Vol. 59.] SOUTH DEVON AND THE MIDLANDS. 325 



my Staffordshire specimens. Might have been collected in the North-West of 

 Scotland. 



'No. 5. Repton. 



'Hand- specimen. — The "liver-coloured" quartzite of the pebble-bed. 



'Microscopic characters. — Grains rather more rounded than in my 

 specimen, and the colouring is more on the outside (in fact, nearer to the May 

 specimen). Inclusions : zircon, rutile.. and possibly tourmaline. 



'No. 6. Eeading (Drift). 



' Hand -specimen.— Just like a "liver-coloured " quartzite. 



'Microscopic characters. — Finer-grained than my Midland specimens, 

 and in that respect more like No. 3 from Salterton (p. 322), but it encloses a 

 few larger grains. Colouring about the same as No. 5. Inclusions : zircon 

 (not rare), tourmaline, and rutile or possibly staurolite. 



'No. 7. Eeading (Drift). 



'Hand -specimen. — May be the liver-coloured variety, but has not quite 

 the " shimmer " of the most typical. 



'Microscopic characters. — Irregular in size of grain. Very "dirty." 

 I think that there is zircon, also rutile, and a brown mineral which I imagine 

 can hardly be the latter ; it may be staurolite, but I am not sure. 



5 No. 8. Eeading (Drift). 



' Hand-specimen. — Apparently a liver-coloured quartzite. 



'Microscopic characters. — This is perhaps a little more stained and 

 slightly more irregular in size of grain than the other liver-coloured specimen, 

 and so holds out a hand to the last-named. Still, there is a difference not 

 easily expressed in words.' 



Prof. Bonney's remarks are of great value, for while they show 

 that pebbles, extremely similar in appearance and coming from the 

 same deposit, present slight internal differences, they bring out only 

 the more clearly the strong family likeness subsisting between 

 certain specimens in the northern and southern Bunter, and some of 

 the undisturbed rocks of Normandy. 



Into this family group must also be received the Torridon Sand- 

 stone of the North- West of Scotland. This fact may be freely 

 admitted, and will justify such inferences as may be fairly drawn 

 from it ; but, in pursuing an investigation, the evidence must be 

 taken as a whole. 



Y. The Paljeontological Evidence. 



W'hen it is remembered how considerable a fauna has been 

 obtained from such unpromising material as the Budleigh-Salterton 

 pebbles, it is a matter for some surprise that fewer fossils have 

 been obtained from the much larger mass of the northern Bunter 

 pebbles, which appear to be composed of similar types of rock- 

 material. The difference may be due to the fact that the one has been 

 more systematically explored than the other. I was myself unable, 

 in a fortnight's search, to find more than one or two fossiliferous 

 pebbles at Budleigh Salterton ; but it is probable that these are not 

 unknown to the men who break up the pebbles for road-material. 



It cannot be said that the Bunter pebbles are unfossiliferous. 



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