10 NATURAL EI8TORY 



As we were cutting an inclining path up The Hanger, the 

 labourers found them frequently on that steep, just under 

 the soil, in the chalk, and of a considerable size. In the lane 

 above Well-head, in the way to Emshot, they abound in the 

 bank in a darkish sort of marl ; and are usually very small 

 and soft : but in Clay's Pond, a little farther on, at the end 

 of the pit, where the soil is dug out for manure, I have 

 occasionally observed them of large dimensions, perhaps 

 fourteen or sixteen inches in diameter. But as these did 

 not consist of firm stone, but were formed of a kind of terra 

 lapidosa, or hardened clay, as soon as they were exposed to 

 the rains and frost they mouldered away. These seemed 

 as if they were a very recent production. 1 



In the chalk-pit, at the north-west end of The Hanger, 

 large Nautili are sometimes observed. 



In the very thickest strata of our freestone, and at con- 

 siderable depths, well-diggers often find large scallops, or 

 Pectines, having both shells deeply striated, and ridged 

 and furrowed alternately. They are highly impregnated 

 with, if not wholly composed of, the stone of the quarry. 



LETTER IV. 



TO THOMAS PENNANT, ESQUIRE. 



S in a former letter the freestone of this place 

 has been only mentioned incidentally, I shall 

 here become more particular. 



This stone is in great request for hearth- 

 stones, and the beds of ovens ; and in lining 

 of lime-kilns it turns to good account : for the workmen 

 use sandy loam instead of mortar ; the sand of which fluxes,' 2 



1 They were in all probability casts of the ammonites, and not the 

 shells themselves. ED. 



2 There may probably be also in the chalk itself, that is burnt for 

 lime, a proportion of sand ; for few chalks are so pure as to have none. 

 G. W. 



