390 REPORT—1896. 
The most remarkable feature of this deposit is the condition of the 
shells of Cyprina islandica, Turritella terebra, and Pusus contrarius. In 
the case of C. islandica, which is plentiful in the deposit, it is remarkable 
that they are all excessively fractured, not through the thinnest portions 
only, but across the thickest parts of the shell. This is all the more sur- 
prising, as there is no visible striation, aqueous action, or abrasion on the 
fragments of the shells that would account for such destruction. The 
late Dr. Jeffreys stated :' ‘In a post-glacial or raised beach at Golspie, 
Sutherlandshire, close to high-water mark, I noticed that valves were 
heaped up in extraordinary confusion, generally in fragments. . . . I was 
told by Mr. Bean, that on pouring boiling water on the living shells 
(C.. islandica) a succession of reports ensued as if a volley had been fired. 
. . . The action of severe frost at the period when the climate and other 
conditions resembled those of polar regions, might have had the same 
effect on the shells.’ It seems probable that if great heat does splinter 
the shells, intense frost may do the same. On the other hand, it may be 
stated that while dredging in the yacht ‘ Medusa,’ in seventy to eighty 
fathoms, between Brodick and Little Cumbrae, fragments were frequently 
brought up of C. islandica with the fractured edge quite sharp, and 
showing no rubbing or marks of striation. Whatever the cause may 
be, it does not seem to be of frequent occurrence in other post-tertiary 
deposits. In all the Clyde beds that I have examined, the species is 
generally moderately common, and a broken valve is quite exceptional. 
Turritella terebra is another shell that has suffered a great amount 
of breakage. It is the prevailing shell of the deposit, occurring in great 
abundance, yet I did not see one perfect specimen. They do not seem 
to have undergone the same kind of treatment in the breakage as 
C. islandica, having been chiefly, or all, broken transversely at the groove 
between the whorls, the whorls themselves having nearly all escaped 
injury. Seeing the great destruction of C. islandica in the same deposit, 
it is difficult to conceive how the prominent whorls of 7’. terebra were not 
crushed in the same way. 
Fusus contrarius is remarkable, being sinistral, which is very rare in 
our present seas. They are common in the English Crag, but this is the 
only occurrence I know of having been recorded in British Post- 
Tertiaries. 
Taney Gien: Shelly Clay Deposit.—Dark blue shelly clay, which con- 
sisted of—mud, 74 per cent. ; sand, 12 per cent. ; gravel, 14 per cent. 
Mostly water-worn and angular. 
List of Organisms from Shelly Clay, Tangy Glen, Kintyre. 
I. Mouvusca. 
Lamellibranchiata : 
Corbula gibba, Olivi. One valve. 
Leda pernula, Mill. Rare, mostly fragments, a few of which were more 
or less water-worn. 
Leda pygmea, Miinst. 
1 Jeffreys’ British Conchology, vol. ii. p. 305, 
