538 MR. T. C. CANTRILL ON SPIRORBIS-LIMESTONE, ETC., [Aug. 1895, 



red sandstones and cornstones. The blocks of limestone here are 

 very large and well preserved. One piece measured 3x2x1 feet. 

 The limestone seems to disappear beyond Potter's Load Ferry, being 

 probably cut off by faults. Crossing the Severn, the next exposure 

 to be noticed is in 



Stanley Railway -cutting. — At about 5 mile south of Highley 

 Station, and close to Stanley, the railway passes through a deep cutting 

 in these red rocks. The sides of the cutting are very steep and are 

 devoid of vegetation, the sandstones and marls continually crumbling. 

 Along the top of this cutting, on both sides, occurs the limestone- 

 band in place. Unfortunately, one cannot here directly estimate 

 the height above the base of the red rocks at which the band occurs, 

 as the ' Permian ' is here cut off from the Coal Measures by faults. 



The general dip of the beds in the cutting is E. at about 8°, but 

 the surface of the ground falling at practically the same rate in the 

 same direction, no higher beds are to be seen at one end than at the 

 other. The following is a generalized section of the beds exposed : — 



Section of Stanley Cutting. 



feet, inches. 



10. Turf and soil 1 



9. Marl; red, friable 1 



8. Spirorbis-limestone 2 



7. Clay; mottled red and blue 1 



6. Sandstone; micaceous, flaggy, pink 1 6 



5. Marls; bright red 2 



4. Sandstone; red, flaggy 40 



3. Sandstone; coarse, purplish red, thick-bedded 9 



2. Sandstone; coarse, gritty and pebbly, brownish-red. 11 



1. Cornstone exposed for 6 



69 



Bed No. 9 is a red friable marl or hard clay, with occasional green 

 layers. It contains small fragments of limestone and is calcareous, 

 and probably consists to a considerable extent of the argillaceous 

 and arenaceous constituents of the original limestone, the calcium 

 carbonate having been largely removed by solution. 



No. 8, the Spirorbis-limestone band, consists of a bed of large 

 and small irregularly-shaped masses of limestone, closely packed 

 together, the joints being filled with a mottled red and blue clay. 

 One lump, measured as it lay in situ, was 27 inches long and 

 10 inches thick ; but when loosened, it broke down into a number of 

 smaller pieces. These contained the Spirorbis pusillus. Several other 

 large fragments had rolled down on to the railway ; one of these 

 measured 15 x 14 x 9 inches, another 18 X 12 x 8 inches. Some of 

 the masses present the most fantastic appearances, suggestive of the 

 forms of certain large fungi. The surfaces, when washed, exhibit 

 numerous projecting veins and crystals of calcite. 



No. 6 is a fine-grained pinkish-red sandstone, with green decoloura- 

 tion-spots. No. 4 consists of beds of red sandstone, becoming more 



