432 Correspondence — Rev. P. B. Brodie. 



rapidly progressive science, and our nomenclature is always under- 

 going modification; old names must sometimes be limited or dropped, 

 and new names must be created as the progress of knowledge 

 demands. Why in point of fact Prof. Judd and I are actually dis- 

 cussing the desirability of dropping an old name (Lower Greensand), 

 and of finding another to take its place ; he prefers to borrow a 

 foreign term and to extend its application ; I point out the objections 

 to this plan and prefer to use a new name altogether. Let us argue 

 the matter clearly and fairly, and then leave the readers of this 

 Magazine to decide between us, but I do not see why my opponent 

 should deprecate the idea of my " formulating a new nomenclature " 

 for the Cretaceous rocks either in my private or official capacity. 



Lastly, let me offer Prof. Judd my hearty thanks for drawing my 

 attention to the passage which he quotes from Dr. Fitton, and which 

 I had been careless enough to overlook. I am delighted to find my- 

 self anticipated by so great a master as Fitton, and to be relieved of 

 the responsibility of introducing a new name ; it is remarkable that 

 Fitton should have foreseen the very want which has since arisen 

 and I feel that I shall have a much stronger case in referring to the 

 term Vectine or Vectian as. his proposal, suggested in 1845, and 

 revived by myself in 1885. A. J. Jukes-Browne. 



August 10. 



ON A REMARKABLE SECTION IN DERBYSHIRE. 

 Sir, — During the meeting of the Warwickshire Field Club at 

 Matlock, we visited a remarkable sandpit at Longcliff, four miles S. W. 

 of Matlock Bath, on high ground near Brassington. Our attention 

 was drawn to this by Mr. Howe, of Matlock, as one of the most 

 interesting geological features of the district. The section exhibits 

 a series of variegated and highly coloured sands and clays, here and 

 there containing a few pebbles of small size, chiefly of white quartz 

 and in places lignite. These are not pebble-beds at all resembling 

 the ordinary 'Bunter pebble beds,' nor do I remember any Bunter 

 section showing such a peculiar succession of variegated sands and 

 clays. They lie in a trough or hollow of the Carboniferous Lime- 

 stone, and there are several other smaller pits in the same neighbour- 

 hood and under similar conditions, though not sunk at present to 

 any great depth ; at Longcliff the total thickness is thirty feet. The 

 sands and clays are of various colours, yellow, white and red, and in 

 some cases a dark vermilion, giving a very remarkable appearance 

 to the section. Lithologically they resemble the variegated sands 

 and marls in the Tertiary (Middle Bagshot) series, especially 

 at Alum Bay in the Isle of Wight ; and the question is whether they 

 should be assigned to the Bunter or the Tertiary, and if they should 

 prove to belong to the later period, I believe it is the first remnant 

 of the kind recognized in Derbyshire. The occurrence of lignite 

 leads to the possibility of this deposit being of Tertiary age : but of 

 course no absolute decision can be given without further investigation, 

 which Mr. Howe has promised to undertake. This pit was opened 

 after the visit of the Geological Survey to Derbyshire, so that the 

 section was not exposed at that time. P. B. Brodie. 



