Vol. XXviii.] PALEONTOLOGY OF LANCASHIRE COAL MEASURES. 641 



Bardsley, Oldham, a.vd Ashtoj^-under-Lyne District. 



In this district the shales above and below the Stubbs 

 Mine and the Black Mine have proved especially rich in 

 mollusca, whilst the Two-Feet Mine of Bardsley is equally 

 productive in fish remains. Fossils from over the other 

 seams are scanty. The most striking feature is the " Marine 

 Band," discovered by Professor Green during the course of 

 the Geological Survey, and located by Professor Hull as 

 over the Great Mine. The fossils obtained from these shales 

 in the River Tame near the bend, west of Dunkirk Colliery, 

 received special attention from the Survey Palaeontologist, 

 Mr. J. W. Salter, who described three new species, and 

 indicated the existence of several more. At a later date, 

 the same band was cut through in the Ashton Moss Colliery, 

 and a fine series of specimens obtained from the colliery 

 waste heap by Mr. Robert Cairns, who afterwards generously 

 presented them to the Manchester Museum at Owens 

 College. 



Mr. Salter regarded the fauna of this horizon as comparable 

 to that of the Lower Coal Measures of Shropshire, and as 

 markedly different from the Lower Coal Measures of 

 Lancashire. This can now hardly be said to be correct, as 

 the observations of the writer have shown that the Marine 

 Band has yielded several species of fossils characteristic of 

 the Lancashire Lower Coal Measures. The most important 

 example is that of a new species of Listracanthus, the only 

 other known species of which occurs in the Lancashire 

 Lower Coal Measure series. We believe that the fauna of 

 the Marine Band most closely approximates to that of the 

 Bullion and Mountain Four Feet Mines, and that the 

 differences are those naturally due to a later development. 



By the industry of Messrs. Cairns, Moss and Grundy, a 

 fine series of specimens were obtained from the spoil heaps 



