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for first pointing out the existence, as distinct deposits, of the 
Hils conglomerate and the Hils clay. 
The Hils conglomerate consists of a yellowish or brownish marl, 
containing grains of quartz, schist, and oxide of iron. It forms 
very thick beds, and includes in some localities very rich iron ores. 
It occurs near Brunswick, at Goslai, and near Essen on the Ruhr 
in Westphalia. Its fossils are very numerous, and partly identical 
with those of the lower greensand of England; for example, it 
contains Terebratula latissima, T. depressa, T. oblonga, T. sella, Ostrea 
carinata, O. macroptera, Pecten quinquecostutus, &c. M.Roemer asks 
if it be the equivalent of the Neocomien. 
h. The Hils clay is a bluish pure clay, 100 feet thick. MM. Roemer 
considers it to be the Speeton clay of England, as it contains Mya 
depressa (Phillips), Glyphea ornata (Astacus ornata, Phillips), and 
Isocardia angulata (Phillips), with a great quantity of other fossils, 
which are in part Jurassic species, namely, Ammonites sublevis, A. 
mutabilis, and A. coronatus. M. Roemer has noticed the Hils clay 
near Hildesheim, near Celfeld, where it contains a considerable 
layer of iron; at the foot of the Deister near Hanover, and near 
Trenndorf. 
i. Weald clay.—A stiff bluish or brownish clay, seldom contain- 
ing subordinate beds of limestone and sandstone. The fossils are 
almost exclusively the same as those enumerated in Dr. Fitton’s 
memoir on the beds below the chalk in the south-east of England ; 
and are entirely freshwater, with the exception of an Astarte. 
k. Hastings sandstone.—In the north of Germany this formation 
is composed of a white, grey or fawn-coloured sandstone, sometimes 
alternating in the upper part with greyish clay, and contains from 
seven to ten beds of coal. Its general thickness amounts to 500 or 
800 feet. The beds of coal vary from one to three feet in thickness, 
and are separated by sandstone, which is sometimes only a few feet 
thick. The fossils belong to the genera Paludina, Unio, Endoge- 
nites, Abies, Sphenopteris, and Lonchopteris, and M. Roemer has 
found every species mentioned in Dr. Fitton’s memoir before al- 
luded to. The sandstone is generally less ferruginous than in 
England. 
l. Purbeck strata.—These beds are described by M. Roemer as 
consisting of shelly limestones alternating with thin layers of sand- 
stone, and concretional masses of grit. He has observed two dirt- 
beds, but as yet no Cycadeoidea. ‘The shells which he has found, 
are partly marine, partly freshwater, and belong to the genera 
Paludina, Ostrea, Cyrena, Gervilia, Serpula, &c. 
m. Portland stone. 
The Wealden formation, M. Roemer states, is exhibited near 
Helmsted. He hopes it will be exposed near Hildesherm. More 
westward it extends from Hanover by Minden, to Iburg and Rheine 
near Munster in Westphalia; furnishing almost everywhere a very 
good coal. The fossils found in the strata below the lower green- 
sand, M. Roemer has accurately figured and described in his works ; 
and they proved the identity of the Wealden deposits of England 
and the north of Germany. 
