192 On the Lias Formation of Barrow in Leicestershire, 



though some courses are richer than others ; and for the last 

 two years very few have been met with. In Mr. Lee's extensive 

 collection, the genus Dapedium was by far the most abundant, 

 many of which were quite perfect ; and among several fine fish, 

 I noticed one nearly 2 feet in length, belonging to a different 

 genus, and in a remarkably fine state of preservation. 



The only Crustacean I observed was the En/on Barroviensis 

 (M'Coy), which was small and ill-preserved, and by no means 

 equal to the large and perfect specimens met with occasionally 

 at Bidford in Warwickshire*. 



I did not detect any remains of plants. 



At Wilmcote in Warwickshire there are indications of nu- 

 merous faults (which were lately pointed out to me by Mr. 

 Kershaw), in all directions round the district, more than are 

 generally supposed. Thus the ' firestone,' which is the lowest 

 and hardest stratum worked, crops-out at various points and 

 dips at a considerable angle, on the higher ground ; and the 

 several bands of 'Insect limestone' and shale lie in a basin 

 formed by the outcrop of this lower bed. The ' Plagiostoma- 

 bed,' containing P. gigantea, Cardinia ovalis, and Astarte lurida, 

 occurs in places in its normal position ; but there appears to be 

 no trace of the underlying Saurian beds, which are of consider- 

 able thickness in Gloucestershire, and their absence is to be 

 noted both at Wilmcote and Barrow, which implies a great 

 thinning-out of the lower Lias in that direction. This holds 

 good, at all events, with respect to the lower Lias at the latter 

 place, where there are fewer bands of 'Insect limestone;' but at 

 the former they are more numerous, not less than eight courses 

 divided by thick shale ; and as the ' Insect-bed' in Gloucestershire 

 is often confined to one, or at most two layers, only a few inches 

 thick, the increased number of 'Insect-beds' in Warwickshire 

 may represent the ' Saurian beds' in Gloucestershire and other 

 places, with which they were perhaps coeval in point of time. 



The 'firestone' above referred to is a hard, crystalline lime- 

 stone, full of oysters and spines of Echini, from 3 to 7 inches 

 thick. In Warwickshire it always underlies the last bed of 

 ' Insect limestone,' but does not occur in Leicestershire. 



* This species is not uncommon in the Insect limestone at Strensham 

 in Worcestershire (where the hnest Insects have been obtained, but the 

 pits are now, unfortunately, closed), and Forthampton, near Tewkesbury, 

 where they are generally well preserved, though invariably of small size. 

 1 have only seen two specimens of the large Eryon from Warwickshire, 

 one of which is in ray own collection, and the other in that of ray friend 

 Mr. Kershaw. I am indebted to his kindness for another fine but appa- 

 rently distinct species of this genus. 



The largest measures 6 inches in length from the top of the head to the 

 extremity of the tail, and a little more than 2 inches in breadth in the 

 widest portion of the body. 



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