608 e. etheeidge on the paleontology of the 



Oethoceeas ntjmmulaeium, Sow. 



OrtJioceras nummular ius, Sow. Sil. Syst. p. 632, t. 13. f. 24 ; 

 Silnria, t. 26. f. 5. 



0. cochleatum, Schloth. 



0. crassiventris, Wahlenb., His. Leth. p. 30, t. 10. f. 3. 



Sowerby's figure in the Silurian System, t. 13. f. 24, and the re- 

 peated figure in Siluria, t. 26. f. 5, in every particular resembles our 

 single specimen collected by Dr. Coppinger from the Upper Silurian 

 series of Bessels Bay. It appears to be the 0. cochleatum of Schlo- 

 theim, and probably the 0. crassiventris of Wahl. (His. Leth. p. 30, 

 1. 10. f. 3). Although Schlotheim has priority as to date, I still re- 

 tain Sowerby's name. The figure is good, and agrees with our 

 fragment, which shows 6 siphuncular chambers. The want of 

 radiating plates determines this not to be an Actinoceras, nor can 

 I detect any inner or central inflated tube within the chambers as 

 in that genus ; and the siphuncular beads having no constriction re- 

 moves it from Huronia. I draw attention to these differences from 

 the unsatisfactory state of the fragment under description. Both by 

 description and figure it is Sowerby's 0. nummularium. 



Loc. Bessels Bay, lat. 81° 6'. 



Genus Ctetoceeas, Goldfuss, 1832. 

 Cyetoceras, sp. 



Only fragments of what must have been a large species have 

 been brought by Dr. Coppinger from Offley Island. It appears to be 

 a portion from near the centre of the curved shell, measuring 9 

 inches, and the diameter 4 inches ; the siphuncle is subspherical. 



This species must have been of considerable size ; the chambers 

 are as closely arranged as those of O. imbricatum ; and, but for the 

 curvature, it might be mistaken for that form. Sixty species occur 

 in the American Silurian rocks, and 293 in Europe ; of these latter, 

 254 are Bohemian and 20 Russian. Next to OrtJioceras, which 

 contains 704 species, this genus possesses the greatest number. As 

 before stated, Arctic America has yielded 8 species of Cephalopoda — 

 Lituites, Actinoceras, and Cyrtoceras 1 species each, and OrtJioceras 5. 

 Bohemia, on the other hand, heads all areas in having yielded to 

 the researches of Barrande no less than 830 forms. 



Loc. Offley Island, lat. 81° 16'. 



CARBONIFEROUS. 



The only series of Carboniferous-limestone fossils obtained during 

 the Exploration were collected at Eeilden Isthmus, lat. 82° 43', the 

 highest latitude attained ; consequently the Carboniferous series are 

 the nearest known fossiliferous rock to the Pole ; they are underlain 

 by a patch of Devonian, which appears to be faulted against the Cape- 

 Bawson beds, which occupy so large an area on Grinnell Land, and 

 underlie the whole of the fossiliferous rocks north of latitude 78° or 



