MIDFORD SANDS. 287 



They consist of micaceous yellow sands, with occasional beds or 

 concretionary masses of calcareous sandstone or sandy limestone, 

 locally known as ' sand bats' or ' sand burrs,' which frequently 

 contain organic remains. They are capped in Gloucestershire by 

 a brown marly iron-shot limestone, one to three feet thick, which 

 yields numerous species of Ammonites, Belemnites, and Nautili, 

 whence the bed was termed the ' Cephalopoda-bed ' by Dr. Wright. 

 The beds attain a thickness of from 25 to 200 feet. 



The Cephalopoda-bed and the upper portion of the Sands 

 yield Ammonites Aalensis, A. radians, A. hircinus, A. variabilis, A. 

 opalinus, Belemnites compressus, B. irregularis, Gresslya abducta, 

 Hinnites abjectus, etc. Amongst the fossils of the Cephalopoda 

 bed and Sands Ammonites Jurensis is conspicuous : hence the 

 formation has been termed the zone of A. Jurensis by Dr. Wright, 

 but the zone is sometimes restricted to the lower portions of the 

 Sands. Rhynchonella cynocephala is another characteristic fossil : 

 hence the term ' Cynocephala stage ' used for the series by Dr. 

 Lycett.^ The sands contain also Terebratula Stephani, Rhynchonella 

 plicatella, CucullcEa ferruginea, Gervillia Hartmanni, Pholadomya 

 fidicula, Perna riigosa, Trigonia formosa, Myacites arenacea, Myoconcha 

 crassa, Pecten (several species), Serpula, etc. 



The fossils belong partly to the Lias and partly to the Inferior 

 Oolite, and Professor Phillips has well observed that ' before the 

 Liassic life has come to an end, the Oolitic life has begun.' Such 

 being the case, the term Midford Sands is better than Upper Lias 

 Sands proposed in 1856 by Dr. Wright,* or than Inferior Oolite 

 Sand, or than Supra-Liassic Sands. ^ Between the Sands and the 

 beds both above and below, there is evidence in places of transition, 

 but perhaps the sands are on the whole more nearly allied to the 

 Oolite above. In the neighbourhood of Yeovil the concretions in 

 the lower part of the sands are blue and shaly, and the passage into 

 the Lias appears to be very gradual ; but in other localities there 

 is a passage into the Oolites, and as a rule the base of the sandy 

 beds is indicated by a line of springs thrown out by the Lias clays, 

 and by a marked feature in the conformation of the ground. As 

 before mentioned, the sands in the upper part of the Middle Lias 

 in Dorsetshire are of much the same character as the jNIidford 

 Sands. 



To the east of Bridport Harbour there is a fine coast-section of 

 the Sands, which are there seen to attain a thickness of nearly 150 

 feet, and, as the base is not visible, they may reach 200 feet. On the 

 other side of the Harbour the Sands likewise occur, faulted almost 

 directly against the Fuller's Earth. (See Fig. 40, p. 252.) The 

 junction with the Inferior Oolite is seen in a road-cutting south of 

 Burton Bradstock, as well as in the cliffs east of the river Bredy. 



1 J. Lycett, Handbook, Cotteswold Hills, 1S57 ; Proc. Cottesw. Club, ii. 142. 



^ Q. J. xii. 292. See also J. Buckman, Q. J. xiv. 102 ; and E. Witchell, 

 Geology of Stroud, p. 30. 



^ The term Aalenian, from Aalen in Wurteniburg, has also been applied to the 

 strata by Karl Mayer (1864). 



