TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 63 



Bruguiere. Several specimens were found, one in a tolerably fresh condition. 

 This species inhabits the Mediterranean and Adriatic, throughout many parts of 

 which it is most abundant. It does not appear that living specimens have ever 

 been found elsewhere, although Lamarck gave the North Atlantic as a locality. 

 M. Cailliaud, of Nantes, included C. mlgatum iu his list of Mollusca from the D6- 

 artement of Loire-Iuferieure, having frequently met with shells thrown up on the 

 jeach ; and Professor Sars recorded the discovery of a specimen inside a codfish 

 caught off Bergen. Mr. Jeffreys believed that C. mdgatum, which usually inhabits 

 large estuaries and salt marshes, once lived in such situations between Jersey and 

 the mouth of the Loire, and that this tract has since been submerged, and conse- 

 quently become unsuitable for the continued habitability of the Cerithlum. The 

 presence of submarine peat near the Channel Isles and in the Bay of Mont St. 

 Michel, tends to confirm the supposition ; although it is by no means certain that 

 the submergence has occurred within the historical period, as suggested by the 

 Abbe" Manet, Mr. Peacock, and others*. 



I 



The Extent and Duration of the South Staffordshire Coal-field. 

 By H. Johnson. 

 Both the extension and duration of this coal-field are questions open to a very 

 great difference of opinion ; and it is to the confines of the present coal-field that any 

 hopes for fresh supplies can be looked for. On all sides of the coal-field explorations 

 are being successfully carried on, with perhaps the exception of the eastern boundary 

 on the Birmingham side ; but the great depth at which the thick coal has been last 

 worked in the neighbourhood of West Bromwich (about 400 yards ) has probably 

 retarded explorations. The result of operations going on in other portions of the 

 field is looked forward to with great interest, as affording a warrant for an attempt 

 to reach the coal through the Permians at Smethwick and Harbome. Durino- 

 the last ten years, a great number of new winnings have been made in the Can- 

 nock Chase district, at Aldridge, Hiinley, and other places ; but the most im- 

 portant recent trial sinkings are those on the south end of the coal-field, in the 

 neighbourhood of Hales Owen, Congreaves, Cradley Park, and Wassel Grove. In 



the event of those at Hales Owen and Wassel Grove discovering the thick coal 



both looking promising, and now sunk about halfway — more than 4000 acres of 

 the thick seam may be considered proved, and this assurance will, no doubt, give 

 a fresh impetus to additional search further south. A scheme for proving the 

 continuity of the coal-field underneath the Permian on the down-throw side of 

 the Great Western boundary-fault at Essington is now in course of formation. 

 It is proposed to form a fund, by subscription, from all the adjoining landowners 

 likely to be benefited. It is proposed to drive from the existing workings on the 

 upthrow side, at a depth of about 200 yards, across the fault into the Permain 

 district, and then to bore up or down to discover the position of the coal-measures 

 underneath. There is, however, a more comprehensive scheme for exploring the 

 whole Permian districts lying between the South Staffordshire coal-field and the 

 Warwickshire and Shropshire coal-fields. To attempt to estimate the probable 

 duration of the coal-field whilst these important additions are being added, woidd 

 be impossible ; but it may be observed that such additions are not keeping pace 

 with the enormous consumption and consequent rapid destruction of the parent 

 portion of the coal-field. In a valuable paper by Mr. Matthews in 1860, he esti- 

 mated the then duration of all parts of the coal-field at an average of about forty 

 years. There can be no doubt but that in one-half that number of years a very 

 large portion of the earlier-developed part of the coal-field will be totally and for 

 ever exhausted. 



On the Silurian Bodes and Fossils of Dudley. By C. Ketxey. 

 This paper has special reference to the proper classification of the bed of shale 

 which immediately overlies the Wenlock limestone of Dudley, and which has 



* Fossil shells procured by Mr. Jeffreys in his Shetland dredgings were of Arctic and 

 high northern species ; those now obtained were tropical or southern. 



