1897 - 98 .] Fossils collected at Seymour Island. 
59 
resemblance to the C. orbicularis , Edw., from the Lower Eocene of 
Britain, and the C. bellovacina, Desh., from the Sables inferieurs 
of France. 
Besides these two shells we were able, with some doubt, to 
identify generically a Crassatella (?), Donax (?), and a Natica ('?). 
With these shells we also received fragments of fossilised wood, 
which proved to be coniferous, and there is no reason for thinking 
that they are of different age from the fossils, as similar wood is 
commonly found in eocene deposits. 
In 1893-4, Captain C. A. Larsen again sailed to the Antarctic 
regions ( Geographical Journal , 1894, vol. iv. p. 333), and on the 
18th of November 1893 landed at about the middle of Seymour 
Island. He says : “ The land is hilly and intersected by deep 
valleys ; some of the hills are conical and consist of sand, small 
gravel, and cement ; here and there is some petrified wood.” 
“ When we were a quarter of a Norwegian mile from shore, and 
stood about 300 feet above the sea, the petrified wood became 
more and more frequent, and we took several specimens which 
looked as if they were of deciduous trees ; the bark and branches, 
as also the year rings, were seen on the logs which lay slantingly in 
the soil.” Captain Larsen also speaks of “ petrified worms ” with 
this wood, and these appear to be the filled-in borings in the wood, 
w r hich we believe to have been made by Teredo. Several specimens 
of this wood, in the same condition as that previously described, 
have now reached us through Dr Murray, who, at the same time, 
sent another fossil shell which had been obtained on the previous 
voyage, on which is written “Graham’s Land, 3.12.92. Cap. 
Seymour.” This specimen is of interest as adding another genus 
and species to the list of fossils from these inhospitable Antarctic 
regions. Neither the hinge-teeth nor the pallial line can be seen, 
and we have, with some hesitation, therefore, referred this fossil to 
the genus Cyprina. Enough of the original shell remains to show 
its characters and the internal cast, which is almost perfect, gives 
evidence of the form of the entire shell ; this, when perfect, must 
have been 3 inches long, 2*5 inches high, and 1 *75 inch thick. The 
shell is regularly oval and nearly equilateral ; the umbones, which 
are large, are nearly central, with only the slightest inclination 
forwards; there has been a strong external ligament. Although 
