48 Correspondence — Mr. A. J. Jukes Browne. 



was the same as that of Captain Ibbetson, but more recent writers 

 have certainly taken it in the more limited sense. 



Again, Mr. Meyer asks, " was I wrong then in suggesting the 

 separation of beds 10 to 12 from the Upper Greensand, and applying 

 to them the term Warminster Beds ? " Now, there are two questions 

 involved in this sentence which should be carefully distinguished. 

 These are — 



(1). The separation of the said beds from the rest of the Upper 

 Greensand. 



(2). Their separation from or inclusion in the formation usually 

 known as the Upper Greensand. 



As regards the desirability of the first, we are all agreed, and Mr. 

 Meyer has been duly credited with being the first to recognize the 

 distinctness of the fauna. 



With respect to the second point, it depends of course on the 

 application and definition of the term " Upper Greensand," and I 

 confess that I do not see the force of Mr. Meyer's reasoning on this head. 



Surely, if we are to retain the name Upper Greensand at all, it 

 should include all the strata which follow, in unbroken succession, 

 from the top of the Gault (wherever that line is drawn) to the base 

 of the Chalk Marl, where there is a distinct break in the series. 

 This was its original application, and if we have eventually to 

 recognize more life-zones than those at present indicated, why may 

 they not all be included under the one comprehensive term ? 



Mr. Meyer, distinctly limits the " true Upper Greensand " to the 

 strata between the Blackdown and the Warminster Beds, thus 

 reducing it to mere zonal importance. I contend, on the other hand, 

 that it is better to retain the name in its original signification, and to 

 give it the rank of* a divisional formation. 



The answer to Mr. Meyer's second question is, I think, contained 

 in his own " Notes." He asks, where is there a Warminster fauna 

 in the Upper Greensand ? The answer is given at the bottom of 

 the same page ; speaking of the conglomerate occurring on the line 

 of division between the Upper Greensand and Chalk Marl, near St. 

 Catharine's Down, he rightly says that it divides two faunas, " the 

 lower of which includes Pecten asper, Terebratella pectita, Catopygus 

 colvmbarius, Galerites castaneus, and various other Echinoderms." 

 Is not this a Warminster fauna, and is it not in the " local top of the 

 Upper Greensand," whatever the bed might formerly havebeen called ? 



Having now replied to Mr. Meyer's queries, I should like to ask 

 him two questions in return. (1), Why has he changed his mind 

 regarding bed 13, and why does he not identify it with the zone of 

 Belemnites plenus ? (2). What does he mean in saying that he was 

 therefore wrong in giving Holaster subglobosus so wide a range in his 

 tables of fossils ? Is it not found in the beds where he marks it as 

 occurring ? 



Finally, I may express my satisfaction at finding that Mr. Meyer 

 admits " that the term Chloritic Marl is and always has been a bad 

 one," and I hope he will ultimately agree with Mr. Whitaker and 

 myself in advocating the entire abandonment of the name. 



Dec. lQth, 1878. A. J. JUKES BbownE. 



