46 OLAF HOLTEDAHL. [sEC. ARC. EXP. FRAM 



or are without stratigraphic value, the question is not yet settled. Dr. 

 G. W. Lee in his paper on the fossils from the "Hecla" and "Fury" 

 collections, (1. c. p. 263) mentions that a part of the collection may be 

 from the highest member of the Niagaran, the Guelph. 



I have mentioned the pJioca-fauna here because in Scheis material 

 from B I found a form, which although not identical, shows a very 

 strong relation to Lissatrypa phoca. There is a possibility that the 

 p/ioca-fauna may be younger than the Niagaran and come near to 

 the Keyser. 



I have myself had an oppurtunity of seing collections from one of 

 the L. phoca locahties, viz. Beechey Island. I have before me a collec- 

 tion made in the autumn of 1903 during the Voyage of the "Gjoa", 

 Captain Roald Amundsen, through the Northwest Passage, and further- 

 more I have inspected in the Peabody Museum a collection from the same 

 locality made during the cruise of the "Neptune" 1903—1904. The first 

 collection contains, besides numerous and very nice specimens of Lissa- 

 trypa phoca the ordinary species: Acervularia auslini Salter and 

 Strephodes picthorni Salter and a Favosites. 



As to the last mentioned collection there is also very little obtain- 

 able from it as very few fossils, that would be available for fixing the 

 age were found. The collection mainly contains poorly preserved gastro- 

 pods, besides some few brachiopods and ostracods. The only other brachio- 

 pods, besides the L. phoca, that occur, is a small Meristella-hke form, 

 that is not of great use for stratigraphical purposes. Of great interest 

 is the occurrence of a large, elongate Leperditia, which seems to be 

 entirely like the Leperditia elongata Weller, as far as can be seen 

 from the illustration of this fossil, a form known exclusively from the 

 Keyser of Maryland and form the Rondout of New Jersey. 



Another fact which may indicate that the phoca-heds represent 

 relatively young ones is the stratigraphical conditions on Beechey Island 

 as far as they can be judged from the report of "The Cruise of the 



Neptune". On p. 221 we read : — " Similar conditions prevail 



at Bechey Island, where a large collection of fossils was obtained 

 from the lower limestone beds, while others picked up loose but evidently 

 fallen from the cliffs above, showed that the upper beds passed close 



to if not into the Devonian ". By the lower beds is here ment the 



common rich fossil-bearing limestone with the p/ioca-fauna. 



This remark is of especial interest for another reason also, namely 

 because among the material from Beechey Island brought by the "Gjoa- 



