S. V. Wood— The Long Meadend Bed. 



69 



Solent. He discovered on that occasion the existence of this freshwater deposit [that 

 of Hordwell Cliff], and its geological identity with that portion of Headon Hill, in 

 the Isle of "Wight, which is in juxtaposition with the London Clay,^ and known 

 as the Lower Freshicater formation. But he was unable to find anything at all 

 analogous to the so-called Upper Marine, that estuary deposit immediately resting on 

 the Lower Freshwater at LLeadon Bill, though he suggested that it very probably 

 might exist in some portion of the cliff then inaccessible to his examination. Mr. 

 Lyell subsequently explored this part of the coast, and the account which he has 

 given in the Geological Transactions for 1827 is the latest memoir that I know of in 

 which any information respecting the HordweU Cliff is to be found. Mr. Lyell' s 

 investigation led him to the four following conclusions : — 



" First. ' That no portion of the Upper Marine formation exists anywhere in this 

 part of the Hampshii-e coast : the uppemiost beds in the series at Hordwell Cliff, 

 so far from indicating- a passage into the Upper Marine, contain organic remains, 

 both animal and vegetable, exclusively belonging to freshwater genera. The shells 

 referred to by Mr. "Webster as Cerithia, occurring in fallen blocks along the shore, 

 belong to the genus Potamides, and the stratum in which they aboimd occupies 

 a middle place in the series. Cerithium is a marine genus, but the Potamides, of 

 which some species still exist in a recent state, inhabits rivers, or at least the mouths 

 of rivers.' — Geol. Trans. New Series, vol. 2. 



"As Mr. Lyell's visit was probably a short one, I am not surprised at his not 

 having observed any portion of the Upper Marine formation in Hordwell Cliff, but 

 the existence of that deposit may be seen at a spot one mile to the east of Beacon - 

 Bimny, and a few paces westward of a ravine that is situated half a mile from the 

 village of Mil ford? The bed occurs at an elevation of ten or tivelve feet above high- 

 water mark, but with a thickness of only nine or ten inches, and only traceable for 

 about forty yards. Mr. Frederic Edwards, of Hampstead, so well known for his 

 unrivalled cabinet of Hampshire fossils, was the first to notice this deposit, three 

 years previous to my visit. At that time, he informs me, the bed could be followed 

 for three himdred yards, but owing to the debris which has since fallen from the 

 upper portion of the cliif, I could not trace it for a third of this distance. 



The following list of Testacea from this stratum of the Upper Marine formation at 

 Hordwell, is the joint result of Mr. Edwards' researches and my own. 



Acteon. 



Ancillaria subulata \huccinoides'], Lam. 



Area elegans. 



£olnnus unguiformis, 



Btilla (two species). 



Ccecum. 



Vancellaria muricata. 



,, elongata. 



Cerithium cinctum. Sow. 



,, margaritaceum. Sow. 



,, terebrale. 



,, ventricosum, Sow. 

 Chemnitzia \Tnrbonilla'\, two species. 

 Co) bula cuspidata. Sow. 

 Cyrena cycladiformis, Desh. 



,, obovata. Sow. 



,, pulchra. Sow. 

 Cytherea incrassata, Desh. 



,, obliqiia, Desh. 

 Fusus labiatus, Sow. 



Hydrobius. 



Kellia \_Scintilla andLepton'}, two species. 

 LimncEus. 



Lucina divaricata, Lam. 

 „ pulvinata. 



fasciata, Sow. 

 Melania muricata. 

 Melanopsis ancillaroides, Desh, 



,, carinata, Sow. 



,, fusiformis, Sow. 



,, minuia. 

 Murex sexdentatus, Sow. 

 Mya angustata. Sow. 

 Mytilus ? affinis. Sow. 

 Natica depressa. Sow. 



„ epiglottina, Lam. 



,, labellata, Lam. 

 Nematura. 

 Nerita aperta, Sow. 



1 At this time, and until after the first part of this paper had been published, the 

 Barton Clay was regarded by geologists as the same formation as the London Clay. 



- In the Ordnance one inch to the mile map this ravine is called Paddy's Gap, but 

 in the six inch to the mile map no name is given to it. Its distance from Milford is 

 given correctly in my father's paper, but its distance from Beacon-Bunny is according 

 to the six inch map upwards of a mile and a half. 



