AA Observations by T. A. Conrad 
which is a low sandy and narrow peninsula, forming the southern 
cape at the entrance of Manatee river. The bluffs alluded to 
present two short sections about fifteen or twenty feet high, and 
consist chiefly of beds of shells, some of which are water-worn 
and broken, and many retain much of their original color and 
markings. 'The shells lie in groups of species, in a kind of in- 
distinct stratification. Many of them are water-worn, others 
broken, and the bivalves occur in separated valves. Bones of the 
Manatus are occasionally found. in the bluff, and the living ani- 
mal is not uncommon in she Manatee river. The shells of this 
deposit are as follows :— hie get 
. Bivalves. Fasciolaria .distans. 
Modiola demissa. ; Natica duplicata. r 
_ Cytherea gigantea, Murex ——, Lam. A recent 7 
Pecten concentricus. _ |... cies occuring on Mullet Key, 
Cardium isocardia. . $Strombus pugillus 
Ostrea virginiana. ee eee -Melongena corona. - (Pasus, ram) 
- Fulgur pyrum. 
Fasciolaria PPE yh ke hots viheestedia ae * Palas, 
F. tulipa. ee 
The most abundant of shina are te Pectin <a se ‘Ovtedh 
virginiana, Fulgur perversus, F'. pyrum, Fasciolaria tulipa, F. 
distans, and Strombus pugillus. The group is precisely. the 
same with that now living in the water in the immediate vicinity, 
though. the small shells which abound i in the bay I did not ob- 
serve among the fossils. The vicinity of Sarasota Point is very 
interesting to a geologist, in consequence of the presence of several 
mounds of shells, much resembling those of artificial construe- 
tion, and which would deceive any unpractised eye. On examin- 
ation, the structure of the mounds is too similar to that of the 
bluffs already described to indicate a dissimilar origin, although 
no doubt many of the loose shells scattered around were east 
there by Indians, as this must shave been a favorite haunt where 
fresh-water fish and oysters could all be obtained in great abun- 
But the Indians, to procure the animal of the large 
“conchs,” must have burnt or broken the shells, which in the 
interior of the mounds present no traces of injury or fracture, 
though they are often water-worn, and when this is the case they 
must have been dead shells deposited in the ancient waters of the 
bay. "These mounds occur on the river just above Sarasota Point, 
Bi ton spring of dark colored water, about fifty 
