Note on Arctic Palaeozoic Fossils. 255 



XXX.— Note on Arctic Palaeozoic Fossils from the " Hecla " 

 and "Fury" Collections. By G. W. Lee, D.Sc. 



(Read 18th December 1911. Received 1st March 1912.) 



Extensive as it is, our knowledge of the geological structure of the Polar 

 regions depends more on the observations and reports of explorers than 

 on the systematic study and descriptions of materials brought home. 

 Considering the large number of explorers' reports — a useful list of which 

 is given in "The Cruise of the Neptune" 1 — a short contribution like 

 the present one might at first sight appear superfluous. Closer scrutiny 

 will, however, show that of these reports but a scanty proportion is 

 devoted to the description of the fossils on which subsequent generalisa- 

 tions have been based. Designations formerly thought sufficient are now 

 too broad for the requirements of modern geology : the mention of the 

 occurrence of Upper Silurian, though of great interest, could hardly be 

 used as a datum in detailed palaeogeographic correlations. 



These remarks do not imply that the present note embodies results 

 of immediate importance in stratigraphic research, but the fauna examined 

 being striking in several respects, it is felt that a knowledge of its nature 

 ought to be made available to workers on Arctic geology, and the following 

 account has been prepared with that end in view. 



On two occasions fossils were brought by Parry from the Polar 

 regions, namely, during his first and third cruises in 1819-20 and 1824-5, 

 respectively. Of the former a brief account was given by Konig in 

 A Supplement to the Appendix to Captain Parry's Voyage, London, 1824, 

 while a few remarks on the second lot, due to Jamieson, are incorporated 

 in the Appendix to the Journal of a third Voyage for the Discovery of 

 a North-west Passage, London, 1826. The second collection found its 

 way to the Eoyal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, and seems to have been 

 ignored by geologists since its examination by Jamieson, until it was 

 noticed last year by Dr Shand, then in charge of the geological department 

 of that museum. 



Whether the collection is preserved in its entirety cannot be ascertained, 

 but if not numerically complete, it is at all events quite representative, 

 as can be seen by modernising the names cited by Jamieson and com- 

 paring them with those used here. 



The fossils are from the shores of Prince Kegent Inlet (Port Bowen 



1 Report on the Dominion Government Expedition to Hudson Bay and the Arctic 

 Islands, Ottawa, 1906. 



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