530 Geological Society : Mr. Strickland 



The insect remains consist chiefly of elytra belonging to the seve- 

 ral genera of Coleoptera, which are not very rare ; and a few wings, 

 not unlike the genus Tipula, which bear a close resemblance to some 

 Mr. Brodie had previously found in the Wealden ; the latter are 

 much rarer than the former. The elytra are generally of a light 

 brown colour and small size ; in some cases both the elytra are at- 

 tached. With these were found abdomens of some insects and larva 

 apparently of the gnat tribe. Shells are not common, but Ostrea, 

 Unio, and a small species of Modiola are the most abundant. The 

 fossils from the yellow limestone, No. 4, bear a close resemblance to 

 those from the Wealden. The real genus of the bivalve resembling 

 Cyclas is undetermined. The plants belong to a species of Fucus, 

 apparently an inhabitant of fresh water. At Combe-hill Mr. Brodie 

 also observed both the insect limestone and that containing the small 

 bivalves. To the south-west of this point the insect limestone is well 

 seen, and yielded the greatest number and variety of insect remains. 

 Here the yellow limestone was not traced, and the bone-bed was want- 

 ing. The fossil insects are, as at Wainlode Cliff, for the most part re- 

 mains of small Coleoptera, sometimes tolerably preserved, and in one 

 specimen the eyes were visible. None of the beetles resemble those 

 of the Wealden, but some wings of insects, allied to Tipula, are very 

 similar. A few imperfect but large wings of Libellula occur : there 

 are also numerous singular impressions of a doubtful nature, many 

 of which may however owe their origin to the partially decomposed 

 bodies of various insects. With these are numerous small plants, 

 some resembling mosses, but very different from those in the yellow 

 Cypris limestone, a few seed-vessels and leaves of fern. A small spe- 

 cies of Modiola, probably M. minima, is exceedingly abundant. Re- 

 mains of Crustacea occur, one of which resembles the genus Eryon 

 from the Solenhofen slate. 



Near Gloucester the same strata occur at a much lower level. 

 At Westbury, eight miles below Gloucester, the following section is 

 presented : — 



1. Bottom bed with Ostrea, equivalent to that at Wainlode and 

 other places : 3 in. 



2. Insect limestone with numerous small shells (here character- 

 istic) : 4 in. 



3. Clay: 5 in. 



4. Green, yellow and gray sandy stone, in places becoming a 

 limestone, with the small Cyclas-like bivalve, plants and Cypris, 

 identical with those at Wainlode, about 1 ft. 



5. Shale and clay : 10 ft. 



6. Hard grit, bone-bed : 3 or 4 ft. 



A little further to the north the beds below this are more developed 

 and are seen resting upon the red marl. 



If the Cypris found in these beds be of freshwater origin, it forms 

 a new and highly interesting feature in the history of this deposit ; 

 at any rate the occurrence of the remains of such delicate creatures 

 as insects, many of which are well-preserved, and could not, there- 

 fore, have been long subject to the action of the waves, or have been 



