Yol. 62,.'] IKFERIOK OOLITE OF THE BATH-DOTJLTING DISTRICT. 397 



' Bidding ' l ; they are worthless, and generally burned for lime. 

 The clayey soil above the Anabacia-IAmestones indicates that the 

 Fullers' Earth has only been recently denuded, and was improbably 

 separated from the Anabacia-Ijimestones by any considerable thick- 

 ness of rock ; and, except that the topmost portion of the Limestones 

 is somewhat rubbly, there is no evidence of the Bubbly Beds. In 

 the disused quarry on the other side of the road (west side), Fullers'- 

 Earth clays, which yielded the fossils mentioned on p. 396, are 

 seen resting directly upon the Anabatia-Limestones, so that the 

 Bubbly Beds are absent. 



Although fossils are by no means specifically or individually 

 numerous in the Inferior Oolite of the Doulting area, a good many 

 specimens have been obtained. The most interesting discoveries 

 were those of Bictyothyris Morieri (Davidson) by John Phillis, of 

 Shepton Mallet, and of 'Ammonites Parkinsoni ' by Charles Moore. - 



Bictyothyris Morieri is a very rare fossil, and the specimen ob- 

 tained by Bhillis is a particularly-large example. It is now in the 

 Natural History Museum, South Kensington (No. B 16877). 



The ammonite found by Moore is in the Moore Collection at Bath. 

 I am indebted to the Be v. H. H. Win wood for most kindly lending 

 the specimen to me. Erom the matrix, it seems most likely that it 

 came from the Anabacia-Limestones ; but, of course, I do not deny 

 the possibility that it may have come from the ' Bag-Bed ' or ' Bag- 

 stone,' as the legend on the tablet bearing the specimen asserts it 

 did. Mr. S. S. Buckman, to whom the specimen was submitted for 

 examination, identifies it as ParJcinsonia of. Schlosnbachij Schlippe, 

 and reports {in litt., February 3rd, 1907) : — 



' It is not easy to judge this fossil, but it looks like foi'ms I have from, the 

 Clypeus-Grrit. 1 should say it indicated a later date than the ParJcinsonia of 

 the Truellii hem era.' 



North of the Cranmores the Inferior Oolite oversteps the Lias, 

 and rests directly upon the Palaeozoic rocks ; but, for an extent of 

 about half a mile between East Cranmore and Leighton, it is repre- 

 sented on the Geological- Survey map as overstepped by the Eullers' 

 Earth, which there rests upon the Carboniferous Limestone. 



(2) The Frome Area. 



The area between Leighton and Oldford, or the Frome area, as it 

 may be called for descriptive purposes, is of exceptional geological 

 interest. To convey a general idea of this area I cannot do better 

 than quote Conybeare's well-expressed observations. 2 He says that 



' an uniform and elevated plain of the Inferior Oolite spreads over its whole 

 surface, furrowed by valleys about 150 or 200 feet deep, which expose the Mountain 

 Limestone. The character of many of these valleys (particularly of that 

 between Mells and Frome and its lateral branches) is highly romantic ; the 

 streamlets that flow through them being skirted by bold and rocky banks 



1 I am indebted to Mr. S. S. Buckman, who visited the locality in 1888, for 

 these quarry men's names. 



2 W. D. Conybeare & W. Phillips, ' Outlines of the Geology of England & 

 Wales ' pt. i (1822) pp. 254-55. 



