\ ol. 60.] KH.ETIC OF THE SOUTH-WALES DIRECT LINE. 211 



Series. A Bone-Bed occupies this position in the Sodomy 

 section, at Patchway, Redland, Sedbury Cliff, Watchet, Penarth, 

 and Emborough. At Gold Cliff, near Xewport, a Bone-Bed 

 underlies 3 feet of Tea-Green Marls. In several other well-known 

 sections it lies a short distance above the base. Thus at Aust it 

 lies 9 inches, at Wainlode Cliff 2 feet, and at Coombe Hill 3j§ feet, 

 above the base of the Black-Shale Series. 



Although more or less isolated vertebrate remains may be met 

 with, no true Bone-Bed has been recorded at the Rhaetic sections 

 of Wells, Shepton Mallet, Uphill, Pylle Hill, Saltford, Knowle, 

 and Stoke Gifford. At most of these sections, however, a band 

 of hard sandstone or tough limestone, with a smaller or greater 

 number of vertebrate remains, occurs at or near the base of the 

 Black-Shale Series, and is regarded as the equivalent of the Bone- 

 Bed. Thus, at Pylle Hill, a very thin and irregular seam of pyritic 

 grit, containing scales, teeth, and coprolites of fishes, occurs at the 

 base ; and at Wells there is a tough bluish-brown limestone in 

 the same position. Similar bands occur at other horizons in the 

 northern part of the district. Thus, at Chaxhill, a micaceous sand- 

 stone, regarded by Mr. L. Richardson as the equivalent of the Bone- 

 Bed, overlies 7 feet of alternating shales and micaceous sandstones ; 

 and at Puriton, a somewhat similar bed of sandstone, passing into 

 impure limestone, is recorded in the vertical section of the Geo- 

 logical Survey, at a height of 20| feet above the base of the Black- 

 Shale Series. 



In various sections more than one Bone-Bed is met with. Thus, 

 in the Penarth (Lavernock) section, while a typical but very irre- 

 gularly-developed Bone-Bed occurs at the base of the Black Shales, 

 a second and thinner Bone-Bed is found at a height of 4 feet from 

 the base. At Aust, in addition to the well-known basal Bone-Bed, 

 there are indications of a second some 3 feet above the base of the 

 Black Shales. At Emborough. the principal Bone-Bed is at the base 

 of the Black Shales, while a second and thinner one occurs at the 

 top ; and a band of conglomerate with scales and teeth underlies 

 some 3 feet of sand and sandstone which intervene between the 

 Black Shales and the Tea-Green Marls. 



In the coast-section to the east of Watchet, in addition to the prin- 

 cipal Bone-Bed at the base of the Black Shales, Prof. Boyd Dawkins 

 describes two thinner Bone-Beds, consisting of hard sandstone 



■o 



with many fish-teeth, and occurring at a height of about 10 feet 

 from the base. At Sedbury Cliff, in addition to the Bone-Bed at the 

 base of the section, Mr. Richardson records a band with coprolites, 

 fish-teeth, and an ichthyodorulite, which lies at about the middle of 

 the Black Shales. At Garden Cliff the principal Bone-Bed occurs 

 at a height of about 6| feet from the base of the Black-Shale 

 Series. Lower down are the upper and lower bands of PuUastra- 

 sandstone, each of which contains numerous vertebrate remains. At 

 Wainlode Cliff, too, in addition to the main Bone-Bed 2 feet from 

 the base of the Black Shales, a second band 10 feet higher up was 

 noted by Brodie ; in Mr. Richardson's recent account of the section, 



p2 



