J .it &S&? L9 to? tf/JS-A PROCEEDINGS OF THK %UJ COTTESWOLD NATURALISTS' CLUB VOLUME I. LONDON: I1UMI.I) IIY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. 1833. CONTENTS OF VOL. I. Address to the Cottesvvold Naturalists' Club, read at Gloucester, January 18, 1849. By T. B. Lloyd Baker, Esq., President A On the Poison Gland in the Jaw of Geophilus longicornis. By Thomas P. Wright, Esq., M.D. &c ^AT A few general Remarks on the Fossil Conchology of the Great Oolite of Minchinhainpton in comparison with that of the same For- mation in other localities. By John Lycett, Esq H // Notes on the distribution of the Fossil Conchology of the Oolitic Formations in the vicinity of Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire. By John Lycett, Esq fi\ 2/ Address to the Cotteswold Naturalists' Club, Read at the Winter Meeting, January 22, 1850. By Sir Thomas Tancred, Bart 29 Heights of some points of the Cotswold Hills, with some experi- ments with the Aneroid Barometer. By W. Henry Hyett, Esq., F.R.S 38 On Trichites, a fossil genus of Bivalve Mollusks. By John Lycett, Esq 42 On the Structure and Arrangement of the Tesserae in a Roman pavement discovered at Cirencester in August 1849. By James Buckman, F.L.S., F.G.S 47 Sketch of the Geology of the neighbourhood of Grantham, Lincoln- shire ; and a comparison of the Stonesfield Slate at Colly weston in Northamptonshire with that in the Cotswold Hills. By the Rev. P. B. Brodie, M.A., F.G.S 52 Tabular View of Fossil Shells from the middle division of the Infe- rior Oolite in Gloucestershire. By John Lycett, Esq 62 A Stratigraphical Account of the Section from Round Tower Point to Alum Bay, on the North-west coast of the Isle of Wight. By Thomas Wright, M.D 8/ Address to the Cotteswold Naturalists' Club, read at Bristol, Feb. 10, 1852. By T. B. Lloyd Baker, Esq., President 101 Contributions to the Palaeontology of Gloucestershire :— On the IV CONTENTS. Page Strombida of the Oolites. By Thomas Wright, M.D. With the description of a new and remarkable Pteroceras. By John Lycett, Esq 115 A Stratigraphical Account of the Section of Hordwell, Beacon, and Barton Cliffs, on the coast of Hampshire. By Thomas Wright, M.D. &c 120 On the Cidaridee of the Oolites, with a description of some new species of that family. By Thomas Wright, M.D. &c 134 On the Cassidulidce of the Oolites, with descriptions of some new species of that family. By Thomas Wright, M.D. &c 1/4 Contributions to the Palaeontology of the Isle of Wight. By Thomas Wright, M.D. &c .*. 229 Note on the Grypheea of the Bed called Gryphite Grit in the Cot- teswolds. By John Lycett, Esq 235 Additional Notice of the genus Tancredia (Lycett), Hettangia (Tur- quem). By John Lycett, Esq 237 Remarks on the Lias at Fretherne near Newnham, and Purton near Sharpness; with an Account of some new Foraminifera disco- vered there ; and on certain Pleistocene Deposits in the Vale of Gloucester. By the Rev. P. B.Brodie, M.A., F.G.S 241 On some new species of Trigonia from the Inferior Oolite of the Cotteswolds, with preliminary Remarks upon that Genus. By John Lycett, Esq 247 On the Cornbrash of the neighbourhood of Cirencester. By James Buckman, F.L.S., F.G.S., Professor of Geology Royal Agricultural College 262 Remarks on Libellula Brodiei (Buckman), a Fossil Insect from the Upper Lias of Dumbleton, Gloucestershire. By Professor Buckman, F.G.S., F.L.S 268 Appendix. Address to the Cotteswold Naturalists' Club, read at Cheltenham, at the Winter Meeting of 1851 . By T. B. Lloyd Baker, Esq., President i-xiii lleport of the proceedings at the Fir at Meeting for 1847 of the Cotteswolds Naturalists' Club. — From the Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard. The first meeting of the season was held last Tuesday (April 13th) in our town. After breakfasting at the Earn Inn the Members of the Club visited the Roman pavement at the Barton, and the Royal Agricultural College, where numerous workmen are busily employed on the chapel, theatre, and farm buildings. The unfavour- able state of the weather rendered it necessary to limit the excursion to the railway cuttings in Hailey Wood, instead of proceeding to Sapperton. The woods are now decorated with a profusion of blue scentless violets (Viola hirla, Lin.), primroses, and wood anemones, but many of the more interesting of our native plants, such as the parasitical tooth-wort (Lathrma squamaria, Lin.), are a month later in their flowering than last year. To the botanist who looks after the more minute productions of Nature, a profusion of mosses are spread over the stone walls in various stages of fructification. After their walk the club returned to an excellent dinner at the Ram Inn. Amongst the company present were Dr. Daubeny, of Oxford, in the chair ; the Rev. W. P. Powell, the Rev. J. M. Prower, the Rev. — Mason, Rev. — Daubeny of Eastington, jun., D. Bowly, Esq., E. Bowly, Esq., Sir Thomas Tancred, Mr. Gyde, of Painswick, Thomas Warner, Esq., C. Pooley, Esq., S. Lediard, Esq., Professor Woodward, R.A.C.. &c, &c. After dinner Dr. Daubeny read a letter from a gentleman at the Cape, by which it appeared that the potato disease might be expected ultimately to wear out, by analogy with what had there occurred to the sweet chesnut. Mr. Woodward called attention to a report in the Morning Chronicle of a meeting of the Botanical Society of London, from which it appeared that every scientific man, in or out of England, repudiated the speculation of Mr. Smee, that the disease was caused by, or in any way connected with, the turnip plantlouse (Aphis Rapa, Curtis). Mr. Charles Pooley next read a letter from a friend at Smyrna, on the state of agriculture in that part of Asia Minor. Possessing a wide extent of fertile alluvial soil, and a delightful climate, in which the olive and vine, and most of the cereals — wheat, barley, rye, oats, and maize, may be successfully cultivated, the mode of farming is slovenly, and extremely primitive in its character. Draining, though requisite, is unknown j manure only used for the vineyards; regular rotations unheard of; potato only cultivated for the European residents ; and the land is held conditionally on the payment of one-half the produce. Sir Thomas Tancred exhibited to the meeting a collection of insects, presented to the Agricultural College by P. J. Selby, Esq., of Twizell House, Northumberland. The collection consists of 372 named species of beetles, and 13 species of moths, including many of thoso which are most injurious to farming. The next communication was made by Mr. "Woodward, at the request of Sir Thomas Tancred — " On the Geology of the district explored by the Cotteswolds Club, and more particularly the Clay subsoil of the College Farm." On account of the local interest attaching to this paper, we insert it at full length — " The Cotteswold hills form an elevated tract nearly in the centre of England, which extends in a N.E and S."W. direction through the county of Gloucester, from Campden to "Wootton-under-Edge, a distance of 30 miles, and occupies an average breadth of 10 miles. " The surface of this district has a general inclination to the S.E., its eastern borders having an elevation of about 400 to 500 feet above the sea ; whilst the Western ranges from 600 to 800 feet, and the culminating point, Cleeve Cloud, is 1134 feet high, The Thames and Severn canal passing through the centre of the district, affords an excellent datum line, for estimating the elevations of various points ; from Siddington to Sapperton it preserves the same level, but beyond each of these points numerous locks indicate a rapid fall of the general level of the country towards Swindon, and of the valley towards Stroud and Gloucester. The branch of the Great "Western Eailway from Swindon to Gloucester passing through the same line of country, has given the key of its geological structure. " The Hills are entirely composed of two strata of Oolitic limestone, separated by a bed of clay known to geologists as the " Fuller's Earth." These strata are inclined to the S.E., at the rate of about 1 in 130, or less than half a degree; yet this inclination is greater than that of the general surface, and sufficient to carry the hill strata beneath formations of later date on the S.E., whilst on the N."W. boundary they terminate in steep escarpments, broken and indented by numerous deep and picturesque valleys, which pursue a winding course among the hills. Such are the valleys of the Coin at Withington, and the " Golden Yalley " of Sapperton. During the winter, small streams wander through these western valleys to the Severn ; in summer many of the springs fail, and the streams are concealed by reeds and rushes ; for owing to the inclination of the strata, almost all the rain which falls on the Cotteswolds supplies streams which flow in an opposite direction. The Severn Wells, near Cubberly, and the Thames Head both supply tributaries of the Isis. The water in these streams and in neighbouring wells is prevented from sinking to a lower level by beds of marl or clay, which, when removed from atmospheric influence, are impervious to water ; above 3 these olays all the joints and fissures of the rocks are filled with water up to a certain level, varying with the quantity of rain which falls at different periods of the year. Mr. T. C. Brown observed that in the fissure which supplied the first gush of water to his well at Further Barton, there were indications of a considerable current at the depth of 100 feet, afforded by the sand polished surfaces of the rock. " But the Cotteswolds Club does not confine its wanderings to the hills ; our district legitimately extends to the Severn on one side and to the Chalk Downs of Wiltshire on the other. From the tower of the Agricultural College we can look over a wide extent of undulating country, bounded in the distance by the blue hills of Wiltshire, and presenting in the middle distance a lower range extending from Faringdon Clump to Deny Hill. We are on the S.E. boundary of the Cotteswold Hills, and the country before us exhibits a different geological and agricultural character. It is watered by numerous streams, and presents an infinite variety of soil and culture ; oak woods and elms succeed the interminable beech woods of the hills, and pasture and water meadows are frequent." In order to obtain a general idea of the nature and succession of the subsoils (or strata) of the whole district, we may conveniently pursue the " Ermine Way," which coming from Newbury through the Wanborough Downs, runs almost in one straight line to Cricklade, Cirencester, Birdlip, and Gloucester, passing over in succession the whole of the Oolitic strata in the following order : — 1. — Portland stone. 2. — Kimmeridge clay. 3. — Coral rag. 4. — Oxford clay. Kelloway rock. 5. — Great Oolite : subdivided into Corn brash. Forest marble. Bradford clay. Bath freestone. Stonesfield slate. 6.— Fuller's earth. 7. — Inferior Oolite. 8. — Lias. 1. — The Portland Stone is seen best in the quarries near Swindon Old Town : it is the only stratum in the series which appears to have been partly formed on dry land, or in fresh water ; the rest are entirely of marine origin. 2. — The Kimmeridge Clay occupies the valley in which Swindon station and New Town are situated. 3. — The Coral Rag rises up from beneath the clay, and forms the hills about Strattom Saint Margaret's, Pen "Hill, and Blunsdon. 4. — The Oxford Clay occupies the whole of Braydon Forest, and the wide valley around Cricklade, but is often covered by thick beds of Oolitic gravel. AtFoss Farm, Driffield, is a hill of sand covered with fane, which Mr. Bravender has pointed out to me as representing the Kelloxcay Rock, and from which he has obtained a specimen of Ammonites Hcrveyi. 5. — At Driffield cross-ways we may see the Corn Brash in the small quarries from which the road stone is obtained, and in descend- ing the hill towards Cirencester we pass over to the Forest Marble, a thin-bedded stone, well shewn in the quarries at Preston, from which much of the roofing stone and planking so extensively used in the neighbourhood are obtained. Frequent beds of marly-clay alternate with the stone, one of which, on Mr. E. Bowly's Farm, at Siddington, is worked as a brick-field. One of these beds of clay is usually found dividing the Forest marble from the Bath freestone, and consequently represents the Bradford Clay. Beyond Stratton our road lies over the Bath freestone (or " Hampton stone") as far as Highgate, where several deep valleys expose the Stonesficld Slate, Fuller's Earth, and Inferior Oolite. The quarries near Birdlip also exhibit the Inferior Oolite, and the remainder of the road to Gloucester rests upon the Lias. If an Artesian well (such as that now in progress at Southampton) were attempted at Swindon New Town, it would pass through all the above-mentioned strata, from the Kimmeridge clay to the Lias, in the same order in which they are passed over by the Ermine way, reaching the surface of the Lias at a depth of about 1000 feet. The same system of strata forms a continuous tract of country, having similar characters, extending from Scarborough and Whitby, on the Yorkshire coast, to Lyme Regis and the Isle of Portland, on the coast of Dorsetshire. Having said thus much on the Cotteswolds district, I will refer now more particularly to the subsoils of the College Farm. When I first visited Cirencester in August, 1845, I obtained from Mr. Bravender an account of the neighbouring rocks and quarries, more particular than was afforded by any published document ; for the geological maps represent by one colour all the country between the Oxford clay and Inferior Oolite, although in the interval there are four strata containing different suites of fossils, and presenting an entirely different geological and agricultural character. On a small part of the College Farm the Bath freestone forms the subsoil, and in the deepest hollow is a deposit of Oolitic gravel; but in almost every field the subsoil consists of clay and " stone brash" intermingled, for not only do the beds of clay alternate with layers of stone, but the same led is at one place entirely composed of stone, and within a few yards the stone may thin out and give place to clay. " Stone brash " is the local name for rubbly limestone ; even the most solid beds become " brashy " near the surface, owing to the action of frost and rain water. The stone brash of the College Farm becomes hard and " planky " at a small distance from the surface, like the Forest marble of the Preston quarries, and is part of the same formation. Hundreds of tons of this stone have been raised for roofing the new buildings. At the depth of from 5 to 10 feet the Forest marble has usually a deep indigo tint, but nearer the surface it becomes rust-coloured. In some of the thick beds, used for pitch- ing the streets, every stone is blue in the centre and yellow on the outside ; the change is sudden and well marked, and is evidently due (as stated by Mr. Way) to the conversion of a silicate of, the prot-oxyde of iron into per-oxyde, for all our stone contains a small quantity of iron, which rusts on exposure to the air or rain-water. The circum- stance is of some interest, as it indicates the depth to which rain- water carries down oxygen into the subsoil ; in the large joints and fissures of the rock the rust colour is strongest, aud extends to the greatest depth. The clay of the Forest marble is so variable in position, thickness, and composition, that persons accustomed only to other clay soils, would not be justified in predicating a single fact respecting it from a casual inspection of the surface. I shall therefore cite the information of those who have had most experience in the matter. The surface soil has a cold gray or chocolate hue, which distinguishes it at once from the warmer complexion of the corn-brash, and the lighter tint of the Bath freestone. The clay itself (or rather marl, for it always contains lime, and sometimes in large proportion) is some- times bluish gray, and elsewhere (especially the lowest beds or Bradford clay) of a light olive tint ; as, for example, in the drains which are now making near the entrance of the Park. Mr. T. C. Brown says this clay is much benefitted by subsoiling, but not by deep ploughing — it should never be brought up to the surface ; and Mr. Bravender, in his Essay on Breaking up Grass Lands, observes, that soils resting on this clay should be deepened very gradually ; it should be done before the winter, so that it may be exposed to the full action of the frosts, and requires to be plentifully manured. Otherwise, an attempt to deepen the soil, even to the extent of two inches, will injure the succeeding crops for several years. Mr. Arkell, whose management of this clay it is unnecessary for me to eulogise, has pointed out to me that it differs from the Oxford and other clays of the district, in the readiness with which it falls to pieces with frost and rain, becoming light and hollow, so as to require rolling and pressing to prevent the wheat plants from being " thrown out " by the repeated falling away of the soil. Like other clay soils it is not so well adapted for turnips or barley as for wheat and oats, vetches and broad clover. Various parts of the farm on the mixed clay and brashy subsoil are cultivated on the three-fields, and four or eight-field systems, whilst the fields with a subsoil of dry stone are kept under the five-field, or " Cotteswolds hill " system. Most of the Forest marble district requires draining, because even when the beds of clay are thin and interstratified with stone, they will arrest the percolation of the rain-water for a con- siderable time. The drains which Mr. Arkell has put in are from 3 to 4J feet deep, and from 24 to 40 feet apart, according to the depth of the clay, and the presence or absence of stone. When the stone is within a yard of the surface, it is less expensive to make the drains shallow and more numerous. The drains are made with the stone taken out in digging them, for which it is well adapted ; in filling in the drains these stones are first placed in a triangular form at the bottom, and loose stones filled in above. The weeds which infest the clay lands of the Forest marble district are the — Carnation-grass, Car ex Qlauca, Seop. Couch, Agrostis stolonifera, Lin. Black-bents, Alopecurus agrestis, Lin. Garlic, Allium vineale, Lin. Colts' -foot, Tussilago Far far a, Lin. Red Eye-bright, Euphrasia Odontites, Lin., and others which are more ornamental than injurious, such as the Blue Pimpernel, Anagallis ccerulea, Toad-flax, Linaria Elatine and spuria, and the somewhat rare Campanula hybrida, Lin. Bromus pinnatus, Beattv., infests all the pastures and borders of fields on Stone-brash and marl alike, and is readily recognised by the broad bright green leaves, which neither sheep nor cattle touch. Turfs of hair-grass (Aira caspitosa), or, as they are called " Bull-peats," are also frequent in woods, meadows, and pastures, on a strong soil. My own observations have been directed chiefly to the geological history of these formations, and especially to the fossil remains which they contain. On the present occasion I shall only notice those of the clay ; they are found, I believe, almost exclusively in that particular bed which represents the Bradford clay of "Wiltshire, and may be seen in the railway banks at Kemble, and the Ackman Street (Tetbury Road) station, in Mr. Gregory's grounds near the Mount, at Smerrill Quarry, and on the College Farm. Bradford has long been celebrated for its fossils, especially the Pear Encrinite (Apioerinus Parkinsoni, Beonn.) an animal belonging to a group almost unknown in our seas ; it was a star-fish having ten feathery arms, and supported on a long flexible stem attached to the bottom of the sea. The remains of this plant-like animal consist of fragments and single joints of the stalk and body, called " coach- wheels" by the quarrymen, the pear-shaped bodies, and detached joints of the arms and fingers. The first and most perfect specimen found near Cirencester, was obtained by the policeman at the Tetbury Road Station, and given to the College : several specimens have been obtained by Mr. Gtitz, a student of the College, at the limekiln quarry in Perrymoor ; other specimens in the College collection were found by my brother at the Ackman Street Station, one of them is a very young encrinite,ger minating on a fragment of fossil bone. Several other characteristic fossils were obtained a few years ago by Mr. T. C. Brown and Mr. Bravender, such as Terebratula digona and decustata, Avicula costata, and several corals which are common at Bradford. With the assistance of my class I have obtained evidence of more than 100 species of marine animals having inhabited the sea-bottom (where now stands the Agricultural College) at the period this clay was accumulated. The nature of these fossils will be seen by the following list :— Plants, number of species . . 2 Sponges . . . . . . . . 1 Radiate animals, Corals, about . . . . 14 Crinoid star-fishes . . . . 3 Star-fishes .. .. 1 Sea-urchins, about.. .. 10 28 Articulate animals, Anellides, about . . . . 7 Crustaceans . . . . 1 Molluscous animals, Bivalves 23 Terebratulse . . . . 10 Spiral univalves . . . . 8 Ammonites (fragment) . . 1 Vertebrate animals, Fishes, about . . . . 19 Reptiles . . . . . . 7 42 26 Total .. .. 107 The vegetable rSmains consist of drift wood, as hard and brittle as coal, and a single small Nullipore, the only genus of marine plants capable of living at a depth exceeding 30 fathoms. The sponge is a minute species, belonging to a group having a calcareous skeleton. The corals are small species, such as are found in deep water ; the only large reef-building species belongs rather to the Great Oolite, and covered in some places the bed of the sea upon which the animal of the Bradford clay period lived. The Crinoids include a species of Comatula, one of which still inhabits our coasts, being attached to sea- weed in its young state, and becoming afterwards detached, and capable of swimming about in the sea. The Amellides are maraino worms, forming shelly tubes in which they lived ; they are common upon oyster shells and corals in our own seas. Crustacea. — Only the claws of small crab or lobster have been observed. Bivalve shells ( ConchiferaJ. — Casts of several species are common; small oysters, of two or threo kinds, and scallops are very common. Ten species of Terebratuloo have been discovered, but the individuals are exceedingly numerous ; these shells are eminently characteristic of deep water, even at the depth of 100 fathoms 8 The spiral shells are casts and minute Cerithia and Nerineoz. Chambered shells ( Cephalopoda) are extremely rare in Great Oolite generally, no Belemnites have yet been found, and only one minute fragment of an ammonite. The remains of Vertebrate animals belong exclusively to the cold- blooded classes, for although small Insectivorous and Marsupial quadrupeds had undoubtedly existed at the period of the deposition of the Stonesfield state, no teeth or remains have been detected hitherto in the Bradford clay. The skeletons of fishes, especially the sharks, contain so little of the carbonate and phosphate of lime that only the harder portions of their skeletons — the teeth and enamelled scales are usually found in a fossil state. The College collections contains numerous forms of crushing teeth, or " palates," of extinct species allied to the Port Jackson shark, which lives upon shell fish and crustaceans ; there are also sharp-pointed teeth of other sharks, and the mandibles of a Chimaeroid fishes. — (Ischyodus Egerton.) Reptiles. — I have obtained the teeth of several species of the large carnivorous saurians, (Plesio and Ichthyosauri J, and there are small sculptured plates and fragments of bones, which, I believe, belong to some small marine turtle. The collection contains also a suite of specimens from Bradford, presented by the Rev. "W. Dansey, of Donhead St. Andrew, and Mr. Joshua Brown. In conclusion, I wish to remark, that although it may answer no agricultural or other economic purpose to examine minutely into all such details as the preceding, yet it may be useful to the engineer and the farmer to possess as much knowledge of the characteristic fossils of the British strata, as will enable him to pronounce with certainty the geological relations of any particular stratum in which he may be more immediately interested, and it requires no unusual industry or intelligence to learn the physiogomy of a few shells, such as will serve this purpose. "Whatever system of farming, and whatever practices are found beneficial on the College Farm, will be equally successful wherever the Forest-marble and Bradford clay are met with, and as a means of identifying these strata, I know of no method more simple and more certain than the examination of the fossils which are so plentifully distributed in them. Those only who have attempted to generalize the observations made in a particular district by means of geological laws, are in a position to appreciate the usefulness of such enquiries ; but to the natural historian they have an attraction independent from question of utility ; he does not look upon this deposit as so many feet of clay merely, but sees in it a historical monument of times long ere man became the tenant of the globe ; when the care of Providence was bestowed as lavishly, as in our own day, upon numerous races of unreasoning creatures, until the earth was fully prepared for its last and noblest inhabitant, to whom should be given, not merely a vegetative or animal existence, but intellectual and spiritual life. Address read to the Coiteswolds Naturalists' Club, at their Winter Meeting, held at Gloucester, January ISth, 1849. By T. Barwick Lloyd Baker, Esq., of Hardwicke Court, President. Gentlemen, Three summers have now shone on the gatherings of the Cotteswolds Naturalists, and for the third time we are assembled for our winter meeting. Our Club was originally formed on the model of a similar society in Berwickshire, and, as it was there the custom that the President should each year address to the meeting a short recapitulation of the proceedings of the club, so I have readily undertaken to follow the same example, as it leads of course to the adoption of another excellent rule of the same society, by which the President is annually — changed. However reluctant, therefore, I may be to trespass on your time and detain you from more interesting matter, I must ask you to bear with me while I go through a short recapitulation of the meetings we, or many of us, have enjoyed together ; and if the looking back to past troubles is agreeable by the contrast, I trust you will not be less inclined on the retrospect of such pure and satisfactory pleasures as ours to say Uac olim meminisse juvabit. True to the original design of keeping clear of cities and the grander hostelries, and of seeking Nature in her remoter haunts — our- first meeting took place on the 7th of July, 1846, at the Black Horse, at Birdlip, when the original members of the club were proposed and elected. Hitherto those who, like myself, had taken a warm interest in the idea of such a society, had almost dreaded the moment of its taking a tangible form, least we should find that it was no sooner touched than it dissolved. But when amongst the names of those who were willing to join us, we found those of Daubeny and Strickland — that the Professors of the Royal Agricultural College — together with more names connected with high talent than I will now enumerate — were at our first meeting enrolled amongst us, we began to feel a confidence in that of which we had before but a faint hope, but which has since arrived, I trust as nearly as may be at certainty — that we may go on and prosper. But next came a difficulty — a President must be chosen. The list of members was searched for one who would be able and willing to take so eminent a situation, Dr. Daubeny was engaged in services due not more to his University than to the Nation. The Principal of the Cirencester College was carrying out an equally grand and important national benefit. Sir Thomas Tancred, with whom had originated the idea of the forma- tion of the Club in this County, and who promised to be and has been our main stay throughout — was willing to take the far more useful office of Secretary. Nearly all were engaged in more important matters (though some urged only modesty as their excuse), till it turned out that the only B 10 niember who was good for nothing else was your present President, who was accordingly elected, and having failed to prove himself useful in any other capacity, has continued as your President to this day. The business of the formation of the Club, and its few and simple rules having been most appropriately transacted in the garden of the Inn, on the summit of one of our own Cotteswold Hills, with the rich Vale of the Severn lying at our feet, and the bold chain of the Volcanic Malverns, with the old red sandstone of May Hill and the Forest of Dean in the back ground — we commenced our walk through the Beech woods of Witcomb Park — by the fine remains of the Roman Villa, with its beautiful tesselated pavements to Cooper's Hill, where our Geologists found some interesting Quarries — and all found interest in a grand and extensive view — and returned to Birdlip through the wild and forest like district of the Cranham wood. I will say nothing of the objects of interest we met with in our course, though it was a good specimen of the north-eastern part of the Cotteswolds summits — abounding with fine views, principally up the Valley towards what is usually known as the Vale of Evesham — and full of a rich and luxuriant beauty. But I must allude to one good omen that occured at this our first meeting — in the presence of a Naturalist of that Society on the model of which we are formed. This is not a fit time to speak of the private merits of one of my oldest and kindest friends, but I may simply allude to the spirit which breathes through Selby's works, as a proof of the real value of that study which it is the object of our meetings to cultivate; for a really sound Naturalist can hardly be other than a good and happy man. Ere we parted, delighted I believe universally with our first day, we bad agreed at our next meeting on August 18th, to take a bolder flight, beyond in truth the limits we had originally intended as the Park of our Club ; and to visit that wild district beyond the Severn, little known indeed to most Gloucestershire people who dwell on this side the water ; except by its name of the Forest of Dean. The night of August 17 th found many of the party assembled at the King's Head, at Gloucester, though some, undeterred by distance, even left Cirencester on the morning of the 18th, determining to perform the whole in the day, or at least within the twenty-four hours. Our party, to the number of eight or ten, then started in a break, which Mr. Lysons had kindly lent to us, to Westbury-on-Severn — where we spent some time in examining "Westbury Cliff, where the bone bed at the junction of the Lias and red marls overhanging a broad reach of the Severn, afforded objects of great interest to the Geologist, the Botanist, and the lover of Scenery — to the former indeed it was peculiarly interesting, as Mr. Woodward pointed out to us the importance of this bone bed which divides the strata throughout England into two divisions, characterized (as many of the phenomena of nature are, «by objects which have no apparent reference to such a dis- tinction) by the different types of the fish embedded in each ; the lower or older strata abounding with fish having their tails unequally forked : whilst those of a shape more resembling the existing genera are found in the Lias and the superior beds. Returning to the break we proceeded still through the Vale of the Severn (though of a character less flat than we find on our own side of the river) to Little Dean, where even the breakfast provided for us was not more welcome than the sight of Dr. Daubeny, who had come there to join our party in the Forest. Leaving Little Dean we ascended the steep hill which gave us a glorious view of the Vale of the Cotteswolds opposite — and, soon after bidding adieu to fields and cultivated land, we plunged into the forest wilds. Whether it were that the tutelary genius of the Cotteswolds was here unable to protect us from the gnomes of the forest district, or that he had deter- mined to punish us tor our breach of bounds, I know not. But scarce had we lost sight of our own hills, when it appeared that the Undines or Naiads II rather than the Gnomes, had taken u* in charge — and that steady and con- tinuous down pour commenced, which I have known even on other occasions to welcome the unfrequent visitors to the Forest. From the top of Little Dean Hill, by Cinderford to the Speech House, we passed through scenery which in fair weather (for I can personally vouch that the weather there is sometimes fair) is of a rare beauty, and the roads too are good for horses who do not object to nearly perpendicular ascents and descents Subjects of interest to the Naturalist abound here at every step — a land of primaeval Forest is invaluable to the Botanist or the Entomologist. The Mineralogist detects, In the very outline of the landscape, the bold and irregular forms of the old red sandstone, while heaps of ochre, furnaces of iron, and pits of coal attest the mineral treasures of the region, and the Ornithologist sees, not unfrequently, the now rather rare and always beautiful fork-tailed kite wheeling; his graceful circles overhead. But alas, in a hard rain, the only circle to be seen overhead is the grateful but not graceful one of the umbrella, and though to the right and left we occasionally caught glimpses of giant oaks and fine hollies — though now and then a ray of light shewed us a noble extent of the hill and valley of the ancient Forest, yet it so soon was lost that we were not tempted to leave our vehicle till we reached the Speech House. This is a curious building — as nearly as may be in the centre of the Forest — containing, besides a small Inn, the courts where the Forest law has for centuries been administered by the Verderers or Officers of the Crown, sworn to try all offences against the Queen's Vert and Venison. The original Hall has lately been altered and improved, I should rather say done up — being abridged of much of its fair proportions, and made comfortable and comparatively uninteresting. From the Speech House we proceeded towards Coleford, somewhat better equipped against the weather than we had previously been, Inasmuch us I find recorded in the Annals of the Cotteswolds Club, that one of our members rendered illustrious a piece of stair carpet, by borrowing it to wear as a praid and (like Hampden) " glad he could escape soe." Arrived at Coleford through equally beautiful but equally hidden scenery, we found that two hours yet remained before dinner, and the question arose, should we dry ourselves, or should we walk three miles through rain and fog to the Buckstone. Honour is due to the undaunted hearts who decided for the latter, and in a pelting rain we again sallied forth. But here we had our reward. Scarcely had we penetrated the thick brushwood which lines the summit of a hill overlooking the lovely valley of the Wye, and saw before us that singular mass of a conglomerate of quartz pebbles, which is called the Buckstone, standing on a point — apparently so insecure, yet having survived the rise and ruin of man's stateliest struclures— than suddenly the rain ceased, the sun broke forth, somewhat dark and lowering indeed, but with all that distinctness of the outline and that charm of light and shade which is ever given by a stormy day to a mountainous prospect. After half an hour's enjoyment of this unexpected pleasure, the rain again commenced and we returned to Coleford, and after dinner to Gloucester, wheuce some of our bold brethren carried out their determination of return- ing at once to Cirencester, and reached it, as I am informed, within the lour and twenty hours from the time they had left it. I have taken much time in describing this excursion— partly because it took place in a district which is but little known to many of the people of our county — partly because that district is one of the most rich and varied both In interesting productions of nature and in valuable materials for art, but more than either — because the good humour and enjoyment which pervaded our party from first to last, shewed that, however any pleasure might be increased by fine weather, our spirits did not sink with the barometer, ami that our love of Nature was not dependant on her holiday smiles and her gala dress, but that we loved her for her own sake and in all her varied forms, as an object worthy alike of our study and veneration On the third gathering of our Club, on October the Oth (for I must hurry 12 through many of our meetings), we accepted the hospitable invitation of Mr. Bayly to breakfast with him at Brookthorpe Vicarage, and then proceeding up the hill to the Horsepools Inn, skirted the summits of the Ridge, to the noble British encampment of Painswick Beacon, which looks loftily over that plain which appears from the Vale to form the summit of the Cotteswolds. Those who had the good fortune to be there will not forget Mr. Strickland's lecture on the Geology of the Vale from that commanding point, where the eye passes over Robin Hood's Hill (or Robin's Wood Hill) isolated by the Lias but capped with the Inferior Oolite, to the Volcanic Sienite of the Malverns, the Caradoc sandstone of May Hill, the coal measures and the old red sandstone of the Forest of Dean. Our fourth meeting took place on December the 1st, 1846, at Hardwicke Court, where, if the other members of the Club enjoyed their reception one- half as much as the President enjoyed their company, all must have spent a happy day. Some collections of birds, prints, and dried plants, were examined, and among the latter a specimen of the Epipactis rubra, determined several of our botanical members to make, what I fear has hitherto proved, a vain search for it — though it was at the same time determined, with the spirit of true naturalists, that should it be found there should be no wanton destruction of a plant now become extremely rare if not extinct in this country. The first meeting in 1847 took place on the 13th of April at Cirencester. I was unable to attend as I was Sheriff and the Assizes were going on, but I find that those members who were more fortunate than myself visited the Roman Pavement near Mr. Anderson's house in the Park. The fine Flemish and Suffolk cart horses in Lord Bathurst's farm buildings. The Agricultural College then of considerable interest, though less so than now in its more perfect state, and the curious slip in the strata which is seen in the cutting of the Great Western Railway near the end of the Sapperton tunnel. The evening was rendered interesting by Mr. Woodward's paper on the geology of the district embraced by the Club. On May the 18th the meeting of the Yeomanry, at Bristol, again detained me from the Cotteswolds Club, who assembled at the Bear Inn, on Rodborough Common, and although they found on this side of the hill many of the beautiful anemone Pulsatilla, yet, with a most praiseworthy moderation, they only bore away one or two specimens, that they might not wantonly rob even a common of its objects of great interest and beauty. Crossing the valley by Woodchester, beneath the turf of which rest some of the most beautiful Roman tesselated pavements in England, but which are only uncovered once in every five or six years, the party proceeded up the hill and through the long wood to Frocester Hill, which, if it affords less of a panoramic view than many other points, yields to none in the rich and varied character of its foreground. Returning through Woodchester Park to the Bear, the evening was signalized by the interesting paper by Dr. Wright on the anatomy of the mandible of the Geophilus longicornis which appears in our annals. On July the 2nd the Cotteswolds Naturalists met at Chalford, and in the course of a most interesting walk, we examined three Churches and two Manufactories. Looking to our name as the Cotteswolds Naturalists, this scarcely appears a satisfactorily spent day, but we must remember that the first rule of our Club is, that our object shall be to investigate the Natural History, Antiquities, and Agriculture, and other objects worthy of interest in the Cotteswolds district and its neighbourhood ; and where could we find objects of higher interest than Bussage, Oakridge,and Frampton Churches — all built by private charity in late years in hamlets far from any other church. For the manufactories, one at least may claim an intimate connection with agriculture, as its object is to make paper from straw, and, thanks to the kindness of Mr. Cochrane, who shewed us the process, it came peculiarly under the head of objects of interest. The paper will not indeed bear folding well, but it answers admirably for packing goods, and 13 the demand for it had lately obliged Mr. Cochrane to add largely to his premises. On the 3rd of August the angry tumult of the County Election detained me from the far more pleasing studies of nature— but the Club breakfasted at Purton Vicarage, by the kind invitation of Mr. Prower, from whence they walked to the Roman encampment at Ringsbury, and on to Lydiard Millicent, where examining a deep well which was being dug in the village, I And that they discovered not an Icthyosaurus, to raise conjecture as to its own history, but, far better, Professor Daubeuy, ready to explain to them the hidden meaning of the leaves of that stone book which the labourers, like the worm, had simply bored through. On returning to the Vicarage, Mr. Light displayed some very beautiful cases of Insects and of chalk fossils from his own neighbourhood, and Mr. Lycett read the interesting paper, which is printed in our transactions, " On the Fossil Conchology of the Great Oolite of Minchinhampton, compared with that of the same formation in other localities," and Dr. Daubeny kindly invited the Club to hold its winter meeting at Oxford. On Wednesday, September loth, I wasagain detained from the meeting by Yeomanry duties, but a small party, who would not however vote themselves a regular meeting, assembled at Shurdington, and walked through Badge- worth, by the remains of the Roman Villa near Witcombe, visited by the Club at our first meeting, to Cooper's Hill, and thence through Great Witcombe to the quarries of Crickley Hill, and thus ended the second summer of our existence as a club. On December 7th we met at the Botanical Gardens at Oxford, by the kind invitation of Dr. Daubeny. I am loth to notice so lightly the objects of interest which were unfolded to us by the preparation of our kind host, and the attention of many of the eminent Professors of the University, who themselves shewed us their museums, but were I to attempt to record even my own recollections at this period, I will not say that I should weary you, for the subjects are so full of interest, that even my narration would scarcely deprive them of it— but I should detain you for an unseemly and inconvenient length of time. The only alternative is simply to mention the names of the collections we saw, and to leave it to the memory of those present to recall the varied pleasures of the day. Suffice it then to say, that our member, Mr. Strickland, shewed us the Ashmolean Museum, and Dr. Buckland's Geological Museum in the old Clarendon. Mr. Walker shewed us his collection of Apparatus for instruction in Physics. Dr. Acland explained the collection, which he has so much increased, in the anatomy schools, and we then returned to the Botanical Gardens to hear a lecture from our kind host on Volcanoes, as agents of great importance to Agri- culture, both by varying the surface of the ground, and by the creation of necessary gases and the fertilization of the soil. We then accompanied the Professor through the garden, and after dining at his hospitable board, concluded a day of rare enjoyment, to meet however at breakfast next morning at Mr. and Mrs. Strickland's, and enjoy his museum of Ornithology, and a walk through the Taylor Buildings, before we bade adieu to Oxford. On May the 2nd, 1848, an invitation to breakfast with the Honorary Secretary, appeared to muster the Club in almost overwhelming numbers, and had such a gathering occurred in one of the small hostelries we most usually frequent, we had been hard put to it. After breakfast Dr. Daubeny gave us an interesting account of the fossil bone earth found in Suffolk and in Dorsetshire, which so far tended to fulfil a prediction of Liebig, that, as the northern districts of our Island possessed the Coal and Iron mines, so important to a great manufacturing district — so it would probably be found that the southern portions possessed those materials most adapted for the promotion of Agriculture. The Honorary Secretary then shewed us his curious apparatus for hatching eggs by steam, in which we wished him all possible success, and we proceeded to the Royal Agricultural College, c 14 where Professor Buckman displayed the already valuable museum of Natural History, and Professor Wilson accompanied us round the flourishing farm. On Tuesday, June 13, we met at the Spread Eagle at Gloucester, and walked to Churchdown Hill, from the summit of which Mr. Buckman explained to us a most interesting theory of a Strait of the Sea having at one time probably separated England from Wales, but which has long risen into dry land ; which led some of us to speculations, whether the Irish Channel might not some day rise, and unite us, in like manner, with the sister Isle by a Union not easily repealed. On Tuesday, Aug. 8th, the Club met at Minchinhampton, and enjoyed the choice and beautiful collection of fossils made by Mr. Lycett, who then accompanied them to the quarries in the neighbourhood, whence his patience and skill has procured them, and where he has been rewarded by the discovery of several shells new to science. And on Tuesday, Sept. 26th, we met at Stonehouse, and walked where Fretherne Cliff overhanging the Severn near the lower part of the horse shoe, by its frequently crumbling affords constant interest to the Geologist ; and though on our return Mr. Buckman seemed to fear that instead of finding mistletoe in Gloucester- shire oaks, it was only found in a hoax, yet I am assured that the rare speci- men still actually exists, though in a different tree to those we had searched. Forgive me, Gentlemen, if I have dwelt too long on the recapitulation of these our meetings, but I, for my part, have received so much pleasure from them, and so much information relative to my own county and neighbourhood, that if you have enjoyed them as I have, you will not grudge the having them again separately recalled to your recollections. And now let me say a few words on our general objects. I remember being asked, some time ago, " What is the aim or end of such a meeting ; can you hope to make in this district any discoveries new to science, and to throw a light hitherto unknown on the world ? or, if you do discover a new fossil shell, or a new insect, what will the world be the better for it? " — To this I can only answer, " Our object is not so much the hope of making the world better, as to make ourselves better. We seek a healthy, a most fascinating, far more than either, a most holy study. For what is the study of Natural History, but an approach to the Creator through his works ? Nor do I believe, that He who has charged us, not only to read, but diligently to mark and learn the Bible, plain and distinct as much of it is, yet so deep in its wisdom, that no man, however much he may have pored over it, will say that he has mastered it and need study it no more ; I cannot, I say, believe that He has given us those wonderful books of stone, which lie in the earth, in which He has placed characters, hard to be read indeed at first, yet rewarding the patient investigator with chronicles that can scarcely be mistaken— and that He has not intended that we should read them, were it but to bring more clearly to our dull conceptions that greatness which our highest imaginations can never reach." I cannot believe that He has permitted us (for all knowledge comes only by His permission) to acquire the power of the microscope, which enables us to discover so much of the nature of what is sometimes called "the meanest insect," had He not intended to convince us by our own senses, that nothing which He has created can be called mean— and though the farther we proceed in the study, the more we find yet to be learned — yet, with the sense of our own ignorance, increases also our sense of the wisdom of Him who is seen over all and in all His works. If we take up the study of Natural History with this feeling — and without such a feeling let none venture to approach it — the ultimate object of our Society is indeed a high one, and if the means be a pure and healthful recreation from the more fatiguing (and very necessary) yet not more noble employments of every day life, let us trust that we may long be permitted to receive aid and assistance from each other, in that noble study, the pursuit of which is the object of the Cotteswolds Club. 15 On the Potion Gland in the Jaw of Geophilus longicornti. By Thomas P. Wright, Esq., M.D., &c. At a Meeting of the Cotteswolds Naturalists' Club, held at Rodborough Common, May 18th, 1847, Dr. Wright, of Cheltenham, exhibited a beautiful preparation of the Geophilus longicornti , Leach, in which he had observed the veneniferous glands of that Myriapod. He had found no description of these glands in any of the great authorities on the structure of the articulate animals whom he had consulted, from which he inferred that these bodies had hitherto escaped observation. Dr. Wright observed that the salivary glands in the vertebrate animals are in general absent in those classes and tribes which live habitually in water. In Fishes they are absent, an increased mucous secretion being poured into the mouth by a great development of the buccal follicles. In Batrachia distinct glands are absent, a compensative secretion being supplied by the mucous glands of the mouth and tongue. In the Cetacea they exist only in a rudimentary state. Hence the conclusion that animals that seize their prey in the water, and swallow it without mastication, have no necessity for saliva as a preliminary solvent for the digestive process, the gastric juice in these animals being sufficient to complete the chemical changes in the stomach. In the invertebrate classes salivary glands are absent in all the Radiata, nor do we observe these bodies in the Tunicated or Acephalous Mollusca ; but they are found in the Gasteropoda and Cephalopoda ; they are absent in the Entozoa, but exist in a rudimental state in the Annelida and Crustacea. In all the classes of the Articulata that respire air, as Myriapoda, Insecta, and Arachnida, salivary vessels can be demonstrated : these organs may be subdivided into simple and com- pound glands. A. When the secretion supplied is a fluid concerned in the digestive process, the secreting organ is a simple tube with its distal extremity closed. B. When the secretion supplied is used for the destruction of prey, the secreting organ is a compound body or gland. In the major ity of Insecta the salivary vessels are simple ramified tubes that open into the gullet, but in Hemiptera simple tubes and glandular bodies coexist ; the former I regard as the true salivary organs, the latter as veneniferous glands for the destruction of prey. In Nepa, Notonecta, Naucorti, and Ranatra these bodies are beautifully developed. In pulmonary Arachnida the veneniferous glands are situated in the cephalothorax ; their excretory ducts arise from the anterior part of the gland and traverse a minute canal in the mandibles, and open at the perforated extremity of these organs. In Myriapoda, as in the preparation of Geophilus longicornti now before us, the veneniferous glands he at the base of the mandibles among the striped or voluntary muscles that occupy this region. With an inch glass 16 Dr. Wright on the Poison Oland of Geqphilics longieornti* we see these organs most satisfactorily ; they consist of two oblong compact bodies composed of bundles of diaphanous cells closely pressed together and inclosed in a distinct capsule reposing loosely at the base of the jaws and occupying the hollow part of these organs ; from the anterior part of the gland rises a single excretory duct, which passes forwards in an arched direction, and enters a canal in the horny part of the perforated jaw, and opens near its apex, as in the Arachnida. By this mechanism, when Geophilus inserts its mandibles into the body of its victims, it at the same moment introduces a poison into the wound which destroys life, after the same principle as the parotid glands in some ophidian reptiles, as Crotalus, Nqja and Vipera, are metamorphosed into veneniferous glands lor the destruction of living prey. After this communication was made, Dr. Wright demonstrated the preparation to the members of the Club, and exhibited the singular structure with the aid of the microscope. 17 A few general Remarks on the Fossil Conchology of the Great Oolite of Minchinhampton in comparison with that of the same Formation in other localities. By John Ltcett, Esq. The following observations have been suggested to me by a remark of Dr. Buckland in his " Bridgwater Treaties," and which has since been occasionally quoted and repeated by others ; in effect, that during the vast period when the secondary formations were in process of deposition, a molluscous class (the carnivorous Trachelipods), which in our present seas perform the office of keeping down within due limits the other molluscous races, did not then exist, or that they were extremely few, and that it was only on the exlirpation of those extensive genera of Cephalopoda, the Ammonites and Belemnites, at the commencement of the tertiary epoch, that the carnivorous or Trachelipods made their appearance. Living in a district distinguished by a great profusion of molluscous remains, a large proportion of which are absolutely unknown to science, a favourable opportunity for testing the correctness of the foregoing theory was presented to me, more especially as these remains occur in an unusually good state of preservation, extending in some instances even to the original colours of univalves, the hinges of the bivalves, and the external ligament of the hinge in the latter shells. Before however stating the results of this inquiry, a very brief sketch of the physical and geological characters of the district may not be unacceptable to the members. A circle having a radius of only four miles, with the town of Minchin- hampton in the centre, will comprise the whole district to which these fos- sils refer. The Bath Oolite, or Compound Great Oolite as it is now termed by geologists, is the uppermost formation ; its continuity is however broken by two great valleys of denudation, the vales of Brimscomb and Wood- chester, which, with their numerous lateral ramifications, have cut through the whole series of rocks from the upper part of the Great Oolite to the middle of the lias inclusive, having a mean depth of 500 feet, thereby pro- ducing a combination of circumstances eminently favourable for exposing the useful beds of stone and conveying it by water-carriage. The divisions of the Compound Great Oolite are, Great Oolite and Fuller's Earth, the former having a thickness of 130 and the latter of 70 feet. At some few localities the base of the Great Oolite has one or two beds of true Stonesfield slate associated with brown marls. In this respect however, as in the mineral character of the formation generally, the greatest variety and uncertainty exist; opposite sides of the same quarry will often exhibit such a change ; thus an Oolitic and shelly limestone will pass into a barren sandstone. Keeping this fact in view, a considerable latitude most be allowed in the following arrangement, which is given only as a general and approximate view of the whole series of beds. The Great Oolite proper may be conveniently subdivided into three series of beds, an upper and lower fossiliferous, often serviceable for building purposes, and a middle, more barren and unserviceable. Beginning with the uppermost, or those 18 Mr. J. Lycett on the Fossils which immediately underlie the Bradford clay, we And an alternating series of limestones and clays or marls, extremely variable both in thickness and extent. Certain of these bands, and more especially one of a compact cream-coloured limestone, are eminently shelly, but will seldom allow of the shells being separated entire. These gradually pass downwards into the middle subdivision, where the rock is more barren of organic remains, and sandy. The lower subdivision assumes a very different aspect ; we here find 35 or 40 feet of shelly beds, separating into large masses, and well-suited for the mason. From the third or lower subdivision it is that nearly the whole of our fossils are derived, the stone usually admitting their being cleaved with a knife. The uppermost portion of this series, the planking*, which is from 8 to 10 feet thick, contains the most numerous suite of zoophagous Trachelipods, several of which are not found beneath it. To this succeeds a few feet of incoherent sandy rock, the upper part of which is nearly destitute of shells, or only occupied by a few species of small bivalves. The shells gradually increase in number downwards, and repose on several beds of hard shelly rock, locally called Weatherstone. Here more especially abound the valves of small oysters, which at length constitute no inconsiderable portion of the mass, and whose peculiar structure imparts such great hardness to the deposit, that the lower few inches strike fire with the tools of the workmen. These shelly beds or weatherstones have a high character for durability ; they have a coarse aspect ; when once dried by exposure to the sun they do not readily absorb water, and consequently resist the action of frost ; a careful selection is however necessary to ensure this desideratum. The south transept of Minchinhampton church, five centuries old, is built of this stone, and notwithstanding its very exposed situation, displays all the sharpness and distinctness in its angles and carving which we should expect in a modern edifice. The Fuller's earth which underlies these deposits is but partially and imperfectly exposed within the district ; it consists of a series of brown and blue marls and clays traversed by three or four bands of a hard argillaceous rock locally called clay rag. Some portions of the clays, and more especially the rag-stones, are made up of the valves of small oysters, chiefly Ostrea acuminata ; the organic remains, however, are far from numerous, when counted by number of species ; they are nearly all bivalves, and I have not observed any which are not likewise found in the weatherstones above. The Fuller's earth constitutes the most fertile soil in this part of the county j when properly drained it is well-adapted for pasturage and orchards, which together with a good supply of water derived from the superincumbent Oolite, has made it in populous districts the chosen seat of man's habitation ; accordingly its course may be traced by a belt or terrace, more or less wide, of houses and gardens encircling the hill-sides. Landslips from such a yielding deposit, as might be expected, are frequent, and thereby render the barren slope of the Inferior Oolite fertile : a coating of its marls sometimes extends even down to the lias. The numerical proportion of species obtained by me from the Minchinhampton Great Oolite are in number as follows :— Bivalves, 164, Univalves, 141, Radiara, 13, Cephalopoda, 9. Of the latter 0 are Ammonites j these are so scarce, that 50 specimens probably exceed the entire number. Of Nautili there are two species, one of which has furnished only three specimens, and the other is far from numerous. The Belemnites have only one species, small and likewise scarce. Of the 141 Univalves 45 pertain to carnivorous genera, exclusive of 8 species of Phasianella, the living shells of which are now known to be both carnivorous and phytophagous. These genera are, Ncrinaa 13 species, Cerithium 5, Murex 6, Buccinum 2 ; a new group of large shells belong- ing to the Muricidce, to which as yet no generic appellation has been given, • A local term indicating a thin-b»dded stone. of the Great Oolite at Minchinhampton. 19 4 species ; Pleurotoma 1 ; Hippocrenes, a group of winged shells differing from the Rostellaria of the recent period, 10 species: Fusus, or a group at least belonging to the Furince, 4 species. This extreme paucity of the Cephalopoda, taken in connexion with the occurrence of numerous genera and species of carnivorous univalves, is a remarkable circumstance. We know that previously throughout the lias and inferior Oolite the Cephalopoda reigned supreme amongst the mollus- cous tribes. Subsequently also the Oxford clay and Portland Oolite contained them in nearly equal profusion. With these facts before us, the inquiry naturally follows, — Were there any peculiar circumstances con- nected with the mineral character of the deposit at the locality in question, and what was the probable depth of the sea over the shelly beds ; since we find here zoophagous tribes differing from those of warm seas at the present time not very materially either in number or in their generic affinities? First, with regard to the nature of the deposit, or at lea*t ihe more shelly portions of it : — In the planking and Weatherstone beds we find heaps of broken shells piled diagonally, the bivalves rarely having both valves in apposition j with these are fragments of wood, crabs' claws, joints of Apiocrinite and Pentacrinite, ossicula of Ophiura, palates and teeth of fishes, small bouldered fragments of Madrepores, and nodules of rock apparently foreign to the deposit: these conditions vary and change every few yards, as likewise does the mineral character of the beds ; — the results, in fact, of littoral actien; of a shallow sea where the shells were subjected to strong currents producing hasty deposits and frequent trituration. The Oolitic structure is rather scanty and very uncertain. As a complete con- trast to these conditions, the Great Oolite in the vicinity of Bath may be cited. The rock is there thick-bedded ; the Oolitic structure prevails ; the shells are few, and those chiefly Terebratulce ; the denizens, it may be presumed, of a deep and tranquil sea, in which corals and sponges multiplied and attained large dimensions. In Mr. Lonsdale's list of 31 species of Mollusca from the Bradford clay, Bath Oolite and Fullers earth of that neighbourhood, no less than eight are Terebratulce, and a Crania has since been added ; a larger number of Brachiopods than will be found in the 327 Minchinhampton species which I have tabulated. The list given by Mr. Buckman, in his " Geology of Cheltenham," from the Bradford clay and Stonesfield slate of the Cotteswolds in the north-eastern part of this county, comprises 5 Radiaria, 2 Terebratulae, 44 Bivalves, 6 Cephalopoda, and 19 Univalves Stonesfield has yielded a rich store of remains of reptiles, fishes, Crustacea and land plants, but the Conchologi- cal list is but meagre, and we are nearly destitute of information with regard to the shells of the Great Oolite in its long course through the counties of Northampton and Lincoln. Yorkshire, on the other hand, has found able illustrators in Phillips, Williamson and Bean, the latter gentleman having given, in the M Magazine of Natural History for 1839," a list of fossilsfrom the stratum called Cornbrash in that county, consisting of 4 Radiaria, 3 Annulata, 91 Bivalves, 16 Univalves, and 3 Cephalopoda. Unfortunately, however, the rocks beneath the Oxford clay in that county form a great carboniferous series of deposits accumulated in an estuary, and will not allow of its subdivisions being identified with those of the middle and west of England. From this cause the shells have little more than a local value, since we cannot be sure that any particular stratum is contemporaneous with another in a different locality. On looking at these lists, together with those relating to the Oolitic rocks of France, Germany, and Switzerland, we are struck with the great paucity of univalves as compared with the small district of Minchinhampton. A careful scrutiny however of various foreign works which bear upon the subject, — of the works of Goldfuss, Roemer, Dunker, Deslongchamps, d' Archiac, &c. — has convinced me, that if any peculiarity exists with regard to the Minchinhampton fossils it is at least of a very limited nature, inasmuch as nearly one-half the entire numbers of bivalves can be identified 20 Remarks on the Great Oolite at Minchinhampton. in those works, a considerable number being from the coral rag of Hoheng- gelsen, which seems to be the equivalent of our Great Oolite. Among the univalves, the general resemblance to the Minchinhampton shells is so great, that at first wo feel prepared to identify the greater number of them ; a closer scrutiny undeceives us, and ultimately we are surprised at the very few which we can call our own. It may be suspected, indeed, that the meagre lists of univalves hitherto published relating to the formation in question are the result, not so much of an actual d< ficiency of those shells, as of the difficulty of separating them from the stone in a condition sufficiently -well- preserved to admit of specific characters being recognized. The Oolite of our district itself furnishes an instance in illustration ; almost the entire suite of univalves are procured from quarri< s to the north and west of the town, and even within those limits are certain localities from which the univalves can hardily be separated; but in the upper and middle sub- divisions, to the fast of the town, we can obtain but few, and thbse only which approach the globular figure, as Natica and Bulla, usually in the form of casts ; with slender spiral shells the attempt is hopeless. These circumstances however are altogether independent of the great fact forced upon our attention — viz., the scarcity and almost entire disappearance of the Cephalopoda from the sea of this portion of the Ootteswoids during a period in which deposits 200 feet in thickness were formed, and the simultaneous appearance of a large number of new and more simple forms to supply their place. With our present very scanty knowledge of the circumstances which conduce to change of species on the floor of the sea, reasoning would be little better than conjecture ; I have therefore rather preferred to state facts as they are presented to my notice, reflecting that every such contribution, however insignificant, is something added to the general store of knowledge, and consequently an aid to our conceptions of the operation of that infinite and all-pervading wisdom which is exemplified equally in the lowest as in the highest beings of creation. Hence, though it is well known (as above quoted from Dr. Buckland) that throughout the vast deposits of the secondary rocks those important tribes of Cephalopods, the Ammonites and Belemnites, reigned supreme amongst the molluscous races, and that they became extinct prior to the commencement of the tertiary aera, their paucity in the Great Oolite of Minchinhampton would lead us to infer that some peculiar conditions of sea-bottom existed at that locality which were unfavourable to their in- crease. But so far from the carnivorous Trachelipods " not having existed prior to the commencement of the tertiary aera," we here find them in the middle of the secondary deposits in great force and variety, forming in fact a considerable proportion of the whole number of univalves, and conse- quently existing long before the extinction of the Ammonites and Belem- nites. It is highly probable that Dr. Buckland would not now adhere to the above theory, stated some ten or eleven years ago ; but having the authority of his nnme and occurring in a standard work, it still passes current with. the reading public, and has frequently been quoted by subsequent writers. On a future occasion I anticipate the pleasure of presenting to the Club some remarks more in detail on the new or less-known molluscous forms which occur in this formation. The Inferior Oolite within the narrow limits of my observation has likewise yielded a considerable store of novel materials for investigation : these would require a separate communication. 