Locality of the Hyracotherium. 213 



remains occurring in the Eocene period of the tertiary formations, I looked with 

 strong expectation for the evidence of some form of animal life, whether of beast 

 or bird, destined to be sustained by so rich a provision. I was justified in this 

 expectation by the knowledge that nature ever directs her means, as well in num- 

 ber as in fitness, to particular ends. My search was, however, fruitless until the 

 month of September last, when, continuing my pursuit, I was fortunate enough 

 to find the cranium of the Hyracotherium'^. 



The discovery of this Mammal, and the contemporaneous announcement of other 

 mammalian remains having been obtained by Mr. Colchester from certain sand- 

 beds at Kison near Woodbridge, and which strata are supposed to constitute a por- 

 tion of the London-clay formation of that district, are facts of great geological in- 

 terest. But whether the Eocene character of the Kison beds be ultimately esta- 

 bhshed or not, the Eocene character of the Hyracotherium locality is placed beyond 

 the reach of doubt. Independent of the intrinsic evidence of the locality itself, 

 the associated fossils, identical with those of the neighbouring Sheppey beds, esta- 

 blishes the fact ; the Sheppey beds themselves may be traced without a break to 

 Studd Hill, and, with the exception of the superimposed diluvial gravel, there is 

 neither above nor below the London clay at Studd Hill any portion of any other 

 formation. 



The discovery of Mammifers in the London clay affords another instance of the 

 fallacy of resting conclusions in natural science on negative evidence, which is, in 

 fact, no evidence at all. 



[Note. 



In a former paper on the coast-section from Whitstable in Kent to the North 

 Foreland, and read April 9th, 1834, Mr. Richardson described the changes which 

 this part of the coast of Kent had undergone. He stated that the point still called 

 the Old Haven to the eastward of Heme Bay, retains not a single feature to justify 

 the appellation. The dimensions of the Haven were, however, at one time suffi- 

 cient to afford protection to fishing-vessels of sixty tons burthen, though it is now 

 unable to shelter a custom-house galley drawing one foot of water. With respect 

 to Heme Bay, tradition preserves the memory of an upper and a lower bay ; and 

 the inhabitants residing to the westward of the new pier, erected on a shallow, 

 where the horn which separated the two bays projected, are said to live in the upper 

 bay ; but scarcely a vestige of either bay remains. In the same paper the author 

 gave a detailed account of the structure of the London clay cliffs^ a condensed 

 notice of which is given by him in the above memoir on the locality of the Hyra- 



* See Mr. Owen's description of the cranium of the Hyracotherium, ante, p. 203, et seq. 



