CiRC, 90. 



•origin in the hills far away to the north-west, and more or less following the course 

 of the river, brought with it vast quantities of shingle, gravel and sand, in the form 

 ■of a moraine, which when the ice disappeared on the climate Ijecoming milder, 

 was left as a range of gravel hills along the valley, and is nowhere better to 

 be seen than in the neighbourhood of Leckby Carr, which it cuts oft' from the 

 river. The hollow, thus converted into a shallow lake basin, in time became to 

 a great extent filled up by the growth of aquatic plants. Around the outside of 

 the Carr the ground is tirm, and some good timber trees grow on it, but further in 

 it has never been thoroughly drained, and is neither water nor 'good dry land.' 

 It has been long looked upon as a ' happy hunting-ground ' for the Naturalist. 



In consequence of a very extensive double fault which occurred after the 

 •deposit of the Chalk, and which reaches from the East Coast to the Magnesian 

 Limestone a few miles north of Ripon, the Lias formation still remnins unremoved 

 by denudation as far westward as the district which is to l)e investigated, whereas 

 on both sides of the faidt the Trias extends some miles further to the east before 

 it underlies the Lias. I am aware that on the Geological Ordnance Map the line 

 •which is supposed to mark the southern boundary of the fault passes close to 

 Asenby village, but I have reasons for thinking this wrong, as I have found Lias 

 fossils considerably to the south of this line, and I am informed that in boring for 

 water on the hill near Cundall Vicarage, the Lias was found to underlie this at a 

 consideral:)le depth. The district which is to be searched is one which should yield 

 .a diversity of objects of interest, as it lies on the borderland where the Keuper 

 Sandstones of the Trias meet the limestones and shales of the Lias, the two forma- 

 tions being separated by a narrow belt of the Rhjetic Ijeds, which are the passage 

 beds lietween the two, and partake of the character of both, but are generally con- 

 sidered by geilogists to Ijelong to the Trias. At Asenby Gravel Pits, about half a 

 mile up the river, a good section of the moraine is to be seen. The great variety 

 •of rocks from which the gravel was derived is well worth noticing. They range 

 from Silurian to New Red Sandstone inclusive, and are interspersed with pieces of 

 tShap granite, and other igneous rocks. In one part of the narrow road between 

 the gravel hill and the river, is seen a section of the Lias rock ' in situ,' l)ut much 

 i^round and shattered by the glacier which crept over it. A mile further on, at 

 .Vsenby stream, a good section of the Lower Lias may be seen again underlying a 

 hill of sand and gravel. Atllolme Banks, a wood running along the river-side, 

 between Baldersby Park and Baldersljy ("luirch, there is an outcrop of the New Red 

 .Sandstone. From the Lias limesu^ne where it forms the bed of the Swale at 

 Asenby stream, I have obtained many fossils, including Lima, Ostrea, and other 

 Lamellil)ranchs, a small Crustacean, Pentacrinite stems, ScrpuUi:, stools and fronds 

 •of Cycads, an Araucaria (?J, and the cones of some plants. On the ojjposite side 

 of the Swale to the Asenby Gravel Pits are some remarkable earthworks. 



BOTANY. — Mr. Wm. Foggitt writes: — Baines in his ' Flora of Yorkshire,' 

 j^ublished in 1840, writes, ' Leckby Carr is a jioint deserving special attention by the 

 lovers of l)og plants, insects, and shells. To the botanist Leckby Carr is classic 

 ground, being the original British locality for the rare and highly interesting .SVV/^'/^c/^- 

 '~cri(i paliistris, where it was first discovered in 1807 by the Rev. Jas. Dalton, one of 

 the fathers of Yorkshire botany. l""orty years ago it was tolerably abundant, but has 

 now we fear most j^robably through increased drainage, become well-nigh, if not quite, 

 extinct. J.yshnacliia lliyrsiflora is still jilentiful, whilst Droscia auglica, D. rotiitidi- 

 folia, VadUiiiiiii (Ixynxros, Ca/-c:v i//r/ii,ani\ /vV/;';/(-(7.f/(?;vz ,7 //w literally abound. In 

 the south-west corner of the Carr is a line bed of Calai/tai^rostis lanceolata and the 

 north margin is studded with large bushes of A'/iai/iiiiis /•'raiigiila, whilst here and 

 there may be found SU/laria ^i^iaura, Coinaiuin paliistrc, Menyautlies Irifoliala and 

 other mar^h plants. Sambiicits Ehtilus grows in an adjacent hedge-row, and the 

 fields in the vicinity yield Tunilis i^labra, Malva vioschata, Trifoliuin st)iatii)n^ 

 J^otcriitin Saiii;Hisorlia, Oiuaitthe Phdlmidriinii, Cardans niariatms, C. eriophonis, 

 Verlnt Sill III 'J'/iapsiis, Calaiiiintlia Achios, MaiTttbiuni vnlgare, Priiiiula farinosa, 

 and ColchicHiii auluiiniak. The Swale and its adjacent banks afford Nasljiitiuiii 

 fyh'cstrc, Saponaiia offirhialis, Cerastiiim aivciise, (ragea liitca, Biiloinus iiiiibcllalus, 

 and J'olaiiiOi;i/on pfrfolialus. Near to Cundall have been found 'J Jialictriiiii. 

 Jlavum, Tiifoliiiin amcnse, Jhiplcnrtiiii rotuudifoliuin^ Q'lnaiithc J.acJicnalii, 

 Jhyouia t/ioiia, Ceitlninca Srab/'osd, Myosolis collitia, Iluiiiiihis /.iipiihis, and 



