Reports and Proceedings. 873 



which these implements, and some others discovered in England, 

 bear to those of the valley of the Somme ; and concluded by express- 

 ing his dissent from Mr. Prestwich's conclusions, and stating his 

 own views on their mode of accumulation, remarking that, in his 

 opinion, these implements were manufactured prior to the severance 

 of this island from the continent. 



6. " On some evidences of the Antiquity of Man in Ecuador." 

 By J. S. Wilson, Esq. Communicated by Sir E. I. Murchison. 

 Bart, K.C.B., F.K.S., E.G.S. 



The western slope of the Cordilleras was stated by the author to 

 be occupied with projected volcanic matter distributed in terraces, 

 the most recent of which is but slightly above high- water mark ; the 

 second rises in some places 10 feet above the former, and is well 

 seen in the lower part of the Esmeraldos river and in the valleys of 

 its lower tributaries ; above this rise four other terraces respectively 

 8, 15, 12, and 6 feet above one another. 



The second terrace contains in many places remains of articles of 

 human art, broken pottery, earthen figures, and fragments of gold 

 ornaments. This pottery stratum is traceable along a line of 80 

 miles of coast, and, by partial observations, is determined to occur 

 under corresponding conditions for a distance of 200 miles more. 



A section at Chancama was also described ; it is 24 miles from 

 the coast, 180 feet above the sea, and 50 feet above the Esmeraldos 

 river, and exhibits undisturbed sea-tlistributed gravel and sands, 

 6 feet 6 inches in thickness, containing fragments of pottery. 



7. "On the relations of the Tertiary Formations of the West 

 Indies." By E. J. L. Guppy, Esq., E.G.S. 



In this paper the author first briefly noticed the present state of our 

 knowledge of the different formations occurring in the Caribean area, 

 which he named respectively Eocene, Lower Miocene, and Upper 

 Miocene, these names having reference to their relative position 

 rather than to their positive age. It was stated that Eocene strata were 

 as yet known to occur only in Jamaica ; and the author then described 

 the Lower Miocene deposits of Trinidad, Anguilla, and Antigua, and 

 the Upper Miocene of San Domingo, Jamaica, Trinidad, and Cumana, 

 giving sections illustrating the nature and position of the beds, and 

 lists of the fossils found therein. Mr. Guppy then discussed the age 

 of the Caribean Miocene deposits of the different islands, giving the 

 evidence on which the above-mentioned classification is founded, and 

 a sketch of the deposits in other islands not included in it. In con- 

 clusion the author discussed the relation of the West Indian Miocene 

 deposits to the Tertiary strata of other regions, especially with 

 regard to the migration of species and the Atlantis hypothesis ; and 

 he inferred that the Miocene of the West Indies must be included in 

 the same great period of time as that of Europe, and may therefore 

 be considered in a geological sense, as synchronous ; that it is highly 

 improbable that the West Indian Miocene forms reached the localities 

 where they occur as fossils by way of the Isthmus of Panama, or by 

 an easterly route from Europe or from the Indian sea ; and that it is 

 probable that during the early and middle Tertiaries such a con- 



