570 



PKOCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [June 20, 



situated 24 miles from the coast, 180 feet above the sea, and 50 feet 

 above the Esmeraldas river. The section (see fig.) exhibits undis- 

 turbed sea- distributed gravel and sands, 6 feet 6 inches in thickness, 

 the lower part of which contains fragments of pottery. 



7. Oil the Eelatioi^s of the Tertiary Formations of the West Indies. 

 By E. J. Lechmere Guppy, Esq., P.G.S. With a Note on a New 

 Species o/Eanina, by Henry Woodward, Esq., F.G.S. ; and on 

 the Orbitoides and Nummulin^, by Prof. T. Eupert Jones, E.G.S. 



(Abridged.) 



[Plate XXVI.] 



Contents. 



I. The Palaeontology of the Cari- 

 bean Area. 



1. Introduction. 



2. Eocene Formations. 



3. Lower Miocene Formations. 



a. Trinidad, c. Antigua. 



b. Anguilla. 



4. Upper Miocene Formations. 



a. San Domingo, c. Trinidad. 



b. Jamaica. d. Cumana. 



5. The age of the Caribean 



Miocene. 



6. Other Tertiary Formations 



in the West Indies. 

 II. Descriptions of the species, 



III. The relations of the Caribean 



Miocene Fauna. 



IV. Table showing the Affinities of 



some of the Fossils of the Ca- 

 ribean Miocene. 



I. The Paleontology oe the Caribean Area. 

 § 1. Introduction. 



It may be that some apology is needed for again bringing before the 

 Geological Society the subject of West-Indian Geology. I should 

 not, indeed, have ventured to do so, but for the circumstance that the 

 considerations involved do not alone concern the geology of the West 

 Indies, but have an important bearing on several questions connected 

 with the distribution of organic beings in Europe and Asia, and on 

 the correlation of deposits in those countries. These questions have 

 much interest for geologists ; and I believe that the facts and argu- 

 ments presented in this communication are such that my labour in 

 bringing them together will not be lost, even if the hypothetical 

 views I have built upon them should prove to be untenable. More- 

 over the present communication forms a necessary sequel to those I 

 have already had the honour of laying before the Society. 



My object now is to present some general remarks on the results 

 obtained by recent investigations into the geology and palaeontology 

 of the West-Indian islands. But before going into these, it may be 

 as well that I should review our knowledge of the deposits, begin- 

 ning with the oldest Tertiary formations. 



§ 2. Eocene Formations. 



The existence of Eocene strata in Jamaica has been demonstrated 

 by Mr. Barrett* and by Dr. Duncan and Mr. Wallf. Determinable 



* Quart Jovirn. Geol. Soc. vol. xvi. p. 324. t Ibid. vol. xxi. p. 1. 



