CROMER FOREST BED SERIES. 473 



directed by Mr. Henry Norton ' to the uncertainty of the evidence 

 brought forward by R. C. Taylor, Lyell, and others. Mr. Reid has 

 since pointed out that where these tree-stumps are embedded in 

 clay the clay is well laminated, and unweathered, which would not 

 be the case had it formed an old soil ; the stumps do not exhibit 

 the smaller fibres of the roots, but are broken off and rounded or 

 frayed ; moreover, they occur in various positions, being sometimes 

 upside down. It therefore appears that the stumps have pro- 

 bably been derived from the wasting of river banks on which the 

 trees grew, and that, although they belong to the period of the 

 Forest Bed, they are not rooted on the spots where they lived. 

 The beds in which they occur contain occasional Mammalian 

 remains, also Jlfya tnuicata, Tellina Balthica, Cardium edidc. Fish- 

 remains, etc. The INIammalian remains include Elephas antiquus, 

 E. meridionalis, E. primigejiiics var.^ (rare). Hippopotamus amphibius. 

 Rhinoceros Etrusciis, Trogofitheriiim Cuvieri, Eqtius cahallus fossilis, 

 Cefvus Sedgivickiiy C. hovides, C. verticornis, HycEna crocuta var. spelcea, 

 MachcBrodus, Ursus ferox i^spelcBus), Giilo luscus (Glutton), Physeter 

 macrocephahis (Sperm Whale), ^ etc. Specimens are not readily to 

 be found except after certain tides have cleared away the recent 

 accumulations on the foreshore, near Runton, Overstrand, Side- 

 strand, and other places. 



Upper Freshwater Bed. — The upper surface of the Estuarine beds 

 is in places weathered into a soil and penetrated by small roots ; 

 hence the name Rootlet Bed has been applied to it.* (See sequel.) 

 Laminated loamy and peaty sands and carbonaceous clay occur in 

 places, and attain a thickness of about 5 feet. The beds yield 

 Anodonta cygncva, Unio pictoruvi, Pisidiiim ajmiiciim, P. aslartoides, 

 Corhicula fluminalis, species of Slugs (Limax), also Helix, Planorbis, 

 Valvata, etc. A number of {Limax), Fishes have been obtained ; 

 likewise the Newt Triton crista tus, the Frog Rana, the Viper Pelias 

 berus, and the common Snake Tropidonotiis natrix. The Mammals 

 include Hfyogale ?noschata, Arvicola ifitermedius, Trogontheriiim Ctnneri, 

 Castor EuropcEus, Ursus ferox, Rhinoceros Etnisciis, etc. Many Plant- 

 remains have been obtained by Mr. Reid, including Nuphar lutea, 

 Ceratophyllum demersiim, Rumex maritimiis, Alnus glutinosa, Potamo- 

 get07i, Scirpiis, Pinus sylvestris, P. abies, Elm, Beech, Oak, etc.^ Of 

 these and other Plants at present determined from the Forest Bed 

 Series, only one species [Trapa natatis) has disappeared from the 

 British Islands. (See Fig. 81.) 



Leda-myalis Bed. — This bed appears to have been recognized b}' 



^ Paper read before Norwich Geol. Soc and reprinted from Norwich Mercury, 

 May 5, 1877 ; C. Reid, Geol. Cromer, p. 22 ; T. M. Reade, G. Mag. 18S3, 

 p. 221. 



2 Gunn, G. Mag. 1883, p. 456. 



3 E. T. Newton, G. Mag. 1883, p. 433 ; Q.J. xlii. 316. 



* Prestwich, Q. J. xxvii. 463; Gunn, Q. J. xxxii. 124; J. H. Blake, Proc. 

 Norwich Geol. Soc. i. 146. 



* Trans. Norf. Nat. Soc. iv. 189. See also W. Carruthers, Address Biological 

 Sec. Brit. Assoc. 1866, and Q. J. xxvi. 349. 



