TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION C. 539 



f Te shows that the lower Woolwich beds become glauconiferous as they raiifrp east- 

 ward thiough Kent ; that the fresh-water element disappears and a marine fauna is 

 substituted. This faima contains such Bracheux shells as the (hjthereu Belhuachia, 

 Nucula fragilis, and several others ; while the Glauconte Infirieure or Bracheux 

 sands contain such characteristic Woolwich shells as the Ostrea Bellovacina, 

 Pectuncultis terebratularis, &c. Several of the shells are, it is true, Thanet Sand 

 shells, but they also range iqi into the Woolwich series, whilst many characteristic 

 Thanet Sand fossils, such as the Phohxlomya Konickii and others, are wantintr. 



The author concludes that the Thanet sands are absent in the Paris basin, 

 as they are in the Hampshire basin ; that the sea of that period was limited to the 

 south-east of England, Belgium, and French Flanders, and that it was not until 

 the commencement of the Woolwich and Reading period that the Paris area was 

 submerged and beds of this age spread over it. The molluscan iauna of the latter 

 period has as much analogy Avith the London Clay series as with the Thanet sands. 

 If this correlation be correct, then it would relegate that remarkable deposit of the 

 Rilly sands, with its group of curious species of F/ii/sa, Helir, Ci/clostonui, &c., to 

 the middle of the Woolwich and Reading series, instead of to the base of all the 

 tertiary series, where it is now placed. As the question involves the range of several 

 tertiary genera and many other questions hinge upon it, the exact determination 

 of this point is of much interest, and the author, while advancing his own opinion 

 on the subject, invites further attention to it, as the English fossils are few in 

 number, and there are many points connected with it still somewhat obscure. 



4. Suggestions for a Revised Classification of British Eocenes. By J. S. 



Gardner, F.G.8. 



Some modification in the classification of the Eocenes has become desirable, 

 through the transfer of the Upper Eocene group of Edward Forbes to the Oligo- 

 cene Ibrmation. The discoverj'^ of several distinct floras seems also to necessitate 

 certain alterations, in order to bring periods, founded originally on changes in 

 moUusca, into harmony with the more striking changes indicated by the plants. 

 A grouping is suggested which separates the London clay from the Lower ]*]ocene 

 and brackets it with the Lower Bagshot beds as a Middle Eocene. The middle 

 Bagshot series forms the Upper Eocene, while the Upper Bagshot may remain a 

 member of the same formation or find a place in the Lower Oligocene. 



The great change in climate which took place between the Lower and ^liddle 

 Eocene as thus grouped, and which led to the migration of the older eocene floras 

 towards the pole, is pointed out, as well as the constant presence of a great river 

 in our area flowing from west to east throughout the whole Eocene period. While 

 ihe Lower Eocene and London clay depressions travelled from east to west and 

 caused an advance of the North Sea, the middle Bagshot depressions commenced in 

 tlie south-west and led to an incursion of a southern sea, and also caused the 

 liver delta to shift south-west to Hampshire. In the Barton period the two seas 

 united temporarily. The temperature began to decrease after the Headon period. 



5. On the Classification of Oligocene Strata in the Hampshire Basin. By 



J. W. Elwes. 



The base of the Headon series at Long Mead End, Ilordle, contains Cerithium 

 concaimm. At the top of the series a marine bed has been observed, which may be 

 correlated with the Colwell Bay Venus-bed. The latter can be traced to the edge 

 of Warden Clifl", and a similar Venus-bed is observed in Headon Hill. The author 

 supports the view that the Colwell and Headon Venus-beds are one zone. He has 

 observed the presence of Cerithium concaviwi and C. ventricosujii above the marine 

 bed at Colwell, as at Headon, 



