Vol. 52.] ASSOCIATED BEDS, IN N. DEVON AND W. SOMERSET. 255 



On November 26th, 1890, I read a paper before this Society 

 1 On the Rocks of North Devon,' in which I stated that during a 

 recent visit to North Devon not only had I found that the Morte 

 Slates were fossiliferous, but that I had come to the conclusion that 

 they were the oldest rocks in the area, and that they had, as the 

 result of movements in the earth's crust, been brought to the 

 surface and thrust over much newer rocks, producing a deceptive 

 appearance of overlying the latter conformably. 



As my views regarding the succession were strongly controverted 

 at the time, the paper was withdrawn, and I decided to re-examine 

 the area, and to carry my researches into other districts which I 

 had not previously had an opportunity of visiting. As this has 

 necessitated the spending of several weeks each year, since the paper 

 was read, either in North Devon or West Somerset, much additional 

 evidence bearing on the succession has been obtained ; but in this 

 that relating mainly to the position and age of the Morte Slates will 

 be referred to. 



The beds included under the term 'Morte Slates ' are for the most 

 part much folded and highly cleaved, and the fossils are in con- 

 sequence frequently much distorted and in a bad state of preservation. 

 A considerable amount of labour and time has therefore had to be 

 expended on these rocks to obtain anything like a satisfactory 

 fauna. The results on the whole, however (when it is remembered 

 that up to 1890 these beds were always referred to as unfossili- 

 ferous), must be considered as highly important, since we are now 

 able by the aid of the fossils to define the age of a very con- 

 siderable portion, if not of the whole, of these beds. That they 

 must necessarily furnish the clue by which the succession in North 

 Devon is to be unravelled will, I think, be generally admitted. 

 Therefore, if their geological horizon can be settled the main 

 difficulties which have so long surrounded the 'Devonian question ' 

 in North Devon, and which have led to so much controversy in the 

 past, will virtually disappear. 



In the geological map given in Mr. Etheridge's very important 

 paper published in this Journal in 1867, the Morte Slates are shown 

 as extending continuously from Morte Point to near Wiveliscombe, 

 in West Somerset, a distance of over 40 miles. That rocks which 

 possess characters resembling in many ways the typical Morte Slates 

 are to be found all alopg this line there can be no doubt, but it 

 will be shown that, here and there, they vary much in appearance 

 and belong to different geological horizons. The strike of the 

 beds also changes, and is seldom quite parallel with the overlying 

 strata. 



In my search for fossils in these rocks I have received invaluable 

 assistance from my friends the Rev. G. F. Whidborne, M.A., F.G.S., 

 and Mr. J. G. Hamling, F.G.S., of Barnstaple. I have also to 

 express my indebtedness for special assistance with regard to some 

 of the fossils from Mr. Sharman and Mr. Allen, of the Museum of 

 Practical Geology ; Mr. Bather, of the British Museum (Natural 



