24 REV. W. DOWNES ON THE CEETACEOFS BEDS 



lb is with reference to the above questions that the following 

 observations are especially made. The fossils found in the Gault by 

 the writer were 33 in number, and in the following proportions : — 



Lima parallela 10 



Inoceramus concentricus 6 



Thracia ?, sp 1 



Modiola?, sp 1 



Pinna tetragona 3 



Venus ?, sp 2 



CucuUsea carinata ? . . . = 3 



Panopaea? 1 



Turritella granulata ? 4 



Hemiaster ?, sp. (crushed specimens) 2 



33 



The chief point to be observed with regard to this list is the great 

 preponderance of Lima parallela, a form unknown in the Blackdown 

 beds. Inoceramus concentricus, which comes next in point of 

 numbers, is useless for marking an horizon, as it occurs everywhere 

 in Cretaceous beds. JS'egatively the absence of Belemnites and of 

 Inoceramus sulcatus is noticeable in comparing this bed with that at 

 Folkestone. Of Ammonites, I believe that A. splendens is the only 

 form hitherto found. 



This black bed passes upwards into yellow sand of the ordinary 

 Greensand type. K'o fossils from the latter have, so far as I am 

 aware, been yet recorded. I searched long without finding any. 

 After a while, however, a careful examination of the roadside section 

 revealed the fact that organic remains had been abundant there, 

 though the traces of them had in the large majority of cases been 

 obliterated. In some cases a spiral univalve, e. g., would be trace- 

 able only by a spiral line of discoloration, which fell to pieces on 

 being touched with the penknife. Elsewhere, by very carefully 

 removing the sand, many casts of bivalves were found. The sand 

 was, however, not cemented in any way. It was simply balled 

 together like a snowball, and fell to pieces with any but the most 

 tender handling. Of course very few of such casts coidd be identified. 

 Indeed, the only form of which I felt really sure was Cyprina cuneata, 

 which seemed to be abundant. The search was, however, fascinating, 

 and it led me at last to the discovery of a nest of fragmentary fossils 

 silicified, and altogether resembling very poor Blackdown specimens. 

 The nest was a roughly spherical patch in the sand, about 1 ft. in 

 diameter, the matrix being rather darker and more ferruginous than 

 the rest. Its origin appeared to be a chemical superinduced change 

 around a nucleus of some kind. In this little spot I found evidence, 

 mostly fragmentary, of the following forms : — 



