of the Queen Charlotte Islands and British Columbia. 445 
Oxford will remember. Since 1875, deposits holding large 
numbers of Aucella Piochii Gabb (which can scarcely be dis- 
tinguished from the A. Mosquensis of Europe), with a few other 
fossils, have been discovered by members of the Canadian Sur- 
vey at several localities on the west coast of British Columbia, 
on Vancouver Island at Forward Inlet, and in the valley of the 
Peace River. In a paper “On the Lower Cretaceous rocks of 
British Columbia” published in the first volume of the Transac- 
tions of the Royal Society of Canada, the writer expressed the 
opinion that those deposits in California and British Columbia, 
which are characterized by the presence of Belemnites impressus, 
Ancyloceras percostatus and more especially by an abundance o 
Aucelle, represent the lower half of the Shasta Group and are 
the equivalents of the Upper Neocomian of Europe. 
_In 1878 Dr. G. M. Dawson, accompanied by his brother, 
visited the Queen Charlotte Islands and devoted the whole sea- 
Son to an examination of their geological features. From his 
detailed report upon these islands, which was published in 
1879, it appears that the central portion, which includes both 
shores of Skidegate and Cumshewa Inlets, is occupied by strata 
which there is now every reason to believe are of Cretaceous 
age. In descending order the section of these Cretaceous rocks 
gtven by Dr. Dawson is as follows. No. 1. The Upper Shales; 
these have so far yielded oniy several specimens of Jnoceramus 
problematicus, and are therefore supposed to represent the base 
of the Upper Cretaceous. No. 2. Coarse Conglomerates; these 
have as yet afforded no fossils that can be identified, but from 
their position may be assumed to be the equivalents of the 
akota Group. No. 8. The Lower Shales; with coal and iron 
represent the upper part of the Shasta Group of California and 
the Gault of Europe. Among the fossils which they hold in 
