452 



ferni, chiefly Pecopteris lignitum. The seventeenth bed contains a 

 large number of dicotyledonous leaves. The twenty-fifth is that in 

 which the so-called " flabelliform leaves " of Dr. Croker occur; they 

 have been decided to be large rhizomes of ferns. The twenty-sixth, 

 a bed of clay, is richer than any other in the number and variety of 

 its fossils, which consist of dicotyledonous leaves, seeds of various 

 kinds, and debris of Sequoia stems, leaves, fruits, and seeds. Remains 

 of the last occur, in well-marked specimens, in the fortieth aud 

 sixty-third beds ; so that it ranges throughout the formation, both 

 divisions of which, therefore, belong to one organic period. The 

 forty-sixth bed abounds in the seeds described by Dr. Hooker as 

 Folliculites minutulus, but which Professor Heer has recognized as 

 Carpolithes Kaltennordheimensis. 



The lignite has frequently a " charred " appearance, and it is diffi- 

 cult to believe that it has not undergone true combustion in the beds, 

 the ignition being spontaneous. 



Coal has been found upwards of 1 70 feet below the surface of the 

 plain, and there are reasons for believing that the deposit is fully 300 

 feet in depth. 



On the advice of Dr. Falconer, the fossils have been submitted to 

 Professor Heer of Zurich, who has found amongst them 49 species of 

 plants, eight of which were found by himself during a personal inves- 

 tigation of the deposit. Many of these are entirely new to science, 

 whilst the others are well known as continental representatives of 

 the lower miocene age. In addition to these, four species have 

 been identified in the uppermost, or gravel division, as belonging to 

 the diluvial period, " that is, a period when the climate of Devon- 

 shire was colder than at present." 



The deposit is eminently freshwater, and must have been formed 

 in a lake, the bottom of which is, at present, at least 30 fathoms 

 below the level of ordinary spring tide high water. It appears pro- 

 bable that the waters of this miocene lake were separated from the 

 ocean by a barrier which crossed the present tidal estuary of the 

 Teign, and over this the surplus waters passed to the sea ; or that 

 they formed a lower outlet in the valley between Newton and Tor- 

 quay ; the first seems, from the physical characters of the two 

 Talleys, to have been the most probable course. During the investi- 

 gation a search was made for fossils at the clay-works of Aller, 



