91 



NOTES ON THE FOSSILS REFERRED TO IN 

 THE FOREGOING PAPER. 



Br THE Rev, J, E. Tenison -Woods, F.G.S., &c. 

 [Read llth July, 1876. 



Since I last described some of the Table Cape fossils 

 existing in the Museum of the Royal Society the collection 

 has been very much enlarged, OAviug to the indefatigable 

 exertions of tlie author of the preceding paper, Mr. R. M. 

 Johnston. From this collection I have been enabled to 

 determine upwards of eighty new species, the greater part 

 of which are new to science. About ten per cent, of these 

 are still existing, some few in the same seas, some in the 

 Northern Hemisphere, in subtropical regions or in Euro- 

 pean seas. Knowing as we do now, from deep sea dredging 

 the wide diffusion of species until recently regarded as local, 

 we must not be surprised at the result, nor should we be 

 surprised if a still larger number of our living shells are 

 found common to European seas and our own. Ten per 

 cent, can hardly be finally regarded as the proportion of 

 surviving forms, because our knowledge of the existing 

 fauna is so imperfect. Some of the fossil shells I never 

 saw living until very lately, and should have described 

 them as extinct had not living specimens been recently dis- 

 covered. Such instances are, hoAvever, lii<e the species 

 themselves — extremely rare. Natica polita and Fissurella 

 concatenata are cases in point. They had been described 

 there as extinct and only very recently discovered living 

 specimens. Trivia europea and Eulimella subulata are 

 European forms, which I Ijelieve occur at Table Cape as 

 fossils. 



I have already described the nature of the formation. I 

 may add that it is evidently a deposit belonging to the 

 Laminarian zone. This I gather from the entire absence 

 of truly littoral shells, and the presence in abundance of 

 Rissoidse, etc., which feed on sea weed at depths, of from 

 eighty to one hundred fathoms. Foraminifera are 

 numerous and indicative of the same depths as Avell as 

 corals among which are true reef builders, Ifeliastrcea tas- 

 maniensiSy Duncax ; Thamnastrcea iasmaniensis , Dunc. ; 

 and T. sera. Duxc., which are rather abundant. They 

 are the only ones hitherto found in tiie Australian 

 tertiaries. I have been able to determine a new Place- 



