TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 65' 



Analysis of Fossils from the hotiom of the Inferior Oolite Sands at Nailsworth. 



Species. Species. 



Ammonites 2 Common to Lias 



Belemnites 1 ,, « » 1 



Gasteropoda 5 „ „ „ 



Lamellibranchiata , , 20 ,, „ „ 3 



Brachiopoda 2 ,, >> » ^ 



Inferior Oolite 30 5 



Here, then, if fossil evidence is to be relied on, the sands far below the Inferior Oolite 

 should be added to that rock rather than a portion of the Inferior Oolite to be abs- 

 tracted and added to the Lias, an argument which was further supported by reference 

 to the fauna of the Cornbrash, in which out of about sixty-five species, twenty-one, 

 including even Cephalopoda, were identical with the common species of the Inferior 

 Oolite. 



The author's general conclusion was, that as the Inferior Oolite sands mark a change 

 in the physical conditions under which the unctuous blue lias clays were deposited, 

 which was immediately followed by a corresponding change of animal life, therefore 

 the natural separation of the Lias and Oolite should commence with these sands : by 

 so doing we have a boundary-line which all can recognize both lithologically and 

 palseontologically ; whereas by adopting Dr. Wright's view, we separate a bed of true 

 oolitic structure into two parts in obedience to the dictum of a small minority of fossils 

 peculiar to lower strata which one must always meet with at points of oscillation. 



On the Oolite Rocks of the Cotteswold Hills. 

 By Professor Buckman, F.L.S., F.G.S. 



On the Igneous Rocks of Lundy and the Bristol District. 

 By R. Etheridge, F.G.S. 



On some New Fossils from the ancient Sedimentary Rocks of Ireland and Scot- 

 land. By Professor Haukness, F.G.S. 



Hitherto the only fossils which have been obtained from the oldest fossiliferous 

 strata of Ireland, the Cambrian rocks of the county of Wicklow, consist of two forms 

 of Oldhamia, viz. 0. radiata from the purple slates of Brayhead, and 0. antiqua 

 from the drab shales of Carrick M'Rielly. Associated with the former, last summer, 

 the author found evidences of the existence of Annelidse in the form of burrows, and 

 also sinuous ti-acks on the surfaces of some of the purple slates. These tracks and 

 burrows appear to be among the earliest we possess, which show the occurrence of 

 this tribe of animals. 



Among the black graptolitic shales of Moffatdale, at Dobbs Lin, the author has 

 also met with specimens of Beyrichia complicata, a crustacean which occurs in the 

 Lower Silurian rocks of England and the continent of Europe. 



On the Jointing of Rocks. By Professor Harkness, F.G.S. 



In the Devonian strata of the south of Ireland the rocksmanifest jointing in a very 

 perfect state. The master-joints, which are very prominent, have a north and south 

 direction, and, in the language of Professor Sedgwick, might be termed lip-joints ; 

 joints of a similar nature are also seen intersecting the carboniferous limestone, where 

 they are even more prominent than in the Devonians, having frequently the aspect 

 of stratification, and being, like the Devonian joints, pei-pendicular. Besides these 

 perpendicular master-joints, the carboniferous limestone is also intersected by two 

 other series of jointings, the one nearly horizontal, and the other inclined at about 

 46°, also running north and south. These two latter jointings are not so persistent 

 as the master-joints, and are, in some cases, only local. 



The great uniformity of the master-joints and their great parallelism over larga 

 1856. 5 



