BRODIE — GEOLOGY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE. 



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it is particularly rich in remains of this class, among which tlie geaera 

 Dapediura and Tetragonolepis — fishes of the Ganoid order, having 

 bright enamelled scales, and resembling the turbot in shape — are the 

 most prevalent. Fragments of plants, too, are more numerous than in 

 any other division of the Lias in Gloucestershire, among which may be 

 enumerated the following genera : OtojHeris oUusa, and 0. acuminata, 

 Equisetiim Brodiei, Cupressus ? latifolia, HipimriUs ? traces of Con- 

 fervaB, Musci and Umbelliferos, an assemblage of acotyledonous and 

 dicotyledonous forms, not met with elsewhere in the Lias. The insect 

 relics consist chiefly of elytra or wing-covers of several orders of 

 Coleoptera ; a few perfect small beetles have been detected. There 

 are wings and legs of Orthoptera, !N"europtera, Hemiptera, and 

 Diptera. Perfect insects, of course, are rare, but a few have been 

 procured with the wings and legs attached, the delicate markings 

 and ncrvurcs of the former being well preserved ; but the wings 

 of IN'curoptera are the most abundant, and the single elytra of 

 Coleoptera.^ These remains are always to be found in this par- 

 ticular stratum, whence we have denominated it Insect Limestone " ; 

 and they sufficiently distinguish it from all others, either above or below. 

 Wainlode Cliff, Apperley (the grey hill), and Strensham were, perhaps, 

 the richest localities ; but, unfortunately, the two latter are now no 

 longer available, as the quarries have been closed for some time. These 

 and the other localities in Gloucestershire, are none of them very far from 

 the Malvern and other hills, where more ancient rocks prevail ; and we 

 are naturally led to the inference that they formed a portion, at least, 

 of that land where the insects lived, and from whence they were 

 carried by rivers into the ocean, by which it was bounded. The 

 presence of a variety of terrestrial plants, though very fragmentary, 

 leads to the same conclusion. We might enlarge upon the subject, 

 and say a great deal more about these insect treasures ; but we must 

 defer this until some future opportunity. But this is not the only 

 interesting bed in this part of the series. The insect limestone is 

 succeeded at Wainlode Cliff by about five feet of marly clay, which is 

 underlaid by eight inches of hard, yellow, nodular limestone, of an 

 irregular fracture, having a singular waved and variegated character, 



* Figures and descriptions of many of these "will bo se3n in Erodie's Fosiil 

 Insects," pis, 6 — 10. 



