246 
THE GEOLOGIST. 
the coast from the h'ttle fringe of limestone and conglomerate-rock 
at the Bathing House at Newton over the barren dunes of blown 
sand through which the little river Ogwr enters the sea, we come again 
on the same rocks; and as we leave the conglomerate, approaching 
Dunraven Castle, we find the lias limestone resting partly on this 
rock, and partly on the carboniferous limestone, without any inter- 
mediate red sands or marls, so that, even if these latter deposits 
existed, they must have been removed prior to the deposit of the 
liassic strata. But to quote other instances of the degradation of the 
chief rock-formations of the district is unnecessary, or to prove that 
the destructive action produced by moving water had been actively 
engaged in bringing about much of the present configuration of this 
portion of the sui-face of South Wales ; it is right, nevertheless, to 
point out the thick-bedded gravels which, though usually classed 
under the general term of drift, probably represent the progress of 
geological events far removed from one another in time. Of these, 
however, one thing is certain, that in the districts in question the 
massive beds of sand, small, flat, and sub-angular fragments of shale,* 
which often carry proof of their original position in the roof of 
some ancient coal-seam by being still flecked with coaly particles, — 
pieces of clay-ironstone, pebbles, and patches of loamy clay which 
spread wide over the low grounds, in places as much as ten yards 
deep, are entirely composed of the debris of local rocks. Towards this 
miscellaneous collection of rock fragments, the coal-measures and 
the lias have contributed abundantly;* and although in the various 
oscillations of land, which most likely occurred in bygone tertiary 
times, the materials were more than once assorted during the varying 
changes of level, yet, with the exception of the results of the action of 
modern agents, we may look upon these gravels as evidence of the 
last great modification of the surface. 
The cases are not many in which we have direct evidence afforded 
us of a former phase in the physical geography of a country, by the 
finding of the remains of animals still in the same positions as those 
hollows in the Carboniferous limestone are similarly filled at Oakamore, near 
Cheadle, and the argillo-siliceous sands are there largely quanied for use in the 
potteries, from their possessing highly refractory qualities for the manufacture of 
lining-tiles for the kilns. 
* Rolled shells of a species of Gryi)ha3a aie common iu the di'ift. 
