NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 597 



Professor Shaler in his geological studies of Martha's Vineyard 

 noted the occurrence of these concretions and their similarities 

 to the Cretacic drift, but being unable to find any distinctive 

 organic remains hesitated to set them down as Cretacic. 



Dr. Hollick submitted these fossil molluscs to Professor 

 R. P. Whitfield of the American Museum of Natural History 

 for a hasty examination. Professor Whitfield, after placing 

 several of the fossils genetically, stated that from their evidence 

 he should think the rocks could hardly prove to be Cretacic. 



A careful study of the fossils has shown that this material 

 is not Cretacic but Eocene in age. This fauna from Chappa- 

 quiddick represents a new and distinct Eocene province, differ- 

 ing from all the other Eocene provinces of the Atlantic coast, 

 but no more widely different from these than they are from 

 one another. Although in this fauna there are several species 

 somewhat resembling those of the provinces to the south, on the 

 whole it would seem to be more closely allied to the Eocene of 

 England. The genera most abundantly represented in these 

 Chappaquiddick deposits, e.g., Modiola, Glycymeris, are also 

 among the most abundant in the English deposits. These 

 same genera, although represented in the Atlantic and Gulf 

 provinces, are there more sparsely distributed and occur with 

 other more abundantly represented genera that appear to be 

 altogether wanting in the Chappaquiddick deposits. 



A comparison of this Chappaquiddick fauna with other 

 Eocene faunas indicates that it is of lower Eocene age, the 

 species most closely resembling those found in this fauna being 

 found in the lower beds of the Atlantic and Gulf provinces, 

 the Tejon of California and the lower beds of England. These 

 deposits may possibly be of the same age as the Shark River 

 beds of New Jersey, but being deposited in a region separated 

 from this have no forms in common with it. But such corre- 

 lation could be only conjecture. As the correlation of the 

 well-known Eocene deposits is even yet very uncertain it is 

 unnecessary and impossible to place these beds any more defi- 

 nitely than simply to say that they are Lower Eocene. 



Mr. Hartnagel's paper stated that the limonite at the Town- 

 send iron mine near Cornwall in Orange county, New York, is 



