544 W. M. Gabb — Notes on West Indian Fossils. 



for these — the beds which in Northumberland lie between the Tuedian 

 (or better Valentian, Geikie, MS.) Bocks and the Millstone-grit? 

 The term explains itself, and gives no handle to theoretical mis- 

 application. 



IV. — Notes on West Indian Fossils. 



By W. M. Gabb, 



Of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, .U.S.A. 



N my return to civilization, after an absence of nearly three 

 years, I observe in the Geological Magazine for 1874, New 

 Series, Decade II. Vol. I., pp. 404 and 433, a paper by Mr. E. J. L. 

 Guppy, of Trinidad, describing new species of fossils from the West 

 Indian Tertiaries, to which is appended a list of the fossils known 

 to him up to that date. Unfortunately Mr. Guppy has overlooked 

 my Memoir on the -Geology of Santo Domingo, published in the 

 Transactions of the American Philosophical Society more than a year 

 before the date of his paper. In that paper I nearly doubled the 

 list -of known fossils in the West Indian Miocene, basing my de- 

 terminations on a collection of unprecedented magnitude, made during 

 the prosecution of the Geological Survey of the Dominican Republic. 

 Although ignorant of the existence of this paper, Mr. Guppy has 

 been fortunate in not redescribing any of the species contained in 

 it, so far as I can make out, save with the following exceptions : 



Phos erectus, Guppy, Geol. Mag. PI. XVI. Fig. 1, is the species 

 described by me under the name of P. Guppyi, in recognition of that 

 gentleman's extensive labours in the region. 



I had previously pointed out that the shell described by Sowerby 

 as Conns solidus, and re-named by Mr. Guppy as G. recognitns, is 

 identical with Reeve's pyriformis. 



Turritella planigyrata, G., is common in Santo Domingo, and Mr. 

 Guppy's description must be amplified so as to cover individuals quite 

 heavily, but always evenly ribbed. 



I cannot indorse the suggestion of a new generic name for Gouldia, 

 even granting the pre-occupation of the old name among birds. 

 Numerous precedents exist for retaining the old, well-known name; 

 and a following out of the same idea would create much more con- 

 fusion in nomenclature than it would obviate. 



I append a list of the fossil corals belonging to the Geological 

 Survey Collection, and recently determined by Count Pourtales. 



List of Fossil Corals collected by W. M. Gabb, Esq., in Santo Domingo. 

 By L. F. Pourtales. 



The following list comprises all the fossil corals collected by Mr. 

 Gabb in Santo Domingo. The greater number are stated to be from 

 the Miocene, a few from the Post-Pliocene, and fewer yet from the 

 Cretaceous. The latter are very much altered by fossilization, while 

 among the former, many are in an excellent state of preservation. 



The determination is of course based on the valuable papers on 

 West Indian fossil corals, published by Prof. P. M. Duncan, F.E.S., 

 in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society. A few forms ap- 



