﻿Edwards 
  — 
  Bacillaria 
  of 
  the 
  Occidental 
  Sea. 
  445 
  

  

  Art. 
  LI. 
  — 
  The 
  Bacillaria 
  of 
  the 
  Occidental 
  Sea: 
  hj 
  

   Arthur 
  M. 
  Edwards, 
  M.D., 
  F.L.S. 
  

  

  In 
  studying 
  the 
  bacillaria 
  of 
  the 
  Western 
  Coast 
  of 
  North 
  

   America 
  I 
  have 
  gathered 
  knowledge 
  of 
  them 
  from 
  Alaska 
  to 
  

   Washington 
  hrough 
  Oregon 
  to 
  California 
  and 
  into 
  Mexico. 
  

   In 
  Alaska 
  I 
  have 
  not 
  specimens 
  as 
  yet, 
  but 
  I 
  have 
  them 
  from 
  

   British 
  America 
  and 
  so 
  down. 
  I 
  have 
  also 
  specimens 
  of 
  

   bacillaria 
  from 
  the 
  region 
  of 
  the 
  Great 
  Plain 
  of 
  Fremont, 
  which 
  

   I 
  have 
  called 
  the 
  Occidental 
  Sea 
  in 
  my 
  paper 
  published 
  in 
  this 
  

   Journal 
  for 
  1891. 
  This 
  extends 
  on 
  the 
  east 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  

   Rocky 
  Mountains 
  several 
  hundreds 
  of 
  miles, 
  even 
  to 
  the 
  

   coast 
  of 
  California, 
  where 
  it 
  includes 
  the 
  islands 
  which 
  are 
  

   Anacapa, 
  Catalina 
  and 
  other 
  islands. 
  For 
  I 
  have 
  bacillaria 
  

   identical 
  with 
  those 
  on 
  the 
  Great 
  Plain 
  itself, 
  and 
  extends 
  into 
  

   British 
  America 
  and 
  south 
  into 
  Mexico. 
  

  

  Why 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  sea 
  and 
  not 
  a 
  lake 
  can 
  be 
  judged 
  when 
  I 
  state 
  

   that 
  it 
  extends 
  at 
  least 
  one 
  thousand 
  miles 
  from 
  north 
  to 
  south, 
  

   and 
  the 
  same 
  distance 
  from 
  east 
  to 
  west, 
  a 
  larger 
  piece 
  of 
  

   water 
  than 
  is 
  seen 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  day 
  anywhere, 
  except 
  the 
  

   Atlantic, 
  Pacific 
  and 
  Indian 
  Oceans. 
  But 
  this 
  sea 
  contained 
  

   fresh 
  water, 
  as 
  I 
  will 
  show. 
  The 
  boundaries 
  of 
  it 
  are 
  uncertain 
  

   of 
  course, 
  but 
  they 
  extend, 
  as 
  I 
  have 
  just 
  said, 
  beyond 
  the 
  coast 
  

   in 
  California 
  away 
  to 
  several 
  hundred 
  miles 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Rocky 
  

   Mountains 
  and 
  to 
  the 
  north 
  into 
  British 
  America 
  and 
  south 
  

   into 
  Mexico. 
  It 
  was 
  formed 
  in 
  what 
  is 
  known 
  as 
  the 
  Eocene 
  

   period, 
  for 
  this 
  reason 
  : 
  C. 
  King 
  in 
  Yol. 
  I 
  of 
  the 
  Report 
  of 
  

   the 
  Geological 
  Explorations 
  of 
  the 
  Fortieth 
  Parallel, 
  Washington, 
  

   1878, 
  in 
  the 
  Recapitulation 
  of 
  Tertiary 
  Lakes, 
  page 
  444, 
  gives 
  

   nine 
  lakes 
  as 
  appearing 
  in 
  the 
  Eocene, 
  Miocene 
  and 
  Pliocene 
  

   periods. 
  In 
  the 
  Eocene 
  there 
  are, 
  in 
  order, 
  Ute 
  Lake, 
  which 
  

   takes 
  in 
  the 
  Yermilion 
  Creek 
  group 
  of 
  King 
  and 
  the 
  Wahsatch 
  

   group 
  of 
  Hayden, 
  which 
  filled 
  the 
  entire 
  Green 
  River 
  Basin 
  

   for 
  a 
  distance 
  of 
  one 
  hundred 
  and 
  fifty 
  miles, 
  with 
  an 
  east 
  and 
  

   west 
  expansion 
  of 
  about 
  the 
  same 
  on 
  the 
  40th 
  parallel. 
  In 
  

   New 
  Mexico 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  discovered 
  by 
  Marsh 
  and 
  farther 
  south 
  

   it 
  extended, 
  but 
  how 
  far 
  is 
  uncertain. 
  The 
  deposits 
  belong 
  to 
  

   the 
  basal 
  Eocene 
  on 
  the 
  borders 
  of 
  the 
  Cretaceous. 
  We 
  can 
  

   understand 
  why 
  Hector 
  places 
  the 
  marine 
  deposits 
  of 
  New 
  

   Zealand 
  in 
  the 
  Cretaceous 
  now, 
  although 
  I 
  have 
  several 
  fresh 
  

   water 
  deposits 
  from 
  that 
  section 
  of 
  country 
  which 
  are 
  found 
  

   below 
  the 
  marine 
  strata. 
  The 
  deposits 
  of 
  the 
  lake 
  are 
  the 
  

   beds 
  of 
  the 
  Yermilion 
  Creek 
  group, 
  a 
  series 
  having 
  in 
  the 
  field 
  of 
  

   the 
  40th 
  parallel 
  a 
  maximum 
  thickness 
  of 
  5,000 
  feet 
  " 
  and 
  carry- 
  

   ing 
  besides 
  abundant 
  fresh 
  water 
  mollusca 
  and 
  a 
  few 
  fishes, 
  the 
  

   characteristic 
  vertebrata 
  fauna 
  of 
  the 
  lowest 
  Eocene." 
  (King, 
  

  

  