26 Mr. J. Lycett on the Fossil Conchology of the 



former paper we alluded to an almost entire absence of the Cephalopoda 

 which distinguishes our Great Oolite, and it would appear that this feature 

 likewise extends to the same formation throughout France. Thus Archiac 

 does not mention a single species in the district which he has illustrated, 

 and Deslongchamp is equally silent in describing the Normandic fossils. 

 The " Fimbria bed," in striking contrast to the other portions of the 

 Inferior Oolite, is distinguished by a similar paucity of Cephalopoda ; 

 hitherto only a single specimen of Ammonite has been placed in our cabinet, 

 and we have searched in vain for a Nautilus or Belemnite. There are 

 several Terebratula, of which T. fimbria is the most abundant ; the 

 varieties of figure and markings which this shell undergoes in its stages 

 of growth become interesting when placed beside a similar series of the 

 recent T. Australia, which it very nearly resembles in every circumstance. 

 Of the fossil species but few will be found to have attained the characters 

 of old age, and these latter are rarely equal in size to those which died on 

 attaining middle life, a fact of which some striking examples may be cited 

 in certain recent shells. As the T. Australis, unlike the Brachiopoda 

 generally, is found in water only knee-deep near Sidney, we may be 

 allowed to consider it probable that the Terebrat ulae and other shells of the 

 Fimbria bed were likewise denizens of a shallow sea; such a condition 

 would assist in explaining the absence of Cephalopoda and the general 

 resemblance to the association of Great Oolite shells. As a last resemblance 

 a general dwarfing species may be noticed, some examples of which will 

 subsequently be given. This general resemblance however extends but in 

 a very limited degree to specific identity; thus, of the seven Nerinece, one 

 only is common to both; the Cerithia are altogether different, as are like- 

 wise the Chemnitzias and Cylindrites. Our collection from the Fimbria 

 bed contains — 



59 Univalves and Radiaria, of which 22 are Great Oolite species. 

 72 Bivalves, of which .... 29 are Great Oolite species. 



131 51 



Thus only about 38 per cent, of the whole are common to both formations. 

 On passing downward through the freestones these shells rapidly disappear, 

 and on arriving at the lower rag-stones another and very dissimilar suite 

 predominate ; the profusion of Nerineae has entirely vanished, and equally 

 in vain might we look for a Cerithium or a Rostrotrema, and we very rarely 

 meet with a Chemnitzia ; the bivalves are again of full dimensions, and the 

 Cephalopoda reappear in full force and of large size, but being difficult to 

 extract entire, are rarely seen in the cabinets of collectors. But to form an 

 idea of their numbers, the lowest bed in the escarpment at Frocester Hill 

 should be visited ; it is a perfect storehouse of this class of remains. Nor is 

 this abundance confined to one locality ; wherever the brown ochrey beds 

 are exposed in the escarpments of our valleys, or on the outer line of the 

 Cotteswolds, a single square yard of rock exposed is usually sufficient to 

 produce fragments of Ammonites and Belemnites ; and it would appear 

 that a similar profusion of those forms distinguishes the lower beds of 

 Inferior Oolite throughout the whole of its course in Somerset and Dorset. 

 That they should entirely cease between Painswick Hill and Crickley Hill, 

 to be replaced by otherand totally different beds of rock and fossil contents, 

 is one of the most interesting geological problems which the Cotteswolds 

 offer to the scientific inquirer. A very remarkable Brachiopod marks the 

 base of the formation in our district ; Terebratula bidens occurs in the lower 

 rag-stone, and more especially in a few inches of marly rock, sometimes 

 called Gingerbread rock, which immediately underlies it. Terebratula acuta 

 and T. tridens accompany it much more sparingly ; the latter possibly may 

 be only a variety of the first : the separation of species among the 

 Brachiopoda must be regarded as merely provisional until the state of our 

 knowledge respecting them shall be more advanced. The brown sands 



