Sedimentary Formations 
bool Hills resemble very closely certain strata about Camden 
in .Sew South Wales. But if the latter are proved to be of 
younger age than that which has been assumed for them, it is 
not necessary to place the two series (so widely separate in 
space) on the same actual horizon. 
We have not recognized in New South Wales the Gycadeous 
plants of Victoria, nor is there a perfect agreement in the 
phytology of the Wianamatta and Victorian strata. I n 1861 I 
mentioned (“ 'Recent Geological Discoveries , <fcc.,” p. 45) three of 
M* Coy’s New South Wales Plants, G lei chan lies odontnpteroides 
(called Pecopteris by Morris and Carruthcrs) ; Odontopteris 
microphylla ; and Pecopteris iennifolia , as occurring in the Wiana- 
matta beds. These are not reported from Victoria, whilst Spheno- 
ptens alafa {Drang .), Grandini of Goepp.and Scliimper, from New¬ 
castle, belongs to the Old Carboniferous in Germany, and not to 
any Mesozoic formation. 
in the list given in “ Progress Report of Victoria , 1874,” Pro¬ 
fessor M‘Coy mentions 3 species of Qangamopleris , from his 
Upper Carbonaceous beds; 2 Neuropteris, 1 Pecopteris, 3 
Sphenopteris, 1 Tieniopteris, with 3 Zamitcs and 1 Phyllotheca 
trom tin* Lower Carbonaceous ; and only one animal form, Unio 
Dacomhii . The alleged abundance and value of Coal in these beds 
have becu proved to be a myth. There is, however, more Coal 
therein than in the smaller area of the Wianamatta and Hawkes- 
bury rocks; and probably that is the reason why the Professor 
would place them below the former group of New South Wales. 
But when we consider the great improbability that a series of 
strata having a thickness of at least 5,000 feet could ever have 
existed between the Hawkesbury and Wianamatta series, and 
that not a trace remaius anywhere in New South Wales of such 
interpolation,—that the fossil evidence is in opposition to it,— 
and that the areas arc totally disproportionate, — it would appear 
a mere caprice of fancy to hold such a notion as that hinted at. 
It may he well to make a final remark respecting Mr. Brough 
Smyth’s idea, that the Coal-beds of New South Wales lie oil 
“ limestone (“j Progress Report p. 26.) Had lie visited them 
himself he would have seen that limestone, as such, is rather a 
rare rock in connection with the New South Wales deposits of 
Coal, which clearly interpolates the Marine beds; but the latter 
are more frequently conglomerates, or sandstones and grits. 
The Upper Coal Measures rest frequently on granite and slates 
as well as on other rocks. The limestones in the Carboniferous 
rocks are rare, being few and of limited extent and far between. 
The author just mentioned considers the relation of the u Goa',1- 
bearing ” to “ Palccozoic rdcTes” as “obscure,” but it is not obscure 
to those who have examined for themselves, nor more so than the 
feeling which induces philosophers to keep out of sight and 
