y “4 1 we 7 / Y Pty - ut i Se eeabed baer ih : deen), MAD, . ~ he 5 " -~a : = wt ro} U > i PL on ee) Y " ’ - 4 | ns } F Ww J ‘ay 7 ware | 4s 4! wD t y, % , iw RAS ee Ore ; / | ¥ /h P35 j 4 4 a ¥ * ae f x Rak PROCEEDINGS OF THE COTTESWOLD NATURALISTS’ FIELD CLUB. VOLUME III. Minaiceer: PRINTED BY JOHN BELLOWS, WESTGATE STREET. 1865. wt : & oem ¥ 4 wt Ya e a a ee As\ — CONTENTS. Notes on the Ammonites of the Sands intermediate the Upper Lias and Inferior Oolite. By Joun Lycerr, M.D. On some Sections of the Lias and Sands exposed in the sewerage works recently executed ‘at Serodd. By E. Wircue 11, F.G.8., Stroud # Annual ct read at eit ooltanke 26th How), ‘1861. By W. V. Guisz, F.L.S., President : : On the Drifts of the Severn, Avon, Wye, and Usk. By the Rev. W. 8. Symonps, F.G.8., Rector of Pendock Geology of Churchdown Hill, (Part 1.) By the Rev. FrepErick Smirnz, M.A., Member of the Cirencester Natural History Society, &c. j : : , : Notes on Calmsden Cross. By CHARLES Pooury, Esq., of Weston-Super-Mare : Annual Address, read at the Ram Inn, Bisdbcoice: 26th Feb, 1862. By W. V. Guisz, F.L.S., F.G.8., President List of Land, Fluviatile, and Lacustrine Shells, found in and near the county of Gloucester. By Jonn JONES ‘ Notes on the High Crosses of Bristol and Gloucester. By CuHar.LESs Poorey, Esq. . Z : 5 On Gryphea incurva and its varieties. By JoHn JonEs . On some Flint Instruments found on Stroud Hill. By J. Jonss Annual Address, read at Cheltenham, March 4, 1863. By W. V. Guisz, F.L.S., F.G.S., President . : On the Natural: History, Geology, &c., of Sharpness ‘Point District. By Joun Jones Report on Miss Hoxiann’s Collection of ake Fossils, By Tuomas Wricnt, M.D., F.R.S.E., F.G.S. PAGE List of Reptiles found in Gloucestershire. By Joun Jones On the doubtful Nativity of Daucus carota and Pastinaca sativa. By J. Buckman, Professor of Geology and Botany On the Ammonites of the Lias Formation. (Part 1.) By THomas Wriceat, M.D., F.R.S.E., F.G.S. Notes on the pe ee of Clearwell, ane anid Lydney. By Cares Pooxey, Esq. Notes on an Ancient British Tumulus at Mengeiel epee va the CotteswoldClub. By J. Buckmay, F.G.S., F.L.S, F.S.A., Report on the Skulls from the Tumulus at Nympsfield. By Joun THurnHAM, M.D., F.S.A. : Letters from Joun Jones and R. F. Tomes on the postion of Gryphea incurva in the Lower Lias at Bridgend 3 Annual Address, read at Cheltenham 9th March, 1864. By W. V. Guiss, F.L.S., F.G.S., President . On a Deposit at Stroud Hill, containing Flint Saini Land and Freshwater Shells, &c. By E. WitcHE Lt, F.G.S. Notes on the Ancient Cross at Iron Acton. By CHaArRuEs Pootey, Esq. On the Rhetic or Avicula contorta Beds at Binion “Clift, Westbury-upon-Severn, Gloucestershire. By Robert Eruerines, F.G.S., F.R.S.E. . : On the Ammonites of the Lias Formation. (Part 2.) By Ponta Wricat, M.D., F. RSE, F.GS. . Annual Address, stds at Clouser 29th March, “1865. By W. V. Guisz, F.LS., F.G.S., President . 157 160 162 180 184 189 191 195 208 212 218 235 246 Notes on the Ammonttes of the Sands intermediate the Upper Inas and Inferior Oolite. By Joun Lycert, M.D. ‘l'nE annual presidential address to the Cotteswold Naturalists’ Club, 1860, p. 184, comments upon the Fossils of the Sands intermediate the Inferior Oolite and Lias, and contains remarks which have induced me to offer the following notes illustrative of the Ammonites contained in these sands, and intended to afford a concise analytic examination of their natural history, characters, and geological distribution. It has hitherto been generally considered that they all belong to the Upper Lias, by which term is usually understood in this county all the shales, clays, and argillaceous sandstones (the Lias Epsilon of Quenstedt), superimposed upon the Middle Lias, or Marlstone, and beneath the sands which for the most part underlie the Inferior Oolite in England. The following facts will, however, probably be considered very much to modify this view, and to show that a large proportion of these Ammonites have no connection with the Lias Epsiion, but are special to the sands, also, that three of them are boundary species, and have only a very limited vertical range, occurring at the junction of Sands with the Upper Lias (e), the others at the upper boundary of the sands, and appearing at some foreign localities as species of Inferior Oolite, but in England as species of the Sands. The establishment of these facts will also tend materially to remove an apparent discordance which appears to exist between the Cephalopoda and Conchifera of the Sands, the former being supposed to be exclusively Liassic, the latter consisting of Inferior Oolite and special forms, together with a very small minority of Liassic, the latter also passing upwards only to the lowest fosilliferous zone of the Sands. The following table has been drawn up to shew the vertical range of the Ammonites of the Sands, excluding those which are special to the Lias beneath them. A ee ee SS SS eee Upper Lias. = Inferior Oolite. Ammonites opalinus ac ee ee ae ied — dispansus aD ae oe = *—_—___ Aalensis ae as a = —— discoides ve ae oe = serrodens . on . aa Comensis ee 56 - = —— Hircinus 3e 50 re i] Leckenbyi .. me Ab + = — Boulbiensis .. a ta Jurensis Ps *——___——. radians 4 DE Rea insignis (2 varieties) el *—____— atriatulus Se variabilis emg —— fimbriatus .. EL *+__ crassus .. no +*—________ ]] minsterensis CoE — complanatus EEE The Sands have been divided into three portions as they contain three fossiliferous horizons at several localities in the Cotteswolds. The two species which are stated to pass upwards