Oeological Society. 185 



indicated the general arrangement of land which seemed to have 

 prevailed, and noticed that at that period and even earlier the Coral- 

 isotherm of 74° reached fully 25° north of its present position in the 

 portion of the globe antipodean to Tasmania ; but it would seem to 

 require more than mere geographical changes to account for the 

 existence of important reefs in Western, Central, and Southern Europe 

 and in Tasmania synchronously. The flora underlying the marine 

 Cainozoic deposits of Victoria indicates tropical conditions, as do tho 

 Echinodermata of the succeeding strata (described in the following 

 paper). The fossil plants of the Arctic regions, from the Carboni- 

 ferous to the Miocene epoch, give evidence of the existence of higher 

 temperatures and of other conditions of light than those now pre- 

 vailing ; but were the polar axis at right angles to the plane of the 

 ecliptic, and were there no greater node than at present, there would 

 be equal day and night at all points. The difficulty is to account 

 for the present position of the axis on this supposition ; but the 

 author suggested that the great subsidences of Miocene lands, the 

 formation of the southern ocean, and the vast upheavals of northern 

 areas at the close of the Miocene epoch may have sufficed to produce 

 the present condition of things. 



" On the Echinodermata of the Australian Cainozoic (Tertiary) 

 Deposits." By Prof. P. Martin Duncan, M.B., F.R.S., President.' 



In this paper, after noticing the history of our knowledge of 

 Australian Tertiary Echinida, the author gave a list of the species 

 at present known, amounting in all to 23, and described the fol- 

 lowing as new species — Leiocidaris australice, Temnechiims lineatus, 

 Arachiiokhs Loveni, A. elongatus, Rhyncliopygus clijsasteroides, Echi- 

 nobrissus australice, Holaster australice, Maretia anomala, Eiipatagus 

 rotundus, and E. Lauhei. The author remarked upon the characters 

 and synonymy of the previously known species, his most important 

 statement being that the so-called genus Hemipatagus is in reality 

 identical with the recent genus Lovenia, Gray, as clearly shown by 

 fine specimens in his possession. The most marked genera of the 

 existing Australian fauna are not represented, but are replaced by 

 numerous Spatangoids ; three species, however, are identical ; but 

 two of these have a very wide range. Of the remainder, 9 are 

 allied to recent Australian species, mostly from the north of the 

 continent; 6 are allied to European and Asiatic Cretaceous forms ; 

 5 are closely related to Nummulitic tj'pes ; and one species appears 

 to belong to a peculiar genus, namely, Paradoxschinus novus, Laube. 



" On the Miocene Fossils of Haiti." By R. J. Lechmere Guppy, 

 Esq., F.L.S., F.G.S. 



After referring to tho literature of the subject, the author stated 

 that his paper was founded to a great extent upon the examination 

 of specimens in the Society's Museum. He gave a list of the de- 

 scribed fossil shells of St, Domingo, with notes on their synonymy, 



