J. G. WALLER ON SAND. 01 



ters than in any other locality named, and has many points of in- 

 terest to study. It is well rounded by attrition, which is not the 

 character seen in many other examples. It seems to be often in a 

 state of apparent decomposition, and is covered by an oxide of iron, 

 which requires to be removed by acid for its more complete examina- 

 tion. In the Bagshot Sands we should scarcely have expected to 

 find chalk flint grains, but they appear in the proportion of 4 to 

 7 per cent., and in this deposit the quartz has some rounding of the 

 edges, but not giving a character to the whole. Nevertheless it 

 more resembles that of the superficial gravel. 



I alluded, at the commencement of my paper, to the sand found 

 at Bridlington, and particularly that at Lowestoft, on account of the 

 comparison instituted between it and that of Aberdovey. But it 

 would be a very imperfect argument, after so many specimens from 

 ancient deposits, not to notice some of those now forming. By the 

 kindness of Mr. Priest, I have been enabled to examine examples of 

 the sands of Cromer and those of Ramsgate. They are composed 

 of fine examples of rounded quartz particles, with chalcedony and a 

 few other substances, some of calcareous origin. That at Cromer 

 is resplendent in its quartz, when beneath the microscope, and is, 

 perhaps, the finest of all my examples, extremely beautiful as an 

 object by polarized light, and, I think, instructive in its illustration 

 could one pursue the question further than at present I propose to 

 do. From Hythe, in Kent, I had some sent up to me from high- 

 water mark, thinking it might there be more free from the engross- 

 ing quartz. But no, the result is the same as in the previous 

 cases, but these last examples all declare in the flint particles 

 present, flakes unrounded in opposition to the rounded quartz, that 

 the last is ancient, produced by the attrition, perhaps of ages, whilst 

 the other is modern and recent. This evidence is remarkable, as it 

 declares an important fact in our inquiry, which points to the one 

 as ephemeral, to the other as of an unknown duration, perhaps 

 dating its origin from the primitive rocks. 



From Dymchurch, in Romney Marsh, where the flint shingle is 

 seen extending for miles up to the point of Dungeness, and always 

 increasing, the sands reveal the same oft-repeated tale, — quartz, 

 with an almost entire absence of flint particles. 



I do not here pretend to show whence proceeds this abundant 

 supply of quartzose sand all around our coasts. It is a matter for 

 further inquiry and investigation, but one must suggest the proba- 