21 Notes on the distribution of the Fossil Conchologu of the Oolitit Formations in the vicinity of Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, By Johx Lycett, Esq. Read 8th August, 1848. The following remarks have been written chiefly with a view to illustrate the contents of the author's cabinet, premising that the objects in question constitute materials fitted rather for private study than for public demon- stration. The bones of gigantic Saurian reptiles, of fishes, the shells of great Cephalopods, are appreciated even by the uninstructed spectator. They speak to his senses of a creation distinct from that which he sees around him, and he is prepared to hear of further wonders when the voice of comparative anatomy tells him of their organization and consequent habits. None of these fall within the scope of my remarks ; they are absent: we know that they existed contemporaneously with the deposition of these rocks and their included fossils : Stonesfield in this country, Pappenheim and Solenhofen in Germany assure us of this. Speaking with the caution which the subject demands, it may be asserted that the conditions of sea-bottom in our neighbourhood, though varying consider- ably during the time which was required for an accumulation of 400 feet in vertical thickness of solid rock, and the creation and extinction of many forms of molluscous animals, at no time constituted the estuary of a great river. We search in vain for the relics of air-breathing animals and plants periodically carried down and spread over its floor. The only vegetable remains are fragments of wood which may have floated on the ocean wave to whatever quarter the winds and currents directed them. With the great Saurians the case was different ; whether denizens of the land, of rivers, or of estuary waters, their remains were entombed in the fine mud which fluviatile waters deposit so copiously. We should not expect, nor do we find, a large number of marine shells associated with such deposits } their paucity is perfectly compatible with what we know of brackish waters of the recent period, and the small number of marine species which they furnish. Precluded then from dis- playing this description of fossil treasures, we revert to the less striking remains of molluscous animals, and these from their number, their associa- tion, their separation into distinct groups and other circumstances repeated at different periods, acquire an interest distinct from that which would attach to them as mere examples of fossil conchology. To illustrate there- fore this portion of the subject the present memoir is chiefly directed, interspersed with notices of such remarkable or characteristic forms as have hitherto been imperfectly described, or which impart to these assemblages their prominent and distinguishing features. B 22 Mr. J. Lycett on the Fossil Conchology of the Commencing with the upper portion of the Great Oolite in our vicinity, we find several beds of hard limestone and bands of marly clay, containing a series of shells representing in diminished numbers the inhabitants of the lower and richer fossiliferoua beds of the formation. Several which do not occur in the lower group I will notice ; these are the little Cardium Beaumont i (Archiac), very abundant, Pholadomya nana (Phillips), Chemnitzia, new species, Bulla Hildesiensis (Rcemer), Bulla suprajurensis (Reamer), Cardium pes-bovis (Archiac), Cardilla grandis, new species. The other forms which commonly occur are Lucina lyrata (Phillips), Lucina rotundata (Rcemer), Ceromya semi-striata, new species, Ceromya excentrica (Isocardia, Rcemer). We have been fortunate enough to succeed in clearing the hinges of the two latter species, and have thus ascertained that they have nothing in common with Isocardia, but belong to the new genus Ceromya of Agassiz. Isocardia conccntrica must likewise be placed in the same genus. Quitting these beds and descending through sandstones nearly destitute of organic remains, we arrive at the shelly Oolite locally termed planking, or upper beds of the Great Oolite building stone, a marine deposit distin- guished by the great profusion of its fossil conchology and their good slate of preservation. Here at one locality we find a large assemblage of a genus which seems to be characteristic of this formation and especially of this vicinity; I allude to the new genus Purpuroidea, of which the generic characters are as follows : — Shell turreted, ventricose, apeture large, apex of the spire pointed. Spire consisting of several whorls usually convex, and having about their middle part a circle of tubercles or blunt spines. Columella smooth, rounded, and curved inwards at its base. Notch wide, but not deep nor recurved. Outer lip thin, slightly sinuated, and forming an acute angle posteriorly at its junction with the body whorl. The casts of the interior are smooth, or exhibit but faint indications of the tubercles, and none of the ribs or striae which distinguish the perfect shells. The axial umbilicus is usually very conspicuous and the basal notch not distinguishable. They would certainly be taken for Natica1 by persons not conversant with the outer form, and even appear to have been figured as such by Rcemer under the title of Natica subnodosa from the Oolite of Hanover. One of the species has twice been imperfectly figured in English works ; first in Young and Bird's "Geology of the Yorkshire Coast," as Merux nodulatus; the figure is merely a rude sketch of a bad specimen, but characteristic ; sub- sequently a figure representing little more than a cast was given in the u Mineral Conchology," as Merux tuberosus. The varieties of form and markings which two of the species exhibit are worthy of notice; the most abundant shell, P. rugosa, when young and the size of a nut, has tubercles in lieu of spines ; the transverse ribs are well-dt fined ; but the longitudinal elevations which give the species a rugose aspect are absent, the basal notch is nearly obsolete, and the columella is nearly straight. The P. nodulata has still greater varieties ; when full-grown it has two encircling rows of tubercles on the body whorl, from the lower and smaller of which proceed oblique longitudinal ribs which terminate in a transverse elevated basal belt. The young shell is nearly 6mooth ; the smaller circle of tubercles is scarcely distinguishable ; the ribs are absent, as is likewise the basal belt. Occasionally in full-grown specimens the smaller circle of tubercles degenerates into an encircling rib. The spire is of various degrees of elevation, in fact scarcely any two specimens are exactly alike ; a considerable number are therefore desirable for its full elucidation. The third species, P. glabrata, is rare; it equals the others in magnitude. It is seldom that we can trace the limits of a species over any particular area; here however we are enabled to do so with tolerable accuracy. These shells are grouped together in the blocks of stone by hundreds, occupying a vertical thickness of 6 or 6 feet, and spread over an area 50 yards wide and 100 long. It is to he regretted that this prolific space will ere long be entirely removed, and Oolitic Formations in the vicinity of Minchinhampton. 23 the Purpuroidea in its perfect 9tate will probably be only a matter of tradition as far as this vicinity is concerned. These conditions hvae produced upon our mind the impression that here we perhaps behold the birth-place or original seat from whence (he diffusion of the genus took place. Repeated observations hare shown that specimens occur in every other quarry in the neighbourhood, but so rarely, that the total number noticed probably has not exceeded twenty in the course of the last six years. Higher in the series they are met with in several beds of compact homogeneous limestone, but much more sparingly than in the planking, and from the hard structure of tire rock can only be separated in the form of the tVatica-Wke casts. The Patella, which occur abundantly in our shelly Oolite, like their recent congeners , vary so considerably as sometimes to puzzle even persons who have been accustomed to their peculiarities. The most common species, P. rugosa.) when obtained south of the vale of Brimscomb, fully deserves its name, but north of the vale it loses mueh of the rugose aspect caused by the lines of growth, the longitudinal striae are faintly marked, and the shell is altogether extremely thin. In a very young state the form is a longer oval and much less elevated, the apex being slightly turned to the right side, constituting the Patella ancilloides of the " Mineral Conchology," which species should therefore be expunged. Patella Aubentonensis (Archiac) occasionaly loses its striae altogether, and this change is not confined to any particular size or form of shell. Patella nana in advanced age is spread out more horizontally towards its borders, and forms a concave conical and ovate shell. The fine encircling striae then altogether disappear; the minute figure in the " Mineral Conchology" refers to the shell in its young state. The genus Nerinea is represented by upwards of fourteen species, of which five ar<» abundant ; they seem to occupy in the Oolitic rocks the place of the Cerithia of the older tertiary strata, and are decidedly the predominating univalve of their period. Our most common species are destitute of the tubercles or striae by which these shells are usually ornamented ; four only of the species appear to have been figured or described. One fact in connexion with the extinct carnivorous trachelipods should be noticed. The recent genera of that class are furnished with a tubular boring apparatus, by means of which they drill round holes in the bivalves and prey upon their juices. As none of the Oolitic bivalves have such perforations, we may conclude that the extinct carnivorous genera of that period were differently constituted. Of the Natica we number fourteen species, seven of which are new ; although the species are thus numerous, one only, N. Michelini (Archiac), is at all common. The family of the winged shells, or Strombida>y are represented by upwards of eleven species belonging to the same genus ; the greater number of these likewise occur eveu to the base of the formation. We have separated them from the Rostellarias and Pteroceras under the generic term Rostrotrema ; they are distinguished from the true Rostellarias by the absence of an upper or posterior siphon upon the spire, the outer lip not extending beyond the body whorl or but slightly upon the penultimate, and there is no corresponding thickening upon the inner lip to form a channel. It is true that one or two recent species of Rostellaria have no posterior siphon upon the spire, but in such instances the siphon is present and coiled round upon the upper part of the wing. From Strombus it is sufficiently distinguished by the absence of the sinus on the outer lip. We venture to suggest that the Strombida requires a re-arrangement, the digitations of the outer lip not being of sufficient importance to found upon them generic distinctions : they are of too variable a character, and in some instances depend very much upon the age of the specimen. Another generic form, as yet found in no other part of England, is a conical turbinated univalve, called by me Trochotoma ; five species occur, but only one is common. Its distinguishing generic feature is a transverse 24 Mr. J. Lycctt on the Fossil Conchobgy of the fissure upon the body whorl, which approaches the outer lip, but does not reach it. This alone is sufficient to distinguish it from Pleurotomaria, from which also the base materially differs, its deep concavity resembling an umbilicus and giving to the aperture a semilunar figure. The outer lip is thick, the whorls usually angular and concentrically straited. They occur throughout all the lower fossiliferous beds. Perhaps 1 may be excused for briefly alluding to the name given to this shell, although the matter is of a somewhat personal nature. In the autumn of 1841, finding that this form was entirely unknown, I forwarded a specimen to Pro. Sedgwick as a new genus, and mentioned that I proposed to call it Trochotoma: about the same time a gentleman who then collected largely from our Great Oolite and distributed its fossils widely always affixed to it the name which I had proposed to give it, so that the appellation became current wherever a collection of our fossils existed six years ago. Within two years afterwards Professor Ansted figured one of the species in his work on Geology under the same name. Knowing these facts, my surprise may be imagined, when lately turning to the new work on Natural History by Pictet, published at Geneva, I found that he had described this genus under a new name, saying that this is the Trochotoma of M. Deslongchamp, and referring to a paper by that gentleman on the Great Oolite of Normandy, published in the 7th volume ofthe*Transactions' of the Linnsean Society of Normandy in 1842. In that memoir are figured and described five species, of which three are found in this vicinity. It would therefore appear that M. Deslongchamp must have read his paper to the Society in 1841, and nearly simultaneously with myself must have imagined the same new word as a designation for a certain new form. The paper in question is even now so little known in this country that I was compelled to resort to the British Museum to see a copy of it. Probably another coincidence exactly similar to this is not upon record. It is proposed to restore the forgotten term Cylindrites used by Llywhyd as a gereric name for a form which requires to be distinguished, and which appears to be very characteristic both of this rock and the Inferior Oolite. We possess six species, three of which have been figured, two as Actceon in the " Mineral Conchology," and one as Conus by Archiac ; the generic characters are as follows: — Form cylindrical. Spire small, acute, sometimes not rising above the body whorl but always exposed ; whorls several, usually flat, sulcated at their junctions. Aperture elongated, narrow, almost linear. Columella with two folds at its base, which is slightly turned outwards at that part; base of the apeture entire, outer lip thin. All the species are distinct from those of the Inferior Oolite. Before quitting this assemblage of shells, another form which has occasioned me much perplexity must be noticed. It is called by Rcemer Placuna jurensis, but is clearly distinct from that genus, of which it does not possess the cardinal teeth, nor has it the hole or appendage of Anomia. The following are the grounds upon which it is deemed proper to erect it into a distinct genus. Generic Character. — Shell very thin, irregular, either convex or flat, posterior border rounded, anterior border more straight ; apex little elevated, but always distinct and placed near to the middle of the anterior border. Fine longitudinal closely arranged waved striae radiate from the apex on every side ; the under surface is smooth with a large central impression. These shells were frequently (perhaps always^ attached to bivalves, more especially to Trigonia, not by the external surface but from the under side; the knobs and stria? proper to those shells causing the elevations upon the attached shells. From these circumstances it would appear that the soft parts of the parasite must have adhered to the Trigonia prior to the secretion of the thin shelly plate, and that the shelly matter was deposited during such adhesion. On the death of the parasite the thin plate separated, as there was no shelly adhesion between it and the Trigonia, and they are never found attached to the latter. With the scanty knowledge we possess Oolitio Formations in the vicinity of Minchinhampton. 25 of this form, it would be unwise to speculate upon its affinities unless with great reserve and circumspection. The mode in which the markings of the TrigonioB are transferred to this shell renders it very difficult to imagine that it could have been a bivalve. We look as it were upon an impression at the back of the paper, the parts in relief having been stamped through it, but disguised by the finely striated surface at the back of the attached shell. It was sedentary, and if univalve may have belonged to those forms of the Patelloidea in which the shell is partially enveloped in the soft parts of the animals, examples of which are found in Fissurella, HaliotU, Sigaretus, and Sttmiatia. We would however wish it to be understood that these hints are thrown out chiefly to engage the attention of others, as we are by no meaus satisfied with the result of our own observations. The estuary waters which entombed the varied remains at Stonesfield spread out partially a thin stratum of their muddy deposit to this neigh- bourhood, without carrying with it any of the forms for which that locality is so famous. Our Stonesfield slate has a few marine shells, among which are Ammonites coronatus (Orbigny), A. Lalandeanw (Orbigny), Mya margaritifera (Young), Ceromya V. scripta (Cardita, Buckman), Cardium, new species, Anatina undulata (Sanguinolaria, Phillips), Mya dilata (Phillips). As regards this neighbourhood, it may be stated as a general rule, that where the lower beds of Great Oolite are shelly, they repose immediately upon Fuller's earth ; in the other condition the base is Stonesfield slate ; probably the fine mud of the latter deposit was carried out to great depths almost beneath the region of shells. Our Fuller's earth is very imperfectly exposed, nor have any considerable number of species been obtained from it. The little Ostrea acuminata is found in great masses, which nearly composes the beds where it occurs. Not a single shell has been found peculiar to these beds. The Inferior Oolite in the division of its beds in this locality does not differ materially from the description given by Mr. Buckman in his " Geology of Cheltenham," except towards the lower portion, which is strikingly dissimilar. It is not our intention to do more than allude to these conditions ; a careful survey along the outer escarpment of the Cotteswolds would be required to enable us to understand the changes of mineral character, fossil contents, and perhaps thinning-out which certain beds must undergo in their short course between Painswick and Crickley Hill. Many doubts liave been expressed by persons both in the metropolis and provinces as to the geological position of the rock from whence our Great Oolite fossils are derived ; ttiese doubts would seem to have arisen from a resemblance which portions of our rock and its fossils bear to a certain bed of the Inferior Oolite near Cheltenham. Of the geological position of the rocks in our neighbourhood no person who has examined them can entertain any doubt; our sections, both natural and artificial, are numerous and of a decided character, affording what can rarely be seen elsewhere in one view, a complete escarpment from the Great Oolite to the Lias inclusive. The shells of the upper rag-stone agree closely with those from the Cheltenham sections. The cream-coloured marls and marly rock called " Fimbria bed," have however disclosed a remarkable suite of shells which must not be passed over in silence. The general aspect of these fossils, as contrasted with those of the upper and lower rag-stones, is striking. The association of genera strongly reminds us of the Great Oolite. The genus Nerinea, which is very rarely seen in the rag-stones, again reappears in vast profusion, to such an extent indeed that in some localities almost every fragment of marly rock discloses sections of this extinct form. Accompanying these are several species of small Cerithia, together with an equal variety of the genus Chemnitziat comprising some of the most slender spirial univalves which it is possible to imagine. The Host rot rcmcc, though rare, are likewise represented by five species. We seem in fact to have a repetition of the circumstances under which the mollusca of the Great Oolite lived and multiplied. In a 26 Mr. J. Lycett on the Fossil Conchology of the former paper we alluded to an almost entire absence of the Cephalopoda which distinguishes our Great Oolite, and it would appear that this feature likewise extends to the same formation throughout France. Thus Archiac does not mention a single species in the district which he has illustrated, and Deslongchamp is equally silent in describing the Normandic fossils. The " Fimbria bed," in striking contrast to the other portions of the Inferior Oolite, is distinguished by a similar paucity of Cephalopoda ; hitherto only a single specimen of Ammonite has been placed in our cabinet, and we have searched in vain for a Nautilus or Belemnite. There are several Terebratula, of which T. fimbria is the most abundant ; the varieties of figure and markings which this shell undergoes in its stages of growth become interesting when placed beside a similar series of the recent T. Australia, which it very nearly resembles in every circumstance. Of the fossil species but few will be found to have attained the characters of old age, and these latter are rarely equal in size to those which died on attaining middle life, a fact of which some striking examples may be cited in certain recent shells. As the T. Australis, unlike the Brachiopoda generally, is found in water only knee-deep near Sidney, we may be allowed to consider it probable that the Terebrat ulae and other shells of the Fimbria bed were likewise denizens of a shallow sea; such a condition would assist in explaining the absence of Cephalopoda and the general resemblance to the association of Great Oolite shells. As a last resemblance a general dwarfing species may be noticed, some examples of which will subsequently be given. This general resemblance however extends but in a very limited degree to specific identity; thus, of the seven Nerinece, one only is common to both; the Cerithia are altogether different, as are like- wise the Chemnitzias and Cylindrites. Our collection from the Fimbria bed contains — 59 Univalves and Radiaria, of which 22 are Great Oolite species. 72 Bivalves, of which .... 29 are Great Oolite species. 131 51 Thus only about 38 per cent, of the whole are common to both formations. On passing downward through the freestones these shells rapidly disappear, and on arriving at the lower rag-stones another and very dissimilar suite predominate ; the profusion of Nerineae has entirely vanished, and equally in vain might we look for a Cerithium or a Rostrotrema, and we very rarely meet with a Chemnitzia ; the bivalves are again of full dimensions, and the Cephalopoda reappear in full force and of large size, but being difficult to extract entire, are rarely seen in the cabinets of collectors. But to form an idea of their numbers, the lowest bed in the escarpment at Frocester Hill should be visited ; it is a perfect storehouse of this class of remains. Nor is this abundance confined to one locality ; wherever the brown ochrey beds are exposed in the escarpments of our valleys, or on the outer line of the Cotteswolds, a single square yard of rock exposed is usually sufficient to produce fragments of Ammonites and Belemnites ; and it would appear that a similar profusion of those forms distinguishes the lower beds of Inferior Oolite throughout the whole of its course in Somerset and Dorset. That they should entirely cease between Painswick Hill and Crickley Hill, to be replaced by otherand totally different beds of rock and fossil contents, is one of the most interesting geological problems which the Cotteswolds offer to the scientific inquirer. A very remarkable Brachiopod marks the base of the formation in our district ; Terebratula bidens occurs in the lower rag-stone, and more especially in a few inches of marly rock, sometimes called Gingerbread rock, which immediately underlies it. Terebratula acuta and T. tridens accompany it much more sparingly ; the latter possibly may be only a variety of the first : the separation of species among the Brachiopoda must be regarded as merely provisional until the state of our knowledge respecting them shall be more advanced. The brown sands Oolitic Formations in the vicinity of Minchinhampton. 27 beneath are entirely barren of organic relics, and gradually and insensibly merge into the Upper Lias. The general diminutive appearance which the Great Oolite shells present when compared with those of the other Oolrtic rocks cannot fail to be noticed. In species which have a considerable vertical range this fact is rendered particularly striking : thus, but for a perfect indentity of markings, Trigonia coatata reduced to the size of a bean, and sometimes even to a pea, would scarcely be regarded as the representative of the large Inferior Oolite shell : higher in the Oolites it again attains its pristine dimensions. Astarte excavata too, without the aid of a large series for comparison, would not be recognised ; the shell becomes small, depressed, and the costae rendered almost obsolete. Modiola plirata, which reappears in the upper beds of Great Oolite, nearly loses its plicae, and acquires a compressed angular form. The changes of size which Lucina lyrata undergoes is still more remarkable. In the lower rag-stone it is of full dimensions ; in the Nerinea bed or Fimbria bed it is reduced to one-fourth its former bulk ; in the upper rag- stone it is again large ; in the shelly beds of the Great Oolite it is rare, but is again reduced to the dimensions of the Fimbria bed ; lastly, in the upper beds of the Great Oolite it is again abundant and of its standard bulk. Next as to the gregarious habits of certain species: — Bussage, a small hamlet north of the vale of Brimscomb, produces in its shelly Great Oolite a large assemblage ol an undescribed species of Terebratula somewhat resembling T. globata, but very rarely having both valves in juxtaposition, and seldom found in any other locality. In the limestone beds of the upper fossiliferous series, one locality has produced a dense assemblage of a fine bivalve which seems to belong to the new genus Cardilla of Deshayes, although generally in these beds it is rare. The compact structure of the rock renders it nearly impossible to disengage them in a perfect state, but the fine striae of the shell are well preserved, and the character of the species evident ; its sudden advance in size when compared with the small fossil shell upon which the genus was founded is remarkable, and justifies the specific appellation of grandis. The association of species at the locality in question is curious; the whiteness of the Cardilla limestone displays every testaceous fragment in strong relief, and enables us to discover that the Cardilla is the only bivalve, and that it is accompanied by a Purpuroidea, and more sparingly by three large Naticae, all of which probably constituted checks upon its super- abundance. Monotis radiata occurs by myriads immediately beneath the planking bed on Minchinhampton Common, and the gregarious habits of Perna mytiloides may often be shown in a small hand specimen of rock. Cardium Beaumonti, Archiac, is found only in the upper beds, where, in abundance, they rival the Perna mytiloides, of the lower series. In spots where the rock becomes a barren sandstone far away from all detritus of shells, and probably deposited at greater depths, a cluster of Pholadomya concentrica or P. Murchisoniea sometimes appears ; nor are any shells of the genus Pholadomya ever found in the shelly beds of the Great Oolite ; they are likewise absent in the Fimbria bed of the Inferior Oolite, and it may be safely predicted, that they never will be found in the shelly roe- stone of the vicinity of Cheltenham ; these beds were evidently deposited in a shallow sea, and portions of them even possess a littoral character. The little knowledge we possess of the habits of the recent Pholadomya Candida is in exact accordance with this fact. At one locality the upper beds have produced a dense colony of Terebratula media to the exclusion of all other shells. Lucina lyrata, Pholadomya truncata, P. nana, Ceromya excentrica, and Ceromya semistriata are likewise never found isolated. „ The changes of external characters produced by growth alone form another interesting subject for study, and have occasionally become a source of error and confusion. Two examples will sufficiently illustrate this. The large and elegant new species of Lima (L. varians) has a 28 On the Fossil Conchology of Minchinhampton. surface when young covered with beautifully large waved stria) ; a good series will show the gradual disappearance of these until a mere remnant is seen on the anterior border; the figure becomes more gibbose and elongated, and finally is devoid of all markings, except the concentric lines of growth. It is found in the the shelly Great Oolite and Fimbria bed of the Inferior Oolite. Macrodon Hirsonensis is another example. Phillips, in his *• Geology of Yorkshire," gives two shells the name of Cucullaea clongata, one of which, t. 11. f. 43, is our species in its young state, with regular longitudinal stria). A broken specimen with striae more irregular, but still in its young state, is the Cucullaea rudis of the " Mineral Conchology," t. 447. Another variety of figure, more advanced in age, is the Area elongata of Goldfuss, t. 123. f. 9. Cucullaea Hirsonensis, Archiae, t. 27. f. 5, is a half-grown specimen with the longitudinal stria) obliterated. The genus is described in Mr. Buckman'a " Geology of Cheltenham," but the species there figured seems to be distinct from the one in question. Our species is abundant in the planking beds, but more rare in the Fimbria and Freestone beds of the Inferior Oolite. To pursue the subject further would involve descriptions of individual species useful only in a monograph devoted to the purpose. Here these remarks may fitly conclude with the expression of a hope that ihe large number of our Great Oolite shells new to science may ere long be gitren to the public*, and that the fossil fauna of the Cotteswolds generally may by the instrumentality of this Club acquire a "local habitation and a name." Probably no district in England contains an equal number of fossil treasures which have not as yet been transferred to the plate of the engraver. • Perhapi by means of the Palseontographical Society. 29 Address to the Cotswold Naturalists* Club, Read at tlie Winter Meeting, January 22, 1850. By Sir Thomas Tancred, Bart. Gentlemen, I feel that I owe an apology to the Club for assuming one of the duties of our excellent President, Mr. Baker, by delivering the Annual Address at this meeting ; my excuse, however, must be, that I act by command of my superior officer, who pleads that as he has been doing duty as Secretary for most part of the past season, the Secretary should take his place on the present occasion. I will therefore avail myself of the wholly irregular position in which I am placed, to pay a tribute to the merits of the happy freedom from the restraints of rigid laws, and the absence of restrictions in which, as a body, we glory. I believe it is an important principle in the success of our prototype, the Berwickshire Club, that the occasional meetings of those of con- genial tastes, for the purpose of enjoying agreeable converse amidst scenes of interest and beauty, are not hampered by pe- dantic rules, the infliction of fines, or any compulsory regula- tions beyond those which good feeling and a desire to promote harmony and mutual enjoyment will dictate. Having no pro- perty, like a light-armed corps of irregulars, we can meet and disperse without the impedimenta by which the movements of more regular bodies are obstructed. As our Annual Address is chiefly a recapitulation of the meetings of the past season, I am gratified (after a perusal of the notes with which our President has in my absence enlivened our minute-book) to be able to congratulate the now numerous members of our Club on our present healthy and prosperous condition, after the close of our fourth summer. Our meetings have by no means fallen off in the interest of the scenes to which they have conducted us. We measure our success more by the agreeable meetings and intercourse between persons of congenial 30 Anniversary Address. tastes which our Club promotes, and by the enjoyment to which it leads of those scenes, which Providence has so skilfully adapted to call forth in us an admiration of His works, rather than by the absolute amount of new facts or discoveries which we may in the course of our rambles together, or of our solitary studies, con- tribute to the stores of science. Some papers towards the next number of our Transactions have been furnished during the past season ; but our meetings have been, as they are intended to be, more fruitful of improvement and entertainment to ourselves, than of what concerns the public. With these introductory remarks I resume the chronicle of our proceedings from the last meeting of the season of 1848, to which it was brought down in the address of our President last year. Our winter meeting in 1849 was held at Gloucester, on January 18th, to enable us to take advantage of the kind invitation of the Literary and Scientific Association of that City, to join their Conversazione on that evening. Our meeting was attended by Messrs. Light, Baker, Strickland, Bayly, Knollys, Rumsey, Gyde, Hay ward, Ball, Wood, Jones, and Sir Thomas Tancred, mem- bers, and by Mr. Gould (the Australian naturalist), Waldren, Todd and North, as visitors. We saw with great interest at the house of our member, Mr. Wilton, his living specimens (some of them hatched in this country) of that beautiful little Australian Parrot, the Melopsittacus undulatus of Gould. This naturalist, who had first brought this species alive to Europe, and described and figured it in his magnificent work on the Birds of Australia, was fortunately with us, and was much interested with the account Mrs. Wilton gave of the habits of this bird, which she had had such a favourable opportunity of observing. We witnessed the anxiety of the cock bird to keep his mate, which was then sitting on three eggs, to her maternal duties. Whenever she left the nest for a little exercise, he appeared in great excitement and soon began to drive her back ; indeed we were told that when she first began to sit, domestic broils had run so high, that the hen was severely injured by her ungallant consort ; he was, however, in return, very assiduous in supplying her with food as long as >\\r remained on the nest. The cathedral, — a dormitory of a convent of black friars, — and Annirrrsiiri/ Address. 31 the docks with the numerous vessels from all parts of the world unloading grain of all sorts, in one of which we found a very pretty Lyre Antelope from Africa, and other curiosities, occupied us till dinner, after which our President read — not a message like those giants of transatlantic fame — but an address to the full as interesting to us — detailing the origin and progress of our So- ciety. Mr. Gyde also read a very interesting paper, for which he had been awarded the prize of the Society of Arts, upon methods of preserving paper and parchment from mildew. The rest of the business of the Club was then transacted, and we adjourned to the Conversazione, which occupied the rest of the night. May 8 found us assembled in great force, resolved to begin the season well, at Swindon station, there being present, Messrs. Baker, Light, Bolland, Barker, Daubeny, Bayly, E. and D. Bowly, Stronge, Phelps, Strickland, Buckman, Jones, Powell, Streeton, Prower, Taylor, Dr. Daubeny, and Sir Thomas Tancred, members — Mr. Story Maskelyne, Mr. Holland, Rev. E. Mey- rick, and Mr. Moore, favouring us with their company as guests. Mr. Light and Mr. Streeton, whose loss, alas ! we have had since to deplore, had kindly engaged vehicles, besides furnishing their own, to take us to the remarkable Druidical remains at Abury. On our way a party of us accompanied Mr. Maskelyne to Basset Down House, his father's property, where he has made a very interesting geological and chemical discovery, viz. the existence of a thin bed of phosphate of lime nodules in the upper green sand at its junction with the chalk marl, in the same position and of the same character as those which have excited so much interest in the neighbourhood of Parnham, but which had not been previously discovered on this northern flank of the chalk range. The lower bed of the same, in the lower green sand, has not yet been observed. Abury, Silbury Hill, the Serpent, and the circles of Druidical stones enclosed by an extensive foss and dyke, were examined with great interest, and by stationing the members of the Club in the spots whence many of the stones had been removed and destroyed, we restored for the moment the form of the smaller circles. Mr. Strickland mentioned his having been on the top of the largest artificial mound, like that of Silbury Hill, which is known, viz. that called the Tomb of Halyattes in Asia Minor, described by Herodotus. e2 32 Anniversary Address. After dinner Mr. Buckman gave us an account of a species of fungus {Ayaricus Prunulus), a dish of which we had eaten at breakfast, and which forms the " fairy rings " on the grass field in front of the Royal Agricultural College. By means of an accurate plan of these rings, executed by the Teacher of Survey- ing at the College, he hopes to be able to determine precisely the changes which may occur in the shape and size of the circles and their rate of increase. Mr. Strickland explained the process of Papyrography or Anastatic printing, which is applicable to the cheap production of many sorts of drawings of objects of natural history. Some specimens of popular meteorology or prognostics of the seasons were related by the Rev. E. Meyrick, couched in the fol- lowing rhymes. One points out the season for sowing barley : — When the elmen leaf is as big as a mouse's ear, Then to sow barley never fear ; When the elmen leaf is as big as an ox's eye, Then says I to my boys, hie, boys ! hie ! Another gives a prognostic of a mild winter : — D'if before Martin-mas The ice will bear a duck, The rest of the winter Will be as wet as muck. To these we may add a Kentish adage : — If you have grass in Janivere, You '11 have no more the rest of the year. The second meeting for last season took place on June 26th, for the events of which, and of the subsequent ones, I am in- debted to the graphic notes of our President. The following party sat down to breakfast at the Bell at Gloucester : Messrs. Ball, Barker, Jones, Phelps, Rumsey, Strickland, Wilton, Baker, and Dr. Daubeny, members, and Dr. Evans, the Rev. — Stackpool and Mr. H. Clifford as friends. A portion of these gentlemen after breakfast proceeded in a break under the conduct of our President towards May Hill, performing a journey which sounds, when described in scientific language, rather formidable, for Mr. Baker says that " he succeeded in driving the party down the lias escarpment at High-wood, across the new red marl to Aiimrcrsanj Address. 33 Huntley, and then up the Silurian rocks to Little London." Following the Wenlock limestone from this place they reached the Caradoc sandstone, the oldest formation in this district, on the summit of May Hill. The elevation of this summit remain yet to be determined by the Club, as a mercurial thermometer which had 'been brought by one of the party was out of order, and an aneroid one, which was being carried up the hill, " ere we reached the summit," says Mr. Baker, " was observed to fall — not by degrees (as was expected), but in a most unexpected manner — plump from a handkerchief to the ground." From the top of May Hill a most perfect panorama was exhibited to the Club. Northwards the sienite ridge of the Malverns fore- shortened into a cluster of volcanic cones. On their left the Abberley Hills, and beyond them again theClee Hills in Shrop- shire. To the westward, looking across the Wenlock and Lud- low deposits, and the old red sandstone in the valley, — whose enormous thickness is proved by the fact, that for a breadth of two miles it is raised at an angle of 50°, — are seen the Dean Forest Hills, consisting of carboniferous limestone and the coal- measures ; and in the far distance the South Wales coal-field and the old red sandstone of the Black Mountains. Across the Severn, looking over the rich vale of Berkeley, with the higher ground of Tortworth, lay the low oolitic escarpment of the Cots- wolds from Badminton to Bristol. Stinchcombe Hill was seen advanced far in front of the main line ; Cam Down at the mouth of the Dursley and Uley valley; and Selsly Hill guarding the widely ramified Stroud valley ; Painswick Beacon towering over the rest. Robin Hood, Churchdown, Cleve and Bredon Hills carry the eye to where the Broomsgrove Lickey is almost lost behind the east shoulder of the Malverns, and thus is completed a more perfect panorama, whether to the geologist or the mere lover of scenery, than is to be found elsewhere perhaps in the south of England. On their way down May Hill the party encountered a peculiar kind of quaking bog covered with a crust of clay, bearing scanty grass, sufficiently dry to crack on the surface to an inch or so in depth, yet sufficiently elastic to form regular waves when any one stepped on it, over a surface of seven or eight yards : sheep and even cattle grazed on these bogs in safety ; but a boy 34 Anniversary Address. said that he had seen several horses in them, and that they were sometimes ! got out alive. The geologists of the party made some superficial observations on them ; only one going thoroughly into the subject, which he did as far as the knee, and found that the substratum consisted of a whitish clay a little thicker than pea-soup. For this discovery an unanimous vote of thanks was given him. At this meeting the Rev. Edwin Meyrick and Nevil Story Maskelyne, Esq. were elected members. The third meeting on August 7th, to inspect Bredon Hill, pro- mised a large field of interest, and Mr. Strickland had taken much pains to point out the easiest way of reaching the several points of the route, and had moreover invited those who might attend to breakfast ; yet, proh pudor ! the distance and un- favourable weather deterred all but two members, Mr. Baker and the Rev. F. Bayly, from availing themselves of his hospitality. Dr. White joined the party afterwards; and Mr. Strickland, sen., Mr. Hyett, the Rev. Mr. Davies and Dr. Willis were the rest of the party. Mr. Strickland's rich collection of about 3000 specimens of birds, and the Abbey Church of Tewkesbury, which was under- going restoration, occupied the party till the inexorable train commanded their departure for the Eckington station, near which, at the ancient seat of Woolashill, a luncheon was most hospitably provided, and the ascent of the Bredon Hill com- menced. Mr. Strickland pointed out on the eastern face the inferior lias reaching far above Woolashill, where, at a compara- tively short distance from the top, the marlstone crops out, forming a hard shelf between the upper and lower lias. The latter, eaten away into bays and promontories by the ancient sea, forms a nearly perpendicular bank now clothed with coppice, on the top of which the upper lias having been washed off the marlstone, there remains a broad flat shelf which can be traced almost uninterruptedly along the face of the hill. The glorious view from the top was veiled by rain and mists. This unpro- pitious day did not prevent the select party after dinner from enjoying an animated discussion on philological subjects, Mr. Jones maintaining that not only the Saxon and Latin, but the Celtic and Sanscrit languages were derivable from the same roots. Greek metres and pronunciation were then introduced : Anniversary Address. 35 Mr. Strickland ^(alluding to the fact that modern Greek is in- variably pronounced according to the accent) threw out the idea, that the ancient Greeks may in conversation and in reading prose have pronounced the language much as the moderns do ; whilst in reading poetry they may have adhered strictly to the poetical quantities, as we, for instance, pronounce the word " wind " differently in prose and poetry. Mr. Strickland fur- nished a few lines which he had translated from the commence- ment of the Iliad almost literally into English hexameters, ob- serving correctly the rules of prosody ; and Mr. Hyett has since contributed hexameters and pentameters. " In such interesting discourse is the President to be blamed" (Mr. Baker asks), * that he did not break off the conversation with the question, Has any Member a paper to read to the Club, when the proba- bility was that it would be followed only by an awkward pause? How could the President divine that in Mr. Strickland's pocket lay all this time the strata of Leckhampton Hill waiting to be unrolled on the table of the Royal Oak ?" This valuable paper, however, has since been read to the Club, and will, I trust, appear in the next number of our Transactions. The fourth and last meeting of the season took place on Sep- tember 27th, at Newport, to which place Mr. Baker drove a party from Hardwicke. The members at breakfast were, Messrs. Bolland, Barker, Buckman, Baker, Hayward, Knollys and Phelps, with Mr. Hyett, Mr. Adams Hyett and Mr. Saun- derson as visitors. The party proceeded to Whitfield, from whence Mr. Morton, jun. admitted them to LordDucie's, Crom- hall Park, near a small encampment called Bloody Acre, forming one of the chain of Roman forts running along the Cotswold Hills, and overlooking the great lake in the park. Thence they descended through the remains of a vineyard, consisting of a suc- cession of terraces each about a foot high. It is not known what was the character of the wine grown here. The road presents many points of great beauty, and were the trees opened to allow a view of the bold rocks opposite, the scene would be still more improved. Crossing the head of the lake, the party ascended Anchor Hill, as it is called, or as Atkyns corrects the name, "Anchoret Hill/' "where," he says, "are the ruins of a cell, 36 Anniversary Address. the anchoret of which was consulted by the monks of Bangor when they wont to meet St. Augustine the monk." Thence patting by the spot where Lord Ducie is commencing a magniticent house in a noble situation, overlooking the lower end of the lake, and by Tortworth Lodge, they found in a marshy piece of ground the somewhat rare Molinea carulea, the only English grass with a solid stem, and also a beech measuring at four feet from the ground 14 feet 9 inches. Thence they reached Tortworth House, passing on the way a remarkable piece of basalt, thrown up suddenly in the midst of a grass field; — Lord Filzhardinge's keeper being observed to show no slight horror at the word trap which he heard frequently uttered by some of the party. Here the remarkable chestnut tree, mentioned in Domesday book as "the Old Chestnut," 19 yards in circum- ference, delayed them some time, as well as some fine specimens of newly introduced pines. The noble proprietor, however, held out the strongest inducement to a halt in the shape of an excel- lent luncheon, of which he most kindly invited all to partake, and at which the charms of the curacoa seem to have made a deep impression on the members who were fortunate enough to enjoy it ; and then rode with them to show his stock, scarcely to be equalled in the kingdom, and from the diffusion of which, by means of the annual sales, so much improvement has been introduced in the breed of cattle in this country generally. Michaelwood Chase, with its gnarled oaks, wild thickets, and marshy plains, through which they were guided or watched by one of Lord Fitzhardinge's keepers, afforded a fine field for botanizing, and brought them back to Newport, well-disposed for a good dinner notwithstanding Tortworth. An account of this day's excursion, with graphic illustrations of the incidents of flood and field, has been furnished by Mr. Knollys, which must be preserved in the minute-book of the Club. Mr. Buckman exhibited after dinner tracings of the Tessel- lated pavements recently discovered at Cirencester, particularly a head of Ceres crowned with ears of corn, which, after being covered in darkness for so many centuries, our President describes as "starting in horror at the advances of free trade." Mr. Strickland's paper on Leckhampton Hill was read, and also Mr. Aimivrrsanj Aihlress. 37 Hyett's notes of the heights of many points of the Cotswold Hills determined by the aneroid barometer, which latter is in- cluded in the present number of our Transactions. William Vernon Guise, Esq. of Elmore Court, and William Henry Hyett, Esq. of Painswick House, were proposed and seconded as Members ; and this concluded one of the most in- teresting and successful meetings of the many which the Club have enjoyed together. Like all bodies, and even these corporeal frames of ours, we have suffered the loss of some elements, whilst others have been added to the Club, during the past year. Mr. Thomas Niblet being abroad, and Mr. Hamilton having removed from the district, have expressed their desire to with- draw their names ; whilst we have to lament the loss by death of the Rev. Mr. Streeton and of Mr. Meyrick of Cirencester. On the other hand, we have added to our body the Rev. Peter Bellinger Brodie, Mr. Nevil Story Maskelyne, and the Rev. Edwin Meyrick. With this account of our proceedings, at which I have been pre- vented from being present so frequently as I hope to be allowed to be another year, I bid you adieu, trusting that, though the world at large may be but little the wiser for our proceedings, we may have found, and shall ever find, ourselves wiser and better for our meetings, and always realize the saying of our great poet, by finding " books in the running brooks," " sermons in stones, and good in every thing." 38 Heights of some points of the Cotswold Hills, with some experi- ments with the Aneroid Barometer. By W. Henry Hyett, Esq., F.R.S. Read 27th September 1849. A few months ago, in a formal Report, an Inspector under the Board of Health stated that " Cheltenham has been estimated to stand 200 ft. above the level of the sea, and the height of the Cotswold Hills above the same level is about 300 ft. :" — he meant probably to say " above the level of Cheltenham ;" thus making the absolute height of these hills 500 feet above the sea — still an estimate rather wide of the mark when given under the nose of Cleeve Cloud, which exceeds 1000. It is true the case required no accuracy, but such a degree of maccuracy could scarcely have appeared had a more general knowledge of the truth prevailed in this part of the country. Indeed it has been for years matter of complaint that even the relative heights of the several remarkable points of our Cotswolds were unknown — Painswick, Birdlip, Leckhampton and Cleeve Cloud each having their respective champions, but with no authority to quote, nor umpire to determine between them. Having consulted some of the scientific Members of the Cots- wold Club on the point without success, I ventured to suggest that they at least should try to set it at rest. The coincidence of the present Ordnance Survey for the improvement of the river Severn, having their signal staffs actually standing on the very eminences in question, offered an opportunity not to be lost of having measurements made. I therefore proposed to our excellent President to get (as best I could) a list of the heights of those hills from which we derive our name, and which in the course of our excursions we so fre- quently climb ; — a subject of peculiar interest therefore to our- selves, and not without importance to all who study the geology, botany, &c. of this range. Immediately on receiving his con- currence I wrote to Capt. Yolland, R.E., who has the mapping department of the Ordnance under his direction, and the com- mand of the parties now executing the survey of the Severn. Observing that the signal staffs of their present Trigonometrical Survey afforded the easy means of taking the vertical as well as the horizontal angles, and of acquiring all the information which the public needed, I ventured to express a hope to that officer that he would afford it. In reply he promised to communicate the information re- On the Height* of some ef the Cotswold J Jills. 39 quested, and has since most obligingly supplied the approximate heights above the mean level of the sea of sixteen remarkable points in our vicinity which I shall presently read to you, together with other data which I have myself obtained by the aid of the aneroid barometer lately invented in France, and much vaunted as applicable to the measurements of heights. 1 then procured one of these instruments from Dent, with his pamphlet upon it, and will now give the results of its comparison with the mea- surements received from Capt. Yolland. It may be as well however first to make a few remarks on this new instrument, with a view to show how far it may be appli- cable in its present state to the purpose of measuring altitudes. It is probably known to most of you, that in carrying a mercu- rial barometer to the top of a high mountain, the mercury sinks from two causes, the one purely barometric, the other therino- metric. Whilst for every 850 feet of perpendicular ascent the weight of the air decreases so as to show a fall, in its counterpoise the quicksilver, of about an inch — for every 300 feet of ascent there is also a decrease in the temperature of 1° Fahrenheit, occasioning a proportional contraction in the quicksilver in the tube, making it stand so much lower than it ought to do were its descent due to the diminished pressure of the air alone. To calculate there- fore correctly the height indicated by the mercurial barometer, allowance is always made for decreasing temperature, and tables have been compiled for this purpose from the known rate at which mercury contracts by cold. The same double effect is doubtless produced in the aneroid barometer, which Mr. Dent says is compensated by means of gas in the "vacuum-vase" of the instrument. This however is, I believe, a mistake*. In its present form, then, I conclude that a correction for temperature is needed for the exact measurement of heights. There are also two palpable defects, one of which is that the band or index is frequently so far from the face of the dial, that its parallax leads to error in reading off the scale, which may easily amount to 20 feet in height. This however may be somewhat corrected by bending the hand so as to make it nearly touch the face of the dial. The other fault is that the inch is subdivided into only forty parts, one of which corresponds to 22 feet in height. It would be better to have it graduated to hundredth* — so that the actual reading off should tally at once with the barometric tables now in use — or if the size of the dial will not admit of this, to subdivide the inch into fifty instead of forty parts, * I have since ascertained it to be one. M. Villi himself informed me in November last, that although he at one time made some experiments on the use of gas in the " vacuum vase M — he has now rejected it altogether. f2 40 Mr. W. 11. Ilyctt un the Heights of some of the so that each division should be *02 of an inch. At present, in order to use the tables, it is necessary in reading off to change the vulgar fractions into decimals, which, in jotting down, fre- quently leads to troublesome mistakes. It is full time however to come to the table which I promised of the Approximate altitudes above the mean level of the Sea supplied by Capt. Yolland, R.E. By Ordnance By Aneroid Difference Survey. Barometer, by Aneroid. feet. feet. feet. Tewkesbury Church, surface of ground ... 47 Gloucester Cathedral, surface of ground ... 56 Barrow Hill, surface of ground 1 98 Corse Hill 292 Christ Church tower, Cheltenham (top)... 343 Robin's Wood Hill 652 6342 -178 Standish Hill 715 6914 -236 Stinchcombe Hill 725 74027 +1527 Finger-post on top of Frocester Hill 780 Oxenton Hill 733 Firs at Symond's Hall 810 UleyHill 823 8255 +25 Painswick Hill 929 935*9 + 6*9 May Hill 966 BirdlipHill 969 960-5 -8*5 Leckhampton Hill 978 969-9 -8*1 Base of Bredon Hill tower 979 Cleeve Hill or Cleeve Cloud 1081 1066*8 -14*2 Malvern 1396 With the exception of Standish and Robin's Wood Hills, the height of each of which is the result of a single observation with the aneroid, the agreement of its indications with those of the Ord- nance determinations is very remarkable, considering the errors to which the present construction of that instrument render it liable. I must observe, however, that they are brought nearer to the trigonometrical measurements by my having rejected some of my first attempts, in which I am almost certain that I made mistakes, and by subsequently adopting the mean of two or three observations, a process which always reduces the extremes of error. Thus for Painswick Hill I had three observations — One giving it . . .919 feet. Another 934*8 „ The third .... 954 „ giving a mean result of 935*9 feet, which differs only 6*9 feet from Capt. Yolland's figures. I am sorry that I have not had time to try more of our heights ; but I thought it better to repeat the observations on the same hills in order to obtain mean results, and thus to sift my own probable errors, than to persevere in them undetected. Cotswold Hills, with observations on the Aneroid Barometer. 41 Throwing out of consideration, then, some of my first trials, before I was quite up to the use of the instrument and its tables, the results which I have just given are highly satisfactory. But on the other hand I tried it against the published sections of the Cheltenham and Great Western Railway with less success, as the following comparison will show : — By Company's By Aneroid. Krror. sections. fss*. feet. feet. Stmud station above Gloucester station 116-3 124*75 +8*45 Summit-level at top of Saperton tun- "I 350-0 413*7 4-61-5 nel above Gloucester J Now these were the means of two trials ; in the latter case the discrepancy is greater than I can easily explain, unless the oscillations of the railway carriage have any effect on the instru- ment, which I can hardly suspect ; for in all other cases, however carefully carried, it must have been exposed to rough shaking*. On the whole therefore I must suspend my opinion as to the merits of the aneroid for measuring heights till after further ex- periments, and at any rate would recommend the improvements in the construction, to which I have before alluded, to be effected, viz. the decimal graduation to be adopted, and the index to be placed closer to the face of the instrument. P.S. Since the compilation of the above paper I have been fortunate enough, on a visit to Paris, to make the acquaintance of the ingenious inventor of the aneroid — which I find, in its present state, he regards as a domestic rather than a scientific instrument, — an estimate of its capabilities in which its continued use leads me very much to concur. Still, while I find it per- fectly well adapted to the house purposes of a common weather- glass, I can say no less of it as an instrument for taking heights, than that it is far more commodious and much less likely to get out of order than a mercurial barometer — and when limited, as my trials were, to heights not exceeding 1200 feet, that it exhibits quite sufficient accuracy for general purposes — a power which I have no doubt in its present form may be extended to heights of some 2500, and were the index graduated to 24 or 25 inches of the mercurial barometer, probably to the height of any hills in Great Britain. M. Vidi, however, has made some elaborate trials towards a more purely scientific instrument. If he persevere, I have no doubt he will succeed. The grand Exhibition of Works of Art in London in 1851, offers him a good opportunity for submitting his invention to more general notice, — and, to the judges perhaps, a not inappropriate object for a premium. — W. II. II. * The error may be this — that the Company's sections were published before the completion ot' their line, which was eventually carried at a rather higher level than these sections 1 42 On Trichites, a fossil yenus of Bivalve Mollusks. By John Lycett, Esq. Read 22nd January 1850, This generic form is distributed over an extensive area both in this country and upon the continent; it occurs in more than one of the oolitic formations; the Cotteswold Hills more especially produce it abundantly ; nevertheless it is almost entirely absent from the cabinets of English collectors ; and if we examine that section of modern literature which professes to illustrate fossil conchology, our search will scarcely be more successful or satis- factory. In both cases the defect may be accounted for by a dif- ficulty almost insurmountable experienced in obtaining illustra- tive specimens in a condition perfect, or even approaching to perfect ; fragments indeed are easily detached, but these alone do not convey any precise or adequate idea of the generic characters. The shells are large, the very Titans of their period, sometimes extending to upwards of a yard across, of a thickness far sur- passing that of bivalves generally, but of a structure peculiarly fra- gile (prismatic crystalline), consisting of fibres closely arranged, placed perpendicularly to the surface and breaking readily in the direction of the fibres with any slight concussion ; this is a serious obstacle to their separation, to which may be added, that the up- per ragstone bed of the Inferior Oolite in which they most com- monly occur is very hard and intractable in the nature of its fracture. In almost every open quarry of this rock, and more especially in the stratum called Trigonia grit, these thick fibrous masses may be noticed ; more rarely also in the middle portion of the same formation and in the shelly beds of the Great Oolite. They have usually been referred to a gigantic species of Pinna, probably from a similarity of structure. The Cotteswolds have produced two species, which are distinct from another recorded from the Jura which will subsequently be noticed. Dr. Plott, the historian of Oxfordshire, appears to have been the first per- son who applied the term Trichites to these shells. Woodward, in his ' Catalogue of English Fossils/ 1725, part 2. p. 101, 102, ' De testis aliisque incerti generis/ mentions that Lhwyd sent a specimen of this genus from the Oolite of Bullington Green near Oxford, with the title " Trichites Plottii, Hist. Oxon. Veneris crincs forean IMinio/' and adds the caustic remark, that these two writers, Dr. Plott of mere simplicity, and Lhwyd of design, " darken On Trichites, a fossil genus of Bivalve Mollusks. 43 counsel by words without knowledge," Job. xxxviii. 2; he also records fragments in his collection from Risington and Birdlip Hill in Gloucestershire. The generic name was of course de- rived from its capillary or hair-like structure. Far from joining in the foregoing censure, we are rather disposed to respect the discrimination which recognized this obscure generic form in the earliest infancy of conchology. It was observed by Saussure in the Coralline Oolite of Mount Saleve near Geneva, and described by Deluc in the first volume of the great work of Saussure on the Alps, p. 192, and figured in part 2. fig. 5, 6. This eminent naturalist ascertained some of the general features of the genus ; the great thickness of the test, its fibrous structure, analogous, he observed, to that of Pinna, and its inequivalve form ; this latter character, he observed, compelled a generic separation, and he proposed to call it Pinnegene. Deluc seems to have been unac- quainted with the prior claim of Lhwyd. Guettard and De- france observed it in the oolitic rocks of Normandy ; they re- garded it as a distinct genus, but do not appear to have con- tributed anything material to its elucidation. The latter author's views are contained in an article contributed by him to the 'Dic- tionnaire des Sciences Naturelles/ torn. lv. 1828. Deshayes, in his last edition of Lamarck's Conchology, does not recognize its generic value, but describes Deluc's species (torn. vii. p. 68) under the designation Pinna Saussurei ; the materials at his disposal seem to have been very imperfect, and in consequence his description is incomplete and calculated to give an erroneous idea of its characteristic features. The term * subsequivalvis ' for instance does not accord with Deluc's figures ; it is stated to gape posteriorly, which, judging from our speci- mens, must be an error ; the character of the terminal extremity and interior of the hinge-line are not mentioned. The only other recent notice of the genus which we have discovered is contained in the volume of Dr. Pictet, which is devoted to fossil concho- logy, where the figures of Deluc are copied on a reduced scale, but no additional information is given. From the absence of all notice of the genus by the leading systematic writers on concho- logy, it may be concluded that they did not recognize the di- stinction of Deluc's shell from Pinna, or having no personal knowledge of the form, they hesitated to allow it a place with •lizitl irenera. It has therefore hitherto existed almost on the horizon of science as an obscure and problematical object, which it will be our present endeavour to bring more nearly within the grmtp <>t' the conchologist. Generic Character. Shell of fibrous structure, thick, ovate, obkmg, inequivalve, ine- quilateral and irregular : nmbones terminal, produced and 1 I Mr. J. Lycett on Trichites, funnel-shaped, the apex gaping. Hinge-margin oblique and elongated, the margins undulated, anterior margin corrugated and thickened beneath the umbones. Hinge lateral, linear and without teeth. Our specimens, though not numerous, exemplify the genus in a satisfactory manner, and place its characters free from ambi- guity. The valves are both separated and in apposition; in one instance the interior of the cardinal border and terminal extre- mity have been cleared, but the muscular impressions have not been seen. The general figure is oblique and nearly quadri- al, one valve being convex, the other flattened or even a little ; the margins undulate, are rather irregular, including even the hinge-line, and there is always a considerable undula- tion occupying the posterior border, at which part the valves are thinner, more expanded and flattened; the undulations of both valves correspond; they are rounded, having no posterior trun- cation, and when closed leave no hiatus. In the concavity of the anterior border is a corrugation which marks the probable place of exit for a byssus, a feature exactly corresponding with that in Perna, Avicula, &c., but there is scarcely any distinct hiatus per- ceptible. The umbones form a hollow funnel-shaped cavity nar- rowing to the extremity, but open, the opening being rounded, and formed by the termination of both the valves; the shell about its middle and anterior parts attains a thickness exceeding any recent bivalve, and comparable only with the fossil genus Catillus; the smaller valve is the thinnest. With respect to its affinities, that to Pinna., which has engaged the attention of natu- ralists, would appear, to say the least of it, to be very remote. What do we find in conformity with a delicate, almost papyra- ceous shell, straight, equivalve and regular, with a truncated, widely gaping posterior extremity ? Absolutely nothing ; on the contrary we have a shell of monstrous thickness, very oblique, inequivalve and irregular, its posterior side being neither trun- cated nor gaping— in fact nearly every generic feature of import- ance is reversed ; the fibrous structure common to both seems to have misled observers into a supposed generic identity. But even the structure of the two genera when carefully examined presents a difference equally marked and characteristic : the strength of the thin and delicate Pinna is produced by a double structure, by its substance consisting of two layers, the outer being fibrous' tin; fibres placed perpendicular to the surface as in Trichites] but the inner one is nacreous or lamellar, a contrivance which effectually obviates the fragility which pertains to the fibrous structure. Trichites on the contrary has one structure through- out; the perpendicular fibres are crossed by a few extremely fine parallel Unimr, which do not break off the continuity of the . and impede fracture only to a very limited extent. The Plate 1. -Zytx/rS*/ J.D* C. Sewer i>y, in tap. ck/ MuUf.">i**r JHitlm&m S'Stovui a fossil genus of Bivalve Mollusks. 45 genus Catillus, found only in the cretaceous rocks, is that which seems to approximate most nearly to the present form. Both have very much the same general figure, fibrous structure and thick substance ; on the other hand, the Catilli are nearly equivalve and regular, the hinge consists internally of a linear series of crenu- lations, and the terminal character of the umbones is likewise distinct. The position of Trichites in the conchological series should therefore be near to Catillus; its irregularity is such that no two of our specimens are exactly alike either in outline, con- vexity or surface. Two individuals were nearly covered with small adherent shells, a sufficient indication that their habits were se- dentary or sluggish. The great fragility is certainly not the effect of fossilization, but a consequence of its structure, and must always have existed ; the condition in which the shells are found presents a sufficient confirmation of this idea. After frequent and persevering, but for the most part fruitless exertions with the hammer and chisel, we are enabled to state that Trichites usually occurs in the state of distinct portions or fragments, and that entire individuals are rare; the fracture too not unfrequently is found across the thickest part of the test. A mollusk, whose shell was thus constituted, could scarcely have been the denizen of a shelly beach within the influence of the tide, or exposed to frequent rolling and collisions with other fragmentary bodies; its habitat must have been tranquil, and probably covered deeply and defended by soft mud or sand. Specimens irhich occur in the chaotic shelly beds of the Great Oolite, locally termed f plank- ing/ may be regarded as travelled, and, as might be anticipated, are usually in portions only, and these seldom large ; individuals perfect or approaching to perfect are the exceptions to the rule. In the upper portion of the Inferior Oolite the conditions of sea- bottom appear to have been somewhat different ; there is an ab- suice of shelly detritus; the valves of the Conchifera are most frequently in apposition, and Trichites, as far as can be ascer- tained, appears more frequently to approach to the perfect con- dition. Example. Trichites nodosus. Plate I. (Great and Inferior Oolite.) Shell quadrately curved, with longitudinal waved nodose ribs; ribs few, diverging, some bifid. The larger valve convex, the lesser rather concave, with nodules nearly obsolete, disposed in two concentric sen Our specimens differ much in the degree of convexity ami cha- er of the ribs, the latter being occasionally scarcely diftm- K) On Trichites, a fossil genus of Bivalve Mollusks. guishable; the terminal umbones arc very much curved and turned forwards. The planking beds of the Great Oolite at Min- nhinhamptop Common and freestone of the Inferior Oolite near to the same locality produce it, but it has not been recognized in the upper portion of the Inferior Oolite ; from the intractable character of that rock, however, this circumstance must not be considered as conclusive of its absence. Our examples in point of size convey but a very inadequate notion of the magnitude often attained by the genus; but it would appear that the larger sections belong to the second, or possibly even to a third and more gigantic species. The Pinna Saussurei (Pinnegene of Deluc) is distinct from our Cotteswold shells ; his figures, taken from specimens broken and partly enveloped in the stone, do not con- vey any precise idea of the external form, but the portion which exhibits the character of the surface is altogether different. Trichites undatus. (Inferior Oolite.) Shell oblong ; umbones . . . . ; ribs obscure, few, concentric, irre- gular and undulated, sometimes obsolete in the larger valve. The smaller valve unknown. Length 9 inches, breadth 7\ inches. The only well-preserved example in our possession has lost the terminal extremity, but in other respects is nearly perfect ; the hinge-line is more nearly horizontal than in the T. nodosus, and the entire form is less convex ; the other valve, though attached, cannot be cleared from the hard matrix. It occurs abundantly in the upper ragstone of the Inferior Oolite, a rock which usually defies all attempts to separate the shell in a tolerable condition ; in this instance a large portion of the surface fortunately coincided with the natural parting of the bed. 47 On thr Xfi urturc ami Arrangement of the Tessera in a Roman IHirrmritt iliscorrrr// at Cirencester in August 1849. By James BuCKMAKj r.L.S., F.G.S. Read 22nd January 1850. Tin object of this paper is to point out the nature of the materials of which the party-coloured floors so beautifully wrought in ancient Roman dwellings are composed, as also to offer some remarks upon their principles of arrangement. The tesserse of Roman pavements may be said to be formed out erf two classes of materials, the first of which, consisting of portions of various coloured rocks, may be termed natural ; the second, of stained or coloured terra cottas and glass, being arti- ficial. The natural tesserae furnish but few colours, and those of a sober cast, hence these will be found forming shadings to figures entering largely into the composition of borders, or filling up the groundworks of the designs. They consist of portions of natural rocks from various localities, those belonging to the district where thr pavement is found, as far as I have observed, always contri- buting their share. The Cirencester pavement presented the following : — Colours. Rocks. 