31 
among the gravel thrown out of the pit shortly afterwards. Both were so 
far mineralized as to adhere strongly to the tongue. The foreman of the 
works told me that at the bottom of the same hole and lying on the 
surface of the chalk a deer's horn was found which he gave me, saying- 
it was of no use to him. It is a perfect antler of the red Deer and 
though found below the other specimen, has a very recent appearance. 
This, however, is not very difficult to explain ; the bits of bone may 
have been brought down from some earlier deposit and laid with the 
gravel on the top of the horn, which was probably lying at the bottom 
of the river at the time. 
This gravel so closely resembles that in the present river-bed as to be 
undistinguishable from it except by the absence of recent shells such 
as Anodon, Unio, Cyclas, and Paludina. If the comminuted shell observed 
in the sand-bed mentioned above really belongs to these species, even this 
mark of distinction fails, for such shells would, probably, not be preserved 
in the gravel-beds even if contemporaneous with them in age. Finally, 
the flat ground on the margin of the river consists of an alluvial clay or 
loam in some places perhaps 1 0 feet thick but generally much less. The 
stream itself as well as the brooks that enter it in this district all lie 
upon the gravel — the clay, if it ever occupied this space having been 
entirely removed. 
The above is a short account of a series of deposits remaining like so 
many ancient monuments to indicate, rather than record, the history of the 
valley of the Thames. To attempt a full explanation of their origin and 
position would be premature and could only result in raising a host of 
serious objections. A few inferences from the facts given [may not 
however be out of place. 
There seems to be no evidence of marine action in the valley. The 
upper and middle gravels could hardly contain the angular and sub- 
angular flints now found in them had they been formed on a beach and 
exposed to the wearing action of the waves ; they would then be rounded and 
waterworn. This does not necessarily imply that the sea has had no share 
in the excavation of the valley. Its beginnings were in all probability 
the result of marine erosion on an emerging land, and banks of pebble may 
have been left by the retreating waves ; if so, the smooth, well rounded 
flints may be their only existing relics, the banks themselves having been 
totally destroyed by subsequent river-action, otherwise these pebbles must 
have been rounded by being rolled for a distance in the bed of the stream. 
The infancy of the Thames must be traced back to the time when it 
