i 
I 
t 
BRANNER: THE STONE REEFS OF BRAZIL. 18 
suspect that Dinosaurs lived later in South America than elsewhere. 
(See Proc. Zool. Soc., 1901, I. 182.)” 
The age of other coast sediments. — The above conclusions are based 
upon materials from the Bahia basin. How far they are applicable to 
the other regions, — that is, to the Pernambuco, Parahyba do Norte, and 
Pará regions, — hitherto set down as Cretaceous, it is not possible at 
present to say. Some of the Bahia beds are of fresh or brackish water 
origin ; it is therefore difficult to correlate them with marine beds in 
distant parts of the country, and it is necessary to consider separately 
the evidence found outside of the Bahia basin. ® 
As has already been pointed out, Olfers called all these coast sedi- 
ments Tertiary, but he says nothing of palaeontologie evidence. In 1836 
Darwin examined the sedimentary beds near Pernambuco and speaks of 
them as Tertiary,! but he says that he looked in vain for organic remains 
in them. 
In 1846 George Gardner considered the sedimentary beds at Rio 
Formoso on the Pernambuco coast to be Cretaceous like those of the 
interior of Ceará,? but ав he reported no fossils from them no importance 
was attached to his opinion. 
Fossils have now been found in the coast sediments (outside of the 
Sergipe and Bahia basins) at the following places: Olinda (Hartt, 
Branner), Maria Farinha (Hartt, Derby, Branner), Itamaracá (Branner), 
Ponta de Pedras (Branner), Parahyba do Norte (Capanema, Agassiz, 
Sumner), Jacumá (Branner); in the State of Rio Grande do Norte at 
Mossoró (1) and Apody ; and also at Pirabas (Penna) in the State of Para, 
In addition to these stations fossils have likewise been found at a few 
points in the interior of Parahyba do Norte and of Rio Grande do Norte.® 
In 1859 the “Commisáo Scientifica” of Brazil touched at Parahyba 
and Baräo de Capanema says: “A badly preserved crinoid leads me to 
Suppose that the rock belongs to the Cretaceous.” 4 
In April, 1867, Е. Williamson read before the Manchester Geological 
Society a paper upon the geology of Parahyba and Pernambuco; in 
1 Charles Darwin, Geological observations, 2 ed. London, 1876, р. 193. 
2 George Gardner, Travels in the interior of Brazil, p. 103-104. London, 
1846. Rio Formoso is not specifically mentioned by Gardner, but his observations 
regarding the locality and his notes upon the voyage leave but little doubt about 
that being the place referred to. 
8 Bull. Geol. Soc, Amer., ХШ., p. 56-57. 
* Trabalhos da Commissão Scientifica de Exploração I Secção Geologica, р. 
CXXIL Rio de Janeiro, 1862. 
"E Williamson, Geology of Parahyba and Pernambuco gold regions. Trans. 
Manchester Geol. Soc, 1866-67. VI, р. 113-122. 
