180 MR. C. R£1D AND MR. J. GROYES ON THE [vol. Ixxvii^ 



along the iindercliff. [^The white l)and is an important horizon 

 in the Headon Beds ; but, unfortunately^ it is the only one as to the 

 correlation of which with Tawney & Keeping's section we feel in 

 doubt. If it is their ' Char a Bed ' (part of No. 28), then the details 

 now seen do not correspond with their measurements and descrip- 

 tion, and it is strange that a collector who has worked so long at 

 these deposits, as did Keeping, should not have noticed the 

 numerous small bones and teeth, mainly of rodents, which it con- 

 tained. It is curious also that these authors should state that 

 their Chara Bed is seen at Paddy's Gap,^ but thins out westwards. 

 The deposit that we have seen and collected from is well exposed, 

 as already mentioned, on the west ; but we think that it was sunk 

 below the beach-level before Paddy's Gap is reached. At Padd3^'s 

 Gap recent storms have entirely cleared the section, and thin lenticles 

 crowded with fruits of Cliara are seen in a matrix of blue or green 

 clay ; but they do not resemble or appear to be on the same horizon 

 as our ' Rodent-Bed.' Probably the deposit is part of the series 

 marked 4 in the Marchioness of Hastings's description, ^ for in this 

 she found the small bones. 



This part of the cliff, after being obscured by talus for many years^ 

 is now o-raduallv beino- cleared ao-ain by renewed encroachments of 

 the sea ; but there is still a piece, from opposite the Hotel west- 

 wards to the last steps to the beach, along which the be;^s cannot 

 be traced continuously, so that the exact details of this part of the 

 section must remain in doubt. If we are right in thinking that 

 the Cliara Bed of Paddy's Gap is not the same as the Podent-Bed, 

 then it is probable that a few feet must be added to the total 

 thickness of the series.] 



From the Kodent-Bed, which is only a few inches thick, we have 

 obtained several species of freshwater and brackish-water mollusca, 

 a number of small mammalian bones and teeth, and several species 

 of Charophj-^tes. One minute subglobose fruit {ToiypeUa Iwadon- 

 ensis) is confined to this horizon, as perhaps are one or two other 

 noticeable forms. The difference between the flora of this deposit 

 and that of the limestone is, however, more likely to be due to the 

 influence of varying amounts of salt, rather than to ari}" great 

 difference of date. The species found in the Podent-Bed are : — 

 C. Wrightii, C. vasiformis, C. disforta, C. tornaia, C. siih- 

 cyhndrica ?, C. sfrohiJocarpa var. hitruncata, and T. headonensis. 



At its top the Rodent-Bed is cut off abruptly by a thin seam of 

 black clay, perhaps Bed 29. Then follows a thick mass of green 

 clay (Bed 30?), Avith occasional thin lenticles of drifted Cliara- 

 fruits. These seem to be the beds seen at the foot of Paddy's Gap 

 (Mineway), close to the beach-level. The species are few, only 



^ The discrepancies referred to in the part of the text enclosed between 

 square brackets are probably due to the fallen state of the cliff, which 

 rendered observation difficult. [E. M. R.] 



^ Paddy's Gap is the gap leading to the shore opposite Eookcliffe. In 

 older records it was kno-\vn as ' The Mineway.' 



3 Bull. Soc. Geol. France, ser 2. vol. ix (1852) pp. 191-203. 



