Correspondence — Mr. H. B. Woodward— Mr. Lydekker. 43 



COREBSPOK"DBIfrGE. 



OLD RED SANDSTONE UNDER LONDON. 



Sir, — In his paper " On the Nature and Relations of the Jurassic 

 Deposits which Underlie London " (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xl.) 

 Prof. Judd discusses the age of certain red rocks met with deep 

 down at Richmond, Crossness, and at Kentish Town. One question 

 that arose was whether rocks of the barren Old Red Sandstone type 

 and of the Devonian (Eifelian) type were likely to be met with in 

 close proximity. While admitting that, as in the Ardennes, sounder 

 London, the lowest member of the Devonian (the Gedinnien of Belgian 

 geologists) may underlie strata of the Eifelian type ; yet Prof. Judd 

 attaches much weight to the suggestion made by Mr. Whitaker that 

 rocks of Old Red Sandstone and Devonian type are not likely to 

 occur near together. 



This suggestion is, however, opposed to what is well known in 

 Devonshire. There we have the Red Sandstones of Cockington near 

 Torquay, and the grits of Picklecombe and Staddon near Plymouth, 

 as well as the Pickwell Down Sandstones of North Devon, which, 

 as Mr. Cbampernowne remarks (Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. viii. p. 469), 

 probably represent (both stratigraphically and lithologically) parts 

 of the Upper Old Red Sandstone. These strata are nowhere far 

 removed, geographically, from rocks of the Eifelian type. 



Then, too, we have the Lower Devonian grits of Lincombe, War- 

 berry and Meadfoot in South Devon, possibly equivalent in part to 

 the Hangman grits of North Devon ; but they are of a different 

 character from the rocks resembling the Upper Old Red Sandstone. 

 Prof. Prestwich has insisted on the resemblance of the Kentish Town 

 red beds to the (Upper) Old Red Sandstone of the Mendip Hills 

 (Judd, op. cit. p. 753). 



Hence, without committing myself to any definite opinion on the 

 subject, there appears to me no reason why rocks of Old Red Sand- 

 stone type (whether Upper or Lower) should not occur, as well as 

 Devonian strata, under the London Basin. Recent researches, more- 

 over, tend to show that the Devonian (Eifelian) strata may bridge 

 over the interval between the Upper and Lower Old Red Sandstone. 



Of course it is still open to question whether these red rocks under 

 London are Upper or Lower Old Red Sandstone, or New Red Sand- 

 stone (Poikilitic). Horace B. Woodward. 

 Bradford- on -Avon, Nov. 1885. 



THE "FAUNA ANTIQUA SIVALENSIS." 

 Sir, — As your readers are doubtless aware, the atlas of Falconer 

 and Cautley's " Fauna Antiqua Sivalensis " was originally published 

 in separate parts, with paper covers bearing the date of publication of 

 each part; but as the work was never completed, no general title- 

 page ever appeared. In all copies in public libraries that I have 

 seen the atlas has been bound, and the original paper covers 

 destroyed, so that there is no means of knowing the date of publica- 



