714 



/. HOWARD WILSON 



RECENT WORK 



During the summer of 1904 the writer made extensive excavations 

 at this point, and exposed a section from the small dunes at the foot 

 of the bluff, to a point several feet above the fossiliferous beds. This 

 work revealed features differing somewhat from those previously 

 recorded, and resulted in the discovery of a number of species which 

 have not heretofore been reported from this point. This paper pre- 

 sents the results of this work, and an 

 interpretation of the phenomena ob- 

 served. 



The lower yellowish-brown clay 

 reported by Messrs. Desor and 

 Cabot, and later by Mr. Scud- 

 der, as occupying a position at 

 the base of the section, was 

 not found, but it has not been 



Fig. i 



noticed by any observer since Mr. Scudder's investigations, and its 

 disappearance is no doubt due to its high dip to the southwest, which, 

 joined with the cutting back of the bluff, has caused it to sink below 

 the level of the dune and beach sands, and thus be beyond reach of the 

 ordinary means of excavation. Fig. 3 shows the effect of the cutting 

 on the position of this lower clay. The dotted lines indicate the eroded 

 portion with the clay occupying the position as first reported, while 

 the solid lines represent the bluff approximately as it is today, with 

 the clay hypothetically many feet beneath the dune sands, and per- 

 haps even below sea-level. 



No attempt was made to expose the section above the fossiliferous 

 beds which constitute two-thirds or more of the bluff; but as pre- 

 vious investigators have found this to consist of the stratified sands 

 and gravels normal to drift deposits, study was concentrated on the 



