154 
THE GEOLOGIST. 
stratum appears to have no other species of sea-shell intermingled ; the 
terminal whorl and apex of a univalve, however, was just perceptible, 
which, on careful removal from the matrix, proved to be Helix aspersa. 
This bed is about a mile from the present sea-shore.' 
" The same gentleman has also observed either one or two strata of 
shells in the sand-hills, on the shore between Leasowe and Hoylake. Not 
having visited the spot for some years, however, he can only report from 
memory that they are composed exclusively of cockle-shells. It is worthy 
of remark that these beds are situated very close to the place where the 
Anglo-Saxon antiquities were found at the Great Meols. 
" May we not infer that these shell-strata are composed of the castaway 
refuse of mollusks, which had been consumed as food by our prehistoric 
ancestors?"* 
Mammalian Eemains. — Dr. Colling wood, in the course of his paper 
•* On the Ancient Fauna of Lancashire and Clieshire,"t records the follow- 
ing: — Hippopotamus : " of which a compk^te skull is figured in Leigh's ' Na- 
tural History of Lancashire ' (1705), dug up under a moss " (tab. vi. fig. 4;};). 
Megaceros : " antlers, in marl or gravel, beneath peat," in Lancashire. 
Bos primiffenius : from " submarine forest." Cetacean: rib of, from exca- 
vations at Wallasey Pool ; and humerus of a ivhale, from peat of submarine 
forest, opposite Leasowe Castle. Cervus elaphus : Pennant says that horns, 
" evidently of the stag kind, but much stronger, thicker, heavier, and 
furnished with fewer antlers than those of the present race, have been 
found on the sea-coast of Lancashire " (Phil. Tr., No. 422) ; and a single 
horn was dug out of the sands near Chester ( Brit. Zool., vi. p. 62) ; four 
horns from Wallasey Pool. Hopkins transmitted the sketch of an antler 
to the Koyal Society (figured in vol. xxxvii. No. 422, Phil. Trans.) ; this 
was drawn out of Pavensbarrow Hole, adjoining Holker Old Park, Lan- 
cashire, by the nets of the fishermen, in 1727 ; similar horns from the sub- 
marine forest of Leasowe ; other horns described and figured by Leigh -in 
Nat. Hist. Lancas., pi. 5, as "head of a stag of Canada" {i.e. Cervus 
Canadensis, the Wapiti), an error ; the former being those of the red-deer, 
found " 8 yards within the marie " in Lancashire ; and one as huge again, 
*' 4 yards under the moss in the Meales ; " also others in Camden (Brit., 
iii. p. 142). Elk or moose-deer {?), 1815, in submarine forest of Leasowe, 
according to Dr. Watson, on the identification of Dr. Scoulcr ; also Mr. 
Geo. Thompson, " head and antlers " in 1857. The specimens are said to 
be deposited in King's College Museum ; but Dr. Pollok, the Curator, says 
they do not exist in that collection. Horse : " almost eiitire skeleton of a 
small size, equalling the Shetland pony in height, and remarkable for the 
large proportion of the head ; " found by Mr. E. T. Higgins, of Eastington, 
Gloucestershire, in the ancient forest-bed of Leasowe ; also Sus, roebuck (?), 
and " a dog [or wolf, — S. J.M.] about the size of a greyhound." Boar : 
" tusks, in digging a cellar at Lancaster, in company with Koman remains." 
Man: human skull, in sandy gravel, 10 feet below the original bed of 
* Several remains of Mollusca characterize tlie glacial deposits on the banks of the 
Mersey, such as Tellina solidula, Nuciila oblonga^ Cardium, Nassa, and particularly 
Turritella conununis, wliich ])asses upward from the sandy gravel of the lower drift de- 
posit into the bouldcr-clay above. From a well sunk at Poolton, in Wirral, fragments 
of Mactra, Venus, Astaite(?), and other shells were also obtained. 
t Proceedings of the Liverpool Philosophical Society, 1863, part xvii. 
X Also figured by Buckland in Rel. Dil. part xxii. tig. 5, and mentioned by Owen in 
Br. Fos, Mam. p. 4ol. 
