24 
Wood. The low hills in the neighbourhood of Rowing- 
ton are capped by it, the lower ground being composed 
of the lower. Red Marl. No doubt at one time it was 
more widely diffused, from Chessett Wood on the north, 
to Cherry Pool south of Preston; and from west to east 
north of Tanworth to the east of Rowington. There the 
denudations are well marked by lines of dessication and 
undulations which vary the otherwise monotonous scenery 
of the neighbourhood, and towards Claverdon and Bear- 
ley the country is picturesque, and commands some fine 
views over the plains of Red Marls and lower Lias to the 
more distant oolitic range of the Cotswolds. As a general 
rule this formation is barren of any organic remains, 
those which have been met with being found in the sand- 
stone and green marls, none having been noticed in the 
red marls, the superabundance of red peroxide of iron 
being generally supposed to be inimical to the.existence of 
animal life. No marine shells (with two doubtful excep- 
tions) eccur in it, and only two entire fish, one of 
which was discovered at Shrewley and the other at 
Rowington, but abundant remains of sharks (bed No. 
2 of section) which consist of dorsal spines, small 
grinding palatal teeth of two distinct genera, and 
shagreen or skin of some Cestraciont. No doubt there 
were other fish* in the Triassic sea on which these 
sharks preyed, which may some day be discovered. But 
the most remarkable fossils which distinguish both the 
* A fourth and entire fish must be added to the list of New Red Sandstone fishes, 
a very remarkable one having been discovered some years ago in the lower Keuper 
Sandstone at Bromsgrove, in Worcestershire, and now deposited in Jermyn Street 
Museum of Practical Geology. In many ways it presents some unusual characters, 
and the family to which it belongs is very doubtful. The tail is homocercal, differing 
so far from all other fish yet found below the Lias. Sir P. Egerton has named it 
« Dipteronotus cyphus,’ and it is described by him and figured in the Journal of the 
Geological Society, Vol. 10, p. 369. I have lately been informed, on good authority, 
that another larger and apparently distinct fish was obtained form the same locality 
many years ago, and I hope to be able to learn more about it, and perhaps to get it 
described and figured if it is still preserved. - 
