﻿98 
  PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SOCIETY. 
  [Dec. 
  2, 
  

  

  in 
  England, 
  and 
  which 
  were 
  discovered 
  first 
  in 
  a 
  railway-cutting 
  

   about 
  one 
  mile 
  north 
  of 
  Brockenhurst, 
  and 
  afterwards 
  at 
  Lyndhurst 
  

   and 
  Roydon 
  in 
  the 
  New 
  Forest. 
  The 
  fossils 
  from 
  these 
  localities 
  were 
  

   chiefly 
  collected, 
  and 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  described, 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Frederick 
  E. 
  

   Edwards, 
  to 
  whom 
  we 
  are 
  so 
  much 
  indebted 
  for 
  our 
  knowledge 
  of 
  

   the 
  fossils 
  of 
  the 
  English 
  Lower 
  Tertiaries. 
  By 
  his 
  extreme 
  kind- 
  

   ness 
  in 
  allowing 
  me 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  his 
  cabinet, 
  and 
  in 
  giving 
  me 
  all 
  the 
  

   information 
  in 
  his 
  power, 
  I 
  have 
  been 
  enabled 
  to 
  judge 
  for 
  myself 
  

   of 
  the 
  age 
  of 
  the 
  Brockenhurst 
  beds. 
  

  

  As 
  these 
  beds 
  were 
  seen 
  in 
  superposition 
  to 
  the 
  Lower 
  Headon- 
  

   hill 
  (freshwater) 
  series*, 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  doubt 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  of 
  the 
  

   same 
  age 
  as 
  the 
  Middle 
  Headon 
  beds 
  of 
  Colwell 
  Bay 
  and 
  White 
  - 
  

   cliff 
  Bay, 
  which, 
  moreover, 
  contain 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  characteristic 
  

   fossils 
  of 
  the 
  Brockenhurst 
  beds 
  (Cancellaria 
  scabricula, 
  Edw., 
  Fusus 
  

   labiatus, 
  Sow., 
  &c.) 
  ; 
  but 
  as 
  they 
  have 
  a 
  richer 
  and 
  true 
  marine 
  

   fauna, 
  they 
  are 
  of 
  the 
  greatest 
  importance 
  in 
  comparing 
  the 
  Headon 
  

   beds 
  with 
  foreign 
  (Belgian 
  and 
  Northern 
  German) 
  Tertiary 
  strata. 
  

  

  Sir 
  Charles 
  Lyell 
  and 
  other 
  geologists 
  compared 
  the 
  Headon 
  

   series 
  with 
  the 
  Tongrien 
  inferieur 
  of 
  M. 
  Dumont, 
  because 
  both 
  were 
  

   seen 
  in 
  superposition 
  to 
  the 
  Barton 
  clay 
  ; 
  Professor 
  Sandberger 
  

   compared 
  the 
  Headon 
  series 
  and 
  the 
  Bembridge 
  series 
  with 
  the 
  Ton- 
  

   grien 
  inferieur, 
  principally 
  because 
  he 
  found 
  many 
  fossils 
  from 
  the 
  

   Hempstead 
  beds 
  identical 
  with 
  those 
  from 
  the 
  Lower 
  Mayence 
  beds 
  

   (Systeme 
  Rupelien 
  of 
  M. 
  Dumont). 
  The 
  Belgian 
  Upper 
  Tongrien 
  

   beds 
  were 
  placed 
  by 
  Sir 
  Charles 
  Lyell 
  at 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  the 
  Headon 
  

   series, 
  and 
  the 
  Systeme 
  Rupelien 
  was 
  supposed 
  by 
  him 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  equi- 
  

   valent 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  beds 
  above 
  the 
  Headon 
  series. 
  All 
  these 
  beds 
  were 
  

   grouped 
  together 
  to 
  form 
  the 
  Upper 
  Eocene 
  of 
  Sir 
  Charles 
  Lyell, 
  

   the 
  Upper 
  Hempstead 
  beds 
  being 
  the 
  uppermost 
  member 
  of 
  that 
  

   series. 
  Now 
  in 
  this 
  case 
  there 
  would 
  really 
  have 
  been 
  a 
  considerable 
  

   interval 
  between 
  the 
  Eocene 
  and 
  the 
  Miocene 
  periods, 
  very 
  few 
  

   species 
  passing 
  over 
  from 
  the 
  former 
  to 
  the 
  latter. 
  But, 
  in 
  fact, 
  

   there 
  exist 
  intermediate 
  beds 
  between 
  them, 
  to 
  which 
  Sir 
  Charles 
  

   Lyell 
  did 
  not 
  attach 
  sufficient 
  importance 
  when 
  he 
  proposed 
  that, 
  his 
  

   first, 
  classification 
  of 
  the 
  Tertiary 
  strata, 
  though 
  the 
  fossils 
  from 
  these 
  

   beds 
  had 
  been 
  described 
  and 
  figured 
  long 
  ago 
  by 
  Goldfuss 
  (Petrefacta 
  

   Germanise), 
  and 
  afterwards 
  by 
  R. 
  A. 
  Philippif 
  ; 
  and 
  his 
  later 
  classi- 
  

   fication 
  is 
  even 
  less 
  conformable 
  to 
  their 
  evidence. 
  These 
  beds 
  are 
  

   to 
  be 
  found 
  over 
  a 
  very 
  large 
  area 
  in 
  Northern 
  Germany 
  : 
  — 
  in 
  the 
  

   east, 
  as 
  the 
  " 
  Sternberger 
  Gestein," 
  in 
  Mecklenburg, 
  near 
  Magde- 
  

   burg 
  and 
  Leipzig, 
  round 
  Cassel 
  (in 
  Hesse) 
  %, 
  and 
  near 
  Osnabriick 
  

   (Westphalia) 
  ; 
  in 
  the 
  west 
  near 
  Hiisseldorf 
  and 
  near 
  Crefeld 
  ; 
  and 
  

   I 
  have 
  found, 
  very 
  recently, 
  that 
  they 
  also 
  exist 
  near 
  Maestricht. 
  

  

  * 
  In 
  working 
  at 
  Brockenhurst 
  with 
  the 
  assistance 
  of 
  Mr. 
  Keeping, 
  of 
  Fresh- 
  

   water, 
  I 
  only 
  saw 
  crushed, 
  indeterminable 
  freshwater 
  Shells 
  ; 
  but 
  Mr. 
  Keeping 
  

   and 
  afterwards 
  Mr. 
  Edwards 
  assured 
  me 
  that 
  the 
  same 
  species 
  were 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  

   at 
  this 
  locality 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  Lower 
  Headon 
  beds. 
  

  

  t 
  " 
  Ueber 
  die 
  Tertiar-Versteinerungen 
  der 
  Wilhelmshohe 
  bei 
  Cassel." 
  Pro- 
  

   gramm 
  der 
  hoheren 
  Gewerb-Schule 
  in 
  Cassel 
  fur 
  1841-42. 
  

  

  \ 
  See 
  Hamilton 
  " 
  On 
  the 
  Tertiary 
  Formations 
  of 
  the 
  North 
  of 
  Germany," 
  

   Quart. 
  Journ. 
  Geol. 
  Soc. 
  vol. 
  xi. 
  p. 
  126. 
  

  

  