§ 32. FOSSIL ZOOPHYTES OF FARINGITON. 63? 



The gravel pits, as they are called, in the neighbourhood of 

 Faringdon, in Berkshire, are extremely prolific in fossils of 

 this kind. These beds consist of a coarse friable conglome- 

 rate, formed of sand, shells, corals, echinoderms, and the 

 debris of other marine animals, impregnated with iron ; 

 some layers of concretionary indurated masses occur, origin- 

 ating from infiltration of carbonate of lime. 



They contain myriads of perfect shells and poriferas ; 

 casts of nautili and ammonites ; waterworn oolitic belemnites, 



Lign. 140. — Fossil zoopiote from Faringdon. 

 (Chenendopora fungiformis.) 



and shells ; teeth of fishes, &c. In a few visits to these 

 quarries I collected numerous specimens of nautili, belem- 

 nites, ammonites, ostrese, terebratulse, and echinites and their 

 spines ; milleporae, tubiporse, and several minute corallines, 

 with many varieties of the Spongiadee (see Lign. 139), and 

 some zoophytes whose affinities have not yet been deter- 

 mined. The VerticUUpora anastomosans {Lign. 139, Jig. 

 3) is a very elegant coral, often met with in this locality. 



One of the most abundant and perfect of the Poriferre, 

 is a cyathiform zoophyte {Lign. 140), called by the 

 quarrymen " Petrified salt-cellar ; " it is of a porous 