1. White, composed of Hard fine-grained Oolite. l\ Light yellow Pebbles of the Wiltshire Drift, and Oolite. 3. Gray The same as No. 1, altered by heat. 4. Slate colour or black ... Limestone bands of the Lower Lias. No. 1 occurs as a bed of compact fine-grained stone of about :J feet thick in nearly all the freestone quarries of thi3 district, where it is distinguished under the name of the Limestone bed ; its geological position is about the middle of the freestone rocks of the Great Oolite ; it is well exposed at Trewsbury quarry, at the Acman Street Station, and at the smaller Sapperton tunnel, and was no doubt obtained by the Romans from the quarries once worked by them in the vicinity of the Querns. 2. The tessera?, of a yellowish or nankeen hue, appear to have been made of portion! of the pebble-drift with which parts of the neighbourhood of Cirencester is so thickly strewn. Stray pebblea of this may be found in almost every field to the south of the town, whilst at Somerfbrd Kaynee, and other places, it en- ters largely into the composition of the gravel beds which an 48 Mr. J . Buckman on the Structure and Arrangement there worked. It is probable that this drift is the debris of that tertiary rock known in Wiltshire as Sarsen stone, of which the huge stones of Abury Camp constitute the more enduring mo- nument. 3. This, though differing so much in colour from No. 1, yet seemed so identical in lithological structure as to induce me to try to ascertain from experiment whether or not they were the same, when, on roasting a portion of the rock No. 1 in the lire for a few minutes, it gradually assumed the colour of the gray tesserae, the change no doubt being due to some alteration in the chemical conditions of the iron with which the stone is slightly charged. 4. The dark colour of the lias entered largely into the compo- sition of these pavements, as much of the outline of the design and the darker bands of the border ornaments are composed of this stone, which, judging from an Ammonite found in one of the tesserae, was obtained from some one of the thin layers of argil- laceous limestone with which the clay-beds of the third division of the lower lias in the vale of Gloucester are separated, and no doubt the stone in question was brought from that locality. The artificial tessera found at Cirencester entered for the most part into the construction of the finer and more important parts of the details of the figures and designs ; they consist of — Colour. Substance. 1. Black "J 2. Light red > Terra cotta or baked clay. 3. Dark red J 4. Brilliant ruby-red ... Glass. 1. This is a much darker shade than that of the lias, and was consequently used in those portions of figures where bold relief was required ; it seems to be composed of a dark-coloured clay, only slightly, if at all burnt ; as the tesserae are very fragile, this would almost lead to the conclusion that these were not arti- ficially coloured but made of a clay containing a large quantity of protoxide of iron, which is black, and they were consequently burnt in smother kilns, or the black would change to red by the protoxide becoming peroxidized. The identity of constitution of these tesserae with black pottery is very apparent. 2 and 3. The two reds are made from clays containing more or less of iron, and perhaps this substance may have been added in these and in the instance above noticed, where it was desirable to deepen the tint ; of course the red is due to the peroxidation of the iron salts. 4. In only one medallion of the Cirencester pavements has glass been made to play a part, and that is just when the trans- of the Tessera in a Roman Pavement. 49 parency and brilliancy of colour of this substance were of the utmost importance to the composition. An examination of the pavement itself will show that the me- dallion which symbolized Spring, represents a fine female head crowned by what appears a chaplet of olive-green and verdigris- coloured leaves. Now on studying this head attentively, I was surprised at seeing these two colours intermixed apparently in a most inharmonious manner ; and as the verdigris-green was so different from any other colour I had met with, it suddenly struck me that it was a mere coating to the tesserae, resulting perhaps from chemical decomposition, and on scraping the sur- face with a knife I was gratified to find that the verdigris only covered up a glass of an exceedingly rich ruby tint. I then ob- tained a small portion for a chemical analysis, which was kindly undertaken for me by Dr. Voelcker, the College Professor of Chemistry, the results of which are so interesting that I must beg to lay it before the Club in his own words. Examination of red-coloured Roman glass (Cirencester). " The red glass which had undergone a partial decomposition was coated with a white crust, which itself was covered with a green substance. The latter on examination proved to be car- bonate of copper ; the white crust dissolved with effervescence in nitric acid, leaving gelatinous silicic acid behind, and was found to consist principally of carbonate of lead and silica. The glass, after having been treated with nitric acid and thus been deprived of the white and green coatings, exhibited a bright red colour ; it was now transparent, not very hard, and easily flexible when exposed to a moderate heat. On analysis the following substances were detected, as — Oxide of lead. Oxide of iron. Protoxide of copper. Lime. Alumina. Silica. " The red colour of the glass undoubtedly is due to protoxide of copper, which was present probably in combination with alu- mina in considerable quantities. It is well known that the an- cirnts were acquainted with the art of colouring glass red by means of copper, for Cooper informs us (Annales de Chimie, serie 1. torn, lxxiii. p. 20) that he detected in an antique red glass protoxide of copper, and Klaproth likewise ascribes the red colour of an antique glass to the presence of copper, which he con- siders to be contained in the glass in the state of protoxide. This gentleman found exactly the same constituent parts as those found by me in the Cirencester glass ; it has further been ascer- tained that all the red glass in antique mosaic church windows is f)0 Mr. J. Buckman on the Structure and Arrangement coloured red by copper. Gold, which likewise imparts a beau- tiful red colour to glass, is never met with in Roman glass, and it appears that the property of gold and its combinations was Unknown to the Romans, for we do not find any traces with the ancients which could justify the supposition of their being ac- quainted with the art of making the purple and rose-coloured or ruby-glass which at present is manufactured in great perfection in Bohemia, where a preparation of gold, generally chloride of gold, is used for that purpose by the glass manufacturer. The application of gold preparations in the preparation of red glass, comparatively speaking, is of recent origin, for it appears that before the 17th century the use of gold preparation for this par- ticular purpose was unknown. In the 17th century we find the first reference made to the use of gold for colouring glass red by Cassius, who discovered and recommended a new com- bination of gold, which, to the present day, is known under the name of Cassius gold purple. " Copper thus appears to have been the material with which the ancients were in the habit of colouring glass red. Various methods of applying copper were in use, and though metallic copper is capable of imbuing glass with a red colour, no doubt on account of the protoxide of copper which is found in almost every sample of copper, in most cases it was first subjected to operations which tended to generate protoxide of copper. Fre- quently also peroxide of copper (black oxide) was used for the same purpose, but in this case the glass mass received an addi- tion of substances, as tartar, charcoal, soot, iron, protoxide of iron, which substances at a red heat combine with part of the oxygen of the black oxide, and thus become the means of redu- cing the latter to red oxide of copper. " This important action of iron seems to have been known to the ancients, for both Cooper's and Klaproth's analyses of antique red glass referred to above, as well as my own of the Roman glass found in Cirencester, exhibits, besides oxide of copper, oxide of iron. Later the art of colouring glass red by means of copper was lost entirely, and many persons of our days even denied altogether the possibility of producing a red glass with copper. Very generally all red glass was supposed to contain gold. " The importance of the subject induced the Society of Arts of Berlin to offer a prize for a method of manufacturing red glass by means of copper. The prize was gained by D. Engelhardt of Zinswider, who gave several directions of manufacturing red glass, and who succeeded in making a beautiful red glass with protoxide of copper and without using gold at all." ( Vide Ver- handl. des Gewerbevereins, Berlin, 1828, S. 15.) From this analysis it will be seen that the Romans imparted of the Tessera in a Roman Pavement. 51 this red tint to glass by a very ingenious method, and it was the substance used for this purpose, namely copper, which covered over the tesserae as the surface of the glass had become decom- posed in the form of a carbonate of that metal. This fact is curious in its bearing upon the pavement as a work of art ; as so harmoniously are the colours arranged in all the figures that it may almost be taken for granted that, as in this instance, when there is an exception in this particular, it is due to some subsequent change having taken place in one or other of the colours. In the case before us our first tracing was co- loured with the verdigris-green : it was unsatisfactory ; but on making a new tracing and colouring it according to our amended observations, it at once became harmonious in colour, and as- sumed an intelligible form, though all our colouring will not enable us to convey the idea of ruby-gemmed flowers like the substance used, the transparency of glass contributing much to the general effect. 52 Sketch of the Geology of the neighbourhood of Grantham, Lincoln- shi?'e ; and a comparison of the Stonesfield Slate at Collyweston in Northamptonshire with that in the Cotswold Hills. By the Rev. P. B. Brodie, M.A., F.G.S. Read 18th June 1850. The object of the present paper is to give a short account of the geology of a portion of the county of Lincoln, especially in the neighbourhood of Grantham and Stamford, and to point out its identity in many respects with certain parts of Gloucestershire. The formations observable in the district above mentioned are the Great Oolite, Stonesfield Slate, and Lias. The Great Oolite (and some of the superior overlying groups, including in places the cornbrash) may be traced with considerable regularity from Minchinhampton in this county in a north-easterly direction to Stamford, whence it pursues a more northern course into Yorkshire. The Great Oolite is extensively quarried at Ketton and other places near Stamford, and affords a good building- stone, more or less full of fossils; one bed, in which I found Patella rugosa} consisting of a coarse-grained oolitic freestone lithologically resembling the shelly freestone in the Inferior Oolite at Leckhampton Hill. I was unfortunately so much hurried that I had no time here to make sections, or to examine the quarries more accurately. In a beautiful old Norman church lately restored, at Tickencote in Rutlandshire, I noticed blocks of this stone made up of minute shells in a good state of preservation, similar to some on Minchinhampton Common. Crossing the narrow lias valley to the opposite hill at Collyweston, which commands an extensive view over the surrounding country, the Stonesfield slate is largely quarried, and, as in the Cotswolds, occupies the highest ground in the district. The following is a section of one of the deepest quarries in descending order : — ft. in. 1. Rubble, consisting chiefly of broken slate 5 0 2. Sand, a few inches. 3. Hard slate (ragstone) 4 0 4. Yellow sand 3 0 5. Slate 1 0 6. Yellow sand 0 7. Bluestone, with traces of vegetable matter in fragments . . 16 8. Slate 3 0 18 6 On the Geology of the neighbourhood of Grantham. 53 Further on sonic inferior strata are visible, viz. : — ft. in. 9. Sand 4 0 10. Ferrnginow oolite 14 0 11. Clay Total 36 6 The beds seem to be nearly horizontal. The best slate splits into thin lamina?, and forms a beautiful and useful material for roofing, preferable even in some respects to that oi* the- Cotswolds, being finer-grained and more micaceous ; but the average thickness of the whole is about the same. There is however a sufficient lithological resemblance to identify this formation in Northamptonshire with that of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire; and even the minor details are more nearly alike than the distance of one deposit from the other would lead us to suppose. The formation, however, near Stamford is by no means so extensive in its geographical range, being, as far as I am aware, limited to a few localities in that neighbourhood. I was unable to trace the junction of the slate with either the Great Oolite above, or the Inferior Oolite below, but it may be observed (ac- cording to Mr. Morris) in one or two places in this district. I cannot state positively whether it is as closely connected with the Great Oolite as it is in the Cotswolds, where my friend Professor Buckman and myself (in a joint paper on the Stonesfield Slate of Gloucestershire*) conceive it to be not sufficiently distinguish- able from it to entitle it to rank as an independent formation. But from the facts and sections given in Mr. Morris's paper, they seem to be as closely intermingled; indeed he distinctly states that the slate is not independent of the Great Oolite, and thus confirms our views respecting its characters in Gloucester- shire. The bed of clay, which we suppose to be the representative of the ' Bradford clay/ does not occur at Collyweston overlying the slate, though it may have been previously denuded. Fossils generally are not very abundant in the Collyweston slate, and these consist almost entirely of marine shells, among which Trigonia impressa (a highly characteristic shell), Gervillia acuta (a gregarious species, lying grouped together on the slabs, but not common in the Cotswolds), Cardium, Pinna, Pecten, and a small Natica, are the most frequent, though a few others are mentioned by Mr. Morris. He also notices numerous frag- ments of Pecopteris poh/podioides, a species of fern abundant in the oolitic shales of Yorkshire, which seems to identify the slate with them. Plants however, as far as my observation went, are comparatively rare at Collyweston, and very imperfect. I walked over tons of slate laid out for weathering, as in Gloucestershire, and I could not observe even a trace of vegetable matter, the slate being in most cases particularly unfossiliferous, and on this * See Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, No. II. p. 220. o 54 Rev. P. B. Brodie on the Geology of the account much better adapted for ceconomical purposes. Two genera of plants only are mentioned by Mr. Morris, Pecopteris and Zamites, and these in patches and fragmentary, scattered through certain portions of the beds overlying the slate. But these must be limited to particular spots, for in the four quarries I visited on Colly weston Hill I saw scarcely a trace of any, and I was struck by their apparent rarity in that district, compared with their abundance in certain divisions of the slate at Seven- hampton and other localities near Cheltenham. The absence of the varied flora so characteristic of the slate near Cheltenham and Oxford, is not more remarkable than is that of the other in- teresting terrestrial and marine remains which it there contains. I saw no teeth or bones of reptiles and fish, nor elytra of beetles, nor could I learn that the workmen had ever observed any ; and hence zoologically the Collyweston slate differs more from its south-western equivalents than it does in its internal mineralo- gical structure. These facts lead to the inference that it was de- posited beneath a deeper sea, and at a greater distance from land, whence we should expect to find few evidences of neighbouring coasts, and a larger assemblage of marine exuvise, the denizens of deeper water, though the genera would not be very numerous. On the whole, the Great Oolite and its associated beds in their extension northwards, bear a closer resemblance to the Yorkshire than to the Bath and Minchinhampton series, except a portion of the upper beds at Ketton and Casterton. For further details I may refer to the " Notice of the Geology of the neighbourhood of Stamford and Peterborough," by Cap- tain Ibbetson and Mr. Morris, published in the Transactions of the Meeting for the Advancement of Science, 1847. When I visited Lincolnshire I had not seen this interesting paper, and it appears that we had independently arrived at the same conclusions. Great Oolite (continued) North of Grantham. There are some large and valuable quarries of Great Oolite at Aucaster, eight miles north-east of Grantham, which have long been famous for their beautiful building- stone. The following section will explain its general character in descending order : — 1 . Blue clay, in which I could detect no fossils ; perhaps the repre- ft. in. sentative of the Bradford clay, which in Wilts immediately overlies the Great Oolite, and often separates the minor subdivisions. Near the top it is traversed by a thin diugy- white kind of marl, with a few imperfect impressions of plants 12 0 2. Ragstone — coarse, shelly, hard oolite 5 0 3. Sandy, soft (rarely shelly) oolitic freestone, variously coloured, yellow, pink and white, which often gives it, from its variegated wavy hues, a beautiful appearance. This forms the famous building-stone, and yields very large blocks 17 6* 4. Hard, shelly oolite, generally of a blue colour. Not worked . . 16 0 5. Soft white stone below, depth uncertain. Total 50 6 neighbourhood of Grantham. 55 Near the above is another quarry, in which the strata above the freestone are thicker, the blue clay no. 1 amounting to a thickness of 20 feet, and resting upon a hard blue stone containing many shells, especially a large species of Avicula, and broken fragments of carbonized plants, but too imperfect to determine. There is a soft, yellow, sandy band at it3 base also full of similar vegetable remains ; — the total thickness of the two beds does not exceed 2 feet. The white rag, equivalent to no. 2 in the previous section, is only 1 ft. 3 in. thick, and reposes on the freestone. The fossils in the ragstone and freestone are small and not numerous, and as I could obtain only two genera, Area and Cardita, the shells of which were much waterworn, no comparison can be instituted between them and the equivalent series at Bath and Miiichiiiharapton. The abundant remains of plants, and tin if rarity in Gloucestershire and Somerset in the Great Oolite, seem to indicate a closer affinity, zoologically, with the Yorkshire oolites; and I am informed by my friend Mr. Lycett that he and Mr. Morris could identify very few of the Great Oolite fossils of the north with those of the south of England. The building freestone is perhaps softer, as a mass, than that near Stroud and Bath, while it is remarkably distinguished by its waved, purple and pink colours, which give it the appearance of certain portions of the new and old red sandstones, and add greatly to the beauty of the material for architectural purposes. Inferior Oolite. The Inferior Oolite takes a less regular course in its extension on the north-east of the Cotswold chain of hills. It is bounded on the east by the Great Oolite, and on the west by the lias ; but as it has been subject to great denudation in the counties of Northampton, Rutland and Lincoln, the escarpments generally are less bold and rugged, and the hills comparatively low. In Lincolnshire it forms a bleak, open country like the Wolds of Gloucestershire, and it is well-adapted for turnips. The stone frequently lies close to the surface, so that the soil is very stony, like the cornbrash in Wiltshire; and this probably is mainly attributable to the amount of aqueous action to which it has been subject. In parts of Rutlandshire the soil is of a deep red colour (which distinguishes the upper beds in the Cotswolds), and much better wooded than in the neighbourhood of Grantham ; but in no case does it afford that romantic and beautiful scenery which especially characterizes the Lower Oolites in Gloucester- shire. The village of Denton four miles south-west of Grant- ham is certainly a pretty spot, and there the Inferior Oolite bears a close lithological resemblance to a portion of the series at Leckhampton, Crickley and elsewhere. The following is a sec- g2 56 Rev. P. B. Brodie on the Geology of the tion (in descending order) of Green's quarry on the summit of the hill :— ft. 1. Rubble, about 2 2. Oolite marl 4 or 5. 3. Soft, shelly, white and yellow, though sometimes brown oolite, not quarried deep. The oolite marl is nearly identical with that near Chelten- ham, though rather darker in colour, and much reduced in thickness. It is loaded with corals as at Crickley, many of which, as far as I could judge, appear to belong to the same species as those in Gloucestershire. Some parts of the bed are softer and full of shells, among which I procured several species of Cerithium, Nerincea, Natica, and other genera. Natica macro- stoma? is abundant, and a species of Rostellaria also occurs, though rarely ; the edges of the beds have been much waterworn, pro- bably by currents, and the shells are exposed in relief, and are much weathered in consequence. I sent a small collection to our colleague Mr. Lycett, and he states that although the greater number were new to him, yet the tendency of the others is towards the Inferior Oolite, and agree specifically with some in our district. Such for instance as the Natica adducta (an oolite marl shell), but also found in the Great and Inferior Oolite of Yorkshire; Trigonia striata, from the Roestone and Gryphite grit ; while at the same time there is a new species of Acteonina, Monodonta, &c. At so great a distance we must expect this to be the case, and the identity of a stratum (where the order of superposition is clearly defined) may be sufficiently proved if we can find a few distinctive species in both localities, and among these the Natica macrostomat* is certainly one, a fine series being preserved in the Grantham Museum. It is to be hoped that a larger collection will soon be made, and a careful comparison in- stituted between the Inferior Oolite fossils of Gloucestershire and Lincolnshire. Much has yet to be done in the Oolites generally in England, and with the exception of the standard and inva- luable work, ' The Geology of England and Wales/ by Conybeare and Phillips, and a few local papers, very little is known of the oolitic districts N.E. of the Cotswolds, especially in Lincoln- shire, Rutlandshire and Northamptonshire ; and a wide field is open for the research of an active and intelligent geologist in that quarter; and as our science is strictly a progressive one, in- exhaustible and as yet hidden treasures, rich in their way as the * With respect to this species, Mr, Lycett is of opinion that it cannot be referred to any known species, and he proposes to call it Natica Leck- hamptonensis. It appears to be confined to the oolite marl, as many others are, and I have never yet seen it in any of the superior or inferior beds. neighbourhood of Grantham. 57 gold of California, may be in store for us. In our Inferior Oolite, corals are more or less distributed throughout the whole; but no one stratum contains them in greater abundance than the oolite marl, the upper division of which at Crickley has been correctly denominated the u coral bed," and evidently formed an exten- sive coral reef beneath the ocean ; but with the exception of the pisolite, we have no further evidence of such reefs in any of the other superior or inferior beds. Hence the abundance of corals in the oolite marl near Grantham, coupled with other facts, such as the frequency of Nerinatce, which are usually found associated with corals, and are believed to have inhabited shallow seas, tends to support the probability that the marl in Lincolnshire was de- posited under similar conditions to the marl in Gloucestershire, although many of the shells may be distinct, a very little geo- graphical distance in a sea-bottom being often sufficient to pro- duce a corresponding increase or decrease in the number and variety of species. I observed the marl occupying a similar position nearer Gran- tham, where it is harder, whiter, and extensively used for roads, and contains many small shells and corals. The soft, white and yellow oolite (no. 3, p. 56) affords many small shells, and forms a tolerable building-stone; but as it is never quarried deep, I could not ascertain its thickness, nor the nature of the lower strata ; but there must be a considerable mass of oolite probably inter- vening between it and the subjacent lias. One of the numerous trial -borings on Harrowby Hill near Grantham gives the following section : — ft. in. Soil 0 6 Rubble 6 0 Inferior oolite 40 6 Lias (blue bind) continued downwards . . 10 0 by which it appears that thereabouts the total thickness of the Inferior Oolite does not exceed 41 feet. As a portion of no. 3 is a friable freestone, it may be considered as the representative of the shelly freestone underlying the ' oolite marl ' at Leck- hampton. Nearer Grantham also there is a fragmentary, shelly oolite on the side of Ponton Hill, which is possibly a continua- tion of the same bed ; but a more accurate investigation is re- quired before this can be positively determined. There are so few natural or artificial sections in the country that it is ex- tremely difficult to obtain correct information ; and although two lines of railway are now being constructed, the engineers em- ployed know nothing of geology, and are therefore incapable of rendering any assistance. In the Institution at Grantham there is a very tolerable col- 58 Rev. P. B. Brodie on the Geology of the lection of Inferior Oolite fossils, chiefly from Denton, among wh ifh were several Clypei and other shells common to Crickley and Leckhampton. There can be no doubt that the beds above the oolite marl once existed in Lincolnshire, as the gravel near Grantham, to which I shall presently allude, contains numerous fragments of oolite, and I recognized in them certain shells which are cha- racteristic of some of the strata which overlie the marl at Leck- hampton. There may be some spots in that and the adjoining counties where these higher bands exist still in situ, but from the general appearance of the country I am led to infer that the degradation to which, from various causes, they have been ex- posed, has removed a considerable portion of the upper division of the Inferior Oolite. While moreover the Great Oolite bears a closer resemblance in some respects to the Yorkshire series, the Inferior Oolite in the districts under review would seem to be more nearly allied to the more enlarged and coseval system in Gloucestershire. Still nothing decisive can be stated upon this point at present, until the strata and their organic contents have been more accurately investigated, and a careful comparison in- stituted by competent persons between the Lower Oolites in the northern, midland, and south-western portion of England *. Upper and Lower Lias. The Lias in its north-eastern course runs nearly parallel to the lower division of the Oolites, from the Cornbrash to the In- ferior Oolite inclusive; but while the latter diminish in breadth towards the H umber, the former occupies a considerable area from E. to W., though less expanded thereabouts than it is in some of the midland counties, and in its course thence in a south-westerly direction. Although, like other formations in different and distant localities, this varies in extent and thickness, it preserves, on the whole, a greater persistency and uniformity of character throughout the whole world than any other deposit ; so that groups of fossils and detailed sections, either from Ger- many or Asia (the Himalayas for instance), are found to cor- respond very closely with those in our own country. In a col- lection of lias fossils from the Cape of Good Hope, exhibited at the Geological Society in December last, I was struck with the close resemblance which they bore to certain species with which I was familiarly acquainted in this vale, although there were some, as might be expected, which were new to me. * Perhaps there is no locality in England where the Inferior Oolite may be so well studied in detail, or where it is so extensively developed, as in the outer escarpments of the Cotswolds. neighbourhood of Grantham. 59 The junction of the Inferior Oolite and Upper Lias shales may be observed near Stamford, and many of the characteristic fossils have been noticed. It also crops out at the base of some of the numerous longitudinal valleys which traverse the oolitic district round Grantham, and it may cap some of the hills on the north of the town. In a short visit I was unable to examine this part of the series more closely, but as these seem to be mainly com- posed of the ferruginous beds underlying the marlstone, it is probably of limited extent and thickness. These hills overlook a low and extensive flat, occupied almost exclusively by the mid- dle beds of the Lower Lias, so largely developed at the Leigh and other spots throughout the Vale of Gloucester, and in no respects differing from them. The soil is cold and wet, like all clay soils, but the general aspect of the tract is most uninteresting, and by no means equal to the rich and often picturesque valley through which the Severn flows. The Vale of Belvoir, however, more to the west, is a richer country, and the castle, which stands on oolitic, well-wooded hills, commands a fine view over the lias and new red sandstone in Nottinghamshire. In this neighbourhood the marlstone abounding in fossils is largely developed, and also in the descent from Denton Hill into the valley in which Grantham stands. It there occupies the same relative position, and pre- sents the same geographical features as it does in Gloucester- shire, Warwickshire and Somersetshire. A railway cutting through Gonnerby Hill close to Grantham has exposed the top beds of the Lower Lias, undistinguishable either lithologically or zoologically from their equivalents at Hewlett's and Robinswood Hills near Cheltenham and Gloucester. The ochraceous and laminated lias of Professor Buckman, with their characteristic fossils, are well seen in a deep cutting, in the latter of which, nodules and layers of ironstone are extensively distributed. The specimens which I procured, and the collec- tions I saw from this part of the series, agree precisely with those obtained in similar strata in Gloucestershire. This division of the Lias constitutes comparatively low hills N.W. of Grantham, not capped by oolite, which takes a more northern course towards Lincoln. A considerable portion of the former town stands upon sand and gravel, but the lower division of the Lias has been pene- trated for wells to the depth, as I was informed, of ninety feet ; but from the difficulty I had in obtaining sections in any of the in- ferior strata, I am unable to say whether it agrees exactly in this respect with those in the Vale of Gloucester. The Lower Lias generally may be best studied N.W. and W. of Grantham, on the S. and S.E. of which the oolitic Wolds rise and rarely display the Upper Lias at their base. West of the town towards Notting- ham the junction of the red marl and lias is probably visible, 60 Rev. P. B. Brodie on the Geoloyy of the though I did not myself see it; at all events the ( Insect Lime- stone1 occurs at Granby between Denton and Nottingham, for in the Grantham Museum there is a beautifully perfect fish, ap- parently a Dapedium, from this stratum; the structure of this limestone being so peculiar, that in the absence even of insect remains, I had no difficulty in recognizing it. In this case, this is the furthest point northwards in which it has been hitherto detected ; and as it is largely quarried at Barrow on Soar near Mount Sorrel in Leicestershire, its course may in all probability be traced southwards with tolerable regularity into Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire ; and it may extend, and very likely accompanies the red marl in its range still further to the north, perhaps even to the north-eastern coast of Yorkshire. The Gravel. The gravel in places near Grantham, especially at Ponton Hill, two miles south of the town, is extremely interesting, and there of some extent and thickness. It is mainly composed of the debris of the inferior oolite, chalk flints, and other older primitive rocks, such as granite, mica schist, porphyry, hard quartzose sandstone, trap, and slate. I also observed boulders of mountain limestone and Caradoc sandstone with characteristic fossils. None of these boulders are very large. The gravel is evidently derivative, and belongs to the period of the great north- ern erratic drift, so extensively distributed over the counties of Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire and Essex. Near Cambridge a similar gravel may be observed, but the frag- ments of which it is composed are much smaller, being at a greater distance from their source. The gravel on Ponton Hill is thirty feet thick : animal remains, so abundant in some lo- calities in England, seem to be extremely scarce, for the labourer who had worked there for years stated that he had never found anything except a portion of a stag's horn, about ten feet from the surface. At Bottisford, however, west of Grantham, there is a bed of clay probably of a different age to the gravel above- mentioned, containing bones of elephants, ox, deer, &c. Conclusion. Allow me, Mr. President, in conclusion (while we may justly congratulate ourselves on the prosperity of our Society), to ex- press a hope that each of our members will in his turn contribute his share to the stock of general knowledge and new facts which it is the object of our scientific meetings to promote. A good dinner certainly is not a bad thing, and frequent reunions of sci- entific friends are extremely delightful; but our aim must be a neighbourhood of Grantham. 61 higher one, and we must endeavour to advance as much as pos- sible those nobler and more enduring pursuits which enlarge the mind and benefit our fellow-creatures. Every one, however limited his acquaintance with science in general, has it in his power even in his daily walks to observe the structure and na- ture of the animate and inanimate world. Beautiful and varied too as the wide field of nature is, it seems almost culpable to pass by unnoticed the many wonders which it contains, though the choicest arc often hidden from the unobservant eye. Yet there are flowers rich and rare, and gems of costly price, the tempting rewardf of meritorious zeal and diligent research. A new flower, a new insect, a habit or an instinct in the higher animals not be- fore noticed, may be discovered by a mere beginner, and one re- corded fact is worth a thousand hasty generalizations founded on mere negative evidence, or theoretical deductions. There is much yet to be done, not only in geology, but in every other branch of knowledge ; and truth is best elicited, and false rea- sonings most satisfactorily overthrown, by an earnest, patient and laborious search into the novelties and beauties of God's crea- tion, not studied in the closet alone, but amidst the plains and rocks, the woods and streams, and even in the recesses of the " vasty deep." In this way, such master-minds as Sedgwick, Murchison, Owen, Lyell, Forbes and others, have read the pages of the book of nature, and have shown us how to unravel its mysteries, and to study and appreciate the glorious handiwork of an Omni- potent Creator. 62 Tabular view of Fossil Shells from the middle division of the Inferior Oolite in Gloucestershire. By John Lycett, Esq. Read 30th July 1850. The term middle division of the Inferior Oolite has been adopted from an arrangement of this formation made by Sir R. Murchi- son in 1834, and which, with some slight modification, will be found to be a convenient one for the zoological as well as for the mineral character of the divisions. The following comparison of fossil testacea from the middle division of the formation at Leck- hampton and Crickley Hills with others from a similar geological position near Minchinhampton, and of both collections with Great Oolite shells of the latter place, has been undertaken for the following reasons. The Leckhampton shells constitute a numerous assemblage, have only recently been procured or in- vestigated, and present a striking contrast with those of the upper and lower divisions of the same formation which are well known, and have for the most part hitherto supplied the nume- rous Inferior Oolite fossils to be found in museums and illus- trated works. The person to whom the merit is due of having first drawn attention to this assemblage is undoubtedly Mr. Buck- man, who having procured a few species was immediately struck with the similarity of aspect, and even specific identity, which they presented to certain Great Oolite shells which had previously been believed were peculiar to that formation : as the number of species increased the same general similarity of aspect was re- marked, until at length an opinion was entertained by some of our Cotswold geologists, that a large proportion, perhaps even a majority of these shells, were identical with Great Oolite spe- cies. That the Leckhampton shells should not previously have been procured will excite no surprise, when it is stated that they are not to be picked up, nor do they immediately arrest the eye of the observer like many other Inferior Oolite fossils ; they are usually small, even minute, and are disengaged from the invest- ing stone only by great labour and perseverance. For the means of making this comparison I am indebted to the kindness and liberality of the Rev. P. B. Brodie, who has placed at my dis- On Fossil Shells from the Inferior Oolite in Gloucestershire. 63 posal his numerous collection, and to whom, as votaries of natu- ral history, our thanks are due for the indomitable perseverance with which he has followed up the investigation of this very cha- racteristic assemblage of shells. In the mean time having pro- cured a considerable number of species from the same division of the Inferior Oolite near Minchinhampton, and been accustomed to compare them with Great Oolite shells of the same vicinity, I became desirous of making the following comparison, with the view of testing how far the two collections placed upon the same geological parallel, but fifteen miles asunder, resembled each other, what proportion of either and of both passed upward into the Great Oolite, and lastly, what amount had previously been figured and described ; tables accompanied by notes, if carefully prepared, would obviously to a great extent supply this deside- ratum ; and although the number of species procured from each locality probably fails far short of what will ultimately be ob- tained, the tables it is hoped will not be destitute of utility even in another point of view — they can be placed in comparison with collections from the Ragstones of the Inferior Oolite, and the zoological resemblance or difference between them ascertained. By following out this plan I am precluded from interfering with the labours of those who have recently investigated the geology of the Cotswolds, of Messrs. Buckman, Strickland and Brodie, to whom so much of our present amount of knowledge respecting these hills is due. It would indeed have been desirable had the tables been made more comprehensive, so as to include the fossils of the upper and lower divisions of the Inferior Oolite ; but a little reflection convinced me that by doing so I should be arrogating an amount of knowledge which I am very far from possessing ; inasmuch as the information to be gathered from the literature of the sci- ence would scarcely be available for such a purpose, the general term Inferior Oolite with a locality attached being usually the amount of information of the position of a shell in this formation. The Inferior Oolite in the vicinity of Cheltenham exhibits two very distinct assemblages of organic remains; the differ- ence between these is so obvious, even to the uninstructed observer, that a glance at any well-arranged collection is suffi- cient to establish conviction of this fact. The upper of these assemblages is contained in the several beds called Upper Ragstones, numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4 in Mr. Strickland's valu- able section of Leckhampton Hill* which is about to be pub- lished, where the united thickness assigned to them is 38 feet ; * See Quart. Joum. Geol. Soc. 1850, p. 249. 64 Mr. J. Lycett on Fossil Shells from the the whole of the formation beneath, with the exception of about 2£ feet, or about 189 feet of rock, belongs to the second zoolo- gical assemblage, which it is the especial object of this compa- rison to elucidate. The Inferior Oolite has long been known to geologists for the great profusion which it possesses both in spe- cies und individuals of the two great tribes of Ammonites and Belemnites ; some few of these pertain to the first or uppermost of our assemblages, but the great mass of these tribes, together with a large and characteristic series of other shells, are absent in the neighbourhood of Cheltenham ; these constitute a third and still lower zoological series, to examine which, in situ, we must visit the escarpment of the Cotswolds, some miles to the southward of Leckhampton, and from thence we shall find this assemblage to be persistent in gradually increasing importance to the neighbourhood of Bath, and to extend throughout the whole course of the formation in Somerset and Dorset to the English Channel. In the two last-mentioned counties the localities of Dundry, Sherborne and Bridport have become celebrated for the profusion of their fossils, and until very recently museums and collections have been supplied almost exclusively from those sources, and the fossils of this third and lowest assemblage have been held to represent those of the Inferior Oolite generally. In the middle portion of the Cotswolds, or from Stroud to Wootton- under-Edge, the three subdivisions of the Inferior Oolite are ex- hibited by the various sections ; but a little to the southward of the latter place, the uppermost division and upper portion of the middle division thin out and are lost ; at the same time the Ful- ler's earth above attains a much greater importance, its thickness, together with that of the Inferior Oolite, amounting to a little more than the aggregate thickness of the two formations about Cheltenham. The following imaginary section from Cheltenham to Bath will make the subject more clearly understood. Thus the Fuller's earth 148 feet thick at Bath has diminished to 70 feet at Stroud, and in the vicinity of Cheltenham to a very inconsi- derable band of clay. The lower division of the Inferior Oolite (No. 4 in the section), consisting of several Ammonitiferous beds with brown sands beneath, altogether 70 feet thick, has dimi- nished to 40 feet at Stroud, and at Leckhampton is represented by the lowest bed 2 feet thick, charged in the usual characteristic manner with Belemnites, beneath which are 6 inches of chocolate- coloured sands reposing upon the blue marls of the Lias. The upper division or Ragstones (No. 2 in the section) about 40 feet thick near Cheltenham is reduced to 20 at Stroud, and is ulti- mately lost to the south of Wootton as before mentioned. The middle division (No. 3 in the section), nearly 190 feet thick Inferior Oolite in Gloucestershire. 65 at Leckhampton, is somewhat di- minished at Stroud, and loses the -2 greater portion of its volume, in- « eluding the Oolite marl and all the upper beds before it reaches Bath, where it is represented by 60 feet of freestone. The Bath section is taken from a valuable paper by Mr. Lonsdale in the Geological Transactions. The shells of the middle division are for the most part distributed in beds of no great thickness ; the great mass of the deposit being nearly destitute of organic remains, or containing only minute shelly detritus. The numerical results obtained from the Tables of comparison are as follow: — 255 species have been examined from the middle division of the Inferior Oolite, 181 being from Leckhampton, and 145 from Minchinharapton ; of these 73 are common to the two localities and 64 pass upwards into the Great Oolite, or 28 per cent. Of the H Leckhampton shells alone 59, i. e. 2 33 per cent., and of the Minchin- m hampton Inferior Oolite suite 43, i. e. 31 per cent., pass upwards. Thus, from each of the localities, a larger per-centage of shells pass upwards than is obtained when the entire number of species are reckoned ; an instance of the cau- tious reliance which should be placed upon estimates derived from a limited number of species or from shells of a single locality, where the object is to draw wide and general inferences. It should also be stated that about 40 spe- cies in addition to these were not | sufficiently perfect to be deter- H mined, marly or quite the whole M of which are unknown to the Great g J ?i 66 Mr. J. Lycett on Fossil Shells from the Oolite ; this addition would still further reduce the per-centage of those which pass upward to the latter formation. For remarks on particular species the notes which accompany the Tables should be consulted, but some further observations upon the several families of shells may here be given. The Leckhampton shells as a whole are remarkable for their diminu- tive size : this remark is not only applicable to those species which are likewise found in the lower and upper divisions of the same formation, but to those also which are found in the same forma- tions at Minchinhampton. Upon the whole it may be stated that there is a nearer approximation between the Great Oolite and Leckhampton shells than between those of the two formations at Minchinhampton. As compared with the upper and lower as- semblages, the middle is characterized by an entire absence of the Pholadomyas, the Homomyas, the Gresslyas, and I had almost said of Ammonites, Belemnites and Nautili, genera which con- stitute so large a proportion of the other assemblages, in this respect presenting a striking accordance with the contents of the shelly beds of the Great Oolite. Again, the large number of NerinecB and Cerithia, though differing specifically from those of the Great Oolite, tend much to separate it zoologically from the upper and lower assemblages, where they are few and rare. Mr. Brodie's collection has a single Nautilus and Belemnite ; my own has four Ammonites of one species, and a single Nautilus ; their presence under such circumstances is a sufficient indication of the solitary and perhaps accidental nature of their occurrence, a proof in fact that they did not live and propagate in the middle division. The Rostellarice, though few in number and differing specifically from those of the Great Oolite, serve also to mark the separation of the assemblage from other Inferior Oolite groups, and its approximation to the conditions of sea-bottom under which the Great Oolite shelly beds were deposited ; but the most striking circumstance which tends to the same conclusion is the occurrence of a great diversity of forms in the family of the Patelloidea, which appears to be altogether absent in the upper and lower series ; of the fourteen species it will be observed, that no less than six are specifically identical with Great Oolite forms ; and what renders this fact the more worthy of notice is, that the entire family are absent in the Inferior Oolite contemporaneous beds at Minchinhampton. The Terebratulre, which usually are of much importance in the determination of particular groups of rocks, are abundant in this division only in the bed of Oolite marl; but in localities where the marl is consolidated into a Cream-coloured mudstone, or where a considerable number of other genera of shells are present, the Terebratulce are compara- tively scarce ; the genus however is one which conduces much to Inferior Oolite in Gloucestershire. 67 impress an individual or distinctive character upon the assem- blage, or to isolate it from other shelly deposits ; it will be ob- served that of the twelve species two only of them appear to have been continued to the period of the Great Oolite; the other species do not even seem to be found in the other divi- sions of the same formation, each of which has its distinctive Terebratula. The vertical range of the several species throughout the middle division is considerable, for with the exception of certain small and very rare species, the same Terebratula may be found to oc- cur at intervals through a vertical thickness of 140 feet of rock. The genera which may be pointed out as most eminently to cha- racterize this division are the Cerithia, the Nerinea, the Trochi, the Solaria, the Cylindrites, the Melania, the Rostellarice, the Trochotoma, the Tancredia, and the Terebratula ; of these tribes all but two belong to the Gasteropoda ; they constitute the great bulk of the univalves, and contain in all fifty-two species, not one of which is found in the Great Oolite. Other genera might be mentioned whose species equally belong to this series, but such have been selected as acquire importance either by the number of their species or by that of the individuals of such species. It may perhaps place the subject in a more striking point of view when it is stated, that of the 108 Gasteropods only 20 are con- tinued to the Great Oolite. The smaller per-centage obtained from the total number of species when compared with a single locality is caused by a large proportion of the shells which are common to the two localities being likewise those which pass upwards into the Great Oolite, thus illustrating the fact, that species which occur in considerable number and have a wide range horizontally, are those which we should expect to find through a considerable range of beds vertically. I would define the limits of the middle or freestone division of the Inferior Oolite as including all that portion of the formation situated between the upper ragstone beds (1, 2, 3 and 4 of Mr. Strickland's section), and the Ammonitiferous beds or upper por- tion of the lower division. Lastly, the general conclusion may be stated to which this comparison has led, that these testacea constitute a zoological assemblage distinguished from those of the other portions of the [nferior Oolite by features as well-marked as those which di- stinguish the fossils of the other great groups (proximate in sequence), which are termed formations, from each other, and that these features, varying in detail, will probably be found to occur, like some other shelly deposits of the oolitic formations, at intervals and over small areas wherever the freestones of the Inferior Oolite are extensively developed. 68 Mr. J. Lycett on Fossil Shells from the On Tancredia, a fossil genus of Lamellibranchiate Conchifera. Plate II. figs. 8, 9, 10. Gen. Char. Shell thin, cqui valve, inequilateral, smooth, flattened, subtrigonal or transverse, somewhat gaping at the posterior extremity, which is produced and attenuated ; anterior side with a longitudinal angle passing from the umbo to the an- tero-ventral border. Hinge with two cardinal teeth in each valve, the anterior one the larger, and a wide and deep, rather irregular fossa between them ; lateral teeth distant, one or two in each valve (usually two); ligament probably partially internal and contained in the cardinal pit. The figure of the cardinal pit varies in the different species ; in one it is triangular, one of the angles being at the umbo, in others it is wider and more irregular, but there is not any raised edge bordering it, as in Mesodesma and the Lutrarice ; the figure and size of the cardinal teeth likewise vary ; occasionally the pos- terior cardinal tooth can hardly be distinguished ; strictly speak- ing, the anterior cardinal tooth is immediately beneath the umbo, the pit and other tooth being posterior to it ; the posterior late- ral tooth is sometimes wanting altogether ; the internal margins of the valves are smooth ; the valves are thin and delicate, but such as have had their internal surface exposed showed no traces of the muscular impressions. This genus may be classed as one of the Mactracea, and placed near to Mesodesma and Amplddesma ; the external figure is donaciform ; the character of the dentition approaches near to, but is really distinct from, Mesodesma, from which latter genus the gaping posterior extremity tends to sepa- rate it ; the shell is likewise thinner and more delicate than in either of the genera with which it has been compared ; with Donax it has nothing more in common than the external form. This genus of small bivalves is eminently characteristic of the lower members of the oolitic system of rocks ; the Great Oolite has three species, and the freestone beds of the Inferior Oolite have two other species ; neither of these are common to the two formations, nor have they been found in the upper or lower di- visions of the Inferior Oolite. The diffusion of this generic form i> worthy of notice ; it may without exaggeration be said, that cer- tain layers in the shelly portion of the Great Oolite were merely so many colonics in which they propagated almost exclusively in countless numbers, but the great mass of these are of one species ; the freestone beds of the Inferior Oolite contain likewise a great number of another species. A knowledge of these five species is of importance in the recognition and distinction of the shelly beds in the two formations, as from the numbers of two or three hifnior Oolitt in CUoticestershire. 69 species they may be expected to occur over large areas; already they are known in the lower oolitic system of Normandy. The generic appellation is derived from the name of SirThos. Tancred, Bart., the founder of the Cotswold Naturalists' Club. The descriptions of two species will be found in the notes to the tables of Inferior Oolite shells ; those of the Great Oolite are deferred to the monograph upon that subject. Note on No. 199, Ptychomya ? Agussizii. At pi. 11. f. 3, 4 of the 'Etudes critiques sur les Mollusques fossiles/ by M. L. Agassiz, is an imperfect impression of an ob- long flattened bivalve shell to which is affixed the new generic appellation Ptychomya, but no account is given of the locality or geologieal formation to which it belongs ; the figure is founded upon a single impression. M. Agassiz has not ventured to de- fine the genus, and in his introduction mentions that M. D'Or- bigny considers it to be a Crassatella, to which genus M. Agassiz remarks it has no external resemblance. Having long possessed specimens of a small shell which ex- hibits the external characters of Ptychomya, and as two of the specimens are in a condition nearly perfect, I have ventured to record the little information thus acquired with the impression, that although meagre and imperfect, it should not be withheld when the object of investigation is obscure or unknown ; never- theless the present note would not have appeared but for the necessity of affixing a generic name in my Tables to the little shell in question. The high degree of critical acumen displayed by the talented author of the ' Etudes/ together with the just confidence which he shows in the accuracy of his own observa- tions and deductions when controverted by others, rendered it probable that the generic value which he had claimed for this obscure form would eventually be found to be justified; the pre- sent species therefore became an object of interest upon the dis- covery that it could scarcely with propriety be assigned to any other known genus. Ptychomya ? Agassizii. PI. II. fig. 6. Figure suborbicular and flattened ; umbones straight, small, pointed and mesial ; the substance of the shell thick ; the lunule indistinct or very slightly excavated ; the hinge-line posteriorly straight or slightly curved and sloping obliquely; the ventral border rounded, the surface with about fourteen rounded, broad but depressed costse, which are curved upwards and meet the costse of the opposite side upon the middle of the shell forming an angle, the points of junction of the several costse being upon a line passing obliquely from the umbo to the an tero- ventral 70 Mr. J. Lycett on Fossil Shells from the border ; the costse are crossed by very fine, closely arranged encir- cling striae or lines ; the hinge is without teeth. Height 3 lines, breadth 3 lines. The impression figured by M. Agassiz has a much more ob- long or transverse figure, being much lengthened posteriorly ; it is also rather imperfect or truncated at that extremity ; the angle of the costse is placed much more anteriorly than in our species, but inclines like the latter to the antero-ventral border ; the costse are likewise more narrow and numerous. Considering the flat- ness of the valves and their thickness, it would appear that the mollusk was shielded rather than inclosed by them ; the valves would appear to have been open all round except at the ligament ; the character of this latter organ must for the present remain doubtful, as no trace of a lamina for its attachment is visible. Our present imperfect definition of the genus Ptychomya there- fore will be as follows : — Shell equivalve, suborbicular or oblong and transverse, flattened, thick ; umbones small, straight, flat- tened ; hinge-line posteriorly straight or slightly curved ; valves open all round ; surface with numerous curved ribs meeting at an angle, whose apex is directed towards the umbo ; the costse are covered with numerous, closely arranged, concentric striae or lines. Hinge edentulous. Of the fossil Myada, Goniomya is the only one which resem- bles it, but in that genus the costse meet at an angle inclined in an opposite direction to Ptychomya ; the surface has similar fine concentric lines, but here the resemblance appears to cease. The true position of our genus in the molluscous tribes must therefore remain in abeyance ; the smallness of the object and hardness of the investing stone are formidable obstacles in the way of further information to be obtained from it. EXPLANATION OF PLATE II. Fig. 1. Turbo elaboratus. — 2. Solarium Cotswoldice. — 2 a. The same magnified. — 3. Chemnitzia gracilis. — 4. Gervillia aurita. — 5. Opis gibbosus. — 5 a. The same magnified. — 6. Ptychomya Agassizii. — 6 a. The same magnified. — 7. Corbis aspera. — 8. Tancredia donaciformis. — 9. Tancredia extensa. — 9 a. Interior of the same. — 9 b. Magnified view of the hinge. — 10. Tancredia truncata. The two latter species pertain exclusively to the Great Oolite. Plato II Jfiuioiej luh. 3 "Weflmgtan. S* Strand J. Do C Sowerby £eo* Inferior Oolite in Gloucestershire. 71 Tabular List of Fossils. Genus. Species. Authority. O "3 a. — *5 .C — c = o •- o ^ «5 «C 1. Patella ... 3. 2. 4. 7. Emarginula 8. 9. 10. 11. — 6. Fissurella ... 5. 12. Rimula ... 12*. 13. 13*. 14. Pileolus ... 15. 16. Nerita 18.- ...{ 19. 17. 43. 20. Naticella ... 50. Natica 52. 53. 127. Sow. Min. Con. ... Deslongchamps ... new sp * * * * * * » • * * • * • * * * * * * * * * * * * * • * 4i * * * * * * * * * * * * • * • • • * • * * 4i • 4> * 4t 4> 4) * * » • • • planicostula . . . Deslongchamps ... Sow. Min. Con. ... new sp granulata,.. [sis. Leckhamptonen new sp new sp Deslongchamps ... new sp clathrata Blotii Sow. Min. Con. ... (Emarginula) Deslongchamps ... Emarginula, Sow. Min. Con. new sp tricarinata minutissima . . . Sow. Min. Con. ... Sow. Min. Con. ... Phil. Geol. York. . Roemer "1 Sow. Min. Con.... j Natica, Phil. Geol. York. plicatus costata cassidiformis ... new sp decussata Natica, Goldfuss... Phil. Geol. York. . Roemer and Gold- fuss. macrostoma? ... [sis. Leckhamptonen- Gomondii new sp Nerita, Archiac ... Nerita, Archiac ... new sp 22 23. Inliciformis laevigata 27. Nerita, Sow. Min. Con. Goldfuss 24. Delph inula . 26. 35.— 25i Littorina ... funata [lata. quaterno - cingil- new sp new sp 30. Turbo new sp 28. 29. 33. 34 31. Cirrus rapitaneus pnnceps Goldfuss Roemer new sp Cheltensis Sow. Min. Con. ... 37 17 17 h2 72 Mr. J. Lycett on Fossil Shells from the Genus. 36. Trochus 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 44. Pleurotoma- ria 45. 48. Trochotoma 46. .... 47. .... 49. .... 51. Natica .... 54. Phasianella 55. .... 55*. .... 56. Acteonina . 57. .... 58. .... 59. Cvlindrites 60. .... 61. .... 62. .... 63. 64. Chemnitzia 65. .... 98. ..... 99. — - ...r 66. Ceritella,n.g. 99*. Chemnitzia 67. Ceritella ... 69. Scalaria 70. Solarium ... 71. 72. 73. 74. Eulima 75. Rissoa 76. Rissoina , 76*. 77. Cerithium ... 78. 79. 80. 81. Species. monilitectus . . . bi-cingendus . . , alternans gemmatus [tus cingillato - serra- pileus infundibuliformis funata laevigata calix carmata depressiuscula funata canaliculata . . . acutiuscula ... turbiniformis subangulata tumidula ovata glabra attenuatus . . . gradus mamillaris . . . tabulatus bulbiformis .... nitida elegans procera? gracilis sculpta turns tumidula pygmea Cotsvvoldise .... diadema parvula... laevis obliquata obtusa ... Authority. Phil. Geol. new sp. ., new sp. ., new sp. . new sp. . new sp. . new sp. . new sp. ., York. new sp Solarium, Phillips; T. affinis, Deslong- champs. new sp new sp. new sp. new sp. new sp. new sp. uew sp. new sp. new sp. Acteon, new sp new sp new sp o new sp new sp new sp new sp. [champs Melania, Deslong- new sp, 37 Phillip [champs Deslong- uew sp. Melania, new sp , new sp new sp new sp new sp new sp new sp Sow. Min. Con. ... Rissoa, Sow.Min.C, new sp new sp new sp new sp new sp new sp * * 63 |1 17 17 45 20 Inferior Oolite in Gloucestershire. 73 Genus. 82. Cerithiura. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. Nerimea .. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 100. Fusus? .. 101. 101*. 102. Rostellaria 103. 104. 105. 106. 107. Serpula .. 108. 108*. 109*. Belemnites 109. Nautilus ... 110. Ammonites 111. Echinus ... 112. Pygaster ... 113. C'idaris 114. 115. 116. Acrosalenia 117. Cidarites .. 118. 119. Nucleolites 121. Lima 122. 124. 128. 129. 123. 125. 126. 130. 130*. 134. Pccten Species. Bruntrutana? acicula? cannatus obliquatus carino-crenatus unicornis implex spinigera solida gracilis laevigata Undetermined . . socialis Undetermined . . lineatus Undetermined . , germinans patelliformis . , subangularis . . Undetermined . . coronatus Hoffmanni crenularis ..... Undetermined . clunicularis .... punctata duplicata notata lunularis laeviuscula .... squamicosta.... phcata alata punctatilla .... nuiiutissima.... clathratus .... Authority. new sp. new sp. new sp. new sp. new sp. new sp. new sp. new sp. Archiac ? Archiac new sp. new sp. new sp. new sp. new sp. new sp. Roemer new sp. new sp. new sp. new sp. new sp. new sp. new sp. new sp. Buckman. Sow. Min. Con. Phil. Geol.York.. Agassiz Goldfuss — . c 63 Goldfuss Goldfuss Goldfuss Goldfuss Goldfuss Sow. Min. Con. Goldfuss Deshayes Goldfuss Buvignier new sp new sp new sp new sp Roemer - — - 3 2 45 97 72 .= £ 20 32 74 Mr. J. Lycett on Fossil Shells from the Genus. 134*. ... 135. Pecten... 131. ... 130**. Lima 136. Pecten... 137. ... 138. Ilinnites 139. ... 140. 139*. 141. Plicatula .. 142. Placuna?.. 143. ? 144. ? 145. Mytilus .. 146. 147. 149. 148. 150. 151. Dreissena.. 162. Gervillia ... 153. 154. 155. 156. 157. Perna 158. Gervillia ... 158*. 159. Pteroperna 160. Pinna 161. 164. Hiatella .. 166. Myoconcha 163. Ostrea 163*. 168. Opis 169. 170. 171.— , 172. Trigonia .., 173. 174. 175. 176. 177- 177*. 178. Corburella . Species. variety? of above, lens vinnneus , ovalis , Undetermined , lineolatus sepultus comptus velatus [valve) tuberculatus (left Spondylus, Goldf. elongata jurensis armata complicata ... pectinatus . . . striatums pulcher euneatus subrectus crenatus lumilaris tortuosa lata aurita , costatula laevigata , my tiloides ovata complicata ibbosa cuneata hastata , interlineata .... crassa , costata , Undetermined . Moreausius .... angustatus .... elongatus gibbosus clavo-costata . lineolata angulata striata costatula v. costata Authority. Sow. Min. Con. Sow. Min. Con. Plagiostoma, Sow. [Min. Con. new sp. new sj). Spondylus, Gold- fuss. Spondylus, Goldf. new sp Roemer Plicatula, Goldf uss new sp Sow. Min. Con. ... Goldfuss , Goldfuss... [Con Modiola, Sow. Min new sp new sp , new sp Gastroehaena, Phill, Phillips new sp Deslongchamps ... new sp Goldfuss... [Con. Avicula, Sow. Min. Buckman new genus and sp Phillips new sp new sp Sow. Min. don. . Sow. Min. Con. . Buvignier new sp new sp new sp new sp Agassiz Sow. Min. Con. .. Sow. Min. Con. .. new sp new sp tuberculosa new sp curtansata Corbula, Phillips. . . Si c J 97 * n 131 100 3-5 a. 32 48 Inferior Oolite in Gloucestershire, 75 Genus. Species. Authority. Inf. Ool. Leck- hampton. Inf. Ool. Minchin- hampton. Gr. Ool. Minchin- hampton. 181. Corbula ... 179. 180. ...... 183. Cypricardia 183. Goldfuss, striata, Buckman. 131 * * * * * * * * * • * • * * * * * * * * * * * * * • • 100 ♦ • • * • • * * * * * * • • * • * * * * * * * * 4) * • 48 * * * • • • * • * * • Phillips cordiformis Deshayes new sp 186. Cardium ... ponliformft new sp 187. ljpviant.iim new sp 188. 189. 190. 184. 191. Sphsera ... 192. Venus 193. 194. 195. Cytherea... 196. Astarte cognatum [turn. punctato - stria- granulatum semicostatum ... Madridi Phil. Geol. York... new sp new sp new sp Cardium, D'Arch. ; Cardium incer- tum, Phillips. Roemer trapeziformis ... curvirostris Suevica new sp Goldfuss picta excavata Sow. Min. Con. ... new sp 197. 198. 199. Ptychomya 200. ...{ 201. 202 quadrata l)i 1 1 lata Agassizii new sp Goldfuss \ Roemer J Unio, Dunker Goldfuss sulcato-striata ... detrita 203 ... 215. orbicularis ly rata Sow. Min. Con. ... Phillips 208. despecta Phillips 205. Corbis 206. 207. 209. Psammobia 210. Mactromya 211. Panopaea? . 212. Tancredia . 213. 214. Nucula ... 216. Ceromya ... 217. 218. Macrodon . 219. Goniomya . 220. Arcomya... 221. Myopsis ... Phil. Geol. York. . lajvi<*atus Phil. Geol. York. . globosa delicatissima ... donaciformis . . . new sp new sp variabilis Sow. Min. Con. ... Isocardia, S. M. C. Cardita, S. M. C. . Cucullaea, D'Arch. Mya, Sow. Min. Con. Sanguinolaria, Buckman. Sanguinolaria, Buckman. concentrica striata llnxniensis literata oblonsra punctata 159 128 62 76 Mr. J. Lycctt on Fossil Shells from the Genus. Species. Authority. Int. uol. Leck- hampton. Int. Uol. Minchin- hampton IUr. Uol. Minchin. hampton 222. Myopsis ... 223. Area 225. ±21. ■ '.'.'.'... 250. Modiolarca 22(i. Cucullaea... 227. 228. 229. 230. 231. 233. 249. 248. 248*. 234. Lithodomus 235. Trichites ... 236. Terebratula 237. 238. 239. 240. 241. dilata Mya,Phill.;Sangui- nolaria, Buckm. Sow. Min. Con. ... 159 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 128 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 62 * * * * * * * lata Goldfuss nuliuscula Area ovata, Buckm. S. M. C.,notPhill. new sp dense granulata . Area, Goldfuss ... Phil. Geol. York. . Phil. Geol. York. . triangularis ? ... funiculosa? Area, Goldfuss ... attenuatus Lycett, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1850. Buckman Sow. Min. Con. ... Sow. Min. Con. ... Sow. Min. Con. ... new sp resupinata ? ornithocephala ? 241*. new sp 242. new sp 243. 241 ■ 246. new sp * 184 | 146 69 Notes and Descriptions of New Species. 2. Patella inornata ; ovate, smooth ; apex pointed, moderately elevated, subcentrical, but posterior and inclined slightly forwards. The Great Oolite shells are rather more elevated and pointed. 4. P. reti/era; ovate, costated and cancellated; costee numerous and unequal, crossed by numerous encircling lines ; apex moderately elevated, posterior, but inclined forwards. 10. Emarginula granulata ; ovately globose; apex curved poste- riorly ; costse numerous, very fine, with others still more delicate alter* nating, and rendered granular by transverse encircling lines. 1 1 . E. Leckhamptonen8i8 ; oval, depressed ; apex posterior ; costsc large, rounded and tuberculated where crossed by encircling lines ; costee twenty-six in number. o. Fissurella Brodiei ; figure a lengthened oval, rather depressed In/mm- Oolite in Gloucestershire. 11 a,ir\ sulxrntral ; costee about forty-two, large, nearly equal, crossed by numerous encircling lines. 13*. Rimiihi minutis&ima; almost microscopic, conical; apex curved; ribs radiating, rounded, numerous, closely arranged, in- dented by encircling striae ; under surface nearly orbicular. 17. Ncrita casfiitliformifi; subhomispherical, angulated ; spire dis- coidal ; an elevated smooth encircling carina divides the body-whorl into two portions, the upper of which is flat and has a few fine encir- cling lines ; on the lower portion the lines are larger, rounded and closely arranged. 43. N. lineata ; very oblique ; spire of several whorls, not elevated and nearly concealed ; surface with numerous very fine longitudinal radiating lines. 53. Natica Leckhamptonensis ; spire elevated, whorls convex, the last enormously expanded, upper surface of the whorls rounded and sulcatcd ; aperture very effuse, orbicular. Only casts known. A gi- gantic species. 23 & 27. Monodonta heliciformis and M. laevigata ; these shells are smooth and depressed ; they have the tooth of Monodonta, but are without any basal sulcus or umbilicus ; they will appear in the Great Oolite monograph under the new generic name Alostoma. 26. Delphinula quatemo-cingillata ; subglobose ; spire of several whorls, angulated ; longitudinal costse large, elevated, rather angular, impressed by numerous transverse lines ; umbilicus costated ; aperture orbicular. 25. Littorina nana; small, smooth, thick ; spire elevated; whorls few, convex, narrow ; aperture rather small. 