318 PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [May 22, 



deposit seems to be entirely wanting in fossil remains ; but, after 

 a minute search, it has yielded a few coprolites and specimens of 

 Avicida contorta and Schizodus cloacinus lying close above the lowest 

 bed No. 1, the presence of these bodies being indicated by layers of 

 iron pyrites, with which mineral the entire series is thickly studded. 

 This black shale is succeeded by the coprolite- or bone-bed (No. 3), 

 a narrow band about an inch thick, entirely composed of worn bones, 

 teeth of various kinds, scales and coprolites, imbedded in a hard 

 cement of sulphuret of iron. Amongst the fossils found in this bed 

 are a portion of the jaw of Lepidotus Giebeli, Alb. ?, teeth of Hyhodus 

 minor, H. jplicatilis, Sargodon tomicus, Saurichthys apiccdis, Acrodus 

 minimus, Gyrolepis Alberti, Termatosaurus Alherti, and Ichthyosaurus, 

 with scales of Gyrolepis, spines, and other animal remains, for the 

 naming of which, as well as of most of the other fossils mentioned 

 in this paper, I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. R. Tate, P.G.S. 

 The unbroken condition of the soft coprolite bodies in this deposit 

 points, so far at least as the Gainsborough bed is concerned, to its 

 formation in a moderately deep sea, or, more likely, in a quiet lagoon 

 or semi-inland sea, where the attrition of the waves was not great ; 

 and the curious nature of the contents of the bed seems to de- 

 note it as simply of fsecal origin : nor is this view irreconcileable 

 with the invariably fragmentary nature of the harder animal portions 

 imbedded in it ; for, mixed with the faeces, would naturally be found 

 the teeth, scales, and other insoluble fragments of the animals 

 preyed upon : and the idea of its being simply a feecal deposit is 

 borne out further by the occurrence, here and there in the bed, of 

 small smooth pebbles, principally quartz, which in all probability 

 the fishes of those days, like the cod and other fishes of our own, 

 that take their food off the ground, had swallowed, either by chance 

 or purposely (for the sake of the zoophytes and other substances 

 incrusting them). Eesting upon this bone -bed we find a stratum of 

 loose grey micaceous sandstone (No. 4 in the section) about 4 inches 

 thick, which is by far the most productive bed for fossils in the 

 series, literally abounding in bones, teeth, scales, and coprolites, with 

 spines of Hyhodus and NemacanthuSy and casts of Modiola minima, 

 PuUastra arenicola, and other well-known Ehsetic fossils. Above 

 this richly fossiliferous bed lies another narrow band of animal 

 debyis, No. 5 in the same section, about J an inch thick, which 

 may be regarded as a second bone-bed, similar to those found in 

 various other localities. The remains in this band are chiefly copro- 

 lites ; and, unlike those in the bone-bed below, they are not consoli- 

 dated in a matrix of pyrites, but lie loose and free in a sandy coat- 

 ing of a composition similar to that of the bed last described, though 

 of a slightly darker colour. This second bone-bed is succeeded by 

 another band of black shale (No. 6), 2 feet thick, containing ^i^icwZa 

 contorta and other fossils, and that again by a rather hard fine- 

 grained micaceous sandstone (No. 7), 6 inches in thickness, the mica 

 in some parts lying in large loose scales. This bed is highly 

 pyritous throughout, and contains a few teeth, scales, and coprolites, 

 with abundance of Avicida contorta on its upper surface. Above 



