268 T. G. Bonney. — On Supposed Pholas Burrows. 



distance below the railway bridge is a small inn — " The Anglers ; " 

 about a hundred yards beyond which I came upon some well-marked 

 burrows. Hereabout the northern slope of the valley descends to 

 the river as a steep bank somewhat broken by outcropping beds of 

 rock. The road to Litton Mills appears to be partly cut out of this 

 slope, partly formed by an embankment constructed of the excavated 

 material. Below it is a very narrow slip of flat land ; then comes 

 the stream. The other bank of this is formed by a grassgrown 

 talus, leading up to a limestone precipice of considerable height, 

 above which rise the long slopes of the upper and more open parts 

 of the valley. 



The burrows were in the upper part of a low cliff or scarp of 

 limestone by the side of the road, and about four and a-half feet 

 above it. They were driven into a stratum which, as it seemed, was 

 more affected by the weather than the very compact layer below. 

 The burrowing animals appeared to have availed themselves of the 

 weathered parting of the two beds, and had driven their burrows, 

 more or less vertically, into the upper stratum, from any point where 

 they could gain" a "coigne of vantage." Several of the holes were 

 simply channels sunk into the rook, the extremities being rounded. 

 After carefully examining these, I am of opinion that they have been 

 formed as channels on the surface, and are not, as has been sug- 

 gested by Mr. Kofe, burrows partly exposed by weathering. These 

 and the burrows, as I have said, were generally directed upwards ; 

 but their axes were usually more or less curved, and their shape 

 was altogether more irregular than I have been accustomed to see in 

 Pholas holes ; in one case two or three distinct burrows (as has been 

 noticed by Mr. Eofe) radiated from a single aperture. In a word, 

 the burrows presented precisely the same features as did those to 

 which I called attention in the paper already mentioned. 



I saw some other burrows as I went down the Dale, and probably 

 a more careful search would show them to be abundant ; for I only 

 examined one or two places where I thought there was a chance of 

 obtaining some fresh facts, for this instance was enough to suggest 

 the following difficulties in the Pholas theory. 



.__ PHOLAS BURBOWS 

 ROAD 



'^'-^^^^^ 



Hough section of lower part of Miller's Dale. 

 (1.) I have a strong suspicion, from the general lie of the valley, 

 that here the rock has been artificially scarped to make the road. It 

 is of course just possible that this face may be a natural cliff, of which 

 the roadmakers have availed themselves ; but the annexed section 

 (a rough diagram not drawn to scale) certainly suggests the contrary. 