9. Emarginula alta ; shell much elevated, compressed laterally ; apex curved posteriorly, the convex side beneath the apex having narrow, simple, smooth elevated ribs, of which the middle one is the most prominent ; there are also slight traces of smaller costae upon the flattened sides of the shell ; the height exceeds the length of the aper- ture : rare. 30. Turbo elaboratus ; ovate ; spire elevated, whorls five, slightly convex and angulated ; surface above the angle smooth, horizontal, or even slightly concave, encircling ribs numerous, elevated, crossing numerous longitudinal elevations or costse, which are indistinct upon the last volution ; aperture oval, its length rather more than half of the entire shell. Axis 1 1 lines : rare. 33. Turbo Cheltensis ; small ; spire elevated, whorls five, convex, nodulated, nodules in four rows, about sixteen in a volution, the no- dules of each row connected by an encircling line ; nodules large, di- minishing in size upwards in each successive row ; length £th of an inch. 34 . Turbo varicosus ; turreted, whorls six, convex, each with four encircling, rounded and smooth costte crossing about eight large lon- gitudinal elevations, which pass rather obliquely from left to right. Axis 2 lines. 37. Trochus bi-cingendus ; elevated, whorls rather concave, with 78 Mr. J. Lycett on Fossil Shells from the two encircling nodose ribs, one at each margin of the whorl, and three mesial circles of nodules. 38. Trochus alter nans ; moderately elevated and costated, three nodulated costce upon each whorl, the middle one the smallest. 40. Trochus ciiu/illato-serratus ; whorls few, bicarinated, the lower carina much the larger, the intermediate space concave with small serrated circles of ribs ; the carinee are longitudinally serrated. 41. Trochus pileus ; very elevated ; whorls few, concave, with lon- gitudinal elevations united at the base, and overwrapping the upper portion of the succeeding whorl, base discoidal. 42. Trochus inf and ibid if or mis; figure a low cone above, discoidal beneath ; whorls three or four, flattened, with numerous obscure lon- gitudinal wrinkled lines. 41 & 42. These two remarkable species are placed provisionally in the genus Trochus ; it is probable however that they will ultimately be erected into a new genus. 44. Pleurotomariafunata ; elevated ; whorls five or six, convex above, but rather flattened at the sides, with numerous equal, closely arranged angular encircling ribs decussated by fine longitudinal lines. Fascia of the sinus broad, striated longitudinally, with an encircling elevated line bounding it upon each side. 45. Pleurotomaria Icevigata ; discoidal ; whorls five, smooth, slightly convex ; fascia of the sinus narrow, forming a slightly convex band ; base smooth and discoidal. 46. Trochotoma carinata ; moderately elevated, acuminated ; whorls narrow, numerous, angulated, rendered concave both above and below by an elevated and acute carina ; the first three or four whorls have closely arranged encircling striae crossed by others longi- tudinal, but the larger whorls are perfectly smooth, or have only the oblique lines of growth ; the carina is formed by two parallel lines ; the base is widely and deeply excavated ; height f ths of the basal diameter : rare. 47. Trochotoma depress iuscula ; depressed ; whorls five, narrow and angulated ; ribs below the angle three, above more numerous ; upper surface of the whorls concave, lower flattened ; base striated, excavation large, not deep ; height half the basal diameter : rare. 49. Trochotoma funata ; elevated, acuminated, nearly smooth ; whorls convex, their lower portions flattened, with numerous encir- cling granulated ribs, faintly traced, basal excavation contracted. Height about equal to the basal diameter. 51. Natica canaliculata ; ventricose ; spire elevated ; whorls five, acute, flattened at their sides, their upper surfaces deeply channeled, the angle of the whorls slightly tumid ; aperture obliquely ovate ; axis imperforate, last whorl very large and tumid ; axial diameter 1 inch 4 lines, transverse 1 inch. 54. Phasiafiella acutiuscula ; ovate ; spire small, acute, with four very narrow rather convex whorls, whose upper borders are disunited from the preceding whorls ; body-whorl much expanded and globose ; aperture large, f rds the axial length ; axis 5 lines, transverse diameter 4 lines. Inferior Oolite in Gloucestershire, 79 55. Phasianelln twhi*\forwu ; ovate, acute; whorls five to six, convex, narrow, last whorl large, ventricose; aperture large, oval, ob- lique, its length a little exceeding half of the axial and f ths of the transverse diameter. 55*. P It a si, i ltd hi subangulata ; ovate, lengthened ; spire pointed ; whorls rather convex, few, body-whorl large, ovate, subangulated in the middle ; aperture elongated and oblique, its length equal to the trans- verse and fths that of the axial diameter of the shell. 57. Acteonina ovata ; ovate ; spire of moderate elevation, consist- ing of four flattened whorls, last whorl subcylindrical, large ; aperture lengthened, oblique ; axis 1 1 lines, breadth 6 lines. 56. Acteonina tumidula ; spire small ; body-whorl very large and tumid ; aperture expanded anteriorly ; axis 6 lines, breadth 4 lines. 59. Ci/Hitdrites attenuatus ; conico-cylindrical ; spire short, acute, of rix whorls, which are very narrow and acute at their upper borders ; body-whorl flattened and attenuated towards the base ; length 8 lines, breadth 4 lines. 60. Cylindrites gradus ; cylindrical, elongated ; spire elevated ; whorls five to six, step-like, but slightly rounded at the angles, the lower portions of the whorls perfectly flat. The above-named two species of Cylindrites have elevated spires ; those which follow have sunk spires, but exposed, the upper edges of the whorls being visible ; the apex, which usually comprises the first two or three volutions, forms a kind of mamillary tubercle ele- vated above the depressed edges of the other whorls except the last. They constitute two very distinct sections. 62. Cylindrites tabulatus ; conico-cylindrical, vertex large, but little depressed ; whorls numerous, centre slightly mamillated and elevated ; the figure is tuberose and the vertex unusually large. 6 1 . Cylindrites mamillaris ; conico-cylindrical, elongated ; sides of the body-whorl flat, its upper edge acute ; the inner whorls have their upper flat surfaces visible, the first two or three of which are elevated into a rounded or mamillary process. This nearly resembles a Great Oolite species, but it is less elongated, and the vertex is more de- pteaoecl 63. Cylindrites bulbiformis ; very short or tun-shaped, the upper surface wide and flattened, but the apex rises a little; axis 4 lines, transverse diameter 5 lines. 64. Chemnitzia nitida ; small, smooth ; whorls five to six, convex, body-whorl large, oval, aperture oblique ; length \ inch. 65. Chemnitzia elegans ; subcylindrical, smooth ; whorls nume- rous, convex, but short, their breadth exceeding their length ; the body-whorl is symmetrical and not enlarged ; apex unknown ; length of fragment 3f inches, in which only the four last whorls are preserved. 99. Chemnitzia gracilis ; spire excessively lengthened and acumi- nated ; whorls very numerous, flattened or very slightly convex, longer hi 2,/ than wide, sutures marked, aperture ovately elongated, pointed ante- riorly ; length 7 inches, diameter of last whorl 6 fines. Ceritclla, a genus related to Cerithinm, which will be illustrated in a forthcoming monograph on the Testacea of the Great Oolite. 80 Mr. J. Lycett on Fossil Shells from the 66. Ceritella sculpta ; small, turreted ; whorls few, long, nearly flat, each with three encircling striae, equidistant ; the body-whorl has six st rise besides numerous others closely arranged at the base. 67. Ceritella tumidula ; small, smooth, much lengthened ; whorls flattened, but slightly tumid at their upper junctions, body- whorl symmetrical ; length f inch. 69. Scalaria pygmea ; shell minute; whorls seven, globose, the last whorl much enlarged ; costse eight in a volution. 70. Solarium Cotswaldice ; depressed, both upper and under sur- faces nearly equally concave ; sides rather flattened, but with the bor- ders rounded and furnished with numerous longitudinal elevations or nodules, twenty-eight upon the lower and twenty upon the upper border of the last volution ; the entire surface has numerous narrow, crenated, encircling costse, crossed by very fine longitudinal lines not always distinct ; costse upon the sides of the last whorl about fourteen. 74. Eulima parvula ; minute; whorls five, convex, body- whorl rather large ; apex obtuse. 76*. Rissoina obtusa; spire obtuse; whorls slightly convex, six; outer lip moderately large ; costse numerous, closely arranged, slightly curved from right to left. 77 to 89 inclusive. Cerithium ; the descriptions of the species of this genus are omitted for the reasons given under the genus Sola- rium, as are likewise of Nerincea 93 to 97 inclusive. 101. Fusus obliquatus-y small, subcorneal, acuminated, longitu- dinal ; costse about nine in a volution, passing obliquely from left to right ; base with several large encircling strise, but the costse are not continued to this part. 102. Rostellaria unicornis ; spire lengthened, composed of many whorls, whorls costated, the costse terminating in knobs on their up- per portions ; costse ten in a volution, indented by five encircling strise ; last whorl smooth, with a single prominent carina, having an acute and elevated spire at one quarter of the circumference poste- riorly from the outer lip ; the wing single, rounded, curved, slender and produced ; caudal extremity moderately long. 103. Rostellaria simplex ; smooth ; whorls long, few, convex ; the spire moderately elevated; body -whorl with two carinse, the upper one the larger, and forming two angles in its course ; caudal extremity short. Only casts have been procured, but they are well characterized. 104. Rostellaria spinigera ; spire elevated, acute ; whorls few, each with seven prominent spines or spinous ribs ; body-whorl spined above, grooved beneath ; wing not digitated and but moderately ex- panded ; caudal extremity straight and moderately long. 105. Rostellaria solida ; spire turreted; whorls five, angulated by a circle of elevated longitudinal spinous ribs crossed by lines ; body- whorl with a single carina, beneath which are several deep encircling grooves ; wing simple, small, proceeding from the carina ; caudal ex- tremity short. 10f>. Rostellaria gracilis ; spire lengthened, smooth; whorls six, lengthened, angulated, the angle being in the middle of the whorl forming an acute and crenulated carina ; body -whorl smooth, with two Inferior Oolite in Gloucestershire. 81 carina? and large digital processes; caudal extremity slender and lengthened ; the slender form, crenulated carina and smooth surface distinguish it from 11. trifida. Portions and casts of two other spe- cies of Ro8tellarice have been obtained, but not sufficiently perfect to admit of being described. 107. Serpula lcevigata\ a simple, round, smooth spiral tube, the tube being rather thick. 101 *. Fusus 1 carino-crenatus ; shell small, fusiform ; spire of four volutions, keeled and striated ; an elevated carina encircles the middle of each whorl, its edge undulated or crenulated ; encircling striae cover the whole surface of the shell, and there is an indistinct circle of no- dules upon the upper portion of each whorl near to the junction. 127. Natica Gomondii; small, globose ; spire small; whorls con- vex, narrow, their upper margins cinctured with a narrow, flat, hori- zontal area, the outer edge of which is acute : rare. 125. Lima plicata ; elongated, narrow ; costse nine, very large and elevated, rounded and imbricated. 126. Lima alata ; auricles very large, the length of the hinge-line being equal to that of the longitudinal diameter ; anterior auricle much folded ; ribs numerous, narrow, regular and imbricated. 130. Lima punctatilla; shell minute, gibbose, nearly straight; costse about twenty, rounded, large ; interstitial spaces narrow ; sur- face of the costse punctated where theyare crossed by very fine lines. 134*. Possibly a variety of Pecten clathratus with large, elevated encircling ribs. 130*. Lima minutissima; oblique, broad, convex; costae fourteen, rounded, smooth, wider than the interstitial spaces, nearly evanescent upon the anterior side. 137. Pecten lineolatus ; auricles large, striated ; shell ovate, slightly convex ; costae very minute, numerous, waved and granulated, dege- nerating into very fine lines towards the ventral border, and crossed by encircling lines, very fine, and arranged in the closest possible order. 138. Hinnites sepultus ; suborbicular, rather irregular, convex; auricles unequal ; costae ten, equal, radiating, waved, small and cre- nulated, degenerating towards the ventral border into mere lines ; in- terstitial spaces wide, each having one or two longitudinal lines ; length £ inch. 141. Plicatula elongata ; elongated, rather oblique ; costas longi- tudinal, waved, very fine, closely arranged, rounded and scabrous, terminating towards the tubular border in a few tubular spines. 143. Placuna armata ; the normal form is that of curved radiating lines of tubular spines little elevated, but the general aspect is that of irregular elevated confused tubercles. This species is placed under Placuna merely to indicate that generically it agrees with the shell called Placuna jurensis, but which certainly is neither a Placuna nor yet an Anomia, to which latter genus it has sometimes been assigned ; its true place must remain for the present in abeyance. 144. Placuna 1 complicata; surface covered with clusters of tu- bular spin-, (It -mi -i -ssed and confused, producing a most irregular and uneven IUJ 82 Mr. J. Lycctt on Fossil Shells from the 148. Mytilus subrectus ; elongated, smooth, slightly oblique, ante- rior border straight, the two extremities of the shell attenuated ; hinge-line lengthened, straight. 150. Mijfilus crcnatus; thick, oblique, convex; length less than twice the width ; striae regular, concentric, deeply grooved upon the back ; a single depression or fold (its edge acute) passes obliquely from the umbo to the antero-ventral border ; hinge straight, mode- rately long. 151. Dreissena lunularis ; smooth, anterior border straight or slightly concave, posterior side curved, umbones pointed, terminal, longitudinal ridge acute, anterior diameter through both valves equal to the breadth. 152. Gervillia tortuosa ; this shell, the Gastrochcena tortuosa of Phillips, belongs to a very remarkable section of the Gervillia?, of which G. Hartmanni and G. Monotis are likewise examples ; they are tortuous, very inequivalve, the right valve being more or less concave, its borders fitting closely to the undulations of the convex valve. 164, Gervillia aurita ; equivalve, smooth, very oblique, both the auricles very much extended and acuminated, the entire figure being very slender. 156. Gervillia laevigata.', smooth, very oblique; anterior auricle produced and rather pointed, posterior moderately large ; left valve convex, right nearly flat. This shell is more oblique than G. costa- tula, and wants the ribs of that species. 159. Pteroperna ; a group of shells proposed to be separated from the Gervillice and Perncz, to both of which genera they possess affi- nities, combined with the external form of Avicula. A species very nearly allied to our P. gibbosa is abundant in the Great Oolite ; our shell however is more convex and oblique. 161. Pinna hast at a ; spear-shaped, compressed, lines of growth waved and strongly marked ; lines longitudinal, delicate, waved and closely arranged, crossed by others more distinct. 164. Iliatella interlineata ; subquadrate ; anterior side rounded, posterior straight and truncated ; costas transverse, large, few, ele- vated, forming an angle upon the back of the shell ; the interstitial spaces have numerous encircling very fine lines. 169. Opis angustatus ; narrow, elongated, extremely convex, for- nicated ; lunule large, posterior depression cordate, large and deep, with a wide longitudinal sulcus posterior to the carina ; ribs concen- tric, closely arranged, posterior side with densely arranged fine trans- verse lines ; carina moderately elevated and impressed by the cost as ; umbones narrow and incurved. 171. Opis gibbosus ; subtrigonal or cordate, convex, anterior side and base nearly straight ; umbones large, dorsal carina obtuse and scarcely elevated ; costse large, both upon the anterior and posterior side ; lunule cordate and deep, inner margin toothed. The nearly glo- bose form, nearly obsolete carina, and ribs upon the posterior side, se- parate it from contemporaneous species. The size does not usually exceed that of a pea ; with increase of growth it becomes more trigonal. 176. Trigonia costatula ; transversely oblong, anterior side trun- Inferior Oolite in Gloucestershire. 83 cated, flattened, with two obscure longitudinal ridges crossed by nu- merous lines ; dorsal ridge nodulated, but little elevated ; dorsal costee disunited from the carina, numerous, regular, narrow and curved. With advance of growth the anterior transverse lines become indi- stinct ; the dorsal ribs are broken in their anterior portions and dis- placed, forming irregular nodules; this change commenced when twelve ribs had been perfected, but the Leckhampton specimens not having that number, do not exhibit it. 177. Trigoniav.- costata ; semiorbicular, anterior side slightly concave, with a single deep longitudinal groove and numerous trans- verse prominent lines, prominent near the umbo, but becoming fine and indistinct afterwards ; area lanceolate ; dorsal carina narrow, smooth, but little elevated ; dorsal costse numerous, closely arranged, angular and narrow, partially broken in the middle, and forming an acute angle with their anterior portions ; at the middle they also be- come slightly nodulated. 1 78. Cor bur el la, new genus. Gen. Char. Equi valve, inequilateral, transverse, thin, smooth ; urn- bones small, approximate, posterior side attenuated and slightly gaping, anterior side more convex and rounded ; hinge with a small depressed subcorneal cardinal tooth in each valve, and an extended slightly thickened laminar plate forming a kind of anterior lateral tooth or process ; muscular impressions faintly marked, scarcely visible. This genus differs from Corbula in being equivalve, and in the cha- racter of the hinge, the teeth are much smaller and not hollowed to receive the ligament ; the substance of the test is thinner, and the muscular impressions much more faintly marked. The Corbula cur- tansata of Phillips is the type of this genus. 179. Corbula imbricata ; shell suborbicular, small, slightly longer than wide, imbricated by a few elevated concentric ridges rising over each other ; Junule cordate, excavated ; umbones incurved : the largest specimens attained the size of a small pea. 1 77. Trigonia tuberculosa ; ovately trigonal, depressed, fornicated ; ant erior side flattened, transversely striated; carina acute, elevated and crenated ; ribs regular, curved and tuberculated, tubercles ele- vated, obtuse, very closely arranged, their upper surfaces flattened. 184. Cardium semicostatum ; ovately convex, rather longer than wide ; umbones prominent, mesial, incurved, posterior side ribbed longitudinally ; ribs smooth, rounded, closely arranged, occupying about one-fourth of the surface ; the remainder smooth in the adult state, but young individuals have very fine, closely arranged, concen- tric st 183*. CijiJiiranHasiliqua ; transversely elongated ; umbones small, Ulterior ; hinge-line very long, posterior side extended and attenuated, ventral border itraight, lines of growth few. 187. Cardium Icevigatum ; suborbicular, smooth, transverse, mo- derately convex ; umbones mesial, incurved, anterior side rounded, posterior slightly truncated, ventral border rounded, lines of growth few and obscure. S I Mr. J. Lycett on Fossil Shells from the 189. Cardium punctato-striatum ; oblong, transverse; umbones anterior ; anterior side short, rounded, posterior lengthened and ob- liquely truncated, ventral border curved ; striae longitudinal, nume- rous and closely punctated, crossed by obscure numerous encircling lines giving the surface almost a scabrous aspect ; there is likewise an obscure oblique posterior longitudinal keel, posteriorly to which the surface is much more depressed. 195. Cytherea picta ; suborbicular, rather longer than wide, smooth, moderately convex ; umbones mesial, slightly curved for- wards ; hinge-margin oblique, curved ; ventral border rounded ; sur- face with several broad zones of colours at irregular intervals, the bands being white upon a chocolate-coloured ground ; length ^ inch : rare. 197. Astarte quadrata ; quadrate, transverse, thick, rugose, lines of growth irregular and strongly marked, forming an angle somewhat rounded upon the posterior side of the shell ; umbones anterior, lunule excavated, cordate. 198. Astarte bullata ; small, subglobose ; umbones mesial, curved forwards ; lunule excavated, cordate ; costae elevated, broad, rather di- stant, usually, but not always, regular ; size that of duck shot. 199. Ptychomya Agassizii; new genus indicated, but not described, by M. Agassiz : see a notice of this genus at page 408. 20 1 . Astarte Menkei ; our specimens do not exhibit the wrinkled surface near to the umbones described by Dunker, but this probably is an inconstant character. 203. Astarte formosa ; rather depressed, transversely ovate ; um- bones pointed, mesial, inclined forwards ; lunule large, slightly exca- vated ; hinge-line lengthened, oblique ; anterior border rounded, pos- terior rather produced and slightly angulated ; encircling ribs very closely arranged, irregular, small, and little elevated ; length equal to Jths of the breadth. 205. Cordis aspera; transversely oval, gibbose; umbones large, mesial ; lunule small, cordate ; hinge-line straight, sloping, borders rounded, inner margin toothed ; encircling costse narrow, elevated, rather distant ; interstitial spaces with fine encircling striae. This species approaches near to Corbis Lajoyei, D' Archiac, but the ribs are more elevated and distant, the umbones are larger, and the hinge-line is not so nearly horizontal. 207. Corbis Icevigatus ; small, transverse, moderately convex ; umbones mesial, lunule small ; hinge-line straight, nearly horizontal ; costae few, widely separated, elevated, the interstitial spaces smooth ; length \ inch, breadth |th more. 211. Panopcea delicatissima ; small, transverse, oblong, convex ; umbones large, mesial ; hinge-line rather straight ; ventral border lengthened, rather straight ; costae concentric, regular, closely ar- ranged, delicate ; length £ inch : breadth \ inch ; the hinge has not been seen. 204. Lucina lyrata ; the abundance of this species, its wide diffu- sion and great variety of aspect demand something more than a mere notice of its occurrence. The two extreme varieties are as follows : — Inferior Oolite, in Gloucestershire. 85 Var. 'a.' shell orbicular, moderately convex; hinge-line oblique, short and curved. Var. k //.' shell transversely ovate, rather flattened ; hinge-line straight, lengthened and nearly horizontal ; the character of the surface, though variable, has nothing peculiar to either variety of figure ; the encircling costoe are narrow, elevated, widely separated and nerer quite regular ; the interstitial spaces have numerous encir- cling lines, which are serrat id or indented, forming a finely granulated surface ; there is also occasionally an obscure rib to be traced within them ; the posterior side has an oblique longitudinal fold, posterior to which the shell is more compressed, and the costae curve nearly at angles to the other surface ; the posterior border is likewise slightly truncated and angulated at it3 junction with the ventral border. 217. Ceromya striata, syn. Cardita striata. Sow. Min. Con.t.89. f. 1, but not Isocardia striata, Roemer, t. 1 .i. 1, which is likewise a Ceromya, and of which latter shell Ceromya injiata, Agassiz, is a synonym. The present or Sowerby's species has the stria; longitu- dinal, in the other they are transverse. 212. Tancredia donaciformis ; transverse, subtrigonal, smooth, mo- derately convex ; unibones mesial ; posterior border slightly concave, posterior extremity rather pointed, anterior border straight, obliquely sloping, ventral border rounded ; length f ths the breadth. 113. Tancredia sulcata-, small, transverse, subtrigonal or donaci- form ; umbones mesial, surface very finely striated concentrically with an anterior dorsal longitudinal ridge grooved at the angle ; the striae anterior to the sulcus rise at a right angle with the others. 228. Cucullcea amcena ; rhomboidal, fornicated ; umbones large, mesial, distant, both extremities of the hinge-line angulated ; poste- rior dorsal ridge acute, the surface posterior to it concave ; there are also several irregular longitudinal ribs upon each side of the shell ; the middle portion of the surface has- only encircling striae. 224. Area rudiuscula ; transversely elongated ; width 2 J times the length ; borders elliptically curved ; a wide longitudinal mesial depression; longitudinal costae irregular and rugose, nearly evanes- cent upon the middle portion. 250. Modiolarca ovata, syn. Area ovata (Buckman) ; oblong, ovate, very gibbose ; umbones anterior, very large, touching each other; hinge-line curved, its extremities rounded; ventral border sinuated by a wide mesial depression, but which does not reach the umbones ; surface imbricated with longitudinal closely arranged waved and tlattened costae, crossed by densely imbricated transverse lines; lines of growth few and strongly marked. The diameter through the umbones is equal to that of the shell longitudinally. The general figure is nearly that of a very gibbose Modiola, but the character of the surface agrees with that of the Arcacea. 231. Cucullcea triangularis (Phillips?); subtrigonal, rather flat- tened; hinge very oblique to the ventral border, and nearly at right angles to the posterior border, which is straight and elongated ; ante- rior border much shorter, rounded ; umbones oblique, nearly mesial ; surface with exceedingly tine d ting striae producing a finely gra- 83 On Fossil Shells from the Inferior Oolite in Gloucestershire. nnlar surface. The figure agrees with the shell figured hy Phillips ; the greater number of specimens do not exhibit any markings upon the surface. 233. CucuUcea nana ; minute, rather compressed, suborbicular ; umbones mesial, touching ; hinge-line short, rounded at the extremi- surface with extremely fine decussating lines, two or three of which upon the posterior side are more elevated. 249. CucuUcea bipartita ; small, rhomboidal ; umbones large, me- sial ; hinge-line angulated at its extremities ; a longitudinal oblique keel upon the posterior side, and a wide and deep depression extend- ing from the umbo to the ventral border ; surface with lines longitu- dinal, closely arranged, crossed by a few lines of growth. 234. Lithodomus attenuatus ; elongated, smooth, posteriorly at- tenuated ; umbones small, near to the anterior extremity ; width Jths of an inch, which is thrice the length. 248*. CucuUcea obliqua ; depressed, oblique, subtrigonal ; um- bones touching, small, mesial ; hinge very oblique to the ventral border ; anterior side short, rounded ; posterior produced, flattened and angulated at the base ; surface with extremely fine lines, both longitudinal and transverse, the latter very densely arranged. There may sometimes be difficulty in distinguishing this from CucuUcea cu- cutlata, but the present shell is more flattened and oblique, the um- bones are much smaller, the hinge-line shorter, and the posterior border more lengthened. 1/2. Trigonia clavo-costata ; shell elevated, anterior border round- ed ; costae regular, some tuberculated, others smooth ; tubercles large, closely arranged, the first three or four and the last one or two ele- vated, but without tubercles ; cardinal area broad, flattened, with oblique carinae ; posterior extremity short and truncated. This shell has usually been confounded with T. clavellata, but the figure is much more truncated or shortened posteriorly, the costae are perfectly regular, and the tubercles are very large and closely arranged, the few first and last costae being simple ; these several features separate it from the Oxford clay species. It approaches near to T. Bronnii, Agassiz, in form, but the character of the costae as above described are different. 87 A Str Contributions to the Palaeontology of Gloucestershire : — On the Strombidii' of the Oolites. By Thomas Weight, M.D. With the description of a new and remarkable Pteroceras. By John Lycett, Esq. Read 28th January 1851. Among the remarkable new forms of extinct gasteropodous mollusca which have from time to time been brought under the notice of the Members of this Society, there are none more in- teresting or more valuable as contributions to the oolitic fauna, than the winged shells belonging to the genera Pteroceras and Rostellaria. The Strombida were first recognised as a distinct group of gas- teropods by Lamarck, in which this learned zoologist assembled several forms having affinities with each other in the singular development of the outer lip of the shell ; with these he formed his family des Ailees, which includes the genus Strombus of Lin- naeus, and corresponds with the Strombida of modern naturalists. This family is well characterized by the form of the shell and that of the animal. The shell in the young state is conical or spindle-shaped ; after having grown in a regular manner for a longer or shorter period of time, its farther development is ar- rested, the outer lip becomes dilated, thickened and enlarged in a very remarkable manner, and sends out often long digitations ; the anterior part of the mouth terminates in a canal accompanied with a more or less distinct sinus. The animal has the foot di- vided into two parts, the one posterior cylindrical and obliquely truncated and supporting a horny operculum. The other part is flat, rounded before, and adapted for attaching the mollusk to solid bodies. The head is large and thick, and is prolonged into a bifurcate extensible proboscis ; the tentacula are large and di- vergent, and carry the eyes at their extremities. In this family are grouped the genera Strombus, Pteroceras, Rostellaria, Apor- rhais, Chenopus, and Pterodouhi. The Strombida are first recognised in a fossil state in the dif- ferent stages of the oolitic rocks. They are more numerous in the cretaceous and tertiary strata, and have attained their greatest development in the present creation. They are nearly all natives of tropical seas, and are most abundant in the neighbourhood of coral islands. 116 Dr. T. Wright on the StrombicUe of the Oolites, and Pteroceras, Rostellaria and Chenopus are the most ancient genera of this family ; they are still represented by numerous species all different from those found in a fossil state. A few species of Strombus have been found in the chalk ; more have ben met with in the different stages of the tertiary period ; but this genus has attained its full development in the seas of the warm regions of our time, where the species are remarkable for their gigantic size, singular forms, and rich and varied colour- ing. Pterodonta has been found only in the chalk. Soon after Lamarck had formed the new genera of his family des Ailees, De Montfort* proposed his genus Hippocrena for the species included by Lamarck in the genus Rostellaria which had the labrum simple and dilated, the columella callous and forming a channel conjointly with the labrum, which ascends close to the volutions of the spire almost to its apex, the external lip with a simple straight wing inflected towards the base, and with a short pointed canal. He cited Rostellaria macroptera from the Barton clay as the type of his new genus, which however has not been adopted. Philippif recognised anatomical differences between the ani- mal of Rostellaria curvirostris and that known as R. pes-pelicani ; the latter has the eyes situated sessile on the sides of the tenta- cula, while in the former they are terminal and retractile ; these with other zootomical characters induced him to propose the ge- nus Chenopus for R. pes-pelicani and other allied species : it is just to observe, however, that Aldrovandus in 1623 described this typical species under the generic name Aporrhais, which is now adopted by British naturalists. The living forms of Chenopus have the respiratory canal de- pressed and slightly channelled, and the labrum strongly digi- tated, whilst in Rostellaria the respiratory canal is much grooved and arched backwards, and the digitations when present are for the most part long, slender and flexuous. Many fossil shells from the oolitic and cretaceous rocks appear to occupy a position intermediate between these genera, and ought probably to be separated into a distinct genus ; this in fact was suggested, and the genus Rostrotrema proposed, by Mr. Lycett, in a paper which he read before our Society in August 1848, for the reasons that the winged shells of the Oolite called Rostellaria differ from that genus in " the absence of the upper or posterior siphon upon the spire, the outer lip not extending beyond the body-whorl, or but slightly upon the penultimate, and there being no corresponding thickening upon the inner lip to form a channel." * Conchyliologie Systematique, tome ii. p. 523. t Enumer. Molluscarum Sicilise. .Mr. J. Lycett on a new tpeoies of Pteroceras. 117 Our esteemed associate informs me that he has now cancelled his former name and substituted Aluria for the reception of many of the winged shells of the Great Oolite hitherto described as Rostellaria. The winged shells discovered in the oolitic strata of Europe belong to the genera Pteroceras, Rostellaria, Chenopus, and it may not therefore be uninteresting to make a few remarks on the fossil species of these genera. Goldfussf and Minister figured and described two species of Pteroceras, P. oceani and P. conica, from the Kimmeridge and Portland stages of Germany, and five species of Rostellaria, R. gracilis, R. subpunctata, R. se- nt i carina ta, R. tenuisiria, and R. nodosa, from the lias, and two species, R. bicarinata and R. spinosa, from the inferior oolite near Pappenheim. Roemer % figured and described two species of Rostellaria, R. costata and R. caudata, from the coral rag of Hanover. Koch and Dunker § described and figured one species of Che- nopus, C. Philippi, from the inferior oolite, and two species, C. cin- ;/iilatus and C. strombiformis, with Rostellaria nodifera, from the middle oolites of North Germany. Prof. Deslongchamps || figured and described ten species from the oolitic rocks of Calvados in Normandy, five of which, P. ves- pertilio, P. ponti, P. sexcostata, P. musca, and P. incerta, are from the Kimmeridge clay of Honfleur, and five, P. antractoides*, P. vespa, P. balanus, P. retusa, and P. paradoxal, were obtained from the great oolite of Ranville. This profound and accurate observer found five species of Rostellaria in the lias and oolites of the same region. R. trifida* ranges from the upper lias to the Kim- meridge clay ; R. hamus* is common to the inferior and the great oolite ; R. myurus is found in the inferior, and R. hamulus* and R. cirrus* in the great oolite of Ranville. Prof. John Phillips if figured Rostellaria composita, R. bispi- nosa and R. trifida* from the oolitic rocks of Yorkshire. Mr. John Lycett described in a paper read before the Mem- bers of this Society and now published ft* five species of Rostellaria from the inferior oolites of Gloucestershire, which he named R. unicornis, R. simplex, R. spinigera, R. solida, and R. gracilis, to which may be added three undescribed species from the shelly freestone and oolite marl of Leckhampton. Messrs. Morris and Lycett will figure and describe twelve spe- t Petrefact. Germanise, tab. 169 and 1"0. % Versteineruugen des Oolithen-Gebirges. § Versteineruugen des Nord-deutschen Oolith-gebildes. || Memoires de la Socie'te' Linneenne de Normandie. if Geologv of Yorkshire, Part 1 . tt Ptog* oS of these Proceedings. l2 118 Dr. T. Wright on the Strombidre of the Oolites, and cies of Rostellaria (A/aria), and two species of Pteroceras, from the1 great oolite of Minchinhampton, in their forthcoming mono- graph* on the fossil shells of that locality, some of which are identical with Deslongchamps' species from Normandy. Those species which have been identified in the oolitic fauna of Glou- cestershire are marked with an asterisk. The Pteroceras which I have now the pleasure of exhibiting was discovered in the Great Oolite of Minchinhampton ; it is by far the largest and most remarkable form of that genus which has been obtained from the oolitic strata of any country; its finely preserved spider-like digitations give the shell a most sin- gular appearance. I am indebted to my friend Mr. T. A. Young of Dublin for the accurate drawing of the shell which accom- panies this paper. The following description is by my friend Mr. Lycett, whose extensive knowledge of fossil conchology well enables him to point out the affinities of this new species. Pteroceras. Gen. Char. Shell oval-oblong, ventricose ; aperture oval, ter- minating in a lengthened canal at both extremities, the anterior in general bent outwards, the posterior taking the course of the spire; right border in the adult thickened and developed into a wing-shaped expansion, producing long digitate processes ; an anterior sinus with a toothed border distinct from the canal ; spire short, with the first digitation attached to it. Pteroceras Wrightii. Plate III. Shell fusiform, tumid ; volutions (six) convex and smooth, the last volution inflated, having three obtuse gibbosities placed oppo- site to the aperture, of which the first is the largest ; the outer lip is expanded and divided into four branches or digitations, which in the adult state are very long, flexuose, and nearly of equal size ; the first digitation is attached to the spire ; it ex- tends more than an inch beyond the apex, where it is broken off; the second curves outwards and slightly backwards; the third is broken off near to the wing, but a remaining fragment shows that it curved outwards and forwards ; the fourth first proceeds forwards and then suddenly curves outwards; the canal is long and curved backwards. This fine species of Pteroceras appears to be nearly alone ; one specimen in the cabinet of the author, without any labial expansion and otherwise imperfect about the last volution, is the only other * Palaeontographical Society. Mr. J. Lycett on a new species of Pteroceras. 119 known example. /\ If'rif/htii in its perfect state would seem to have had five encircling itrise ; theRe are partially visible upon the inferior surface of our specimen, the coarseness of the oolitic de- posit in which they occur being unfavourable to the preservation of any delicate sculpture. The surface of the body-whorl near to the labial expansion n much covered up by adherent oysters, but it appears to have been destitute of any encircling carina?. The general figure has some resemblance to the Pteroceras ponti of D'Orbigny, but that species has upwards of six digita- tions and as many costse upon the body-whorl. The cast figured by Gold fuss under the name of Buccinum antiquorum from the doloinitic oolite of Bavaria, may possibly belong to our species, or otherwise to an allied form of the same genus. The remarkable specimen here described is in the collection of Dr. Wright of Cheltenham, to whom it is respectfully dedicated. Locality. Minchinhampton : common to the varied fossil fauna, to which it is an important addition. 120 A Stratigraphical Account of the Section of Hordwell, Beacon, and Barton Cliffs, on the coast of Hampshire. By Thomas Wright, M.D. &c— March 1851. During a short residence in the Isle of Wight last summer I made a minute examination of the section from Round Tower Point to Alum Bay, with a view to ascertain the conditions under which the upper and lower freshwater and upper and lower marine formations of the Hampshire basin* were deposited. The result of these investigations was published in a paper read to the Club September 17, 1850. For the purpose of instituting a compa- rison between the eocene beds of the Isle of Wight and their equivalents on the Hampshire coast, a palseontological analysis and measurement of the strata constituting the sections of Hord- well, Beacon, and Barton Cliffs, on the opposite shore ofathe Solent, was undertaken, and which form the subject of the pre- sent communication. The following notes were made upon the spot, and corrected and enlarged after frequent inspection. Their chief value con- sists in showing the order of deposition of the different beds ; the changing conditions under which they were deposited ; the points at which the most important of them rise on the shore and pass out of the cliff; with a catalogue of the fossil contents of each. I beg to acknowledge the valuable information derived from the Marchioness of Hastings, relative to the fine collection of fishes, reptiles, and mammals obtained from Hordle Cliff, and now in her ladyship's museum. To Alex. Pytts Falconer, Esq., of Beacon Hordle, I am like- wise indebted for much valuable information relative to the os- siferous beds of this locality f- The quantity of debris that has fallen and obscured the origin * Mr. Joseph Cotton, of Freshwater, supplies on very moderate terms a complete series of the fossil shells from the tertiary strata of the Isle of Wight. t In the measurement of the beds and in investigating their fossil con- tents I had the assistance of Henry Keeping of Milford, who has had much experience in exploring the Hampshire section for the purpose of collect- ing fossils for the Marchioness of Hastings. From Mr. Keeping may be obtained at a moderate price the fossil shells catalogued in this paper. Stratigraphical Account of the Section of Hordwell, fyc. 121 and course of many of the beds will account for the discrepancy which may be found between my notes and those of other ob- servers, who have either previously, or who may hereafter, visit this beautiful section under more advantageous circumstances. I have given as complete a list of the fossils contained in I iteh bed, a^ the limited time devoted to the subject would admit of, and feel well satisfied that additions may be made to these lists, espe- cially if a microscopic investigation of the sands and marls was undertaken. The places where the most important beds rise on the shore, and where they make their final outcrop on the cliff, have been noted. This mode appears to be the most natural for studying coast sections which are gently inclined at a low angle like the strata of these cliffs ; it has the advantage likewise of assisting future observers to identify the beds and to make further investigations into their contents. It is now nearly a century since Brander directed the atten- tion of naturalists to Hordle and Barton Cliffs, in his work en- titled ' Fossilia Hantoniensia/ dated 1766. The author's in- tention was merely to figure and, with the assistance of Dr. So- lander, to describe the shells found in the Barton clay. The beauty and accuracy of his plates have not been surpassed, but his description of the strata is very meagre. " They (the shells) are found," he observes, " in their natural state, excepting their loss of colour, and exceedingly well preserved, below a stratum of sand about 14 or 15 feet thick, in a bluish kind of clay or marl quite down to the level of the sea— how much deeper is not known; the height of these cliffs is in many places above 100 feet." In 1821 Mr. Webster* gave an account of Hordwell Cliff, and described for the first time its freshwater beds, with a view to show that they were a continuation of the same strata which he had so truthfully figured and described in 1816, in Sir Henry Englefield's splendid work on the Isle of Wight. In 1826 Sir Charles Lyell read a paper f on the Freshwater Strata of Hordwell, Beacon, and Barton Cliffs, and gave an ac- count of the beds and the fossils they contained. In 1846 Mr. Searles Wood J gave an excellent account of the upper marine formation of Hordle Cliff, and a list of the shells found by Mr. Fred. Edwards and himself in that stratum, the existence of which had been overlooked by previous observers. He likewise described the mammals, reptiles, and fishes found * Trans, of the Geol. Soc. vol. i. p. 90, second series. t Trans, of the Geol. Soc. vol. li. p. X London Geological Journal, pp. 1 and 118. 122 Dr. T. Wright on the Freshwater and Marine by him, and gave a description of these, and a full list of the shells found in the freshwater beds of this locality. In 1847 Prof. Owen* described the remains of Palaplotherium and Dichodon, two new genera of the family Palaotheridce, dis- covered by Alex. Pytts Falconer, Esq., near Hordle, and which that gentleman has since presented to the Hunterian Museum. These are the only communications which especially relate to the subject of the present paper, the object of which is to give a stra- tigraphical account of the different beds and the palseontological contents of the same. The strata on this coast have been much denuded ; the beds composing the upper freshwater formation are nearly removed, as they have been so likewise to a great extent between Hamp- stead and Headon Hill in the Isle of Wight. The cliffs are co- vered with a bed of drift, composed chiefly of rolled flints and other debris derived from the chalk. The drift is disposed in horizontal layers upon the inclined edges of the beds ; its thick- ness in different places varies from 5 to 30 feet. The boulders are loosely cemented together with a matrix of sand and marl. The constant wasting of the cliffs causes the foundering of the drift-bed, and supplies the shore with a superabundance of peb- bles. It is probable that from this source Hurst Beach, in ages past and down to the present time, has derived its constantly increasing beds of shingle, which are washed up along this line of coast by the strong tidal currents and heavy seas that set in from the south-west. The strata are described in a descending order, commencing at the east end of Hordle Cliff at a place called Mine-way ; and proceeding towards Beacon and Barton each bed is noted, where it rises on the shore and crops out of the cliff, to which is added a list of its fossil contents. The beds rise very uniformly at angles varying from 2° to 5° to the horizon, and incline to the east. Their course is inter- rupted by a considerable denudation at Mead End, and by two small ravines, called " Bunnys," = to the term " Chines " in the Isle of Wight, which means a fissure in the cliff produced by streamlets which form the natural drainage of the land. Beacon Bunny separates Hordle from Barton Cliff and Chuton Bunny — the latter from High Cliff. * Quarterly Journal of the Geol. Soc. vol. iv. p. 17. Formations of the Hampshire Basin. 123 Division of t/te Strata. The strata which compose this coast section admit of a divi- sion into five groups : — 1. The upper freshwater. 2. The upper marine. 3. The lower freshwater and intercalated brackish-water beds. 4. The estuary series. 5. The Barton or true lower marine strata. The Upper Freshwater Formation consists of alternations of sands, clays, and marls which attain a thickness of about 20 feet. No. 1. White sand striped with pale yellow bands; rises about a mile to the east of Hordle House, and runs out near Mead End : it is well seen in situ near a foot-path up the cliff known as " Paddy's Gap." We found no fossils in this bed : it measures from 6 to 9 feet. No. 2. Dark greenish marl striped with fawn-colour; contains layers of shells and several bands of lignite from 1 to 2 inches in thickness. The upper shell- seams contain Paludina lentay Lymnata longiscata} and Melania. The lower shell-seam contains immense numbers of Unio Solandri, with a great quantity of small dark seeds, Carpolithes ovulum, Brong., C. thalictroides, Brong. : about 3 feet 6 inches. No. 3. Green marly clay, very tenacious, having in places a bluish tint. The upper part of this bed contains shelly seams. Paludina lenta. Lymnaea longiscata. Melanopsis carinata. fusifonnis. Planorbis lens. Cyclas exigua. The os calcis of a mammal of an unknown genus was found here, which is now in the cabinet of the Marchioness of Hastings ; the green clay measures about 10 feet. The Upper Marine Bed. No. 4. Brownish -yellow sand. This bed was much covered up at its origin, and throughout nearly its entire course, at the time of my visit, and was only exposed at one place, to the extent of about 10 yards. By digging, my collector ascertained that it rises nearly opposite to Milford, and runs out of the cliff a little to the westward of Hordle House. According to Mr. Searles Wood, it rises a few paces westward of a ravine situated half a Ddik from Milford, and occurs at an elevation of 10 or 12 feet above high-water mark, with a thickness of only 9 or 10 inches, and only traceable for 40 yards. Mr. Frederick Bdwards, of Hempstead, so well known for lus unrivalled cabinet of Hemp- L2 1 Dr. T. Wright on the Freshnatcr and Marine shire fossils, was the first, in 1840, to notice this deposit, three years previous to Mr. Wood's visit. At that time Mr. Edwards could trace the bed for 300 yards*. These facts attest the rapid waste going on in this coast. The following list of Testacea is the result of the joint researches of Messrs. Edwards and Wood : — Actscon. Melania muricata. Ancillaria subulata, Lam. Melanopsis ancillaroides, Desk Area elegans. carinata, Sow. Balanus unguiformis, Sow. fusiformis, Sow. Bulla (two species). minuta, Sow. Ca;cum. Murex sexdentatus, Sow. Cancellaria muricata. My a angustata, Sow. elongata. Mytilus? affinis, Sow. Cerithium cinctum, Sow. Natica depressa, Sow. epiglottina, Lam. margaritaceum, Sow. terebrale. labellata, Lam. ventricosuin, Sow. Nematura, n. sp. Chemnitzia (two species). Nerita aperta, Sow. Corbula cuspidata, Sow. Neritina concava, Sow. Cyrena cycladiforrais, Desk. Nucula deltoidea, Lam. obovata, Sow. , new species. pulchra, Sow. Odostomia subulata. Cytherea incrassata, Desk. Ostrea. obliqua, Desk. Planorbis (two species). Fusus labiatus, Sow. Pleurotoma (two species). Ilydrobius. Psanimobia compressa, Sow. Kellia (two species). Scalaria. Limnseus. Serpula corrugata, Sow. Lucina divaricata, Lam. tenuis, Sow. pulvinata, Wood. , new species. Melania angulata, Wood. Turbo? fasciata, Sow. Voluta spinosa, Lam. From that portion of the bed which was exposed, we collected a considerable number of the species of the above list. The shells are not so well preserved as those of the upper marine bed at Colwell Bay, many of them being largely impregnated with the peroxide of iron. The thickness of the bed exceeds that given by Mr. Wood ; but, in other respects, I agree with that excellent observer in regarding it as a true marine stratum intercalated between the stages of the upper and lower freshwater formations. The Lower Freshwater Formation. No. 5. Dark stiff clay above, passing into an iron-gray coloured sand below, — the latter richly fossiliferous. The dark clay forms a good tracing line of the bed in the cliff, which inclines at an angle of 2°, and can be seen, in situ, with a telescope, from Col- well. It rises on the shore to the east of Hordle-lane End, and crops out about a quarter of a mile east of Mead End. The * London Geological Journal, p. 2. Formations of tltr I /ainjts/ure Basin. t26 upper clay band is about 2 fed in thickness, and the lower sandy stratum about S inches. The clay contains fine specimens of Unio Solandri : laminated masses of this band can be traced through the entire bed. I have before me a mass of the iron-sand resting on the clay; it contains immense numbers of Melania, new sp., Paludina lenta, Cyclas exigua, and a number of bright green-coloured seed-vessels of Chara (Gyrogonites). These seeds are met with throughout the sand and clay. No. 6. Green marls and clay j form a conspicuous bed as they rise on the shore eastward of Hordle-lane, and run out of the cliff beyond No. 5. The clay is stiff and tenacious, and is in some parts mottled with red and brown. Contains few shells. Paludina angulosa is the only species Mr. Keeping ever recollected obtaining from it. Thin layers of lignite, from 2 to 3 inches in thickness, occur in the upper part. It measures about 12 feet. A bright green marl forms the base of the bed, which is as re- markable for the number of shells it contains, as the upper part of the bed is for its paucity. No. 7. Bright green marls, which form the base of the pre- ceding, but are distinguished from it by their fossiliferous cha- racter, containing immense numbers of Potamomya gregaria, which lie in seams. The shells are well preserved, but the valves are mostly separate : the marls measure about 18 inches. No. 8. Lymnaean limestone, similar to the beds I have described under this name in the Isle of Wight. It rises on the shore, about 200 yards east of Hordle-lane, and forms a well-marked band in the cliff. It is a cream-coloured, pinky, calcareous marl, slightly indurated where it has been exposed for some time to the air, and contains an immense quantity of lacustrine shells, not, in general, well preserved. Many blocks however enclose very good specimens of the following, with the shell entire : — Lymnsea longiscata, Broiuj. Planorbis euomphalus, Sow. fusiformis, Sow: rotundatus, Brong. columellaris, Sow. lens, Sow. pyramidalis, Sow. Several of the above species lie clustered together in a block before me, about 3 inches square. In some parts of its course it contains great numbers of (Gyrogonites) Char a medicagimila. Inferiorly this bed reposes on a black carbonaceous clay con- taining lignite. It is remarkable, that both in these cliffs and in the Isle of Wight, the beds are often separated by lignite bands. The cream-coloured shelly marl measures from 4 to 9 inches in thickness, and the lignite band and clay from 2 to 4 inches. No. 9. Greenish marly clay, which in that part of the bed exposed to the air hardens into calcareoufl nodules, which arc 126 Dr. T. Wright on the Freshwater and Marine stained with the ferruginous salts they contain. In some places these nodules project from the cliff, or are strewed along the shore. This nodular bed has few fossils, and reposes on a green arenaceous marl containing — Potamomya plana. Paludina lenta. Melania. Melanopsis brevis. Cyclas. Neritina, n. sp. Scales of Lepidosteus and Gyrogonites [Char a medicaginula) are found therein : it measures from 4 to 6 feet. No. 10. The "Crocodile Bed;" rises to the west of Hordle House, and runs out at Long Mead End. It consists of a fine white sand, very uniform in character, and reduced to the state of an impalpable powder. It is extremely compact in the rock, and is picked with much difficulty. This is one of the richest beds in the section, and from the circumstance of its containing many skulls and other parts of the skeletons of crocodiles, I have called it the Crocodile Bed ; it measures about 5 feet, and contains bones of the following Vertebrata : — Mammalia. Palseotherium ( Cuvier), nearly a per- Dichobune, Cuvier. feet skull and other parts of three Microchaerus, Wood. species : P. splenum, P. parvum, Spalacodon, Charlesworth. and P. annectens. Seal. Palaplotherium, Owen. Hyaenodon (Laizer et Pairvieu). Birds. Bones of this class have been found, but the group to which they belong has not been accurately ascertained. Reptiles. Crocodilus Hastingsice. The Marchioness of Hastings first discovered and described the magnificent fossil skull of this eocene Saurian, which has been recently beautifully figured and faithfully described by Prof. Owen *. Alligator Hantoniensis. Mr. Searles Woodf has figured the upper jaw and dental series of this reptile, with the femur and vertebrae of the same. The following Chelonia have been obtained from this bed : — Trionyx Henrici, Owen, Palceontoyraphical Memoir, tab. xvi. Barbara;, Owen, Ibid. tab. xvi a. marginatus, Owen, Ibid. tab. xix. rivosus, Owen, Ibid. tab. xviii. planus, Owen, Ibid. tab. xix c. eircumsulcatus, Owen, Ibid. tab. xix b. Emys crassus, Owen, Ibid. tab. xxvii. • Pal. Mem, Eocene Reptiles. t London Geo!. Journ. Formation* of the Haotpshm !> 127 To the above list of reptiles must be added bones belonging to an unknown Lizard, and vertebras of an Ophidian. The above specimens of Trionyx and Emi/s are in the cabinet of the Marchioness of Hastings, and I cannot cite these valuable relics which I had the privilege of attentively studying without at the same time acknowledging her ladyship's courtesy, and bearing my humble testimony to the judgement and skill dis- played in restoring the numerous fragments of these Chelonians to their proper places in the skeleton, a task which the Marchioness has achieved with matchless patience, neatness, and tact. Fishes. Very perfect specimens of Lepidosteus have been found. The dermal scales are very abundant, many of which, with portions of the jaws and teeth, are strewed throughout the bed. In the cabinet of Lady Hastings are many beautiful specimens of this eocene ganoid fish. Mollusks. Potamomya plana, Potamides margaritaceus, and Melania conica are found sparingly. The reptilian bones lie chiefly in the lowest 12 inches of the sand, but separate vertebrae and a great number of dermal plates are strewed throughout the entire bed. No. 11. Light green marl striped with gray, ochre and red tints, containing a few Potamomya angulata ; fossils not nume- rous : 5 feet 6 inches. No. 12. Gray Sand passing into dove-coloured white when dry. Contains many seams of shells. The most abundant fossil is Potamomya plana. The blocks of this bed that lie along the base of the cliff, split at the shelly layers into slabs of from half an inch to an inch in thickness. The surface of these is covered with single valves of Potamomya. It is rare to obtain specimens with the valves united. In this bed are likewise found many fragments of the bones of Palaotheria and Trionyces. It i> n- markable that the osseous reliquia of this bed are nearly all rounded and much bouldered. It measures about 4 feet. No. 13. The " Leaf -bed" consists of a slate-coloured clay, which contains the impressions of leaves of Dicotyledonous plants in considerable number and variety of species ; it contains likewise fossil fruits and the stems of plants ; but we could not discover any shells. This well-marked bed rises nearly opposite Hordle Hooflfi, ami runs out at Long Mead End. Thickness about 18 inches. No. 14. Bluish sandy clay forms the lowest bed of the fin water series, and runs out at Beacon Bunny. This stratum is very uniform in its lithological character throughout. In one part of its course it makes a sudden dip from 3° to 10°. It is tra- 128 Dr. T. Wright on the Freshwater and Marine versed by seams of carbonaceous clay, and has numerous zones of lacustrine shells and remains of plants. It admits of a sub- division into minor beds ; but in consequence of the debris which covered it, no satisfactory analysis of these could be made. It measures about 20 feet. Alex. Pytts Falconer, Esq., obtained from this bed the fine specimens of mammalian remains described by Prof. Owen, con- sisting of the skull, jaws, and many different bones of the skele- ton of Paloplotherium, a new genus of the Palaotherida, with Palacotherium (two species). Melanopsis brevis. Diehodon, Owen. Lymnsea longiscata. Crocodilus Hastingsiae. pyramidalis. Trionvx (two species). Melania, n. sp. Emys. Potamomya plana. Lepidosteus, considerable parts of Small, black, capsular seeds with a the skeleton. corrugated integument. Paludina lenta. Carpolithes ovulum, Brong. Planorbis. C. thalictroides, Brong. Ancylus elegans. Seeds of Chara medicaginula. No. 15. The " Lignite-bed " rises about half a mile east of Beacon Bunny, and runs out of the cliff about a quarter of a mile west of that gorge, inclining at an angle of 2°. It forms a good line of demarcation in the section. The course of this bed can be traced with a telescope from Colwell, on the opposite shore of the Solent, a distance in a straight line of six miles. It con- sists of a dark-coloured carbonaceous and very tenacious clay, full of shells, with an intercalated band of lignite about 18 inches in thickness, which has been extracted in some places and burned as coal. The shells lie chiefly at the bottom of the bed. Pota- momya angulata, Potamides margaritaceus, Melanopsis brevis, Ne- ritina concava, Cyrena obovata, C. Cycladiformis, Mytilus Brardii, a small-ribbed Modiola, and Serpula tenuis were collected there- from. The shells are much crushed, and are preserved with difficulty. Most of my specimens are broken ; the contents of the bed were noted on the spot as the fossils were obtained from the rock. The entire bed, which seems to have been formed in brackish water, measures 3 feet 6 inches. The Estuary Formation. No. 16. Grayish white sand rises about 300 yards west of Mead End, and runs out at Beacon Bunny, inclined at an angle of 2°. The siliceous particles of this bed are scarcely coherent, and its numerous fossils are consequently not well preserved. It contains an immense quantity of small shells, which are extremely brittle, and very difficult to preserve ; specimens of the following genera air now before me : — Oliva. Naticu. Aucillii. Potaraidi I'lcuiotoma. < \ rena. Bulla. Lochia divaricata. Melanin. Corbula. Fornutftimt of the Hampshire Basin. 129 Cytherea. Sanguinolaria. l'otamomya. Avery perfect specimen of a Turtle was discovered in this bed with the carapace and plastron well preserved, but it fell to pieces on being removed from the sand. We collected fragments of the bones of Chelonia, and teeth of Lamna and Myliobatis. The gray sand measures about 5 feet, and passes gradually into No. 17, of which it may be considered to form the upper fos- siliferous portion. No. 17. Fine white sand ; non-fossiliferous : rises on the shore about half a mile east of Beacon Bunny, and disappears beyond Barton Gang. As it passes through Barton Cliff it becomes of a light sulphur-colour, streaked with darker shades, and forms a conspicuous portion of the section, which, when lit up by the sun's rays, presents a beautiful picturesque effect from the water : it measures from 15 to 20 ft. Nos. 16 and 17 were unquestionably an estuary deposit, as proved by the list of fossils contained therein ; from their stra- tigraphical position in the series they are the equivalent in the Hampshire section of the Headon Hill sands of Alum and White Cliff Bays in the Isle of Wight. We attach therefore much importance to the analysis of the organic remains they contain, as it throws considerable light on the conditions under which the Headon Hill sands were deposited. The shelly fragments contained in the latter beds are in such a broken and rounded condition that it is impossible to decide to what genera they belong. In my paper on the Isle of Wight it was observed in reference to these beds, that " the white and yellow sands at Alum Bay, immediately overlying the Barton group, were probably of estuary origin. The absence of organic remains leaves a doubt upon the subject. The equivalent bed however at Beacon Cliff on the Hampshire coast, which shall be more particularly described in a future communication, contains a large quantity of estuary shells mixed with true marine genera, together with the bones of turtles and the teeth of sharks." Guided by these facts, we infer " that the white and yellow sands of Headon Hill were the great estuary deposit which introduced the lacustrine conditions under which the lower freshwater group, with the other intercalated estuary beds, were deposited." The Lower Marine Formation. No. 18. Tea-green coloured clay; rises on the shore near Mead End, about a quarter of a mile cast of Beacon Bunny, and 130 Dr.T. Wright on the Freshwater and Marine runs out of the cliff near Barton Gang, where it thins out in a singular manner. It is seen " in situ," forming the walls of the ravine called Beacon Bunny, where it is capped with the gray sand No. 17. It measures about 25 feet. The fossils are dis- tributed throughout the entire bed. The nacreous laminae of the bivalves, and the enamel of the Olivce are finely preserved. It differs lithologically from all the other beds in the section, and forms the uppermost true marine stratum of the Barton group. We collected from this clay the following shells : — Avicula, n. sp. Tellina la;vis, Edw. Cardium turgidum, Sow. Very large Ancillaria subulata, Lam. specimens. Buccinum lavatum, Sow. Cytherea transversa, Sow. desertum. Corbula. Natica striata, Sow. Mactra. patula, Lam. Nucula trigona, Sow. Oliva Branderi, Sow. Venericardia globosa, Sow. Bones of fishes and fragments of the skeleton of a large Turtle have been found in this bed, along withv pine-cones, and other vegetable debris. No. 19. Gray sand rises to the west of Beacon Bunny, and runs out of the cliff beyond Barton Station. No fossils have hitherto been found therein. It measures about 20 feet. No. 20. The Barton gray sand, or " Chama bed," rises on the shore, about half a mile to the eastward of Beacon Bunny, and runs out of the cliff half a mile west of Barton Station. It is much concealed by the shingle of the beach, which requires to be removed before the bed can be worked. From this rich stra- tum many fine shells are collected. It contains an immense pro- fusion of Chama squamosa, from which circumstance I have named it the " Chama bed." Much difficulty was experienced in mea- suring this bed, which varies from 10 to 15 feet in thickness. Where the sand rises on the beach it is concealed by shingle, and in its course through the cliff it is covered up by the debris of other beds. The most beautiful specimens of the Barton shells are obtained from this rich fossiliferous stratum. We collected the following species from the gray sand, and have little doubt that future investigations will add many more to the list. The majority of the species are special to it. CONCHIFERA. Area Branderi, Sow. Chama squamosa, Brand. Avicula Bartoniensis*, Wright MS S. Corbula cuspidata, Sow. Balanus. * The new species named in this paper will be described in a future communication to the Club. Formations of the Hampshire Basin. 131 Corhula exmtt, Desk. Craxsatclla plic;it:i. Sow. Clavagclla roronttaj Soto. ( \ there* transversa, Sow. obliqua, Desh. rotundata, Brand. , new species. Bemicardhun Bartoniense, MSS. Modiola tenuistria, Mill. Lucma iintis, .Sow. Mactra depressa (var.), Desk. Kucula sirailis, Sow. minima, Sow. Niiculii tiiLrona, Sow. Ostrea flabellula, Lam. Panoprea rugosa, Edwards. Pecten carinatus, Sow. Pectunculus costatus, Sow. Plumsteadiensis, Sow. Solen gracilis, Sow. Wright Tellina Hantoniensis, Edw. lamellulata, Edw. squamula, Edw. Ice vis, Edw. ambigua, Soto. scalaroides (var.), Lam. Venericardia, near imhricata ?, Desh. Gasteropoda. Actaeon simulatus, Brand. Ancillaria turritella, Sov Buccinum junceum, Sow. canaliculatum, Sow. Bulla attenuata, Sow. Cerithium bexagonum, Lam. Conus dormitor, Brand. Cypnea Bartoniensis, Wright MSS. Fusus bulbiformis, Lam. Mitra scabra, Sow. parva, Soto. Murex frondosus, Soto. Natica ambulacrum, Soto. Pleurotoma prisca, Brand. colon, Soto. Rostellaria rimosa, Brand. Seraphs convolutus, Montf. Strombus Bartoniensis, Soto. Solarium canaliculatum, Soto. Triton argutus, Brand. Trochus monilifer, Lam. Voluta cost at a. SotO. lima, Soto. Magorum, Soto. spinosa, Lam. undulata, Wright MSS. ZOOPHYTA. Turbinolia Bowerbankii, Milne-Ed- wards. Frcdericiana, Milne-Edwards. Turbinolia humilis, Milne-Edwards. firma, Milne-Edwards. Lunulites radiata, Lamarck. No. 21. The Barton clay ; rises on the shore about half a mile west of Beacon Bunny near Barton Gang, and runs out of the cliff about a quarter of a mile westward of Chuton Bunny, nearly half a mile to the eastward of High Cliff Castle. It attains a thickness of about 40 or 50 feet. An accurate measurement of this bed could not be obtained in consequence of the debris which covers it. It contains the greater number of the fossils known as " Barton shells," with teeth of Squatus, Lamna, and Myliobatis. CONCHIFERA. Area appendiculata, Lam. Cardium porulosum, Brand. Clavagella coronata, Desh. Corbula globosa, Soto. pi si mi. Sow. revoluta, Soto. striata. Lam. Crassatella sulcata, Brand. Cytherea elegans, Lam. 8uberyemoides, Desh. tellinaria, Lam. Ostrea oblonga, Brand. Pinna margaritacea, Lam. Venericardia globosa, Soto* M 132 Dr. T. Wright on the Freshwater and Marine Gasteropoda. Actaeon crenatus, Sow. elongatus, Sow. Bulla constricta, Sow. elliptica, Desk. filosa, Sow. Cancellaria evulsa, Sow. quadrata, Sow. Conus lineatus, Sow. scabriculus, Sow. Dentalium acuminatum, Sow. nitens, Desk. striatum, Sow. Fusus acuminatus, Soto. asper, Sow. bulbiformis, var. carinella, Sow. errans, Sow. ficulneus, Lam. interruptus, -Soto. longaevus, Lam. porrectus, Brand. regularis, Sow. Gastrochsena contorta, Lam. Hipponyx squamiformis, Lam. Infundibulum obliquum, Sow. trochiforme, Sow. Littorina sulcata, Pilk. Murex asper, Brand. bispinosus, Sow. Murex defossus, Soto. minax, Brand. Natica Hantoniensis, Pilk. Nummulites elegans, Sow. variolaria, Lam. Pecten reconditus, Sow. Pleurotoma brevirostra, Soto. colon, Soto. comma, Soto. conoides, Brand. exorta, Brand. Pyrula Green woodi, Soto. nexilis, Lam. Rostellaria macroptera, Lam. rimosa, Soto. Scalaria acuta, Soto. interrupta, Soto. reticulata, Soto. semicostata, Soto. Serpula crassa, Soto. Solarium plicatum, Lam. Terebellum fusiforme, Lam. Trochus agglutinans, Desh. Typhis fistulosus, jBroc. pungens, Brand. Voluta ambigua, Soto. athleta, Soto. costata, Sow. luctatrix, Soto.* No. 22. Greenish tenacious clay ; rises on the shore near Barton Station, and runs out of the cliff near High Cliff Castle. It contains a few shells, and the teeth and bones of fishes, and measures about 20 feet. No. 23. The High Cliff sands and clays rise on the shore a quarter of a mile to the eastward of Chuton Bunny, and run out of the cliff about a quarter of a mile to the westward of High Cliff Castle. This bed is composed of alternations of sand and clay, of brown, green, and ferruginous colours. It is very rich in beautiful shells, as Cassidaria coronata, C. carinata, with many other species, and contains numerous nodular masses made up entirely of fossils, but my materials do not at present enable me to give a correct list of these. This bed attains a thickness of from 20 to 30 feet. No. 24. Green clay; rises on the shore at Chuton Bunny, and * The British Natural History Society, of which Mr. Charlesworth of York is Secretary, has distributed amongst its members a very complete suite of the fossils of the above lists. A series of these shells, including 100 species, is supplied for a small subscription. Formations of the Hampshire Basin. 