﻿COKRELATION 
  OE 
  THE 
  BOTJENEMOTTTH 
  BEDS. 
  6 
  

  

  fifteen 
  years 
  after 
  Edward 
  Forbes 
  *, 
  in 
  his 
  Anniversary 
  Address 
  to 
  

   this 
  Society, 
  had 
  called 
  attention 
  to 
  the 
  necessity 
  of 
  doing 
  something 
  

   with 
  these 
  floras, 
  and 
  suggested 
  that 
  the 
  Palasontographical 
  Society 
  

   should 
  direct 
  their 
  attention 
  to 
  them. 
  In 
  1870 
  Mr. 
  Mansel-Pleydell, 
  

   in 
  the 
  i 
  Plora 
  of 
  Dorset,' 
  alludes 
  to 
  the 
  plant-remains 
  from 
  Bourne- 
  

   mouth. 
  , 
  

  

  From 
  that 
  time 
  nothing 
  has 
  been 
  written 
  upon 
  the 
  subject, 
  except 
  

   my 
  own 
  observations, 
  referred 
  to 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  twenty 
  pages 
  of 
  the 
  

   Palaeontographical 
  Society's 
  Memoir 
  on 
  the 
  Eocene 
  flora. 
  

  

  The 
  cliffs 
  which 
  comprise 
  the 
  Bournemouth 
  freshwater 
  series 
  ex- 
  

   tend 
  from 
  Poole 
  harbour 
  to 
  beyond 
  Bournemouth, 
  and 
  present 
  

   escarpments 
  averaging 
  nearly 
  100 
  feet 
  in 
  height, 
  cut 
  up 
  by 
  many 
  

   chines. 
  They 
  are 
  composed 
  of 
  yellow, 
  white, 
  and 
  brownish 
  sands 
  

   and 
  clays 
  possessing 
  hardly 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  bright-red 
  colouring 
  so 
  con- 
  

   spicuous 
  at 
  Alum 
  and 
  Studland 
  Bays 
  ; 
  yet 
  in 
  the 
  sunlight 
  and 
  after 
  

   heavy 
  rains 
  their 
  ever 
  varying 
  shades 
  of 
  buff 
  and 
  yellow, 
  orange 
  and 
  

   black, 
  with 
  their 
  crown 
  of 
  dark 
  pine 
  woods, 
  present 
  effects 
  not 
  seen 
  

   on 
  any 
  other 
  British 
  coast. 
  Looked 
  at 
  in 
  the 
  summer, 
  when 
  baked 
  

   by 
  the 
  sun 
  and 
  incrusted 
  with 
  blown 
  sand, 
  they 
  appear 
  monotonous, 
  

   and 
  for 
  years 
  were 
  supposed 
  to 
  be 
  unfossiliferous 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  

   plane, 
  much 
  of 
  them 
  being 
  jealously 
  guarded 
  private 
  property. 
  

  

  The 
  freshwater 
  Middle 
  Bagshot 
  series 
  is 
  represented 
  at 
  Alum 
  Bay 
  

   by 
  the 
  unfossiliferous 
  beds 
  19 
  to 
  24 
  of 
  Prof. 
  Prestwich's 
  section 
  t, 
  

   240 
  feet 
  thick. 
  It 
  has 
  not 
  been 
  separated, 
  if 
  really 
  present, 
  from 
  the 
  

   Lower 
  Bagshot 
  beds 
  in 
  the 
  London 
  basin. 
  Besides 
  the 
  cliff 
  ex- 
  

   posure 
  at 
  Bournemouth, 
  sections 
  are 
  visible 
  inland 
  in 
  many 
  neigh- 
  

   bouring 
  pits 
  and 
  railway-cuttings 
  ; 
  in 
  all 
  probability 
  also 
  the 
  exten- 
  

   sive 
  deposits 
  of 
  Bovey 
  Tracey 
  are 
  of 
  approximately 
  the 
  same 
  age. 
  

   These 
  beds 
  cannot 
  be 
  correlated, 
  except 
  palseontologically, 
  with 
  the 
  

   continental 
  Eocenes, 
  the 
  only 
  beds 
  with 
  similar 
  matrix 
  containing 
  

   leaves 
  being, 
  I 
  believe, 
  found 
  at 
  Aix-la-Chapelle. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  placed 
  the 
  Bournemouth 
  series 
  in 
  the 
  Middle 
  Bagshots, 
  

   drawing 
  the 
  line 
  between 
  these 
  and 
  the 
  Lower 
  Bagshots 
  at 
  the 
  pipe- 
  

   clays 
  of 
  Corfe, 
  Studland, 
  and 
  Alum 
  Bay, 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  

   dissimilarity 
  of 
  the 
  floras 
  contained 
  in 
  them. 
  The 
  Bournemouth 
  

   flora 
  is 
  distinct 
  from 
  the 
  older 
  floras, 
  and 
  passes 
  upward 
  into 
  the 
  Oli- 
  

   gocene 
  flora 
  without 
  any 
  perceptible 
  break, 
  but 
  does 
  not 
  pass 
  down- 
  

   ward 
  into 
  the 
  Alum-Bay 
  series. 
  The 
  two 
  series 
  are, 
  in 
  addition 
  to 
  

   this, 
  lithologically 
  distinct 
  — 
  the 
  older 
  being 
  characterized 
  by 
  thicker 
  

   and 
  purer 
  clay 
  deposits 
  and 
  coarser 
  and 
  often 
  deeply 
  stained 
  sands, 
  

   the 
  newer 
  by 
  black 
  or 
  sandy 
  clay 
  beds 
  of 
  small 
  extent 
  and 
  fine 
  

   yellow 
  sands. 
  Pipe-clays 
  are 
  everywhere 
  dug 
  from 
  the 
  one, 
  and 
  

   brick-earths 
  mainly 
  from 
  the 
  other. 
  No 
  flints 
  or 
  stones 
  are 
  ever 
  

   found 
  in 
  these 
  deposits 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  coarser 
  material 
  is 
  quartz 
  grit. 
  

  

  Description 
  of 
  the 
  

  

  In 
  describing 
  the 
  beds 
  of 
  this 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  Bournemouth 
  section, 
  I 
  

  

  find 
  it 
  most 
  convenient 
  to 
  take 
  what 
  are 
  presumably 
  the 
  oldest 
  first. 
  

  

  * 
  Quart. 
  Joura. 
  Geol. 
  £oc. 
  vol. 
  x. 
  p. 
  56. 
  

   t 
  Ibid. 
  vol. 
  xxxv. 
  p. 
  226, 
  fig. 
  6. 
  

  

  b2 
  

  

  