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The lower stratum, coloured red, is composed of the common 

 red clay or brick earth. It dips at a small inclination towards 

 the north, and disappears below the level of the bottom of 

 the drain, about 300 yards from the south extremity nearest 

 the road to Bidston, but reappears at the north eDd of the 

 cutting. 



Above this red clay is a stratum of white sand. It forms a 

 tolerably equal layer about three feet thick, and, when care- 

 fully examined, is found to contain the remains of sea shells 

 (which Mr. Higgins states to be a species of tellina) ; but they 

 immediately crumble to pieces on exposure to the air. I have 

 not examined the sand chemically ; but, it appears to me, there 

 are traces of carbonate of lime mixed with it. I think there 

 can be no doubt that this stratum of sand is a sea deposit, 

 both from the presence of shells and of numerous rounded 

 pebbles of Limestone and other rocks, apparently similar to 

 those we find on the neighbouring coast. Upon the surface of 

 this layer or stratum of sand, which has probably remained long 

 undisturbed after its deposit by salt water, an accumulation 

 of soil has taken place sufficient to afford nourishment for the 

 growth of vegetation : for there are the remains of an extensive 

 and dense forest, consisting of oaks principally, and probably 

 of elms, alders, nut, and other trees. When first disclosed, 

 the wood of all these trees, with the exception of the oaks, was 

 soft and spongy, but they become hard and brittle by exposure 

 to the air ; generally speaking, they are of a dull red colour, 

 though the oaks are nearly all black — the latter are in some 

 cases tolerably sound. On close observation, all the boles of 

 the oaks and other trees that remain in situ are found to be 

 growing immediately above the sand, and pushing their roots 

 into the clay below. Some of them have attained considerable 

 size, and one in particular, which has been left exposed by the 

 workpeople, is nearly three feet in diameter above the spread 

 of the roots. From the regular form in which the roots of 

 these oaks present themselves, I cannot help thinking that the 



