﻿SUBDIVISIONS 
  OE 
  TEE 
  SPEETON 
  CLAY. 
  583 
  

  

  Fossils 
  from 
  the 
  Bituminous 
  Shales, 
  

  

  Ichthyosaurus 
  ? 
  (irnjjerfect 
  skeleton). 
  

  

  Ammonites 
  biplex 
  ?, 
  Sow. 
  

   t 
  Belemnites 
  Owenii, 
  Pratt*, 
  and 
  

  

  varieties. 
  

   tAlaria 
  trificla, 
  Phil. 
  

   tOardium 
  striatulum, 
  Sow. 
  

  

  fLucina 
  minuscula, 
  Blake. 
  

   tOstrea 
  gibbosa, 
  Lesueur. 
  

   tAvicula, 
  sp. 
  

  

  Discina 
  latissima, 
  Sow. 
  

  

  Lingula 
  ovalis, 
  Sow. 
  

   tPollicipes 
  Hausmanni, 
  Koch 
  

   Bunker. 
  

  

  E. 
  The 
  Coprolite-bed. 
  

  

  Wherever 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  these 
  bituminous 
  shales, 
  I 
  have 
  

   found 
  them 
  capped 
  by 
  a 
  thin 
  stony 
  band 
  of 
  black 
  phosphatized 
  no- 
  

   dules, 
  as 
  shown 
  in 
  fig. 
  3. 
  

  

  This 
  is 
  the 
  bed 
  which 
  was 
  formerly 
  mined 
  in 
  New 
  Closes 
  Cliff, 
  

   and 
  it 
  is 
  undoubtedly 
  the 
  " 
  Coprolite-bed 
  " 
  of 
  Judd, 
  though 
  not, 
  I 
  

   think, 
  of 
  Leckenby. 
  It 
  is 
  referred 
  to 
  by 
  Phillips 
  as 
  the 
  "pebble- 
  

   bed 
  "%. 
  The 
  average 
  thickness 
  of 
  this 
  band 
  is 
  only 
  about 
  4 
  inches, 
  

   a 
  thickness 
  which 
  it 
  preserves, 
  along 
  with 
  its 
  other 
  characteristics, 
  

   throughout 
  the 
  section 
  with 
  very 
  slight 
  variation. 
  

  

  Among 
  the 
  lumpy 
  nodular 
  material 
  of 
  which 
  it 
  is 
  composed, 
  one 
  

   notices 
  numbers 
  of 
  black 
  phosphatic 
  " 
  pebbles," 
  some 
  of 
  which 
  

   glisten 
  with 
  a 
  pyritous 
  lustre. 
  These 
  are 
  caked 
  together 
  in 
  a 
  

   matrix, 
  probably 
  partly 
  phosphatic 
  and 
  partly 
  aluminous, 
  which 
  

   yields 
  to 
  the 
  weather 
  and 
  causes 
  the 
  crumbling 
  of 
  the 
  bed. 
  Many 
  

   of 
  the 
  " 
  pebbles 
  " 
  are 
  subangular 
  ; 
  others 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  the 
  casts 
  

   of 
  shells 
  or 
  fragments 
  of 
  Ammonites 
  ; 
  while 
  some 
  show 
  a 
  vague 
  

   blurred 
  resemblance 
  to 
  the 
  bones 
  of 
  Saurians 
  ; 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  rarely 
  that 
  

   any 
  fossils 
  can 
  be 
  obtained 
  in 
  a 
  recognizable 
  condition, 
  except 
  occa- 
  

   sionally 
  Belemnites. 
  

  

  The 
  outcrop 
  of 
  this 
  bed 
  in 
  the 
  cliff 
  is 
  hidden 
  under 
  a 
  landslip, 
  but 
  

   I 
  have 
  followed 
  it 
  on 
  the 
  shore 
  off 
  nearly 
  the 
  whole 
  length 
  of 
  Blajk 
  

   and 
  Middle 
  Cliffs. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  difficult 
  to 
  say 
  whether 
  the 
  fossils 
  which, 
  occur 
  in 
  this 
  seam 
  

   are 
  indigenous 
  to 
  it 
  or 
  have 
  been 
  derived. 
  The 
  Belemnites, 
  though 
  

   much 
  eroded 
  and 
  broken 
  as 
  though 
  by 
  long 
  exposure 
  on 
  the 
  sea- 
  

   bottom 
  and 
  by 
  subsequent 
  pressure, 
  are 
  yet 
  not 
  usually 
  imperfect, 
  

   but 
  show 
  the 
  whole 
  length 
  of 
  the 
  guard, 
  and 
  can 
  scarcely, 
  I 
  think, 
  be 
  

   other 
  than 
  indigenous. 
  They 
  belong 
  either 
  to 
  Bel. 
  lateralis 
  or 
  to 
  a 
  

   closely 
  allied 
  species 
  §. 
  The 
  other 
  fossils 
  have 
  more 
  the 
  appearance 
  

   of 
  derivatives, 
  but 
  the 
  sameness 
  of 
  character 
  of 
  the 
  so-called 
  

   pebbles 
  is 
  certainty 
  remarkable. 
  A 
  list 
  of 
  these 
  fossils 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  they 
  

   are 
  determinable 
  will 
  be 
  found 
  included 
  in 
  the 
  table 
  at 
  p. 
  591, 
  but 
  

   it 
  is 
  not 
  often 
  that 
  we 
  can 
  recognize 
  more 
  than 
  the 
  genus. 
  

  

  Similar 
  black 
  phosphatized 
  stones 
  occur 
  scattered 
  throughout 
  the 
  

   lower 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  overlying 
  clays, 
  sometimes 
  sparsely, 
  sometimes 
  

  

  * 
  See 
  Appendix, 
  p. 
  610. 
  

  

  t 
  These 
  species 
  are 
  now 
  recorded 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  time. 
  I 
  am 
  indebted 
  to 
  

   Mr. 
  T. 
  Roberts 
  for 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  above 
  determinations. 
  

  

  | 
  Geol. 
  of 
  Yorkshire, 
  3rd 
  ed. 
  pt. 
  i. 
  p. 
  102. 
  

  

  § 
  Professor 
  A. 
  Pavlow 
  has 
  recently 
  stated 
  that 
  this 
  Belemnite 
  cannot 
  be 
  dis- 
  

   tinguished 
  from 
  a 
  Russian 
  "Lower 
  Volga 
  " 
  species, 
  B. 
  absoluttcs. 
  

  

  