On Fossil Shells from the Inferior Oolite in Gloucestershire. 63 



posal his numerous collection, and to whom, as votaries of natu- 

 ral history, our thanks are due for the indomitable perseverance 

 with which he has followed up the investigation of this very cha- 

 racteristic assemblage of shells. In the mean time having pro- 

 cured a considerable number of species from the same division of 

 the Inferior Oolite near Minchinhampton, and been accustomed 

 to compare them with Great Oolite shells of the same vicinity, I 

 became desirous of making the following comparison, with the 

 view of testing how far the two collections placed upon the same 

 geological parallel, but fifteen miles asunder, resembled each 

 other, what proportion of either and of both passed upward into 

 the Great Oolite, and lastly, what amount had previously been 

 figured and described ; tables accompanied by notes, if carefully 

 prepared, would obviously to a great extent supply this deside- 

 ratum ; and although the number of species procured from each 

 locality probably fails far short of what will ultimately be ob- 

 tained, the tables it is hoped will not be destitute of utility even 

 in another point of view — they can be placed in comparison with 

 collections from the Ragstones of the Inferior Oolite, and the 

 zoological resemblance or difference between them ascertained. 

 By following out this plan I am precluded from interfering with 

 the labours of those who have recently investigated the geology 

 of the Cotswolds, of Messrs. Buckman, Strickland and Brodie, to 

 whom so much of our present amount of knowledge respecting 

 these hills is due. 



It would indeed have been desirable had the tables been made 

 more comprehensive, so as to include the fossils of the upper 

 and lower divisions of the Inferior Oolite ; but a little reflection 

 convinced me that by doing so I should be arrogating an amount 

 of knowledge which I am very far from possessing ; inasmuch as 

 the information to be gathered from the literature of the sci- 

 ence would scarcely be available for such a purpose, the general 

 term Inferior Oolite with a locality attached being usually the 

 amount of information of the position of a shell in this formation. 



The Inferior Oolite in the vicinity of Cheltenham exhibits 

 two very distinct assemblages of organic remains; the differ- 

 ence between these is so obvious, even to the uninstructed 

 observer, that a glance at any well-arranged collection is suffi- 

 cient to establish conviction of this fact. The upper of these 

 assemblages is contained in the several beds called Upper 

 Ragstones, numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4 in Mr. Strickland's valu- 

 able section of Leckhampton Hill* which is about to be pub- 

 lished, where the united thickness assigned to them is 38 feet ; 



* See Quart. Joum. Geol. Soc. 1850, p. 249. 



