168 



which, on the right, and up tho lanps leading to Norton Cami), at the summit of 

 the hill, are good exposures of Upper Ludlow, where some fine sijeoimens of 

 *Homalonotus Knightii and several other fossils have been collected. 



"In a lane, behind a cottage to the south of the farmhouse, and but a few 

 yards off the road, is to be found the finest exposure known of the Ludlow bone 

 bed. It is here in some places six inches thick, and forms at one spot the bed of 

 the lane itself. About a yard above it there is a bed of shale abounding in 

 Platyschisma and Modiolopsis lagvis. A few yards further towards the east 

 the Downton Sandstone may be detected overlying the above strata and conform- 

 able with them. " 



After the conclusion of Mr. La Touche's observations, the party again 

 advanced, and at the distance of about a mile further on, the limestone quarries 

 of Aymestry rook were entered, exhibiting a fine and instructive section of that 

 formation. Although fossils are occasionally met with here in abundance, they 

 appear to be confined to limited spots, and on this occasion the fossil hunters did 

 not hit uijon those that were most prolific, but the President, the Rev. W. Elliot, 

 was fortunate in securing a very fine specimen of a Pterinea resembling the 

 species Danbyi, but very much larger, and it is probably a new one. A move 

 was next made up the hill to the village of Norton, which has become famous 

 to geologists by the existence there of what is called the Ludlow Bone bed — a 

 remarkable collection of the spines and scales of palaeozoic fishes. This deposit 

 is found in other localities — Ludlow, Downton, and Linley near Bridgnorth, — and 

 always at the very summit of the upper Ludlow rock, at its junction with the transi- 

 tion beds between the Silurian and the Old Red or Devonian system. In this spot 

 it attains the thickness of nearly six inches, and consists of a compact mass of black 

 shining fragments, among which, by the aid of a lens, are found pieces of spiny 

 fish defences, similar to those found in the dorsal fins of the perch and other 

 fishes, as well as portions of the skin of the cartilaginous fish Pteraspis. Professor 

 Lapworth has given the following very probable explanation of how so enormous 

 a collection of these fragments is found in one spot. He says that the accumula- 

 tion must have been made under very peculiar circumstances. If we suppose a 

 calm undisturbed sea, where little or no deposition of sediment has taken place 

 for a great period of time, we should have exactly the conditions favourable to a 

 formation like this. The remains — the bony and spiny portions of the fishes — 

 existing in such a sea would, on the death of the creatures to which they belonged, 

 sink to the bottom, and — allowing sufficient time for the operation— would 

 accumulate in vast numbers, forming a stratum such as we here find. 



From Norton the party ascended the hill to the fine British Camp which 

 crowns it, an oval comprising 13 acres, with well-preserved ramparts and ditches, 

 and on their way had an excellent opportunity of observing the geological 

 succession of strata as high as the Coal Measures, displayed in the expanse of 

 country stretching eastward and southward to the Clee Hills and Bringewood 

 Chase. On arriving at the summit, the view that meets the eye is very fine. At 

 the foot of the precipitous cliff on the west about 600 feet below, is seen the Castle 

 *For sketches of Homalonotus see Woollwpe Transactions for i868— Fossil Sketches, Nos. 5 and 6. 



