Geological Society, 13$ 



shale, an important formation on account of the absence of marine 

 remains and the presence of terrestrial plants. With the exception 

 of a similar series of beds above the great oolite/this formation is the 

 most irregular in its subdivisions of any on the Yorkshire coast. The 

 only point at which the upper and middledivisions of theseriesare fully 

 developed are the cliffs between Cloughton Wyke and Blue Wick ; 

 the remainder of the coast exhibiting only the lower divisions. The 

 following is the succession of the beds in ascending : p^^^ 



1. Black carbonaceous shale, no vegetable remains . . 10 



2. Hard, pale, gritty sandstone, containing at its junc- 



tion with No. 1. great abundance of a new species 

 of Calamites, also fronds of Zamia gigas, and a 

 remarkable fossil apparently connected with the 

 fructification of aCycas 20 



3. Shale 10 



4. Gritty sandstone 20 



5. Softish sandstone containing fine specimens of Equi- 



seium columnare^ all in a vertical position with their 

 roots downwards 8 



6. Soft black shale 3 



7. Sandstones and shales 1 70 



8. Dark shaly sandstone 8 



9. Hard grey sandstone 6 



1 0. Black shale 2 



1 1 . Laminated sandstone containing great abundance of 



various species of beautiful ferns, Cycadean plants, 

 and Equiseii, also towards the lower part three 

 seams of soft jet 6 



The following are the species enumerated by Mr. Williamson : — Equisc- 

 turn later ale y Liijco'podiles Williaynsonis, L.falcatus, Thuites expa7i.stiSy Sphe- 

 nopteris longifoliay S. hymenophylloideSy Pecopteris ligafa, P. curtata, P. Whit- 

 biensis, P. Williamsonis, Ptcrophyllum pectinoides, P. minus, O topic ris acu- 

 minata, Ci/clopteris digitatUy TcBniopteris vittata, Solenites Murrayana. 



Feet. 

 12. Sandstones and shales containing no well-preserved 

 plants, but about 90 feet from the top a bed of coal 



1 foot thick 170 



The plants of this system differ from those of the upper sandstone 

 and shale by the abundance of Pterophyllum minus, Otopteris acumi- 

 nata, Sphenopteris hymenophylloides, and the deeply lobed CycLopteris 

 digilata, and is characterized by Pterophyllum pectinoides, Equisetum 

 laterale, Lycopodytes falcatus, and by a singular frond supposed to 

 belong to a Cycadean plant. With respect to the vertical Equiseti in 

 bed 5, Mr. Williamson is of opinion that they did not grow where 

 they are found, but were transported, not, perhaps, from a great 

 distance j and that their perpendicular position is owing to the roots 

 of this description of plants being specifically iieavierthan the stem. 

 3. The Great or Bath oolite varies very little in its characters or fos- 

 sils, except for 8 or 9 feet from the top, where, according io Mr. 



T2 



