90 
On Board Steamer “ Jurupensem,” near Monte Alegre, 
Rio Amazonas, Brazil, Oct. 4th, 1870. 
My dear Prof: Newberry,—A streak of good luck has 
happened on the Amazonas. At a place called Itaituba, 
(place of pebbles,) I have found a series of Limestones, 
Sandstones and Clayey beds full of Lower Carboniferous 
fossils, and J have made a collection, of somewhere in. the 
neighborhood of 150 species, the majority of which are 
represented by very perfect specimens. The most common 
of the form are Producti, of somewhere in the vicinity of six 
species. There are forms exceedingly like P. Lyelli (Cora,) 
P. semireticulatus, P. striatus, besides these, there are several 
very small spiny species. Among the other Brachiapods, I 
find Chonetes, Terebratula, Athyris, Orthis, Rhynchonella, 
Spirifer, Strophomena, &c., &e. From the roof of a grotto in 
a heavy bed of Limestone, I collected a large number of 
exquisite specimens of these fossils, showing interior charac- 
ters. The Sandstones are very rich in large Lamelli bran- 
chiates of a large number of species, the most of them in so 
good a state of preservation as to admit of determination. 
Among these are some large Aviculopectens, Gasteropods 
are not numerous, and, excepting a large Huomphalus, 
areallsmall. I have several species of Polyzoa, two or three 
Corals, Crinoid stems, a Trilobite, apparently a Phillipsia, 
fragments of scales and teeth of Fish, &. Extending from 
Itaituba to the falls are heavy beds of green and black 
Shales with Septaria, furnishing very few fossils. The few 
I could find appeared to be Carboniferous, but I could not 
determine the relations these beds bore to the Limestones. 
The fossils were Fish teeth, and scales, and spines, organisms 
exactly like what Dawson supposes to be spore cases of 
Lipidodendron and a single specimen of a Lipidodendron, or 
some closely allied genus, badly preserved. All these strata 
are undisturbed and occupy an immense area on the southern 
side of the Amazona valley. I have become so much 
interested in this field that I am determined to return and 
- spend a couple of months in studying it more carefully. 
