316 NATURAL HISTORY BULLETIN. 



has already been shown by the writer.* That those of Nat- 

 chez have not been so carried seems to be established beyond 

 a doubt by the following facts: 



i. At Natchez several shells of Hclicina orbiculata were 

 found with the operculum lying within the aperture, a posi- 

 tion which it could not occupy if the shell-bearing animal had 

 been deposited in water, for it becomes detached immediately 

 after decay has set in, and would be carried away. Modern 

 upland dead specimens are frequently found with the oper- 

 culum lying within the shell. 



2. The extremely delicate shells of snails' eggs are pre- 

 served in the loess. They are so frail that they would scarcely 

 stand transportation by water. 



3. The larger perfect fossil snails uniformly have the spire 

 of the shell empty, no clay having been carried into the shell 

 beyond the body-whorl, as would have been the case in drift- 

 ing and finally submersed shells. 



4. The fact that the local fossil and modern faunas are 

 very similar, has already been emphasized, and further indi- 

 cates that transportation of shells from a distance has not takeu 

 place. 



5. There are no traces of beaches, shore-lines, etc., such as 

 would be left by a large body of water such as this theory pos- 

 tulates, nor does the remarkable homogeneity of the deposit 

 taken together with its distribution suggest the possibility of 

 deposition in flooded streams. 



That the Natchez loess was not deposited by glaciers or ice- 

 bergs is, if possible, even more evident. Natchez lies far south 

 of the limits of glaciation, hence floating icebergs only need 

 to be considered. Icebergs, however, would require a great 

 body of water to float them over Natchez hill, and the objec- 

 tions to this have already been considered. Moreover, the 

 fossils of the Natchez loess are, as shown herein, in large part 



* Proc. la. Acad. Sci., vol. V. pp. 40-41.-1898. 



