432 ME. E. B. NEWTO]!^ O'M THE 



calcareous rock; those found on the beach being very much 

 rounded and thickly impregnated with salt. 



Another of Mr. Giiuther's localities is that of Guverchin Kala 

 (?ee sections made by Mr. Loftus in 1855), from which, the 

 following species have been identified in his collection : — 



I'ecten convesocostatus, Pecten suhurmiensis, Venus Aglaurce, 

 Meretrix persiensis, Meretrix like incrassata, Pyrula ci/i- 

 gulata, Cassis sp. indet. 



This assemblage of forms is suggestive of two horizons — one, 

 represented by Pecifew convexocostatus and P. suhurmiensis, which 

 is probably Helvetian ; the other, on account of such species as 

 Venus Aglaurce, Meretrix Persiensis, II. like incrassata, Pyrula 

 cingulata, Cassis sp. indet., is most likely of Burdigalian age or 

 even older, as the shells referred to exhibit the Aquitanian facies 

 before mentioned, besides being lithologically distinct. The 

 Pectiniform species are in a light-coloured limestone ; whereas 

 the supposed older specimens are preserved as casts of reddish- 

 brown colour, and came probably from near the base of the 

 " Loftus Section" (? about no. 7 bed), having been collected and 

 given to Mr. Giinther by the Eev. C. Labaree, of the American 

 Mission Station. 



Some further specimens have been obtained from other 

 localities close by, which are referred to in the body of this paper 

 and do not call for any special reference now, except that, 

 judging from their characters, they indicate a Lower Miocene age, 

 and belong either to the Helvetian or Burdigalian stages of that 

 period. 



A summary of previous work on the invertebrate palaeontology 

 of Lake Urmi and neighbourhood may now be given. 



In 1855 "W. K. Loftus * published his geological researches on 

 the Turko-Persian frontier, in which is described the " White 

 Limestone" promontory (regarded by Loftus as of Upper 

 Nummulitic age) bearing the ancient f ortrees of Guverchin Kala 

 ( = Castle Eock), situated at the northern extremity of Lake 

 Urmi. A detailed section of this point, where the rocks rise 

 perpendicularly to a height of more than 400 feet, is given thus 

 (taken from p. 305 of the paper by Loftus) : — 



" The following is a careful descending section of the Castle 



* Loftus, W. K. — " On the Geology of Portions of the Turko-Persian 

 Frontier and of the Districts adjoining," Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. 1855, vol. xi. 

 pp. 247-344, & Geological Map. 



