MENDIP NOTES. 871 



of Ebbor Gorge, near a ruined building. The shales in the 

 tip are dull red ; and the trial must have been made close to 

 the Mountain Limestone. There may be a fault along the 

 slope of the hill here. The relations of the two masses of 

 Limestone, one on either side of the valley, are j^nzzling. I 

 do not think either of them belong to the lower or encrinital 

 series. At present all I am prepared to contend for is the 

 abolition of the strips of Old Red Sandstone and Lower 

 Limestone Shales and the mapping of Millstone Grrit, or that 

 which seems to take its place in the Mendip area, in their 

 stead. 



It may here be noted that near the top of the Ebbor 

 Valley, and yet farther West where the old ruined farm 

 buildings stand, the strong Millstone Grit band is conform- 

 able to and at once succeeds on the Mountain Limestone. I 

 have not at present found evidence of bands of grit in the 

 Limestone below this. It would seem, therefore, that the 

 Millstone Grit succeeds directly on the Limestone without 

 the intervention of the Upper Transition Beds of the Clifton 

 section. As before stated, however, the relations of the 

 beds which form the upper part of and succeed on the 

 Mountain Limestone in the Mendips need further elucida- 

 tion. I think it may be found that in the Southern Mendips 

 the Upper Limestone is (1) succeeded by shales grits and 

 thin coal beds as at Emborrow and Ebbor ; and (2) these 

 again succeeded by Limestone. In^ this way the outlying 

 Limestone hills south of the Mendip area would be less 

 puzzling ; and if this could be proved south of the Mendips 

 it might throw light on the Luckington and Vobster Lime- 

 stones. The mantle of secondary rocks, however, over all 

 the lower ground must render it very difficult to test the 

 correctness of this view, which is here thrown out merely as 

 a suggestion. 



