Yol.  49.] 
INCISOR  FROM  THE  WEALDEN  OF  HASTINGS. 
283 
Discussion. 
The  President  said  that  it  was  natural  to  expect  the  occurrence 
of  mammalian  remains  in  the  Wealden,  seeing  that  they  were  known 
to  occur  in  the  underlying  Purbeck. 
Sir  John  Evans  gave  some  details  as  to  the  discovery  of  the  spe¬ 
cimen  and  its  subsequent  history.  He  found  it  at  Hastings,  in  a 
block  of  Tilgate  Grit  which  formed  part  of  a  heap  by  the  side  of  the 
sea-shore,  and  almost  immediately  afterwards  gave  it  to  Prof.  Prest- 
wich,  in  whose  collection  it  was  mislaid  for  a  period  of  over  thirty 
years.  On  again  coming  across  it,  Prof.  Prestwich  placed  it  at  the 
disposal  of  the  speaker,  who  now  presented  it  to  the  National  collection. 
The  finder  had  all  along  regarded  the  tooth  as  an  incisor,  not 
improbably  of  a  Rodent,  and  was  glad  to  find  his  attribution  now 
confirmed. 
Hr.  C.  Dawson  remarked  that  it  was  unfortunate  that  the  spe¬ 
cimen  had  been  taken  from  a  loose  block,  because  at  Hastings 
stones  foreign  to  the  district  and  miscellaneous  drifted  stones 
from  the  shore  were  frequently  broken  up  for  road-metal.  Erom 
the  limited  view  permitted  him  of  the  specimen  that  evening  he 
was  unable  to  identify  the  matrix  as  from  the  Hastings  district ; 
and  he  did  not  recognize  the  fragmentary  specimen  before  them  as 
portion  of  a  mammalian  tooth.  Seven  years’  careful  study  of  the 
Bone-beds  at  Hastings  had  yielded  him  only  one  minute  mammalian 
tooth  ( Flagiaulax ),  and  it  was  fortunate  indeed  if  after  forty 
years  a  fragment  in  the  possession  of  Sir  John  Evans  should  prove 
to  contain  one.  The  speaker  thought  that  if  the  Author  and  those 
gentlemen  who  supported  his  theory  were  to  study  the  bone-breccias 
of  the  Hastings  Beds,  a  long  list  of  mammals  might  be  forth¬ 
coming. 
Hr.  Oldfield  Thomas  expressed  his  entire  concurrence  with  the 
Author’s  reference  of  this  Wealden  tooth  to  a  mammal,  and  com¬ 
mented  on  its  close  resemblance  to  a  Rodent  incisor.  He  considered 
that,  in  view  of  its  great  antiquity,  the  Author’s  reference  of  it  to 
Bolodon  was  probably  the  best  determination  that  could  be  made  at 
present. 
Dr.  Eorsyth  Hajor  and  Dr.  Henry  Woodward  also  spoke,  and 
the  Author  replied. 
