50 Mr. F. A. Bather on Pentacrini in 



Batlionian in the canton of Basle and reaches a thickness of 

 40 metres. It consists mainly of an oolitic freestone very 

 poor in fossils, and these, even in the more fossiliferous lower 

 beds, are much worn. Little attention therefore has been 

 paid to it by geologists. M. Gi-eppin, however, has dis- 

 covered among the lower beds, which correspond more 

 exactly with our Great Oolite, thin lenticular bands of organic 

 debris. By heating fragments to a high temperature and 

 dropping them into cold water he split up the calcareous 

 cement and extracted the shells in the beautiful condition 

 shown by his illustrations. These bands are due to depres- 

 sions in the original sea-floor, which became filled with shells. 

 One would naturally suppose that this was caused by the 

 action of currents after the death of the animals. M. Greppin 

 notes, however, that, while the genus Ceriihium is most abun- 

 dant at Muttenz, at Bubendorf, 3 kilometres distant, it is 

 replaced by Emarglnula and Rimnla on the same horizon. 

 He therefore considers that the animals lived where their 

 remains are now found. The truth probably lies between the 

 two opinions. 



As the result of his researches M. Greppin recognizes 154 

 species, of which 30 are new ; some score remain to be deter- 

 mined when better material shall have been fomid. Gastro- 

 poda are in the majority with 79 species ; of these 24 are new ; 

 of the rest 39 are found also in England, and 8 of these were 

 previously unrecorded out of Britain. The Lamellibranchiata 

 are represented by 59 species, 10 of which are described for 

 the first time; of the 49 that remain 41 are known in Eng- 

 land, 8 of them being hitherto unknown elsewhere. The 

 Cephalopoda are practically absent, the only example being 

 an ill-preserved Belemnite referred to Hastites fusiformis. 

 The Brachiopoda, though only of 5 species, are extremely 

 numerous in certain parts, especially I erehratula luaxillata. 

 Fragments of a GJyphea ornata are all the Crustacean re- 

 mains. Two species of SerpuJa are recognized. Fragments 

 of Echinoidea may be referred to 5 known species, while the 

 Crinoidea number 2 species. 



This fauna, as M. Greppin points out^ is more akin to the 

 Great-Oolite fauna of England than to that of other 

 foreign countries. Tliis may indeed be due to the fact that 

 the beds of Basle are more exactly synchronous (or should we 

 say homotaxial ?) with those worked by Morris and Lycett, 

 than are those continental beds which have hitherto afforded 

 the most numerous fossils. 



Perhaps the most interesting character of this fauna is the 



