34 THE NAUTILUS. 



Surcula Cai'penteriana Gabb. 



Surcii/i.1 Tri/oniniia Gabb. 



Venus (Chione) ynidla Brod. & Sby. 



Pecten (Janira) fioridus Hinds. 



Lucina acutilineata Conr. 



Nassa insciilpta Cpr. 



Hemicardiwm biangulata. 



It would hardly be safe with our limited knowledge of the mol- 

 lusca of this region, at this time, to assert with positiveness that any 

 of the supposed extinct species, are really extinct species, and yet, 

 the fact is apparent that even those species that are occasionally 

 found living here bear a very small relation, so far as numbers are 

 concerned, to those that existed in the past. The fact is further ap- 

 parent that along the northern shores of the Continent these same 

 species are found in great abundance ; this might suggest a probable 

 migration. 



Still the uncertainty of the matter, and the possibility of disprov- 

 ing the theory of extinction by an actual discovery of the living in- 

 dividuals here add interest and a stimulus to collectors and scien- 

 tists. 



If, after an exhaustive search for these missing species, it shall 

 appear that they have really disappeared, then the interesting ques- 

 tion arises as to the reason of their departure. 



What were the conditions surrounding this locality in the Quater- 

 nary and Pliocene periods that made it possible for these forms to 

 exist then, that are now so changed as to render it impossible for 

 them to exist at present, and why are they still living along more 

 northern shores ? 



The study of these questions may lead us somewhat out of the line 

 of conchology and into other branches of scientific investigation, but 

 as knowledge is what we should all covet, it might not be time mis- 

 spent to look into the subject. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



AMERICAN PALEONTOLOGY. For some time past we have been 

 considering plans to increase the scope of our present publication, 

 " Bulletins of American Paleontology," in several ways, the details 



