216 Dr. B. L. Sherlock — Foraminifera of Speeton Clay. 



y. — The Foeaminifeea of the Speeton Clay of Yoekshike. 

 By E. L. Sheelock, D.Sc, A.E.C.Sc, F.G.S. 

 (PLATES XVIII AND XIX.) ^ 

 Intkoduction. 

 rpHE Speeton Clay of Yorksliire is of considerable interest, as it is 

 I the chief marine representative of the Lower Cretaceous forma- 

 tions in England. It has been the subject of important papers by 

 Professor J. W. Judd, F.K.S.,^ and Mr. G. W. Laraplugh, F.R.S.,^ 

 while the palaeontology of the Cephalopoda and Lamellibrauchiata 

 has been respectively worked out by Professor A. P. Pavlow * and 

 Mr. H. "Woods.* Mr. C. G. Danford ^ has also contributed to our 

 knowledge of the beds. The Mierozoa, however, have never been 

 examined, and the present paper gives the results of an investigation 

 of the Foraminifera of the deposit. 



1 am indebted to Mr. Lamplugh for the suggestion that I should 

 undertake the work, and to him and Mr. C. Gr. Danford for the 

 specimens of clay which have been examined. The condition of 

 the cliffs at Speeton is such that many horizons of the clay are only 

 rarely exposed, as, for example, after storms, so that it is yery 

 difficult to obtain specimens of these subdivisions. Mr. Danford has 

 known the Speeton cliffs for many years and has that special know- 

 ledge of the various beds without which it would be impossible to 

 obtain specimens of any value for zonal work. M.j thanks are also 

 due to Mr. F. Chapman for his advice on many knotty points and to 

 Dr. F. L. Kitchin and Mr. C. D. Sherborn for valuable suggestions. 



Literature. — There is practically no literature relating to the 

 Foraminifera of the Speeton Clay of Yorkshire. Mr. Lamplugh, in 

 his earlier paper, refers to the presence of large and well-preserved 

 Foraminifera in the HcMnospatangus bed (Cg), and notes that they are 

 "found cemented together in small hard pellets not often larger than 

 shot-corns" (op. cit., p. 596). In his lists of fossils (pp. 599, 602) 

 he records the presence of Foraminifera in D^^, Cjj_j, and B. 



The late Eupert Jones inserts PtilvinuUna caracolla (Roemer) from 

 the Speeton Clay in his Catalogue of the Fossil Foraminifera in the 



^ [Plates XVIII and XIX have been unavoidably delayed and will appear 

 with the subsequent portion of this paper. — Ed.] 



2 J. W. Judd, "On the Speeton Clay" : Q.J.G.S., vol. xxiv, pp. 218-50, 

 1868. " Additional Observations on the Neocomian Strata of Yorkshire and 

 Lincolnshire, with Notes on their Relations to the Beds of the same age 

 throughout Northern Europe " : Q.J.G.S., vol. xxiv, pp. 326-48, 1868. 



^ G. W. Lamplugh, " On the Subdivisions of the Speeton Clay " : Q.J.G.S., 

 vol. xlv, pp. 575-618, 1889. "On the Speeton Series in Yorkshire and 

 Lincolnshire" : Q.J.G.S., vol. lii, pp. 179-220, 1896. 



, * In A. Pavlow & G. AV. Lamplugh, " Les Argiles de Speeton et leur 

 Equivalents": Bull. Soc. Imp. des Naturalistes de Moscou, N.s., vol. v, 

 pp. 181-276, 455-570, 1891-2. 



^ H. Woods, A Monograph of the Cretaceous Lamellibranchiata of England 

 (Pal. Soc), 1899-1913. 



" C. G. Danford, " Notes on the Belemnites of the Speeton Clay " : Trans. 

 Hull Geol. Soc, vol. vi, pt. iii, pp. 1-18 (plates), 1905 [1906]. Also "Notes 

 on the Speeton Ammonites": Proc Yorks Geol. Soc, vol. xvi, pt. i, 

 pp. 101-14 (plates), 1906 [1907] ; and other papers. 



