Vol. 50.] ON THE PURBECK BEDS OF THE VALE OF WARDOUB. ■'■> 



IV. The Middle Purbeck Group. 



One of the best sections in the lower part of the Middle Purbeck 

 group is that to be seen in the quarry west of Teffont Evias church, 

 and in 1890 we had an excavation made below the floor of the 

 quarry for a depth of about 7 feet, in order to prove the nature of 

 the underlying strata. The complete succession then seen was as 

 follows, the names given to the beds by the workmen being printed 

 in small capitals : — 



Feet. Inches, 

 ( Soil. 



Rubble of white limestone 1 



Marly shale, with a layer of ' beef and lenticular seams of 



chert, crowded with silicified shells of Cyclas 1 



Bough, greyish, sandy limestone (Cinder-bed), with Osfrea 

 distorta, Trigonia gibbosa, and a spine of Cidaris pur- 

 beckensis 1 6 



Yellowish, calcareous, sandy shale 9 



Hard, grey, shelly limestone in three courses, with shaly 

 partings ; Chelonian bones, Hybochis- spines, Estkeria 

 subquadrata, Cypridea punctata, Cyprione Bristovii, 



Cyprione sp., aud Mctacypris sp 2 9 



Dry, buff-coloured, sandy and calcareous shales (Scale) 



\ full of small Modiolce ; Pycnodont teeth 1 6 



I Buff-coloured, marly clay 8 



Hard, compact, grey marlstone (White Lias), jointed 



vertically, no fossils found 2 



Dark grey or black shale, with Mesodon mucropterus, 



Esther ia Andrewsii, Cypridea, fasciculata, and C. punctata 2 



Hard, grey, shelly limestone, showing ripple-marks and 

 sun-cracks, splitting into slabs which are used as flag- 

 stones ; Cypridea fasciculata, Cyclas, fish-vertebras and 



scales (Tilestone or Flagstone) 1 6 



Yellowish laminated shale, with layers of crushed shells ... 7 



Brown and black, shaly clay, contains Cypris purbeckensis 

 plentifully, C. fasciculata (less common), Estheria An- 



I drewsii'?, Cyclas, and scales of Lepidotus 1 



[ Very hard, compact, grey marlstone (Lias No. 2); fish- 

 remains : Leptolepis, Coccolepis, and Pleuropholis, with 



Archcsoniscus and wing-cases of Coleoptera 3 6 



Brown clay > G 



Soft, yellowish, marly sand 1 6 



Hard grey marlstone, very heavy (Lias No. 3), with Cypris 

 purbeckensis. Pleuropholis, insect-remains (Coleoptera 



aad Libcllula), and plants (PaUeocyparis) 3 (> 



Brown clay (generally the floor of the quarry) 4 



j Yellowish sandy marl, with oolitic grains and a thin layer 

 of compact marlstone near the top, contains Cyprids 



(? purbeckensis) and Crocodile-scales 2 6 



Grey marly limestone 



Soft yellowish marl 8 



Grey marlstone (or Lias), with vertical jointing 1 3 



Soft sandy marl ti 



Hard grey and brown marlstone, compact and heavy, with 

 [ ochreous patches and markings seen for 2 



In accordance with the classification of the Purbeck series by means 

 of the various species of Cyprids, as proposed by Edward Forbes and 

 confirmed by Prof. T. Ilupert Jones, we have taken the line of division 



