223 
with a lens. A sudden change now takes place, and the dark-blue 
laminated Rheetic shales succeed immediately, the upper beds being 
ferruginous and much oxidised on the surface. Remembering Mr. 
Moore’s discovery of Saurian remains in clays similar to these a 
little farther on in the cutting to the North of the Bitton Station, 
I searched diligently many times and requested the navvies 
to look out and keep any thing like a bone, but without success. 
Neither a tooth of fish or reptile has rewarded a careful search 
here, which is somewhat remarkable as the “bone bed” is 
generally either present itself in these sections, or else the bones 
and coprolites are found scattered about here and there indiseri- 
minately in the clays. The characteristic fossils, however, occur in 
the blue laminated clays abundantly, ¢9., the Cardiwm Rheticum, 
Avicula contorta, Axinus, Anatina, &c. Owing to the broken up 
and soddened nature of the beds, it was difficult at first to find 
_ traces of organisms. But, one day, on splitting open a lump 
_ somewhat drier than usual, very delicate impressions of shells 
_ appeared. This induced me to take home several lumps; _ these 
after drying to a light slate blue colour readily yielded to the 
knife in thin lamine and showed a rich abundance of the 
characteristic fossils. The Avicula contorta though very rare was 
yet sufficiently preserved to be at once recognised. Succeeding 
_ this dark-blue shale, which in its upper portion was stained with 
iron, came some 6ft. of Gray Marls, with two bands of hard 
Marly Stone. 
The lowest of these bands, about 10in. thick, was marly at the 
base, but in its upper portion dense with conchoidal fracture, 
indicating the gradual incoming of the White Lias conditions. 
_ Gray Marls separated this from the one above ; a thin arenaceous 
_band with patches of marl scattered here and there throughout 
‘was separated from this second bed by a parting of Gray Marl. 
‘This corresponded with a similar bed in the N ewbridge Hill 
“section, and several little shiny black particles of bone, too 
‘minute to determine, reminded one of the fish teeth and scales 
F 
