ROBERTS — A RAMBLE ROUND LUDLOW. 339 
Beyond the quarry, a lane diverges on the right to the famous 
" star-fish " quarry of Church Hill. Lower Ludlow shales are well 
exposed along its course; here may be found Graptolites in great 
perfection, and some rare Orthocerata (0. suhdulce, 0. gregarium), &c. 
Little is now to be got in the star-fish bed ; for the thin layer, in 
which the Aster iache occur, is kept in place by some 10 feet of solid 
rock ; while the debris of the quarry has been carefully picked over by 
the Ludlow geologists. However, the collector may obtain from 
Meredith, a keeper on the Leinlwardine fishery, good specimens at a 
moderate cost. To him geologists are indebted for the discovery of 
these remarkable fossils. Palmcoma Marstoni is at once the com- 
monest and most interesting species. Other forms occur, but more 
rarely. 
Fragments of Pterygotus, and limbs and patches of skin belonging to 
P. punciatus, are not uncommon in the upper shales, with Cormdites of 
remarkable but badly-preserved character, and other interesting fossils. 
A curious branched Graptolite has been recently met with near this 
place ; but I could not learn the precise locality. Meredich has good 
specimens of it for sale. 
The geologist who is returning from this point to Ludlow, should 
take the path through the beautiful walks of Downton Castle. In 
some overhanging cliffs a clear section may be obtained, exhibiting 
Upper Ludlow rock as a cap, covering up Aymestry limestone (with 
Pentamerus Kniglitii), and Lower Ludlow Beds. The botanist, too, 
will be charmed to find in profusion Pohjpodium dryoptcru, Ciidopteris 
fragilis, and C. angmtaia, trailing their exquisitely beautiful fronds 
down the banks. 
I continued my excursion to the Black IVIountains, through Presteign 
and Kington ; crossing a country 2,000 feet below the surface-level in 
carboniferous days, as is witnessed by the detached fragments hori- 
zontally stratified, and capped with mountain limestone, which form 
the lofty Scyrrid, Blorenge, Fans of Brecon, and other spurs of the 
South AVales coal-field. 
The Upper Old Bed (Quartzose conglomerate), which forms the 
great mass of these hills, is singularly unproductive of fossils ; but 
there is a charm in working out the grand development of its physical 
geology, that makes up for its lack of life-remains. A pleasant and 
instructive companion to this district is the " Old Stones," of my friend 
the Eev. "W. S. Symonds, of Pendock. Its geology and natural 
scenery has found in him a truthful and eloquent interpreter. My 
notes for these mountains must form the subject of another paper. 
