68 GASTEROPODA OF THE INFERIOR OOLITE. 



of the beds which have yielded Gasteropoda in the country between Cheltenham 

 and Bourton, more especially near Notgrove Station and Aston Farm. 



Notgrove, Aston. — The Gasteropoda obtained from this neighbourhood are 

 from two distinct horizons, viz. the Oolite Marl and the Trigonia-grit. The annexed 

 profile is not intended to grapple either with the stratigraphy or the actual 

 development of the Inferior Oolite as displayed in the interesting cuttings and 

 quarries between Notgrove and Bourton, but simply to show the relative positions 

 of the beds containing Gasteropoda. 



There is a very fine development of the Oolite Marl at Notgrove Station, 

 indeed I am not aware of a finer one anywhere. The lowest beds visible swarm 

 with Brachiopoda, T. fimbria, T. curvifrons, Wald. Leckeribyi, Bhynch. Lycetti, &c, 

 The lowest hard bed associated with these contains an immense Pseudomelania, 

 which at present I cannot differentiate from " Chemnitzia " simplex, M. and L. 

 Then comes another soft bed swarming with Brachiopoda, and then another hard 

 bed full of immense specimens of Natica cincta, nearly all as casts. This latter is, 

 above all others, the " Leitfossil " of the Oolite Marl, and may be traced on the 

 same horizon through the Lincolnshire Limestone into the Whitwell Oolite of 

 Yorkshire, whence came the specimen figured by Phillips. It is interesting to find 

 that both these great fossils are recorded by Mr. Walford from Combe Hill, an 

 outlier of Inferior Oolite some four and twenty miles to the east-north-east of 

 Notgrove Station, and close to the Cherwell Valley ; but there the characteristic 

 Brachiopods are scarce. 



The upward sequence from this very fine development of the Oolite Marl is 

 not precisely clear. We should naturally expect the Upper Freestones, but in the 

 cutting near Aston Farm, whence the bulk of the Gasteropoda marked " Aston" 

 are derived, a series of imperfect Freestones, associated with two beds of Gryphites, 

 immediately underlies the Ragstones. Whatever these beds represent it is clear 

 that the Gasteropoda found in this cutting and the neighbouring quarries lie at 

 the base of the Parkinsoni-zone, or, it may be, in a thin band which is a little lower, 

 since they are mostly found at the base. On the whole, however, I incline to the 

 belief that they belong to the lower part of the Parlcinsoni-zone, an horizon we 

 have found so rich in Gasteropoda throughout both the Dorset and Cotteswold 

 districts. Both in development and state of preservation they are far inferior to 

 fossils from more favoured localities. A smooth Cerithium is one of the most 

 abundant and characteristic Gasteropods. 



Resume of the Cotteswold Hills. 



Considering the great development of the Inferior Oolite in this range the 

 palgeontological results on the whole are very inferior to those of No. 1 district, 



