158 
CROMER FOREST-BED. 
more so than any freshwater species. In the list of species 
in the Appendix, those which may be derivative are marked 
as doubttu], but it is worth notice that some of the charac¬ 
teristic Crag forms undoubtedly belong to the bed. Among these 
may be mentioned the well-known Norwich Crag fish, Platax 
Woodwardi (Fig. 88), here very common, and occurring, though 
more rarely, in the Weybourn 
Cj’ag. Melampus pyramidalis, 
an extinct Crag shell, is also 
more abundant than in the older 
beds. Tellina ohliqua, Nucula 
Cohholdice, and the reversed 
Troplion antiquus^ are plentiful, 
but may be derivative. The 
whole of the marine species occur 
also in the Weybourn Crag; 
the more abundant forms are 
such as we find thrown up on 
sandy beaches at the mouths of estuaries {Cardium edule. Mytilus 
edulis, Donax vittatus, Littorina littored, L, rudis, Purpura 
lapillus, Melampus). 
Mixed with the shells a few stools of trees were observed, and 
in one place a trunk of fir over 18 feet long: but, as a general 
rule, the drift wood and shells occur in distinct beds, for heavy 
rains would wash trees into the estuary, at the same time 
damming back the tide, while on other occasions storms would 
wash in marine shells from the open sea. Thus the alternation 
of beds of lignite with marine sands does not necessarily point 
to any change of level during their formation. Besides the 
little-altered drift-wood, derivative pebbles of lignite, jet, and 
very rarely of silicified wood, were found. 
On both sides of East Runton Gangway a mass of the 
ferruginous conglomerate locally termed “ pan ” forms a con¬ 
spicuous feature at the base of the cliff. The beds immediately 
beneath could not be examined at this spot; but at the foot of the 
beach (about 7 feet below the base of the pan) the bed of clay 
pebbles is often well shown, and contains an unusual abundance 
of antlers of deer, belonging to at least three species. Several 
elephants’ teeth have been found here, but they were too much 
decayed for preservation. A few yards east of the Gap a boulder 
of coarse greyish granite, m^easuring 2 x If x 1 feet, was to be 
seen among the clay-pebbles and bones ; the rock was composed 
of orthoclase, quartz, muscovite, and a little hornblende. This 
is by far the largest boulder yet found in the Forest-bed, and is 
also one of the very few of igneous origin yet noticed, but it is 
impossible to say from what district the mass had been derived. 
A few bones occur in the pan, but they are usually much broken. 
As a general rule, for all localities of the estuarine division of the 
Forest-bed the least damaged specimens have been obtained from 
claj^ey beds, but they usually need careful handling and gela¬ 
tinising ; the bones from the pan or elephant-bed are harder but 
Fig. 38. 
Platax Woodwardi, Ag., 
from the Forest-bed at Runton. 
Natural size. 
