176 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. [Proc. 3D Ser. 



apparently to three or four species. These are referable to 

 the genera Ostrca, Pecten, and Saxidomus, and are either 

 of Tertiary or Post-Tertiary age." 



In 1892 Dr. W. H. DalP mentioned the occurrence of 

 marine beds of Miocene age near Sooke. 



Dr. Newcombe has, in 1893-98, made numerous visits to 

 the outcroppings of the beds near Muir and Coal Creeks, 

 bringing back a considerable amount of material in a very 

 good state of preservation. 



The cliffs in which the fossils occur are said by Dr. 

 Newcombe to consist of soft sandstone and conglomerate. 

 The strata do not appear to be greatly disturbed. Mollus- 

 can remains are found in abundance in both the sandstone 

 and the conglomerate. In most instances the specimens 

 are well preserved, showing the original unchanged mate- 

 rial of the shell. 



The number of known species being small, it is perhaps 

 not possible to determine with absolute accuracy the age of 

 this horizon. The recent and extinct species are, however, 

 about evenly divided, so that both the Quaternary and the 

 Eocene are beyond the range of possibility. Within the 

 limits of the Neocene the nearly equal number of extinct 

 and living forms points to Middle Neocene, while the gen- 

 eral relationships of the fauna to the known Miocene and 

 Pliocene faunas of the coast show no preponderance of 

 affinity in either direction. The total evidence available 

 seems then to indicate the Middle Neocene age of the 

 Sooke fauna. 



1 Bull. U. S. Geol. Surv., No. 84, p. 230. 



