GEOLOGY OP THE VALE OlP EVKSItAM. 7 



to Tewkesbury. The nearest point at which the Lias approaches 

 Worcester, is on the Pershore Road, where it reaches wichin 3|: 

 miles of Worcester Cross. 



The Lias of our neighbourhood though not so productive in 

 organic remains as it is in Dorsetshire and Yorkshire, contains, 

 notwithstanding, in some of its beds, considerable abundance and 

 variety. The vast Saurian Reptiles for which Lyme Regis is so 

 famous, though rare, are not wanting in our district. Vertebrae of 

 the Ichthyosaurus have occurred at Coltknap Hill, at Abbey Manor, 

 and at Haselor, where also a fine vertebra of the Plesiosaurus was 

 found, which has been presented by Mr's. Browne to our Museum. 

 These facts suffice to render it highly probable that good specimens 

 of these magnificent reptiles may occur in our neighbourhood, and 

 lead me to hope that the interest excited by our Society in the cause 

 of geology may be the means of saving many valuable fossil spe- 

 cimens from the ruthless hammer of the quarryman. 



The most conspicuous fossils of our Lias are the Plagiostoma 

 Giganteum, and an oval bivalve, apparently the Unio Hybridus of 

 Sowerby, (Min. Con. pi. 154,) but belonging to a new and un- 

 described genus, which last is very common in some of the lower 

 beds of the Lias. Besides these the Gryphsea Incurva, the never- 

 failing attendant of the Lias in nearly all countries, is in some parts 

 of our district very abundant. The following is a list of the genera 

 I have hitherto noticed. 



Ichthyosaurus 1 species ; Plesiosaurus 1 j Ammonita 7 ; Nau- 

 tilus 1 3 Belemnita I ; Trochus 1 j Turritella 3 3 Orbicula I 5 

 Venus I 5 Astarte 1 ; Lucina 1 j Unio ? 2 -, Pinna 1 3 Avicula 2 y 

 Area 1 3 Nucula 1 3 Ostrea 1 3 Gryphaea2 3 Pecten I 3 Plagiosto- 

 ma 2 3 Modiola^ 3 Terebratula 1 3 Serpula 1 3 Cidaris 1 3 "Penta- 

 crinus 1. Twenty-six genera, 38 species. 



Before dismissing the Lias formation 1 ought to mention 

 certain substances, which in some parts of it, are not unfrequent. 

 These are hard masses of stone in the form of a cylinder, or trun- 

 cated cone, from one to four inches in diameter, and about the 

 same in length. Their surface is rough and uneven, with some- 

 times faint irregular ridges in a circular direction. When broken, 

 they appear composed of a hard marble-like stone, containing 

 fragments of shells. These bodies appear to be the nuclei of 

 nodular concretions, such as are common in many formations, the 

 softer pdrts of which have been decomposed. 



The lowest stratum which occurs in the Vale of Evesham, is the 

 New Red Sandstone of geologists. This formation which com- 

 poses the greatest part of Worcestershire is seen to dip under the 

 Lias, whose escarpment generally forms a low range of hill along 

 the northern and western borders of the district which it occupies. 

 The New Red Sandstone formation possesses great imiformity of 

 character throughout England, and in our district is not marked by 

 any peculiarities. The uppermost beds consist here, as elsewhere, 

 of a red friable marl, producing a rich strong soil. The highest 

 bed of all, next to the Lias, is commonly of a whitish or grey 

 colour, but in texture much resembling the Red Marl beneath 3 it 



