Mr. Webster on the Strata lying over the Chalk. 211 



On a careful examination I was not able to discover any 

 mixture of marine shells in this series of beds. Had they ever 

 existed I think their remains would have been evident, considering 

 how much thicker and stronger marine shells in general are than 

 those of freshwater. 



The quantity of shells, and the regularity and extent of the 

 strata in which they are found, are much too considerable to 

 suppose that they could have been carried by rivers or streams into 

 an arm of the sea ; and in this case there would also most probably 

 have been a considerable intermixture of marine shells. We are 

 compelled therefore to admit that the spot where they now are, 

 was once occupied by freshwater, in which these animals existed in 

 a living state. 



The mutilated condition in which these shells appear, seems to 

 denote that they had not become mineralized sufficiently to preserve 

 their forms, or that the place in which they were accumulated wa$ 

 occasionally subject to agitations. 



Freshwater strata occur occasionally in other parts of the west 

 and north coasts of the Isle of Wight, but in such an irregular 

 manner that it is not easy to say to what formation they belong. 



Among those at Cowes and Ride there are none that I can 

 completely identify with these beds. But I am at present inclined 

 to think that the same formation exists at these places, though 

 under a character considerably different. 



The quarries of Binstead, near Ride, were formerly of great 

 celebrity, and furnished the materials for many ancient edifices, 

 both civil and religious, in the Isle of Wight and the counties 

 contiguous to it. They are now very little worked ; but their 

 extent may be traced by the broken ground where they have been 

 filled in. 



2 D 2 



