238 CONCLUSIONS. 



FAIRLIGHT CLAYS. 



() Fine clay ironstone ; ferns well preserved, no cycads or 

 conifers. This bed occupies about the same geological position as (J), 

 although separated from it horizontally ; it contains Marchantites, 

 Equisetites Burchardti, Onychiopsis Mantelli, Ruffordia Gopperti, 

 Splienopteris Fittoni, and other ferns. 



() Fine blue clay. The " cycad bed," containing Zamites, 

 Anomozamites, Otozamites, Fittonia, etc. ; ferns rare. A few yards 

 farther on, and about the same horizon, there have been found 

 coniferous twigs, etc. 



(c] Porous sandstone, with Pinites; no cycads or ferns. This 

 bed occupies a lower horizon than (a) and (b}. 



(d] Blue clays, sometimes sandy. "Fern bed"; no cycads; 

 occasionally leaves of Pinites, also Onychiopsis Mantelli, Ruffordia, 

 Sphenopteris Fittoni, Cladophlebis, etc. 



(e] For the most part reddish ironstone, with some grey sand- 

 stone merging into sandy clay. About the same horizon as (d] ; 

 plants very abundant Onychiopsis, Ruffordia, Sphenopteris, Clado- 

 phlebis, T&niopteris, Protopteris ; also Dioonites Srongniarti, Zamites, 

 Otozamites, Benneitites {Williamsonia), Pagiophyllum, and other 

 conifers, etc. This bed is of somewhat coarser material than the 

 others, and contains a greater mixture of plants ; Pagiopliyllum 

 crassifolium and other conifers are very abundant. 



In reading the above notes by Mr. Rufford, we find that with 

 the exception of bed (e), in which the various classes of plants are 

 well represented, the ferns, cycads, and conifers are not usually 

 intermixed. The partial or complete separation of ferns, cycads, 

 and conifers, may be due either to the nature of the plant material, 

 which might be sorted by the water by reason of some differences 

 in weight, or to the relative adaptability to longer or shorter 

 transport by water ; or the result of the plants growing in 

 different districts and at different elevations. The more delicate 

 fern fronds would probably be carried to a greater distance 

 than the heavier and larger pieces of cycadean or coniferous 

 plants. On the other hand, the gymnosperms may well have 

 been more abundant on higher ground and in drier situations 

 than the Filicina. Assuming the bed (e) to occupy the lowest 

 horizon in the series, it would appear that the material com- 

 posing the sandstones and ironstones was laid down in somewhat 



