Section of the Lower Greenland at At/terfeld. 229 



at Hythe by debris of unknown depth, and everywhere covered 

 with vegetation*. 



The only intimation hitherto received by the author of the exist- 

 ence of any lower stratum containing fossils differing from those 

 of the Hythe quarries, has come from Mr. Hills, now curator of the 

 Institution at Chichester, who has long been possessed of specimens 

 found near Court-at-street, his former abode in Kent, in a " blue 

 sandy clay below the bottom of the quarry stone." Amongst these are 

 a large Ostrea, or Hinnites, like a species found at Atherficld, and 

 Pholadomya acuticosiata (of Leymerie). 



Under these circumstances it became a question of great interest 

 to determine the nature of the unknown interval at Hythe ; and on 

 going to the place with that object, the author found that Mr. Simms, 

 who conducted the works upon the South Eastern Railway, espe- 

 cially the tunnel at Saltwood, had been for some time engaged in 

 borings and measurements, with a view to a complete section of 

 the country through which the railway and tunnel had passed. Mr. 

 Simms was induced to extend his operations to the bottom of the 

 subcretaceous groups ; and finally determined on sinking a shaft 

 from the bottom of the deepest quarry, continuously down to the 

 Weald clay, for the purpose of obtaining a more satisfactory view 

 of the fossils of the lowest beds. This undertaking was in progress 

 when the present paper was read, and the results will be laid before 

 the Society. 



§. From the facts above stated, it is evident that the deposit of 

 Atherfield, in the Isle of Wight, like that which contains the fossils 

 of Peasemarsh enumerated by Mr. Austen, belongs to the lower 

 greensand : — both being unequivocally superior to the Wealden clay. 

 If, therefore, these fossils are characteristic of the Terrain Neocomicn, 

 the hypothesis which supposes that formation to be contemporaneous 

 with the Wealden can no longer be maintained. 



The author, however, is far from denying that a marine equivalent 

 of the Wealden may exist f. But whenever such an equivalent shall 

 be discovered, — since it must be distinct from the Lower greensand 



* The nearest point to the stone quarries, where the author had seen 

 the Wealden beds (in 1823), is thus mentioned in Geol. Trans., 2nd Series, 

 vol. iv. p. 124. — 'The shore beneath the town consists of soft bluish clay, 

 ' which has the character of river mud, and differs much from the uniform 

 ' slaty clay of the Wealden. But the latter (Weald clay) has been cut 

 ' into in sinking wells above the main street of Hythe, which in some in- 

 ' stances have gone to the depth of seventy-five feet, entirely in clay. In 

 ' one of these wells the succession was thus : — beginning at a point about 

 ' sixty feet beneath the bottom of the lower greensand. 



i 1. Soil 2ft. 6in. 



'2. Reddish tough clay 6 to 7 ft. 



' 3. Greenish sandy clay in thin beds, alternately of dark \ . . „ 

 and lighter hues J 



• 4. Blue, uniform, slaty clay, containing Cypris about a \ 



foot from the top / 



' 5. A band composed of argillaceous iron ore, abounding ) « , 



in Paludina elongata and Cypris / 



t See Geol. Trans., 2nd Series, vol. iv. p. 396. 



