124 



the block of sandstone containing them was about to be 

 placed, and presented by him to us early in the year. With 

 the exception of these slabs, the Geological and Palseonto- 

 looical collection occupies the eastern half of the principal 

 hall of the Society's Museum and the large room leading 

 from the main hall at the south-eastern corner. In the first 

 case upon the northern side, are placed the fossil bones and 

 other specimens of such species of animal life as have existed 

 on the earth since its occupation by man, i.e., during the 

 period known as the " Era of Mind." Here may be seen 

 some of the remains of enormous birds which have but 

 recently becdtae extinct. Also specimens of rock such as is 

 now forming at Florida, of which a considerable part of that 

 peninsula is comj^osed, made up of the comminuted shells 

 and corals of the adjacent waters. Here, too, are specimens 

 of art, such as jars, bottles and other objects, cemented to- 

 gether by coralHne and other deposits, from the bottom of 

 the sea in the Margarita channel eleven fathoms deep, where 

 they were submerged forty years or more since, by the 

 destruction of the Spanish man-of-war San Pedro. These 

 are exhibited to show the progress made in the brief period 

 since their deposit, towards uniting them in a solid conglom- 

 erate, and also as an example of the rate of growth of the 

 coral polyi^idom. There are also in the same case skulls and 

 other remains of the elephant and mastodon of this conti- 

 nent, and of various animals, all of which were contempora- 

 neous with man, or existed but a short time previous to his 

 epoch, certainly since the earth has presented generally the 

 same features of land and ocean as at present ; the specimens 

 in this case number 198. 



Following this, and extending around the end of the hall 

 until reaching the passage way to^ the south-eastern room, is a 

 series of cases filled with shells and fossil bones or casts of 

 bones of the Pliocene and the Miocene Tertiary periods. In 

 these may be found rej^resentatives of a large number of the 

 remains of carnivorous and herbivorous animals, as well as 

 some huge reptiles, all fi'om the deposits of the Sivalik Hills 

 in India. The specimens in these cases number 572. On the 

 the southern side, toward the middle of the hall, is a case 



