THE WEALD CLAY. 
187 
kinds of fossils were passed tlirougli, at the depth 
of 100 feet* : and in a well near Cowfold similar 
remains were observed. From observations made 
in many places in Sussex, the marble would appear 
to occupy, chiefly, the middle beds of the Weald 
clay, &c. : there are, probably, five or six alterna- 
tions of it ; and in the upper divisions of the clay, 
septaria, composed of a deep red argillaceous iron- 
stone, occur, in layers of two or three feet in 
thickness, which dip in conformity to the general 
inclination of this formation. t 
At Resting-oak Hill, on the Chailey road, about 
four miles to the N. N. W. of Lewes, a fine section 
of these septaria was lately exj)osed, by the removal 
of the summit of the hill, for the improvement of 
the road. The indurated marl, which formed the 
nuclei of the septaria, was of a pale yellowish grey 
colour, and so hard and fine as to be employed by 
the peasantry and carpenters to set their tools t; 
* To the politeness of Sir Charles jNIerrick Burrel, Bart., M.P., I 
owe the knowledge of this interesting fact. 
f In the west of Sussex, the following, according to Mr. Martin, is 
the order in which the strata of the Wealden occur, — viz. 
]. Stiff clay, with concretional ironstone. Bones of vertebrated 
animals ; paludinae, cyclades, cyprides. 
2. Yellow and fawn-coloured sand. JSndogenites erosa. 
3. Clay with Sussex marble. Bones, paludinae. 
4. Micaceous fawn-coloured sand, with masses of calcareous grit. 
5. Clay with Sussex marble. 
6. Fawn-coloured micaceous sand alternating with beds of red clay, 
friable sandstone, and calcareous grit. Bones of vertebrated animals. 
7. Soil, a clay country of uniformity of aspect, and of moderate 
fertility. 
J At Wapping-thorn Hill, near Steyning, septaria of argillaceous 
ironstone were lately found, and applied to the same purposes. I am 
indebted for this information to the polite attention of the Earl of 
Egremont. 