133 runs out of the cliff nearly half a mile westward of High Cliff Castle. It contains the bones and jaws of fishes, with many broken shells. It attains a thickness of about 30 feet. The fossils are nearly all in a fragmentary state. This green clay forms the lowest bed of Barton Cliff. m2 134 On the Cidaridae of the Oolites, with a description of some new species of that family. By Thomas Wright, M.D. &c. Read 24th June 1851. The Echinoderms form the highest class of the radiated animals ; it includes organisms which are either fixed or free, composed of a regular but very complicated skeleton, secreted by and inclosed within organized membranes, and often preserved in admirable perfection in the fossiliferous strata of all periods of the earth's history. The study of this class, although hitherto much neg- lected by geologists, presents many points of importance to the progress of their science, for the test of Echinoderms exhibits characters of more import and significance than those afforded by the shells of Mollusca. Unlike the testaceous covering of that class, the test of Echinoderms constitutes an internal and inte- gral part of the animal, participating in its life, intimately con- nected with the organs of digestion, respiration and generation, as well as with those of locomotion and vision, and having in consequence many of the distinctive characters of the organism impressed upon it. In all Echinoderms, the external parts of the body, with the organs of locomotion, are disposed around a common centre ; in the spherical forms they are arranged in rows like the lines of longitude on a terrestrial globe, and the mouth and the anus are situated at the opposite poles : the elements of the body are re- peated several times in the composition of the skeleton. It has been shown by M. Agassiz* that the radiated type of structure observable in this class can be resolved into a modi- fication of the bilateral symmetry seen in the higher groups of the animal kingdom. The elements of the skeleton are arranged on two sides of a median line. If we take for example the Spa- tangus purpureus, we observe that the test is elongated in the direction of the line which connects the mouth with the anus ; the mouth being situated at the base and nearer the anterior border of the test, whilst the anus occupies an elevated position on the posterior border. Were we to make a transverse section of the Spatangus, we should have an oral or anterior half, and an anal * Prodrome d'une Monogr. des Echin , Mem. Soc. de Neuchatel, torn. i. p. 168. Dr. T. Wright on the Cidarida? of the Oolites. 13"> or posterior half; whilst, on the contrary, were we to split the test asunder in the line of its long diameter, we should have the right half and the left half of the body. The five ambulacral area? are unequal. The anterior area is not identical with either of the others ; the first pair are symmetrical, but differ from the second pair, which are likewise symmetrical; the bilateral symmetry of these oblong Spatangoida3 is therefore very evident. In the glo- bular forms of Cidarida?, however, a more careful study is requi- site to make the demonstration complete. In them the test is formed of polygonal plates united together by sutures and di- vided into ten segments, of which five are named ambulacral area?, and five interambulacral area?, each area being formed of two columns of plates ; the ambulacral and interambulacral area? alternate with each other, and are separated by ten zones of small plates perforated for the passage of tubular retractile organs con- nected with locomotion and respiration, and forming the porife- rous avenues. The test of Echinus sphara is composed of twenty distinct zones of elementary parts, which are narrow at the summit, from whence they divide in rays, and gradually increase in width towards the circumference or equator, where they are widest; they again contract as they approach the mouth, which occupies the base. The symmetrical disposition of these ele- mentary zones occasions the radiated form which characterizes the Cidarida?. Besides the plates of the ambulacra, interam- bulacra, and poriferous avenues, the summit of the test is fur- nished with a circle of plates surrounding the anus, composed of five larger plates in relation with the generative organs, and called ovarial, and five smaller plates disposed between them, in which are lodged the organs of vision, and called ocular ; each of the ten plates is perforated with a small hole for giving pas- sage to the genital ducts and for lodging the eyes. This anal circle of plates is called the apical rosette or disc. The ovarial plates occupy the summit of the interambulacral areae, and the ocular plates the summit of the ambulacnd area? ; the ovarial plates arc not all of equal size or of the same structure ; one is larger and more prominent than the others, presenting a spongy porous surface, and called the madreporiform plate ; it is placed opposite the ambulacra, which is the analogue of the an- terior area in the Spatangus, and occupies therefore the posterior border of the apical disc, affording thereby a key for ascertaining the antero-posterior diameter of the body ; the other four ovarial plates are disposed in pairs before the single madreporiform plate. The polygonal plates of both area? are arranged in double ver- tical rows, two columns of ambulacral plates alternating: with t\\<> columns of interambulacral plates ; the plates of each pair 136 Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridae of the Oolites. are united by a zigzag suture formed by the re-entrant angles of the plates ; the plates of the ambulacra are united to those of the interambulacra by minutely serrated edges. The porife- rous zones have small plates, the sutures of which cut through the centre of the holes, by which arrangement the enlargement of the foramina with the growth of the test is provided for. The surface of the test is covered with tubercles for supporting spines ; these are of two kinds, the principal and the miliary tubercles. The principal tubercles are in general raised on mam- millated eminences with or without crenulations at their summit, and arranged in vertical rows on the sides of the arese between the mouth and the anus. The miliary tubercles are much smaller and more numerous ; they are not disposed with the same regu- larity, but are frequently scattered on the surface of the plates, or disposed in circles around the bases of the principal tubercles. Each tubercle supports a spine, the size of which corresponds with that of its tubercle ; the spines are composed of three distinct parts, the stem, the neck, and the articular head. The stem is more or less elongated and of various forms ; the head is sur- rounded by a raised ridge, and has a concave excavation for its articulation with the tubercle ; the head is separated from the stem by a smooth neck, the extent of which varies in the differ- ent species. The spines present very numerous modifications of size, form and sculpture, which are closely connected with specific distinctions ; some are elongated, cylindrical, fusiform, or subu- late ; others are compressed, spatuliform, or triangular ; whilst others, on the contrary, are expanded, pyriform or claviform. The surface of the spines is smooth, striated, or furnished with granules, prickles, or other asperities disposed in regular order or scattered at hazard over the stem. The same individual has its test occupied with different kinds of spines ; hence the great im- portance of obtaining these appendages in connection with the test. We have made the following estimate of the number of sepa- rate pieces which enter into the composition of the test of Echi- nus sphcera : — Interambulacral areae 32 plates in each column 32 X 2 X 5= 320 plates. Ambulacral areaj 80 do. do. 80x2x5=800 do. Poriferous avenues 160 do. do. 160x2x5=1600 do. Apical disc 10 plates 10 do. Each interambulacral plate supports 10 tubercles 320 X 10=3200 tubercles. Each tubercle supports a moveable spine 3200 spines. Each ambulacral plate supports 2 tubercles ... 800 X 2 1600 tubercles. Each tubercle supports a moveable spine 1600 spines. There are 70 rows of holes in each avenue, and in each row these six holes are disposed jn pairs obliquely 70x6x 10=4200 foramina. Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridae of the Oolites. 137 The mouth in the Cidaridae is situated at the centre of the basal surface, and provided with five jaws, each armed with a long tooth ; the jaws are united by ligaments and moved by numerous muscles belonging to the voluntary class. According to Prof. Brunner, the analysis of the test of Echinus lividus gave the following result as its chemical composition : — Carbonate of lime .... 96-27 Sulphate of lime ' 1*53 Carbonate of magnesia . . . 0*93 98-73 The fracture of the test and the spines presents a peculiar crystalline surface altogether unlike that of the external skeleton of other Invertebrata, depending probably on the manner the salts of lime and magnesia are deposited in the cells of the ani- mal basement membrane. The external and internal surfaces of the test are covered by organized membranes, which extend through the sutures and invest the spines and pedicellariae, and are the producers and the sheath of the test and its appendages. The mode by which the spheroidal test of an Urchin main- tains its original form, whilst it increases in all directions, is easily understood after what we have stated relative to its com- position. The viscera of the animal are inclosed in this fra- gile and inflexible globular crust, which is never shed like the external skeleton of the Crustacea, but grows by a process which has some analogy with the expansion of the skull in the verte- brate classes. By the division and subdivision of the hollow globe into a number of elements inclosed between two layers of mem- brane, additions are made to the periphery of the plates, whereby they are enlarged and increase in thickness in proportion to the requirements of the animal, so that the form of the test is main- tained and its expansion provided for at the same time : the dif- ference between the test of a young and an old Urchin chiefly consists in the number and size of the plates entering into the composition of the same. The new plates are developed around the oral and anal poles, but chiefly near the latter region, where we may observe in young Urchins small plates loosely connected together and supporting incomplete spines. The numerous genera of the family Cidaridae are distributed by M. Agassiz into four groups : — 1. The Cidaridae are characterized by their thick test, nar- 138 Dr. T. Wright on the Cidarida? of the Oolites. row ambulacra, and large principal tubercles in the interambu- lacral arese. 2. The Salenians are characterized by the development of their apical disc, and the presence of an additional central or sur- anal plate in the same. 3. The Echinid^e have a thin test, and numerous small principal tubercles in the ambulacral and interambulacral areac. 4. The Echinometrans have an elongated oblong form in a direction oblique to the antero-posterior diameter of the test. Family Ctdarid^e*. Fonaj circular. Mouth central, situated at the inferior pole, closed by a buccal membrane which is either naked or covered with granules- Anus opposite the mouth, opening in a ring composed of jteii plates, live of which appertain to the genital, and five to the visual organs. The antcro-posterior diameter is indicated by the median madreporiform body which becomes united to the single ovarial plate. The plates of the test sup- port tubercles disposed in regular order for carrying moveable spines of various forms, some of which are proportionably large. The organs of mastication consist of five jaws, each armed with a long tooth. This framework is articulated to the test by several arched processes called auricles. Genus Cidaris, Lamk. Form circular, test thick, flattened at both poles. Ambulacral area? narrow, about one-fourth the diameter of the interambulacral arese, and covered with small close-set granules. Pores disposed in simple pairs. The principal tubercles in the interambulacral columns are perforated, and carry large heavy, spines which are smooth or furrowed, spiny or granular. The ovarial plates are large, pentagonal and equal ; the ocular plates are small and tri- angular, and wedged between the ovarial. The mouth is cir- cular and without indentations ; the buccal membrane is covered with imbricated scales upon which the ambulacral pores extend. Jaws powerful, composed of five pyramids, the branches of which are not united at their summits. Teeth channelled, not carinated on their internal surface. This genus admits of a na- * The group of Cidukbe includes six genera: Cidaris, Lam., Gonioci- dmis, Desor, Hemicidaris. Agass., Acrocidnris. AgftiS.j Acropcltis, Agass., Palteocidaris, Agass. Dr.T. Wright on the Cidaridse of the Oolite*. 139 tural division into two types; in the one the tubercles are smooth, in the other they are erenulatcd at their base. The first type. — Tubercles with the base not crenulated. Are found in our present seas, and fossil in the carboniferous, triasic, cretaceous, and tertiary rocks. They are not found m the Oolitic Strata, to which yroup the present paper is restricted. The second type. — Tubercles with the base crenulated. Com- prehends oolitic and triasic forms. The circular mouth without indentations serves to distinguish the genus Cidaris from the genus Hemicidaris. The form of the ambulacral area?, the number and arrangement of the gra- nules on the same, the size of the tubercles, and the number of their crenulations afford good specific characters. The ovarial and ocular plates are seldom preserved. The lantern and teeth ought to be carefully studied, as they are sometimes found detached ; the spines likewise yield good specific characters, but they are seldom preserved along with the test. Cidaris Fowleri, Wright, n. sp. PL IV. tig. 5 a, b, c. Test spheroidal, depressed at both poles ; ambulacral area? flat, narrow and undulated, furnished with two rows of small, re- gular marginal granules and two rows of central blunt irregular microscopic granules ; poriferous avenues wide ; pores oblong and distant ; interambulacral arese furnished with two rows of from 8-10 principal tubercles ; intertubercular spaces wide and covered with small granulations ; spines large, with irregular forward-directed prickles. Height 1 inch Tlnth, transverse diameter 1 inch and -^ths. Specimens from in Switzerland in the terrain a chailles of Fringelli, * Cotteau, Ecliin. Foss. p. 110. t GoMfuss, Pete. Germania?, p. 117- % A. Roemer, Norddeutsehos Oolithcn Gebirge. Dr. T. Wright on the Uidarid* of ike Oolites. I 1 9 Wablen, and Gonaberg in the canton <>f Soleure, and in the white corallian of lioggerwald *. History. — This beautiful species was long ago figured by Parkinson in his 'Organic Remains/ afterwards it was most accurately figured and described by Goldfuss in his ' Petrefacta/ and subsequently by Agassiz, Phillips, and Cotteau, in their re- spective works. Cidaris propinqua, Munster. PI. IV. fig. 6. Syn. Cidarites propinquus, Mfinst. ; Goldfuss, Petrefact. German. p. 119. t. 40. fig. 1, 2 ; Agassiz, Prodrom. Echin. p. 21 ; Echi- noderm. Foss. Suisse, p. 62. t. 21. fig. 5-10 ; Desmoulins, Tabl. Synop. p. 328. No. 17. Cidaris monilifera, Agassiz, Catal. Syst. Ectyp. Neoc. p. 9. Cidaris coronata, var. minor, Agassiz and Desor, Cat. raisonne des Eehi- nides ; Cotteau, Echinides Foss. du Depart, de l'Yonne, p. 104. Test thick, circular, and depressed at the poles ; ambulacral area? narrow, sinuous, and furnished with two rows of small round prominent granules ; interambulacral area? with two rows of large prominent tubercles, six in each row, raised on small mammillary eminences with smooth summits ; " spines with a short neck and a thick granulated stem f apical disc unknown. Height T6fjths of an inch, transverse diameter 1 inch. Description. — This Urchin resembles in many points the pre- ceding species, but exhibits characters very distinct from it. The ambulacral area? are extremely narrow and serpentine, having two rows of small prominent granules arranged on the margins of the area?, with a few central microscopic ones between them about the equator. The pores are placed in rather deep winding avenues, closely and obliquely together in single pairs. The in- to i ambulacral area? are nearly five times the width of the ambu- lacral, and furnished with two rows of tubercles, six in each row ; they arc large, prominent, slightly perforated, and nearly sphe- rical; the mammillated eminences on which they are sup]» being disproportionately small, and having smooth and convex summits, unlike the crenulated summits observed in the mamma' of other Oolitic Cidaridte. The specimen before us is too much injured to enable us to state whether any rudimentary sculpture- surrounds the summits of the mamma? on the superior surface of the test, as is the case in the Swiss and German specimens. The areola? are shallow and nearly of a circular form, their mar- gins being encircled by a wreath of twelve small round promi- nent granules supported on little eminences, and formi] distinct beaded boundary for each tubercle. The median space down the centre of the area? is slightly concave, and filled with * Agassiz, Erhin. Fo 1 44 Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridse of the Oolites. granules of a much smaller size than those encircling the margins of the areoke. The mouth- opening is circular and about one-half the diameter of the test at the equator ; the tubercles surround- ing the mouth are well developed, but smaller than those occu- pying the middle and upper part of the test. The apical disc is absent, but the space which it filled is of considerable diameter. The spines have not been met with in our locality. Affinities and differences. — C. propinqua so nearly resembles C. coronata, that although it was described as a distinct species by Agassiz in his ' Echinoderm. Foss. de la Suisse/ it was after- wards grouped as var. minor of C. coronata in the r Catalogue raisonne des Echinides * ' of the same author. The test of this Urchin has unquestionably a very close resemblance to C. coro- nata, but a fact mentioned by Goldfuss should not be overlooked ; he found peculiar spines associated only with C. propinqua, which never occurred with C. coronataf. The extreme narrowness of the ambulacral arese with the two marginal rows of granules likewise distinguish it from C. coronata, which has six rows in the same arese. In the absence of crenulations from the mam- millary eminences on the lower part of the test, together with the bead-like granular circle around the areolae, it resembles C. coro- nata. Not having a specimen of that species in our cabinet with which to compare the specimen before us, we are unable to pur- sue the comparison further. Locality and stratigraphical range. — Whilst searching the Pea - grit of Crickley Hill to find a more perfect specimen of Gonio- pygus for Mr. Baily to figure, I discovered C. propinqua, having only seen a defaced specimen once before from the same bed and locality, which was too much worn to be identified. We have never seen this species in any collection of Inferior Oolite fossils, and from the pains we have taken to ascertain the different species found in the Cotteswold Hills, it must be rare ; it occurs in the Stonesfield slate at Eyeford, but is very rare J. In Germany it was found by Count Minister in the Baireutheschen Jurakalke, principally in the vicinity of Streitberg§. In Switzerland it oc- curs in the Terrain k chailles in the environs of Besancon, Bale, Randen, and Sirchingen || . In France it was collected by M. Cot- teau from the corallian stage at Druyes, but always in the state of moulds, the specimens being of small size and having very narrow ambulacral areae^f. * Annates des Sciences Nat. torn. vi. 3rd series, p. 331 . t Goldfuss, Petrefact. part 1. p. 120. X Sir R. Murchison, Geol. of Cheltenham, 2nd ed., by Buckman and Strickland, p. 68. § Goldfuss, Petrefact. German, part 1. p. 120. || Annates des Sciences Nat. torn. vi. 3rd series, p. 331. 5[ Echinides Foss. du Depart, de l'Yonne, p. 10b. Dr. T. Wright on the Cidlricbe of the Oolites. 1 \:> History. — First figured and described by Goldfuss in his f Pe- trefacta Germanise/ and afterwards by Agassiz in his ' Description des Echinodermes Foss. de la Suisse/ and now figured and de- scribed as a British fossil from the Inferior Oolite near Chelten- ham for the first time. Genus Hemicidaris (Agassiz). Test subglobose, more or less flattened at the poles. Ambu- lacral areae narrow and sinuous, furnished with primary tubercles on the lower fourth part of each area, which suddenly diminish into small tubercles or granules above, set more or less closely together like those in the area? of Cidaris. Interambulacral areae much larger than the ambulacral, widest at the equator of the test and narrowest at the poles ; around the circumference of the mouth they are about the same breadth as those of the ambu- lacral areae. The primary tubercles of the interambulacral areae are raised upon large prominent mammillary eminences, having a crenu- lated margin encircling the base of the tubercle ; the equatorial plates carry the largest mammillary eminences. Pores biserial, ex- cept near the mouth, where they are triserial. Mouth large, with decagonal indentations around its circumference. Anus central, surrounded by a solid circle of ten plates which are often well preserved. The five ovarial plates are larger and perforated at their summits. The single or madreporiform plate is the largest ; it has a more porous structure, and is differently sculptured from the pairs of plates. The five ocular plates are small and trian- gular : both ovarial and ocular plates are covered with minute granulations. Spines of two orders : the primaries are long, cylindrical, and mostly of considerable dimensions, the secondaries are small and compressed. This genus differs from the true Cidaris in the bases of the ambulacral areae supporting primary tubercles. He- micidaris thus forms a type of structure intermediate between Cidaris and Diadema. In Hemicidaris the mouth is decagonal, in Cidaris it is circular. All the species are fossil, and characterize the middle and upper stages of the oolitic rocks. Some are found in the Neo- comian and in the Chalk. Hemicidaris intermedia, Fleming. Syn. Cidaris papillata, var. Park. Org. Rem. pi. 1. fig. 6. vol. iii. Cidaris intermedia, Fleming, Brit. Animals, p. 478. Hemicidaris crenularis, Morris, Cat. Brit. Foss. p. 53 ; Strickland and Buckman, Geol. of Chelt. Hemicidaris intermedia, Forbes, Brit. Org. Rem. Decade 3. pi. 4. 146 Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridse of the Oolites. Test subglobose or subconical ; ambulacral area? narrow and slightly undulated, with a double row of small perforated tu- bercles on the margins, and ten larger tubercles at the basis of the arese ; interambulacral area; occupied with six or seven pairs of primary tubercles which are raised on large closely- approximated prominent mammae, with deeply crenulated sum- mits ; mouth large and decagonal, margins deeply notched ; spines long, cylindrical, and striated longitudinally, with a tumid base ; apical rosette not prominent. Great Oolite specimens : height y^ths of an inch, transverse diameter 1 inch and T^ths. Coral Rag specimens : height 1 inch and y^jths, transverse diameter 1 inch and Tfinths. Description. — The test of this Urchin has sometimes a subglo- bose form ; in other varieties the height exceeds the breadth, and it then presents a subconical outline. The summit is slightly depressed and the base is flat. The ambulacral arcse are narrow and gently undulated ; at the base or lower third we observe five pairs of moderate-sized tubercles ; at the upper two-thirds the tubercles become very small and are ranged on the margins of the areee ; both the large and small tubercles are mammillatcd and perforated. The pores are arranged in simple pairs, but at the enlarged space around the mouth additional pairs are intro- duced. The interambulacral areee are nearly four times the width of the ambulacral, and furnished with six or seven pairs of large primary deeply perforated tubercles. The mammillary eminences on which these tubercles are placed are largely developed and form prominent projecting cones, the bases of which touch those of the adjoining cones in the same range ; an undulating line of small perforated granules separates the external border of the mammil- lary bases from the poriferous avenues, and a double row of similar granules forms a zigzag division down the centre of the arese. The upper and lower boundaries of the areolae of the mammae are confluent, whilst their outer and inner boundaries are surrounded with the granules already described. The apical rosette is moderate in size, being about one-fourth the diameter of the test ; the madreporiform plate is larger than the pairs of ovarial plates ; the ocular plates are heart-shaped, and the surface of the elements of this disc is studded with small granules. The mouth is large, being half the diameter of the test ; it has a decagonal form ; and the margin is deeply notched. The spines are of two kinds : the primary ones are long, cylin- drical and tapering, and grow to double the length of the dia- meter of the test, some of them measuring 3| inches in length ; they, are delicately grooved in the longitudinal direction, and the base is provided with a raised crenulated band, situated between Dr. T. Wright on the Cidarida; of the Oolites. 147 two convex smooth bands \ another smaller crenulated band sur- rounds the rim of the socket which affords attachment to the liga- iih -nts articulating the spine with the tubercle. The secon- dary spines are small, needle-shaped and compressed, and striated longitudinally. Affinities and differences. — This species approaches so near to H. crenularis that it was long regarded as Lamarck's species. The form and development of the spines of the two Urchins how- ever prove them to be distinct; this circumstance shows the necessity of caution in the identification of species of Echinidae in the absence of any of the data upon which a correct opinion can alone be formed* H. intermedia resembles H. icaunensis in its general outline, but is distinguished from that species by its more prominent tubercles, in having the ambulacral areae more undulated and having larger tubercles at the base. These cha- racters likewise sufficiently distinguish it from H. alpina and H. granulosa. Locality and stratigraphical range. — One of our specimens was obtained from the spoil of Salperton Tunnel from a bed belong- ing to the Great Oolite ; the other specimen was collected from the Bradford clay near Cirencester. We have never met with H. intermedia in the Inferior Oolite. This Urchin is very abundant in the Coral Rag of Calne, from whence most cabinets have been supplied. The varieties in the Great Oolite are more globular and depressed than those obtained from the Coral Rag. History. — As it is uncertain whether we possess H. crenularis in our beds, it is probable that H. intermedia was figured and described by Martin Lister*. Our synonyms show the changes of name through which this species has passed. It has, however, been so accurately described by Prof. Forbes, and so admirably figured t in the ■ Memoirs of the Geological Survey/ that we must refer to that work for further details of the speci* Hemicidaris icaunensis, Cotteau. Syn. Hemicidaris icaunensisy Cotteau, Echin. Foss. t. 3. fig. 1-5. p. 56 ; Forbes, Geological Survey, Mem. Decade 3. Test hemispherical, inflated and slightly depressed ; ambulacral areae with two rows of small marginal tubercles, and with three or four pairs of larger tubercles at the base ; interambulacral areae with two ranges of primary tubercles ; mouth large and decagonal ; margin deeply notched. Height T%ths of an inch, transverse diameter 1 inch and y^ths. Description. — This species is hemispherical and inflated at the * Historia Animaliura Anglia?, t. 7- fig- -K 1678. t British Organic Remains, Decade 3. pi. 4. N 148 Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridae of the Oolites. sides, and its transverse diameter is one-half more than its height. The intcrambulacral areae are furnished with two rows of large primary tubercles ; in each range there are from six to seven tubercles, which attain their greatest development at the equator of the test, and diminish in size near the anal and buccal open- ings. The mammillary eminences supporting the tubercles are large, prominent, and surrounded by areolae. The tubercles are small and perforated; one row of granules separates the large tubercles from the poriferous avenues, and a double row occupies the middle of the areas. The lateral boundaries of the areolae are surrounded by a semicircle of granules, whilst the upper and lower boundaries of the same blend into each other. The ambulacral areae are narrow, slightly undulated, and fur- nished through nearly all their extent with a double row of small tubercles, which are not very apparent, but are larger on the sides than at the apex of the areae ; between the size of these and the three pairs of tubercles at the base a sensible difference exists. The mouth-opening is large, and is one-half the diameter of the test ; it is of a decagonal form with the margin deeply notched. The apical disc is not preserved and the spines are unknown. Affinities and differences. — The Hemicidaris icaunensis in its general form and characters closely resembles the H. intermedia ; it is distinguished from the latter by having the primary tuber- cles of the interambulacral areae less prominent, by the ambu- lacral areae being less waved, and in having the basal tubercles much smaller. This character assimilates H. icaunensis to H. Thurmanniy but it is sufficiently distinguished from that Urchin by its greater height, less undulated ambulacra and the greater number of tubercular plates in the interambulacral areae. Locality and stratigraphical range. — This rare species was ob- tained by Mr. Lycett from the Great Oolite of Minchinhampton. M. Cotteau collected it in France from the superior beds of the Bathonian stage at Chatel-Censoir, and M. Rathier found it in the Forest marble of Chatel -Gerard, where it is likewise rare. History. — This species was first figured and described by M. Cotteau*, and was provisionally identified by Prof. Forbesf ; it is figured in plate A. fig. 9. of the ' Monograph of Great Oolite Fossils 3 to be published by the Palaeontographical Society. The specimen that has come under our notice is so imperfect that we have followed M. Cotteau's description. * Echinides Foss. du Departement de l'Yonne, tab. iii. p. 56. f Memoirs of the Geological Survey ; Brit. Organic Remains, Decade 3. Description of plate 5. Dr. T. Wright in tfa Cidarida §/Hi Oolites. 1 I'.' Hemicidans dljiiun, Atras-. PI. IV. fig. 3 «, k. Syn. IIr//tirif/(iris alpina, Echin. Foss. Suisse, Agass. t.18. fig. 1 9 ^ubglobose; ambulacral areae undulated, prominent and convex, covered with small hemispherical granules closely set together ; base of the areae with four mamniillatcil and perfo- rated tubercles; apical disc large, convex and prominent Height nearly y^th8 of an inch, transverse diameter -j^ths of an inch. Description. — The test of this beautiful species is subglobose ; the ambulacral area? are slightly undulated and of a medium they are prominent and convex, of an elongated conical form, and are thickly covered with small hemispherical granules without perforations or other sculpture ; the marginal rows are larger and more regular. Between them are from four to six rows of smaller granules closely set together. At the base of the area? are four mammillatcd and perforated tubercles which are limited to this region. The pores arc set obliquely in pairs with a smooth elevated granule between each pair, which forms a moniliform sinuous line running between the pores. The interambulacral areae are of moderate breadth, with two rows of primary tubercles, five or six in each column. The inammillary eminences of the two central tubercles are large and prominent. Those towards the anal and oral po\es are smaller; they are all crenulated at their summits; the tubercles are deeply perforated, and supported on a short stem, the hemisphe- rical head of the tubercle not exceeding in diameter that of the stem ; the areolae around the mamma? are slightly channelled and nearly all confluent, those towards the anal pole have a circle of granules encircling the areolae; the interareolar spaces are covered with small smooth granules similar in form and size to those occupying the ambulacral areae. The apical disc is promi- nent, the ovarial plates are large, convex, and much granulated, and the ocular plates are of a proportionate size ; the spines are unknown. The mouth-opening is of moderate size, its margin being deeply notched and reflexed as in H. intermedia ; the pores are disposed in simple pairs all the length of the poriferous avenues, but are arranged in double files around the border of the oral aperture in such a manner as to occupy the free space in the ambulacral areae, resulting from the contraction of the interam- bulacral areae in this region. Affinities and differences. — Our specimen is smaller in size than the one figured by Agassiz from the Calcaire de Saanru. The ambulacra are more prominent and convex th n those of tin- Swiss specimen ; the rows of marginal granules are not so pro- 150 Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridse of the Oolites. portionately large nor are the basal tubercles so numerous as those delineated in Agassiz's figure. We consider our Urchin, however, merely as a variety of the Swiss species, for which we propose the name var. granulans. This beautiful species is easily distinguished from its congeners by the structure of the ambulacra! arese, which are convex, prominent, and thickly covered with small close-set granulations unlike any other species of Hemicidaris yet known. Locality and stratigraphical range. — This species was collected from the Bradford clay of Pickwick, Wilts ; a valve of Ter. digona was attached to the test, and it is adherent to Ter. concinna. Plates of this Urchin have been found in the same stratum at the Tetbury Road Station of the Great Western Railway. Mr. Lowe of Chippenham has found it in the Forest marble of Wilts, but it is a rare species. History. — First figured and described by Agassiz in the ' De- scription des Echinodermes Fossiles de la Suisse/ afterwards iden- tified in the British Museum collection by Mr. S. P. Woodward, and recorded by Prof. Forbes in Decade 3. of his ' Memoirs of the Geological Survey/ and now described as a British species for the first time. Hemicidaris granulosa, Wright. PI. IV. fig. 4 a, b, c. Test spheroidal, depressed ; ambulacral arese straight, with two rows of prominent defined granules, the three inferior pair only being perforated and raised upon crenulated mammillary eminences ; interambulacral arese with from two to three pairs of primary tubercles, the superior part of the arese being occupied with warty granules ; apical rosette formed of large petaloidal plates. Height y^ths of an inch, transverse diameter 1 inch and y^ths. Description. — This beautiful Urchin constitutes a well-marked species ; the double row of prominent wart-like granules on the ambulacral arese, which are neither perforated nor raised on eminences, serving as a good diagnostic character. The base of the area is enlarged to give space for the three pairs of crenu- lated and perforated tubercles found in this region in all the spe- cies of Hemicidaris. The upper part of the arese is occupied with from 10-12 pairs of warty granules, which are smooth, deformed, and set regularly in rows alternating with each other ; the in- tervening surface of the ambulacral plates being occupied with small ill-defined scattered granulations. The pores are disposed in slightly oblique pairs, with a raised eminence between them ; at the wide basal region of the avenues they fall into triple oblique pairs. Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridse of the (Mites. 1 5 1 The interambulacral arese arc twice and a half the diameter of the ambulacral ; in each column there are from IO to seven plates, the three or four inferior of which support moderate-sized mam- millary eminence*! wiih crenulated summits, from the centre of whicli a large prominent deeply perforate tubercle rises. The areolae are smooth and gently inclined, and around their circum- ference fifteen small granules are set. The three superior plates are destitute of mammillary eminences, and in lieu thereof have clusters of granules on each plate similar to those occupying the ambulacral arese. There are from two to five such granules pro- truding from the upper surface of the test ; they are arranged in pairs, or form triangular, quadrangular or pentagonal figures. The apical rosette is well developed ; the ovarial plates are large and marked with a depression near their centre, and their in- ternal borders are slightly raised. The madreporiform plate is larger than the pairs of plates, and its centre is occupied with a porous structure. The ocular plates are large and heart-shaped, with a depression down the centre of each plate. In the speci- men before me the plates of the apical rosette are devoid of other sculpture. The base is flat, the mouth large and decagonal, the opening being more than half the diameter of the test at its equator. The spines are unknown. Affinities and differences. — This Urchin differs from H. inter- media in the absence of tubercles from the upper part of the in- terambulacral arese, in the form and size of the ovarial and ocular plates, and in the form and structure of the granules covering the ambulacral arese. It is distinguished from H. alpina by the absence of the close-set granulations covering the convex ambu- lacra of that Urchin. It has some resemblance to H. icaunensis, but is distinguished from it by the small number of its primary tubercles, and the warty figures which take the place of the tubercles on the upper surface of the test. Locality and stratigraphical range. — From the Inferior Oolite of Dundry. Imperfect specimens, probably belonging to this species, have been collected from the upper beds of Leckhampton. Hemicidaris confluens, M'Coy. Syn. Hemicidaris confluent, M'Coy, Annals of Nat. Hist. vol. ii. New Series, p. 411. Test spheroidal, much-depressed ; ambulacral arese slightly con- vex and nearly straight, with two alternate marginal rows of small microscopic mammillated and perforated tubercles, four pairs of larger tubercles at the base; intermediate surface covered with small close-set granulations ; interambulacral arese with three pairs of large tubercles at the middle, four 152 Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridse of the Oolites. small tubercles at the base, and six rudimentary tubercles at the apex of the area? ; mouth moderate and decagonal. Height £%ths of an inch, transverse diameter f^ths of an inch. Description. — The spheroidal test of this Urchin is much de- pressed at the anal pole and flattened at the base. The ambu- lacral arese are nearly straight and of a tolerably uniform width throughout, and furnished with two rows of small, quite micro- scopic, but nevertheless mammillated and perforated tubercles, about fourteen in each row, disposed alternately on the margins of the arese, and increasing slightly in size towards the basal angle. The base of the arese has four pairs of larger tubercles as in the other species of this genus. The interambulacral arese are nearly three times the width of the ambulacral, and furnished with two rows of tubercles from 9-10 in each row, the three pairs at the equator of the test alone attaining their full develop- ment ; those at the base being of a secondary size, whilst those on the upper part of the arese are disproportionately small and even rudimentary. The upper surface of the test is covered with small close-set granulations, in the midst of which the rudi- mentary tubercles rise at distant intervals apart. The mammil- lated eminences of the six large tubercles are surrounded by well-defined areolae, which are confluent at their upper and lower margins ; but down the centre of the arese two or four rows of granules, and at the lateral borders thereof one or two rows of granules descend, which form lateral wreaths surrounding the side margins of the areolse : these marginal granules are larger and more uniform in their arrangement than those occupying other parts of the surface of the test. The mouth-opening, of a decagonal form, is one-half the dia- meter of the body, with deep marginal notches dividing its circumference into ten nearly equal lobes, those of the ambulacral arese being the largest. The apical disc is either absent or concealed in the specimens before me, and the spines are unknown. Affinities and differences. — H. confluens resembles H. Thur- manni, Ag., in its depressed form and in the small number of the primary tubercles on the interambulacral arese; it is distin- guished from that species in the partial absence of the circle of granules which entirely surround the tubercles in H. Thurmanni, and in the rudimentary condition of those occupying the upper surface of the test. The ambulacral arese are nearly straight in H. confluens, and much undulated in H. Thurmanni. This Urchin has many points of affinity with Acrosalenice, but our ignorance of the apical disc leaves a doubt in our mind whether it may not belong to that genus. Until specimens with the disc preserved arc found, that doubt cannot be removed. Dr. T. Wriirht M thr ( 'idandse of thr (J,„ 153 Locality (ind strutiynipliicitl rinuj,-. — Tins species was collt by Mr. Lycett from the planking beds of the Great Oolite at Minchiuhamptou, and \\c have received several specimens from the same stratum at Kiddington (Oxfordshire). Hemicidaris pustulosa, Forbes. Memoir of Palseontograph. Soc., Forbes, plate A. fig. 8, Great Ool it.- Fossils. We have not seen Hemicidaris pustulosa figured by Professor Forbes in the above memoir ; its nearest ally, it is stated, " is Hemicidaris diademata, Agass., which it resembles in the sudden diminution and very small size of the uppermost interambulacral tubercles, but differs in having the sutural granulated space of the interambulacral areas very wide*." The SALENiANsf, Gray. This group is composed of small Urchins resembling Hemici- daris ; they are distinguished from that genus, however, by the number, structure, and mode of arrangement of the plates form- ing the apical disc, which is composed of five ovarial, five ocular, and a supra-anal plate. The ambulacral areae are narrow, carry- ing secondary tubercles like Hemicidaris. The pores are dis- posed in distinct poriferous avenues in single pairs. The inter- ambulacral arese are wide, and their plates support primary tubercles raised on mammillary eminences. We divide the Sale- nians into two groups : — In the first group the tubercles are not perforated ; they form the genera Salenia, Peltastes, and Goniophorus, which are limited to the rocks of the Cretaceous period. In the second group the tubercles are perforated, forming the genus Acrosalenia, the species of which are distributed throughout the Jurassic strata. Genus Acrosalenia, Agass. Test small, more or less depressed ; anal pole surrounded by a well-developed circular disc, composed of five ovarial and five ocular plates, with a central supra-nnnl plate, composed of one or more elements. The anal opening is situated at one side of the supra-anal plate, and is therefore eccentrical. The ambulacral arete are narrow, and support a double row of from ten to twelve small perforated tubercles set on crenulated mammae. The interambulacral area? are nearly three times the width of the * Memoirs of Geological Survey, Prof. Forbes, Decade 3. t The group of Salenians is composed of five genera : Sal< Peltastes, Agass. ; Goniophorus, Agass. ; Acrosalenia, Agass. ; Goniopygus. 154 Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridae of the Oolites. ambulacral area?, and support two rows of from six to eignt large perforated tubercles raised upon crenulated mammillary emi- nences ; the base is flat, the mouth large, decagonal and notched, and the margin reflexed. The apices of the notches point to the centres of the columns of the interambulacral plates. Acrosalenia hemicidaroides, Wright, n. s. PL IV. fig. 1 a, b, c, d. Test hemispherical, considerably depressed ; ambulacral area? with two ranges of from fourteen to sixteen small perforated tuber- cles, gradually decreasing in size from the base to the apex ; interambulacral areae with two ranges of primary tubercles, eight in each range. The supra-anal plate is composed of several elements ; the anus is situated before and to the left side ; the surface of the ovarial, ocular, and supra-anal plates is studded with small granulations ; primary spines long, tapering, smooth and slightly compressed ; secondary spines small and needle-shaped ; mouth large and decagonal ; margin reflexed. Height yyths of an inch, transverse diameter 1 inch and yoth. One large specimen measures 1 inch and y^ths in diameter, but the proportional height cannot be ascertained, as its base is crushed. Description. — Test spheroidal, depressed; ambulacral area? slightly sinuous, nearly uniform in breadth, tapering towards both poles, and supporting two rows of secondary mammillated perforated tubercles, which are largest at the inferior third of the area, diminishing in size as they approach the mouth and the anus. The tubercles, from fourteen to sixteen in number in each row, are situated alternately on the margins of the area ; a zigzag line of granulations, with lateral branches passing down the cen- tre of the area, separates the tubercles from each other. The poriferous avenues consist of about forty-five pairs of pores set obliquely in a single file. The interambulacral area? are three times the breadth of the ambulacral ; each area is composed of two columns. There are eight plates in each column, and each plate supports a large smooth mammillated eminence surmounted by a tubercle, which occupies the greater part of the plate ; it is of a conical form, and is encircled by a concave smooth areola. The summits of the mammae are sculptured on their margins with eleven crenulations, in the centre of which a deeply perforated tubercle rises, with a rather depressed articular surface. In some specimens the areolae of the mammae are confluent, in others they are separated by a row of small granules. The ex- ternal and internal margins of the plates are furnished with rows of small granulations, with still smaller granules here and there Dr. T. Wright on the Cidarida- <>f //„< Oolites. I 5t interspersed; on the external side of each plate there are nine granulations, which, with those of the adjoining plates, form a sinuous granulated line which defines the internal boundary of the poriferous avenues. The internal row of granulations, with those of the opposite and adjoining plates, form a double granu- lated zigzag space, occupying the centre of the area?, and forming an elevated ridge which serves to separate the two ranges of primary tubercles from each other. The mouth is large and decagonal, and is one-half the diameter of the test. The margin is deeply notched with ten indenta- tions. The divisions of the circumference are not equal, as the arch over the ambulacral is one-half greater than the arch over the interambulacral area?. The apical disc is greatly developed, occupying more than one- third the diameter of the test ; it is of a pentagonal form, the left anterior angle being more developed than the right. The madre- poriform plate is large, and divided into a posterior porous and an anterior non-porous segment. The posterior pair of ovarial plates are likewise large, the anterior pair are small and imper- fectly developed ; the left plate is rudimentary, in consequence of the anal opening being eccentric and situated before and towards the left side ; the supra-anal plate is in general of a pentagonal form, and composed of from four to six elements united together and set round the posterior border of the anal opening. The ocular plates are triangular and well-developed ; all the plates of the apical disc are studded with small granules. This species belongs to Agassiz's first division of the Salenians which have the sur-anal plate and the oviductal apparatus situated before the madreporiform plate. The primary spines (fig. 1 d) are long, tapering, and slightly compressed, so that a transverse section of one of them forms an ellipsis in the specimen before me. They are in length about twice the diameter of the test. The body of the spine is smooth throughout ; the base is encircled with a pro- minent elevated ring of small oblong closely-set granulations; a smaller circle of larger creuulations surrounding the margin of the concave articulating surface. The secondary spines articulating with the tubercles of the ambulacral area? resemble the primaries in miniature, some of them measuring -j^ths of an inch in length. The dental apparatus is well-developed. The teeth arc strong, triangular, and slightly curved towards the point. Affinities and differences. — Acrosalenia hemicidaroides is distin- guished from its congeners by its size, the number and regularity of the primary tubercles, the compound structure of the supra- anal plate, and the granular surface of the apical disc. This Urchin so much resembles a Hemicidaris in the form of the test, the structure of the ambulacra and poriferous avenues, that it was not until we had obtained roechnem with the apical ffiac 156 Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridae of the Oolites. preserved that we were satisfied of its being an Acrosalenia, of which it certainly forms the finest species. The genera Hemici- rfaris and Acrosalenia have so many characters in common, which are almost always well-preserved, and so few that are special, and which are for the most part either broken or absent, that it is difficult to decide upon the genus unless the apical disc is more or less preserved ; it is for this reason we conjecture that so few Acrosalenia have been hitherto catalogued from the Oolites, most of the species having been erroneously referred to other genera. The development of from four to six larger mammillated tubercles at the base of the ambulacral areae is a good character for Hemici- da?'is. In A. hemicidaroides the tubercles in this region are well developed, but are not so well defined as in Hemicidaris. When doubts exist, they can only be solved by the discovery of the apical disc with its supra-anal plate. Locality and stratigraphical range. — I have collected this beau- tiful Urchin from the upper beds of the Inferior Oolite at Leck- hampton, and the Rev. P. B. Brodie found it with its spines attached in the same zone at Selsley Hill. It is found in the planking beds of the Great Oolite at Minchinhampton, and in the Cornbrash near Chippenham. Several fine specimens with the spines attached to the test were obtained from the Forest marble near Malmsbury in Wilts, which are now in the British Museum and the Museum of Economic Geology, and several private cabinets. We have the same species from Kiddington, Oxfordshire, in slabs of Great Oolite. From these facts we infer that this large Acrosalenian had not only a considerable strati- graphical range, but likewise that the species was very abundant. Acrosalenia Lycetti, Wright, n. s. PI. IV. fig. 2 a, b> c, d. Test hemispherical, depressed, circumference subpentagonal ; ambulacral areae prominent, having a double series of small tubercles ; interambulacral areae with two ranges of large tu- bercles ; mammillary eminences of both areae conical and pro- jecting ; tubercles of the interambulacral areae disproportion- ately small. Height half an inch, transverse diameter 1 inch. Description. — This Urchin resembles A. hemicidaroides in many of its characters, but presents others which justify its sepa- ration from that species. The ambulacral areae are straight, pro- minent, and furnished with a double row of small well-developed tubercles, about twelve in each row ; a zigzag line of small gra- nules descends down the centre of the areae, sending out lateral branches which inclose the areolae of the tubercles for about two- thirds of their circumference, leaving the areolae open to the poriferous avenues. The interambulacral areae arc nearly three Dr. T. Wright m fifc Cidaridae <>f th, Oolites. 157 timet the width of tin- ambulacra!, and poaacM i double range of primary tubercles from seven to eight in each range. The mam- miliary eminences supporting them are very prominent, and arc surrounded by an elliptical areola. The summits of the mammae are sculptured with about ten crenulations. The tubercles are disproportionately small when compared with the development of the mammae supporting them ; the two ranges of tubercles are separated by tour rows of granulations which form zigzag granular bands descending down the centre of the areae ; similar binds ol granulations bound the external borders of the inter- ambulacra, and separate the ranges of the principal tubercles from the poriferous avenues; the upper and lower borders of the areolae are confluent, but the other parts of their circumference are surrounded by a wreath of granules. The mammillary emi- nences and tubercles are largest at the equator, gradually dimi- nishing as they approach the oral and anal poles. The pores are large and disposed obliquely in simple pairs. The mouth -open- ing is large and decagonal, the marginal notches being of mo- derate depth. The apical disc is absent in all the specimens we have found ; it is therefore impossible to state whether the anal opening was situated before or behind the single madreporiform plate. Affinities and differences. — This species is distinguished from A. hemicidaroides in having the areolae more excavated and ellip- tical. The granules occupying the intertubercular spaces are smaller and more numerous. The tubercles of the interam- bulacra are disproportionately small when compared with the development of their mammae ; the circumference has in general a subpentagonal outline, from the prominence of the ambulacral area*, the double row of tubercles on which is more fully deve- loped than in A. hemicidaroides. These differences between the tests of our two species although inconsiderable are nevertheless connected with others, which although not seen may be inferred, as t he differences in the size and form of the primary and secondary spines belonging to the tubercles of both areae leave no doubt on our mind that A, Lycetti is distinct from A. hemicidaroides, and we know of no other species among its congeners for which it could be mistaken. A granulated spine, and of which we give a figure (2 d)y found frequently in the same beds with A. Lycetti, and probably belonging to this species, it' proved to be such, would form an important specific character. Lociil'itij and stnitit/niphical range. — We collected this Urchin from the lower t'eiru-mous beds. Tea-grit, of Crickley Hill, and have found it in the same stratum at Leckhampton, Cleeve, and Broekhampton quarries. The specimens are in genera] • (rushed, and the apical disc is always 158 Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridse of the Oolites. The two specimens which have preserved their form and served for the foregoing description were only obtained within the last few days ; all those previously collected having been too much injured to serve for minute observation. I dedicate this species to my friend John Lycett, Esq., one of the learned authors of a monograph of the Mollusca from the Great Oolite. Acrosalenia spinosa, Agassiz. PL V. fig. 3 a, b, c, d. Acrosalenia spinosa, Agassiz, Echin. de la Suisse, 2nd part, t. 18. fig. 1-5. p. 39; Cotteau, Echin. Foss. du Departement de l'Yonne, t. 3. fig. 6-11. Test subpentagonal, depressed ; a double row of small tubercles occupies the ambulacra, and a double range of large mammil- lated tubercles the interambulacral areas ; the ovarial disc is large, the madreporiform plate rudimentary, the anal opening behind the supra-anal plate ; mouth decagonal, margin deeply incised. Height T3Gths of an inch, transverse diameter ^fths of an inch. Description. — The test of this beautiful little Urchin has a sub- pentagonal form arising from the convexity of the ambulacral arese, which converge in straight lines from the base to the summit, and are furnished with two ranges of from ten to twelve very small tubercles, which, although microscopic, are nevertheless mam- millated and perforated. The intertubercular spaces are covered with small granules which form circles around the tubercles. The pores are disposed obliquely in simple pairs, forming a single rectilineal file on each side of the arese. The interambulacral areas are twice the width of the ambulacral, and ornamented with a double range of primary tubercles, eight in each range. The two inferior tubercles are small, the two or three succeeding ones are very large, whilst those on the upper part of the test suddenly di- minish in size and gradually become dwarfed as they approach the anal disc : they are all crenulated and perforated. The primary tubercles occupying the equator of the test are seated upon large prominent mam miliary eminences, surrounded by deeply grooved elliptical areolae, and encircled by a wreath of small granules. The intertubercular surface on the upper part of the test is studded with very fine granules. The apical rosette, formed of ovarial, ocular, and sur-anal plates, is admirably preserved in the specimens before us ; it is large and of a pentagonal form (fig. 3 d). The two anterior pairs of ovarial plates are nearly of the same size, the posterior pair being notched to form the basal angles of the triangular anal opening \ the sur-anal plate occupying the centre of the rosette is small, single and pentagonal ; the single or madre- poriform plate is rudimentary, to make space for the apex of the Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridie of the Oulitrs. 159 anal opening. By this irrangemenJ it 1- <\i Ostrea acumi- nata, and other Great Oolite shells. Likewise from the Corn- brash near Chippenham, Wilts, where it is very abundant. The specimens from both localities are as perfect as recent Echini. Many of the Cornbrash specimens are attached to Avicula echinata. In Switzerland A, spinosa was collected from marls containing Ostrea acuminata in the Canton of Soleure. It is found in great abundance in France in the Great Oolite of Caen, and has been collected by M. Cotteau from the upper beds of the Bathonian stage in the environs of Chatel-Censoir. History. — This species was figured and described for the first time by M. Agassiz in his ' Echinoderra. Fossiles de la Suisse/ and entered in his 'Catalogue raisonne des Echinides.' It has been figured and described by M. Cotteau from specimens obtained in the department of PYonne. It is catalogued by Mr. M'Coy as a Minchinhampton species from the Great Oolite, and is now described from British specimens for the first time. Genus Goniopyous, Agassiz. Test circular, subconical ; apical disc very solid with an angular circumference, composed of ten plates ; sur-anal plate absent ; mouth large ; tubercles imperforate without crenulations at their base ; pores disposed in simple pairs throughout. 160 Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridse of the Oolites. Goniopygus (?) perforatus, Wright, n. s. PI. VI. fig. 5 a, b. Test spheroidal, depressed; ambulacral arese with two rows of small tubercles ; interambulacral arese with two rows of nearly equal-sized primary tubercles, each surrounded by a circle of granules ; tubercles perforated. Height yyths of an inch, transverse diameter T6(jths of an inch. Description. — The ambulacral arese of this little anomalous Urchin carry small marginal tubercles increasing in size towards the base of the arese, and having a few granules interspersed be- tween them. The interambulacral arese are about twice and a half the width of the ambulacral, and furnished with two rows of tubercles from seven to eight in each row. The tubercles are raised on mammillated eminences which are destitute of crenu- lations ; the summit of the tubercles is slightly perforated, they detach themselves in a well-defined manner from the surface of the test and are very uniform in size, and each mamma is en- circled by a distinct wreath of small granules. There are a few other granules studding the plates besides those forming the boundary circles of the areolse. The apical disc is absent ; the mouth is large and deeply notched. Affinities and differences. — I have placed this Urchin provi- sionally in the genus Goniopygus, as it comes nearer to the cha- racters of that form than any other. Agassiz states in his Cata- logue that the tubercles are imperforate, but this character is not alluded to in his 'Echin. Foss/ The absence of crenulations from the mammse, the nearly uniform size of the tubercles, the distinctness with which they stand out from the test, and a frag- ment of the angular apical disc in situ, seem to justify the sup- position of its being Goniopygus; but the perforations in the tubercles make the exception, and suggest the query whether the absence of perforations is a generic or only a sectional character. The specimens before me, the only three yet found, are so im- perfect, that I write with much reserve regarding them ; they may perhaps prove to be the young tests of Pedina, in which we have observed that the pores change from simple pairs to triple oblique pairs with age, and the crenulations of the mammse can scarcely be seen. Locality. — I collected these Urchins from the Pea- grit of Crickley Hill with Acrosalenia Lycetti and small Bryozoan poly- pifera. The Echinidje* Have a thin test, and are distinguished from the Cidaridse and * The group of Echinida includes twenty-three genera: Astropyga,Gvo.y ; Diadema, Gray ; Hemidiadema, Agass. ; Cyphosoma, Agass. ; Echinocidaris, Dr. T. Wright «i thr ( ularidae of the Oolites. 1 0 1 Sicilians by having numerous nearly equalized tubercles gntl tin ambulacral and interambulacral area3. The pores are differ- ently arranged in the avenues in the different genera ; the apical disc consists of five ovarial and five ocular plates. Genus Diadema, Gray. Test thin, of a circular or pentagonal form, more or less de- pressed, supporting perforated tubercles raised on mammillary eminence! with slightly crenulated summits. The ambulacral area? are wide, straight, and well developed ; each area has two rows of primary tubercles nearly as large as those occupying the interambulacral areae. The pores are set in pairs, uniformly superimposed on each other, with one or two exceptions, where they fall into double files. The interambulacral areae have two rows of primary tubercles, and sometimes ranges of secondary tubercles placed external to them. The mouth is large and decagonal, with shallow marginal notches. The five ovarial plates have an elongated hexagonal form ; the madreporiform is larger than the pairs of plates ; the five ocular plates are small and tri- angular, and are lodged at the summits of the ambulacra between the re-entrant angles formed by the ovarial plates. The spines are long, slender, and subulate, and of a very uniform size throughout. Diadema depressum, Agassiz. PI. V. fig. 2 a, b, c, d. Syn. Diadema depressum, Agassiz and Desor, Catalogue raisonne des Echinides, Ann. des Sciences Nat. 1846 ; Cotteau, Etudes sur Echinides Fossiles, p. 43. t. 2. Test pentagonal, depressed; ambulacral arese convex and promi- nent; interambulacral areae flattened; two rows of nearly equal-sized primary tubercles in both areae; secondary tu- bercles absent or rudimentary ; mouth large and slightly de- cagonal. Height T5(jths of an inch, breadth 1 inch and T\jth. Description. — The ambulacral areae of this Urchin are rather more than one-half the breadth of the interambulacral areae, and have from ten to twelve pairs of well-developed primary tubercles separated by a zigzag line of small granulations. The interam- bulacral areae are nearly of a uniform breadth throughout ; there are about ten pairs of tubercles in each area ; in consequence of Desmoulins ; Echinopsis, Agass. ; Arbacia, Gray ; Eucosmus, Agass. ; Cop- lopleurus, Agass.; Codiopsis, Agass.; Mespilia, Desor ; Microcyphus, Agass.; Salmacis, Agass. ; Temnopleurus, Agass. ; Glypticus, Agass. ; Polycyphus. Agass. ; Amblypneustes, Agass. ; Boletia, Desor ; Tripneustes, Agass. ; Wo- lcpneuiteSj Agass. ; Echinus, Linn.; Pedina, Agass.; Heliociaaris. Dea- moulins. 162 Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridse of the Oolites. these segments of the test being double the width of the ambu- lacral, the tubercles stand more apart. The tubercles of both area? are nearly uniform in size, they have a smooth base with a finely crenulated summit, and are perforated ; there are no secon- dary tubercles, but the intertubercular spaces are covered with small granulations, which are closely set together on the surface of the plates ; three or four of these at the base of the area? are perforated. The mammillary eminences of both arese are sur- rounded by smooth areolae, which are nearly all confluent. The ambulacra! arese become rapidly contracted towards the vertex, whilst the interambulacral area? maintain their breadth, so that the space between the rows of primary tubercles is very uniform in width throughout. The intertubercular spaces, with the ex- ception of the internal border of the four superior interambu- lacral plates, are covered with small close-set granulations of dif- ferent sizes, which form semicircles around the areola?, and zig- zag lines down the centres of the arese. The pores consist of thirty-six pair in each avenue superimposed in a single file ; in the wide space of the avenues around the mouth they form double or triple rows. The mouth is large and decagonal ; the notches are slight, and the borders are reflexed at the angles ; the apical disc is unknown ; the spines are small, subulate, and delicately striated longitudinally (fig. 2d). Affinities and differences. — This Urchin resembles D. cequale, Agass., but differs from it in the absence of secondary tubercles in the interambulacral arese : by its pentagonal form it resembles D. subangulare, but is distinguished from that species in having the pores arranged in a single file, whereas in D. subangulare, from the equator to the apical disc, the pores fall into double files. The tubercles are likewise smaller and more deeply per- forated ; it belongs moreover to a lower zone of the Oolitic group, D. subangulare being a characteristic Urchin of the Coral Rag of Wilts and the " Terrain h chailles n of Switzerland and Ger- many*. Like D. subangulare, D. depressum possesses a pentagonal form, a peculiarity depending on the prominence of the ambu- lacral area?, and common to several species of this genus. Locality and stratigraphical range. — This Urchin is common in the lower ferruginous beds of the Inferior Oolite, the Pea-grit of Crickley, Leckhampton and Dundry Hills; I have collected it from the Great Oolite at Minchinhampton and from the Bradford clay at Tetbury road station; the latter were extremely small. The specimens are in general much crushed; the anal disc is always broken, and the spines are sometimes adherent to the test. It has been collected by M. D'Orbigny in the Inferior oolite of * Goldfuss, Petrefacta Germanise ; and Agassiz, Echinodermes Fossiles de la Suisse. Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridae of the Oolites. 163 Saint Honorine Ranville, where it is abundant. It has been ob- tained by M. Cotteau from the ferruginous oolite, from Tour- du-Pre, near Avallon, Departement de PYonne, which bed lies upon the Calcaire a entroques, the true equivalent of the Dun- dry, Cotteswold and Dorsetshire beds of the Inferior Oolite. I /is/or//. — The D. depressum was first mentioned in the f Cata- logue raisonne des Echinides * by Agassiz and Desor, but was neither figured nor described by them. This however has been done by M. Cotteau in his 'Etudes sur les Echinides Fossiles/ and is now figured and described from the English Oolites for the first time. In both countries it appears to characterize beds belonging to the same geological horizon. Diadema subangulare, Agass. Syn. Cidarites subangularis, Goldfuss, Petref. t. 40. f. 3 ; Roemer, Verstein. t. 1. fig. 20. Diadema subangulare, Agassiz, Echin. Foss. t. 17. fig. 21-25. p. 19. Test subpentagonal, depressed ; interambulacral areae with pri- mary and secondary tubercles ; upper part of the poriferous avenues with a double series of pores. Height ^jths of an inch, transverse diameter 1 inch and T2^ths. Description. — The test of this Urchin has a depressed and pen- tagonal form arising from the prominence and development of the ambulacral arese, which are narrow and contracted above and furnished with ten pairs of primary tubercles. The interambu- lacral areae are nearly twice as wide as the ambulacral, and are adorned with two rows of primary tubercles from ten to eleven in each row, and two rows of secondary tubercles arranged on the sides of the primaries, but irregular both as regards their number and size. Secondary tubercles are absent in the ambu- lacral arese. The tubercles of both areae are proportionally large and raised upon inconsiderable mammillary eminences with de- licately crenulated summits; the mammae are surrounded by ellip- tical areolae, and round two-thirds of their circumference small granules are disposed in circles ; although the tubercles are large and spherical, the perforations are small and of inconsiderable depth. Down the centres of both areae numerous small granula- tions occupy the intertubercular surface of the plates, and similar granular bands descend down the external margins of the interam- bulacral areae ; but the distinctive character of this Urchin resides in the structure of the poriferous avenues, which, instead of forming, as in other Diademata, a single row of pores from the base to the apex, from the equator to the apical disc they form double rows of pores disposed in oblique lines. The mouth is large and decagonal, but the marginal notches 164 Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridae of the Oolites. arc not deep. None of the specimens that we have seen possess the apical disc, but the vacant space left by the absence of the ovarii! and ocular plates proves that this part of the test was well developed. Affinities and differences. — In its pentagonal form it is allied to D. depression, but its secondary tubercles and double file of pores form a good diagnosis between D. subangulare and other species of the same genus. Locality and stratigraphical range. — We know this species only from the Coral Rag of Wilts and Oxford ; in Germany it is found in the same stages at Thurnau andMuggendorf; and in Switzer- land it is obtained from the " Terrain h chailles " of the valley of the Birse, of Blochmont and of Weissenstein. History. — First figured by Goldfuss, afterwards more accu- rately described and figured in detail by M. Agassi z, and now described as a British species for the first time ; the specimens previously catalogued under this name having been D. depressum and not D. subangulare. Diadema pseudo -diadema, Agass. PL V. fig. 1 a, b, c. Syn. Cidarites pseudo-diadema, Lamarck, Syst. Anim. sans Vert. torn. hi. p. 385. Diadema Lamarckii, Desmoulins, Tabl. Synopt. p. 316. No. 18. Diadema pseudo-diadema, Agassiz, Echin. Foss. t. 17. fig- 49-53. Test hemispherical, depressed; interambulacral area? with pri- mary and secondary tubercles ; ambulacral area? with primary tubercles and a few scattered rudimentary ones. Mouth large and decagonal; margin deeply notched; apical disc large ; spines long and needle-shaped. Height I inch and /(jths, transverse diameter 2 inches and xVhs- Description. — This fine species has a hemispherical form, much depressed at the anal pole and flattened at the base. The ambu- lacra! area? are straight and well developed, and furnished with two rows of primary tubercles from 18-20 in each row; between these a zigzag line of small secondary tubercles extends two- thirds up the arese ; the poriferous avenues are not well defined ; the pores are disposed in pairs ; between each pair of holes there are elevated smooth tubercles forming a range of small bead- like bodies which define the limits of the arese ; at the base the pores fall into double and triple files. The interambulacral area? are more than twice the width of the ambulacral, and are furnished with two rows of large pri- mary crenulated and perforated tubercles, and several rows of secondary tubercles likewise crenulated and perforated ; down the Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridae of the Oolites. 