Correspondence — A. B. Runt. 479 



was demanded to account for phenomena whicli " have for many 

 years attracted the attention of geologists " and now, even of the 

 above-named authors themselves, albeit if with the knowledge then 

 (1882) available an exact explanation was not possible. 



Nor can it be said that Professor Bonney and Mr. Hill by their 

 communication have advanced matters much, for unfortunately they 

 appear to have left out of sight two rather important items, viz., the 

 fossil contents of the beds and the literature on the subject since 1882. 



Long familiarity with rocks which can only be studied strati- 

 graphically and by aid of the microscope and field - glass may, 

 perhaps, have led them to overlook the paleeontological aspect of 

 the Trimingham chalk masses. Professor Bonney, it is true, noticed 

 the conspicuous Belemnite occurring throughout, but is not aware 

 that it is of less importance as a zonal guide than the concomitant 

 ■Ostrea, which does not occur throughout. 



To thoroughly investigate the fossil fauna of a bed in cases such 

 as the present one is not possible, however, to the casual visitant : 

 it can only be done with long and patient research by one on the spot. 



Fortunately the Trimingham chalk masses have had their historian 

 in Mr. E. M. Brydone, who, with a care and patience that cannot be 

 too highly commended, made a thorough examination of them, 

 collected and worked out their fossils, and in 1900 published 

 a pamphlet entitled " The Stratigraphy and Fauna of the Trimingham 

 Chalk." In this he showed that the uppermost portions of the 

 masses are the sole remaining vestiges in England of the Maes- 

 trichtian beds of the Chalk. He further discussed Mr. Clement Keid's 

 theory, which in the light of these later researches he showed to be 

 untenable and suggested that these masses were really buried sea- 

 stacks. This view is supported by the Mundesley boring. Whether 

 these pinnacles have remained upright, or have been crushed, 

 crumpled, and overturned, is of little moment, but it is important to 

 note that the strata in them are of the same age as the beds capping the 

 miicronata chalk, that are exposed in the beach at extreme low water. 



That these masses are part and parcel of the main Chalk strata 

 that lie at no great depth under the beach at this spot, I was enabled 

 to see in the Autumn of 1901 after a storm that had cleared away the 

 beach for some distance round their base. The bands of flint were 

 distinctly traceable down into and right across the exposed surface. 

 The sketch and notes I made at the time were passed on to Dr. Eowe 

 and Mr. Sherborn against the time when they come to deal with the 

 Norfolk district. B. B. Woodwakb. 



4, LONGFIELD EOAD, EaLING, W. 



[We have received several other letters on this subject, all em- 

 ijodying the same points of criticism. — Edit. Geol. Mag.] 



THE RAISED BEACHES OF DEVONSHIRE AND OF THE SOUTH 

 OF IRELAND. 



Sir, — I much regret to find that I have both misunderstood and 

 misinterpreted Mr. Mufi''8 ice-scored beach-platform in the South of 

 Ireland. 



Ever since Godwin-Austen in 1851 attacked the problem of the 



