298 Nicolls — On " Sarsens," or Erratic Blocks. 



count of the stones found there. For the knowledge of the fact of their 

 having been found there,, as well as for valuable infonnation regard- 

 ing the numerous " sarsens " in the adjoining county of Wiltshire, I 

 am indebted to Mr. E. T. Stevens, curator of the Museum at 

 Salisbury. 



6th. — Between Bishopstoke and Winchester, at about eight miles 

 from Southampton, there is said to be a large "erratic :" the informa- 

 tion I have of it is on trustworthy authority. 



7th. — A large block of stone near to Winchester, discovered about 

 two years ago. About twelve miles from Southampton, to the 

 north. Authority — a newspaper paragraph. 



Whether or not the three last instances (Nos. 5, 6, and 7) are 

 connected with gravel deposits, I am not aware. 



None of the seven stones which I have seen and examined, are, in 

 the least degTee, scratched, striated, or rounded, and the tortoise- 

 shaped one (No. 2) at Bishopstoke, and the dromedary -hump shaped 

 one (No. 1 of 3rd instance) Plate XIII., at Bevois valley, have been 

 separated from their parent rock by a clean, straight, fresh-looking 

 fracture, in their greatest diameter, so as almost at once to suggest 

 the action of very heavy ice as the disrupting power, by a heavy 

 side blow. The Bishopstoke example affording but a few inches of 

 height for leverage in the fracture, to some two or three feet 

 of length fractured. 



In the foregoing communication I may not, perhaps, have written 

 what is substantially new, for I confess myself not " posted " to the 

 latest date in geology. I would, however, with much respect, quote 

 from a little work^ published three years ago, showing what was 

 then the knowledge, in geological circles, on the subject on which I 

 now write, premising that I am not of opinion that in any of the in- 

 stances which I have given, were the " sarsens," or erratic blocks, 

 deposited by coast-ice ; — with regard to instance No. 5, however, at 

 HUl Head, I cannot speak: — "But England, south of the estuaries 

 of the Severn and Thames, seems all this time to have remained 

 above the waters, for not only is the country in general destitute 

 of drift, but it is only close on the sea near Selsea and Brighton that 

 erratic boulders have been found." — p. 82. 



FuLHAM, 25</j4^rz7, 1866. 



V. — Description of Three Species of Polyzoa from the 

 London Clay at Highgate in the Collection of N. T. 

 Wetherell, Esq., F.G-.S. 



By G. Busk, F.R.S., etc. 

 (PLATE XII.) 



THE plate containing the figures of the Polyzoa here described 

 was prepared some years since by Mr. J. De Carle Sowerby, 

 but has never been published, and no description of the fossils them- 



1 The Physical Geology and Geography of Great Britain, by Professor A. C. 

 Eamsay, F.E.S. London, Stanford, Charing Cross. 



