16 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [oCT. 19, 



we became convinced that the plastic clay and fine white sand 

 exposed there on the shore and in the adjacent blnff must repre- 

 sent an outcrop of the same material, and if so that it would 

 probably be found on the opposite side of the Island at Clay 

 Head. 



When Clay Head was subsequentl}^ examined we found, at 

 Ball's Point, well-defined strata of red and white plastic clay and 

 fine white sand, dipping towards the northwest and forming a 

 nucleus to the bluff at that place.* On top and to the north of 

 it rested the drift material, while the base was masked by a talus 

 which had fallen from above. Stratigraphicall}^, structurally 

 and lithologically, therefore, evidences of the unity of conditions 

 on Block Island, Long Island, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket 

 were found. 



Such evidences, however, although ver}' gratifying, were not 

 conclusive, and another line of investigation was pursued, in the 

 systematic examination of the drift material. If Block Island 

 is merel}^ an isolated portion of the southern terminal moraine, 

 it ought to yield the characteristic concretions and masses of 

 hardened Cretaceous clay and marl which are so common under 

 similar conditions in other localities. We accordingly searched 

 diligently for these and found them in great abundance. By 

 persistent use of our hammers we also succeeded in finding a 

 large number which contained organic remains, both plants and 

 molluscs, and the identifications of the latter leave no doubt of 

 their Cretaceous origin. The plants, unfortunately, are too frag- 

 mentary for accurate determination, but the molluscs are in 

 man}^ instances well preserved, and I am indebted to Professor 

 Whitfleld for the following identifications : 



Gyrodes crenata (Conr.). 



Githara Mullicaensis Whitf. 



Dosinia Gahbi Whitf. 



Gyprimeria excavata (Mort.). 



Ci'assatella subplana Conr. 



Radula reticulata (L^^ell & Forbes). 



Hemicardium Hillaniini Sow. 



Plicatula urticosa Morton. 



Camptonectes parvus Whitf. (?) 



Veleda lintea Conr. (?) 



Ostrea sp. ? (Species not determined.) 



Besides numerous fragmentary remains of many other species. 



Inasmuch as the material was abundant, even at the northern 



extremity of the Island, we must conclude that the outcrops 



from which it was derived were originall}^ yet further to the 



* Also noted by Upham and Merrill, as previously cited. 



