594 Deposits containing Mammalian Remains, 



section of the gault*, and afterwards passes through the 

 chalk to Rochester. Besides the regular formations, there 

 are some superficial deposits, varying in their mineral charac- 

 ter, but interesting on account of their contained fossil re- 

 mains : of these we may notice the deposits of loam, brick- 

 earth, sand, rubbly chalk, and gravel. The loam is extensively 

 spread over the low grounds and sides of the hills, to the 

 fertility of which may be attributed the numerous hop grounds 

 and fruit orchards cultivated in this neighbourhood. The brick- 

 earth deposits occur on the tops of the hills on both sides of 

 the Medway, as well as in the intermediate valley. The fol- 

 lowing is a section of one f on the west side, about half a mile 

 from the bridge on the London road, and from 80 ft. to 1 00 ft. 

 above the level of the river: — Vegetable mould, 1 ft. Gravel 

 of ragstone and chalk-flints, with some fossils, 2 ft. Veins of 

 fuller's earth, sand with layers of pebbles, ] 3 ft. Loamy 

 sand, with calcareous nodules and shells, as Succinea oblonga, 

 Helix hispida, jupa marginata, 6 ft. Brown clay, 12ft.: 

 upper containing boulders of ragstone ; lower part, teeth 

 and bones of the horse, horns and bones of the ox and 

 deer, elephant? 



This deposit does not extend over the whole of the upper 

 beds in the quarry, but appears to fill up some trough-like 

 cavities formed by disturbance and fracture of the ragstone, 

 the edges of which have been rounded and worn by the action 

 of water. The different layers are not regular, especially near 

 the sides, gravel and sand there alternating with veins of im- 

 pure fuller's earth ; the latter predominating when close to 

 the ragstone. 



The brick-earth deposits on the east side of the Medway 

 are situated in the fields behind the new prison, and afford 

 similar mineral contents. The ragstone is quarried in the 

 lower part, but is also disturbed, and forms cavities similar to 

 those on the opposite side, the edges of which are also 

 rounded. The following is a section of them: — Vegetable 

 mould, 1 ft. Calcareous loam and sand, 40 ft., with many frag- 

 ments of flint, ragstone, sandstone, and layers of calcareous 

 nodules. Shells, similar to those on the w r est side, are inter- 

 spersed throughout ; but the bones are confined to the lower 



* At this spot, the bodies mentioned in IX. 47. are very numerous, 

 and many of the same shape as those figured. I have broken a consi- 

 derable number, but could never detect any trace of organic structure. 

 Are not many of them only the harder concretions of the gault clay ? 



■f The Iguanodon Quarry, so called from the discovery of the remains 

 of that animal by Mr. Bensted in 1834, which is now in the Mantellian 

 Museum at Brighton. 



