G87 



Portland beds. Mr. Murchison's principal object in laying this no- 

 tice before the Society was to point out that the Oar's Rock is be- 

 tween the parallels of disturbance which traverse the Wealden of 

 Sussex on the north, and the Isle of Wight on the south, the inter- 

 mediate space being also traversed by the protruded chalk-outliers 

 of Portsdown Hill, north of Portsmouth, and High-down Hill near 

 Worthing, described by IVJr. Martin*. Mr. Murchison, therefore, 

 inferred that the Oar's Rock may indicate the protrusion of strata 

 at that point. He noticed likewise the earthquakes so frequently 

 felt at Chichester, which is situated intermediate between Portsdown 

 Hill and Highdown Hill. 



A paper was then read, " On the discovery of Fossil Fishes in the 

 Bagshot sands at Goldworth Hill, 4 miles north of Guildford;" by 

 the Rev. William Buckland, D.D., F.G.S. 



These remains were recently obtained in cutting through the 

 summit of Goldworth Hill, on the line of the London and South- 

 ampton Railway, and their preservation is due to Mr. Sibthorpe of 

 Guildford. The only organic bodies previously discovered in the Bag- 

 shot sand are the casts of shells found near Chobham Park, and no- 

 ticed in Mr. Warburton's account of the formation.f The fossils 

 described by Dr. Buckland, were obtained from a bed of greenish 

 sand, the sixth from the top of the section ; and they consist of a 

 few imperfect casts of marine shells, and the remains of marine 

 fishes. The most numerous among the latter are the teeth of sharks, 

 and the palates and teeth of rays, similar to those which abound in 

 the London clay. One large tooth of a saw-fish, procured from the 

 same bed, affords the first well-authenticated example of the discovery, 

 in England, of the genus Prisiis. In addition to these remains, three 

 forms of cartilaginous fishes, and a few vertebrae of bony fishes, resem- 

 bling those procured in Sheppy, have been found, also three new genera 

 of fishes. For the latter Dr. Buckland proposes the names of Eda- 

 phodon, Passalodon, and Ameibodon. In the first genus the struc- 

 ture of the teeth is nearly allied to that of the broad and flat palates 

 so common in the oolitic and carboniferous limestones. There were 

 three of these teeth in the upper jaw, and three in the lower on each 

 side, and they were disposed so as to form a pavement, armino- the 

 interior of the mouth with powerful instruments for crushing shells. 

 Their surface is pitted with minute depressions, disposed in nearly the 

 same manner as in the genus Psammodus. The body of each tooth 

 also, as in Psammodus, is composed of hollow, long, cylindrical co- 

 lumns, placed nearly at right angles to the working surface. The 

 bones to which the teeth are attached, are not granulated as in car- 

 tilaginous fishes; but are cancellated after the manner of bony fishes. 

 The mode of insertion of the teeth in both jaws off'ers many pecu- 

 liarities, as they are placed in nearly horizontal, long sockets, and 



* Geological Memoir on part of Western Sussex, p. 93, 1828. 

 f Geological Transactions, 2nd Sei'ies, vol. i. p. 48. 



