Bibliographical Notices. 395 



fied by himself, and that nearly all the illustrations, whether in the 

 test or in the plates, are from original drawings of sections prepared 

 by him, with the view of showing the minute structure of the prin- 

 cipal Palaeozoic genera of the Tabulata, thus rendering the work a 

 useful addition to this branch of Paleontology. 



Geological Survey of Canada. Mesozoic Fossils. Vol. i. part ii. On 

 the Fossils of the Cretaceous Hocks of Vancouver and adjacent 

 Islands in the Strait of Georgia. By J. F. Whiteaves, F.G.S. 

 Montreal, 1879. 



This work forms the second decade of the first volume of Mesozoic 

 fossils, published by the Geological Survey of Canada, and contains 

 a description by Mr. Whiteaves of the fossils collected by Mr. 

 Richardson from the Cretaceous rocks of Vancouver Island and 

 adjacent districts, an account of which strata appeared in the ' Pro- 

 gress Report ' of the above survey for the years 1871-76. The 

 coal-bearing strata from which the fossils were obtained occupy a 

 narrow strip on the shores of the Georgian Strait, and their conti- 

 nuity is broken by crystalline rocks so as to divide them into two 

 areas, respectively termed the Comox and the Nanaimo coal-fields. 



About one hundred species are noticed, chiefly from the productive 

 coal-measures. These, with one exception, a Smilotrochus, belong to 

 the Mollusca : more than half the species are Lamellibranchs ; and 

 the Gasteropoda are more abundantly represented than the Cepha- 

 lopoda. 



The geology of Vancouver Island was noticed many years since 

 (1861) by Dr. Hector ; and some of the fossils have been described 

 during the last twenty years by Mr. Meek, Mr. Gabb, and Dr. 

 Shumard ; but seventeen are new to science. In order, however, to 

 present as complete a report as possible on the fossil fauna of these 

 deposits, Mr. Whiteaves has added in their proper places the names 

 of species described or recorded from them by other naturalists. 



Thirty species from the coal-bearing rocks of Vancouver are also 

 found in the Chico group of California, which, with the Martinez 

 group, probably represent the Lower and Upper Chalk of Europe, 

 while on paloeontological and stratigraphical grounds (says Mr. 

 Whiteaves) it seems likely that the coal-formation of the Nanaimo, 

 Cowitchin, and Comox districts is the equivalent in time of the whole 

 of the Upper Cretaceous. Some of the fossils of the Vancouver 

 Cretaceous appear to have an extensive geographical range, as about 

 fourteen species are believed to be common to the coal-bearing rocks 

 of the Nanaimo and Comox districts and to the Chalk formation of 

 Europe, Asia, or Africa. Among other interesting facts alluded 

 to in the Eeport is that of the former extent of the Cretaceous ocean 

 in North America, which, according to some authors, was separated 

 into two basins by a land barrier nearly coincident with the present 

 main axis of the Rocky Mountains. This hypothesis is now con- 

 sidered untenable, both on physical and palseontological grounds ; 

 and the results of recent explorations confirm the opinion of Mr. 

 Gabb, that there must have been a water communication between 