165 centre of the arese two rows of secondary tubercles are arranged which separate the principal ranges from each other, and like rows of secondary tubercles separate the principal tubercles from the ambulacral arese. These secondary tubercles are very irregular as to size and arrangement, and are in general best developed at the base and equator of the test ; besides the pri- mary and secondary tubercles, the surface is studded with small granulations. The mouth-opening is large and decagonal, and its margin is divided by deep notches. The lobes which cor- respond to the ambulacral arese are twice as large as those corresponding to the interambulacral arese. The apical disc is broken in the specimen before me. According to Agassiz the oviductal apparatus is generally very apparent. The ovarial plates are large and pentagonal ; their summit forms a pro- minent angle which advances into the interambulacral arese. The madreporiform plate is larger than the pairs of plates, and like them is perforated and finely granulated. The ocular plates are very small and inserted between the angles of the ovarials and dovetailed with the apex of the ambulacra. The anal opening is large and of a circular form. The spines are long, needle- shaped, and finely striated longitudinally. Affinities and differences. — The size of this species, the arrange- ment of the secondary tubercles, and the structure of the pori- ferous avenues form a group of characters by which it is readily distinguished from its congeners. Locality and stratigraphical range. — The specimen before me was obtained from the Coral Rag of Wiltshire or Oxfordshire ; it is found in the Corallian stage of Besancon, canton of Soleure, in Switzerland, and in the Coral Rag of Angoulin, near Rochelle, in France. History. — Figured and accurately described for the first time by M. Agassiz in his 'Echin. Foss./ and now first figured and registered as a British fossil. Genus Pedina, Agassiz. Test thin, circular and depressed; primary tubercles very small, but still perforated and crenulated like those of Diadema. Pons arranged in triple oblique pairs as in the genus Echim/s. Mouth small, slightly decagonal ; margin not much notched. The ovarial disc not prominent ; the surface of the test com- paratively smooth when compared with the other genera of the Kch'mida. The ambulacral arese have two ranges of tubercles, and the interambulacral arese have two ranges of primary, and one or more rows, more or less complete, of secondary tubercles, situated at the external and internal sides of the primaries. This o2 166 Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridse of the Oolites. genus is extinct, and the species are found in the Oolitic and Cretaceous rocks. Pedina rotata, Agassiz. Syn. Pedina rotata, Agassiz, Echin. Foss. de la Suisse, pi. 15. fig. 4-6. p. 36. Test hemispherical, depressed; ambulacral arese with two mar- ginal rows of small tubercles ; interambulacral arese with two ranges of primary tubercles and a few secondary tubercles ; mouth small; margin slightly notched and divided into ten nearly equal-sized lobes. Height T%ths of an inch, transverse diameter 1 inch and T4^ths. Description. — The test of this Urchin is circular; in some specimens a fullness of the ambulacral arese gives it a slightly- subpentagonal outline, and it is depressed at both poles. The ambulacral arese have two rows of small tubercles disposed on the external border of the arese, between which small granules are arranged with less regularity. The interambulacral arese are twice and a half the width of the ambulacral, and furnished with a double range of primary tubercles extending from the mouth to the ovarial plates ; two ranges of secondary tubercles, not very regular however in their arrangement, extend from the mouth to near the middle of the arese. The tubercles of both classes are very small in size, but perforated and crenulated ; on the surface of the test a number of small microscopic granules cluster together, and form circles around the areolse of the small mammillated eminences. The poriferous avenues are narrow, in which the holes are closely set in triple oblique pairs ; in the three specimens before me the apical disc is either absent or con- cealed by the oolitic matrix. The mouth is small and decagonal. The margin is slightly notched, and divided into ten nearly equal- sized lobes ; no reflection of the test is observed at the angles of the notches. The spines are unknown. Affinities and differences. — This species is distinguished from P. sublavis by the rudimentary development of the secondary tubercles in the interambulacral arese, which can only be said to exist at the internal side of the primaries, between the mouth and the equator ; in the rest of the arese they degenerate into granules. The other characters of the Urchin agree so well with Agassiz' s very incomplete description, that we have not hesitated to identify it with the Swiss species. Our specimens are all much worn, and we know nothing of the apical disc. Locality and stratigraphical range. — This Urchin was collected from the upper beds of the Inferior Oolite at Shurdington Hill, along with Discoidea depressa and Clypeus sinuatus. History. — First described and figured by Agassiz in his ' Echi- Dr. T. Wright on the Oidaridtt of the Oolites. 167 nodermes Fossiles.' Mr. M'Coy catalogues this species from the Great Oolite of Minchinhampton, but we know of no specimens from that locality ; all the examples, five in number, examined by us, have been obtained from the upper beds of the Inferior Oolite. Genus Echinus, Linnaeus. Test more or less globular. Ambulacra in general about half the width of the interambulacra ; primary tubercles of nearly the same size in both areas, and forming vertical ranges more or less numerous in the different species, but neither having perforated summits nor crenulations at their base ; the poriferous avenues are well-developed ; the pores are numerous, and disposed in transverse ranges in arched or triple oblique pairs ; the mouth is large, of a circular or pentagonal form, and more or less divided at the margin by notches into ten lobes. The apical disc is composed of four nearly equal-sized ovarial plates, and a single larger madreporiform plate, and between the ovarial the five ocular plates are lodged. The masticatory organs or lantern are formed as in the genus Cidaris ; but the pyramids are exca- vated in their superior part, and the two branches are united by an arch at the summit. The teeth are tricarinated. Echinus perlatus, Desmarest. PI. VI. fig. 1 a, b, c, d. Syn. Echinus perlatus, Desm. Diet. Sc. Nat. t. xxxvii. p. 100. Echinus lineatus, Goldf. Petrefact. Germanise, t. 40. fig. 11. Echinus germinans, Phillips, Geology of Yorkshire, pi. 3. fig. 15. Echinus perlatus, Agassiz, Echin. Foss. dela Suisse, t. 22. fig. 13-15. Echinus diademata, M'Coy, Ann. Nat. Hist. vol. ii. S. 2. p. 410. Echinus multigranularis, Cotteau, Echinides Foss. del'Yonne, p. 61. tab. 7. fig. 6-8. Test hemispherico-conoidal with a pentagonal circumference; ambulacral areas with two ranges of primary tubercles ; inter- ambulacral areas furnished with two complete ranges of primary tubercles and six incomplete ranges of secondary tubercles, and a median depression in the centre of the areas ; apical disc small ; anus eccentrical. Height 1£ inch, transverse diameter 2 inches. Description. — The ambulacral are about one-half the breadth of the interambulacral areas, and are very uniform in width throughout ; they are prominent and convex, giving the cir- cumference of the test of this beautiful Urchin a pentagonal form. The ambulacral columns have two rows of primary tubercles, about thirty in each row, placed on the poriferous borders of the plates, and from four to six tubercles between thfert rows at the base and angle of the test. The interambu- 168 Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridse of the Oolites. lacral arese are slightly convex, and taper very uniformly from the base to the summit. The lower half of the arese is occupied by eight rows of primary tubercles, four in each column; at the base and for a short distance up the sides of the test, these tubercles are of a uniform size, but beyond this two rows only maintain their development, and numbering twenty-four pairs of primary tubercles in each area ; the two external rows and the single internal row of tubercles are arrested in their develop- ment, and therefore become of a secondary size. The tubercles of both area? are surrounded by a smooth areola encircled by a groove, on the external margin of which a wreath of small granules is disposed, reminding us of the granular zone surrounding the primary tubercles in the genus Cidaris. The inter tubercular spaces of the arese are filled up with small granules. The inter- ambulacral arese are separated along the median line by a some- what depressed furrow, which is most conspicuous between the equator and the anal pole. This furrow arises from the con- vexity of the new-formed plates, and becomes less evident when the plates attain a greater width; this depression is likewise destitute of granulations, and affords a good specific character for this Urchin. The poriferous avenues are of uniform width on the sides of the test ; they become slightly contracted at the basal angle, and expand from that point to the margin of the mouth-opening. The avenues have three pairs of holes disposed obliquely throughout, but increased to four or five pairs to fill up the increased spaces of the avenues in the vicinity of the mouth. The ovarial and ocular plates are in general preserved. The anal opening is always eccentrical, which gives the summit of the test an irregular form ; the opening is placed forward, so that the madreporiform plate occupies nearly the centre of the anal polar axis. The pairs of ovarial and ocular plates are small and imperfectly developed. The base is concave, and in this region all the primary tubercles of the interambulacral arese attain their full development. The mouth-opening is large and decagonal, occupying nearly one- half the diameter of the base; the circumference is deeply notched with ten indentations which extend into the interambu- lacral arese, and have their borders reflexed. The spines are small, delicate, and subulate, but are very seldom found in connection with the test. Affinities and differences. — We have, through the courtesy of Mr. S. P. Woodward, compared our Urchins with the typical specimens of E. perlatus in the Brit. Mus., and through the kindness of Professor Forbes with a specimen of E. germinans, sent by Mr. Phillips from Yorkshire ; from this examination it is certain that the Gloucestershire and Yorkshire Echini are Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridas of the Oolites. 169 the same species, and that the difference between them and the foreign E. perlatus from the evidence afforded by the test alone amounts at most to a more granular variety. We may consider therefore E. perlatus, var. germinans, as characteristic of the inferior stages, and E. perlatus of the upper stages of the Oolitic group. E. diademata of M'Coy agrees so nearly with our speci- mens of the young of this species that we think thein the same. Stratig rii pineal range and localities. — This Urchin is found in good preservation in the inferior ferruginous beds of the Pea- grit at Lcckhampton, Cleeve, and Crickley Hills. Our best spec -miens were obtained from the latter locality; it is found in the shelly freestone of the above hills, and in the Inferior Oolite of Stroud, Nailsworth, Minchinhampton and Dundry ; its convex prominent ambulacral columns, and the median furrow down the centre of the interambulacral areas, serving to determine the species even when its other characters are effaced. On the con- tinent E. perlatus is considered a characteristic Urchin of the " Terrain h chailles," and was long ago described by Desmarest. The specimens from the Inferior Oolite are more granular than those obtained from the upper stages of the Oolitic series, but in other respects the specific characters are identical. History. — Echinus perlatus, figured and described by Des- marest and Goldfuss, has been long known to characterize the upper Oolitic beds of the continent. We have no doubt that Mr. Phillips's E. germinans is at most only a variety of this species found in the Inferior Oolites of England. Mr. M 'Coy's description of E. dimidiata corresponds so closely with young specimens of this species, a series of which now lies before us, that we cannot doubt their identity. Echinus serialis, Agass. PI. VI. fig. 2 a, b, c, d. Syn. Echinus serialis, Agassiz, Echin. Foss. de la Suisse, t. 22. fig. 10-12. Test hemispherical, depressed, circumference slightly pentagonal; ambulacral areas with two rows of marginal tubercles ; inter- ambulacral areas with two ranges of tubercles in the centre of the columns ; base concave, mouth moderate-sized, decagonal, and slightly notched ; apical disc small ; anus slightly ec- centrical. Height 1 inch, transverse diameter 1 inch and T7^ths. Description. — This Echinus resembles a Diadema in having two ranges of tubercles very nearly the same size on both areas ; the ambulacral are rather more than one-third the width of the inter- ambulacral area?, and are furnished with two rows of small tubercles, each alternate plate supporting a tubercle on its pori- ferous margin ; the interambulacral areas are wide, and have in 170 Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridse of the Oolites. like manner two ranges of small tubercles, about twenty in each range, occupying the centre of the plates ; the tubercles are raised on inconsiderable mammillary eminences surrounded by smooth areola?, and encircled by a zone of small granules ; the intertu- bercular spaces of both area? are covered with similar small granula- tions; there are a few irregular secondary tubercles about the base, but none on the sides of the interambulacral or ambulacral arese; the poriferous avenues are narrow, and occupied by numerous close- set pores arranged in triple oblique pairs ; the basal angle is ob- tuse, and the base concave ; in this region the tubercles are largest, and a few additional ones are introduced at each side of the cen- tral range; the mouth-opening is moderate, being y^ths of an inch in diameter ; it is nearly of a circular form, the marginal notches being of inconsiderable depth ; the ovarial and ocular plates are small and preserved ; in some of the smaller specimens the madre- poriform plate is larger than the pairs of ovarials ; the anus is situated before the single plate, and to the right side, and is therefore slightly eccentrical. The spines are unknown. Affinities and differences. — The comparative smoothness of the test, and the absence of secondary tubercles, with the smallness of the marginal notches in the mouth-opening, form diagnostic characters by which we distinguish E. serialis from E. perlatus ; the median depression between the two columns of interambulacra is likewise absent in this species. Locality and stratigraphical range. — This species has been col- lected from the Inferior Oolite at Shurdington and Dundry Hills ; the specimen from the latter locality is the one which has served for our description, the parts of the test which are broken being fortunately present in the smaller Urchin from the former loca- lity ; the Swiss specimens were found in the " Terrain h chailles " at Fringeli (Canton of Soleure), where it is very rare. History. — First found by M. Gressly and figured and described by M. Agassiz in his ' Echin. Fossiles J ; we are not aware of its having been noticed before as a British species. Echinus granulans (Wright), n. s. Test depressed, pentagonal ; ambulacral arese with two rows of tubercles ; interambulacra with eight rows of tubercles, at the base and lower third of the arese diminishing in size and num- ber from six to four rows towards the apex ; mouth large with marginal indentations ; anus central ; ovarial and ocular plates small. Height T7Gths of an inch, transverse diameter \\ inch. Description. — This Urchin is distinguished from the foregoing species by its depressed poles and pentagonal form, arising from Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridae of the Oolites. 171 the prominence of t he* ambulacra] areae, which are not quite one- halt* the width of the interambulacral, and have two rows of tubercles throughout, and an additional row of from six to eight arranged between the maPginal rows at the widest part of the arese near the basal angle ; the interambulacral areae arc wide and covered with tubercles j at the basal angle and lower third of the area) we observe eight rows of tubercles, but at the upper part of the sides and near the apex there are only six rows : the specimen before us being much defaced about the apices of the area-, this part of the test cannot be accurately described. The poriferous avenues are occupied with close-set pairs of pores ar- ranged iu triple oblique rows; the basal angle is obtuse, and the base is flat ; the mouth is large and indented at the circumfe- rence ; the ovarial and ocular plates are small, and the anus is central. Affinities and differences. — The depressed test, pentagonal form, central anus and granular surface serve to distinguish this species from E. perlatus, which it much resembles. The same characters form a clear diagnosis between it and E. seria lis, the number and smallness of the tubercles giving the upper surface of the test a rugous or granular appearance. Locality and stratigraphical range. — This Urchin was obtained from the upper ragstone of Leckhampton Hill (Inferior Oolite), where it is rare ; we have only seen three specimens of the species. Genus Arbacfa, Gray. Small Urchins of a subspherical form, having the test covered with numerous small smooth-based imperforate tubercles, forming numerous rows on the ambulacral and interambulacral arese; the pores arranged in rather deep avenues in single pairs ; base con- cave; mouth large, margin with ten inconsiderable notches; apical disc narrow, prominent, and ring-shaped. Arbacia Forbesii, Wright, n. s. PI. VI. fig. 4 a, b, c. Test hemispherical ; ambulacral area? narrow, with four rows of small tubercles ; interambulacral arese wide, divided by deep median depressed lines, and covered with from twenty to thirty rows of small nearly equal-sized tubercles. Height jr^ths of an inch, transverse diameter j£ths of an inch. Description. — The test of this beautiful little Urchin is divided into tilt ecu unequal lobes; five of these are narrow and form the ambulacral, and ten are wider, forming the divided interambulacral ana\ which present an unusual appearance, having a median furrow descending down the centre of the arese and dividing them into two equal convex eonival lobes; the surface of the art* is 172 Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridse of the Oolites. thickly studded with small smooth tubercles ; at the widest part there are from twenty-five to thirty rows ; the number of these diminish at the apex and base, the basal tubercles are however larger than the others ; the ambulacral areas are narrow and of a nearly uniform width ; they are furnished with four rows of small tubercles similar to those occupying the interambulacral areas ; they are in fact so closely set together that the plates are invi- sible, so that the test presents only a uniform granulated surface ; the avenues are straight, narrow, but well defined ; the pores are closely arranged in simple pairs ; the base is concave and the tubercles in this region are larger ; the mouth presents almost a pentagonal form in consequence of the wide straight arch made by the margin over the ambulacra and the small angles which the shallow notches make in the interambulacra; the apical disc is narrow and prominent ; the madreporiform is larger than the pairs of ovarial plates, and the oculars are small, but apparently soldered into the angles formed by the ovarials. Affinities and differences. — The greater number and the dimi- nished size of the tubercles, with the deep median furrow down the centre of the interambulacral areas, serve to distinguish A. Forbesii from A. nodulosa : as they are the only two forms of this genus hitherto found in our Oolites, these characters form a good diagnosis. Locality and stratigraphical range. — This Arbacian was collected from the upper beds of the Inferior Oolite near Dundry, and we only know it from that locality. I have dedicated this species to Prof. Edward Forbes, to whose genius, talents, and learning natural history is so largely indebted. Arbacia nodulosa, Wright. PL VI. fig. 3 a, b. Syn. Echinus nodulosus, Goldfuss, Petr. Germanise, t. 40. fig. 16. p. 125. Test hemispherical, with a subpentagonal circumference; ambu- lacral areas prominent and bounded by deep poriferous avenues ; interambulacral arese divided by a slight median depression ; tubercles nearly equal-sized in both areas, and arranged in lon- gitudinal rows. Height /(jths of an inch, transverse diameter |^ths of an inch. Description. — This nodulated Urchin is hemispherical and has a subpentagonal form from the development of the ambulacral areas, which are very prominent, especially at the basal angle ; they are furnished with three rows of smooth prominent spherical tubercles set at short distances apart, the central row being absent at the bast- and apex of the area? ; the interambulacral areas are twice the width of the ambulacral, and are occupied at their widest parts Dr. T. Wright on the Cidarida? of the Oolites. 173 with about ten rows of tubercles, about the same size as those of the ambolacralj and like them set distinct from each other, which gives the surface of the test a nodulated air ; a slight furrow passes down the centre of the interambulacral arese, dividing them into two parts ; the rows of tubercles diminish in number at the apex and base of the area-, they are larger and more fully developed, however, in the latter region; the apical disc is small, ring- formed, and prominent; the poriferous avenues are deep and strongly defined, the pores are arranged in simple pairs above, but they form double ranges which fill up the wide space at the basis of the area? ; the base is concave, the mouth is large and pei it agonal like the former species, the notches are closely ap- proximated at the bases of the interambulacra, and the marginal arch over the ambulacra is straight and wide ; the tubercles dis- posed at the bases of both area? are larger and more fully developed than those occupying the sides. Affinities and differences. — The size of the tubercles and their diminished numbers when compared with A. Forbesii serve as a sufficient diagnosis whereby A. nodulosa may be distinguished from the former Urchin; the slight median furrow down the centre of the interambulacral arese is very different from the deep line se- parating the area? in A. Forbesii into two equal nearly conical lobes. Locality and stratigraphical range. — This species was collected by my friend the Rev. P. B. Brodie from the bed of clay resting on the Stonesfield slate at Sevenhampton Common, along with Acrosalenia spinosa and Pecten varians ; this bed occupies the same relative position in other parts of Gloucestershire, and is probably the basal clay band on which the shelly freestone beds of the Great Oolite rest. I only know the solitary specimen before me; in Germany, Count Minister found it in the Jurakalk of Haireuth. History. — First figured and described as an Echinus by Gold- fuss. I am not aware of its having been noticed before as a British fossil. My thanks are especially due to Mr. W. H. Baily for the pains he has taken with the beautiful figures which accompany this paper, the original specimens of which are in my cabinet. 174 On the Cassidulidse of the Oolites, with descriptions of some new species of that family. By Thomas Wright, M.D. &c. Read 16th September 1851. Since the publication of my paper* on the "Cidaridse of the Oolites," I have collected two Acrosalenice which are quite new, and an Echinus of the same species as one occurring in the Corallian stage of Besancon, but very rare as a British fossil. I now purpose describing these Cidaridse as a supplement to that paper, before entering upon the study of the Cassidulidse, which forms the subject of the present communication. Acrosalenia decorataf, Haime. Test hemispherical, depressed, outline subpentagonal ; ainbu- lacral areas convex and prominent, the anterior and posterior pair slightly sinuous, having two rows of small perforated marginal tubercles, and the intermediate surface covered with close-set granulations ; interambulacral arese with two ranges of primary tubercles from 10-12 in a range, the four central pairs being alone fully developed ; apical disc large, sur-anal plate central, anus behind encroaching on the single ovarial plate, which is rudimentary and projects far into the single area ; base very concave ; mouth large, in a deep depression ; * Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. 2nd Series, vol. viii. p. 421. t I had given this Acrosalenia another specific name, but just as my MS. was about to be sent to press, I learned that it had been described by M. Jules Haime, under the name Milnia decorata, either in the * An- nales des Sciences Nat./ or in the ' Bulletin de la Soc. Geologique de France,' to neither of which works I can at present refer. I learn further that Professor Forbes has had it drawn and engraved with all the details, and will describe it in the forthcoming decade of his ' Memoirs of the Geological Survey,' under the name A. decorata. I have therefore with- drawn my name and the figure I had intended to give, as the multipli- cation of specific names is at all times to be deplored, but more especially so in our day, when a mania for the creation of species is so rife ; I have therefore much pleasure in referring to the forthcoming decade of the 'Memoirs' fat elaborate figures of the anatomy of the test of this beautiful species. Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridse of the Oolites. 175 primary spines long, smooth, slender and tapering ; secondary spines small, hair-like, numerous. Height T%ths of an inch, transverse diameter y^ths of an inch. Description. — This elegant little Urchin is remarkable among its congeners for the pentagonal outline of its test, arising from the flatness of the interambulacral and the prominence and con- vexity of the ambulacral area?, and for exhibiting the bilateral symmetry of the Cidaridse in a very interesting manner. The ambulacral arese are about one-third the width of the interam- bulacral, the single ambulacrum is quite straight, and the ante- rior and posterior pairs are slightly sinuous ; the apices of the anterior pair curve gently backwards, and those of the posterior pair upwards and inwards ; two rows of small perforated tubercles alternately occupy the margins of the area, each row containing from 20-24 tubercles, which gradually diminish in size from the basal angle to the apex, the central and intermediate spaces being covered with small close-set granules ; the pores are dis- posed in single pairs throughout the avenues. The interambulacral arese are three times as wide as the ambu- lacral, and are so much flattened that they form nearly straight lines at the circumference; the interambulacra are occupied by two ranges of primary tubercles, about eleven tubercles in each row, which are unequally developed in different regions of the area ; the four ventral pairs are small and nearly of the same size ; the four central pairs are fully developed, though not all of the same volume, whilst the three dorsal pairs are quite rudimentary ; the areolae of the central tubercles are transversely oblong and ver- tically confluent ; a zigzag granular band, of four granules deep, occupies the centre of the area, separating the two ranges of tubercles from each other, and little granular bands separate the tubercles from the poriferous avenues ; at the basal angle several secondary tubercles are interspersed among the granulations where the tubercles become rudimentary ; at the dorsal surface the test is covered with small close-set granulations. The apical disc is large and oblong;, it is formed of two anterior and two posterior pair of well-developed ovarial plates, and a single rudi- mentary ovarial, which extends far down the single interambu- lacral area, and is much encroached upon by the anal opening, which is in fact formed at the expense of the single ovarial plate. The sur-anal plate is large and composed of several pieces, of which the largest is central ; two others are posterior to it, and four or five smaller pieces form an arch at the anterior border of the anal opening which occupies nearly the whole of the single ovarial plate ; the ocular plates are small and heart-shaped, and articulate with the apices of the ambulacra ; the surface of the 176 Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridae of the Oolites. dismal plates is covered with the same delicate granular sculpture which adorns the intertubercular parts of the test. The ventral surface is very concave; the mouth-opening is large, about half the diameter of the test, situated in a considerable concavity formed by the ambulacral and interambulacral arese curving up- wards and inwards towards the interior of the test ; the margin is decagonal, with nearly equal-sized lobes ; the teeth are cari- nated ; the primary spines are cylindrical and tapering, and rather exceed in length the diameter of the test ; their surface is sculp- tured with longitudinal microscopic lines ; the secondary spines are small, delicate, hair-like appendages. Affinities and differences. — A. decor ata belongs to the group of Salenians having the anal opening situated behind the apical disc; it consequently has affinities with A. spinosa and A. Wil- tonii} which it further resembles in the rudimentary condition of the single ovarial plate, and in the general structure of the am- bulacral and interambulacral arese ; it is distinguished however from A. spinosa by having a more pentagonal outline, a more rudimentary condition of the dorsal tubercles, a more oblong and irregular-shaped apical disc, with the single ovarial plate project- ing further than the others into its corresponding interambu- lacrum, and the sur-anal plate being formed of many elements instead of one, as in A. spinosa. The ventral surface is likewise more concave, the mouth-opening is proportionally larger and lodged in a deeper concavity, and the marginal lobes are more equal-sized than in A. spinosa. The same group of diagnostic characters will serve to distinguish A. decor ata from its other congeners. Locality and stratigraphical range. — This beautiful Acrosalenia was collected in the yellow clays of the Coralline Oolite of Wilts, and I have seen it in the ragstones of the same stage. The test is well preserved in the individual which served for our description, but the apical disc is unfortunately absent. Our description of the disc is given from another specimen. Acrosalenia TViltonii, Wright, n. sp. PL VII. fig. 4«-e. Test hemispherical, sometimes depressed, sides tumid ; ambu- lacral area? narrow, with two rows of small marginal perforated tubercles ; interambulacral arese about three times the width of the ambulacral, with two ranges of primary tubercles, of which the three middle pairs only attain full development; those at the base are small, and those at the dorsal surface are rudimentary ; apical disc convex and prominent ; sur-anal plate formed of two large and five small pieces ; anal opening be- Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridae of the Oolites. 177 hind, excavated out of the single ovarial plate, which is rudi- mentary, the anterior and posterior pairs of ovarial plates well developed. Basal angle obtuse, from the tumidity of the sides ; mouth-opening small, decagonal, with nearly equal-sized mar- ginal lobes. Height ^ths of an inch, transverse diameter ^4ths. Description. - This Urchin is almost always orbicular in the circumference, but the dorsal surface is more or less elevated in different individuals; in general it is hemispherical and de- pressed at the anal pole ; the sides are tumid and gently rounded towards the mouth. The ambulacral areae preserve a very uniform width through nearly all their extent. Two rows of about sixteen small perforated tubercles are arranged in alternate order on the margins of the areae, the eight inferior pairs being larger, and the eight superior pairs gradually de- creasing in size until they become quite microscopic near the apex ; between the marginal tubercles a double row of granules, having a sinuous disposition, occupies the centre of the area?. The poriferous avenues are gently undulated ; on the sides the pores are placed in pairs, but at the base, from their increased numbers, they fall into triple oblique pairs. The interambu- lacral area? are three times the width of the ambulacral, and fur- nished with two ranges of primary tubercles from 9-10 in a range ; the three basal pair are small, gradually increasing how- ever in size from the mouth-margin, where they are very small, to blend in with the three middle pairs, which attain their full development. The seventh pair are smaller than the sixth, and the eighth and ninth pairs become suddenly small and even ru- dimentary. The space between the tubercles is of moderate width, and is occupied by a zigzag band formed of four rows of granules, those which are arranged on the borders of the areolae are larger and are likewise perforated ; the primary tubercular ranges are separated from the poriferous avenues by a single row of small perforated granules, which form a succession of arches over the ambulacral border of the areolae. The upper surface of the test is covered with small close-set granulations, among which the rudimentary tubercles stand conspicuous. The apical disc is rather prominent and convex, and is fortunately preserved in an otherwise imperfect specimen (PI. VII. fig. 4 d) : but for this circumstance, we should have been in the dark touching the natural relations of the species ; it is formed of an anterior and a posterior pair of moderately- sized ovarial plates, and a rudi- mentary single ovarial plate. The sur-anal plate is very curious, and is composed of two unequal-sized pentagonal pieces united 178 Dr. T. Wright on the Cidaridee of the Oolites. with the anterior and posterior ovarials, and six small pieces farming an arch which spans from the right to the left posterior pair of ovarials, and forms the anterior border of the aims; the posterior pair of ocular plates forms the lateral, and the single rudimentary ovarial plate the posterior boundary of the anal opening, which is transversely oblong, slightly excentral, and consequently placed behind the compound sur- anal plate. The ocular plates are heart-shaped and of a mo- derate size, and their eyeholes are very minute. The surface of the discal plates is covered with small granulations. The tumid sides are gently rounded towards the base. The mouth-opening is small, being rather more than one-third the diameter of the test ; its margin is decagonal, with nearly equal-sized lobes, those of the ambulacra being the widest. The fragment of a primary spine before me is cylindrical and smooth, and judging from its thickness must have been long. The secondary spines are short, prickle-shaped, and sculptured with fine longitudinal lines (4 e) . Affinities and differences. — The preservation of the apical disc proves that the natural affinity of this species is with A. spinosa and A. decor ata, whilst in the general form and structure of the test, A. Wiltonii most resembles A. hemicidaroides ; but it differs from that species in having the anal opening behind the sur-anal plate, whereas in A. hemicidaroides it is situated before it. Locality and stratigraphical range. — This Acrosalenia was col- lected from the Cornbrash near Sutton Benger, Wilts ; it appears to be rare. I dedicate this species to my friend John Wilton, Esq., of Gloucester. Echinus gyratus, Agassiz. Syn. Echinus gyratus, Echin. Foss. de la Suisse, part 2. p. 87. tab. 23. fig. 43-46. Echinus petallatus, M'Coy, Annals Nat. Hist. vol. ii. p. 409, 2nd Series. Test hemispherical, more or less elevated, with an orbicular cir- cumference, divided into fifteen slightly convex lobes ; ambu- lacral arese half the width of the interambulacral, with two complete rows of marginal tubercles extending from the mouth to the apical disc, and two incomplete rows of central tubercles occupying about two-thirds of the sides thereof ; in- terambulacral arese with a smooth concave median space ex- tending from the disc to near the basal angle ; each of the two lobes formed thereby has one complete central range of tubercles, and two lateral incomplete ranges of tubercles ; at the circumference of the test there are twelve rows of tuber- Dr. T. W : he Cidaridae of the Oolite*. 1 79 cles ; apical disc well developed; anal opening central; base flat j mouth-opening large, almost pentagonal from the length of the arches over the ambulacra; spines unknown. Height }$ths of an inch, transverse diameter 1 inch and ^ths. • Description* — The distinguishing characters of this beautiful Urchin are so prominent, that it forms a well-marked species of a genus, in which in genera] specific distinctions are far from being clearly defined. The test is hemispherical and elevated at the vertex, and is very regularly formed; its surface is divided into fifteen nearly equal-sized lobes grouped into five divisions of three lobes each, of which the ambulacrum forms the centre lobe, and the half of the adjoining interambulacra the lateral lobes. The distinctive character of the test consists in the median con- cave depression in the centre of the interambulacra which ex- tends from near the circumference to the apex, and is entirely destitute of tubercles and granules ; near the circumference however small tubercles occupy the space, and at this point we observe twelve tubercles in a row in the interambulacra. Each area is thus divided into two convex lobes ; in each lobe one com- plete range of tubercles extends from the mouth to the vertex, and two incomplete rows occupy each side thereof ; at the widest part of the area only a few additional tubercles are introduced. The ambulacra are about one half the width of the interambu- lacra, and are furnished with two complete rows of marginal tubercles, and two incomplete rows which occupy the central parts of the sides; around the circumference of the tubercles, forming the complete ranges, a series of small granules are dis- posed in circles, and similar moniliform granular rings sur- round the larger tubercles of the incomplete rows. The t liber- ties of both areas are large and prominent, and their surfaces an; highly polished; those of the base are larger than those of the sides ; and, as a general remark, it may be stated that the test is uniformly very granular. The pores are disposed in rather wide avenues in triple ob- lique pairs, among which, some of the small granules en- circling the marginal tubercles of the ambulacra are scattered. The apical disc is large and central; the anterior pair of ovarial plates are the smallest, the posterior pair are larger, and the tingle madreporiform plate is the largest of the disc; the ocular plates are small aud pentagonal, and stand distinctly out from .the angles of the ovanals; the eyeholes are small and central ; ithe anal opening is large and transversely oblong; the surface t':i dental apparatus was discovered by Mr, ('has. Stokes in Ualerites alboi/a'rriK. | of this cretaceous I rchin. With the lantern ami teeth, are in the cabin >tokesand Bowerbank; [t is probable that all the members of the Qaleritc group with a central decagonal mouth- opening possessed a similar dental armature. i "J 182 Dr. T. Wright on the Cassidulidie of the Oolites. ovarial; the madreporiform body is generally situated in the centre, around which the ovarials arc arranged ; the five ocular plates are small, and lodged at the apices of the ambulacra. From the structure of the ambulacra we divide the Cassidulida? into two groups. 1st Group of Echinoneides*. Ambulacra simple, uniform throughout ; mouth circular, deca- gonal or pentagonal, without prominent lobes. Genus Pygaster, Agassiz. Test subpentagonal, more or less depressed ; surface of the plates covered with small perforated tubercles, raised on mammil- lated and crenulated eminences, disposed in regular vertical rows, and surrounded by areolae with encircling granules ; the tubercles attain their greatest development at the circumference and base of the test ; ambulacral arese with four or six rows of tubercles ; interambulacral area? with from 12-20 rows ; mouth- opening central and circular, margin divided into ten equal lobes, the notches of which correspond to the sutural junction of the ambulacra with the interambulacra ; anal opening very large, occupying the upper half of the single interambulacral area ; pores arranged in simple pairs throughout the avenues ; apical disc unknown. This genus is extinct ; the species are distributed throughout the Oolitic and Cretaceous rocks. Pygaster semisulcatus ? Phillips. Syn. Galerites umbrella ?, Lam. Anim. sans Vert. t. iii. p. 25. Nucleolites umbrella, Defrance, Diet. Sc. Nat. t. xviii. p. 87. Clypeus semisulcatus, Phillips, Geol. of York, part 1. pi. 3. fig. 17. Clypeus ornatus, Buck. Murchison's Geol. of Cheltenham, 2nd ed. p. 95. Test subpentagonal, depressed; interambulacra with from 16-18 rows of tubercles at the circumference ; ambulacra prominent and convex, with four rows of tubercles ; anus very large, oc- cupying nearly the upper half of the single interambulacrum ; mouth deeply notched ; spines short, subulate, and longitudi- nally striated. Height 1 inch and T5^ths, antero-posterior diameter 3 inches, transverse diameter 3 inches. Description. — The imperfect condition of the test of Pygaster * The group of Echinoneides comprehends eleven genera : Echinoneus, Van Phels; Pygaster, Agass. ; Holectypus, Desor ; Discoidea, Gray ; Gale- rites, Lam. ; Pyrina, Desml. ; Globator, Agass. ; Caratomus, Agass. ; Nu- clenpyguSy Agass. ; Hyboclypus, Agass. ; Dysaster, Agass. Dr.T. Wright on the Caaaidulicbe of Hie Oolites. 183 umbrella figured by Agassiz, does not enable us satisfactorily to compare that Urchin with our specimen, and leaves a doubt upon oar mind whether the Urchin known to Lamarck was identical with this species. We have examples corresponding in form, size, and comparative dimensions with Agassiz's figure, but the absence of the sculpture of the plates in the Swiss specimen leaves the question in doubt : through the kindness of Professor Forbes we have compared our Urchins with the one sent by Mr. Phillips from Yorkshire, and have proved their identity; but having had no opportunity of examining typical foreign speci- mens, we have provisionally adopted Mr. Phillips's specific name. The ambulacra arc one-fourth part the width of the interambu- Uera ; they are prominent and convex, and furnished with four rows of tubercles, the marginal rows extending from the mouth to the apical disc, whilst the internal rows disappear near the mouth and about half-way up the dorsal surface ; the interam- bulacra at the circumference have from 18-20 rows of tubercles; the number however gradually diminishes between the basal angle and the mouth, and the circumference and the apical disc, so that from two to four rows only extend from the mouth to the vertex. The mammillated eminences on which the tubercles are placed are encircled by smooth areolae, surrounded by small gra- nules arranged round their circumference, which gives the in- tertubercular surface of the plates a granular structure. The tubercles are small, prominent and perforated, and the summits of the mammse are crenulated as in the Cidaridse. These cha- racters added to others, as the regularity of the arrangement of the tubercles, and the dorsal position of the anal opening, lead us to consider Pygaster as a transition form connecting the Cidaridse with the Cassidulidse. The base is concave, and the mouth is central and situated in a considerable depression; the opening is about one-fifth the diameter of the test at the circum- ference ; its margin is divided into ten nearly equal-sized lobes, the angles of which correspond to the divisional sutural lines be- t\\ een the ambulacra and the interambulacra. The anus is a large oval opening in the upper half of the single interambulacrum, forming a great gap in this part of the test, and constituting one of the most important characters of the genus. In the living animal this space was probably occupied by a membrane, but in the fossil condition it has the appearance of the test having been factored and lost. The apical disc is absent in all the specimens of Pyejatter that have passed through our hands. The pores are set closely together in pairs throughout the entire range of the avenues ; sometimes they have a slightly oblique disposition. The spines adhering lothe fine specimen before me are short, needle- shaped, and delicately striated Longitudinally, 181 Dr. T. Wright on the CassidulitUe of the Oolites. Affinities and differences. — P. semisulcatus most nearly resem- bles P. umbrella ; we have before us specimens which are well represented by Agassix'a figure ; but the loss of the tubercles from fcbe Swiss specimen leaves the question of their identity an open one, as we regard the Special form of sculpture of the test a most important specific character. P. semtsukatus differs from P. Morrim in having narrower ambulacra and fewer tubercles on both ares; the size and number of the tubercles and the depression of the test afford distinguishing characters between it and P. conoideus. Locality and straligraphical range. — This Urchin is abundant in the lower ferruginous beds, "the Pea-grit" of the Inferior Oolite at Crickley, Birdlip, and Leckhampton Hills, and in the shelly freestone of the same localities, and I have collected small specimens from the planking beds of the Great Oolite at Min- chinhampton ; in Yorkshire it was collected by Mr. Phillips * from the Coralline Oolite of Malton and Scarborough. In the Pea-grit it is associated with Diadema depressum, Hyboclypus agariciformis, Rhynconella Wrightii, Thecidea triangularis, Tere- bratula simplex, and Ter. plicata. History. — This species was figured by Mr. Phillips, but not described, in his * Geology of Yorkshire/ The absence of typical foreign specimens does not enable us to decide whether the Ga- lerites umbrella of Lamarck is identical with Mr. Phillips's spe- cies. The fine and nearly perfect specimen before me has been figured by Professor Forbes for the 4th Decade of his admirable ' Illustrations of British Fossils ;' for this reason we have not given a drawing of the species. Pygaster conoideus, Wright, n. sp. PI. VII. fig. 1 a-d. Test conoidal, with a pentagonal circumference ; ambulacra nar- row and prominent, with two rows of marginal tubercles and two imperfect rows of central tubercles; interambulacra four times the width of the ambulacra, with very small tubercles and a scanty granulation on the surface of the plates ; anal opening comparatively small, occupying the upper third of the single interambulacrum ; base flat. Height 1 inch and f^ths, antero-posterior diameter 2 inches and ,/^ths, transverse diameter 2 inches and T^ths. Description. — This Urchin is remarkable for its conoidal form, the anterior and lateral walls of the test forming angles of from 50° to 55° with the base, and the posterior wall an angle of about 42° (fig. 1 h). The ambulacra arc narrow and prominent, having * (ifol. of Yorkshire. Part 1. p. 1 J 7 Dr. T. Wright on the Cassidulidas of the Oolites. 185 two complete rows of tubercle* arranged on the sides ofthearese ! e)s ami two incomplete rows of tubercles internal to them, w hu-ii are neither so regular in their arrangement as the marginal . nor do they extend beyond the lower half of the area:; the single ambulacrum is perpendicular; the anterior pair arch gently upwards and backwards, whilst the posterior pair rise forward upwards for three parts of their course, and then make a short curve round the anal opening, and terminate at the lateral border thereof. The pairs of pores are disposed very closely together in well-defined narrow avenues, which form distinct boundaries between the ambulacra and the interambulacra; attheba>al angle the interambulacral are four times the width of the ambulacral arescj the plates (fig. 1 d) are adorned with rather irregular rows of very small tubercles varying in number from four to sixteen in a in different parts of the area; the smooth areola? around the tubercles arc very superficial ; their circumference is encircled by rows of microscopic granules : besides these granular circles, there is scarcely any other sculpture on the plates, which gives a great smoothness to the test of P. conuideus when compared with that of P. semisulcatus. The anal opening (fig. 1 a) when compared with that of the latter is proportionally small, occupying rather more than the upper third of the single interambulacrum; the porticn of the area below the vent is flattened and slightly concave. The base is covered with the oolitic matrix, which here forms a hard cry- stalline rock, and cannot be removed without fracturing the test; enough is exposed however to show that the base is slightly concave, and that the tubercles are much better developed in this region than on the dorsal surface. The apical disc is absent, and we know nothing of the spines. Affinities and differences. — This Urchin resembles P. semisul- catus in its pentagonal form and in the number of the tubercle- on the area); but is distinguished from that common species by the greater prominence of the ambulacra, the smallness of the tuber- cles, the superficiality of the areola?, the microscopic character of the granulations, the elevated conoidal form of the test, and the smallness of the anal opening; it is a rare species, the specimen which we figure being the only one we have ever met with in our researches ; a second specimen is in the cabinet of our friend John Lycett, !' Locality and stratigraphical range. — I found this Urchin in the Pea-grit of Crickley Hill. Mr. Lycett's specimen came from the Inferior Oolite near Stroud. Pygaster Morrisii, Wright, n. sp. PI. VIII. fig. 1 a-d. much depressed and pentagonal, basal angk tumid; ambu- lacra wide, prominent and convex, with six rows of tubercles; 186 Dr. T. Wright on the Cassidulidse of the Oolites. interambulacra with from 20 to 22 rows of tubercles at the circumference ; base flat, depressed towards the eentre; the single interambulacnun truncated posteriorly ; ami! opening large, occupying three-fourths of its upper surface. Height Tnaths of an inch, antero-posterior diameter 2 inches and /(jths, transverse diameter 2 inches and Aths. Description. — The ambulacral area? of this Urchin are wide, convex, and prominent, and form an exception to Agassiz's generalization, that in the genus Pygaster the ambulacra are furnished witli only four rows of tubercles, for in this species there are six well-developed rows at the circumference of the test (fig. 1 c) ; the two marginal rows extend from the mouth to the vertex, the two middle rows commence at a short distance from the mouth and terminate at a short distance from the vertex, and the two internal rows commence about four lines above and extend about the same distance beyond the basal angle. The interam- bulacral area? are three times the width of the ambulacral, and are furnished with twenty-two rows of tubercles at the circum- ference of the test ; they attain their greatest development at the base of the area?, and are arranged so uniformly, and disposed so closely together, that they present somewhat the appearance of a mosaic work (fig. 1 d) ; the areola? are deeply sculptured out of the plates, and surrounded by circles of very small granules ; of the twenty-two rows of tubercles which occupy the area at the cir- cumference, only six, and those the three central rows of each column, extend from the mouth to the vertex, the others are limited to shorter distances, the length of their range being in proportion to their distance from the margin of the columns. The poriferous avenues are narrow, and the pores are small and set closely together in pairs. The basal angle is tumid (fig. I b) ; the base is flat and depressed towards the centre; in this depression the mouth is situated ; the opening is small, being only one-sixth the diameter of the test at the circumference. The anus is a large oblong opening (fig. 1 a), occupying at least the upper three-fourths of the single interambulacrum. The apical disc is absent ; the spines are short, needle-shaped, and finely striated longitudinally. The test is very thick. Affinities and differences. — This species resembles P. laganoides, Agassiz, in its depressed form, obtuse basal angle, and truncated single interambulacrum ; but P. Morrisii is distinguished from P. laganoides in possessing a greater number of tubercles in both arese, P. laganoides having four rows in the ambulacral and twelve in the interambulacral, whilst in P. Morrisii the corre- sponding area? possess six and twenty-two. We know no other species among its congeners for which it could be mistaken. Dr. T. Wright on the Cassidulidae of the Oolites. 187 Locality and stratigraphical range. — This rare species was collected from the Cornbrash at Stanton, AVilts, and is the only specimen ire know from that stratum. We have seen a Pygaster from the Great Oolite near Cirencester, which appa- rently belongs to our species ; it was a crushed specimen, but the number of the tubercles on the arese was the same as in our species. Genus Holectypus, Desor. Test circular, more or less hemispherical, conical or subco- rneal, always tumid ; mouth central and decagonal ; anal opening large, inferior, infra-marginal, rarely marginal, sometimes occu- pying the entire space between the mouth and the border ; am- bulacra simple, continuous and radiant ; avenues with a single pair of pores throughout ; tubercles small, perforated and cre- nulated, disposed in a regular series; apical disc central and vertical, composed of four perforated and a single imperforated ovarial plate, a central madreporiform body, and five ocular plates ; the internal walls of the test without projecting ribs. The genus Holectypus was formed by M. Desor for those Discoidece which have no projecting processes or ribs on the inner wall of their test. The species of which the group is composed are found in the oolitic and lower cretaceous rocks. They con- stitute a transition from the Discoidece to the typical Galerites, and according to the views of Professor Forbes " form a section or subgenus of the genus Galerites, more valuable on account of their palseontological merits and limited distribution in time (being the main characteristic of the Oolitic period) than for the zoological importance of the characters of their organization, which are rather transitional than distinctive." Holectypus depressus, Desor. Syn. Galerites depressus, Lamk. Animaux sans Vert, tome in. p. 21. no. 7 ; Desmoulins, Table Synopt. p. 254 ; Goldfuss, Petrefact. Ger. tab. 41. p. 129 ; Koch and Dunker, N. D. Oolit. tab. 4. fig. 2. Discoidea depressa, Agassiz, Cat. Syst. p. 7 ; Echin. Foss. de la Suisse, tab. 13 bis, fig. 7-13. Holectypus depressus, Desor, Catal. raisonnedes Echinides, A. S. N. torn. vii. 3rd Series. Test hemispherical, more or less depressed, sometimes conical ; circumference circular or subpentagonal ; base concave ; tuber- cles small on the dorsal surface, larger on the base; anal opening pyriform, infra-marginal; apex directed towards the mouth. Height fyths of an inch., antero-posterior diameter 1 inch and .Mlis, transverw diameter 1 inch and T\{ths (Inferior Oolite spe- 188 Dr. T. Wright on the Cassidulidie of the Oolites. cimens). Height >nisj>li(Ericus, Agass. and Desor, Cat. raisonne des Echi- nides, A. S. N. vol. vii. p. 146, 3rd Series. Galerites hemisphcericus, Forbes, Memoirs of the Geol. Survey, De- cade 3. pi. 6. Yar. a. Depressus. — Discoidea maryinalis, M'Coy, Ann. Nat. Hist. vol. ii. p. 413, 2nd Series. \;u. h. Conic**, onus valde maryinalis. — Holectypus Devauxian us, Cotteau, Etudes sur les Echinides fossiles, p. 46. pi. 2. fig. 7-9. Test t amid, hemispherical, nioreorlessdepressed; margin rounded; tubercles larger on the ventral than on the dorsal surface, and increased in size around the mouth ; single interambulacrum * Ann. des Sc. nat. tome vii. p. 145, 3rd Scries, t Petrefcct Gfrmuuas, Tart 1. p. 130. tab. U. X N. D. Oolith. Versteincnmiren. p. 10. tab. I. ri antero-posterior diameter 4 inches and yjjths, transverse diameter 4 inches and TvGths. Description. — This large buckler-shaped Urchin has been long known to palaeontologists from the abundance and fine preser- vation in which its test is found in the lower and middle division 218 Br. T. Wright on the Cassidulidae of the Oolites. of the Oolites. It exhibits many changes of form in the different strata, attaining however its greatest development in the upper beds of the Inferior Oolite, from whence the specimen now be- fore me was obtained. The ambulacra are broadly lanceolate, the single area and the anterior pair are about the same length and width, and the posterior pair are shorter and wider on the dorsal surface, and longer than the others on the base. The pores are placed widely apart, as much as T%ths of an inch at the widest space ; they are united by transverse sulci formed by the sutures of the small plates of the ambulacral area?; the poriferous avenues are more depressed, and exhibit the lines of union more distinctly than the plates occupying the interporous space, which are upon a level with the interambu- lacral plates, and like them are covered with tubercles; the separation of the pores and their union by transverse sutures extends to the margin of the test, at the basal angle they be- come approximated, and from thence to the mouth they form triple oblique pairs placed wider apart. The interambulacra are of unequal width ; the anterior pair are the narrowest, the single area is the widest, and the posterior pair are of intermediate dimensions. In large specimens there is a slight depression down the centre of each area in the line of the median suture ; the anal valley is narrow above and expanded below ; it is of an incon- siderable depth, has an acutely conical form with inclining walls, and extends from the apical disc to the border. The anal opening is situated about the middle of the valley, the area is slightly pro- duced and deflected, and an inconsiderable concavity is formed in its centre corresponding to the boundary of the valley. The test is thick, and its surface is profusely covered with small tubercles, so arranged that they form oblique lines ; the tubercles are surrounded by circular depressions, and the intertubercular surface is occupied by microscopic granules. The vertex is nearly central, inclining in general to the posterior border, behind which the apical disc is placed, formed of two pairs of perforated ovarial plates, and a single imperforate plate which extends into the anal valley, the centre of the disc being occupied by the spongy madreporiform body ; the ocular plates are small, and have the eye-holes near their margins. The base is flat, inclining to concave ; the mouth-opening is excentral and pentagonal, being situated nearer the anterior than the posterior border, and having its margin surrounded by five prominent lobes ; the ambulacra form straight narrow valleys, and the interambulacra are slightly convex, which occasions gentle undulations on the basal surface, as in other Nucleolites ; the tubercles are a little larger on the base than on the dorsal surface. Dr. T. Wright on the Cassidulidae of the Oolites. 219 Affinities and differences. — This large species resembles N. Agassizii in size and outline, but is clearly distinguished from it by the flatness of the dorsal surface, the length and narrowness of the anal valley, and the absence of the undepressed portion of test which is so conspicuous in N. Agassizii. It resembles N. Solodurinus in the form and length of the anal valley, but differs from it in having an orbicular circumference, and in the absence of the produced, deflected, and truncated posterior border so cha- racteristic of that species ; from N. Hugii it is distinguished by the extension of the anal valley from the disc to the border, and the inconsiderable deflection of the single interambulacral area. After a careful examination of an extensive suite of specimens from the Inferior Oolite and Great Oolite, we have come to the conclusion that C. patella, Ag., and C. excentricus, M'Coy, are not distinct species, but merely varieties of N. sinuatus ; as we have before us a series exhibiting the forms which M. Agassiz and Prof. M'Coy have considered as specifically distinct, with the intermediate forms through which they blend into the true typical N. sinuatus. Without several individuals from different localities, it is at all times hazardous to attempt to establish a new species of Urchin on form alone, as the same species often changes its form in different beds and even in the same bed in different loca- lities; these modifications of form constitute at most varieties, which depended upon some temporary change of the conditions in which they lived, without in any way affecting the distinctive structural character of the species. Locality and stratigraphical range. — N. sinuatus has a wide vertical range, being found very abundantly, and of its largest size, in the upper beds of the Inferior Oolite of Gloucestershire, in the Great Oolite of Minchinhampton, and Kiddington (Oxon), and the Cornbrash and Coralline Oolite of Wilts ; in Yorkshire it is found in beds of the same ages. According to Agassiz and Desor the foreign distribution of this species is, u Inferior Oolite, Boulogne-sur-mer ; Chayul (Ardennes) ; Montanville, Flincy (Meuse) ; Metz, Noviant, Besancon, Porrentruy, Salins (Jura) ; environs de Baie." History. — This species, as the synonyms prove, has been long known to naturalists ; it is so abundant in some localities in Glou- cestershire, that the farmers believe this Urchin grows in the .soil, from the numbers that are successively turned up by the plough every year. Nucleolites Agassizii, Wright, n. sp. PI. VII. fig. 3 a-c. Test conoidal, with a nearly circular margin ; ambulacral area depressed, concave and petaloid, anterior pair much inclined ; 220 Dr. T. Wright on the Cassidulidae of the Oolites. apices remote ; pores widely apart ; interambulacral arese nearly of the same width ; vertex central ; apical disc excentrical, and inclined backwards j anal opening of an oblong form, situated in a shallow valley in the middle of the single interambulacrum ; between the upper anal border and the disc there is a consi- derable undepressed portion of the test ; base flat and very slightly undulated \ mouth nearly central, pentagonal, and sur- rounded by live prominent lobes ; the tubercles on the dorsal surface are quite microscopic, those on the base are a little larger and more distinct. Height 2 inches and y^ths, antero-posterior diameter 4 inches and ^yths, transverse diameter 4 inches. Description. — This noble Urchin preserves the conoidal eleva- tion of its dorsal surface in all the individuals we have examined. The circumference is nearly orbicular, the antero-posterior being somewhat greater than the transverse diameter ; the dorsal sur- face of the test is uneven in consequence of the ambulacra form- ing concave depressions, which have a petaloidal form, and are of a nearly uniform width ; the single area and the inferior pair are the longest, the latter are much inclined, and the posterior pair are slightly flexuous ; the central space between the pores is nar- row, and lies lower than the general surface of the interambu- lacra. The pores are situated at a considerable distance apart on the dorsal surface and become approximated at the basal angle, where they fall into close-set pairs, from thence to the mouth they are arranged in triple oblique rows ; the pores are extremely small and indistinct on the basal surface. The interambulacral arese are very uniform in width and convexity on the dorsal sur- face, the anterior pair are the longest, and the single area has a remarkable form arising from the shallowness of its anal valley, and the superficial position of the anal opening which forms an oblong depression in the middle of the area ; between the upper border of the opening and the disc there is a smooth, slightly de- pressed portion of the test to the extent of an inch, which is tlie rudiment of the furrow so much developed in some Nucleolites, and which forms one of the most important diagnostic characters of our species ; from the lower border of the opening the test is depressed, the limits of the depression being bounded by two ele- vations ; the basal angle of this area is very slightly produced and deflected, the posterior lobes are entirely obsolete. The vertex is central, and at a short distance behind it the apical disc is situated, which is considerably inclined towards the posterior border, and formed of an anterior and a posterior pair of perforated ovarial plates, and a single imperforate plate with a large central portion, having a spongy madreporiform body attached to its surface, and Dr. T. Wright on the Cassidulidae of the Oolites. 221 which occupies the centre of the disc ; the five ocular plates are small, and so firmly soldered to the ovarials that the line of the sutures is entirely effaced. The base is flat and slightly undu- lated, the interambulacrnl segments being moderately convex and separated from each other by the straight, narrow ambulacral valleys. The mouth is nearly central, of a pentagonal form, and surrounded by five prominent loins formed of the terminal folds of the interambulacra; the tubercles on the dorsal surface are very small and numerous, so that without the aid of a lens the test appears smooth ; on the basal surface they are larger, but are still comparatively small for so large an Urchin. Affinities and differences. — N. Agassizii resembles N. sinuatus in size, but is readily distinguished from that common species by the following diagnostic characters. In N. Agassizii the dorsal surface is conoidal, the ambulacra are concave and depressed, the anal opening is oblong and nearly superficial ; there is a consi- derable extent of the test very slightly depressed between the upper border of the opening and the disc, whilst in N. sinuatus the anal valley extends from the disc to the border. The tubercles are much smaller, and the dorsal surface is almost smooth. The apical disc is large, superficial, and excentrical. Locality and stratigraphical range. — This Urchin was collected from the sands of the Inferior Oolite in the neighbourhood of Bridport. It occurs likewise near Ilminster in beds of the same age. I know of no specimens in Gloucestershire. I dedicate this species to Professor Agassiz, whose numerous monographs on the Echinoderms, living and fossil, have so materially contributed to advance our knowledge of this class. Nucleolites emarginatus, Forbes. Syn. Echinites subulatus, Young and Bird, Geol. Surv. York. Coast, p. LM4.pl. 6. fig. 11. Clypeus emarginatus, Phillips, Geol. of Yorksh. p. 127. pi. 3. fig. 18. Nucleolites "inarfjinatus, Forbes, Mem. of the Geol. Surv. Decade 1. description of pi. 9. "Test orbicular, sides declining, dorsal surface subdepressed ; vertex and apical disc nearly central : ambulacra broadly lan- ceolate, with their apices approximated ; anal valley very short, far removed from the vertex, obtuse and marginal ; posterior lobes obsolete." — Forbes. Antero-posterior and transverse diameters about 4 inches. We could not succeed in obtaining a specimen of this Xh- cleolite ; it is said to be rare. Mr. Young observes, "that the dorsal surface has the same elegant markings as No.*5 {Pygurus pentagonalis), but the petals are rather oval shaped than lan- ceolate, from which peculiarity we name it Echinites suhvlntvs. 