— 4 — 



sils did not seem very promising. A search among 

 the debris yielded only two or three specimens oi 

 Terebratula carnea, a few more or less perfect ex- 

 amples of Ananchytes ovatus, and the very common 

 Belemnitella mucronata which could be seen every- 

 where in the face of the section. I began to think 

 that nothing more than these common everyday fos- 

 sils of the chalk would be the result of my search, 

 and was about quitting the quarry when I thought 

 it worth while to observe more particularly the 

 large variously shaped nodules of flint which had 

 been left, strewn over the floor of the pit, after the 

 removal of the soft chalk in which the}' had been im- 

 bedded. One of the larger of these flints, about 

 a foot in diameter, had been splintered, apparentl)' 

 by the sharp frosts of the preceding winter, and pre- 

 sented, instead of a solid mass of stone as is usual 

 with the majority of the nodules, a central cavit)-, 

 which contained a quantity of material resembling fine 

 flour in appearance and feel, and of a creamy-white 

 tint. An examination with a hand-lens showed that 

 this floury material abounded with minute fossils, more 

 particularly sponge spicules. Feeling at once certain 

 that I had fallen in with a rich prize, I spread out a 

 newspaper which I had brought to wrap up my fossils, 

 and carefully emptied into it the contents of the cavity, 

 which may have weighed when moist about a couple 

 of pounds. The cavity appeared to have been com- 

 pletely inclosed by the flint, which had thus hermeti- 

 cally sealed up in its interior and preserved unharmed 

 from mechanical injury, a small portion of the mud of 

 the Cretaceous ocean. In fact, this material pro- 

 mised to afford as good evidence of the kind and 



