38 
COLE : ON THE RED CHALK. 
possibly occurring in the hard bed at "Warter and Millington, 
the following passages are interesting : — 
" Everywhere in the Globegerina ooze, Mr. Murray has 
detected, in addition to the Foraminifera which make up the 
great part of its bulk, fragments of pumice, minute fragments 
of felspar, particles of crystals of other minerals, due to the 
disintegration of volcanic rocks, such as sarridine, augite, horn- 
blende, quartz, leucite, and magnetite, and rounded concretions 
of a mixture of the peroxides of manganese and iron."* 
" Over the red clay area the pieces of pumice and 
recognisable mineral fragments were found in greater 
abundance, "f 
Whether the specimens exhibited show a similar state of 
things in past ages, I am not competent to say ; but I 
venture to suggest that it is a point worth inquiring into. 
In conclusion, I may add that I have noticed on Monte 
Generoso, in Italy, between the lakes of Como and Lugano, 
a remarkable similarity to white and red chalk, in a formation 
which I imagine to be Dolomite, where the lower beds for 
some 40 ft, or more are of rich red colour, and the upper as 
white as white chalk. Curiously enough, there is a spring 
at the base. The formation can be well seen at an elevation 
of 3,000 ft,, at the commencement of the zigzags which, 
after one and a half hours' Walking from Mendrisio, lead up 
to Dr. Pasta' s Hotel on the summit (half-an-hour). 
It appears, on the whole, that from some cause or other, 
red layers must, as a rule, be looked for at the bottom of a 
formation. 
As regards fossils in the red chalk, I have been able to 
find very few, except at Speeton, AVarter, and Millington. 
At the former place, on the shore, any amount of Belemnites 
minimus, and various Terebratulse, especially T. biplicata, may 
be found in a short time ; also spines of Echini, chiefly 
* Voyage of the " Challenger" Vol. ii., 295. 
f Ibid., Vol. ii., 296. 
