214 RHJETIC OF THE SOUTH-WALES DIRECT LINE. [May 1904, 



work in these sections. He wished to ask a few questions by way 

 of explanation, not of criticism. What was their definition of the 

 1 true Bone-Bed ' ? If fish-scales and teeth were any guide, he had 

 found both in a thin band of limestone in the Black Shales, on the 

 south side of Stoke-Gifford cutting. Again, it was stated that no 

 true Bone-Bed had been recorded in Somerset, except at Emborough 

 and Watchet ; but he had found a fish (PJwlidophoi'us) at the base 

 of the Black Shales, at Newbridge-Hill cutting, near Bath. What 

 evidence, moreover, was there for their division of the strata into 

 Upper, Middle, and Lower Bhsetic ? In conclusion, he drew 

 attention to the surface of the Palaeozoic floor, smoothed and planed 

 down by the sea which deposited these Rhsetic beds. 



