284 PEOCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [Feb. 21, 



and among these I find fourteen species common to Jamaica. There 

 are thirty-four species common to Jamaica and San Domingo ; and 

 if the Haitian species not found in Jamaica were now under consi- 

 deration, the intimate relationship of all the Caribean Miocene beds 

 would be clearly shown. 



Thirteen species have been identified with living forms out of the 

 total of sixty-one species which are described in this communication. 

 This would give a proportion of about twenty-one per cent., a some- 

 what larger proportion than was arrived at by Mr. Carrick Moore 

 for the San Domingo fossils. Yet I cannot lay much stress upon 

 the exact ratio of recent species in considering the relative age of the 

 Jamaica and San Domingo beds ; for we have seen that thirty-four 

 species are common to both locaHties, and out of these, seven are 

 existing species, many of which are widely distributed and have been 

 found in the Miocene of other locahties. Such are Lucina Pennsyl- 

 vanica and Venus paphia, which both occur in the Miocene of Europe. 

 Moreover some of the species identified with living forms do not now 

 inhabit the West Indies. Among these are Pectunculus pennaceus 

 and Natica mammillaris. There are several shells in the Jamaica col- 

 lection which are too imperfect for specific determination, the generic 

 names of which are given in Mr. Carrick Moore's paper on these 

 fossils. Among them is a small Ancillaria, a genus which is now 

 extinct, or nearly so, in the West Indies. 



The most characteristic fossils of the West Indian Miocene appear 

 to be Natica pJiasianelloides, Solarium quadriseriatum, and Orbi- 

 toides Mantelli, these species having been found in nearly all the 

 Miocene localities, exclusive of Cumana; and they will doubtless be 

 ultimately found there also. 



The eastern affinities of the West Indian Miocene fauna is evi- 

 denced in the most unequivocal manner by a portion of the collection 

 now described. Cytherea planivieta is very closely allied to C. ery- 

 cina ; Cardium lingua-leonis is nearer to C. ^'^t6^c^*)^(i^tm of Madagascar 

 than it is to (7. elongatum of the West Indies ; and so on with several 

 of the species. But it must not be overlooked that while there is 

 undoubtedly a closer resemblance of a part of the mollusca to living 

 eastern forms, than to living West Indian forms, another part of the 

 fauna presents nearer affinities to that now inhabiting the contiguous 

 waters. Again, a certain number of the species {e. g., those of the 

 genera Cassis, Cassidaria, Conus and Natica) seem to have their 

 nearest congeners in the European early and middle Tertiaries. 



I shall mention another point which has some bearing on the affini- 

 ties of faunas distant in time and in space. Mr. Jenkins has shown me 

 a small collection of fossils from Travancore, in the Society's Museum. 

 These fossils seemed to me to be probably of older Pliocene or Upper 

 Miocene date ; but without prejudice to the conclusions which may 

 be arrived at after a closer examination of the fossils in question, I 

 may state that several of them appeared to me to have near resem- 

 blances to species now existing in the West Indies. From this it 

 would appear that while the fauna of the West Indies in Miocene 

 times appears to have been more closely related to the existing 



