194 OUR COMMON BRITISH FOSSILS. 



takes him to some of the wildest, grandest, or most 

 beautiful scenes in nature. Although, in not a few 

 instances, rich fossiliferous strata occur in unlovely- 

 places, amid densely populated neighbourhoods, as at 

 the Wren's Nest, near Dudley ; yet as a rule fossils 

 are most abundant where the rocks crop out along 

 mountain or hill sides or sea-cliffs. In searching for 

 them he startles the grouse or the moor-fowl, and 

 finds many a lovely mountain plant solitarily bloom- 

 ing. Scenes of unsurpassed loveliness are thus re- 

 vealed to him, in the grandeur of rock-masses, or the 

 panoramic stretch of the valleys below and beyond. 

 What wonder if men who have had to toil the year 

 round for the bread which perisheth, in dingy offices 

 or amid the noise and bustle of machinery, should so 

 value the week or two of summer holiday, which 

 enables them to devote themselves to those geological 

 pursuits which have all the charm and excitement 

 of hunting without any of its cruelty ! For, if the 

 geologist wishes to change the area of his labours from 

 the mountain-side to the seaside, he can do so at 

 leisure, without interfering with his success in fossil- 

 hunting. Some of the very best sections are those 

 to be seen in our sea-cliffs ; some of the richest fossi- 

 liferous districts are where the student may be taking 

 in a fresh stock of health whilst he is following his 

 bent, and is silently impressing on his memory 

 scenes of beauty which will last as long as his own 

 individuality ! Perhaps it is this direct contract with 



