ON GEOLOGICAL NOMENCLATTTEE. 359 



Lias, for tlie fauna as a vliole is very different from that of the 

 Gryphaea beds. 



The Ehaetic is placed as the lowest division of the Lias ; it will 

 ever be an interesting page in geological history as it gives some 

 hint of transition of the Trias into Lias. The Amphibian and Fish 

 fauna of the older group is elbowed in our Aust Bonebed by the 

 Ichthyosauri and Plesiosauri of the newer — reptiles at that time of 

 the " coming race." The word Ehsetien occurs in two columns of 

 different values (so does Portlandien,) the Professor says that he 

 was unable to avoid this ; it may detract a little from the logical 

 strictness of the Table but can have no practical inconvenience. 



"We may pass now to the Permian Epoch — under it the first thing 

 that catches our eye is the " Dolomitic Conglomerate " of Bristol 

 (there is a mark of interrogation however to it,) we are not 

 surprised at this — it was so accounted once by the discoverers 

 of the two reptiles found herein near Bristol. It is now 

 however frequently called Bunter. There is no doubt however 

 that it is not of Bunter age. Mr. "W. Sanders, P.R.S. ^ has 

 shown that the Conglomerate is of no one precise age but occurs at 

 any level in the N.R.S. (Keuper,) thinning out in one place and 

 coming in again at a higher level. Latterly Sir C. Lyell has also 

 placed it in the Keuper, * it is probably even partly as late as 

 Ehaetic age. It seems to lie above the Ehaetic or be intercalated 

 with it in places in S. "Wales. Last year Mr. H. W. Woodward f 

 intimated much the same thing from his survey of the Mendip 

 district. Professor Morris and Eupert Jones X class it as Keuper. 



T here is very little of the Palasozoic beds to be seen in Switzerland, 

 the coal beds with fossil ferns occur near Bex, &c. Beyond this 

 the table has to give us chiefly the groupings as developed in other 

 countries. The Mountain Limestone figures under the name of 

 " Condrusien :" it is well developed in Belgium, where Prof. De 



ir Brit. Assoc. Kept, for 1849, p. 65. 



* Students Elements of Geology, 2d. each, p. HI and 361. 



t Somerset Arch, and Nat. Hist. Sec. Proceedings for 1873. 



X Synopsis of Lectures on Geology p. 71 (1870.) 



