﻿REV. 
  W. 
  DOWNES 
  ON 
  THE 
  BLACKDOWN 
  BEDS. 
  75 
  

  

  6. 
  The 
  Zones 
  of 
  the 
  Blackdown 
  Beds, 
  and 
  their 
  Correlation 
  with 
  

   those 
  at 
  Haldon, 
  with 
  a 
  List 
  of 
  the 
  Fossils. 
  By 
  the 
  Be 
  v. 
  AV 
  a 
  

   Downes, 
  B.A., 
  F.G.S. 
  (Bead 
  December 
  7, 
  1881.) 
  

  

  Living, 
  as 
  I 
  do, 
  almost 
  at 
  the 
  foot 
  of 
  the 
  Blackdown 
  Hills, 
  it 
  has 
  

   naturally 
  been 
  my 
  aim 
  and 
  ambition 
  to 
  add 
  something 
  to 
  our 
  know- 
  

   lenge 
  of 
  their 
  much 
  discussed 
  and 
  highly 
  fossiliferous 
  strata. 
  For 
  

   some 
  time 
  I 
  almost 
  despaired 
  of 
  achieving 
  any 
  thing. 
  The 
  absence 
  

   of 
  good 
  sections, 
  the 
  great 
  difficulty 
  (not 
  to 
  say, 
  very 
  often, 
  the 
  im- 
  

   possibility) 
  of 
  seeing 
  the 
  fossils 
  in 
  situ, 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  all 
  the 
  pits 
  

   but 
  a 
  very 
  few 
  are 
  now 
  closed, 
  and 
  the 
  confused 
  and 
  unsatisfactory 
  

   way 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  fossils 
  have 
  often 
  been 
  collected 
  in 
  past 
  times, 
  

   make 
  the 
  subject 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  a 
  very 
  tangled 
  skein 
  indeed. 
  

  

  Collectors 
  of 
  Blackdown 
  fossils 
  have 
  almost 
  without 
  exception, 
  

   and 
  perhaps 
  unavoidably 
  so, 
  bought 
  their 
  specimens 
  from 
  quarrymen. 
  

   And 
  this 
  means, 
  generally 
  speaking, 
  that 
  a 
  quarryman 
  who 
  has 
  

   " 
  happened 
  on 
  some 
  shells," 
  has 
  brought 
  them 
  home, 
  and 
  put 
  them 
  

   into 
  a 
  drawer 
  or 
  bucket 
  or 
  some 
  such 
  receptacle. 
  Another 
  find 
  from 
  

   another 
  zone 
  is 
  the 
  next 
  day 
  thrown 
  in 
  with 
  them, 
  and 
  so 
  on, 
  until 
  

   a 
  sufficient 
  quantity 
  has 
  accumulated, 
  when 
  the 
  whole 
  are 
  thrown 
  

   promiscuously 
  into 
  a 
  hamper 
  and 
  sent 
  to 
  the 
  address 
  of 
  the 
  buyer. 
  

  

  Nor 
  is 
  this 
  the 
  only 
  element 
  of 
  confusion. 
  In 
  days 
  gone 
  by 
  a 
  

   far 
  more 
  extensive 
  interpretation 
  of 
  the 
  term 
  " 
  Blackdown 
  " 
  seems 
  

   to 
  have 
  been 
  in 
  vogue 
  than 
  would 
  now 
  be 
  admitted. 
  Even 
  Dr. 
  

   Fitton 
  avowedly 
  places 
  specimens 
  from 
  " 
  Lyme 
  Begis 
  " 
  and 
  " 
  Beer 
  

   Head 
  " 
  among 
  his 
  Blackdown 
  list. 
  Any 
  thing 
  Cretaceous 
  — 
  in 
  fact, 
  

   from 
  beneath 
  the 
  chalk, 
  in 
  the 
  borders 
  of 
  Devon 
  and 
  Dorset, 
  ran 
  a 
  

   risk 
  of 
  being 
  localized 
  as 
  " 
  Blackdown." 
  And 
  that 
  I 
  am 
  not 
  exag- 
  

   gerating 
  the 
  confusion 
  thus 
  caused 
  may 
  be 
  gathered 
  from 
  the 
  fol- 
  

   lowing 
  facts 
  : 
  — 
  It 
  will 
  be 
  readily 
  admitted 
  by 
  all 
  who 
  have 
  studied 
  

   the 
  subject 
  that 
  no 
  true 
  Blackdown 
  fossil 
  is 
  calcareous 
  ; 
  and 
  yet 
  I 
  

   have 
  scarcely 
  anywhere 
  visited 
  a 
  provincial 
  museum 
  (not 
  excepting 
  

   that 
  at 
  Bristol, 
  in 
  which 
  Dr. 
  Fitton's 
  original 
  specimens 
  lie, 
  and 
  

   which 
  contains 
  what 
  is, 
  in 
  other 
  respects, 
  a 
  very 
  valuable 
  collection 
  

   of 
  Blackdown 
  fossils) 
  in 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  not 
  found 
  calcareous 
  fossils 
  

   labelled 
  " 
  Blackdown." 
  Thus 
  again 
  and 
  again 
  do 
  a 
  few 
  manifestly 
  

   misquoted 
  specimens 
  discredit 
  to 
  some 
  extent 
  the 
  localities 
  of 
  the 
  

   remainder. 
  

  

  In 
  1880 
  I 
  found 
  that 
  notes, 
  correspondence, 
  and 
  memoranda 
  had 
  

   accumulated 
  to 
  such 
  an 
  extent 
  that 
  I 
  determined 
  to 
  reduce 
  to 
  order 
  

   the 
  facts 
  and 
  information 
  which 
  I 
  had 
  collected. 
  This 
  I 
  did 
  in 
  a 
  paper 
  

   entitled 
  " 
  Blackdown," 
  published 
  in 
  the 
  Beport 
  for 
  that 
  year 
  of 
  the 
  

   Devonshire 
  Association 
  for 
  the 
  Promotion 
  of 
  Science, 
  Literature, 
  and 
  

   Art. 
  I 
  then 
  acknowledged 
  my 
  great 
  indebtedness 
  to 
  many 
  corre- 
  

   spondents 
  and 
  helpers 
  (an 
  acknowledgment 
  which 
  I 
  desire 
  here 
  

   and 
  hereby 
  to 
  repeat). 
  The 
  paper, 
  however, 
  had 
  not 
  been 
  long 
  in 
  

   print 
  before 
  I 
  began 
  to 
  discover 
  that 
  there 
  were 
  some 
  errors 
  and 
  

  

  