BRANNER: THE STONE REEFS OF BRAZIL. 16 
difficulty seemed to be encountered in dealing with them assuch. From 
= . . 
1870, when Hartt's book was published, down to the present time, these 
unfossiliferous party-colored beds have been called Tertiary. 
In 1875 Richard Rathbun published a paper upon the lamellibranchs 
1 
found in the vieinity of Pernambuco. The materials were from three 
localities in the vicinity of Maria Farinha, eighteen miles north of Per- 
nambuco. Although the title of Mr. Rathbun’s paper shows that the 
beds were regarded as Cretaceous, all the species in his list are new 
except two; and among those described are Cuculleca harttii and Veneri- 
cardia (Cardita) morganiana, which, if found in North America, would 
be regarded as Tertiary. 
In Dr. White’s monograph published in 1887 are described more fully 
the molluscan collections from Maria Farinha in the State of Pernam- 
buco, and from Pirabas,? State of Pará. The localities yielding these 
fossils are likewise set down by White as Cretaceous in spite of the 
fact that they contain such characteristic Tertiary forms as 
Hercoglossa (Nautilus) sowerbyana d’Orb. 
Volutilithes radula (Sowerby) Forbes. 
Mazzalina (Fasciolaria) acutispira White. 
Pseudoliva (Harpa) dechordata White. 
Oueullea harttii Rathbun, 
Calyptraphorus ? chelonites White. 
Venericardia (Cardita) morganiana Rathbun. 
It cannot be denied, however, that some of the fossils from Maria 
Farinha are of decided Cretaceous aspect. 
When Dr. White undertook the study of the Brazilian Cretaceous 
(and Tertiary) fossils collected by the Commissäo Geologica it was ex- 
pected that he would remove any doubts that might exist in regard to 
the ages of the formations represented. But instead of weighing the 
evidence and reaching an independent conclusion, he accepted without 
question the earlier inference of Hartt. I would not imply that Dr. 
White failed to do his duty in this matter. The fact is that the collect- 
mg was not done so that he could have made a separation of the faunas 
if it had been otherwise possible. I say this the more frankly because 
most of the fossils described by him were collected by me. But at that 
1 Richard Rathbun. The Cretaceous Lamellibranchs collected in the vicinity 
of Pernambuco, ек. Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., XVIL, р. 241-256. Boston, 1875. 
2 In Dr. White’s Contributions this place is called Piabas, but a later paper by 
Drs. Huber and Kraats, who visited the locality in 1898 (?) shows that the correct 
name is probably Pirabas. 
