Geological Society. 895 



his verdict against it and in favour of atomic hypotheses. His 

 aim was to construct a new theory in terms of attractions and 

 repulsions of electrons ; but, unfortunately, he was never able to 

 present this theory in a distinct form. In this memorial of a 

 short life we have ample evidence that Bitz was a man of rare 

 mental gifts. His finished papers are powerful ; his speculations 

 have the touch of genius. 



0. Proceedings of Learned Societies. 



GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 

 [Continued from p. 811.] 



January 24th, 1912.— Prof. W. W. Watts, Sc.D., LL.D., M.Sc, 

 F.R.S., President, in the Chair. 

 HPHE following communication was read : — 



' The Upper Keuper (or Arden) Sandstone Group and Associated 

 Rocks of Warwickshire.' By Charles Alfred Matley, D.Sc, F.G.S. 



Under the name of the Arden Sandstone Group the author 

 describes the stratigraphy of a sandstone zone in the Keuper Marls 

 of Warwickshire, which is exceptionally well exposed in the area 

 formerly occupied by the Forest of Arden. 



This zone varies in lithological composition and thickness. It 

 is never wholly a sandstone, but always contains beds of light-grey 

 and pale-green shale, marl, and mudstone, which in places make up 

 almost the whole of the zone. The sandstone, where present, usually 

 forms thin, flaggy, white or light-grey beds, and exhibits ripple- 

 marks, current-bedding, and surfaces with footprints and sun- 

 cracks. The zone contains Estheria minuta: plants; teeth, spines, 

 and scales of fishes ; tracks and remains of labyrinthodonts and 

 reptiles; and occasional casts of molluscan shells. The band is 

 typically 20 to 25 feet thick, increasing sometimes to 40 feet or more ; 

 but it thins, especially eastwards and south-eastwards, to 4 or 5 feet. 



The zone was first described by Murchison & Strickland in 1837, 

 but has not hitherto been completely mapped. The author 

 traces it from the type-locality at Shrewley over an area of 108 

 square miles, and finds that it forms a continuous deposit at an 

 horizon between 120 and 160 feet below the base of the Rhsetie. 

 He accepts the view of Murchison & Strickland, that it is the 

 same formation as the Upper Keuper Sandstone of Worcestershire 

 and Gloucestershire, and he also correlates with it the similar 

 deposit at Leicester described by Plant. The formation thus 

 appears to have been laid down over an area at least 70 miles in 

 length, and was probably formed, as an episode in the history of 

 the Keuper Marls, by an irruption of the sea into the Keuper-MarJ 

 area. It represents a phase corresponding to that of the Rhaetic 

 Bone-Bed and the Tea-green Marls, but of somewhat earlier date. 



The associated Keuper Marls have been examined, merely in 

 order to establish their stratigraphical relations with the Arden 

 Sandstone. So far as his observations go, the author is inclined to 



3N2 



