Yol. 68.J IJT THE ' PEKMIAN ' EOCKS OF HAMSTEAD. 643 



Indeed, it may be safely asserted that, at the present time, the 

 geological age of the Midland so-called ' Permian,' considered as a 

 whole, and also the age of its lithological divisions are matters 

 which are by no means settled, and every new discovery among 

 them may prove of some service. 



Hitherto, almost the only fossils detected in the strata of the 

 South Staffordshir.e 'Permian' are plants, and those but few in 

 number and of long range. On the other hand, most of the fossils 

 described in the present paper are the relics of animal life, and 

 the species identifiable among them appear to be comparatively 

 restricted in their geological range on the Continent of Europe and 

 elsewhere, and therefore are of definite value in fixing the approxi- 

 mate age of the Midland strata in which they occur. 



II. Detailed Desceiption of the Eocks and Eock-Poemations 



OF THE ilAMSTEAD-QuAEEr SeRIES. 



(1) The Hamstead Fossil-beariDg Qaarry. 



All the fossils obtained by myself were collected from the 

 Hamstead Marl-Quarry of Messrs. Turner & Hadley. These fossils 

 include plant-impressions, well-preserved footprints, and trails of 

 amphibia and Crustacea, worm-burrows, and the like ; rain-prints, 

 sun-cracks, and ripple-markings. 



By far the most important, from the geological point of view, 

 are the footprints of Amphibia, which can be identified as belonging 

 to certain specific forms long since described and named from 

 typical geological horizons in the strata of the Continent of 

 Europe. 



A second quarry, known as the Old Quarry, has, up to the 

 present, yielded no fossils. 



The quarries above mentioned are two in number, and their 

 position with relation to the Hamstead Colliery-shaft on the west, 

 and to the outcrop of the Bunter Pebble-Beds which cover up the 

 ' Permian ' strata on the east, is shown in the accompanying 

 geological sketch-map (fig. 1, p, 644), which I have worked out in 

 a personal survey of the ground. 



The strata laid bare in the quarries, and the majority of those 

 which crop out between Hamstead Colliery and the base of the 

 Bunter on the east, constitute the Ham stead-Quarry Series as 

 previously defined (p. 640). The following description of that 

 Series has been partly drawn from the strata laid bare in these 

 quarries, and partly from surface exposures upon the ground. 



All the ' Permian ' strata in the Hamstead area dip regularly 

 at a small angle (3° to 4°) south-eastwards. In consequence, the 

 oldest beds lie in the west of the district, while continuously newer 

 beds supervene as we pass in an easterly direction. 



The first or larger quarry, which is known as the New Quarry, 

 occupies over an acre in superficial extent, and varies in depth 



2z2 



