of great assistance in (k'terniining the specific relations of Ammonites, 

 is rarely shown in those Queen Charlotte Island fossils. 



The G-asteropoda obtained by Mr. Eichardson are very few in number, 

 and the specimens are almost always fragmentary or l)adly preserved. 



Laraellibranchiate bivalves are abundant, both in species and indi- 

 viduals. The surface markings of these shells are often well shown, but 

 the characters of the hinge teeth, and the impressions on the interior of 

 the valves can rarely be ascertained. The family Ilippuritida^ has no 

 representatives; Vola and Spondijlus are also absent, and there is only a 

 single species of Inoceramus. 



Brachiopoda are extremely scarce, only four broken and exfoliated 

 specimens were collected, which belong apparently to two species. 



The solitaiy coral is a comj^ound Zoantharian, belonging to the family 



Out of fortj'-two species of Mollusca proper, three (Avimonites Brew- 

 erii, A. StoUczkanus and Aucdla Piochii) are Avell-known Californian 

 fossilts. Aucella Piochii, h(nvever, is i)robably identical with the Aucella 

 Mosquensis of Europe. Unio Hubhardi, Gabb., is abundant at one locality 

 in the Queen Charlotte Islands: it was originally described as from 

 Vancouver Island, probably by mistake. It is the only fresh-water 

 mollusk in the collection, and is, perhaps, the same as the Unio adimcus 

 of Sowerby, from the Wealdcn deposits of ;{j]ngland. Besides these, seven 

 others are either very nearly related to European or Indian species, or 

 are actualh' identical with them. The rest seem to bo new to science, 

 but the sixK-imens are sometimes so imperfect, that it is not thought 

 desirable to propose any specific names for them. 



^Yithout wishing to introduce any innovations in the use of terms, or 

 to criticize the descriptions of others, it becomes necessary to define the 

 sense in which certain expressions will be used here, as the same words 

 have been employed to convey very different and even opj)osite meanings. 



It has long been customaiy with palaeontologists to call the outer edge 

 of the shell of a Nautilus or Ammonite, the dorsum, and some still 

 continue to do so. According to Prof. Hyatt, "the position of the 

 female Argoiuiut in her shelly case, and of the Nautilus in its shell, 

 show conclusively that the })eriphei-y of the whorls of an Ammonite is the 

 abdominal side, as stated by Eichard Owen and Pictet." For this reason, 

 Mr. Hyatt and some other writers call the outer margin of such shells, 

 the ventral, and the inner, the dorsal region. To prevent any misap- 

 prehension which might otherwise arise, the term dorsum will be 

 purposely avoided. Such phrases, as the outer edge of the shell of a 



