GALT, OR FOLKSTONE MARL. l67 
lebrated, in the geology of England, for the beauty 
and variety of its organic remains. 
The denuded surface of this bed forms a soil 
remarkable for its tenacity, and which, in many 
parts of Sussex and Surrey, is distinguished by the 
provincial term “ black land it is thus described 
by Mr. Young : — “ At the northern extremity of 
the Downs, and usually extending the same length, 
is a slip of very rich and stiff arable land, but of 
inconsiderable breadth ; it runs for some distance 
into the vale before it meets the clay. The soil 
of this narrow slip is an excessively stiff calca- 
reous loam, on a clay bottom ; it adheres so much 
to the share, and is so very difficult to plough, that 
it is not an unusual sight to observe ten or a dozen 
stout oxen, and sometimes more, at work upon it. 
It is a soil that must rank amongst the finest in this 
or any other country, being pure clay and calcareous 
earth.”* It generally occupies low situations, and 
where uncultivated, is covered by rushes and other 
plants, that affect a moist and clayey soil. 
This deposit seldom exceeds 100 feet in thick- 
ness. It may be traced, with but little difficulty, 
from near Laughton Place, six miles N. E. from 
Lewes, through Ringmer, Hamsey, Oft’ham, Plump- 
ton, near Ditchling, Clayton, New Timber, &c. to 
Deeding, and along the northern edge of the Downs 
to Bignor Park, &c. 
The identitv of this bed with the blue marl of 
Folkstonef, the gait of Cambridgeshire, and the 
* Young’s Agricultural Survey of Sussex. 
t The blue marl of Folkstone has been well described by Mr, W. 
Phillips, and more recently by Dr. Fitton. Folkstone is built upon the 
M 4 
