116 Day— Raised Beach, near Weston-super-Mare. 



imcalled-for, but a similar feature in each case makes a comparison 

 between them interesting. 



Fig. 1. — DiAGBAM of a Raised Beach, etc., near Weston-super-Make. 



1. "Head." 2. Ancient Cliff. 3. Ancient Dunes. 4. Ancient Beach. 



5. Ancient Shoi-e. 6. Present Beach. 



A.A. Carboniferous Limestone. h.w.l. High-water Level. 



Birnbeck Cove, immediately to the north of Weston-super-Mare, 

 is bounded by a cliff of Mountain Limestone and Trap-rock (fig. 1). 

 At about 25 feet above the level of the highest tides a bed (from 

 3 to 4 feet thick) of old water-worn shingle rests upon this oliff. 

 About the time that I examined it, a large mass of the underlying 

 rock fell, and masses of the conglomerate were brought down upon 

 the present beach. The materials of these were so firmly cemented 

 together, that it required violent labour with heavy tools to break 

 them up ; a process that was very destructive of the numerous bones 

 imbedded in them. These bones included, I remember, limb-bones 

 of ruminants and their teeth, also a few teeth of carnivora ; but the 

 most abundant remains were the teeth of a small species of horse.^ 

 It was suggested at the time that this accumulation might be an in- 

 filling of a fissure, but the shingle which composed it is as much 

 rounded as that upon the present beach, which occupies a situation 

 very similar to that of the ancient one. Moreover, there occurred 

 in the conglomerate numerous shells of Litorina (L. litorea and 

 L. litoralis) and a few of Tellina tennis, all forms at present abundant 

 on the coast. My own impression at the time was not only that it 

 was a genuine Eaised Beach, but that it was probably coeval with 

 that of Brighton, — in which likewise were obtained the bones of 

 a small species of horse.'^ 



^ The bones then obtained from this deposit were in the possession of the late 

 Dr. Tomkins and of Charles Pooley, Esq., both of Weston, and some in my own. I 

 have still a few of the teeth. Amongst my specimens is one tooth of My(^na-spelcBa, 

 the Cave Hyaena. Mr. Pooley, if I remember rightly, also obtained some flints from 

 the conglomerate— a remarkable fact, as no such flints are to be found anywhere in 

 the neighbourhood, at the present day, unless artificially imported. 



2 On examining the fossil remains of horses in the British Museum, I find two very 



