20 THREE CRUISES OF THE “BLAKE.” 
to light. It is possible that the massive types of the West 
Indian miocene, such as the Asterosmiliz and others which have 
no analogues at the present time, may have been living in the 
shoal water protected by reefs in the same way as the Fungi: 
of the Pacific, or some of the unattached compound corals, as 
Manicina or Isophyllia of our coral reefs. 
According to Mr. Dall, a large proportion of the miocene and 
even pliocene fossils of this country and of Sicily still exist in a 
living condition near our shores. They are found principally in 
the continental region. There are not, however, a sufficient 
number of antique types to characterize the deep-sea molluscan 
fauna as archaic, and none of them are as remarkable as the 
Australian Trigonia, the Caribbean Pleurotomaria, or the Indian 
Nautilus. 
