388 
LAMPLUGII: BURIED CLIFF AT SEWERBY. 
in the chalk- wash, but in the blown-sand they were frequently 
quite unworn, and in one or two instances had their finer angles and 
delicate muscular markings so beautifully preserved that I am 
inclined to think they must have been protected by flesh when 
embedded. We did not, however, except in one doubtful case, find 
articulating bones lying together ; on the contrary they occurred 
sporadically in all the l)eds, and were nearly always fractured, with 
portions wanting. Though no identifiable remains of carnivorous 
animals have yet ])een found, the marks of their teeth could be 
ti-aced on several of the bones from the blown-sand, and it seems to 
me that we are probably indebted to them for the presence in the 
midst of an reolian deposit of heavy fractured isolated bones too 
weighty to have been carried by the wind. There could be no more 
suitable habitat for beasts of prey than the sand-dunes and cave- 
worn cliffs of n coast-line abandoned by the sea. 
The fish remains Avhich occurred so plentifully in the old beach 
consisted chiefly of vertebrae and head-bones, the latter often lying 
loosely together in such a way as to show that they had been held 
together by ligaments when thrown up by the waves. The marine 
shells were very scarce, and badly preserved, but this did not surprise 
me, as, even under favourable conditions, it is not often that many 
shells are found at high-water mark on a rough stony beach. The 
list is too short to be of much palaeontological service, but the presence 
of Ostrea, which does not occur in the arctic shell-beds of the Base- 
ment Clay at Bridlington Qua}^, shows that the climate was temperate. 
The land-shells are such as now live on sand-dunes, and have no 
especial interest, except that they show how complete has been the 
withdrawal of the sea. 
Careful search was made for any evidence of man's presence, but 
no recognizable trace has j^et been found, though the situation is a 
not unlikely one, and the fauna is that with which he is elsewhere 
associated. 
Age of the Beds. 
In discussing the age of these deposits 1 can at present add 
very little to what has already been advanced by Mr. Reid, though 
I am inclined to demur at his placing the beds under the heading of 
