ON THE LOWER SILURIAiT (TRENTON) FAUNA OF 

 BAFFIN LAND. 



By Charles Schucheet, 



Assistant Curator, Division of Stratigraphio Paleontology. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In the summer of 1897, a number of men took advantage of the Sev- 

 enth Peary Arctic Expedition to cruise in Arctic seas and to hunt and 

 hsh in Baffin Land. The author had the pleasure of meeting these 

 men while on board the steamer Hope, and learned that they intended 

 to make a whale-boat trip to the head of Frobisher Bay. As many 

 Lower Silurian fossils had been seen by Hall during his exploration of 

 this bay, the author requested the Baffin Land party to search for fos- 

 sils. On the subsequent retarn of the steamer Hope from North Green- 

 land, it was a great surprise to find that Messrs. J. N. Carpender, R. 

 W. Porter, A. V. Shaw, A. H. White, and F. Gr. Goodridge, had made 

 splendid collections of fossils during their stay of but a few hours at 

 Silliman's Fossil Mount, which is at the head of Frobisher Bay. 



These fossils are well preserved, and here, as is so often the case in 

 Paleozoic faunas, the brachiopod specimens predominate. However, 

 unlike other Trenton faunas, the Arctic mollusca usually preserve the 

 shell, and this is the more remarkable because all the fossils weather 

 out of a bluish clay. The author's interest in and admiration for these 

 well-preserved fossil forms from a rarely visited region was so great 

 that he could not resist asking the loan of the various collections for the 

 purpose of making them known to paleontologists. Mr. J. N. Carpen- 

 der, of New Brunswick, New Jersey, who had the most extensive col- 

 lection, with great liberality allowed the author to make a selection 

 from these fossils for the U. S. National Museum. From him, there- 

 fore, this Museum has received 54 species represented by 113 speci- 

 mens. The next largest lots were gathered by Messrs. A. H. White 

 and A. V. Shaw, and purchased for the Museum. Mr. F. G. Goodridge 

 presented one of the finest trilobites found. Mr. R. W. Porter also 

 made a good collection, which he deposited in the American Museum 



Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. XXII— No. 1 1 92. 



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