98 Horace B. Woodicard — Geology of the 



.<3omprise clays with ferruginous bands and selenite, and with small 

 flat ferruginous cement- stones. Crossing the Oxford Canal at 

 Wolfhamcote, these clays are found to yield Ammonites Jamesoni, 

 Belemnites, and Plicatula spinosn. At a higher horizon the clays 

 become stiffer and contain ochreous nodules with Ammonites siriatus ; 

 they are equivalent to the beds at one time worked in the Braunston 

 brickyard, where also A. Valdani was found. Along this part of the 

 railway the clays were burned for ballast. A cutting about 20 feet 

 deep, east of Nethercote, showed a continuation of these clays, which 

 yield Tnoceramus ventricosvs, Modiola scalpriim, Unicardium cardioides, 

 and some Gasteropods. They evidently belong to the zone of 

 Ammonites capricornus, the lower portion of which is sometimes 

 marked as the zone of A. Herdeyi. 



The late Professor A. H. Green, who had previously examined the 

 cuttings from Nethercote to Charwelton, sent to the Museum of 

 Practical Geology a number of fossils which he had obtained from 

 an excavation in the low ground south-east of Nethercote. These 

 were identified by Mr. G. Sharman and Mr. E. T. Newton, as 

 follows : — 



Ammonites Matigenesti, D'Orb. Lima Sermanni, Voltz. 



Belemnites. Ostrea. 



ulviciila ineequivahis, Sow. Fec/en cequalis, Quenst. 



Cardinia concinna, Stutchb. cequivalvis, Sow. 



Listeri, Sow. limularis, Roem. 



Gryphcea cymbium, Lam. Plicatula spinosa, Sow. 



The assemblage is interesting as indicative of the zone of Ammonites 

 Ibex, which is rarely to be recognized in this country.^ The fossils 

 come from a position lower stratigraphically than those obtained 

 from the Nethercote cutting. 



Proceeding southwards we come to a cutting north of Catesby 

 House, and at the northern entrance to the Catesby tunnel. Here 

 about 12 feet of stiff dark-blue clays, overlain by grey clay with 

 ferruginous septaria, were exposed. Tender pearly and iridescent 

 fossils occur in abundance, and among those obtained by Prof. Green, 

 and (subsequently) by myself, were Ammonites capricornus, A. Los-' 

 combei, Avicula (Monotis) ineequivahis, Area (Cucidlcea) Strichlandi, 

 Cypricardia cucullata, Hinnites, Inoceramus ventricosus, Modiola 

 scalprum, Pecten limularis, Pleuromya costata, and Unicardium 

 cardioides. Meanwhile, Mr. Beeby Thompson has described in 

 detail the cuttings between Catesby and Woodford,''^ and by his 

 enthusiastic labours he has been able to publish very much fuller 

 lists of fossils from the strata; and especially from the clays just 

 mentioned, which belong to the zone of Ammonites capricornus. 



The Catesby tunnel is rather more than a mile and a half in 

 length, and is excavated partly in these clays, which are rich in 

 Belemnites, and partly in the overlying laminated micaceous clays 

 and sandy beds of the Middle Lias (zone of Ammonites margaritatus). 

 The Marlstone rock-bed (zone of A. spinatus) is exposed above the 



1 A. Ibex has been recorded from the Kilsby tunnel. 

 ^ Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xiv, pp. 422, 428. 



