6o 



THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 



less than 100 feet thick, one is led to regret the 

 absence ol good sections inland, between the two 

 points. Mr. J. S. Gardner contributes an account of 

 the flora of the Alum Bay beds, which he has 

 studied so carefully. 



Next succeed the Bracklesham Beds (consisting ot 

 clays and sands, sometimes with lignite), the details 

 of which vary much in the two coast-sections ; and 

 this division is overlain by the Barton Clay, so cele- 

 brated for its fossils on the coast of the mainland. 

 Both these are marine, as also are the overlying 

 " Headon Hill Sands," a bad name, as they do not 

 form part of the Headon Beds. 



We now come to the great Fluviomarine Series, as 

 it was originally called ; and it is doubtful whether the 

 change of name to Oligocene is an improvement. In 

 England this set of deposits is confined to Hampshire, 

 and is to be seen in all its glory in the Isle of Wight 

 alone, the lowest division only, the Headon Beds, 

 being represented on the mainland. The other 

 divisions are the Osborne Beds, the Bembridge Beds, 

 and the Hamstead Beds; but " this grouping is so 

 much a matter of opinion, and there is such an entire 

 absence of real breaks," that the whole may be 

 described as clays ot various colours, with occasional 

 sands, and sometimes with layers of limestone (only 

 one of which, the Bembridge Limestone, is of more 

 than local importance). 



These beds are often crowded with fossils, which 

 show alternations of marine and freshwater condi- 

 tions, and the limestones are due to the latter. 

 Woodcuts of fossils are given throughout, from the 

 Wealden up to this point. 



So far all has been regular, but we now pass to 

 those surface-deposits of gravel, etc., which are 

 characterized by the irregularity with which they 

 occur, resting indifferently on the various formations 

 already noticed. These are classed as Deposits now 

 forming, or of recent date, Deposits formed after the 

 present valleys, Deposits formed before the present 

 valleys, and Deposits partly earlier than the above, 

 but partly contemporaneous with all three. 



The last is the angular flint gravel of the chalk 

 downs, no doubt of subaerial origin, "the insoluble 

 residue of a great thickness of Chalk " (the calcareous 

 matter having been dissolved away), together with 

 some material from the Tertiary beds. 



The Plateau Gravels, next described, cap flat- 

 topped hills, and the patches are mostly separated by 

 broad deep valleys. Not belonging apparently to one 

 continuous sheet, for they occur at various levels, 

 perhaps "they represent successive stages in the pro- 

 cess of development of the existing system ol val- 

 leys." 



Newer than these are the Gravel and Brick-earth 

 at various levels along the valleys, and which must 

 have been formed by streams, of whieh the present 

 ones are the direct descendants. 



The Recent beds consist ot the Alluvium and peat 



of the streams, the tufa ot springs, the Hazel-nut 

 gravel of the south-western coast, the Blown Sand, 

 and the talus of the Chalk slopes (so well shown in 

 Compton Bay). 



Chapter xiv is devoted to disturbances, which play 

 so important a part in the island, the Tertiary beds 

 being in a great trough, whilst the Cretaceous beds 

 are largely affected by the uprise of a great fold. 

 Faults are but few, and these " produce only a 

 trifling effect on the position of the outcrops, and 

 have had no share whatever in producing the 

 physical features of the Island." Formerly there 

 was supposed to be a great fault along the Medina 

 Valley ; but this has been found to be imaginary. 



Physical and economic geology are referred to. 

 Tables of fossils take up 43 pages. Well-sections and 

 water-supply fill 19 pages, and amongst these 

 sections, now first printed, are many of great interest. 

 A full geological bibliography is given, and an index 

 of 12 pages. 



The plates consist of a coloured geological map ; a 

 detailed section along the coast, from the Chalk of 

 Compton Bay to St. Catherine's Hill ; comparative 

 sections of the Cretaceous beds in different parts ; 

 ideal sections across the island from High Down to 

 the Solent, and from the former place toTotland Bay ; 

 and comparative sections of the Fluviomarine Series 

 in various places. 



In closing the book, we may say that it is a credit 

 both to its authors and the Geological Survey to 

 which they belong, and that, taken together with the 

 newly published one-inch maps and with the MS. 

 copies of the six-inch maps, it places the Isle of Wight 

 amongst the most thoroughly geologized parts of the 

 kingdom. 



It may be useful to mention that this really cheap 

 work may be obtained of Mr. H. M. Gilbert, South- 

 ampton. 



AN INTERESTING ROMSEY DOCUMENT. 



At a small museum of antiquities and curiosities 

 arranged a few days ago in connection with a sale of 

 work, &c., at the Wesleyan Chapel, Romsey, a 

 document, of which we give a copy, was on view, 

 lent by Mrs. Honguez, in whose family it had been 

 a number of years, as follows : " Be it known to all 

 men, that I have this day received into the Registry 

 of the Lord Bishop of Winchester a certificate that the 

 house of Moses Comley, situate in the Parish of Rom- 

 sey, in the County ot Southampton and Diocese ot 

 Winchester, is set apart by the congregation of 

 Protestant Dissenters from the Church of England, in 

 the Denomination of Methodists, as a place for the 

 exercise of the worship of Almighty God. Dated at 

 Winchester the thirtieth day of January in the year 

 of our Lord one Thousand and eight hundred. 



" J. RIDDING, Depy. Regr." 



