THE COKALLIAN ROCKS OF ENGLAND. 279 



exceptionally conglomeratic. This portion of the series may be 

 traced along* the lower part of the Corallian range to the south by 

 its pisolitic beds, though the exposures are meagre in the extreme. 

 Near a farm called Canning's Court, it is associated with a shell- 

 heap, consisting almost entirely of Myacites decurtatas and Natica 

 corallina. To the north of Sturminster these beds are well deve- 

 loped at Hinton St. Mary's, where they show the same sequence. 

 They are known to be- at the base at Marnhull ; and the pisolite 

 spreads out on the surface at Stower Provost, the village square 

 being entirely upon it, presenting a very interesting appearance. 

 Passing still northwards, we catch a glimpse of these again at the 

 top of Gillingham Cutting, though they are not easily recognized on 

 the surface. An interesting section, however, is seen in a quarry 

 at Cucklington, wbich is valuable, as showing a certain amount of 

 persistence of the character of the beds to the extreme north. It is 

 as follows : — 



Section at OacJclington. 



ft. in. 



1. Kubbly large-grained oolite. Ammonites plicatilis, Pecten fibrosus. 



Myacites decicrtatus, Echinobrissus scutatus 1 



2. Pisolite, in a large-grained oolitic matrix. Pecten fibrosus, E. 



scutatus, and fragments of small corals within some of the con- 

 cretions 1 8 



3. Dark rubbly oolite, and oolitic marl, with scattered pea-stones. 



A. plicatilis, Turbo, sp., Lima rigida, E. scutatus, sponge 2 4 



4. Black and brown clay 8 



5. Solid block of blue-hearted brashy oolite, gritty and broken 6 



11 8 



The fauna of this series, as seen here and at Sturminster, is hard 

 to interpret. Some of the species, which occur in beds of Rag at a 

 much higher level, are doubtless due to physical conditions ; but the 

 Pecten points to a low position, not higher, and perhaps lower than 

 the " Osmington Oolites." Among the EchinodQilns the form 

 quoted is very abundant ; and we remark the total absence (as we 

 might expect) of Cidaris florigemma. 



The false-bedded limestones that succeed these are of extreme 

 importance in this district. They are doubtless due to the irregu- 

 larity of the sea-bottom, either by the scooping out or non-deposition 

 here and there of the oolitic marls below ; and their angle of false 

 dip is therefore not constant, and may be sometimes unobservable ; 

 but it is always towards to the east, indicating clearly the 

 westerly source of the deposits. They are, however, a more than 

 usually local deposit; for they thin <out, as has been noticed, a little 

 S.W. of Sturminster, and are never encountered again, to our 

 knowledge, in that direction. Neither do they appear much to the 

 north of Stower Provost ; but they are magnificently developed in 

 the neighbourhood of Marnhull and Todbere, where they are largely 

 worked for lime and building-stone. The section seen in a fine 

 quarry at Todbere, which contains this and higher beds, is as 

 follows :— 



