157 
Guppy Reprint 
9 
Page 26^ 
I have also found a single valve of a deeph’ sulcated species of 
Avicula. This is small, and the sulci, though deep, are not more 
than five or six in number. It was probably a young shell. 
Gasteropoda are represented among the fossils from Pointe a 
Pierre ; but the specimens are general!}- so imperfect as to render 
the determination of their relationships difficult. A ca.st in my 
possession, upwards of two inches in length from the apex to the 
])eristome, .seems to be of a naticoid type. Another cast which 
has some shelly matter remaining on it may be either a Trochtis 
or a Pleiaotoviaria, probably the latter ; but the aperture is not 
perfect enough for identification. 
All the fossils I have yet been able to obtain from Pointe a 
Pierre have been from the beach. They seem to have been washed 
out from the strata in which the}’ were originally deposited and 
intermingled with the alluvium of a little hollow in which stand the 
old works of the Bon Accord Estate. Tney are con.sequently much 
worn; and it is hardly possible to ascertain from what portion of the 
group they have been derived. Were quarries opened in the 
adjoining hills this might be decided. The Trigonue and Oysters 
are tolerably well preserved as far as their structure goes, but 
the shells of the Gasteropoda have nearly or entirely disappeared, 
leaving onl}- casts. The thick and massive character of the shells 
is worth notice, and it prevails alike in all the specimens in which 
the shell is pre.served. 
From what I have said, it will be seen that the evidence of the 
age of the Older Parian formation is in favor of Mr. Etheridge’s 
view.* Until, however, more fossils can be obtained, and their 
position in the formation better determined, it will be as well to 
leave the precise age of the formation an open question. The 
interest attaching to the point is not confined to Trinidad, as the 
Older Parian is developed on the main land of South America, at 
Cumana and other places : and therefore it is to be hoped that 
on further search more fossils will be discovered. 
The following is a list of the fossils found in the Older Parian 
strata at Cumana and in Trinidad : — 
* Geological Snrvey of Trinidad, p. 162. 
