6 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Voi. ix. 



was understood by me many years ago. The fossils must in this 

 matter furnisli the most reliable information, and in this depart- 

 ment unfortunately Dr. H. merely gives lists of genera, most of 

 which have a very wide range, and which prove nothing, unless 

 the species can be determined with accuracy. In this, however, 

 there is some difficulty. The specimens are usually merely casts, 

 they are much distorted, and from the hardness of the rocks 

 they can usually be procured only in fragments. When in 

 the region, I collected very diligently, and have since carefully 

 Etudied my collections, and compared them with fossils of various 

 portions of the Upper Silurian and Devonian ; but though I have 

 arrived at much more definite determinations than those given 

 by Dr. H., 1 have hesitated to publish detailed lists. It is now 

 necessary, however, to go into details, and I trust I can show to 

 the satisfaction not only of pala3ontologists but to that of any 

 student who possesses a geological text-book, that Dr. H.'s con- 

 clusions on this subject are wholly illusory. 



The following list refers to my collections from the Nictaux 

 ore and the neighbouring beds, and from Moose River and Bear 

 River, on approximately the same horizon : — 



1. Zaplirentis, a large species with deep calyx ; but a cask 

 merely, and therefore not determinable specifically. — Nictaux. 



2. Favosites. General form and size of cells similar to those 

 of F. cei-vicornis, Ed. and Haime; tabulae continuous and very 

 close. — Nictaux and Bear River. 



3. Pleurodicti/um prohlcmaticum, Goldfuss. Cast of a large 

 specimen. — Bear River. 



4. Stenoj)ora. A branching species with very fine cells. 



[Of the above corals No. 3 is characteristically Devonian. 

 The others are found in association both in the Upper Silurian 

 and Devonian.] 



5. Stroplwdonta magnijica, Hall. A large Strophodonta, rc- 

 Bembling, as far as the specimens admit comparison, the above 

 species, characteristic of the Oriskany. — Nictaux and Bear River. 

 Dr. H. somewhat disingenuously writes of Stroplwdonta as if it 

 were a characteristically Clinton genus. In point of fact, of 56 

 species of this genus catalogued by Miller in his American Palae- 

 ozoic fossils, 43 are found in the Oriskany and overlying forma- 

 tions, and only three as low as the Clinton and Niagara, while 

 no species whatever is known in the Medina. 



