538 PROCEEDINGS OP THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



first time in this coiiiitrj there will have been recognized the inter- 

 esting fauna of Pontaine-etoupe-Four, and to some extent that of 

 the Hierlatz beds. Exception has been taken to an '^ Infr alias " 

 division ; and its inapphcability to the larger and more complete 

 development of those beds in this country has been pointed out. 



Lastly, in connexion with his investigations, the author will have 

 indicated a most varied and interesting fauna, including the Corals 

 described by Dr. Duncan, and the beautiful Gasteropoda of Erocastle, 

 the new Brachiopoda of "Whatley, and the numerous microscopic 

 Foraminifera with which the Liassic beds were at times crowded. 



The list which will be given, with perhaps the exception of some 

 from Holwell, Whatley, and Munger, is entirely confined to species 

 from the Lower Lias. It does not profess to be complete, but con- 

 tains only such as have been referred to in this paper ; and yet these 

 amount to not less than 429 species, and are in great part new to 

 the fauna of this country. 



The fauna of the Middle and Upper Lias have been shown by the 

 author, in the ' Proceedings of the Somersetshire Archseological and 

 Natural History Society' for 1865-66, to number 580 species; so 

 that the whole Liassic series yields about 1000 species. 



yill. Descriptiois'S op the Species. 



1. Chara liassica, spec. nov. 



A single seed-vessel of this freshwater plant is associated with the 

 Liassic remains from the Charterhouse mine. It is not in the best 

 condition, from having been slightly abraded ; but by a close exami- 

 nation with the lens the spiral striations on its surface can be 

 detected. When connected with the terrestrial and fluviatile re- 

 mains to be hereafter noticed, its presence affords additional evi- 

 dence of a Mendip land-area, and of a connexion subsisting between 

 its streams and the Carboniferous limestone fissures before the depo- 

 sition of the minerals therein. No remains of Chara having been 

 found below Purbeck strata, this will be the oldest known example, 



2, Grantia antiqtja, spec. nov. PI. XYI. figs. 33^ 34. 



Spicules triradiate, calcareous, of different lengths, springing at 

 varying angles from a central calcareous base. 



In some instances I have obtained the triradiate spicules entire, 

 and free from the matrix. The presence of these Amorphozoa may 

 be detected in almost every block in the Liassic conglomerate of 

 Brocastle, though they are to be recognized generally in straight, 

 detached, or single spicules. They are in such numbers as to show 

 that they have added materially to the composition of the Liassic 

 rocks in some of the South Wales sections. They may be detected 

 abundantly not only at Brocastle, but on the weathered surfaces of 

 the Liassic rocks at Cowbridge, Southerndown, and Shepton Mallet. 



The genus is in existence as a British marine form, and has been 

 found fossil in the Bed Crag of Walton. Dr. Johnston, in his ' History 

 of British Sponges,' remarks that the species of Grantia are properly 



