66 REPORT—1849. 
tinued up to, and included the base of the lias.” The author of that essay also notices 
certain tranquil deposits of red clays and marls on the surface of the carboniferous 
rocks, After making these preliminary remarks, Mr, Sanders exhibited a map of the 
parish of St. George’s, near the mouth of the Avon, and another map of the three 
parishes of Compton Martin and West and East Harptree, together with sections for 
the purpose of illustrating the fact, that the spaces coloured on the Ordnance map as 
conglomerate, are really composed of several small tracts of conglomerate at different 
elevations, separated by larger tracts of tranquilly-deposited clays, marls, and sand- 
stones, similar in all respects to those which all concur in marking as the upper part 
of the new red sandstone. 
The evidences first, of a regular succession of strata on the sides of the hills; se- 
condly, of the action of water at low levels; and thirdly, of similar structure of rocks 
in the lower as in the upper parts, denoting similar depth of water, lead to the con- 
clusion that the land included in the Bristol district was, during the formation of such 
parts of the new red sandstone as are therein deposited, subjected to a gradual move- 
ment downwards, so that the waters first touched the lowest parts of the hills, and 
then gradually ascended up to the highest point at which the conglomerates are 
found. ‘This hypothesis is confirmed by the following facts: —On the northern side of 
the Mendip hills, at the height of 750 to 800 feet above mean sea level, there is depo- 
sited a conglomerate of the age of the white lias resting on lias strata tranquilly de- 
posited. On the tract of limestone northwards, called Broadfield Down, a conglomerate 
of similar age occurs at the height of about 550 feet. On the top of an isolated hill 
intermediate between these stations, at an elevation of 350 to 420 feet, occurs a lias 
conglomerate varying from 30 to 70 feet in thickness, not at the base of the lias, but 
likewise of the age of the white lias. This bed of conglomerate therefore descended 
from the shores on each side and crossed the valley at a lower level. The continuity 
of this bed renders highly probable the inference that the strata which are subjacent 
to this lias conglomerate on the hills, were also more or less continuous from shore 
to shore. 
If these views be correct, if the order of succession presented by the strata accu- 
mulated on the slopes of the hills correspond with the order of time at which they 
were formed, then a means is afforded of approximating to the age of any given bed 
resting on the older rocks, by reference to some other bed of known age at a limited 
distance from the hills and at a lower elevation, with which the given bed may have 
been in continuity. ; 
The dolomitic conglomerate containing the Saurians is situated about 300 feet above 
mean sea level. ‘The nearest horizontal formation is the base of the lias, which is 
at nearly the same height. The deposits of similar age at a distance of nearly one 
mile, are lower by about 100 feet, and similar strata at two miles from the limestone 
range are depressed to the extent of 150 feet. Combining these facts with the prin- 
ciples previously indicated, the Saurians, which form the subject of inquiry, may be 
pronounced to have lived during the time of the latest parts of the new red sandstone. 
Remarks in confirmation were made on the affinity of the Saurians with the Rhyn- 
chosaurus, and on the improbability that any part of the Permian system exists within 
the limits of the Bristol district. 

Mr. H.E. Strickland exhibited some specimens of vegetable remains in the keupert 
sandstone of Longdon, Worcestershire, where they were first noticed by the Dean 
of Westminster. ‘These are for the most part fragmentary and obscure, but some of 
them appear referable to the genus Calamites, and one specimen seems to be a Voltxia, 
a genus found in the new red sandstone of the continent, but only once before met 
with in Britain. [This was in magnesian limestone of Northumberland, see Lindley, — 
Fossil Flora, plate 195.] The state of preservation of these remains is remarkable; 
for instead of being black and carbonaceous, as is usual with fossil plants of so great 
antiquity, they are of a light brown colour, and highly elastic, resembling recent dead 
leaves. When viewed under the microscope these vegetable fragments exhibit the 
cellular texture in great perfection. The only other locality in Great Britain where 
plants have been found in the keuper sandstone is at Ripple, three miles E. of Long- 
don, where Calamites occur, but'the sandstone is not quarried there at present. The 
only animal remains found at these localities are small teeth and dorsal spines of the 
Hybodus, : 

