226 



On the Recent Discovery of Flint Implements 



can therefore throw but little light upon the state of our 

 county during that period. This page in the book of nature is a 

 blank — partly from the probable manner of its formation, but 

 much more so from the loose porous character of the deposit 

 which is unfavourable for the preservation of organic structures. 

 On the other hand, the fine soft mud of the Fisherton brick-fields, 

 embalmed, and bears most interesting record of the many strange 

 wild creatures which formerly inhabited our peaceful valleys, and 

 roamed over our chalk downs. 



That the Fisherton brick-earth was deposited in comparatively 

 tranquil water is abundantly testified by its semistratified character, 

 and also by the presence of a number of freshwater and land shells 

 as seen in the subjoined list. 1 



Fresh- water Shells. Land Shells. 



Ancylus fluviatilis. Succinea putris. 



Lymnsea truneatula. elegans. 

 „ palustris, * oblonga. 



limosa. Helix arbustorum. 



Planorbis spirobis. nemoralis. 



,, carinatus. „ pygmsea. 



Bithynia tentaculata. ,, pulchella. 



Yalvata piscinalis. „ rufescens. 



Pisidium amnieum. „ hispida. 



„ pulchellum. „ do., var. concinna 



„ do., var. (Jenyns.) ,, rotundata. 



„ pusillum. fulva. 



„ obtusale Zonites radiatulus. 



Pupa muscoram. 

 Zua subcylindrica. 

 Carychium minimum. 

 Acme lineata. 

 Limax agrestis. 

 * This is the only Shell not now found in this neighbourhood. 



Many of these shells are extremely fragile, and yet they are 

 found in a beautifully perfect condition, the very valves of the 

 delicate little Pisidia remaining unseparated, although the con- 

 necting hinge ligament had, from the great lapse of time, long 



1 The nomenclature in this list has been adopted from Reeve's " Land and 

 Freshwater Mollusks," 1863, in order that it may accord with the catalogue of 

 Wiltshire shells, by the Rev. J. E. Yize, in vol. x. of the Wiltshire Magazine. 



