404 GEOLOGY OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 



of which we have obtained such unequivocal 

 proofs. Fortunately, the evidence of the impor- 

 tant changes which the organic and inorganic 

 kingdoms of nature have undergone in this part 

 of the globe, during the vast periods embraced by 

 our researches, is so conclusive, that the attentive 

 reader will perceive the following inferences, start- 

 ling as they may appear, naturally result from the 

 facts that have been submitted to his observation. 



I. The Oolitic Epoch. — The most ancient 

 deposits comprehended in our Excursions, are 

 the uppermost beds of an oceanic formation of 

 great extent — the Oolite — which is characterised 

 by numerous peculiar species and genera of marine 

 reptiles, fishes, mollusks, radiaria, corals, zoo- 

 phytes, &c. With these strata are intercalated in 

 some places, deposits of variable extent and thick- 

 ness, containing carbonized vegetable remains, 

 and the stems and foliage of palms, arborescent 

 and herbaceous ferns, cycadeous plants, and coni- 

 ferae ; with bones and teeth of terrestrial reptiles, 

 and of marsupial and insectivorous mammalia, 

 associated with vestiges of insects. These beds 

 are evidently attributable to the action of rivers 

 and streams, by which the spoils of the land were 

 transported into the abyss of the ocean. But our 

 present survey only refers to the period when a 



