Ferdinand von Mueller

1

Letter not found. For the text given here see B74.13.07, pp. 27-8. In a note of 1 October 1874, attached to the letter, Smyth commented: 'Mr. J. S. Thomas, to whose kindness the Department is indebted for the fossils named in the above report, informs me that the shaft in which they were found is about 100 feet in depth, 85 of which is volcanic rock. Under the volcanic rock, as in Victoria, is a stratum of mud or clay, with decomposed vegetable matter and trunks of trees; and beneath this, resting on the bed-rock, is the auriferous gravel (wash-dirt) in which the fossil seeds are found. It is interesting to compare this section with those given by Mr. Lynch, Mr. Arrowsmith, and Mr. Reginald A. F. Murray.'

Melbourne, 29th July 1874.

Sir,

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of yesterday, accompanied by fossil fruits obtained at Orange, in New South Wales, and so thoughtfully transmitted by the editor of the Western Advocate for examination to your Department. These vegetable relics, which represent three species, prove identical with some of the specific forms of the fossils but a few years ago discovered in the pliocene drift of Smythe's Creek,

2

Vic.

and with one exception, all only as yet known from that locality.

They belong to:—

1.

Spondylostrobus Smythii

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(F. M. in Lond. Geol. Mag. March 1871, and in R. Brough Smyth's Reports of Mining Surveyors and Registrars 1871. March, pl. I)

2.

Phymatocaryon Mackayi

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(F. M. in R. Brough Smyth's Reports 1871. June, pl. II.) Both the large and minute variety. Obtained also very recently from the Rev. W. B. Clarke, F.G.S., as gathered in New South Wales.

3.

Penteune Clarkei

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(F. M. in R. Brough Smyth's Report 1873. December, pl. VII.).

There are also two fragments of a fourth, and perhaps unknown, fossil fruit; but the material does not suffice for exact identification.

3

This sentence is printed as a footnote, its position marked by an asterisk.

The discovery of these organic remnants in a far distant tract of country in New South Wales, is not without considerable interest, inasmuch as thereby now is shown, that the pristine forests, which have left us these vestiges, were of wide geographic extent. Moreover we may probably connect, in all instances, the occurrence of the fossils with adjacent auriferous strata of rich yield, and may thus obtain additional indications and directions for future searches after the richest of our metallic wealth. Though through your own enlightened consideration in the essays referred to, a diagnostic and illustrative account of these three genera, and other concomitant fossils, became promulgated, we yet possess no data to reconstruct imaginarily in their integrity these particular Australian trees of the last of the past epochs.

We as yet require to learn, what was the nature of their leaves and floral organs; and these, although so much more perishable than the woody fruits, may still be found preserved on most favorable spots, particularly those of the Spondylostrobus, as the resinous contents of branches and foliage of all coniferæ offer great resistance to decay.

The general enquiry into the constituents of these bygone forests is also far from exhausted; indeed a well directed and persevering search in any locality, where fossils of these kinds may come to light would, doubtless, not only augment our knowledge of the species already disinterred but also would likely add new generic and specific types to the store of those revealed already by palæontologic science in so many parts of the globe.

To R. Brough Smyth, Esq., F.G.S.,

Secretary of Mines.