40 Observations o?i the Fossillferous beds nea7- PoncUcherry. [July 



the limestone and fragments of shells cemented together sufficiently hard 

 to take a polish. In No. 8 the shell itself has disappeared and left 

 merely a cast in whitish limestone 



Plate II. Nos. I and 2 are Echini, of the order Spatangus, common in the 

 chalk of England. No. 2 is a small but perfect specimen. No. 1 is a 

 portion of the external shell flattened out on the stone. 



No. 3. — This is apparently the apex of a Tiirhinolia : it is not unfre- 

 quent in the limestone, and was sometimes found detached, in which case 

 it precisely resembles the drawings of the Turbinolia given by Dr. Mantell, 

 in his Geology of the South-east of Sussex, but is apparently of a larger 

 species. 



Nos. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 are fragments of a zoophyte or coral with a pyriform 

 body or termination, which is always found detached (No. 4) ; other frag- 

 ments are cylindrical. This zoophyte seems to have consisted of numer- 

 ous small lamellae, converging towards the centre : but there was probably 

 a cavity in the centre, which is now filled up with the chalky substance, 

 as the lamellae do not unite at the axis. No 6 shows the radiated ap- 

 pearance presented by the transverse section of a cylindrical joint or 

 fragment, and 7 and 8 display the internal structure where it is laid bare 

 by the decomposition of the external covering. These fragments are 

 probably the joints of the stem or branches of the zoophyte, which may 

 possibly therefore, have been the Apiocrinites ellipticus, but until more 

 perfect specimens are found it cannot be named with any degree of cer- 

 tainty. The component matter of this fossil is carbonate of lime, and it 

 effervesces freely with acid. They are found in great numbers close to 

 the village of Seedrapett. We collected upwards of an hundred in about 

 half an hour, and one of the best specimens I took out of the wall of a 

 mud house. 



No. 9 is a small mass of limestone, displaying on both sides 

 beautiful sections of a multilocular shell, which Mr. Burr informs mc 

 is a Twrilite. 



No. 10. A great number of small cylindrical bodies of this descrip- 

 tion were found, the longest perhaps 1^ inch in length, and about the 

 thickness of a tobacco-pipe : they all have a longitudinal groove or sulcus, 

 whence it may be inferred that they are a species of BelemnHe, perhaps 

 B. minimus ; but it must be mentioned that, among the hundreds that 

 were collected, and the still more numerous specimens that were thrown 

 aside, not one was found which came to a point. Further research 

 may, perhaps, supply this deficiency. 



No. 11. Several casts of a slightly curved chambered shell, with 

 annular markings, probably referrible to order of llainite were found. 



