﻿REV. 
  W. 
  DOWNES 
  ON 
  TELE 
  BLACKDOWN 
  BEDS. 
  93 
  

  

  the 
  district 
  described 
  by 
  the 
  author, 
  and 
  had 
  come 
  to 
  the 
  conclusion 
  

   that, 
  going 
  westward, 
  littoral 
  conditions 
  were 
  found, 
  and 
  to 
  this 
  cause 
  

   he 
  attributed 
  the 
  changes 
  in 
  the 
  fossils. 
  He 
  thought 
  that 
  the 
  author's 
  

   conclusions 
  thoroughly 
  confirmed 
  Mr. 
  Godwin-Austen's 
  original 
  

   hypothesis 
  that 
  the 
  Blackdown 
  series 
  represented 
  a 
  littoral 
  condition 
  

   of 
  the 
  Gault 
  sea, 
  and 
  showed 
  that 
  the 
  Lower 
  Cretaceous 
  beds 
  were 
  

   derived 
  from 
  such 
  ciwstalline 
  rocks 
  as 
  exist 
  to 
  the 
  west 
  and 
  south. 
  

   If 
  the 
  Whetstone 
  beds 
  represent 
  the 
  Gault, 
  we 
  should 
  not 
  expect 
  to 
  

   find 
  the 
  same 
  species 
  as 
  would 
  occur 
  in 
  the 
  deeper 
  zone 
  of 
  water 
  

   represented 
  by 
  the 
  Gault 
  clay, 
  but 
  a 
  survival 
  of 
  Neocomian 
  species 
  

   mixed 
  with 
  widely 
  spread 
  forms 
  characteristic 
  of 
  later 
  deposits 
  

   which 
  are 
  also 
  sandy. 
  The 
  upper 
  beds 
  may 
  well 
  be 
  Upper 
  Green- 
  

   sand, 
  and 
  the 
  absence 
  of 
  fossils 
  is 
  not 
  conclusive 
  that 
  the 
  bottom 
  

   bed 
  is 
  not 
  Lower 
  Greensand. 
  It 
  may 
  ultimately 
  be 
  possible 
  to 
  sub- 
  

   divide 
  the 
  beds 
  still 
  further 
  by 
  the 
  evidence 
  which 
  the 
  author 
  pre- 
  

   sents. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Hinde 
  called 
  attention 
  to 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  specimens 
  

   on 
  the 
  table 
  from 
  Blackdown 
  closely 
  resembled 
  certain 
  beds 
  at 
  

   Haldon 
  in 
  being 
  chiefly 
  composed 
  of 
  sponge-spicules. 
  They 
  were 
  

   thus 
  largely 
  of 
  an 
  organic 
  character. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Meter 
  thought 
  the 
  information 
  supplied 
  by 
  the 
  author 
  

   would 
  enable 
  us 
  to 
  correlate 
  the 
  beds. 
  Beds 
  4, 
  5, 
  6, 
  as 
  containing 
  

   Inoceramus 
  sulcatus 
  (which 
  he 
  had 
  never 
  obtained 
  himself), 
  would 
  

   make 
  these 
  Middle 
  or 
  Upper 
  Gault. 
  He 
  had 
  obtained, 
  many 
  years 
  

   ago, 
  in 
  the 
  lowest 
  beds, 
  a 
  BhyncJionella 
  and 
  a 
  Plicatula 
  resembling- 
  

   Lower 
  Greensand 
  forms. 
  He 
  was 
  of 
  opinion 
  that 
  the 
  paper 
  was 
  

   very 
  valuable. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Httdleston 
  thought, 
  from 
  the 
  general 
  lie 
  of 
  the 
  country, 
  

   and 
  the 
  absence 
  of 
  palaeontological 
  evidence, 
  it 
  was 
  not 
  likely 
  the 
  

   lowest 
  beds 
  were 
  Lower 
  Greensand 
  ; 
  for 
  these 
  had 
  disappeared 
  at 
  the 
  

   Yale 
  of 
  Wardour. 
  The 
  fact 
  that 
  Inoceramus 
  sulcatus 
  occurred 
  in 
  

   the 
  lowest 
  beds 
  of 
  the 
  fossiliferous 
  series 
  at 
  Blackdown 
  indicated 
  

   that 
  these 
  beds 
  were 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  the 
  Upper 
  Gault; 
  so 
  the 
  un- 
  

   fossiliferous 
  sands 
  might 
  represent 
  Lower 
  Gault. 
  

  

  Prof. 
  Jtjdd 
  said 
  that, 
  according 
  to 
  M. 
  Barrois, 
  the 
  Folkestone 
  beds 
  

   belonged 
  rather 
  to 
  the 
  Gault 
  than 
  to 
  the 
  rTeocomian. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Gardner 
  said 
  that 
  he 
  could 
  not 
  identify 
  the 
  Blackdown 
  fossils 
  

   with 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  Gault 
  ; 
  they 
  more 
  resemble 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  Aix-la- 
  

   Chapelle 
  beds. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Tawney 
  said 
  that 
  he 
  regarded 
  the 
  Amm.-mammillaris 
  bed 
  as 
  

   G-ault, 
  but 
  the 
  rest 
  of 
  the 
  Folkestone 
  series 
  as 
  Lower 
  Greensand. 
  

   He 
  asked 
  at 
  what 
  levels 
  Ammonites 
  were 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  Blackdown 
  

   section, 
  and 
  what 
  Ammonite 
  was 
  found 
  at 
  Haldon. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Whitaker 
  asked 
  if 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  fossils 
  were 
  derived, 
  and 
  if 
  the 
  

   author 
  had 
  compared 
  the 
  beds 
  with 
  those 
  further 
  east. 
  

  

  The 
  President 
  inquired 
  if 
  the 
  nine 
  beds 
  spoken 
  of 
  in 
  the 
  Black- 
  

   down 
  area 
  were 
  wholly 
  wanting 
  at 
  Haldon. 
  At 
  Black- 
  Yen, 
  Lyme 
  

   Begis, 
  the 
  Lower 
  Greensand 
  was 
  visible 
  below 
  the 
  Lower 
  Gault, 
  

   Prof. 
  Renevier 
  had 
  endeavoured, 
  some 
  years 
  ago, 
  to 
  correlate 
  the 
  

   Blackdown 
  beds 
  with 
  the 
  Gault 
  proper 
  without 
  complete 
  success. 
  

  

  