KfLOOIUM OF ALEXANDER WINCIIELL. 59 



them with firmness ; but in upholding them he never descended to per- 

 sonalities, and no word was ever uttered by him that left a sting on the 

 memoroy of his opponent, even when vanquished. He was wist? and 

 learned, a kind and true friend, an exemplary citizen, and, best of all, an 

 honest man. 



The motion was unanimously adopted by a rising vote. 



The first title on the printed program was passed over, and the follow- 

 ing paper was presented : 



THE EURYPTERUS BEDS OF OESEL AS COMPARED WITH THOSE OF NORTH 



AMERICA. 



BY DR. FRIEDRICII SCHMIDT, OF THE ACADEMY OP SCIENCES, ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA. 



(Abstract.) 



One of the uppermost divisions of the Silurian system of the state of New York 

 and western Canada, the Waterlime group, is characterized by a peculiar fauna of 

 large crustaceans, Eurypterus, Pterygotus, Ceratiocaris, etc. It has already been said 

 hy Sir Rhoderick Murchison that this fauna shows a great resemblance to similar 

 crustacean faunas of the uppermost Silurian strata of Great Britain, the shales of 

 Lesmahago in Lanarkshire and in some places near Ludlow, where the crustaceans 

 are associated with a small Lingula, the characteristic Plaiyschisma helicites, and 

 divers fish remains. 



But still greater seems to be the resemblance of the American Waterlime fauna to 

 our Eurypterus beds of the island of Oesel, in the eastern Baltic, because the most 

 characteristic forms of both localities are two very nearly allied species of Euryp- 

 terus — the E. remipes of America and the E.fischeri, Eich., with us. Besides the 

 Eurypterus, we have a large Pterygotus, the P. osiliensis (aff. P. bilobus, Salt.), two 

 species of Bunodes, Eich. (connected with the English Hemiaspis), and a large 

 Crrittlortirlx, the C. niitlingi, similar to the C. maccoyanus of America. 



Last summer a local collector, Mr. Simonsohn, of Wenden, in Livonia, found the 

 metastoma of the genus Dolichopterus, hitherto only known from the American 

 Waterlime ; and so the resemblance between the American and Russian eurypterids 

 becomes greater. 



The most famous locality of our Eurypterus beds is Rootzikull, near Kielkond. 

 Here, besides the crustaceans, we havealso found fish remains— two cephalaspidean 

 genera, Thyestes, Eich., and Iremataspis, described some years ago by Eichwald, 

 Pander and myself. Now we have better specimens, which will be described soon 

 bv I>r. I. Rohon, of St. Petersburg, who has also lately described the first real fish 

 remains of the Lower Silurian, from the greensand at the base of the Silurian, at 

 Wessiks.* These Eurypterus beds, consisting mostly of yellow dolomitic flagstones, 

 are overlain by thin marly deposits, only a few inches thick, filled with small 



♦ Some of the Eslonie country people at Rootzikull know hoM to get the Eurypterus out of the 

 limestone, and Mr, Simonsohn, who now spends every summer there, will be ready !•• furnish geol- 

 ogists wil li gi ""l B] [mens. 



