PEOCEEDI^fGS OE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETIES. 



37 



It ought, in conclusion, to be observed, that the remains are de- 

 posited in a certain wing or chamber of the cave, about two feet above 

 the floor where the water runs, so that they would lie dry, with the 

 exception of the calcareous droppings from the roof, or in the case of 

 the cavern water being swollen above the capacity of the lower 

 channel to contain it. 



Although a considerable portion of the cave has been destroyed by 

 the quarrying operations, which are still going on, there remains 

 yet a much larger extent undisturbed, so that more remains will most 

 likely be discovered. 



West Croft, Stanhope, hi/ Darlington. 

 Dec. nth, 1861. 



[These bones, with specimens of the stalagmite, etc., have been transmitted to us and 

 will receive careful study and consideration. AYe shall shortly give a concise and ac- 

 curate account of them. — Ed. Geol., 22 Dec. 1S61.J 



PEOCEEDINGS OE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETIES. 



Geological Society of London. — December 4. — Sir R. I. Murchison, 

 V.P.G.S., in the chair. The following communication was read : — " On 

 the Bracklesham Beds of the Isle of Wight Basin." By the Eev. O. 

 Fisher, M.A., F.G.S. After noticing the researches of Prestwich and 

 Dixon, the author proceeded to state that most of the " Bracklesham 

 beds " are displayed at low water at Bracklesham Bay ; but other and 

 higher beds belonging to the same series are to be observed in the New 

 Eorest, at Stubbington, and in the Isle of Wight. By means of the 

 fossils, for the most part, Mr. Fisher divides the series into four groups : — 

 1. The uppermost abounds in Gasteropoda, and has several fossil-beds. 

 One of these, in the eastern part of its range, is full of Nummulina 

 variolaria (No. 16 of Mr. Prestwich's Section of Whitecliff Bay, Quart. 

 Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. ii. pi. 9) ; the N. variolaria bed of Selsea and 

 of Stubbington ; and the Shepherd's Gutter bed at Bramshaw, New 

 Forest. The beds above the last-named are — 1st, a portion of No. 19 

 of the Whitecliff* Bay section and the coral-bed of Stokes Bay and 

 Hunting Bridge (New Forest) ; and 2nd, the shell-bed at Hunting 

 Bridge, and pebble-bed, with shell-casts, at Highcliff. The lowest bed of 

 this group is the "Cyprsea-bed" of Selsea, the "Cardita-bed" of Stubbington, 

 and the Brook bed in the New Forest. 2, This group is more sandy 

 than the last ; it has two fossil-beds, one of which contains Cerithium 

 giganteum (at Hillhead, Stubbington ; and half a mile west of Thorney 

 station, Bracklesham Bay). 3. This is a sandy group, and is remarkable 

 for the profusion of Nummulina Icsvigata in its principal fossil-bearing 

 beds. 4. This embraces the lowest fossiliferous sands of Bracklesham 

 Bay. Its distinctive shells are Cardita acuticosta and Cyprcea tuberculosa. 



Some species of mollusks pass upwards from the Bracklesham into the 

 Barton series ; yet the Fauna of the Bracklesham beds has a sufficiently 

 distinct facies ; and the following species range through this series, 

 and are confined to it — Cardita planicosta, Sanguinolaria JBLolloivaysii, 

 Solen obliquus, CytJierea suherycinoides, Voluta Cithara, and Turritella 

 sidcifera. Pecten corneus is also characteristic, but is met with higher up. 