2.22 Dr. T. Wright on the Cassidulidee of the Oolites. The middle part of each petal forms a slight ridge ; on the con- trary, the five corresponding marks on the base meeting in the mouth are depressed. The base is concave. The mouth is situ- ated immediately under the vertex. The vent is in a short groove, on the edge, but more towards the upper surface, as in some of the Spatangus family." Affinities and differences. — The marginal position of the anal valley forms a sufficient diagnosis between N. emarginatus and its congeners, but the want of a specimen prevents us making a comparison between it and them ; the petaloidal ambulacra and position of the anus bring this Urchin into near affinity with the genus Py gurus. Locality and stratigraphical range. — It is found in the Coral- line Oolite of Malton and Scarborough, and is said to be rare. History. — This Urchin has been figured by Messrs. Young and Bird and by Mr. Phillips, but described by neither. Prof. Forbes has drawn up a good diagnosis of the species, but a detailed de- scription is now a desideratum. In the ' Catalogue raisonne des Echinides ' of Agassiz and Desor there is a species entered under the name of Clypeus ri~ mosus, described as "Espece plate, discoide, a ambulacres cos- tales," and stated to be from the Oolitic strata of Gloucestershire, and in the collection of M. Deluc ; we know of no such species from the Oolites of this county, and suspect that it may probably be one of the many varieties which N. sinuatus presents in our different beds. There is a small Nucleolite in the British Museum from the Great Oolite of Harleston, apparently distinct and allied to N. clunicularis ; in the same collection there is another small species from the Inferior Oolite of Stroud which is probably new*. In Prof. M'Coy's paper " On some new Mesozoic Radiata f," there are two species described under the names of N. planulatus and N. aqualis, neither of which we know ; the former is said to resemble N. planatus of Roemer, and the latter N. latifrons (latiporus ?), Agassiz, which is only an orbicular variety of N. clu- nicularis from the Cornbrash. A careful comparison of these forms, with other typical spe- cies and the varieties thereof, is very desirable, as the creation of new species from transitory forms retards rather than advances palaeontology. Genus Pygurus, Agassiz. Test discoid or ovoid, more or less elevated ; anterior border flattened, posterior border rostrated ; ambulacra having elegant petaloid forms ; poriferous zones very large in the centre, much contracted at the vertex and towards the border ; apical disc small, * Prof. Forbes, Mem. Geol. Surv. Decade 1. pi. 9. t Annals of Nat. Hist. vol. ii. Second Series, p. 416. Dr. T. Wright on the Cassidulidae of the Oolites. ^23 subcentral, and formed of four perforated and a single imper- forated ovarial plate, with a small madreporiform body occupy- ing the centre of the disc, and five ocular plates the angles between the ovarials at the circumference thereof. Interambu- lacra wide, the single area produced and deflected ; anal opening round or longitudinally oval, situated in the infra-marginal border of the rostrated process. Ventral surface concave or sub- concave; mouth subcentral and pentagonal, surrounded by five prominent lobes and a rosette of well-developed pores on the am- bulacra near the opening. Tubercles close-set and microscopic. Most of the species are Oolitic, a few are found in the Neocomian strata, but all are extinct. Py gurus Blumenbachii, Agassiz. PL VIII. fig. 2 a-c. Syn. Clypeaster Blumenbachii, Koch and Dunker, Norddeutschen Oolithgebild. pi. 4. fig. 1. p. 37. Pygurus Blumenbachii, Agassiz and Desor, Cat. raisonne*, A. N. S. torn. viii. p. 162. Test thin, nearly orbicular, with a sinuous margin.; dorsal surface elevated anteriorly, gradually declining posteriorly, border sinuous, with the centre produced and deflected; base con- cave, much undulated; mouth-opening excentrical, subpen- tagonal, with a five-lobed margin ; anal opening submarginal, round or nearly ovate. Height 1 inch and T\jth, antero-posterior diameter 2 inches, transverse diameter at the widest part 2 inches and T\jth. Description. — This Urchin has a very remarkable form ; the anterior border is slightly excavated in the centre, with two con- vex lobes on each side thereof. The lateral parts of the test are convex, and the posterior borders form two sinuous lines having the centre of the single interambulacrum produced posteriorly into a beak-shaped, slightly deflected process. The ambulacra have an elegant petaloid form with approximated apices ; the pori- ferous avenues are marked by well-developed transverse sulci. The ambulacral area?, which are wide above, rapidly converge towards the lower third ; the pores here approximate and pass from thence in close-set pairs to the border of the test. Along the base the pairs are placed wide apart, but again become more closely ap- proximated as they approach the mouth. The interambulacra are unequal ; the anterior pair are con- vex and prominent ; they rise nearly perpendicular, forming an angle of 80°, and near the vertex curve backwards; the pos- terior pair and the single area slope at an angle of 35°. The dorsal surface thus acquires the anterior elevation which gives so remarkable a character to this species, and connects it with P. 224, Dr. T. Wright on the Cassidulidse of the Oolites. MontmoUini from the Neocomian stage. The single interambu- lacrum is remarkable from having a central elevation on its dorsal surface, two sinuous excavations commencing from the posterior pair of ambulacra, and a central produced and deflected portion. The vertex is excentral, in which the small apical disc is situated, formed of four perforated ovarial plates and a single imperforate plate, with the spongy madreporiform body occupying the centre and five ocular plates the apices of the ambulacra. The base is concave and much undulated, the ambulacra forming straight valleys from the border to the mouth, and the intei ambulacra convex eminences between them. Near the mouth their ter- minal portions form five very tumid lobes around the margin of that opening. The mouth is subpentagonal and placed diame- trically opposite to the apical disc ; it is consequently excentral and nearer the anterior border. The anal opening is not shown in our specimen; according to Koch and Dunker, it is somewhat ovate inclining to round, and is situated in the basal portion of the produced and deflected single area. Affinities and differences. — This singular Urchin, in its elevated anterior dorsal surface, very much resembles P. MontmoUini, Ag., from the Neocomian stage of Switzerland, and P. irilobus from the Craie chloritee of Maers; from the former it is di- stinguished by the more angular outline of the posterior border, from the latter it differs in having the central lobe less produced. The form, in fact, is intermediate between them. Locality and stratigraphical range. — The specimen before me, I was assured, was collected from the ferruginous beds of the Inferior Oolite near Yeovil, and the lithological character of the matrix supports the statement. It has been found by the officers of the Geological Survey in the Coral Rag of Abbotsbury, Dorset- shire, a fine specimen of which is in the Mus. of Pract. Geol. Its foreign distribution is the Coral Rag de Jonnerre (Yonne) and of Waltersberg (Hanover). History. — First figured and described by Koch and Dunker in their monograph on the ' Norddeutschen Oolithgebilde/ afterwards identified by Prof. Forbes in the collection made by the Geological Survey in Dorsetshire, and now described as a British Urchin for the first time. P y gurus pcntagonalis, Wright. PL VIII. fig. 3 a-e. Syn. Echinanthite8 orbicularis, Young and Bird, Geol. York. Coast, pi. 6. fig. 5. Clypeaster pentayonalis, Phillips, Geol. of Yorksh. tab. 4. fig. 24. Test with an ovoidal or subpentagonal circumference, much de- pressed on the dorsal surface ; vertex nearly central, in which the apical disc is situated; ambulacral area petaloid, broad, Dr. T. Wright on the Cassidulidse of the Oolites. 225 convex, and nearly equal ; apices closely approximated ; inter- ambulacral areas of unequal width, base much undulated; mouth nearly excentral ; anal opening oval, iiifVamarginal, and situated in a deep depression with inclining walls. Height 1 inch and T%ths, antero-posterior diameter 3 inches and -njtns> transverse diameter 8 inches and y■ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Bluincnbachii propinqua Heniicidaris intermedia icaunensis alpina granulosa coufluens pustulosa Acrosiilenia hemicidaroides. . Lycetti spinosa decorata Wiltonii Diadema depressum subangulare pseudo-diadema Pedina rotata Echinus perlatus serialis granularis gy ratus Arbacia Forbcsii nodulosa CASSIDULIDiE. Pygaster semisulcatus ? Holcctvpus depresnu heinisplucricus Hyboclypus agariciformis ... caudatus ; t riwens analis Nuclcolitcs elunicuhiris (liiindiatus IIu«rii orbicularis Agassizh cmannnatus Pygurus pcniai>t OctiU rf *tmcht#h<»npboii- ItatolV. V» RBuly Prmttd by Hulhn*nd-1 k Walton i a_d Acrosaleniahemiadarcudes Wright. 2 a.d , ' Itfc Wrtghb Sab. Hemicidans alpina . Agaftiz 4. a b.c. granulosa Wrtgkb. 5. a. b c Cidans Fowleri Wright. 6. ., propinqua. JfOHsttr 1 *si.-Jfc£ & ?h A I Ml flat* V- r ara WHB«lj PriuOdbyllu^inand*'. *.W«lijm a.b. c Diadema pseudo diadema AgaJs.- a __ d . deprefsa. Ag&fo a d Acrosalema spinosa Aqcw YJ.R-B«ilj 1. a_d. Echinus perlalus 1 ad serialis 3. a b. Arbacea nodulosa. 4. a. be ., Forbesn 5. a. b. Goniopygus ? perforatus. fYrighl PrL-it»diij HuTUr.Kod.; X Walton Aga/siz. . W H.Bsuly l.T._d Py§ast*.r ccmoideus, Wright. i, Hyboolypus CoLudatus, 2>.a.. -C. Nucleolites A^dussizii, 4. 5t._e. Acrosalema. WHtonii, PnnW byHullma/idel fcWalt 1ST i 'iuXe. l&i ^m^gmmm 3 b. 3 a. -> >* / WHBafy Printed bjrHwHuwrici'1 tWalton La d. Py§aster Momsri, Wright 2a,-d. Py§urus fthrnienbachii, Koch tDunker. 3a,-e. Pygurus penU^&Tialis, Wright. 2:><) Contributions to the Palaontology of t fie Isle of Wiy/it. By Thomas Wright, M.D. &c. Read 4th May 1852. It has been supposed that the tertiary beds of England, when compared with those of the continent of Europe, are deficient in mammalian remains ; this opinion, like many other hasty gene- ralizations, if it be not entirely fallacious, requires modification. The valuable series of mammalian remains obtained from time to time from the lacustrine strata of Kyson, Hordwell, and. the Isle of Wight, lead us to believe that if similar facilities existed in these localities for working the beds from whence mammalian bones and teeth are obtained, as is the case in the neighbour- hood of Paris, the richness of the English tertiaries in these re- mains would no longer be a doubtful question. We have been led to this conclusion from facts which have come under our observation during the two consecutive summers we were en- gaged in drawing up a description of the coast sections of Hamp- shire and the Isle of Wight, and which have already appeared in the pages of our Proceedings. Until last summer no remains of the new genus Dichodon had been found, except in one spot in the Hordwell section, when T had the good fortune to discover, near Alum Point, Isle of Wight, a portion of the lower jaw of this singular genus with the true molars " in situ " in beautiful preservation. This jaw fortunately supplies some points in the anatomy of this rare mammal, which were absent in the only specimen hitherto found, and which it is the object of this note to furnish. Dichodon cuspidatus, Owen. The dental formula of the lower jaw of Dichodon cuspidatus, according to Professor Owen, consists of three incisors, one ca- nine, four premolars, and three true molars, arranged in a con- tinuous series in each ramus, and it is inferred that these were opposed by the same number of teeth in the upper jaw. " There are wanting therefore to establish ex visu the entire dental series, only the first and second premolars of the upper jaw and the last true molar of the lower jaw, the germ of which had not been sufficiently calcified at the time of the animal's death to yield satisfactory evidence of its true form*." Having recently dis* * Quart. Jouni C. vol. iv. p. I-' 230 Dr. T. Wright on the Paleontology of the Isle of Wiyht. covered a portion of the left ramus of the lower jaw of this rare mammal in the lower freshwater formation of the Isle of Wight, containing the three true molars in an admirable state of pre- servation, I am enabled to supply a description thereof. The crowns of all the true molars exhibit a double series of sharp conical lobes ; the teeth are fixed obliquely in the jaw, their crowns having a direction forwards, inwards and upwards, the obliquity of the inclination increasing from before back- wards ; the first and second molars are nearly alike in size, form and structure ; the first, however, is somewhat smaller than the second ; the crown of each tooth rises high above the ramus of the jaw ; it consists of four semiconical-shaped lobes, two ex- ternal and two internal, separated from each other by a deep transverse and a shallow longitudinal valley ; the two external lobes are sharply lanceolate ; each has a median ridge of enamel and two sharp supernumerary processes or cusps, situated at the external sides of the base of each lobe ; the inner surface is con- vex and smooth, and as the apices of the lobes are not worn, the double fold of enamel, with its intermediate dentine, is beauti- fully shown in our specimen. The internal lobes are larger and more fully developed than the external pair, but their apices do not attain the same height as those of the external lobes ; their internal surface is smooth and convex, their external surface is moderately concave, and iuclined to a high angle ; at the base of the external surface of each of the internal lobes there are two small tubercles or rudi- mentary cusps : the posterior marginal surface of all the lobes is slightly polished by dentrition, whilst their sharp lanceolate points are not worn, from which circumstance it may be logically inferred, that the lobes of the teeth of the lower jaw locked into corresponding spaces in those of the upper jaw, as in the hedge- hog (Erinaceus europaus), the mole (Talpa vulgaris), and other Insectivora. The third true molar differs from the first and second in pos- sessing six instead of four lobes ; the four anterior lobes are of the same form and structure as those of the second molar, only they are somewhat larger ; the third or posterior pair are smaller than either of the others, and they have a more rudi- mentary form ; the anterior cusp is absent at the base of the external lobe, and the posterior cusp is a small process which rises between the external and internal lobes. Locality. — I found this rare fossil in a bed of greenish tough tenacious clay, being No. 35 of my section*, and which stratum I have shown to be the equivalent of No. 14 of my section of * See p. 98 of these Proceedings. Dr. T. Wright on th,< l*alaontology of the hie of Wight. 231 Hordwell, Beacon, and Barton Cliffs*, from whence Mr. Falconer obtained the specimen which formed the subject of Professor Owen's paper. It is important, therefore, to note that these mammalian remains have been found in precisely the same geo- logical horizon on both shores of the Solent sea ; thus affording another link in the chain of evidence which proves the former union of these tertiary beds. I have promised the loan of this specimen to Professor Owen, who will figure it in the forthcoming new edition of his ' British Fossil Mammalia f for this reason I have not figured it here. Tooth of an unknown Saurian. I had the good fortune to meet with a very perfect reptilian tooth in the Wealden clay of Brixton Bay; the accompany- ing figure, of the natural size, was drawn on wood by Mr. W. H. Baily, as it is important that palaeontologists should possess a faithful drawing of its singular form, to enable them to com- pare future discoveries with the subject of this note, and even- tually to determine the genus of Saurians to which it belonged. I had the pleasure of showing this tooth to Professors Forbes, Ger- vais and Owen, Dr. Mantell, and Messrs. Waterhouse and Wood- ward, who were all unacquainted with the form. Dr. Mantell thought it had some resemblance to a tooth found in the Wealden of Tilgate Forest, and which he imagined belonged to the Hy- Ueosaurus. " These teeth," he observes, " are about \\ inch in height, and commence at the base with a cylindrical shank, which gradually enlarges into a crown of an obtusely lanceolate form, convex in front, slightly depressed, and terminating in an angular rounded apex, the margins of which are generally more or less worn, as if from dentrition. The crown is solid, but the fang encloses a small pulp-cavity ; the surface is enamelled, and covered with very fine longitudinal striae ; the base in every spe- cimen appears broken transversely, and has not a smooth sur- face, as if it had been loosened by absorption and shed natu- rally -j\" The Doctor has given a figure of this tooth which dif- fers so much from our specimen, that we cannot suppose it belonged to a reptile of the same genus. Description. — Our new tooth is divisible into the crown and the root : the line of demarcation between these parts is clearly defined by the terminal undulation of the enamel. The crown is somewhat of a bayonet-shape ; from the frontier line of the enamel to the apex, it measures in front 1 inch and j^ths; behind 2 inches and ^th ; the antero-posterior diameter at its * See p. 120 of these Proceedings. t Hand-Book of the Fossils of the British Museum, p. 326. t2 Dr. T. Wright on the Paleontology of the Isle of Wight. widest part i \eeeds 1 inch, and its transverse diameter is T%ths of an inch (d). The crown {d, b, c) is unequally convex in front and concave (a) behind. The general form of the crown is shown in a, b, c, the anterior side thereof (a, b) is convex and sabre-shaped, and the posterior border («, b) is slightly concave ; the external convex surface (b) is covered with smooth enamel, which forms four blunt ridges on its most prominent part, and terminates inferiorly in a delicate rugous structure, forming a well-de- fined arch (b), the convexity of which is directed towards the apex ; the posterior surface of the crown (a) is flat below and con- cave above ; the enamel is smooth above and rugous below, as on the anterior surface, but it extends much farther down the crown (nearly half an inch) and forms an arch, the convexity of Dr. T. Wright on the Paleontology of the Isle of Wight. 233 which is directed towards the root ; the internal surfaces of the anterior and posterior borders (a) are abruptly truncated, appa- rently by dentrition, and near the base of the posterior border there is an oblique fold or depression, close to which are marks of abrasion by dentrition : the unequal extent of the enamel on the external and internal surfaces of the crown proves that the external plate of the ramus of the jaw was deeper on the external than on the internal side. The root (a, b, c, e) is nearly cylindrical ; from the external ter- minal fold of enamel to its fractured part, it measures 1 inch and y°ffths ; its surface is much concealed by the matrix, and has masses of pyrites adhering thereto ; it forms a hollow cylinder (e) which inclosed a pulp-cavity ; the structure and form of the root is that of a tooth which was implanted in a distinct alveolus of a large and powerful jaw. Part of the apex is broken off, the position of which we have indicated by dotted lines ; there can be no doubt that it was sharply pointed, and that this tooth was an instrument destined to pierce the soft structures of other ani- mals, and consequently that it belonged to an extinct genus of carnivorous reptiles. Diadema Autissiodorense, Cotteau. Syn. Diadema Autissiodorense ', Cotteau, Cat. Method, des Eohi- nides dans l'e'tage Neocomien, p. 5. Test pentagonal, depressed; interambulacral tubercles a little larger than those of the ambulacral areas, more especially as they approach the ovarial disc ; interambulacral areas with two rows of primary tubercles, and two incomplete series of secondary tubercles at the ambulacral sides thereof, which gradually disappear on the upper surface ; ambulacral areas prominent, with two rows of primary tubercles much dimi- nished in size at the upper surface. Pores in a double series near the ovarial disc and at the circumference of the mouth. Height -njths of an inch ; transverse diameter j^ths of an inch. Description. — In its general outline this beautiful Urchin re- sembles D. depressum of the Inferior Oolite, but the details of its structure are very distinct from that form. The circumference is pentagonal from the convexity of the ambulacral areas, and the base and summit are much depressed. The interambulacral areas are one-third broader than the ambulacral ; two rows of primary tubercles occupy the centre of the plates ; there are about ten pairs of tubercles in each area, which are of a moderate magnitude, and gradually diminish in size from the circumference to the base and summit ; the mam- 234 Dr. T. Wright on the Paleontology of the Isle of Wight. miliary eminences are small, their summits are deeply crenulated, and the tubercles, of proportional size, are deeply perforated; at the circumference six rows of granules separate the tubercles from each other, but towards the upper surface the four central rows are absent, which leaves a naked space in the middle of the area ; three rows of granules in like manner separate the tubercles from the poriferous valleys ; at the base of the area, and extend- ing as far as the circumference of the test, are incomplete rows of secondary tubercles ; these gradually diminish in size and dis- appear at the upper surface, which is occupied with an unequal- sized, close-set granulation about three rows deep ; the ambu- lacral areas are one-third narrower than the interambulacral, they are however very prominent and convex, and are occupied with two rows of primary tubercles about ten in a row ; the lower six pairs of tubercles are nearly as large as the corresponding tubercles in the interambulacral areas, but the upper four pairs are much smaller, so that whilst there is a great uniformity in the size and form of the tubercles on the base and circumference of the test, there is a very marked difference between those of the ambulacra and those of the interambulacra in the vicinity of the ovarial disc ; the intertubercular space is occupied by a zig- zag band of granulation, which is narrow below where the tu- bercles are large, but becomes broader above where they are small. The pores are arranged in double pairs near the summit and mouth, but in the other part of the avenues they are in single pairs ; the apical disc is absent in our specimen, and the mouth is large and decagonal. Affinities and differences. — This species nearly resembles D. Bourgueti, Ag., but differs from it in the rudimentary condition of the upper tubercles of the ambulacra, and in having the pores in double pairs above and below ; the intermediate granulation is likewise less homogeneous than in D. Bourgueti. Locality. — I collected this Urchin from the lower greensand at Atherfield, in No. 4 of the Cracker group of Dr. Fitton's section : it must be very rare, as none of the cabinets of Atherfield fossils hitherto examined by me contain a specimen of this Diadema. It has been collected by M. Cotteau from the Neocomien stage at Auxerre, where it is likewise very rare. History. — Discovered by the author in the Isle of Wight in 1850, and by M. Cotteau in France in 1851, but first described by the latter in his * Catalogue Methodique des Echinides recueillis dans Fetage Neocomien/ and which brochure I received since I read this communication. As there is no figure of this Urchin extant, I intend giving one of the beautiful specimen before me, along with some other new forms of that group which I hope shortly to publish. Note on the Gryphsea of the Bed called Gryphite Grit in the Cotteswolds. By John Lycett, Esq. Read February 1853. The lower bed of the upper ragstones in the Cotteswold Inferior Oolite exhibits an immense profusion of a well-known Gryphsea, and this circumstance, together with the very limited strati- graphical range of the shell, combines to render it of much importance to the geologist, as it affords a certain guide to that portion of the Inferior Oolite. This Gryphsea has been univer- sally accepted as the G. cymbium of Lamarck, but the position of that species upon the continent is known to be the Middle Lias, of which it is considered to be one of the characteristic forms, and a reference to the figures and descriptions of Lamarck's shell proves that it is perfectly distinct from the Cotteswold species. In the first edition of the ' Geology of Cheltenham/ by Sir R. Murchison, the Gryphsea is tabulated G. cymbium, and this name was copied into the second edition, in which however, fortunately, an illustration was given of it at pi. 7. fig. 3. Subsequent lists of Inferior Oolite fossils have included Gryphaa cymbium. It does not appear that Lamarck's species has been recognised in the lias of England ; it possesses a general resem- blance to G. incurva and G. obliquata, except that the larger valve has much less convexity, the beak is much less incurved, and has a small area by which it was attached to other bodies ; the upper valve is also much larger ; the margins of the valves are regular and not sinuous ; the height of the shell always much exceeds the lateral diameter, sometimes in the proportion of 6 inches by 3 ; it is nearly, and in 3ome instances perhaps alto- gether, destitute of the deep sulcation and large lateral lobe which distinguish the dorsal surface of the convex valve in the Cotteswold species. G. cymbium, Lam., is well exemplified in the figures of Goldfuss* and Buvignierf, the larger figure of Goldfuss representing the shell in an advanced stage of growth, in which it acquired a greater degree of elongation, the general outline constituting a tolerable resemblance to the object which the name indicates. Another Gryphsea, associated in the same beds with G. cym- bium, and of which it may possibly be only a variety, presents a more near approximation to the Cotteswold species ; it has a great degree of flatness and some irregularity which reminds * Petref. Germanise, tab. 7- fig. 3 ; tab. 85. fig. I. t Geol. et Paleont. Dep. de la Meuse, Atlas, pi. 5. figs. 5, 6, 7. 236 On the Gryphaea of the Gryphite Grit in the Cotteswolds. us somewhat of the true oysters ; it has also a lateral lobe and sulcus, but much less prominent than in the Cotteswold shell, the general elongated form resembling G. cymbiwn. M. Buvignier considers it to be distinct from G. cymbium, and has named it G. Broliensis*. The conspicuous sulcation and lobe which serves prominently to distinguish the Cotteswold shell, is a feature which in a more modified form is present in nearly the whole of the species of this subgenus, of which it constitutes one of the characteristic attributes ; for although the species of Gryphaea are more easily distinguished than those of the true oysters, there exists never- theless a large amount of variation. The adherent species will be found to exhibit greater variability than the others ; it may consequently be inferred, that the variation of form is connected with the position which was accidentally retained by the attached shell. The Cotteswold Gryphsea, which exhibits a considerable difference of aspect, was frequently attached to another of the same species, the shells being clustered together in masses. In conformity with precedents in similar instances, I dedicate our Cotteswold Gryphsea to the author who first figured it in the f Geology of Cheltenham/ and whose labours have contri- buted so much to enlarge our knowledge of the fauna of the Oolite. Gryph.ea Buckmanni. Syn. Gryphcea cymbium, Murch. Geol. Chelt. 1834, p. 10. columba, Lonsdale, in Geol. Proceedings, 1835. cymbium, Morris, Catal. Brit. Foss. p. 109, 1843. cymbium, Geol. Chelt. 2nd edit. 1845, p. 75, pi. 7. fig. 3. Sp. char. Shell transversely ovate, very convex, irregularly and concentrically laminated ; beak acute, incurved, with a small adherent area; larger valve extended laterally, inflated and bilobed, having a wide and deep sulcation which extends from the beak to the lower border ; upper valve concave ; margins of the valves sinuated. The deep sulcation in the dorsal surface separates a posterior lateral lobe, which in the mature form has a diameter equal to a third part of the entire valve : in the young state the posterior lobe is but slightly developed, and the valves at that part are thin, but the groove is always conspicuous. The species which most nearly approach G. Buckmanni are G. dilatata, Sow., and G. controversa, Roemer ; but these latter are much larger species, they are less inflated, and have the dorsal sulcation much more superficial. * G£ol. et Pateont. D£p. de la Meuse, Atlas, pi. 5. figs. 7, 8, 9. 237 Additional Notice of the genus Tancredia (Lycett), Hettangia (Turquem). By John Lycett, Esq. Read February 1853. At a meeting of the Cotteswold Naturalists' Club, held July 30, 1850, I had the honour to submit a memoir on the Testacea of the middle division of the Inferior Oolite, accompanied by a separate description of a group of small bivalve shells which occur both in that rock and in the Great Oolite. This group I proposed to erect into a genus, to be called Tancredia, a name intended to commemorate a gentleman no longer, unfortunately, a participator in our reunions. The fragility of the small shells which exemplified the genus, together with the coarseness of the investing stone, prevented my exposing the hinge of the left valve so clearly as could be wished ; it was not therefore figured, and the description of the hinge in that valve was defective ; but the hinge of the right valve, together with the external forms of three species, were faithfully rendered by Mr. Sowerby in the plate which accompanied the memoir. The ' Annals and Maga- zine of Natural History' for December 1850 contained the paper in question, and it was incorporated with the Transactions of the Cotteswold Naturalists' Club. The description of the hinge in the right valve was substantially correct, but owing to an im- perfect knowledge of the form, arising from the valves being always found disunited, the term anterior was employed for posterior, and vice versd. It is necessary to revert to these facts with precision, as during the past year (1852) a French author of eminence, both as a geologist and palaeontologist, M. A. Buvignier of Verdun, has, in a new and splendid work on the geology of the department of the Meuse, figured and described certain species of Tancredia under the new generic name Hettangia, a name which he states to have been chosen by M. Turquem, the discoverer of the genus. The very superior manner in which the figures of that work are executed leaves no doubt of the identity of the two genera ; the five species which M. Buvignier has illustrated are from the Lias, and bear the specific names Broliensis, Deshayesea, Turquemea, longiscata, and Raulinea ? They are all distinct from the oolitic species of the Cotteswolds. From this statement it is evident, that in the absence of any other notice of the genus, my memoir on Tancredia has a claim to priority, and the generic name which I have chosen should be retained. More recently three addi- 238 Mr. J. Lycett on the genus Tancredia. tional species have been ascertained in our Great Oolite, and the hinge- characters of a fine Inferior Oolite species have been deve- loped : as the latter shell, from its superior size and the promi- nence of its dentition, constitutes a remarkable example of the genus, I propose to describe it in detail, premising that the same species, in a greatly diminished form, was figured in the plate which accompanied the memoir of 1850, under the name of T. donaciformis. The small figure there given represents the usual size of specimens obtained in the shelly freestone of Leck- hampton Hill ; the larger examples now to be described occur not unfrequently in the bed called Gryphite grit, at Rodborough Hill, near Stroud, a locality which has produced so many novel and finely-preserved testacea. Upon comparing the hinge of the new shell with that of T. extensa, which was figured in my me- moir, the difference between them is found to be considerable, and it requires a close scrutiny to perceive that the parts and their arrangement are alike in both, modified by the more ad- vanced growth of the larger shell, and still more so by the pecu- liarities of the species. The dental characters of T. externa have much less prominence ; they project but little vertically, and are more extended longi- tudinally. A similar difference is observable between the species which M. Buvignier has figured : his T. Broliensis in its hinge approaches to that of our large shell ; but the hinge of his smaller and more elongated species, Deshayesea, presents a near resem- blance to that of our T. extensa ; the greater obliquity of the cardinal tooth in the elongated species is strongly marked, more especially in the left valve. The Rodborough examples of T. do- naciformis may be regarded as representing the hinge-features in an exaggerated form, the result in some degree of greater age, inasmuch as smaller shells from the same locality lose much of this prominence of character. There would seem to exist much variability in the margins of the valves : all the specimens figured by M. Buvignier have a considerable aperture at the truncated posterior border ; our Cotteswold examples present this character much modified ; it is however very evident in T. donaciformis ; but, strictly speaking, the borders of the valves are not close- fitting along their extent. The fact that four, and perhaps five, species of Tancredia have been obtained in the Lias of France, will, it is trusted, induce collectors to examine the same formation in Gloucestershire with increased attention. M. Buvignier does not record the genus in the Oolites. In England it has hitherto been recognised only in the lower oolitic system, which would appear, from the work of M. Buvignier, to be very partially and inadequately repre- sented in the Department of the Meuse. Mr. J. Lycctt OH Iftfl t/mus Tancmlia. TANCREDIA DONAC1FORM18. Sp. char. Shell subtrigonal, transverse, rather depressed, pointed at the extremities ; umbones mesial or antero-mesial, small, depressed ; anterior side attenuated, its superior margin rather concave; posterior side truncated and gaping, its margin straight, posterior to the ligament, and sloping obliquely down- wards; an angle extends obliquely from the umbo to the infero-posterior extremity; ligament short, external, hori- zontal; margins of the valves not close-fitting and rather irregular. Upon the principle that our choice of the typical example of a genus should comprise the several peculiarities of the form in a conspicuous manner, I prefer to select the present species to illustrate Tancredia, and will adopt its hinge-characters in the following amended description : — Hinge with an obtuse cardinal tooth in each valve, which is received into a corresponding cavity in the opposite valve ; there is also occasionally in the right valve a small anterior, and in the left a small posterior, accessory tooth upon the elevated margin of the cavity ; lateral teeth, one large posterior and approximate in each valve, that of the left valve projecting, and received into a depression formed by the tooth or callosity of the other valve. Muscular impressions oval ; pallial impression simple, faintly marked. There is no lunule : the margin of the right valve an- terior to the umbo forms a thickened projecting fold which covers the tooth of the other valve, and is received into a corresponding receding portion of the margin of that valve, so that the junctions of the valves anterior to the umbones have a sinuous flexure. The lateral teeth are remarkably large in our typical species ; they are never altogether absent, but are much depressed in some other species ; and when this variation occurs in connexion with a de- 240 Mr. J. Lycett on the genus Tancredia. pressed, oblique, and elongated cardinal tooth in the left valve, the hinge is much altered in its aspect : the variation is exem- plified by several species which occur in our Great Oolite and in the Lias of the Meuse. The small accessory cardinal teeth are very uncertain in their distinctness, and constitute only a minor and variable feature. The figure of Tancredia varies according as the anterior or posterior sides are the most produced ; several species have the posterior side very short and convex, the figure then nearly resembles that of the recent Donaces : all the species hitherto discovered are destitute of ornament, they are remarkably smooth, and exhibit but indistinctly the lines of growth. The number of species now known afford sufficient data for comparison with other genera, and to determine its position in the malacological system. To existing genera it would appear to be only remotely connected ; but there are certain fossil forms, as yet insufficiently known, which seem to approach to it in several particulars ; but whether these latter forms, which are associated with Tancredia in the same beds, are entitled to a position distinct from existing genera, remains to be determined. M. Buvignier has only indicated the position of Hettangia by placing it with the Cardiacese. 241 Remarks on the Lias at Fretherne near Newnham, and Purton near Sharpness ; with an Account of some new Foraminifera discovered there; and on certain Pleistocene Deposits in the Vale of Gloucester. By the Rev. P. B. Brodie, M.A., F.G.S. Read 3rd May 1853. I am afraid that the few observations I have to offer on the strata and fossils at Fretherne Cliff will present little novelty or importance ; still there are a few points of interest to which I wish to draw the attention of our Members, and which seem to deserve a short notice. The Lias here rises in the shape of a low cliff at the end of a round hill between Saul and Arlingham. You are aware that the Severn in its course below Longney makes a great curve, so that the low lands in this district are bounded on three sides by the river, but the generally flat aspect of the scenery is relieved by the picturesque and bold outlines of the Oolitic hills on the east and south-east, and the Palaeozoic system of May Hill and the Forest of Dean on the west and north- west. There are several cliffs on the banks of the Severn where the Lias is exposed between Gloucester and Aust Passage. West- bury is, I believe, the first of these below Gloucester, which I have already described (Fossil Insects, p. 58), but most of them exhibit the lowest beds of the Lias resting on the Red Marl, and contain a peculiar and on the whole distinct assemblage of or- ganic remains. To this Fretherne and Purton form an excep- tion, as the small sections exposed there consist of the lower Lias overlying the " Ostrea bed," equivalent to certain other portions of the series in the Vale of Gloucester, as at Hatherly, the Leigh, Piffs Elm, Hardwicke, &c. The upper part of the former cliff is composed of several layers of grayish white and blue lime- stone, often nodular, divided by clay; and contains numerous fossils, viz. the characteristic Gryphaa incurva, Lima gigantea, Gervillia, Avicula, Pecten, Nautilus, Ammonites, spines and plates of Echinoderms, and a few other shells. The lower bands pre- sent the usual alternations of blue limestone and shales, which are often loaded with broken joints of Pentacrinites, amongst which a few heads of the rarer Pentacrinites tuberculatus (Miller) have been met with. This cliff, however, is particularly interesting, 242 Rev. P. B. Brodie on the Lias at Fretherne near Newnham, from the occurrence of a new and fine species of the Brachiopod*, Orbicula Townshendi (named after the discoverer), and one of the Foraminifera which I lately found, and which Mr. Rupert Jones believes will prove to be a true Nummulitef. They occur in a particular part of the cliff near the centre, and seem to be confined to one or two bands of limestone, the weathered sur- faces of which occasionally are covered with them, though, from the highly crystalline state in which these mimute fossils are preserved, it is extremely difficult to make out their in- ternal structure. This is the first occurrence of this genus in England in any stratum older than the Eocene (Tertiary) group, and was hitherto supposed to be confined to the Tertiary series. Ehrenberg proved long ago that many of these minute organisms among the Foraminifera (which form so important a part in the composition of many rocks), from the Chalk upwards, had continued to exist even to the present day, while the con- temporary forms of a higher order had become extinct, and we may therefore feel less surprise at the presence of a true Num- mulite even so low down in the secondary series as the Lias, although we have no trace of the same genus again until a com- paratively recent epoch, a wide interval of time having elapsed between its supposed first creation and its reappearance in pro- fusion in the Tertiary series. So abundant are some of these fossils in some places abroad, that vast masses of tertiary limestone are entirely composed of them, and in the Lias at Fretherne they are generally grouped together in masses. M. Bouvigny has lately described and figured a Nummulite% from certain Jurassic strata on the continent, namely the lower marls belonging to the calcaire a Astartes, which occurs between the Kimmeridge Clay and the Coral Rag. I had previously observed similar forms in the Lias near Down Hatherley, but was ignorant of their true characters, for which palaeontologists are indebted to the investigations of the able Assistant Secretary of the Geological Society, Mr. T. R. Jones, who has already described new and interesting species of Foraminifera from various deposits. My friend Mr. C. Moore of Ilminster, a zealous * Mr. C. Moore has lately found several new species of Brachiopoda in the upper Lias in Somersetshire, and one very curious shell which he thinks may belong to a new genus, having two bosses at the side. Deslongchamps has also detected several new forms belonging to this order in the upper Lias of Normandy, amongst which is a Leptcena of large size ; all those pre- viously discovered by Mr. Moore near Ilminster being extremely minute. See Mr. Davidson's Monograph : Palaeontographical Society. t See Mr. Jones's Note, infra. X Nummulina Humbertina: see Geol. statistique, miner, et paleont. de la Meuse ; Atlas, p. 47. pi. 31. f. 32-35. with an Account of some new Foraminifera. 243 and able collector and a good naturalist, informs me that although he has detected fifty new species of Foraminifera in the upper Lias and Marlstone of Somersetshire, he has never yet ob- served a Nummulite. The section at Purton is very small, but fossils are most abundant ; it appears to be a little higher in the series than Fretherne Cliff, and is composed of clay and shale, in which are imbedded rounded blocks and nodules of blue limestone. Gryphaa Macullochii is very abundant, with Pleuro- tomaria Anglica, Ammonites Bucklandi (a fine specimen of which was discovered by Lord Ducie), a few of the Nummulites above referred to, and two other new and interesting species of Forami- nifera. Some slabs of limestone are covered with many speeies of minute Univalves. It is at this spot that the Lias is succeeded by the Upper Ludlow rocks, which crop out on the banks of the Severn a little further to the west. I confess I have a great affec- tion for the muddy Lias, as I am indebted to it for a rich store of insect remains. When I first came into this district, now twelve years ago, I carefully examined some of the beds of the lower Lias, belonging to the middle part of the formation in the neighbour- hood of Gloucester, without success, and I was struck with the paucity of organic remains (which certainly are not numerous), although I have since then obtained a few rare and interesting fossils in them, especially elytra of Coleoptera, about three species of Corals, and Foraminifera having the appearance of Nummulites. After a time I visited Wainlode Cliff, where the basement beds of the Lias are exposed in a fine section resting on the Red Marl. There for the first time I discovered several wings and small wing-covers of Beetles in fallen fragments of limestone, which led me to search more closely, and the result has been a fine collection of wings, elytra, and a few entire insects from this division of the Lias, not only in Gloucestershire, but in Somer- setshire, Worcestershire, and Warwickshire, where these insect beds are more or less extensively developed, and present many features of novelty and interest. I subjoin a Note with which Mr. R. Jones has lately favoured me, since his renewed examination of these little fossils. My dear Sir, The following are the characters of the minute bodies in the Fretherne limestone, as far as I have been enabled to work them out. They are discoidal, convex on both sides equally, ?!¥ inch in diameter, and ^ inch thick in the centre. The surface is very coarsely granulated, excepting a narrow out- side border on each face and the edge, which parts are but 244 Rev. P. B. Brodie on the Lias at Fretherne near Newnham, slightly roughened. The granulation in souk: specimens follows irregular wavy lines from the centre of the disc towards the border ; in others it is arranged somewhat spirally around the centre ; more generally, however, it covers the central space thickly and irregularly. Between the smooth border and the granulated central part is a slight, narrow depression, which is stronger in some specimens than in others. The edge is rather obtuse. When sections and transparent slices of these little bodies are examined, the whole body is seen to be coarsely crystalline ; but by means of lenses of different powers and under a strong micro- scope several important indications of structure may be recog- nized. The horizontal sections exhibit internal spiral walls (which are not, however, in the specimens I have yet manipulated, trace- able to the very centre), together with short, straight, cross septa, which latter are very visible in a weather-worn specimen from Purton. In the vertical sections are seen, on each side of the median line, the vertical tapering " columns M (originating in the local difference of structure in the shell tissue), character- istic of the Nummulite group, and traces of the central hori- zontal row of chambers. A line of fracture traverses this series of chambers, and sometimes brownish patches stain the calc-spar along this line ; but the shape of these chambers is not satisfac- torily shown. I have not yet been able to recognize the apertures of con- nexion between the chambers nor the aperture of the last outer chamber. The horizontal median line of chambers, spirally arranged, the vertical " columns," and the superficial granulations (which are continuous with the internal f columns ") are characteristic of the true Nummulite ; but unfortunately we do not know whether the position of the apertures of the cells in this little fossil cor- responds with that in the genus just referred to. Provisionally, however, it may be regarded as a Nummulite ; and, should you see no objection, it may be termed Nummulites ? liassicus. This form essentially differs from M. Bouvigny's Nummulina Humbertina, especially in external character and in size. The three Stichostegian Foraminifers from Purton are Denta- lina, belonging to two species. In shape one of them is some- thing like D. pauperata (D'Orbigny), and the other approaches D. Lorneiana (D'Orbigny). To describe and name these fossils without figures would not be advisable. I may here add, that some years since I obtained from a spe- cimen of Lias clay from Gloucestershire some minute fossils which may be enumerated with the above, viz. a Cristellaria and with an Account of some new Foramintfera. % 1 : a Vaginulinay which were associated with the Spirillina infima and a few Cytheres. I am, dear Sir, yours very truly, T. Rupert Jones. The Rev. P. B. Brodie, A.M., F.G.S. %c. Sept. 21, 1853. I must now draw your attention to certain gravel beds round Gloucester, which have not been sufficiently or accurately ex- amined, and which I hope some of our Members will shortly un- dertake to do. They are evidently of different age ; one of the most recent appears to be the alluvial deposits on the banks of the Severn, of which the following section in descending order affords an example, and was given me by Mr. Edwards, one of the engineers of the Gloucester and Chepstow Railway. ft in. Soil 1 0 Sand and red clay 10 8 Light blue clav 13 9 Peat , 2 0 Red sandy clay 4 0 Brown sand 1 10 Rough gravel 7 8 Sand and gravel 2 0 Fine gravel 5 10 Hard blue marl 2 3 Total 51 0 The above section was taken close to the Severn at Westgate (Over) Bridge. No shells are mentioned, but the thickness of the deposit is worthy of notice. The gravel round Gloucester is mainly composed of rolled fragments of Oolite and debris of Lias, and was evidently derived from the Inferior Oolite and Lias adjacent. Some pretty Oolitic Corals may be found in it, and occasionally bones and teeth of Elephant, Horse and Deer, but these are very scarce. During the excavations for the Great Western Railway at Stroud, many fine remains of Elephant, Rhi- noceros, Horse, Deer, and Ox were procured from the gravel, and several of these are now in the collection of our friend and col- league Professor Buckman. The summit of Wainlode Hill is capped by a bed of pebbles called the Northern Drift, and is chiefly made up of rolled and rounded pebbles of ancient rocks and some flints, which have travelled from the north and north- east. Another and very interesting deposit of gravel occurs in the u 246 Rev. P. B. Brodie on the Lias at Fretherne near Newnham. neighbourhood of Westbury, which clearly owes its origin to the destruction of the Old Red Sandstone in the forest, and of the Silurian rocks of Huntley, May Hill, and Longhope adjoining. Among other things it contains many beautiful Corals from the Wenlock limestone. I had hoped to have been able to have in- vestigated the Pleistocene formation generally in Gloucestershire, but unfortunately I have not had time to accomplish it, and I must therefore leave the task to abler and better hands. Of late these more modern accumulations have deservedly attracted the attention of geologists, and many interesting facts have been brought to light respecting them, and it is most desirable that they should be carefully examined and described in different localities. As I am so shortly about to leave this neighbourhood, to my great regret, I may be excused, perhaps, in conclusion, for pay- ing a parting tribute of regard to the geology of the district, to which I owe many days of health and happiness, and I can only say that I know of no other which presents so rich and import- ant a field of research, or one wherein a diligent and active lover of science may reap a more productive or abundant harvest. Within a circuit of twenty miles, nearly every formation, from the commencement of the lower Oolite down to the lower Silu- rian system, may be studied with comparative ease, and a good suite of fossils from each stratum may be collected. This, as many of you are well aware, comprises a very extensive series of rocks of vast extent and thickness, of great value in an cecono- mical point of view, and containing a varied and widely different fauna, by which we obtain a knowledge of the earth's history in past times, from one of the earliest ages up to a much more recent period. The sorrow felt on leaving a neighbourhood so instructive in natural phenomena is increased by the loss of these pleasant meetings, and the parting with many scientific friends, whose companionship has added a charm and a zest to the studies of the closet and the more active labours of the field, and must ever afford a great encouragement in the pursuit of those noble ends and grand discoveries for which geology is so pre-eminently distinguished. •J 17 On some new species of Trigonia from the Inferior Oolite of t/te Cotteswolds, with preliminary Remarks upon that Genus. By John Lycett, Esq. Read 19th July 1853. " Not only by their numbers, but still more by the richness of their spe- cific divisions, by the peculiar prominence of individualization, do the species of the remarkable genus Trigonia attain their maximum point in the lower chalk." — L. von Buch, Betrachtungen uber die Verbreituny uml die Grenzen der Kreide Bildungen. Bonn, 1849. Trigonia and Pholadomya are the two organic forms winch pre-eminently serve to impress a distinctive character upon the Testacea of the Oolite rocks in whatever countiy they are dis- covered, and accordingly from the time when fossil shells were regarded as mere freaks of nature, we find that authors depicted their Hippocephaloides and Bucardites. But conspicuous as is the position which Trigonia holds throughout the Oolites, the quotation above chosen, and the passages which immediately follow, are not the less true and worthy of notice ; they evince the strong impression made upon the mind of a distinguished and veteran palaeontologist by the remarkable prominence which the genus Trigonia holds amongst the Cretaceous Conchifera, both in its numbers and world-wide distribution, a prominence which appears not the less remarkable when we remember that the leading sectional oolitic forms of the genus had already nearly disappeared, and that a little higher in the series even the cretaceous forms exhibit a rapid diminution, until in the upper chalk a trifling remnant alone remains to indicate the forth- coming extinction of the fossil Trigonia , a loss which is not the less strongly felt upon a contemplation of the altered, and in some measure degenerated characters of the living species. But if the attributes claimed for the genus at the aera which im- mediately precedes the extinction of the Cretaceous species are well-founded, it will, I think, appear equally evident that at its primal sera in the earlier portion of the Oolitic system the genus had already acquired that prominence amongst the Testacea which Von Buch has so vividly described, and that the forms, dimensions, and ornamentations of the species were scarcely less characteristic and varied. Upon numbering the entire recorded u2 248 Mr. J. Lycett on some new species 0/ Trigonia species of Trigonia, it will be found that about two-thirds arc proper to the Oolitic rocks ; and although some little abatement must be made, for instances in which young individuals, varieties, or mere casts have been erected into distinct species, the predo- minance of Oolitic forms will remain, inasmuch as the Cretaceous species are not exempt from similar errors of augmentation. The inadequate manner in which the Inferior Oolite Trigonia have been illustrated, will appear, when it is stated that of the sixteen species recorded in the present paper, four only will be found illustrated in the range of English literature ; a fifth occurs in the ' Me*moire sur les Trigonees ' of Agassiz, and two others are on the eve of being published in a * Monograph of the Palseontographical Society/ leaving upwards of nine species un- figured, a number which will be admitted to be remarkable when we remember that M. D'Orbigny has only enumerated seven in his ' Prodrome de Paleontologie ' for the Terrain Bajocien of the whole of France, and M. Agassiz twelve from the entire lower Oolite rocks of Germany, France and Switzerland. The present examination of Inferior Oolite species has been suggested by the frequent occurrence in collections of Trigonia cost at a, clavellata and angulata, or of shells bearing those names, pertaining to nearly the entire series of the Oolitic rocks of England and France ; the aspect of these shells is so varied and dissimilar, that they agree with each other and with the typical forms of those species only, inasmuch as the first portion is costated, the second clavellated, and the remainder have their costse bent to form an angle. M. Agassiz, in his valuable memoir on Trigonia , arranged the species into upwards of eight sections, some of which appear to be separated by distinctions so transitive that it is scarcely pos- sible to apply them to a large number of specimens, except in an arbitrary and unsatisfactory manner ; a more simple arrange- ment here proposed will probably answer every practical purpose, and has at least the advantage of being more readily understood and applied ; the genus will thus form six sections, of which one, the Pectines, is recent only ; the five fossil sections consisting of the Costatae, the Clavellatae, the Quadratse, the Scabrse, and the Glabra?. The Costata have a figure more arched than the other sectional forms ; they have smooth regular longitudinal ribs, which are separated from the posterior slope or area by a carina more or less prominent, but which, with advance of age, often becomes nearly obliterated ; this is the marginal carina ; the area has transverse striations which are frequently decussated by lon- gitudinal plications, and by one or two, more prominent than the othei-3, that which bounds the area posteriorly being the inner carina ; should a third carina be present between the two others, from the Inferior Oolite of the Cotteswolds. 249 it is the median carina ; the lanceolate space posterior to the liga- ment is always plicated or reticulated. The Costata are remarkably prominent in the lower and middle Oolite rocks ; in the upper Oolites and lower portion of the Cretaceous series they diminish and almost disappear. The Clavellata accompany the Costata in their stratigraphical distri- bution ; in this section I would include the Clavellata, the Un- dulata, and the Scaphoides of Agassiz, all of which have their costae divided into tubercles, serrations, or irregular varices which are disposed in rows, either concentric, oblique or excentric ; sometimes they are bent to form an angle after the manner of the Goniomya ; the links which connect the one with the other of these features are too transitive to allow of any clear sectional divisions when they are applied to a large number of species, neither will the diiferences of form afford any more certain guide. In the Clavellata, as in the former sections, a carina more or less distinct separates the area from the tuberculatcd portion of the surface ; the area is transversely striated and is never large ; the lanceolate post-ligamental space is smooth, except in certain subcretaceous forms, which have the space strongly costated, as in the contemporaneous Scabra, to which they form a passage ; these are the T. sulcataria9 Lam., T. muricata, Goldf., and T. Lusitanica, Sharpe. The Quadrata have the figure rendered subquadrate by the largeness of the area, the upper border of which is nearly hori- zontal; its surface is flattened, and sometimes constitutes the larger half up the shell ; there is no marginal carina, neither is there any clear line of separation between the area and the tu- berculated portion of the surface ; the Quadrata are fewer than the Clavellata, which they seem to replace in the Cretaceous and upper portion of the Oolitic system ; Trigonia nodosa, Sow., is a well-known example. The Scabra constitute a fourth and very natural section, which are distinguished not less by their figure than by the beauty and variety of their ornamentation; tin ir figure indicates a change from the usual figure of the genus ; it is crescentic rather than trigonal ; the oblique costae are elevated and serrated ; they are continued across the depressed area, the separating carina (marginal) being replaced only by a smooth groove. The stratigraphical distribution of the Scabra is equally characteristic ; they are exclusively Cretaceous, and seem to re- place the Costata of the Oolitic rocks ; Trigonia alaformis and spinosa are examples. The fifth section, or Glabra, are destitute of costa, rows of tubercles or of carinae upon the area ; their sides have large longitudinal plications, and are nearly smooth; 7W- gonia gibbosa and affinis are examples : this section, of which few species are known, has not occurred beneath the upper division 250 Mr. J. Lycett on some new species o/Trigonia of the Oolitic rocks. The sixth section, or Pectines, is repre- sented by the living species of our Australasian seas, in which both the form and ornaments of the surface differ materially from those of the fossil sections ; the radiating crenulated costse and toothed edges of the valves remind us of the Lima and Pectines ; the very partial flattening of the posterior slope and general figure nearly resembles Cardium, but the internal characters have nothing peculiar. In tracing the vertical range of the species throughout the Oolitic rocks, it will be found that the facts coincide with others which have been recorded respecting the range of species per- taining to the other leading genera of Conchifera ; it is rare that a species ranges beyond a single formation ; and when its exist- ence was further extended, it occurs usually in the newer forma- tion, as a variety only, and bearing a physiognomy readily distin- guished from that of the typical form. The aspect of the genus seems to have undergone a very gradual but continuous change throughout the secondary formations, by which the sectional forms of the lower Oolites were modified in the upper Oolites, and finally disappeared as the Quadrates and Scabrce of the Cre- taceous rocks acquired prominence ; finally, between the latter aud the recent Pectines, there occurs a chasm not less zoological than stratigraphical, in which we lose the links by which pro- bably they were connected. In the discrimination of species, it is of importance to have correct ideas of the surface-markings which distinguish their young condition. In the Clavellata generally, the young shells have their concentric costse continued across the area ; the costse are slightly tumid and projecting when they cross the position of the marginal carina : in several instances the young of this section have smooth undivided costse, and such species as in the adult state have their costse forming an angle or undulation, do not exhibit any trace of such a feature until five or more costse have been formed. But if in the rudimentary condition we are often unable to distinguish forms which subsequently become widely separated, the individuals of a species are in their imma- ture stage all alike ; they exhibit no traces of that law which is afterwards developed to form varieties of a species. A common feature observable in the Clavellatce and Quadrates which tends to mask the species, consists in a confused or reticulated dispo- sition of the tubercles, which no longer form regular concentric or curved rows ; the tubercles also become irregular in size, or they are partially flattened and confluent in the rows ; it is not clear to what causes are to be attributed this unequal secretion of shell by the mantle at the lower border ; it is however quite distinct from another and final change observable in aged shells, from the Inferior Oolite of the Cotteswolds. 251 when the mantle ceases altogether to secrete ornaments upon the surface ; in the latter case a change occurs (sometimes sudden), in which the carinae upon the area, and the tubercles upon the sides of the shell simultaneously disappear, the last-formed por- tion of the surface being altogether destitute of ornament. The mineral character of the beds in which Trigonia occurs is very various; clays, argillaceous limestones, chalk, calcareous oolitic freestone, and shelly oolitic drift equally contain it, but the latter kind of deposit does not seem to have been favourable for its development ; for although specimens are abundant the size is dwarfed, and by far the larger number perished in the earlier stages of their growth. In England the oldest stratum which contains Trigonia is the Lias of Yorkshire, which produces the T. literata. Phillips re- cords it in the lower, and Williamson in the upper Lias, but the same formation has not furnished a single example of the genus throughout the middle and west of England ; in Switzerland and Germany the upper Lias has five species, none of which have been identified in England. In the Cotteswold Hills, Trigonia is first found in the beds of ferruginous oolite which immediately overlie the sands at the base of the formation, and which abound with Ammonites, Belemnites and Nautili, but the Trigonia are not numerous, and are only of three species ; in the freestone beds higher in the series, and which are so largely developed in Glou- cestershire, some local deposits have many species of Trigonia, but the genus does not acquire any particular prominence ; it is only upon reaching the ragstones of the upper division of the formation that we find Trigonia in abundance ; there it is asso- ciated with a large assemblage of bivalve mollusks, and less commonly with Echinodermata and Corals, but in either case the impressions of Trigonia often constitute a large proportion of the entire mass of the rock. The Inferior Oolite, in common with the middle and lower Oolitic rocks generally, contains, according to the present ar- rangement, two sections only of the genus Trigonia. In the following descriptions of species, the references to such as have been before figured and described are given as concisely as possible. COSTATJS. Trigonia costata, Lam. Var. 1. costata. Var. 2. mutticosta, Var. 3. pulla. Var. 4. sculpta. T. costatula, Lye. T. exigua, Lye. T. tenuicosta, Lye. T. hnnispharica, Lye. 252 Mr. J. Lycett on some new species of Trigonia ClAVELLATjE. T. striatat Sow. T. duplicata, Sow. 7". angulata, Sow. T. signata, Ag. T. tuberculosa , Lye. T. v,-costata, Lye. T. clavo-costata, Lye. T. Phillipsi, Mor. & Lye. var. T. subglobosa, Mor. & Lye. T. gemma ta, Lye. T. decorata, Lye. Trigonia tenuicosta, Lycett, n. sp. PI. IX. fig. 4 a. Shell subhemispherical, moderately large, the anterior and inferior borders rounded, the posterior border slightly concave ; umbones pointed, prominent and recurved ; costse very numerous, not much elevated, closely arranged, gracefully curved and almost united to the marginal carina ; area very large, its surface forms a considerable angle with the costated surface of the shell ; it has three carina?, the median and inner of which are small but distinct, and finely striated throughout their length ; the mar- ginal carina is delicate, striated, rather acute and very much curved ; the spaces between the carina? are very finely reticulated, the lanceolate space between the inner carina? is large and very finely reticulated. The great convexity of the valves and incurved figure of the umbones produces a considerable curvature in the marginal carina, and the costated portion of the shell near to the umbones is very narrow ; the length of the marginal carina is somewhat greater than the diameter of the shell at right angles to it. From Trigonia costata it is distinguished by the more acute recurved apex, by the small and finely striated marginal carina, by the delicate and finely striated median and inner carina? ; the costa? are much more numerous, and are scarcely separated from the marginal carina ; the entire form is smaller and unlike T. costata ; the area is alike in both the valves. It is somewhat rare ; all the examples have been obtained in the upper division of the Inferior Oolite. Professor Buckman has obtained it near Cheltenham ; my own specimens are from the Gryphite grit of Rodborough Hill near Stroud. Trigonia hemispharica, Lycett, n. s. PI. IX. fig. 2. Shell small, its length not exceeding 3 lines, veiy much arched, so that the diameter through both the valves slightly exceeds the c IX. ,r~^ J jj * W\ St-frfy*** MaUfitrfft -i ntcr J HWtJifCt* V.Vfy *nj from the Inferior Oolite of the Cotteswolds. 253 length ; the umbones are scarcely recurved, acute, contiguous ; the area is large, flattened, forming a considerable angle with the other portion of the shell ; it has numerous fine longitudinal plications faintly traced, there is no median carina, and the inner carina is very small ; the marginal carina is acute, elevated and finely serrated ; the other surface has numerous closely arranged longitudinal costae, which are united to the marginal carina. The large number of costae and the characters of the area in- duce me to regard this as the adult condition of the species, notwithstanding the small dimensions. A single specimen is my authority ; it is from the bed of hard pale calcareous mudstone, a local deposit which in the Nailsworth valley replaces the bed of Oolite marl and abounds with Nerinaa. Trigonia costatula, Lycett. PI. IX. fig. 5. Trigonia costatula, Lycett in Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1850, p. 421. Shell subtrigonal, convex; umbones mesial, not prominent nor recurved, anterior side produced and rounded, posterior side truncated; area flattened, finely striated transversely, divided longitudinally into two equal portions by a groove and bounded by two low carinae ; the marginal carina is imperfectly serrated, it is of moderate size and but little curved ; the inner carina is nearly smooth ; the space between the inner carinse is smooth and very narrow or lanceolate; the costae are numerous (about 21), moderately prominent and closely arranged ; they are but little curved, are separated from the marginal carina by a plain sur- face, their direction being nearly horizontal or conformable to the inferior border. In the ultimate stage of growth the costae posteriorly are broken more or less into several portions, which, however, continue to follow the general direction of the costae. In the immature form the costae are not separated from the marginal carina, and the area is traversed transversely by an equal number of prominent plications ; but these gradually vanish, and the costae become disunited from the carina, which then becomes serrated. The truncation at the posterior extremity is so consi- derable that the breadth of the area at that part is equal to half the entire length of the shell, or to three-fifths of the height ; the length of the marginal carina is 20 lines. The upper portion of the middle division of the Inferior Oolite has furnished the few specimens which have been procured ; the locality is Scar Hill near Nailsworth. Trigonia exigua, Lycett, n. sp. PL IX. fig. 3. Shell small, subtrigonal, depressed ; umbones mesial, not re- curved, anterior border nearly straight, oblique, posterior border 254 Mr. J. Lycett on some new species of Trigonia truncated ; area moderately large, flattened, transversely ribbed, and having an obscure oblique mesial furrow, no distinct carinae, the marginal carina being replaced by a series of small nodulous elevations upon the posterior extremities of the costae. Costae smooth, curved, closely arranged, rounded, and slightly bent upwards as they approach the area, their number being about fourteen. The costae upon the area are smaller and rather more nume- rous, for an intercalated rib is sometimes added. Specimens vary from 2 to 5 lines in length, the latter dimensions seeming to represent the adult form. From T. costatula it is distinguished by the much smaller dimensions and by the absence of any distinct marginal carina, the costae being continued over its position upon the area. Trigonia concinna, Rcemer, Nord. Ool. Nachtrag. p. 35. tab. 19. fig. 21. approximates to our shell in the general figure and dis- position of the costae, but his shell would appear to have greater convexity and a larger area, and the costae upon the area appear to be as large as those upon the other portion of the surface ; it is therefore probably a distinct species. Our little shell occurs not uncommonly in the shelly freestone of Leckhampton Hill ; it has also occurred in the same beds near to Nailsworth. Trigonia v.-costata, Lycett. PI. IX. fig. 7. Trigonia x.