120 



A Stratigraphical Account of the Section of Hordwell, Beacon, 

 and Barton Cliffs, on the coast of Hampshire. By Thomas 

 Wright, M.D. &c— March 1851. 



During a short residence in the Isle of Wight last summer I 

 made a minute examination of the section from Round Tower 

 Point to Alum Bay, with a view to ascertain the conditions under 

 which the upper and lower freshwater and upper and lower marine 

 formations of the Hampshire basin* were deposited. The result 

 of these investigations was published in a paper read to the Club 

 September 17, 1850. For the purpose of instituting a compa- 

 rison between the eocene beds of the Isle of Wight and their 

 equivalents on the Hampshire coast, a palseontological analysis 

 and measurement of the strata constituting the sections of Hord- 

 well, Beacon, and Barton Cliffs, on the opposite shore of a the 

 Solent, was undertaken, and which form the subject of the pre- 

 sent communication. 



The following notes were made upon the spot, and corrected 

 and enlarged after frequent inspection. Their chief value con- 

 sists in showing the order of deposition of the different beds ; 

 the changing conditions under which they were deposited ; the 

 points at which the most important of them rise on the shore and 

 pass out of the cliff; with a catalogue of the fossil contents of 

 each. 



I beg to acknowledge the valuable information derived from 

 the Marchioness of Hastings, relative to the fine collection of 

 fishes, reptiles, and mammals obtained from Hordle Cliff, and 

 now in her ladyship's museum. 



To Alex. Pytts Falconer, Esq., of Beacon Hordle, I am like- 

 wise indebted for much valuable information relative to the os- 

 siferous beds of this locality f- 



The quantity of debris that has fallen and obscured the origin 



* Mr. Joseph Cotton, of Freshwater, supplies on very moderate terms a 

 complete series of the fossil shells from the tertiary strata of the Isle of 

 Wight. 



t In the measurement of the beds and in investigating their fossil con- 

 tents I had the assistance of Henry Keeping of Milford, who has had much 

 experience in exploring the Hampshire section for the purpose of collect- 

 ing fossils for the Marchioness of Hastings. From Mr. Keeping may be 

 obtained at a moderate price the fossil shells catalogued in this paper. 



