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PRELIMINARY REPORT
ON THE
ORGANIC REMAINS OBTAINED FROM DEEP WELL
AT GALVESTON
TOGETHER WITH CONCLUSIONS RESPECTING
THE AGE OF THE VARIOUS FORMATIONS PENETRATED.

By Gilbert D. Harris.

In the following brief report no attempt is made to give a detailed account of the organic remains derived from this well. Many of the forms are new and peculiar, and must be carefully studied, described and figured before their introduction into paleontological literature. Many of the well known forms present varietal characters worthy of minute study and description. Accordingly, the following pages are devoted to the results of a study into the relationships existing between the fossils obtained from the well and the recent faunæ of the Atlantic and Pacific shores of America and the fossil faunæ of the Atlantic slope, including also that of the West Indies.

First of all, it should be stated that the results here presented could never have been reached had it not been for the kindness of Dr. W. H. Dall, curator of the Department of Mollusks at the National Museum, Washington, D. C., who placed at the writer's disposal all the recent and fossil shells within his department, both named and unnamed. Mr. Charles T. Simpson, of the same department, deserves special thanks for the able assistance he rendered.

The method employed in sinking this well, as already described by Mr. Singley, can not be regarded as most conducive to the establishment of accurate boundaries to geological horizons. Again, the fossils obtained are, upon the whole, of an unsatisfactory nature for correlation work, i. e., they contain many recent species and many new ones, while the number of forms characteristic of known geological horizons is very small. Nevertheless, it is believed that there are certain conclusions that