572 E. ETHEKIDGE ON THE PALEONTOLOGY OE THE 



have much affinity with those collected and brought home by the 

 expedition. Their general facies is different, and few species are 

 common to both areas. This is probably what we should expect, 

 looking at the mass of land in Arctic America, and knowing that it 

 is composed chiefly of Lower and Upper Palaeozoic rocks. Little, 

 however, if any thing, was known of the geological structure of that 

 great region north of Parry Islands, North Lincoln, Ellesmere Land, 

 and much of Grinnell Land until the present expedition explored 

 the region of Grinnell Land called Grant Land, where a defi- 

 nite coast-line has been determined through the sledge -journey and 

 observations of Lieut. Aldrich, who collected and brought back 

 rock-specimens obtained in situ from Cape Columbia, &c, the most 

 northerly land reached. Lieutenant Payer, the historian, and one 

 of the leaders of the Austrian Arctic expedition of 1872-74, assigns 

 to Cape Wien, Petermann Land, nearly the same latitude as to Cape 

 Columbia ; but Cape Fligely, the most northern point actually 

 reached by him, is exactly one degree south. 



The Carboniferous-limestone fossils brought home by Captain Sir 

 G. Nares (collected by Captain Peilden) is as extensive, as regards 

 species, as any Arctic series yet brought to this country, and from a 

 much higher latitude, all being from north of lat. 81° 6', chiefly from 

 82° 40'. The facies is North American and Canadian, although 

 many of the species are British ; this, however, we should expect, 

 knowing how widely the Carboniferous-limestone fauna was distri- 

 buted over the northern hemisphere. The Coral fauna (Actinozoa) 

 is small, only two species occurring in the Carboniferous Limestone, 

 the Silurian Actinozoa being represented by twenty-one genera and 

 twenty-four species, or little more than one species in a genus. The 

 Carboniferous Molluscoida, through the Polyzoa, number four genera 

 and ten species, the individuals being tolerably abundant. The 

 Brachiopoda number eight genera and about twelve species, many of 

 them British. No Lamellibranch, Gasteropod, or Cephalopod has 

 occurred in the Carboniferous series, which is remarkable, and can 

 only be accounted for from the circumstance that the collection 

 represents the rocks in time rather than in space, or is vertical 

 rather than horizontal, owing to the general surface of the country 

 being now covered by snow and ice, so that only the cliffs or highly 

 inclined beds can properly or really be examined and therefore 

 collected from. These remarks apply equally to the smaller collec- 

 tion made by Mr. Hart, of the ship • Discovery.' Mr. Hart's series 

 consists chiefly of Silurian rocks and fossils obtained at Cape Hilgard, 

 Bessels Bay, and Dobbin Bay. 



Contrasting the Silurian collection with that from the Carbonife- 

 rous Limestone, the species are much more numerous, the Actinozoa 

 greatly so. The Cephalopoda, through the genera OrtJioceras and 

 Cyrtoceras, are tolerably abundant, but there are no LameUibranchs 

 whatever. The Silurian Brachiopoda number about five species, 

 much fewer than would be expected from a comparison with the 

 Upper Silurian facies of Britain, Scandinavia, and America, upon or 

 about the same horizons. 



