ON SOME NEW AND OLD SPECIES OF CARBONIFEROUS 
FOSSILS. 
By Grorce H. Girry, 
Custodian of Carboniferous Fossils, U. S. National Museum. 
The contents of the accompanying paper are of a miscellaneous 
character, but may be classified from one point of view into species 
which I expect to discuss before long in other reports and which are 
not provided with illustrations in the present one, and those which 
are not included in plans for the immediate future and are conse- 
quently illustrated in this place. These last group themselves into 
several categories. 
Several years ago when collecting in Kansas I obtained at a locality 
near Chanute some fossil sponges in unusual abundance and perfec- 
tion of preservation. A careful study of these forms seems to justify 
recognizing among them four new genera, five new species, and one 
new variety. 
Over half a century has elapsed since Isaac Lea published his brief 
paper on the occurrence of fossil mollusks in the anthracite seams of 
the Carboniferous at Wilkesbarre.t Though our knowledge of the 
coal plants of the anthracite region has since become very extensive, 
time has brought out few facts relating to the invertebrates of that 
place and period. The fauna of the Mill Creek’ hmestone has sub- 
sequently been discovered and partially described, but it 1s evident 
that this fauna is not the same as that which furnished Lea’s speci- 
mens. It is unfortunate, therefore, that the last-named author does: 
not state more precisely where and from what seam his material had 
its source, doubly unfortunate in view of the fact that even his poor 
figures show plainly that his species were in some cases based upon 
mere fragments. 
When a storage box containing miscellaneous and some unlabeled 
specimens was unpacked several vears ago a small slab of black sandy 
@ Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Jour., 2 ser., II, 1853, p. 208. 
bWyoming Hist. and Geol. Soc., Proe. and Coll., II, 1886, p. 265 et seq., and 
2d Geol. Sury. Pennsylvania, Ann. Rept. for 1885, 1886, p. 450. 
PROCEEDINGS U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM, VOL. XXXIV—No. 1614. 
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