1870.] MEYEH PORTSMOUTH LOWER TERTIARIES. 89 





feet, inches. 



*" Thin line of sand, with pyrites 1 



Thin band of blue clay 4 



Hard sandy clay, with thin lines of stiff 



clay 10 



Ditto, with more clay 5 



Stiff clay 5 



Very stiff clay, with large Oysters 18 Zone of Ostrea gi- 



gantica. 



I^Claystone 2 



Verystiffclay : 29 



Layer of pyrites 1 



Stiff clay 12 8 



Claystone 2 



-Clay 2 



Claystone 2 



Verystiffclay 10 10 



Clay, full of rounded black flint pebbles 9 



Hard sand 22 3 



^ Blue clay (to bottom of boring) 39 



Discussion. 



Prof. Ramsay called attention, to the value attaching to snch 

 observations as those of the author on the nature of the superficial 

 deposits as distinct from the older rocks on which they repose. 



Mr. Etheridge observed that the presence of the Lingula deter- 

 mined the position of the Bognor beds in the series, though there 

 appeared great difficulty in fixing it stratigraphically. The com- 

 mingling of species exhibited in this instance, of shells hitherto 

 supposed to be peculiar to certain horizons, he regarded as very re- 

 markable. 



Prof. Morris observed that the section seemed to show, not only 

 the order of the beds, but their manner of deposition, the whole 

 having formed part of a tranquil sea-bottom. He remarked on the 

 difficulty of separating the more recent mud deposits from the beds 

 of more ancient date. He pointed out the method of formation 

 of septaria apparently by segregation, as -they sometimes included 

 undisturbed parts of the beds. The number of bivalves bored by 

 carnivorous mollusks was remarkable, as was also the absence of 

 Pectunculus. 



Mr. GwTN Jeffreys observed on the habits of Lingula, which had 

 been by some regarded as an annelid, and not as a mollusk. It 

 affi)rded a curious instance of the persistence of species, as there was 

 no distinction that could be established between those of the Crag 

 and of Silurian times. It lived at the present time between high- 

 and low- water mark, and the Panopoea at a slightly lower level, and 

 probably had done so in Tertiary times. 



Mr. Evans inquired whether the upper gravel, like that on the 

 shore of Southampton Water, contained any flint implements. 



Mr. Meyer replied that he had not examined the gravels with that 

 view. 



