166 R. Tate— Oldest British Belemnite; 



in France, between the ttpper portion and the lower one of our Lower 

 Chalk, to which last the term Ligerien is applied. This is followed 

 (always in the descending order) by Coquand's etage Carentonien,wh.iGh 

 comprises our Chalk Marl. Here again another break would seem- 

 ingly occur in the shape of his etage Gardonien, prior to reaching our 

 Upper Green Sand, his Bothomagien. Under this last comes the 

 etage Vraconien or Cambridge beds, which I found was well developed 

 in the neighbourhood of Nice, and to which we will hereafter refer, 

 while treating of the geology of the department of maritimes Alps. 

 Immediately under the Yraconien we find the true Gault, (of Folk- 

 stone and Wissant) or etage Albien of French geologists. _ In the 

 etage Urgo-Aptien, he places the Lower Green Sand, the Aptien and a 

 portion of the Neocomien of Judd, while the true Neocomien would 

 comprise the Lower Neocomien of the last named author. That 

 gentleman informs me that the reference of the Speeton Clay to the 

 Aptien, made by so many geologists on the Continent, is due to the 

 fact that, with two or three exceptions, all the specimens figured by 

 Phillips in the " Geology of Yorkshire," are from the cement beds, 

 which he regards as certainly of Aptien age. 



fTo be contimied). 



VII. — On the Oldest Bkitish Belemnite. 

 By Raplh Tate, Assoc. Lin. Soc, F.G.S., etc. 



PEOFESSOE PHILLIPS remarks that " from the Inferior Oolite 

 downwards through the Liassic series Belemnites are almost 

 never absent from the section till we reach the zone of Ammonites 

 BucTclandi; only in the upper part of this zone have they been 

 found — at Salford and at Lyme Eegis," But as the unique example — 

 the subject of the present communication — was collected from the 

 zone of Ammonites angulatus, it is the oldest known British Belem- 

 nite, and as such claims some attention. 



The only notice that I am acquainted vnth of 

 the occurrence of Liassic Belemnites in strata 

 older than the Bucklandi beds is that by Jules 

 Martin, who records Bel. acutus, Miller, in his 

 zone of Ammonites Moreanus, which is the equiva- 

 lent in the Cote d'Or of the zone, of Ammonites 

 angulatus. 



a. Outline oiB.prwma- ^description of the Specics.— Belemnites prcema- 

 twus, nat. size. turus, miM. Guard, slightly subhastate, (termi- 

 ^ ^^^^ ' nating in an acute central point,) ? contracted 



in all the regions about the alveolar apex, and tapering very gradu- 

 ally to the point. On the lateral faces of the anterior part of 

 the guard there are two distinct lateral furrows which extend to 

 about the middle part. Axis apparently straight. Phragmocone in 

 its transverse section sub-oblong, the dorso-ventral diameter being 

 the longer. Extreme length -35 inch ; length of axis, so far as 

 traceable, •!! inch. 



