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here in a much more perfect state of preservation than on the coast. 
The shore specimens are generally round, and deprived of their stems 
or roots by the constant action of the waves. 
I have collected on the range of Downs between Sullington and 
Amberley Mount magnificent calcedonies, and flints filled with quartz 
crystals ; also cubic crystals of calcedony, and beautiful and rare 
erystals of sulphuret of iron. On the Parham Hills radiated crystals 
of carbonate of lime are seen in large masses, as well as on other parts 
of the Sussex Downs. These specimens all belong to the Upper Chalk 
formation*. 
Wood is found occasionally in the upper and lower chalk ; more 
frequently in the upper, sometimes adhering to or even in the centre 
of flints. It usually assumes a light brown colour, though I have 
seen it quite black, having the appearance as if it had been burnt. 
The specimens I have examined are dicotyledonous, and show occa- 
sionally the perforations of Teredines. 
Small pebbles and large rolled fragments of sandstone and quartz 
rock are occasionally discovered in the centre of the upper chalk. Mr. 
Coombe found one specimen, weighing near fourteen pounds, at Hough- 
ton, Sussex, and I have seen others from the same pit of two or three 
pounds weight ; several also have been sent me by Mr. Catt from the 
pits near Lewes. It is not uncommon to find rolled portions of chalk 
shells, which must have been broken many years before they were 
enveloped in the chalk fluid. I have also portions of Spherulite 
showing this appearance, from the lower chalk of Balcombe, near 
Houghton, Sussex. Mr. Lyell has published some ingenious remarks 
* “Obtuse rhomboidal crystals of great beauty have been found im a chalk-pit near Alfriston : 
their colour is of a delicate pearl white, and in their general appearance they resemble the double 
refracting spar of Iceland, except in their inferior degree of transparency. The cavities of 
Echinites are sometimes lined with rhomboidal crystals of carbonate of lime, disposed in lines 
parallel with the section formed by the arez of the shell; and the inner surfaces of Terebratulze 
are frequently frosted over with crystals of the same substance.”—Mantell’s Geology, p. 89. 
