60 



THE GEOLOaiST. 



fry of the Mollusca, are becoming more and more valuable as leading 

 characteristics of strata, as our knowledge of these microzoa in the 

 fossil and recent states advances. 



Such researches as these, made on any series .of deposits, whether 

 British or foreign, must be of use, either for the improvement and 

 correction of observations already made and published, or for the 

 groundwork of future descriptions of strata and their fossils. 



Schafhautl, Sorby, Ehrenberg, Eeade, Bryson, and others, have 

 worked at this subject in their own several ways, and it is to be 

 hoped that not only will these older labourers continue to work in 

 *' Microgeology " or " Clinology," as the study is termed, but that 

 others, with equal patience and acumen, will come forward to labour 

 in this wide and promising, but as yet little cultivated field of re- 

 search. 



The Mesults of the 'Examination of Five Specimens of Sands and Clays 

 from the " BracMesliam Beds " of the Isle of Wight Basin. 

 JSTo. 1. Light-blue sandy clay ; * very friable ; full of crushed 

 shells. 



Quantity examined, 480 grains. 



Grs. Grs. Proportions. 

 Calcareous Shells, fragments of shells, 'i r-oa no 



and other fossils t ...] 



Arenaceous Sand J 138 1104 29 



Ai'gillaceous Clay§ 250 2000 52 



4S0 3840 100 

 !N"d. 2. Very light-blue, friable, sandy clay. 

 Quantity examined, 480 grains. 



Grs. Grs. Proportions, 



Calcareous Shells, etc., and fragments 23 184 5* 



Arenaceous Sand 185 1480 38'5 



ArgiUaceous Clay 272 2176 56 5 



480 8840 100-0 

 T^o. 3. Dark-green clayey sand ; very friable. 

 Quantity examined, 3840 grains. 



Grs. Proportions. 



Calcareous Shells etc., and fragments 497 13 



Arenaceous J lobbies -201 66- 



{I 



Sand 2530 / 



0 



Argillaceous Clay 793 23 5 



3840 100 0 



* The clays and sands in tliis paper arc described as they appear when dry. 



+ The specimens Xd. 3, 4, and 5 being given in lots of 3840 grains, Nos. 1 and 2 

 (which were examined in lots of 480 grains) are given also as 3840 graius for the sake 

 of comparison. "With regard also to Nos. 1 and 2, their lists of fossils must be regarded 

 as less perfect in relation to the other specimens, on account of the small quantity of the 

 deposit examined. 



X For the list of fossils, sec the table further on. 



§ The sands of all the lots are chiefly composed of green grains (silicate of iron ?) and 

 quartz sand. Turthcr details respecting the relative size, angularity, etc., of the sand- 

 grains in the several specimens ought to have been given. 



