438 



THE NATURE BOOK 



of the cla^^s that he between the Upper 

 and Lower Bagshot Sands. 



A careful examination of the fossils 



FOSSIL SHELLS AND SHARKS' TEETH FROM 

 BARTON CLIFFS. 



that we may collect — and they are hkely 

 to be fairly numerous — will enable us to 

 piece together the story of the Barton 

 Chffs. Amongst the fossils that have 

 been found here are to be numbered 

 more than two hundred species of marine 

 shells, the remains of a few species of fish, 

 sharks, and a crocodile (C. Hastingsice), 

 together with the fossil remains of extinct 

 species of Sennas, Figs, Dryandra, Laurels, 

 Cypress, Spindle-trees, Yews, and Limes. 

 The most abundant genera of the fossil 

 shells are Chama, Fusus, Voluta, and 

 Crassatella, and a pecuhar genera of 

 Uni\'al\'e shells with tubular spines called 

 Typhis. Although no such fauna is to 

 be met with anywhere at the present day, 

 it nevertheless is something like a mixture 

 of the existing forms of marine life peculiar 

 to Malay and New Zealand. For instance, 

 the fossil Crassatella, Chama, and Typhis 

 are very similar to species now living in 

 the New Zealand seas, and in fact there 

 is a general and unmistakal^le tropical 

 character about these fossil remains. 

 From this characteristic appearance 



of the fossil shells, we learn that when 

 the Barton Cliffs were forming beneath 

 the surface of the sea, the climatic con- 

 ditions which existed must have been 

 similar to those met with to-day in Malay. 

 The numerous fossil plants give ample 

 evidence of the vicinity of land, and the 

 fossil crocodiles of the existence of an 

 ancient river — for there is no reason to 

 suppose that crocodiles have altered 

 very much in their habits ; the modern 

 crocodile is to be met with at the mouths 

 of tropical rivers, in the comparatively 

 shallow salt water, but does not pursue 

 its prey into the open sea. So the chain 

 of evidence is linked up by the aid of these 

 fossil remains compared with the some- 

 what similar forms of life to be found on 

 the land and in the seas of to-day. They 

 enable us to read the story of these cliffs ; 

 how in a long past geological age they 

 were deposited within the ocean mouth, 

 or mouths, of some great tropical river 

 similar to the Ganges or the Amazon. 



A GKOUP OF SHELLS FROM BARTON CLIFFS. 



Westward along the coast from Barton 

 and Bournemouth the land gently slopes 

 down to the wonderful and beautilul 



