Vent nor, Isle of Wight 443 



about one foot four inclies thick, -wlucli indicates an almost sudden 

 cliange in the deposits. A thin seam of comminuted shells runs 

 through this, with numerous entire single valves of Pecten orbicu- 

 laris, and Pecten qidnqueco status. 



An irregular layer of misshapen phosphatic nodules is imbedded 

 between the last-named layer and the Chloritic Marl above. These 

 nodules are derived ; many of them have the remains of sponges 

 and shells adhering to them, and some of them have the appearance 

 of having been pierced by Lilhodomi. Interstratified with them are 

 various species of Sponges, Polyzoa, etc., with Shark and reptilian 

 remains. Imbedded on these nodules is a seam of green sandy 

 materials marked by meandering lines, and patches of marl upon the 

 upper part, which is unfossiliferous in the neighbourhood of Ventnor, 

 particularly in the lower part, in contact with the nodules. This 

 seam is of a dark green colour, and contains Saurian remains, with 

 Pecten asper, P. orbicularis, and Pecten quinqnecostatus. 



Upwards from the dark green sandy bed the deposits gradually 

 merge into that of a light grey colour with dark grains. In some 

 localities this bed is permeated by ii-on, but its composition partakes 

 largel}" of marl ; this is the first indi(;ation of a change from chert 

 Kag and sandstone to the Chalk into which it gradually merges. It 

 is full of fossils and fragments of fossils, and sponge-like bodies, 

 mostly phosphatic, and Ammonites. It weathers easily, when numerous 

 fossils are exposed in relief on the surface of the fallen blocks 

 which strew the shore of the Undercliff. 



From the waterworn appearance of most of the organic remains 

 they seem to have been derived from some older stratum, and to 

 have been dej)osited under the influence of strong currents. Curiously 

 enough, I came upon two distinct specimens of Ammonites rostratus, 

 a short time ago, in the Quarry at the Railway Station, which I 

 have never before met with above the five feet building stone, 

 upwards of thirty feet below. 



A large per-centage of the fossils have their equivalents in the 

 Chalk Marl, in which has been found Nautilus pseudo-elegans, N. 

 expansus. Ammonites rostratus, A. Mantelli, A. varians, Pecten asper, 

 Ostrea carinata, etc. 



With reference to the diagram, I must acknowledge the great 

 assistance rendered me by Mr. R. S. Scott, the Town Surveyor, 

 of Ventnor, in drawino- it out, and reducing the measurements to 

 scale. 



I am also greatly indebted to Barnard Meyers, Esq., of the Belle- 

 Vue Estate, Ventnor, for allowing me free access to the Quarries on 

 the Estate, by which I have been enabled to procure many specimens 

 of organic remains, and who also presented me with several large 

 Ammonites which I have included in the collection for the British 

 Museum which accompanies this paper. 



