I 



REMARKABLE STRATA OF FLINT. 183 



IV. 



Ohfervations on fome remarkable Strata of Flint in a Chalk-Pit 

 in the Jjle of Wight, in a Letter from ^zV Henry Charles 

 Englefield, Bart. F. R. S, to John Latham, M. D, 

 F.R.S,andL.S.* 

 Dear Sir, 



J\s you confidered the fpecimens of flint which I (hewed Introduftory 



you worthy of the notice of the Linnean Society, I tranfmit^^^^'^^^'^^^"** 



them to you, together with fucb an account of the fituation 



in which I found them, as may perhaps lead to a guefs of 



the caufes of their prefent very extraordinary condition, and 



will at leaft ferve as a guide to thofe who may wifli at a future 



time to infpefl the curious pit where I found them. 



Before I enter on the particular defcription of that fpot, 

 I cannot help faying a few words on the lithology of the ifland 

 in general, which has not that I know of, been defcribed, as 

 it highly deferves, by any naturalift. Had 1 been equal to 

 fuch a talk, opportunities of obfervation were wanting, and 

 the phenomenon which I am about to defcribe, was difcovered 

 by me fo fliort a time before I quitted the ifland, that I had 

 not time to infped more than one pit, befjdes that in which 

 I obferved it. 



The Ifle of Wight, which is nearly of a rhomboidal form. Geological ac- 

 lies with refpe<5t to its tour angles, almoft abfolutely in the four count of thMfl^ 

 points of the compafs. It is divided into two very nearly * 



equal parts by a range of chalk hills, whofe general diredion "^ 



is due eaft and weft, Thefe hills do not, however, lie in a 

 ftraight line, nor are they at all of equal breadth or height 

 throughout their extent. At Bembridge, where they form 

 the eaftern point of the ifland, they rife abruptly from the 

 fea to the height of about 400 feet ; and bending a little to 

 the northward, they continue of nearly the fame elevation, 

 and a very narrow breadth, till they terminate at the valley 

 through which the Medina runs. To the weft of the Medina 

 the range grows confiderably wider and is fubdivided into 

 feveral fubordinate vallies. This additional breadth gives the 

 fouthern limit a great curvature to tlie fouth, while the northern 

 line remains nearly ftraight. Their elevation increafes much, 

 and at Mottifton is 700 feet. The acute and perpendicular , 



* From the Tranf. of the Linncjin Society, vol. IV, 



pronjontory 



