9 8 



HA RD WICKK S SCIENCE- G OSS I P. 



analogy may appear somewhat far-fetched, yet there 

 is something in its valleys and miniature mountains, 

 in its steep and undulating mountain-paths, which 

 may afford some pretext for the application of that 

 ambitious title to it. There the wild flowers grow in 

 profusion, and blossoming shrubs cover many of its 

 banks ; there the heather is found carpeting the soft 

 soil with a hue of purple and of crimson ; there, too, 

 the earth-cracks and the miniature precipices, the 

 narrow crevasses and the treacherous mud-glaciers, as 

 we may almost call them, bear witness to many an 

 earthquake on a small scale, caused by the collapse 

 and fall of the cliffs of shifting gault-clay. 



The geological conditions of the soil have here a 

 most immediate effect upon the conformation of the 

 neighbourhood. As we approach Folkestone from 

 Dover, we find a narrow strip of ground, gradually 

 increasing in width, appearing between the chalk- 

 cliffs and the seashore. There is, in fact, at that 

 part where the Warren railway-station is situated, 

 a double line of cliffs, the taller and more majestic of 

 the two being situated behind the railway, and the 

 lower line of cliffs bounding the present seashore, 

 whilst the railway-line runs along the platform formed 

 by the latter. Platform it can scarcely, however, 

 properly be called except in this particular part ; 

 since it soon loses its table-like condition, and is 

 thrown up in every direction into miniature hill and 

 dale, whilst the stagnant ponds which lie here and 

 there in a quiescent state of undisturbed repose, 

 testify to the existence of an under-soil of different 

 consistency to that of the visible chalk. This is 

 where the gault-clay has cropped out, and where, 

 unable to bear the heavy load of chalk upon its 

 back, it has given way and borne the chalk along 

 with itself in pell-mell confusion on to the shore 

 below. 



As we pass on, and follow the curve of East Wear 

 Bay, we leave the line of chalk-cliffs, which proceed 

 hence inland and pass a mile or more in the rear of 

 Folkestone. The gault is here in full force, and has 

 slipped down nito the sea by a series of swell land- 

 slips, forming, instead of a single steep cliff, a gradual 

 approach to the sea by a series of slopes and narrow 

 platforms, where wild flowers, grasses, and bushes 

 grow in profusion on a rich soil, and bring the 

 attributes of the meadow down to the verge of the 

 sea. 



There is little doubt that were this formation its 

 one and only protection, it could not fail to be 

 rapidly denuded by the sea. But it is protected by 

 cliffs of the lower greensand formation, which makes 

 its appearance as we round the point by the Martello 

 Tower. The huge blocks of sandstone which here 

 lie in immense profusion, and which cover the fore- 

 shore beneath the cliffs of the same material, as far 

 as the harbour breakwater, afford as secure a protec- 

 tion on the south to the softer gault formation, as 

 the chalk provided on the north of the bay. The 



lower greensand strata are again observable in the 

 cliffs beneath the Lees where not covered by verdure, 

 and the various subdivisions of Folkestone, Sandgate, 

 and Hythe ; beds are observable as approach is made 

 to the last-named place, some four miles to the west 

 of Folkestone. 



In the sandstone blocks little is to be seen in the 

 shape of fossil remains, ostreida? being among the 

 most noticeable ; such fossils as there are, are usually 

 so embedded in the matrix as to render it difficult to 

 remove them in a perfect condition. The usual 

 fossils of the chalk are to be met with, although not 

 found in any very great profusion, but it is to the 

 gault that the collector turns his attention, more 

 particularly when visiting here. 



At the innermost corner of East Wear Bay, where 

 the chalk and gault are most amenable to the dis- 

 ruptive agencies of sea and air, the contained fossils 

 have been spread out upon the stretch of muddy sand 

 here laid bare at low tide. Occasionally an inocoramns, 

 a terebratula, or a rJiynconella, bearing unmistak- 

 able traces of their cretaceous origin, is found ; but 

 most of the fossils are those which have been washed 

 out of the gault, and which, in the majority of cases, 

 are found mineralised into iron pyrites. This 

 especially refers to specimens of the nautilus, area, 

 pentarinns, ammo7iita, and hamite. In some of the 

 little pools which have been left by the retiring tide, 

 and into which the last under-currents are draining 

 their burdens, the fragments of fossils can be taken 

 in great numbers, but perfect fossils are comparatively 

 rare. Many small ammonites which are found, 

 covered by iridescent nacre, and shining in the rays 

 of the sun, are but the central whorls of possibly 

 much larger ammonites. Where they are met with 

 intact, imbedded in the stiff mud, their tendency is at 

 once to break up on being removed from the matrix. 

 Their saturation by the salt water seems to have 

 loosened the connections along the lines of their 

 sutures, so that the configuration of the interior of 

 their chambers is laid open to view, and the irregular 

 lines of the sutures can be easily studied. The latter 

 are well worth examining, the distinction between 

 those of the ammonite and of the nautilus being in 

 these specimens easily recognisable. The ammonites 

 which have been preserved in mineral, do not exhibit 

 this tendency to break up to the same extent. 



Owing to the rough treatment which the specimens 

 have received from the sea, the hamites, scaphites, 

 and ancylocoras are only found in a fragmentary con- 

 dition. They, however, exhibit sufficient of the 

 curve to show their shape if perfect, although not 

 sufficiently to be distinguishable from one another. 



One of the most noticeable products of the sand 

 here is the quantity of pyrites which is strewn about, 

 in all shapes and sizes, sometimes taking the form of 

 an organism, sometimes being in the shape of a 

 circular ponderous mass, and at other times existing 

 as small aggregations of beautiful crystals. The 



