Discospirina is a milioline genus previously recorded as fossil only from the Miocene to Pleistocene of the Mediterranean, and is found living in the same area and into the North Atlantic Ocean (Adams, 1959, 1967, 1973; Adams etal., 1983; Radford, 1976). It is readily recognized by its large, fragile, very thin test, with annular chambers surrounding a coiled initial stage; the concentric chambers are subdivided by numerous internal septa that fall short of the anterior wall of each chamber (Adams, 1959). The specimens illustrated by Brady (1884, PI. 65, figs. 6, 7) from the Atlantic Ocean were referred to Discospirina tenuissima by Barker (1960), but Adams (1959) considered this to be a junior synonym for D. italica, giving the species a range from late Miocene to Recent. Adams (1959) noted that there were more septa per annular chamber in the Recent than in the fossil forms from the Mediterranean area, and the Coral Sea forms appear to resemble the Miocene ones in this respect.

Flea beetle (Chrysomelidae) egg deposition has been found on three impressions of alder (Alnus parvifolia) leaves collected at a roadcut in Republic, Washington. These fossils were discovered by Wes Wehr (University of Washington, Burke Museum) during investigations of fossil plants from the Republic, Washington, area. These impressions represent a yet to be determined species, belonging to the genus Altica GeofFroy (1762). They represent the first member of this genus to be described from the Eocene of North America. The fossils were found in lacustrine rocks from the lower part of the Klondike Mountain Formation. Figure 1 represents the Republic fossil locality and the distribution of this Formation. A brief description of the geologic history of this region can be found in Wolfe and Wehr (1987). The Klondike Mountain Formation has a radiometric age that ranges from 42.3 ± 2.0 to 50.3 ± 1.7 m.y. (Pearson and Obradovich, 1977).

In a previous publication in this journal, Finks (1955) reported the discovery of two sponge specimens containing external molds of the conulariid Paraconularia leonardensis (Finks). The sponges were collected from the Permian Leonard and Cherry Canyon Formations, west Texas (Finks, 1955,1960). As argued by Finks (1955), the conulariids contained in the sponges probably were sessile, and two conulariids in one of the sponges may have been directly attached to the sponge in life. These interpretations are corroborated by evidence documented by several other authors, most notably Sinclair (1948) and Babcock et al. (1987).

This is the fourth in a series of notices recording the transfer of fossils described by Rousseau H. Flower (1913-1988) (Wolberg, 1990a, 1990b, 1990c). It was Rousseau's expressed wish that this material be reposited in the Smithsonian Institution/U.S. National Museum. Similarly, the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources is concerned that the fossils be adequately cared for and readily available to those scientists with an interest in the material.

This notice is the fifth in a series recording the transfer of fossils described by Rousseau H. Flower (1913-1988) to the Smithsonian Institution and the U.S. National Museum. During a long, productive, and colorful career, Rousseau described more than 400 new fossil taxa (Wolberg, 1988). Most of Rousseau's fossils have been maintained in the collections of the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources. The fossils in this transfer were sent to Rousseau in 1952 by William J. Sando, then a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University, who collected them during his research on the Beekmantown Group of Maryland (Sando, 1957). In 1955, Rousseau submitted a manuscript to the Journal of Paleontology and this was published in 1956. Some controversy seems to have surrounded the publication of the paper; we have found a file of correspondence related to that publication and it is very “Roweresque” in content. In addition, Rousseau cataloged the Sando fossils into the NMBM&MR's collection, but from the associated correspondence there seems to be little doubt but that the collection was intended to be reposited in the Smithsonian.

Rousseau h. flower (1913-1988) collected and published widely in paleontology during a career that spanned more than 50 years. Although Rousseau did significant paleontological work while employed elsewhere, the major part of his career was spent at the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources (NMBM&MR), a career that included a decade of work after his formal retirement (Wolberg, 1988). During his life, Rousseau built a very large fossil collection based upon his own field work., materials other scientists referred to him for study, material sent to him by serious amateurs, and collections Rousseau borrowed from other institutions and was unable to return before his death. The NMBM&MR is attempting to find and return all borrowed material. Similarly, we intend to transfer much described fossil material to major repositories with appropriate facilities for their maintenance in order to make the fossils available to as many interested students as possible. The guidelines for the transfer of this material were set by Rousseau before his death.

Girty (1910) described Patellostium laevigatum from the Fayetteville Shale (Mississippian, Chesterian) of Arkansas but did not provide illustrations. Yochelson (1969) redescribed and illustrated the type material, placing the species in the genus Patellilabia Knight, 1945.

In 1824 the British naturalist John Finch described (p. 40) a large fossil oyster from Shell Bluff, Burke County, Georgia, as Ostrea Gigantissima. Ten years later, T. A. Conrad (1834, p. 156-157) described this same taxon as Ostrea georgiana. For many years the oyster was most commonly identified using Conrad's name, but Howe (1937) clearly pointed out the priority and synonymy involved. More recently, the species has been assigned to the genus Crassostrea Sacco, 1897, and recognized (e.g., Sohl and Kauffman, 1964) as Crassostrea gigantissima (Finch). This Cenozoic taxon has special significance (Sohl and Kauffman, 1964) because it is most certainly the direct ancestor of C. virginica (Gmelin, 1791), the type species for Crassostrea.