Proceedings of the British Association. 183 



of low ground, surrounded on three sides by the sea, and entirely built 

 of stone to avoid the effect of hurricanes. At the time of the earth- 

 quake, most of the inhabitants appear to have been at their late break- 

 fast, in consequence of which 4,000 perished among the falling houses, 

 or in the fire which broke out immediately after ; the destruction of the 

 whole town was so complete, as to present, after the earthquake, the 

 appearance of a vast stone quarry. The landslips were very nume- 

 rous, and all the springs in the vicinity of Point-a-Pitre were instantly 

 dried up. The shock was felt slightly as far north as Washington and 

 Bermuda, aud southward to Demerara, travelling in a N. N. E. and 

 S. S. E. direction; several slight shocks were subsequently felt at dif- 

 ferent periods. 



" On the important additions recently made to the Fossil Contents 

 of the Tertiary Basin of the Middle Rhine,'''' by E.. I. Murchison, Esq. 

 After a sketch of the geographical limits and geological relations of 

 the tertiary deposits which occupy the valley of the Rhine and Mayne, 

 around the towns of Mayence, Frankfort, and Darmstadt, Mr. Murchi- 

 son gave an account of the recent discoveries made by M. H. von 

 Meyer, M. Kaup, of Darmstadt, and M. Braun, of Heidelberg. Of the 

 animals of this tertiary basin, M. von Meyer had catalogued and was 

 preparing for publication 68 mammifers, 30 reptiles, 13 birds, and 8 

 batrachians — nearly all being undescribed species, and most of them 

 of small dimensions. Amongst the new animals discovered by M. 

 Kaup, were mentioned the Chalicotherium, a genus allied to Anopho- 

 therium and Lophiodon ; the Hippotherium, differing from the recent 

 Equus in the possession of an additional metacarpal bone ; and a mi- 

 nute Saurian, named Pisodon Colei. M. Kaup had determined from 

 an examination of the remains of various species of rhinoceros, tapir, 

 &c. occurring in this deposit, that the Fauna of the period presented a 

 close affinity to the types of the Indian and Sumatran archipelago, and 

 were entirely distinct from all known European mammalia. He had 

 also collected a large series of mastodontoid remains, which completely 

 proved the views of Prof. Owen, respecting the identity of the Ameri- 

 can Tetracaulodon with the true Mastodon. The invertebrata of the 

 deposite have been examined by M. Alexander Braun, and have been 

 found to comprise 450 species, 306 of which are mollusca, and 103 shells, 

 — of which, 10 species only were identical with living forms. Many of 

 the shells approach closely in form to those in the calcaire grassier of 

 Paris, and this circumstance, together with the occurrence of the Anthra- 

 cotherium, and of an animal intermediate between the Anoplotherium and 

 Palseotherium, makes it probable that the deposit belongs to the same age 

 as the gypsum beds of Montmartre, and the Ryde and Binsted strata of 

 the Isle of Wight, These tertiary beds are covered with gravel, sand, 



