THE 

 LONDON, EDINBURGH and DUBLIN 



PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE 



AND 



JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 



[FOURTH SERIES.] 



JULY 1853. 



I. On the Tertiary Beds of Hordwell, Hampshire. 

 By the Marchioness of Hastings*. 



DURING the six years that I have resided in the immediate 

 vicinity of the Cliffs of Hordwell, I have been enabled, through 

 the extreme kindness and liberality of Dr. Chambers, who has 

 allowed me every facility for pursuing my investigations, and to 

 whom these cliffs belong, to make them and their strata the 

 object of very minute researches. Their nature is such, that 

 any one, to become thoroughly acquainted with each deposit and 

 its contents, must have daily opportunities of examining them. 



The top is composed of a bed of gravel, from 15 to 20 feet. 

 This and the whole portion of the upper part of the cliff are 

 perpetually falling, and covering by their descent all the lower 

 strata ; or at least coating them so with the various upper sands 

 and clays, that unless the surface be laid bare by digging, it is 

 impossible to ascertain the true nature of the strata beneath. 



There have been many opinions as to the natural causes which 

 lead to the rigid decay of these cliffs : the sea has been generally 

 accused of being the originator of all the mischief, and certainly 

 it encroaches considerably every year. 



But it is now generally acknowledged that the inland springs 

 do quite as much damage, and that their inroads are more rapid 

 on the upper part of the cliff than those of the sea on the lower. 



There are seldom falls in the summer or in the dry weather; 

 and from my own observations, I am inclined to believe that the 

 following is the way in which the springs of fresh water act upon 

 the cliff. 



In the winter, during heavy rains, they become much swollen, 

 * Communicated by the Authoress. 

 Phil. Mag. S. 4. Vol. 6. No. 36. July 1853. B 



