FOSSILS FROM THE AVALON TERRANE 231 



to me to be accessible either in the collections of the Geological »Survey 

 of Canada or in those of Newfoundland. 



Aspidella terranovica, Billings 



(Plate 27, figures 7, 8.) 



Aspidella terranovica, Billings. Paleozoic Fossils, vol. ii, part i, 1874-1876. Reprint 

 of the Report of the Geological Survey of Newfoundland, 1881, page 286. 



" These are small ovate fossils, five or six lines in length and about one-fourth 

 less in width. They have a narrow, ring-like border, within which there is a con- 

 cave space all round. In the middle there is a longitudinal, roof-like ridge, from 

 which radiate a number of grooves to the border. The general aspect is that of a 

 small Chiton or Patella flattened by pressure. It is not probable, however,' that 

 they are allied to either of these genera. 



"Associated with these are numerous specimens of what appear to be Arenico- 

 liies spiralis, a fossil that occurs in a formation lying below the primordial rocks in 

 Sweden." 



Observations. — In the report of the Geological Survey of Newfoundland 

 for 1872 Dr Alexander Murray states that Aspidella is found in division 

 D of the Saint John section or the Momable slates of the Avalon terrane. 

 In addition to the localities mentioned by Billings, Dr Murra}^ found 

 Aspidella in equivalent strata on Trinity bay, at several parts of the val- 

 ley of the Rocky river, and at Ferry land, where in some cases it liter- 

 all}' covers extensive surfaces of the rock in large and small forms, while 

 in other localities single specimens were found scantily distributed.* 



Dr A. S. Packard has published a statement to the effect that Mr 

 G. F. Matthew, of Saint John, New Brunswick, doubts the organic char- 

 acter of Aspidella. He quotes him as follows : 



* ' I have seen Aspidella terranovica in the museum at Ottawa and doubt its organic 

 origin. It seems to me a slickensided mud concretion striated by pressure. I 

 have found similar objects in the Etcheminian olive-gray beds below the Saint 

 John group." t 



I have not been able to obtain specimens of the Oldhamia mentioned 

 by Dr Murray as occurring near the summit of the slates that I have 

 designated the Torbay slates. 



The Etcheminian beds of Newfoundland are referred to under New 

 Brunswick. 



NEW BRUNSWICK ETCHEMINIAN TERRANE 



The Hanford Brook section shows, according to Mr Matthew,'! a series 



* Reprint of the Report of the Geological Survey of Newfoundland, 1881, p. 287. 

 t A half-century of evolution, with special reference to the effects of geological changes on aniiuftl 

 life. Proc. Amer. Ass'n Adv. Sci., vol. xlvii, 1898, foot-note, p. 323. 

 t Trans. New York Acad. Sci., vol. xiv, 1895, pp. 107, 108. 



XXXIV— BriL. Geol. Soc. Am., Vol. 10, 1898 



