OF TIIK SEKfaPE-ALAOOAS BASIN OF BRAZIL. 407 



of the Scrra do Araripe, which, bogiiHiin<ij at the base, consists of horizontal beds of 

 lignite, limestone, sandstone, with chnlk and flints, the sandstone stratum forming the 

 mass of the plateau. The total thickness of the section is from I'lOO to 1500 feet. 

 The underlying rock appears to be slate, presumably paleozoic. The fossil fishes 

 found occur in concretions scattered about the surfjxce, which he supposed to have 

 been water-worn. The exact position of the fossils in the section is not known. 

 Gaidner believed them to have been weathered from the sandstone bed, but TIartt, 

 who, however, never visited the locality, expresses the opinion that they come from a 

 bed beneath the sandstone, which he thinks, together with the overlying beds, belongs 

 to the tertiary. The serra here spoken of trends N. N. E., and is an elevated plateau 

 about thii'ty miles wide, cut down rather abruptly on both sides, the valley on the 

 Ceara side being lower than that on the western or Piauhy side. The geographic dis- 

 tribution attributed to these beds by Gardner, that is, from this point to Maranhao, 

 is not warranted either by the facts given by him, or by any that have subsequently 

 come to light. The fossil fishes collected at and about Crato, by Gardner, were de- 

 scribed by Agassiz, who believed them to be of cretaceous age.* It should be men- 

 tioned in this connection, however, that Dr. J. S. Newberry and Dr. E. D. Cope 

 regard these fishes as of Jurassic age.f 



OTHER CRETACEOUS EXPOSURES, 



Jiio Mbasoro, Province of Rio Grande do Norte. — The exposure of the creta- 

 ceous on the Rio Mossoro in Rio Grande do Norte was reported by Major Coutinho. 

 Nothing is known of the character of the beds or their geographical distribution. 

 V. Dr. White's Contributions, p. 10, foot-note. 



Bio Pidbas, Province of Para. — Concerning the Piubas locality I personally 

 obtained from Snr. Ferreira Penna substantially the same information as that fur- 

 nished Professor Hartt, and given in Dr. AV'hite's Contributions, p. 9. Snr. Penna 

 assured me, however, that he had never seen these rocks exposed elsewhere than at 

 the mouth of the Rio Piabas where they aw. uncovered at low tide. lie found the 

 exposure wliiji' making a trip along the coast in a .small boat, and spent but a lew 

 minutes in making the collection from which Dr. White describes so many species. 



Pio S'lo Francisco above the Falls of Paulo Affonso. — The secondary nature of 

 some of the rocks of the Silo Francisco valley above the falls was first made known 



•Edinburgh New Pliilosophical Jour., .Jan., 1841. 



tA Conlribulion to llie Vertebrate Paleontology of Brazil. By E. D. Cope. Proc. Am. Pliil. Soc. January, 

 1886, pp. 1-21. The opinion of Dr. Newberry is quoted as here cited. It should be staled, however, that there is 

 possibly a mistake in crediting him with this opinion, for in a recent conversation with the writer. Dr. Newberry re- 

 ferred to tliese fossils as of cretaceous age. 



