I9I9- Bell. — Fossil Shells from Wexford and Manxland, 111 



Many of the extinct forms are of Pliocene origin, and Prof. 

 Cole has noted the occurrence of iron-stained shells in the 

 drifts of Co. Carlow, and cites them as fair evidence of the 

 existence of Pliocene deposits in Ireland.^ 



The condition or preservation of the shells is to some 

 extent governed b}/ the nature of the matrix they occur in. 

 Where they are found in clay they may be presumed, 

 especially those bivalves that have the valves united, 

 to be in situ, while those from the gravel show signs of 

 transport and rough treatment, but not to any great extent. 

 Most of the bivalves are broken into angular fragments, 

 often of large size, with a clean and sharp fracture. The 

 larger Gasteropods have usually lost their apices, the 

 Neptuneae and the Buccina much of their outer surface by 

 exfoliation. These occur from just hatched individuals to 

 others of great age. The Purpuras have suffered from the 

 attacks of a boring sponge, which in some cases has nearly 

 eaten them awa}^ 



The carnivorous mollusca abound especially in Ireland, 

 occurring in hundreds where the ordinary phytophagous 

 species may be counted by individuals, the only exception 

 being the ordinary Turritella communis, which is a very 

 common shell. It is singular that so few remains besides 

 shells occur in these deposits — as except many valves of 

 Balanus, a careful examination of hundreds of shells and 

 fragments produced only a few Polyzoa, Serpulae, and 

 others, barely a dozen examples in all. 



In working out the fossils from Wexford, I have to 

 acknowledge with many thanks the assistance rendered me 

 by the Most Rev. William Codd, D.D., Lord Bishop of Ferns, 

 and by the Rev. G. N. Harrison, M.A., of Ramsey, for the 

 gift and loans of specimens from the Blackwater cliffs 

 (Wexford) and the Cranstal or Shellag sands in the Isle of 

 Man. 



Comparing the faunas of these widely separated areas, 

 with those of all the other Pleistocene marine deposits in the 

 Irish Sea basin, older than the Estuarine Clays, including 

 beds of various ages and origins, clay, gravels and sands from 



^ Proc. Roy. Irish Acad., Vol. xxx. (B), 19 12. p. 11. 



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