143 



The term marl is commonly used for Till, or Boulder Clay, 

 over the greater part of Lancashire. The only places where 

 fossil shells have been found between Liverpool and Tod- 

 morden, so far as at present known, are in the Till south of 

 St. Helens, and in the same deposit at Astley Hall, where 

 TumteUa communis and Nassa reticulata, and some 

 fragments of shells have been met with. For specimens 

 from the latter place we are indebted to Mr. H. M. Ormerod. 



Having thus tracked the drift from the banks of the 

 Mersey to Manchester from West to East, we will follow 

 the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in a northerly direc- 

 tion through Newton, Middleton, and Blue Pits to Todmor- 

 den, or at least to the Rochdale Brick and Tile Works, near 

 the Summit Lock on the canal ; for at this point, about 650 

 feet above the level of the sea, the last traces of the drift 

 were visible, so far as we could see. 



Leaving the Victoria Station, the line crosses the valley 

 gravel of the Irk, and runs over Till all the way to Miles 

 Platting, where at an elevation of 183 feet the following- 

 beds occurred : — 



ft. in. 



Till 45 



Sand and Gravel 10 6 



55 6 



After going on the level for a short distance, the cuttings 

 throuofh the Till in Newton and Moston are reached. In 

 the 2nd paper read before the society, the section in the 

 Moston coal pit close to the line at page 103 is given, 

 which shows drift beds to the thickness of 184 feet. In a 

 cutting near the colliery a little sand is seen on a level with 

 the rails, and with this exception the Till may be said to 

 continue ail the way from Miles Platting to the Slacks 

 Vitriol Works, a little to the north of which the section 

 given at page 184 in the paper before alluded to is 

 met with. After the embankments near the Middleton 



