﻿78 
  KEV. 
  W. 
  DOWNES 
  ON 
  THE 
  BLACKDOWN 
  BEDS. 
  

  

  scrip 
  tion 
  of 
  this 
  Lulworth 
  section. 
  As 
  quoted 
  above, 
  Meyer 
  tells 
  us 
  

   that 
  " 
  at 
  Lulworth 
  cove 
  it 
  [the 
  clay-bed] 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  seen 
  no 
  longer 
  as 
  

   Gault, 
  which 
  in 
  its 
  argillaceous 
  condition 
  has 
  either 
  thinned 
  out 
  or 
  " 
  

   <fec. 
  Barrois, 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  after 
  describing 
  all 
  the 
  beds 
  at 
  

   Lulworth 
  except 
  the 
  base, 
  adds 
  " 
  Sous 
  ces 
  couches 
  se 
  trouve 
  une 
  

   argile 
  noire 
  sableuse"*. 
  This 
  " 
  argile 
  noire 
  " 
  he 
  apparently 
  identifies 
  

   with 
  the 
  Gault. 
  

  

  It 
  may 
  be 
  partly 
  for 
  this 
  reason 
  that 
  Barrois 
  (1875) 
  so 
  positively 
  

   asserts 
  the 
  position 
  of 
  the 
  Blackdown 
  beds 
  as 
  " 
  the 
  lower 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  

   Upper 
  Greensand" 
  He 
  lays 
  down 
  his 
  definition 
  of 
  Upper 
  Green- 
  

   sand 
  very 
  clearly 
  as 
  being 
  the 
  sum 
  of 
  the 
  Warminster 
  and 
  Black- 
  

   down 
  beds 
  ; 
  so 
  that 
  according 
  to 
  him 
  the 
  term 
  " 
  Upper 
  Greensand 
  " 
  

  

  f2. 
  Warminster 
  beds, 
  ,< 
  T 
  > 
  it 
  n 
  j 
  > 
  j. 
  j. 
  i 
  

  

  = 
  { 
  1. 
  Blackdown 
  beds. 
  L 
  U 
  ™ 
  ei 
  Greensand 
  n 
  est 
  autre 
  ^hose 
  

  

  que 
  la 
  reunion 
  de 
  ces 
  deux 
  divisions." 
  He 
  finds 
  both 
  of 
  them 
  at 
  

   Lulworth 
  above 
  the 
  black 
  sandy 
  day 
  ; 
  and 
  he 
  identifies 
  the 
  Lower 
  of 
  

   these 
  with 
  the 
  Blackdown 
  beds 
  on 
  the 
  ground 
  that, 
  out 
  of 
  66 
  fossils 
  

   which 
  he 
  had 
  found 
  there, 
  36 
  were 
  characteristic 
  of 
  Blackdown. 
  

  

  The 
  fact, 
  however, 
  that 
  a 
  black 
  sandy 
  clay 
  or 
  loam 
  is 
  locally 
  found 
  

   beneath 
  the 
  equivalents 
  of 
  the 
  Blackdown 
  beds 
  (a 
  fact 
  attested 
  by 
  

   other 
  writers 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  some 
  other 
  localities 
  f) 
  will 
  not 
  of 
  itself 
  

   prove 
  that 
  black 
  loam 
  or 
  clay 
  is 
  gault, 
  nor 
  warrant 
  us 
  in 
  drawing 
  

   a 
  hard 
  and 
  fast 
  time 
  -line 
  at 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  such 
  a 
  bed. 
  For 
  my 
  own 
  

   part 
  I 
  was 
  hardly 
  prepared 
  to 
  see 
  Barrois' 
  stratigraphical 
  dictum 
  

   on 
  this 
  point, 
  after 
  reading 
  his 
  own 
  words 
  in 
  the 
  earlier 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  

   paper, 
  " 
  on 
  ne 
  voit 
  pas 
  de 
  relations 
  stratigraphiques 
  dans 
  les 
  Black- 
  

   down 
  hills." 
  It 
  would 
  not 
  have 
  struck 
  me 
  that 
  either 
  stratigraphical 
  

   evidence 
  or 
  the 
  proportion 
  of 
  fossils 
  identified 
  (very 
  little 
  more 
  than 
  

   half) 
  warrant 
  such 
  a 
  very 
  positive 
  inference. 
  

  

  Price 
  (1879), 
  after 
  quoting 
  the 
  opinion 
  of 
  Mr. 
  de 
  Ranee 
  to 
  the 
  

   effect 
  that 
  the 
  whetstones 
  of 
  Blackdown 
  were 
  the 
  representatives 
  of 
  

   the 
  " 
  cowstones 
  " 
  of 
  Dorset, 
  " 
  in 
  which 
  case 
  the 
  Blackdown 
  beds 
  

   might 
  be 
  the 
  equivalents 
  in 
  time 
  of 
  the 
  Upper 
  Gault," 
  adds, 
  " 
  The 
  

   Blackdown 
  beds, 
  according 
  to 
  evidence 
  furnished 
  by 
  the 
  published 
  

   list 
  of 
  fossils, 
  and 
  from 
  those 
  I 
  have 
  seen, 
  appear 
  to 
  present 
  a 
  mix- 
  

   ture 
  of 
  Upper 
  and 
  Lower 
  Gault 
  forms, 
  leading 
  to 
  a 
  supposition 
  that 
  

   these 
  series 
  of 
  beds 
  represent 
  both 
  divisions 
  of 
  the 
  Gault." 
  

  

  By 
  way 
  of 
  comment 
  upon 
  this, 
  I 
  would 
  only 
  add 
  that 
  if, 
  as 
  I 
  ima- 
  

   gine, 
  Mr. 
  Price 
  includes 
  among 
  " 
  the 
  published 
  list 
  of 
  fossils 
  " 
  all 
  

   that 
  have 
  been 
  referred 
  in 
  local 
  museums 
  to 
  Blackdown, 
  he 
  may, 
  

   and 
  I 
  think 
  has, 
  included 
  some 
  $ 
  whose 
  claim 
  to 
  a 
  place 
  on 
  the 
  list 
  

   is 
  more 
  than 
  doubtful. 
  

  

  To 
  review 
  the 
  whole, 
  it 
  is 
  clear 
  that 
  the 
  present 
  balance 
  of 
  opinion 
  

   tends 
  to 
  the 
  view 
  that 
  the 
  Gault, 
  or 
  most 
  of 
  it, 
  is 
  represented 
  in 
  the 
  

   Blackdown 
  beds, 
  while 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  necessary 
  reason 
  for 
  limiting 
  

   their 
  age 
  upward 
  or 
  downward 
  to 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Gault 
  alone. 
  

  

  * 
  Page 
  7. 
  

  

  f 
  Mr. 
  Horace 
  Woodward, 
  'Geology 
  of 
  England 
  and 
  Wales,' 
  p. 
  237. 
  

  

  X 
  E. 
  g. 
  Amm. 
  falcatus. 
  

  

  