— 4 — 
sils did not seem very promising. A search among 
the débris yielded only two or three specimens of 
Terebratula carnea, a few more or less perfect ex- 
amples of Axanchytes ovatus, and the very common 
Belemnitella mucronata which could be seen _ every- 
where in the face of the section. I began to think 
that nothing more than these common everyday fos- 
sils of the chalk would be the result of my search, 
and was about quitting the quarry when I thought 
it worth while to observe more particularly the 
large variously shaped nodules of flint which had 
been left, strewn over the floor of the pit, after the 
removal of the soft chalk in which they had been im- 
bedded. One of the larger of these flints, about 
a foot in diameter, had been splintered, apparently 
by the sharp frosts of the preceding winter, and pre- 
sented, instead of a solid mass of stone as is usual 
with the majority of the nodules, a central cavity, 
which contained a quantity of material resembling fine 
flour in appearance and feel, and of a creamy-white 
tint. An examination with a hand-lens showed that 
this floury material abounded with minute fossils, more 
particularly sponge spicules. Feeling at once certain 
that I had fallen in with a rich prize, I spread out a 
newspaper which I had brought to wrap up my fossils, 
and carefully emptied into it the contents of the cavity, 
which may have weighed when moist about a couple 
of pounds. The cavity appeared to have been com- 
pletely inclosed by the flint, which had thus hermeti- 
cally sealed up in its interior and preserved unharmed 
from mechanical injury, a small portion of the mud of 
the Cretaceous ocean. In fact, this material pro- 
mised to afford as good evidence of the kind and 
