Fossiliferous beds near Pondicherry. 



233 



a small gully, or water course, which ran along the slope of 

 the hill, was almost full of Nautili. 



Tracing the limestone still further to the West, the road 

 leads over it in the direction of the town of Verdoor, where 

 there is a traveller's bungalow. About two and a half miles 

 along this road the formation is lost sight of in a hollow, 

 partly filled up with a dark alluvial soil. Through this 

 bottom the French government have dug an extensive 

 water channel ; but I do not think that this cut any where 

 passes through the fossiliferous beds, although in some 

 places they come down almost to its brink ; nor is the lime- 

 stone any where seen on the other side of the water course. 

 Nautili have, however, been thrown out by the workmen, 

 as one or two were found among the loose earth thrown up 

 on either side. In this neighbourhood we collected several 

 Nautili, some Baculites, and portions of Ammonite ; also a 

 large number of spiral shells,* and what appeared to us to 

 be the teeth of fish. Here also, we again met with the 

 zoophyte described in the former paper, regarding which, 

 as I have seen reason in some respects to alter the opinion 

 formerly expressed, I beg to offer a few remarks. A very 

 common form taken by this zoophyte is that delineated, Mad. 

 Jour. Lit. Sc. 1840, PI. II. Fig. 7 and 8 : from the small size 

 of the lower termination it would appear that the zoophyte 

 was not provided with a stem, or at least no portions sufficiently 

 small to be joints of that stem have yet been discovered. I am 

 therefore induced to think that it is a species of Turbinolia ; 

 the internal structure seems to agree in all respects with 

 that of the Turbinolia described in PI. II. Fig. 5, which 

 is also very common near the borders of the water channel 

 already alluded to. 



* I think that we were wrong in naming any of the raultilocular 

 univalves, mentioned in the former paper, as Turrilites. I much doubt 

 whether this shell has been discovered. 



2 H 



