TRANSACTIONS OP THE SECTIONS. 
131 
At Edith- Weston a species of Lingula, near to, if not identical with, J,. Bvaim 
(Phillips), occurs in great abundance, indicating like the recent congeners its gre- 
prious habits, and Aere mixed up with numerous fragments of the Fecopteru poly- 
p&tdM in fructification. , j .u- • 
A roocretionaiy sand-bed sometimea succeeds the Stonesfield slate, ann fms w 
oviiid by beds of oolitic mgstone and mdaraLed inyly limestone, which are 
Kiwalh' rich in fossil shells, zones of NeriiKPa occutring in both with Luewa Urala, 
UtdMa plu-ata, kc. i but a marked feature in these beds is the frequeut occurrence 
’iptfcbcs of fraeraents of the Pecopferts polyputlioidfs, a fern alfo nbuudant in the 
oAviactoos shdes of Gristhorpe Bay, Yorkshire. The dissimilarity of the great 
wlitf series (in its carbonaceous shales) with that of other parts of Englanil is vc^ 
aiftiog, and the abundance of land pl^ts, their mode of deposition, aa well t» the 
fmra) ibscnce of marine tcatacea and the occurrence of lluviatilc remains, as the 
Cyptitand Uuio described by Mr. Bean, and other species of which also exist in 
fe collection of Professor Phillips, indicate that they must have been deposited 
ftker in an estuary or not far distant from the ancient shore. The occurrcoa' of 
Huhr species of land plants aa the PecoptvrU polypodioidei, equally abundant and 
■ die same state of preservation around Stamford as on tlie Yorkshire coast, but at 
d'» farnicr place associated with marine shells, seems to point out the seaward cx- 
tiaaw of these beds and their coeval nature, more especially as many of the ib^s 
hfvswociated with die plants arc also found in the oolitic berlsof Yorkshire, which 
•» iclercaluted with the carbonaceous series containiag the vegetable remains. 
That davio-marine beds may have existed at all (icriods of the earth's surface, ii a 
punt for farther iiuiuiry; but at least where Inml existed either insular or continental, 
■rtl or large streaiBs may have emptied themselves into the ancient hydrographical 
b«io»i caiT)'ii^ with them the spoils und detritus of the land. We have evidence 
* coaditiiin# during the Carboniforous ami partly also in the Triaasic »ra, and 
“^Uie^lkic upoch similar proofs are not wantingj the beds mentioned by Mr. 
Scotland, and the carbonaceoua series of Yorkshire described by I'ro- 
n iostauces of fluvio-murino deposits, and are well contrasted with 
^ flwatile or true Wealden so well elucidated by Dr. Mantcll, although 
“ too must havD had its fiuvio-marinc extensioti. To the beds last described 
the uiiper portions (jf the gieat oolite, well marked in some beds by a pre- 
^ueranct! ofovifona bodies whiA form tlie mass of the rock and constitute the 
^^"hatuin, in which organic remains arc but sparingly distributed ; the crash 
^^'*~’''hich overlie these la«t, and cousislingof comraimited shells, &c., afford 
ireuter transporting powers, or of accumulations in a shallow sea i the 
T- Ccrithium,Turritclla, Ilissoa, &c. is a marked feature In these beds. 
succeed a series of laniinatcd ahalea and clays, with layers of shells 
i*tl»» “''?'‘''^“*,^'e“'ra)and carbonaccoua matter, proviug a considerable change 
both as regards the oalurt; of the material and the dirai- 
U the transporting currents. These beds are interesting, inasmuch 
^irlih; repreRcot the upjier carbonaceous stratum of the 
tu ‘'Ibcr, be cnnaldeied as the equivalent cif some portion of 
^ owing conclusions be stated as resulting from the above coramuni- 
Casterton freoatone beds are analogous to those of Bath 
of England. 
*®drfMisin*^ ♦ *!Xti;nding over a considerable space in this district 
■posidon f of tlie great oolite, but not independent of it, is analogous 
*^Di • u s'ate near Oxford ami in the Cotteswold hills, not 
^''*•‘1 renvjiu^'^ ^ *''^^** mineral character, and contains many of the same 
associated beds, although probably coeval 
^ McamnUw oolite of the Yorkshire coast, appear to have 
^ the tite oolitic ocean, or at least further removed 
wncient (shore,” 
k2 