-costata, Lycett in Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1850, p. 422. Shell ovately trigonal, moderately convex, anterior and infe- rior margins rounded, posterior margin straight or slightly con- cave ; umbones obtuse, slightly recurved ; area narrow, flattened, its upper portion transversely plicated, its lower portion nearly smooth, divided in its middle by an obliquely longitudinal fur- row ; marginal and inner carinae but faintly marked and striated, the inner carina being crossed by several varices. The costae are very numerous, smooth and regular, they are directed from the anterior border obliquely downwards and backwards nearly straight to the middle of the shell, and there form acute angles with varices which proceed upwards nearly vertically to the mar- ginal carina ; the varices are slightly nodulous, they are fewer and larger than the anterior costae. The first eight or nine costae form only curvatures, and are not broken into two por- tions. The species which approaches most nearly to the present shell is T. angulata, Sow., but the figure of the two is different ; the latter shell is more elongated and rostrated, the posterior border is much more concave, the umbones arc more recurved, and con- from the Inferior Oolite of the Cotteswolds. 255 sequently the marginal carina is more curved and elongated ; the costae are less numerous, less regular, and the varices are larger and more distantly arranged ; they form with the costae rather an undulation than an angle, and are more conspicuously tuber- culated. In the young state the two forms would more nearly re- semble each other, but even in that condition the costae are more closely arranged in T. v.-costata. Some examples in the British Museum of a Trigonia collected by Miss Baker in the ferruginous Oolite of Northampton may be the young condition of the spe- cies ; to the same species may also be referred some small shells from the Dogger of the Yorkshire coast; these have smooth, straight, oblique costae, bent at a considerable angle, and have been labelled in collections T. angulata. The small T. tripartita, Forbes, from the Oolite of the Hebrides, has a certain degree of resemblance to our species, but the varices in that shell are fewer and much larger. From T. undulata, From., our shell is distinguished by the less convex form and absence of large tubercles upon the marginal carina ; the arrangement of the costae is nearly similar, but in our species they are much more numerous. In the Cotteswolds T. \.-costata has occurred very rarely in the middle or freestone division near to Stroud, and my friend Dr. Wright has obtained two specimens in the ragstones of the upper division near to Cheltenham. Trigonia decor ata, Lycett, n. sp. PL IX. fig. 1. Shell ovately trigonal, somewhat depressed ; umbones obtuse not recurved, anterior and inferior borders rounded, posterior border lengthened and straight ; area flattened, striated trans- versely, ornamented with three faintly traced carinae, or rather as many lines of closely arranged very small regular tubercles, the inner carina having in addition at its upper part a few irre- gular transverse plications or varices ; there is also a median divisional sulcus, which passes parallel to the median row of tubercles upon the area. The clavellated portion of the shell has a very numerous series of rows of concentric tubercles; the tubercles are small near to the marginal carina, and become larger towards the middle of the curvature ; they are distinct, rounded, closely arranged (15 or 16 being contained in a row), the number of rows being about twenty, the whole of which are distinctly tuberculated ; the lines of growth upon the sides of the shell are fine and distinct. The dimensions are equal to the largest examples of the clavellated Trigonia. This elegant shell is nearly allied to T. perlata, Ag., which is 256 Mr. J. Lycett on some new species 0/ Trigonia an Oxford clay species ; in that shell however the umbones are more recurved, the carinas have much larger tubercles, and the median carina has in addition a series of transverse varices which are absent in T. decor ata. It has sometimes been mistaken for T. clavellata, but differs from that well-known form in the fol- lowing particulars. The Inferior Oolite shell is less elongated, the umbones are not recurved, the posterior border is not concave, the general figure has less convexity, the area is more flattened, and the lan- ceolate space is much smaller and not striated; the rows of costae are more numerous ; the tubercles are more numerous, more closely arranged and less prominent. Another large cla- vellated species, the T. muricata, Goldf., approaches more nearly to the figure of our shell, but the Portuguese species ha3 the area much more narrow, the costae are less numerous, but much more elevated, the tubercles being larger and more distantly arranged. The figure likewise closely agrees with T. Bronnii, Ag., from the Terraine h Chailles or Oxford clay ; but the ornamentation of our species, both upon the area and the sides of the shell, is more minute and delicate, with more numerous rows of costae, the carinse having no distinct elevation as in the species of Agassiz. Trigonia decor at a occurs abundantly in the Trigonia grit throughout the Cotteswolds, but the test is very fragile, and is difficult to detach from the hard matrix. Rodborough Hill near Stroud has produced it in great numbers. Trigonia gemmata, Lycett, n. sp. PI. IX. fig. 8. Shell small, ovately trigonal, excavated and somewhat rostrated posteriorly, rounded anteriorly ; umbones obtuse, somewhat re- curved, surface moderately convex; area narrow, transversely striated and bounded on each side by a narrow, elevated and striated carina, which is also gracefully curled ; costae numerous, closely arranged, elevated, acute ; the upper third of the valves has concentrically curved and finely tuberculated costae, those which succeed are directed from the carina obliquely downwards ; they are straight, are regularly and densely serrated, the spaces between the costae forming narrow deep grooves. T. duplicata, Sow., approaches our shell in the general figure and in the arrangement of the costae, but the latter costae of T. duplicata are dichotomous and waved, the serrations being irregular ; neither of these features are observable in our shell. It is very rare ; the largest specimen is an inch and a quarter in length upon the marginal carina, and an inch in the opposite direction. I have only seen two specimens. Near Nailsworth, in the freestone beds. from the Inferior Oolite of the Cotteswolds. 257 Trigonia tuberculosa, Lycctt. PI. IX. fig. 9. Trigonia tuberculosa, Lycett in Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1850, p. 422. Shell small, depressed, ovately trigonal; umbones recurved, anterior and inferior borders rounded, posterior border slightly excavated ; area small, transversely striated, the striatums being large and irregular ; marginal and inner carina? narrow, elevated and striated ; the tuberculated costae are numerous (18 in the adult), curved concentrically with very densely arranged tuber- cles ; the tubercles are rather depressed, ovate or clavate, their longer diameter directed downwards. A pretty little species distinguished from the young of T. striata by the more numerous costae and by the peculiarities of the tubercles. It is rare ; for the present example I am indebted to the kindness of the Rev. P. B. Brodie, who has procured several spe- cimens in the shelly freestone of Leckhampton Hill. Trigonia clavo-costata, Lycett. PI. IX. fig. 6. Trigonia clavo-costata, Lycett in Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1850, p. 425. Shell subtrigonal ; umbones obtuse, not recurved, anterior side produced, its border rounded, posterior border straight, oblique and truncated ; area flattened, finely striated transversely and tricarinated ; the marginal and median carina? have regular mo- derate-sized tubercles, the inner carina has numerous transverse plications ; the other portion of the surface is ornamented with a few rows of concentric tubercles ; the tubercles are large, about eight in a row, the first two or three, and the latter one or two rows consisting of costae which are not divided into tubercles. Compared with Trigonia decorata, it is smaller and shorter pos- teriorly, the area has finer striations, the carina? have larger and more distantly arranged tubercles, the concentric costae have much larger tubercles ; they are about half as numerous as in T. decorata ; lastly, the few primal costae are smooth, in the other species they are tuberculated. A specimen in the cabinet of the author, and a second in that of Dr. Wright, are the only examples with which I am acquainted ; they are nearly of equal dimensions, and agree in all their cha- racteristic features. Length upon the marginal carina If inch, opposite measure- ment li inch. The building-stone of the Inferior Oolite which forms the upper portion of its middle division is the seat of this species, which has been obtained in the vicinity of Nailsworth. 258 Mr. J. Lycett on some new species of Trigouia Trigonia costata. Trigonia costata, Lam., Sow., Zeiten, Deshayes, &c. Typical form Costata. Anterior border truncated; umbones prominent, recurved; area slightly concave, with denticulated oblique plications, which differ in the two valves, the area of the right valve having two, three, or four large plications upon its anterior half, and no di- stinct median carina ; the area of the left valve has a distinct median carina, and four or five plications upon each side of it ; the inner and marginal carinas are prominent and dentated, the latter separated from the longitudinal costse by a depression ; lanceo- late space between the inner carinas reticulated; longitudinal costae slightly undulated, with a graceful double curvature re- sembling an elongated letter/. Var. 2. multicosta. This variety is much smaller than the typical shell ; it is some- what more depressed, its anterior border scarcely truncated, the area more finely reticulated, the costas equal in number to the typical form, but more delicate and closely arranged ; multicosta only attains about half the linear dimensions of the typical form ; it has occurred only in the bed called Gryphite grit. Var. 3. pulla. T.pullus, Sow. This small variety occurs both in the Inferior and Great Oolite of the Cotteswolds ; the larger specimens have a length upon the marginal carina not exceeding 20 lines, but few specimens are so large. The anterior border is not truncated, the carinas and the intercarinal plications are prominent ; in the Inferior Oolite it occurs in the freestone beds. Var. 4. sculpta. In dimensions this well-marked variety equals the typical form ; in ctrtain localities it occurs in the Gryphite grit in immense abundance ; it is distinguished from the typical form by several conspicuous characters ; the figure is less trigonal, the anterior border being destitute of any truncation ; the umbones have less prominence and are less recurved, the area is larger, flatter, it is less concave, and occupies a much larger proportion of the sur- face of the shell ; the marginal and inner carinas are larger, less curved, and in common with the intercarinal plications, they are much more strongly dentated ; owing to this prominence of the plications the median carina is much less conspicuous, the pos- from the Inferior Oolite of the Cotteswolds. 259 terior half of the area is more depressed than the anterior, so that a distinct mesial division is formed irrespective of the me- dian carina. In the young state the median carina is distinct in each valve, but in progress of growth that of the right valve de- generates into one of the common oblique plications. The costse are large and elevated, but they have not the graceful double curvature of the typical form. This variety therefore differs from the typical form in its pro- portions, its general outline, and in the greater prominence of its surface ornaments ; but the peculiarity which distinguishes the species in the character of its area is present in all the va- rieties, and serves to separate them from all of the allied costated forms. Trigonia costata is stated to occur over the whole of Europe, and there is even a presumed variety of it from Cutch, figured and described by Mr. James Sowerby in the ' Geol. Trans.' vol. v. 2nd Ser. ; it is, however, not improbable that a further acquaint- ance with the varieties of this shell and of allied costated species may lead eventually to altered views, both of their stratigraphical and geographical distribution. The costated Trigonia from the lower Oolite of Switzerland, figured by Agassiz under the names of T. lineolata and T. den- ticulata, would appear from his figures and descriptions to be distinct from T. costata ; the accuracy of the figures in the ' Pe- trefacta ' of Goldfuss is exemplified in the fidelity with which the artist has delineated the area of the right valve in the young spe- cimen, although its peculiarities are not alluded to in the de- scription ; the typical figure of Agassiz is correct, but it may as confidently be asserted, that the figure of the right area in the same plate has incautiously been transferred from the left valve, or it would have exhibited the peculiarities upon which I have insisted as marking the species. Trigonia angulatat Sow. Trigonia angulatay Sow. Min. Con. tab. 508. fig. 1. Trigonia clavellatat Sow. Min. Con. tab. 87, the two lower figures. Shell elongated and rostrated, posterior border concave, ante- rior border rounded ; umbones recurved ; area narrow, bounded by small crenated carinae; costs narrow, closely arranged, straight anteriorly, undulated posteriorly, where they form large tuberculated varices, the few last varices directed downwards. M. D'Orbigny (Prodrome de Paleontologie) considers Trigonia undulatay Fromberg, to be only a synonym of T. angulata : in tin- opinion I do not concur ; the figure of the two shells is essentially 260 Mr. J. Lycctt on some new species 0/ Trigonia different, T. angulata being much more elongated, and the urn- bones more recurved ; the surface ornaments of the shells like- wise differ; those of T. angulata are remarkably constant and invariable. T. undulata has not been recognized in the Oolites of England ; on the other hand, T. angulata has not been discovered upon the continent. T. angulata has occurred at many localities in the Cotteswolds, both in the middle and upper portions of the Infe- rior Oolite, but it is rare. The imperfect specimen of T. angu- lata from Little Sodbury, which is given in the two lower figures of table 87 of the ' Mineral Conchology ' as T, clavellata, has been the source of much confusion to subsequent observers, and has led them to catalogue clavellated specimens (usually imper- fectly exposed) as Trigonia clavellata ; but the figure in the same work of T. angulata is so characteristic, that it may be relied upon when the shell itself cannot be obtained for comparison. Trigonia duplicata, Sow. Trigonia duplicata, Sow. Min. Con. tab. 237. figs. 4, 5. Shell slightly rostrated, area narrow, carina? two in each valve, small, distinct ; costse narrow, serrated, the first few concentric, the others directed downwards, for the most part bifurcated and slightly waved. Should the T. Proserpina of D'Orbigny prove to be distinct from this species, it must possess peculiarities which are not alluded to in his ' Prodrome de Paleontologie/ where the brief description given agrees with T. duplicata. M. Agassiz (probably from an imperfect knowledge of the species) has placed T. duplicata with the Scabrce, but the very distinct marginal carina and the area destitute of transverse costse clearly remove it from that section, which first appeared with the species of the lower greensand. T. duplicata occurs in the upper division of the Inferior Oolite in the Cotteswolds, where the external impressions are not un- common, but the shell itself is rare ; it has also been found in the Great Oolite of Minchinhampton. Trigonia Phillipsi var. Trigonia Phillipsi, Mor. & Lye. Gr. Ool. Monogr. 1853, tab. G. fig. 1 . p. 62. Shell ovately trigonal ; umbones submedian, obtuse, scarcely recurved, anterior border rounded, posterior border short, trun- cated; marginal and inner carinse delicate, tuberculated and small ; area narrow, flattened, striated, divided in its middle by an oblique furrow ; sides of the valves with densely arranged, elevated, concentric, and finely indented or tuberculated costae. from the Inferior Oolite of the Votteswolds. 261 The present variety of the Lincolnshire shell, and of which I only know two examples, has the anterior portions of the costs rather indistinct, and their junctions with tne posterior and more curved portions form a kind of angle. A more detailed description will be found in the monograph above referred to. Trigonia siynata, Ag. Syn. Trigonia clavellata, Zeiten, Petref. Wurtemb. t. 58. fig. 3. T. signata, Ag. Mem. sur les Trigondes, p. 48. pi. 3. fig. 8. The most elongated and depressed of the Clavellata* ; the urn- bones are not prominent nor recurved ; the area is lengthened, flattened, nearly smooth ; carina? nearly obsolete, rows of tuber- culated costae numerous, directed downwards, tubercles equal, scarcely separated, placed upon raised costae. Rare : position the lower or Ammonitiferous beds of the Infe- rior Oolite near Stroud. Trigonia striata, Sow. Trigonia striata, Sow. Min. Con. tab. 237. fig. 1-3 ; Agassii, Me*m. sur les Trigonees, pi. 4, fig. 10-12. Shell somewhat depressed ; umbones recurved ; area flattened, bounded by two distinct narrow finely indented carinae ; costae raised, numerous, concentric, deeply serrated, and varying in their number. Trigonia Phillipsi, Mor. and Lye. Gr. Ool. Mon. would easily be mistaken for this species, but the Lincolnshire shell is shorter, the umbones not recurved ; the costae are much less raised, more closely arranged, and so finely serrated as to appear smooth to the unaided vision. Trigonia striata ranges throughout the Inferior Oolite of the Cotteswolds, and is abundant at Rodborough Hill near Stroud. Trigonia subglobosa, Mor. & Lye. Trigonia subglobosa, Morris & Lycett, Gr. Ool. Monog. Bivalves, 1853, tab. 5. fig. 21. p. 55. Shell nearly circular, convex ; umbones recurved ; area small, with three tuberculated carinae; costae large, closely arranged, angulated, their posterior portions forming a few large perpen- dicular varices. It occurs in the freestone beds near Nailsworth ; also in the Great Oolite : in both formations it is somewhat rare. 262 On the Cornbrash of the neighbourhood of Cirencester. By James Buckman, F.L.S., F.G.S., Professor of Geology, Royal Agricultural College. Read 20th September 1853. The Cornbrash as it occurs in the neighbourhood of Cirencester, though for the most part a very thin member of the Oolitic series of rocks, yet presents us with many points for consider- ation of great interest. In the counties of Gloucester and Wilts it is always found to rest upon a thick bed of Forest marble clay, a section at Kemble, four miles from Cirencester, being as follows in descending order : — 1. Cornbrash, an oolitic stone, with rough uneven fracture and ft. in. full of shells 8 0 2. Blue clay without shells ) Forest 17 0 Siliceous limestone ... / marble 6 0 4. Bradford clay, very fossiliferous 7 0 5. Great Oolite The bed No. 1, which it is our object to describe in the fol- lowing remarks, though of so slight thickness, is found to be the substratum of large tracts of land, especially in the neighbour- hood of Cirencester, Fairford, Cricklade, and Malmsbury; in each case presenting great and beneficial peculiarities of soil, not only when compared with that upon its surrounding forest marble, but also in comparison with other oolitic brashes; in- deed, its name " Cornbrash " would appear to have been given to it from the fact that its soil affords a brash or stony soil favourable for corn crops, which is far from usually being the case with those either of the Inferior or Great Oolitic beds ; in- deed our observations of crops upon what the Cotteswold farmer calls " stone brashes " of the district, when compared with the Cornbrash, would lead us to conclude the following as a fair average grown upon an acre in bushels : — 1. Stonebrash, Inferior Oolite. 2. Stonebrash, Great Oolite. 3. Cornbrash. Wheat Bushels. 15 to 20 25 to 30 25 to 30 Bushels. 20 to 25 30 to 35 35 to 40 Bushels. 25 to 30 40 to 45 45 to 50 Barley Oats On the Cornbrash of the neighbourhood of Cirencester. 263 The average rent may perhaps be gathered from the following table:— the acre. 1 . Stonebrash, Inferior Oolite 7*. to 20*. 2. Stonebrash, Great Oolite 14*. to 25*. 3. Cornbrash 20*. to 40*. This great difference in the productive powers of soils, which a cursory examination only would lead to the conclusion were nearly alike in character, may, to a considerable extent, be ex- plained by the following analyses, which were made by Professor Voelcker from specimens which I had the pleasure of procuring for him ; and it may be remarked in passing, that as the analyses were made by the Professor in order to ascertain the different constituents of the rocks and not the soil, in each case typical hand specimens were presented to him, and the result singularly explains observed facts with regard to the crops upon the re- spective substrata. Result of analyses by Professor A. Voelcker : — Inferior Oolite. Great Oolite. Cornbrash. Carbonate of lime 89-20 •34 •09 4-14 •06 2-75 327 undetermined. 95346 •739 •204 1-422 124 1016 •533 undetermined. 89195 771 •241 2978 177 1-231 4-827 undetermined. Magnesia Sulphate of lime Oxide of iron Alumina Phosphoric acid Insoluble siliceous matter... Alkaline salts 9985 99384 99-420 These analyses show that the phosphoric acid and sulphate of lime — two important chemical agents in the growth of crops — greatly predominate in the Cornbrash ; and besides this, the thick- ness of Cornbrash soil is always greater than that upon the Stonebrashes, as this rock more readily breaks up and becomes disintegrated by atmospheric action. These remarks tend to show the great practical advantage of geological and chemical knowledge, and fully explain how a successful farmer near Cirencester has converted a " brash farm " — which is in general a term of reproach — into one of the most productive farms in the district, this brash being the fertile Corn- brash. But not only is this thin stratum of interest on account of the tine crops which it yields, but it will ever present a charm to the geologist from the rich harvest of fossils which it x 2 264 Prof. J. Buckman on the Combrash of the everywhere contains ; indeed, the reason why it crumbles down so readily is probably owing in part to its being composed of shells, which are merely cemented together by a calcareous ma- trix, whilst the phosphates of the rocks are doubtless derived from its imbedded animal matter ; hence our examination has not only afforded a tolerable list of species, but several forms are numerically so great, and offer so many curious types, as to de- serve a more attentive study than has yet been accorded them. Now in giving an account of the fossil contents of the Cornbrash, it must be understood that my facts are solely derived from ob- servation in the quarries of my more immediate district and are consequently incomplete, and as a lengthened list of fossils could only be the more tedious the more copious its details, I pro- pose in this place to append a mere summary of its remains, making remarks upon its more interesting palseontological features. Summary of Cornbrash Fossils from the neighbourhood of Cirencester. Species. 1. Brachiopoda 7 2. Conchifera 30 3. Gasteropoda 10 4. Cephalopoda 3 5. Annelida 4 6. Zoophyta 3 7. Echinodermata 8 65 An interesting feature in the natural history of the Brachio- poda, is that five forms of Terebratula, namely the T. lagenalis, sublagenalis, obovata, ornithocephala, and digona of authors (see Davidson's memoir on Oolitic Brachiopoda by the Palseontogra • phic Society), are all referable to one species ; this is a fact ar- rived at by a comparison of hundreds of individuals, and that the author just cited seems to have almost arrived at when he says, in his description of T. lagenalis, !' This species has little to distinguish it from T. ornithocephala, into which it seems to merge by insensible passages," p. 42. As regards T. sublage- nalis, the same author remarks, u This species is always accom- panied by T. lagenalis, of which it may perhaps only be a va- riety/' p. 43 ; and further, " It is not difficult to find species uniting ornithocephala to lagenalis, and this last to sublagenalis ; but as the typical shapes of each are well distinguishable, it will be found convenient to retain them under distinct specific names." The Terebratula digona, he says, " often approaches in general form and convexity certain specimens of T. obovata." Here then a wide subject for discussion seems to be opened neighbourhood of Cirencester. 2G5 up ; for if we are to found specific names upon typical specimens, the question is, where are we to stop ? certainly in the case before us, not with five species. And again, if we admit the specific identity of the five types under discussion, is it not probable that even these are but derivative forms that may, in like manner, be identified with others ? Our own materials certainly tend to this conclusion. In this district the five forms quoted, though not altogether, yet for the most part, affect distinct localities ; hence the T. la- genalis and sublagenalis will be found congregated in masses in the Fairford quarries, while the T. obovata, from being a rare exception with them, becomes the rule between Cirencester and Cricklade. All these, however, are at Malmsbury replaced by the T. digona, which, as yet, is the only instance in this district in which I have observed the latter shell straying from the Bradford Clay, of which I have been used to consider it charac- teristic. The only remaining Brachiopod I shall here mention will l»c the T. intermedia, ' Min. Conch.' 1. 15. f. 8 : this is undoubtedly, to say the least, a form of T. perovalis. This opinion again is borne out by Mr. Davidson, as he says in his Memoir, p. 53, " Ter. intermedia bears some resemblance to T. perovalis ; some specimens are undistinguishable." Now as this latter is an abundant fossil of the Inferior Oolite as well as Cornbrash, the sequel will show its recurrence to be of great interest. Our next remarks will be upon the Conchifera, the chief in- terest of which will be found in the fact, that in our summary of thirty species, twenty-one or two-thirds can be identified with Inferior Oolite shells, and those for the most part of individuals which have always been held as highly characteristic of the Lower Oolite beds ; this will become apparent from the following List of Fossils common to the Inferior Oolite and Cornbrash of Gloucestershire. 1. Amphidesma securiforrae, Phill. 12. Modiola gibbosa, M. C. York. (Gresslya.) 13. plicata, M. C. 2. decurtatum. Phill. York. 14. Mya hterata, M. C. 3. recurvum, Phill. York. 15. Ostrea, undetermined (perhaps 4. Astarte excavata. several species). 5. Avicula ineequivalvis, M. C. 16. Pholadomya Murehisonar, M.C. 6. Cardium citronoideum, Phill. t. 545. York. 17. gibboaa. 7. diasimile, M. C. 18. Plagiostoma duplicatum. 8. , undetermined. 19. Pecten. 9. Isocardia concentrica. (Ceromya.) 20. Trigonia costata. Id iniuima. 21. elavellata. 11. Lima gibbosa, M. C. 491. Here then we have evidence of an older fauna reappearing in 266 Prof. J. Buckman on the Cornbrash of the force in a newer bed, and that bed of a very insignificant thick- ness; these facts, while they should make us cautious in assign- ing limits to the range of fossils, may at the same time account for much of the confusion felt in the history of the Oolites of Britain, which only becomes the greater on comparison with the " Jurassique " of the continent. These remarks are the more pertinent, when it is understood that in Phillips's f Illustrations of the Geology of Yorkshire/ nearly all, if not every individual species figured as characteristic of the Cornbrash are amongst the more common examples of Inferior Oolite fossils. Now these species, except in a few instances, are not common alike to the Great Oolite of this district, but a reference to Morris and Lycett's ' Monograph of the Mollusca of the Great Oolite, chiefly from Minchinhampton and the coast of Yorkshire/ will tend to explain how the parallelism of the Inferior Oolite and Cornbrash species of this district could be maintained by the Great Oolite of the more northerly oolitic deposits. In the introduction to the memoir cited, p. 6, are the following re- marks:— "The evidence afforded by the few species of univalves which have been forwarded to the authors from Scarborough, through the kindness of Mr. Bean, though not conclusive, tends rather to assimilate them with the Inferior Oolite, and the authors are led to the following very satisfactory explanation. Admitting therefore the parallelism of the deposits containing somewhat distinct faunas in the north-eastern and south-western parts of the present area of England, we are naturally led to infer, either that the physical conditions might be favourable to the continuation of species in one locality, or that species cha- racteristic of an older deposit, in a more distant region, may have migrated and lived on during the formation of a newer de- posit in another, the conditions having become unfavourable to the perpetuity of their development in the latter deposit over the original region whence they had migrated." There is now only one other part of our summary of fossils which seems to claim attention, and that is the Echinodermata. Of these at least six out of eight are common to the Inferior Oolite, namely — Nucleolites = Clypeus. Ilolectypus = Galerites. 1. sinuatus. 4. depressus. 2. clunicularis. 5. Acrosolenia hemicidaroides. 3. orbicularis. 6. Diadema depressura. Of these the Nucleolites sinuatus and Holectypus depressus are highly characteristic of the Inferior Oolite. In concluding these remarks, it should be understood that neighbourhood of Cirencester. 267 they refer only to a limited district. Were our observations ex- tended over the whole range of the Cornbrash, as it occurs in this country, we should doubtless arrive at additional facts, both as regards the structure and agricultural capabilities and also its fossil contents : we may indeed expect the list of the latter to be greatly augmented, and in all probability other species common to the Inferior Oolite will have to be noted in addition to those in our present list. 268 Remarks on Libellula Brodiei (Buckmari), a Fossil Insect from the Upper Lias of Dumbleton, Gloucestershire. By Professor Buckman, F.G.S., F.L.S. As our associate, the Rev. P. B. Brodie, is leaving this district, I have much pleasure in calling the attention of the Members of the Cotteswold Club to the interesting discoveries of fossil insects from the Lias, which he has principally made within the limits of our more immediate operations, namely in the county of Gloucester ; and this I think right to do now with the more immediate object of settling a question of nomenclature, and in order that our 'Proceedings ' may perpetuate his name as attached to one of the most beautiful and perfect specimens he has yet dis- covered, to whom the following remarks will show that it was originally dedicated. In order to render this the more clear, it will be necessary to state that while Mr. Brodie was prosecu- ting his inquiries in the Lower Lias, in a band of which, termed by him the ' Insect Limestone/ he succeeded in exhuming re- mains of almost every class of Insecta, I had the pleasure of finding among others a fine wing of Libellula in a thin band of limestone in the Upper Lias : this discovery was announced to the Geological Society in a short paper " On the occurrence of Remains of Insects in the Upper Lias of the county of Glou- cester;" and in vol. iv. part 1. page 211 of the ( Proceedings ' of the Geological Society will be found the following remarks: — u The remains of insects comprise one species of Libellula, which, from the reticulations of the fine wing, seems to belong to the genus JEshna, and has been named by Mr. Buckman Mshna Brodiei in honour of Mr. Brodie." Between this (June 21, 1843) and the publication of the 2nd edition of the ( Outlines of the Geology of the neighbour- hood of Cheltenham/ in 1845, 1 had the pleasure of discovering another fine wing, and this and the previous one were first figured in that work, tab. 8. figs. 1 & 2, with the following de- scription : — " Fig. 1 . Posterior wing of jEshna Brodiei. " Fig 2. Anterior wing of ditto." showing that I had arrived at the conclusion, that these two wings should both be referred to the same species. However, later in the same year, Mr. Brodie published his Prof. J. Buckman on Libellula Brodiei. 269 highly valuable ' History of the Insects of the Secondary Rocks/ in which work (pi. 8. figs. 1 & 2) the same wings are beautifully figured by Mr. Westwood, with the following explanatory re- marks : — " Plate 8. fig. 1. A remarkably fine wing of Libellula. " Plate 8. fig. 2. An equally fine wing of an Agrion.** These at p. 101-2 of the same work are named — "Fig. 1. Libellula Brodiei. 44 Fig. 2. Agrion Buckmanni.** So that here we see that not only were these specimens doubted as belonging to the same species, but are positively assigned to distinct genera. However, in 1848, Mr. Brodie's labours were rewarded by finding a most perfect Libellula in the same bed, with the four wings attached to the nearly perfect body. This unique speci- men will be found figured in the ' Quarterly Journal of the Geo- logical Society/ vol. v. pi. 2, and an examination of the fossil shows that the anterior wing is identical with that referred to Agrion Buckmanni, and the posterior to that of Libellula Brodiei ; and at page 35 of the ' Journal' for 1848 is the following state- ment : — " According to Mr. Westwood, the wing figured in my work on * Fossil Insects/ p. 8. f. 2, is not an Agrion as there sup- posed, but belongs to the same species as the one above described n (jEshna Brodiei, Buckman) ; and further, " Mr. Westwood con- siders that it will be better to adopt Libellula as the generic title, while the peculiar veining of the wings will form the ground for a provisional subgeneric one, which he names Heterophlebia ; hence I propose provisionally to name it Libellula {Heterophlebia) dishcata, Brodie*." Now it is quite clear that according to proper custom the specific name should not have been altered, so that, as the two specimens cited were after all found to resolve themselves as I supposed into one specific form, however my generic name might have been changed — for which I can see but little reason — yet the specific one should have remained intact. This beau- tiful specimen therefore should be designated as Libellula jBro- diei (Buckman), as it was originally dedicated to the author of 4 Fossil Insects ' when even a single wing was one of the best insect specimens that had been obtained, and he is not the less worthy of having his name preserved for the perfect example. These remarks are made not only with the hope of correcting * Broriic in Journal of Gcol. Soc. vol. v. p V 270 Prof. J. Buckman on Libellula Brodiei. what I have deemed an error, but they may be useful as showing us how cautious we should be in founding genera from frag- ments : this is a most prolific cause of synonyms, with which no science is so overloaded as geology. Cirencester, Sept. 1853. Address read to the Cotteswold Naturalist*' Club, at their Winter Meeting, held at Cheltenham. By T. Babwick Lloyd Bakeb, Esq., of Hardwicke Court, President. ~ Gentlemen, Another year has passed over the Cottcswold Club— another year of joyous and instructive summer meetings — and again wo have assembled at our winter gathering, with, ostensibly at least, the solemn purpose of a business meeting, for auditing accounts and levying taxes — somewhat relieved perhaps by a review of the pleasures and profits of the past year, which it becomes my pleasing duty to lay before you ; and by such anticipations of the future, as may be given by our fixing on tho localities to bo visited next summer. Five summers have now passed over our Club — and hitherto I think all will agree, that each succeeding year has brought us additional strength, prosperity, and enjoyment. Our numbers have increased to such a degree, as to compel us to throw almost churlish difficulties in the way of more admissions, lest we should become weakened by the very exuberance of our strength, and bo obliged to relinquish one of tho most agreeable of our habits, namely, tho meeting in the small and unambitious hostelries of tho remoter parts of the country, and be driven to seek accommodation for our increased numbers in the larger inns of the towns. "While — with regard to riches — it is a fact well known to all political economists, that wealth is best evidenced by the amount of taxa- tion ; how greatly, then, has our prosperity increased, since we have risen from our first annual contribution of sixpence, to our present call of two shillings a head. But let us commence our recapitulation of last year's proceedings. On Jan. 22, 1850, our Club met for tho winter gathering, on a truly wintry day, at Cirencester ; and after breakfast proceeded to the Museum of the Boyal Agricultural College. On our way thither, meeting Mr. Wilson, the Principal, he shewed us a deep cutting which was being made to lower a hill in tho road behind the College, which, in spite of the frosty air, detained many of our geologists in a warm discussion. Thence, accompanying tho Principal through the spacious Laboratory of the College, we found our kind and zealous friend, Mr. Buckman, in the Museum, in which, besides a good fire, were tho numerous trays of fossils in their geological series. Through these he led us in one of his animated and instructive lectures, commencing with tho Encrinites Trilobites and Terebratuh of the Ludlow Limestone, when having arrived at the borders of the Lias, Mr. Brodie relieved him, and described the Insects of the Stonesfield Slate, which he had been the first to study and describe. He observed that most of the forms found in this formation were nearly allied to the recent genera now found in temperate climates, and it is probable that they, together with the plants which have been recently figured by Mr. Buckman, for the Geological Society, had been carried out to sea by large rivers for many miles. Mr. Buckman then continued the series by describing the Icthyosaurus of the Lias and the great variety of Ammonites found in that formation — and it is on record that ho promised us a paper on this interesting group — (and if the said promise* be not redeemed, the sooner the Attorney General of the Club commences proceedings both for this and for one long promised on the mistletoe bough, the better, as his papers are far too valuable to be lost for want of exertion). Mr. Brodie then did the honors of the Inferior Oolite, commencing with Mr. Strickland's section of Leckhampton Hill, and passing to the Great Oolite with its numerous Starfishes (the Astropecten Cotswoldice, (Buckman,) among others, which it was unanimously voted should be adopted as the Great Seal of our Club) to the Bradford Clay, (of which formation, be it noted, that the remains of between a hundred and fifty and two hundred species have been collected at the Tetbury Road Station,) and concluding with the Forest Marble. After this our worthy Secretary, Sir Thomas Tancred, read us a resume of the proceedings of the Club for the past year, the sites of our future operations were fixed, and the large sum of two shillings a head being voted as our annual subscription, we adjourned to dinner at the Swan ; and in the evening Mr. Buckman read us his paper on the materials used in constructing the tesselated pavements at Cirencester (illustrated by his very beautiful coloured tracings of the pavements) ; and Mr. Lycett read another on the Trichites, a shell of the Oolite formation. Mr. "Wm. Henry Hyett, of Painswick House, and Mr. ¥m. Vernon Guise, of Elmore, were then elected members, and the President and Secretary, it was agreed, should be permitted to try whether they could do better for the ensuing year than they had done for the last ; and after some discussion on the inconvenience frequently occasioned by members not replying to the Secretary's notice of the meetings, and thereby rendering it impossible to know what preparations to make — it was voted, " That if members do not answer the Secretary* % notice they will not be expected ; but that if they give notice of their attendance at any meeting and do not come, they shall be charged with such share of the Secretary's liabilities for the day, as the members present shall find necessary, unless they be prevented by illness or professional duties." On April the 30 th, we commenced the meetings of our fifth summer in the same spot in which we had first assembled to call our Club into existence, the (to us at least) ever-memorable Birdlip Hill. And, many as are the points of the Cotteswolds that we have 3 soen since we first met hero, there is scarcely any from which is seen so well the field of our exertions and pleasures. After breakfast the Club separated into two parties ; the one a professedly botanical section — but mainly incited by a love of archaeology — proceeded eastwards, towards Brimafield, and the truly curious and beautiful church of Elkstone. But what they did, and what they saw, must remain unchronicled, as Mr. Bayly, who undertook to furnish notes of their proceedings, has not, I fear, porformed his part, and their transactions are thereby lost to the world. Of the other section, however, it is recorded that they — leaving the south-westerly route, which was followed at our first meeting in July, 1846, to Witcombo Woods, the Roman Villa, and Cooper's Hill — now struck northward towards Leckhampton, and meeting Mr. Brodie near the top of the hill, and Mr. Lycett and Dr. Humble soon after, we had a most interesting discussion on the beds of the Inferior Oolite, which, though not seen here in any one section, may be examined in detail by following the Cotteswold range from S. to N. from the Great Oolite which caps the summit, to the Pisolite ; and in one spot Mr. Brodie detecting the blue colour of the lias, and some workmen's tools lying opportunely at hand, Mr. "Wilson and Mr. Holland soon succeeded in uncovering sufficient to shew the junction of the base of the Inferior Oolite with the upper Lias. .Returning, we followed the edge of the hill, crossing the valley of Crickley Hill, in the springs on the side of which we found many fresh-water mollusks, and several specimens of the newt or eft, Lacerta Lacustris. We returned to Birdlip in time to meet the rest of our party, now greatly increased, who, in the exercise of their botanical studies, had collected a large quantity of a species of agaricus, which was forthwith cooked pro bono publico ; but, on its appearance at table, Mr. Buckman entertaining some doubt as to whether it was an edible or poisonous species, and having an argu- ment thereon with some of his neighbours, the dish was detained till the point — and the fungi too — were discussed, when it was at length simultaneously decided that the mushrooms were wholesome and excellent, and that — the dish was empty. After dinner we drank the health of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, on whose model we had formed our own Club on this spot four years before — and separated to meet at Gloucester, on the 18th of June. On this day we met to breakfast at the Spread Eagle, at Gloucester, and thence walked to Mr. Brodie' s, at Down Hatherly, to see — I will hardly say his collection of fossils, for that would have taken us nearer a week than a day to examine, but — such small part of it as the time would allow. We then saw the school — largely endowed by the munificent Mr. Page Wood, to whose unassuming liberality the county is in many ways deeply indebted (the state of the school reflecting great credit on its master), and proceeded to the banks of the Severn. Wainlode Hill, our next point, is a small eminence on the bank of tho Severn, with an abrupt cliff, showing very beautifully in a section of nearly 100 feet in depth, the junction of the lower Lias with the upper beds of the new Red Sandstone. Mr Brodie, in his work on Fossil Insects, has described tho section of the upper part of this cliff — but as the paper I am now reading is intended solely for distribution to the members of our own Club — and its value, if there be any, is only that of a hand-book to portions of our own county — I trust he will permit me to copy it. Beginning at the top, we find, ft. in. 1. Black Clay (to the depth of) „ 3 0 2. Hard blue limestone, with ostreae and other shells .... 0 4 3. Yellow shale, with traces of fucoids , 0 10 4. Grey and blue limestone, " Insect limestone " 0 5 5. Marly clay , 5 3 6. Hard yellow nobular limestone — with shells like cyclas a sp. of renio or myacites — Plants (naiades) cypris, and — rarely — scales of fish 6 to 8 7. Yellow clay , 9 0 8. Black shale .•••"•: .• 3 ° 9. Hard grey stone with impressions of fucoides in the upper surface, with scales and teeth of fish 0 1 10. Black Slaty clay. 11. Pecten bed — a hard dingy brown stone, with much Py- rites, and Pectens and other shells 0 4 12. Black shale 8 0 13. Bone bed — here a hard thin stratum full of Pyrites, and composed of bones, scales and teeth of fish ; connected with this is a white and yellow sandstone full of casts of Palustra arenicola 0 3 14. Black shale 2 0 This reposes on green and red conchoidal marl, forming the upper beds of the new Red Sandstone, exposed to the depth of about 6.5 feet. The total height of the cliff is nearly 100 feet, and the beds dip gradually to the S.E. — Fossil Insects, p. 58. From the cliff we returned to Gloucester; Mr. Buckman, during our walk finding specimens of the Lathyrus nissolia, or crimson Grass Vetch, and some other plants of interest. We also saw, so far as any of us had observed, the first wheat of the season in ear. At our after dinner proceedings, Mr. Buckman announced a new habitat for the Thlaspi perfoliatum, which had been discovered by Mr. Bell, a student at the Royal Agricultural College ; this was in a Great Oolite quarry on the top of the Sapperton tunnel, and it was remarked that at its original station, at Burford, Oxon, and its other Gloucestershire habitat near Stow-on-the-"Wold, from both which it is now said to be extinct, it had always effected this particular stratum of the Oolitic limestones. Mr. B. also made some remarks upon a new species of star fish, which he exhibited from the Great Oolite of Minchinhampton, which was observed to present an intermediate form between those previously described from the lower part of this rock and those of the chalk. This specimen is now being figured by Professor Forbes, and what spite its discoverer — like tho cross godmother fairies of old— could have taken to so interesting a species, I know not, but he would give it no better name than Astropecten Bdkeri. Mr. Brodio read us his observations made during a tour on the Oolite formation in Lincolnshire, comparing it with that which forms so large a part of our district. A comparison of the fossils of the two districts lead to an animated discussion on the identity of tho species of coral found in our Inferior Oolite, with those found in the same formation in Germany; diverging into a discussion on the distinctions between species and varieties, which was prevented from lasting to tho present hour, only, by tho threatened departure of the Cheltenham train, which dispersed our members for the day. On July the 30th the Club made a second attempt (having failed in their first, four years before) to discover a specimen of fine weather in the Forest of Dean, and this time we succeeded admirably. Crossing the Severn, at Newnham, we breakfasted, and walked to the Churchyard, commanding a splendid view of the Horse-shoe of tho river, and thence crossing the line of the railway, we ascended the Newnham Baily, the ridge of which, covered with magnificent oak and beech timber, gives views on the one side of the rich and cultivated Vale of the Severn, and on the other of the dark woods of the Forest. Here Sir Martin Crawley Boevey and Dr. Bird, meeting us, guided us through the Abbots woods to the beautiful Sudeley valley, and the iron-stone pits at Shuckmantle, peculiarly rich in their ore, to a huge steam engine on the Cornish principle, erected by Mr. Crawshay to pump the Lightmore coalpits. Mr. Crawshay had kindly given orders not only to permit us to see all we wished, but had also provided us with some trucks and a pair of horses to convey us along the tram-road to near Bullow Pill, from whence we walked to Newnham to partake, inter alia, of a fawn, presented by Sir Martin Crawley Boevey. In the course of the day Mr. Jones took a specimen of the Strangalia attenuata beetle. The Scutellaria minor was also gathered ; and the Polypodium oreopteris and Blechnum borealo were found in large numbers. In the evening Mr. Lycett's paper on the fossils of the middle division of the Inferior Oolite was read, in his much regretted absence, by the Secretary, and the Club adjourned with many thanks to tho Gentlemen of the Forest who had so kindly assisted us. On September 1 7, we met for tho last time that Summer, at the Swan Inn, Wootton-under-Edge, and considering the distance from the homes of most of the Club we had a large attendance of members, besides many friends, who living in tho neighbourhood, greatly assisted us by their local knowledge. Ascending by the old road (now nearly disused but more favourable to Geologists from its deep cuttings than the new road) 6 to Rushmire turnpike, pausing awhilo to admire the view, we turned to the left, by the grounds of the Ridge — the seat of Mr. Bengough — and crossing "Waterly Bottom, ascended Stinchcombe Hill, from the summit of which — near Drakestone — Mr. Strickland gave us a most interesting Geological dissertation ; shewing that the Welsh Hills had probably stood boldly forth, and far more loftily than at present, at a period when none of the rest of England had emerged from the waters. It is most curious to observe how the sciences — even when not studied together — lead to the same result : but this is exactly the same conclusions, apparently, as has been arrived at by the students of Welch history, and fully accounts for the proverbial length of the Welch Pedigrees. Returning by Stancombe and Kibley, we concluded our meetings of the summer of 1850, with Dr. Wright's account of his summer geologizing in the Isle of Wight, which appears in our papers : and Mr. Douglas Campbell proposed a scheme for a society for promoting botanical research to extend the knowledge of our own Flora. And now, at the end of our year, let me again congratulate the Club on the progress we have made, not so much in the addition of fresh names to our list, as in the increased pleasure and interest in our pursuits which our members evince by their more frequent attendance. Our parties this year have seldom fallen short of twenty. Our papers have risen both in number and value, and I would fain hope that the facility which our meetings afford may have led some to take increased interest, and have afforded others increased oppor- tunity for our great and noble study. In addition to the two first objects of our club — namely, the obtaining some knowledge of our own county, and the general study of any branch of Natural History which each may prefer^it will be a great pleasure to us if we can assist in the carrying out of any more specific scheme for the study of any one branch of nature (such as that proposed by Mr. Douglas Campbell, of St. Chloe Grange, near Stroud,) for the better study of the flora of our own country. The scheme appears well- arranged, and I hope that it may be taken up in such a manner as to ensure the success it deserves : yet, let me be allowed to say, that I hope, that if it be so, a resolution may be entered into by the Club, that — dcsireable as it may be to collect rare specimens — it would be most unworthy of the Society to encourage the spoliation of the nature which it professes to admire ; and that the increased number of dried specimens of a rare plant, in collections, would be dearly indeed purchased by any considerable decrease of the same plant in its natural locality. The greatest care should he taken when a rare plant is found, only to remove so small a portion of the total number, as not to risk any considerable diminution of its quantity. (The cheering here was so loud that the opinion appeared to be unanimously adopted by the Club.) And now we are on the subject, will you forgive me if I venture a suggestion upon collections in general ? / The custom of collecting is now greatly on the increase, and the result, or perhaps the cause, is the increase of the noble study of nature ; yet it is often to be regretted that the collection is com- menced too vaguely, and without duo consideration ; in which case much of the labour is usually wasted, or at least misdirected, or even (which is not uufrcquent) it is given up in disgust. Let us try whether we may not suggest the cause of this failure, and some rules for its avoidance. « Some half century ago Collectors and Museums were almost universally laughed at ; and, I fear, in many cases most justly. A museum of that day (I speak, of course, not of the few collections of tho truly learned, but of their unworthy imitators,) appears usually to have been a collection of heterogeneous objects, whose only interest consisted in their rarity, and the only pleasure con- templated by the possessor, was, the being able to say that he had got such and such things which others had not. In these days happily a better taste is shewn ; and Collectors now bring together objects, not for the mere sake of the possession, but with a view to the assistance which may be obtained from them in the study of nature. Now as more errors arise, probably, from mistaking the means for the end, than from any other known cause, let us constantly bear in mind that the end — the only end worth aiming at — is, the increasing our lovo and reverence to the source, the Creator of all nature, by gaining an additional degree of know- ledge of Him through His works. One of the means to acquire this, is tho study of any branch of nature to which our opportunities or our inclination may most dispose us, and one of the best means of pursuing this study, is the forming a collection which may enable us to familiarize our minds with its objects. Commenced with this -view, a collection becomes a matter of the noblest interest ; while if commenced from the mere desire of posses- sion, without any definite end, although it may, and often does, lead to study, yet until, or unless, it does so, in what degree is it superior to the practice of the tame magpie, who collects any objects which he considers curious, and with much the same end in view. Why should we wonder, then, when we see many who have begun without a definite object, throwing up their collections in disgust ? But if a collection is to be commenced solely as a means to assist ourselves and others — in the study of which ever of the wonderful and beautiful branches of nature we may select for our object — the more we can keep the end in view the more satisfactory is it likely to be. There are indeed few who can resist some degree of triumph or pleasure in the possession of a rare species, even though the species — barring its rarity — may bo the least interesting of its genua ; and this is to a certain degree desirable, inasmuch as it tends to ensure tho preservation of the specimen ; but a true student will guard carefully against the excess even of this feeling. In forming a collection of any kind, we should begin by consider- ing which of two great objects wo prefer, and then make our selection accordingly. Some prefer taking up some comparatively small department of nature, to study as it were, microscopically, as closely as possible : the humming birds or pigeons, for instance, among birds ; — the papilliondce amongst insects; — or the orchidacea) or coniferae of the vegetable kingdom ; — while others prefer the larger field, and study ornithology, entomology, or botany in its wider range. It u not for me to say which is the preferable of the two (farther, than to hazard an opinion that the more minute student is more likely to be of service to others, while he who takes a larger field will gain the more pleasure and improvement for himself; that the first will be the more quoted as an authority ; the latter will be the happier man) but it is at least most desirable that some care should be given to deciding which of the two lines we should take, in an early stage of our progress. If we take the wider range, we should endeavour to procure only two or three species of each genus, or even of much larger group, according to the facilities we are likely to have of collecting an equal proportion of all the classes, while in the latter case we may probably have a hope of nearly rendering our collection perfect, with some degree of fear least the un- philosophical triumph of being able to say " my collection is com- plete," may supersede the quiet feeling of joy that we have so great means for the study of so great an Mid. But in either case if we only commence the task of collecting — not with the spirit of a miser who enjoys the mere possession of the gold he cannot or will not use, but with the calm and philosophical feeling of one who rejoices in riches, for the sake of the good use he can make of them ; — if we consider our collection not as end in itself, but simply as a means to facilitate in ourselves and others the study of nature — this great study in itself being regarded, the while, only as a means to lead our minds upwards from nature up to nature's God. Then, indeed, it is that a collection rises in value and interest ; nor is that interest likely to wane — nor the collection itself to be abandoned in disgust to the ravages of the damp and the moth — if it be based upon the same study which has called into existence and has hitherto given so much interest to the meetings of the Cotteswold Club. POSTSCRIPT. As this Address goes forth to the Great "World (of the Cotteswold Club) without the usual concomitants of scientific papers, (Sir Thomas Tancred having — I think unfairly — robbed it of all the sugar plums lawfully belonging to it, to add them to his own address, which, like the good wine that needs no bush, had merit enough to have stood alone) — I think myself fortunate in being permitted to append the two following morceaux which — if not of the strictly scientific character usually displayed in our papers — shew at least the variety and scope of our studies in the learned languages. The first may be taken as a model for the kind of application for admission to the Cotteswold Club, usually expected from the Candidates (we wish we may get — many such). The second is especially valuable to the members of a Gloucester- shire Club (though apparently not actually written by one of our members — what then — are we not to claim the Astropecten Cotteswoldias (Buckman) unless we prove that Mr. Buckman made it ?) — especially valuable, I say, from its retaining in its purity a specimen of that noble and classical language formerly spoken in the Vale of Gloucestershire, ere the inexorable rod of a ruthless host of English schoolmasters had swept it from our country. 10 ODE. AD SOCIETATEM COTESVOLDIANAM. Horatkcsculm, apud Corinium, accessu inopinato podagra cegrotans. ostracismo pendente, relegationem deprecatur. Codice Latino M Integer vitao, scelerisque purus Non eget Mauri jacuhs, neque arcu, Nee venenatis gravida sagittis, Fusee, pbaretra ; Sive per Syrtes iter aestuosas, Sive facturus per inhospitalem Caucasum, vel qua) loca fabulosus Lambit Hydaspes : Namque me sylva lupus in Sabina, Dum meam canto Lalagen, et ultra Tenninum curis yager expeditis, Fugit inermem : Quale portentum neque militaris Baunia in latis alit esculetis; Nee Jubae tellus generat, leonum Arida nutrix. Pone me pigris ubi nulla campis Arbor sestiva recreatur aura ; Quod latus mundi nebulae, malusque Jupiter urget : Pone sub curru nimiimi propinqui Solis, in terra domibus negata ; Dulce ridentem Lalagen amabo, Bulce loquentem." Hor. Od. xxii. L. 1. canini reddito. Innoeens vitis, cellar-isque purus Non eget morbi pilulis neque haustu, Nee podagrosos medico levanti Fussy dolores ; Sivepermo3stumviaMinchinhampton, 5 Sive per Stroudee loca jactitantis, Painsvicive alti, vel inhospitalis Bislis agenda est ; Namque per sylvam mihi Michaelis, Dum meos sector socios, et extra 10 Terminum fumis vagor expeditus Defuit hostis : Quale tormentum generant culinse Gallicae dulces epulas ferentes, Autmerum fervens Paridis, podagras 15 Humida nutrix. Pone me in curru fugiente pennis, Quatuor quales elementa prasstant ; Quod latus Glevi, Vapor aut benignus Baker adoptet ; 20 Pone qua, docti coeunt propinquis Montibus nomen Socii petentes ; Dulce ridentes Socios amabo, Dulce loquentes. Sic, precor, quando venit Ostracismus 25 (Ut sit, et non in Sociis, Hiatus) Ne cadat saevam renuens in urnam, Calculus ater. H. H. ANNOTATIONES. 4. Fussy.] Nominative Auctoripse. 5. Sive per, &c.] " Mincing Hampton and Painswick proud, Beggarly Bisley, and strutting Stroud." Urbes, ob Societatis in singulis con- cursus, celebrandae. 9. Sylvam Michaelis.] Anglice Mic- klewood per quam cum Sociis HH prius erraverat. 11. Terminum.'] — Ti® ferreae. The Station. 11. Fumis.] Ang: Steam. 12. Hostis.] The enemy, gout. 15. Merum fervens.] Gallice Cham- pagne mousseux. 15. Paridis.] Castigatius Lutetiae. 16. Humida nutrix.] Ang. the wet nurse. 18. Quatour elementa] Ignis, aqua. Terra coal, et aer steam. 19. Vapor.] Pro machina vapore impulses. 20. Baker.] Hujusce Societatis Pnesc s dilectus. 21. Propinquis Montibus.] The Coteswolds. Inde Societas Cotesvoldiana 28. Calculus ater.] A blackball. ' Caculus immitem demittitur ater in urnam .' Ov. Met. 28. H. H. Horatiusculus Hiatus ? 11 Gloucester, March 22nd, 1851. Mr. Knowing what a condescendin good sort o genelman you bo un as wat tha calls feel natral istory is a gettin very popolar I teeks the liberty a sendin ya 2 or 3 little hannigotes a hannimals as I ha ad from time ta time in my passesshun un hopes thayl proove uz emusin uz instructiv, uz we sais in our nayberhood, to your club. I kips a public at Kingshome un as my customers princeply drops in ov a evnin bein a hous o call for jurnemen taylors un uther rispectublo treedsmen, in consekence my mornins beent verry much okkypied, un as I hallis ad a turn for observetion I a payd a good deal o tention ta what e calls dimestic hannymals un when you a yeerd my story I thinks youl say as how werry few poaple a livd on such hintimit terms we un, un consekently knauws moor about um, un so without furder preefece I shull enterr on my nurretion. About 12 mos ago I ad 2 pigs brothers un sisters thay was about 2 mos auwld when I had um fust un thay yused to run about o the kitchin un pic up tha crums ur watever else tha cud find in tha sheep o grub tul tha got 2 sassy, for my missis got az fond on um az if tha wus er auwn blessed babbies un let um do jest as ad got a minded un atween um bwoth we ad a verry nice time on it. If the missis wus a peerin tha teeters ur shellin a few peese tha rind un shells at last wuzent good enuf for um but thay must teek thair chaico afore we cud put by our whack out on um un thayd teek 1 anothers part so as we dussent saay as the ouse wus our auwn tul as I wus obleeged ta shet 1 on um up in tha sty We called one on um Jo un tother Sally. / thinks as jo wus tha sensy blest o tha 2 but Sally wus tha most mischieviousest un uz wee kep um seppereet why I shul giv you a count on um sepereetly Jo kep a good deel ta do about bein shet up ut fust un yewsted ta cry un whine for all tha wurld like a babby wenever a seed tha missis un I thawt as her ad a pretty ny broke er hart cos I oodn't let her go un let un out but at last a got a kyind a reconciled like un begun ta look out for other emusement un what dy think a went un dun — why a begun bird ketchin. I ad a dyuse of a lot a robbins in tha garden un tha yusted ta cum un get at tha grains un uther hodments uz I yewsed ta put fur tha pig. I a sin 3 ur 4 ut a time a different parts a tha sty ut a time 1 a tha trauw, unother a top a tha raylings un tother a jigging about a feared a tother 2, we a bit uf a fite atwizt um casionully. Wen Jo ad ad anuf ad yused ta lay down of is sido jest uz eny uthur genelmen mit do with is cheek jest a restin a tha side a tha trauw fur a piller un watch tha robbins. Wen thur wus a bit uv a skrimmage among um ud look uz pleezd you can't think un grunt un sort a laff ta isself like tul 1 de a took it inta is yud to ketch I on um uz cum reether 2 neer toon, un skrumped un up jest like a nut. Well ater that a wus allis a bird ketchin un was up to all sorts a mooves at that theer geem. Ater a'd cleered out tha trauw pertty well a'd jest skatter about a fecaw grayns athin reach uv is nose, un lay down un pretend ta go ta 12 sleep, un then twaz warrhock ta any sparra or whitefinch or robbin ithcr uz cum athin is recch. But tha got up toot at last, un specially tha sparras ; un then wot dy think a dun — wy a turnd to upon the Rots, We ad all at once tha dyuce un all a rots, un wher tha cum from why Ime shure I dwont knauw, but awever tha seemed to use ta get ther prog princaply from tha pigs vittells. "Well, at fust, a seemed ta use ta like ther cumpney un wen tha did cum 1 or 2 at a time, a'd look quite pleesed un stand un watch um un talk to um like jest as a used to do along a tha robbins but when tha birds got shire un tha rots moor numerouser un did cum J a duzn ur a duzn at a time, 1 de quite onexpectedly a piches into um un massycrees 2 on um un ater that wenever a seed a likely chance heed fly at um jest like any uther reglar bred tarrier un a yused ta kip up them ther geems up ta tha de uv is deth wich took pleece soon ater a wus seesed for my rent wich somehow or nother unfornutly got into rare. Now as for Sally she wus allis of a weeklier constitution like as we ma say un dident thrive not neer sa well un so we yused for ta let her run in un out a tha taproom un bask afore tha fire along a tha ducks which I shal ave more ta say about them presenly but a got sassier nor ever Now ther was 2 or 3 fellas a mendin the rodes jest bi our ouse un 1 de tha cum in jest ta ave a pint a beer ath ther dinners wich was bred un chees or summut a that deskryp- shun rapped up in ther ankychers. 1 on um appened ta put down isn for a minnit un I be hanged if Sally dident collar it un finished it (ankycher included) amost afore a cud say Jack Robison. "Well ater that none on um cud leave a hankycher about or cum into tha house ath 1 in his hand but her must knauw all about it un see what a'd got in in but blessy a'd yused ta sarve we wuss nor that. Sumtimes when weed got a bit a beecon un greens or anything a that sort the missis ud teek up tha greens out a tha top a tha pot un put um upon the pleet upon the teeble fust (cos we allis likes um biled along a the beecon tha be so much richer) while her wus a getting out the beecon un I do assure you as if I wusnt standin sentry like all the time Ime blessed if that ther pig woodnt either jump up on his ind legs on the teble or else upset un un cler tha dish a evry teter or green as was in in afore a could well look round. Now tha observetion as I got to meek about that ther is as this here when a pet dog or amost any other sort a pet a dun anything a roguery he knows on it un'll cut away from e but a pig on't — he'll stand un grunt un snort un squeak at e like a bear un bully e out on't. But a got sa mischievious at last as I coodn't kip un no longer a did offend so many a our customers un so I sowld un to a man at Santers fur amost nothin at all jest ta get rid on in — but I had ard work ta get tha missis ta part with un thauw. Pon me life tha partin atwixt thay 2 wus quite cuttin un a got out a is sty un cum un see us once or twice ater that. I dwont 13 know what he fed un on ator a left we but a'd got sa chaice then as a'd ardly yet anything but bred un butter. The last I yeared the poor cretur wus as a'd died a very pertty pig a about a fourteen score. Now thems what I considers very interesting hannygotes of a dimestic pig but them ther ducks wus 2 sech ducks as you don't see evry de barring as 1 on um wus a dreck. Tha wus Mus-covys un wus give ta me by Dr. Wells a Nordon I never seed 2 kinder harted creeters in my life Tha meed ther- selves at homo as soon as ever tha cum to us un after a bit tha got sa fond on us as wenever me or my missis went ta tha pump (not having no piece a water for um dy see) thay'd run jabberin up un woodn't let us go away or be at quiet tul weed pumped on um un geed um a good dousin un then thayd go in a doors un lay ther- selves down afore the fire to dry un if we offered for to go away from the pump without doing on it for um thayd run ater us un peck our legs un heels a good un. la got one on um now — the dreek— but Ime sorry to say as I lost tother about 12 Mos ago un you never see nothin more affectin nor the last moments o that ther duck. Some time afore — some wicked rascal of a dog — how I wish I'd a ketched him ony praps I shoold a sarved him amost too bad — geed er a tightish nip 1 de un thow with a good deal a nussin un coddlin my missis brought im round again un a was got quite cheerful like a allis walked leem un limped a good deal un didnt seem to injay hisself so well as formyly. Ater a bit a wuzn't so well agyan un seemed uz if there was summut az wazn't quite right in her inside. "Well now my wife ad bin verry queer fur a wick or 2 with a bad complaint in her chest un one de tha duck seemed wuss nor ushal if anything un my wife was a nussin on her in her lap afore the fire un a seemed very thoughtful un all at once her says says her "I say Jem if I was to give the poor duck a dose a my medsan" says her "I shoodn't wonder if it didn't do un good for it have certnly done me a good deal " says her. And so " Well" says I "praps 'tood. Ime agreeable" says I an so wo geed un two teble spoonfuls a tha chest mixter. "Well the poor creeter shook his hed un didn't seem to like it for a bit but at last a got quieter un seemed to be agwain off to sleep un all at once after a'd a layd quiet for about a ten minutes a tried to rouse isself up like un begun ta sheek is yed agean as if to say az twus no go— a give a fayntish queevering kind of a quack un then a looked up in my missisess feece un died in a minnit. Now thats I considers a very interestin annygote of a Muscovy duck an its my firm belief as thercs very few people as knows what affection dimestic animals may be brought to for um for want a treetin on um properly but all as Ive got to say about it is this here which is as if its of any use to you or the Cotsuld club as its verry much at your service un I remain Sir Tour humble servant to command JEEMS NICKS. 9n mu«j \ .3 fMr^ , «~7l \