Dr. AVright on the Sands of the Inferiur Oolite. 397 



relations of the calcareous sands which lie between the limestone 

 beds of the Inferior OoHte above and the clays of the Lias below, 

 taking the exposures at Leckhampton, Crickley, Frocester, and 

 Symonds Hall Hills as the typical sections. These present (be- 

 ginning from below) first, the Lower Lias Shale and Limestone ; 

 2. the Marlstoue, a hard calcareous sandstone ; 3. the Upper Lias 

 Shale, with occasional Hmestones; 4. yellow and brown fine sands, 

 with bands of concretionary calcareous sandstone; 5. a thin band 

 of calcareo-ferruginous sandstone, abounding with Cephalopoda ; 

 6. the pea-grit and other members of the Inferior Oolite ; 7. Fullers 

 Earth ; 8. Great Oolite. The beds Nos. 4 and 5 constitute the 

 " Calcareous sands " which formed the subject of the paper. Dr. 

 Wright described in detail the several sections alluded to, and enu- 

 merated the fossils found in the beds in question. The bed No. 5, 

 called the " Cephalopoda bed," varies from 1 foot to 4 feet in thick- 

 ness along the edge of the Cotteswolds ; and the sands, No._ 4, vary 

 considerably, being more than 100 feet in some localities, and 

 thinning away in others. Traced from (Jheltenham southwards, 

 these so-called "Inferior Oolite Sands" gradually thicken in the 

 direction of Crickley, Coopers, and Painswick Hills to Beacon, 

 Frocester, and Wootton-under-Edge, where fine sections are ex- 

 posed. 



The author described also sections of these beds in Somersetshire, 

 and at Bridport, Dorset, where they are well developed. 



After enumerating the fossil contents of the several beds, Nos. 

 4, 5, and 6, and pointing out their relations to the faunas of the 

 Oolite and the Lias, Dr. Wright stated it as his opinion that the 

 " Cephalopoda bed " forms an important and well-marked feature 

 in the lower division of the great Oolitic or Jurassic group ; and that, 

 although it contains a few species of Conchifera, such as Pholadomya 

 fidicula. Sow., Gervillia Hartmanni, Munst., My acites abducta} , Phil., 

 Pectendemissus, Phil., Modiola plicala. Sow., Aslarte excavata, Sow., 

 and Cucullcea oblonga. Sow., which are found in the limestones and 

 sands of the Inferior Oolite, still it contains a suite of Cephalopodawhich 

 are only found in the Upper Lias, and characterise that formation in 

 Germany, France, Belgium, and England. These are Ammonites opa- 

 Hhus, Rein., A. insignis, Schiib., A. variabilis, D'Orb., A. discoides, 

 Ziet., A. striatulns. Sow., A. radians, Schl., A. Raquienianus, D'Orb., 

 A. torulosus, Schub., A. Jurensis, Ziet., Nautilus inornatus. Sow., 

 Belemnites breviformis, Ziet., B. compressus, Voltz, and B. Nodotianus, 

 D'Orb. Dr. Wright considers that the amount of palajontological 

 evidence is in favour of the grouping of the "Cephalopoda bed" and 

 its underlying sands with the Upper Lias rather than with the In- 

 ferior Oolite to which it has been considered to belong, and of 

 which it has been described as the basement-bed. 



4. " On the probable origin of the English Channel by means of 

 a Fissure." By M. Ami Bou6, For. Mem. G.S. 



The author, having met with a published proposal to construct a 

 submarine tunnel across the Straits of Dover, pointed out that it 

 was highly probable that the English Channel had not been exca- 