into the Inferior Oolite are given upon the authority of Professor Quenstedt and of Dr. Oppel, the former of whom has figured them (Jura, pl. 42 and 45) from the Brown Jura ‘a’ of Wurtemburg, in England they have not been found higher than the Sands. It will be perceived from the foregoing table that of the thirteen Ammonites found in the upper portion of the Sands at Frocester Hill, and other localities, eight do not pass downwards to the Lias, nor lower than the highest bed of the Sands; that the other five occur throughout the Sands, and also in the upper Lias; and that the remaining five species of the lower Sands are also Liassic, but do not pass upwards into the Sands higher than the lowest fossiliferous. band near to their base. All the Ammonites of the lowest zone in the Sands are therefore Liassic, but one of them (A. variabilis) isa boundary species, and passes downwards into the Upper Lias only a few inches, as will be found in the sands on the coast of Yorkshire, at Ilminster, at Nailsworth in the Cotteswolds, and in France. Of the Ammonites in the Upper Sands two are also boundary species, they have been found rarely very near to the upper boundary of the Sands at Frocester Hill, one of them (A. opalinus) has also occurred in the same position at Burton Bradstock, Somerset, and at Blue Wick on the Yorkshire coast. In Wurtemburg, on the other hand, both species occur * These species occur abundantly in the Cotteswolds. ss 5) only above the Sands in black clays and shales, associated with a fauna which isto a great extent local and peculiar. Of the Ammonites of the Upper Sands 4. dispansus and A. Aalensis, two of the more common forms, are not Liassic, the former more especially probably equals in its numbers all the other Ammonites at Frocester Hill. I will now proceed to offer some remarks upon the Ammonites, seriatim, and in the order in which they appear in the table: Ammonites opalinus, Reinecke. This is one of the more rare forms of the genus in England, where it occurs only at the upper boundary of the Sands; in Wurtemburg, fragments of it are stated to occur in immense numbers at a somewhat higher position at many localities. Ammonites dispansus, Lycett. This was long confounded with A. variabilis, and it has only been after a comparison- of very numerous specimens of both species, and of all stages of growth, that it has been found necessary to separate them; their geological position is also quite distinct, 4. dispansus occurs only in the Upper Sands, 4. variabclis does not pass higher than the lowest fossiliferous bed of the Sands, both are very limited in their vertical range and neyer occupy the same horizon. Both in the young and adult conditions of growth A. dispansus is always more discoidal than the other, the figure of the back more especially differs in its acute keel, the tubercles upon the inner margin of the volutions are much more faintly marked, and unlike those of A. variabilis they are irregular, they give origin to numerous fasciated delicate sigmoidal radii ; in 4. variabilis the radii constitute rigid, nearly straight, and comparatively prominent ribs, the septa in A. dispansus have the lobes much more simple, less pointed, and less produced, the test is preserved very rarely and only in young specimens, it is delicate and exhibits the fine hair like sigmoidal radii much more distinctly than the casts. Specimens and fragments are very abundant at Frocester Hill, at Haresfield Hill they are present but are badly preserved. The largest specimen in my possession is 53 inches across, but very few exceed 3 inches. Ammonites Aalensis, Zieten. Perhaps none other of the group of the Falciferi exhibits so great an amount of variability in the ornamentation of the surface as this species does, for the most part the varieties upon which its synonyms are founded have each a distinctive character, and their names may be retained for as many true varieties. It has only been after the acquisition of a multitude of examples that I have ventured to arrive at this conclusion, and to select the thirty specimens on the tray before me to illustrate all these varieties, for which purpose a smaller number would but inadequately illustrate them. Two of these synonyms, Ammonites comptus, Rein., and .A. costula, Rein., have priority, but as the former is only a young tumid abnormal variety, and the latter a rare A2 6 and very inconstant variety, it will be preferable to adopt Zieten’s well-known name A. Aalensis, which represents the typical form though not an adult one. D’Orbigny’s figures of A. Aalensis represent the aged and young conditions of the typical form, his figures of the septa are more complicated and the lobes more produced than is usually seen even in old shells. The first three or four volutions have large, elevated, nearly straight, sometimes fasciated ribs, which gradually become less conspicuous until they are not distinguishable from the faintly marked folds of growth, in old specimens these costated volutions are nearly concealed by those succeeding, which are almost plain. The second variety ‘ Costula,’”’ Ammonites costula, Reinecke, A. Aalensis costula, Quenstedt, A. Actwon, d’Orb. (?) is usually more tumid than the typical form, and has narrow, curved, distant, and nearly regular coste, which disappear towards the keel; in the adult state the costce become irregular, and gradually disappear. This is a small rare variety. The third variety “ Regularis,” Ammonites regularis, Simpson, from the sands at Blue Wick, and from Frocester Hill, is also a small variety, and more tumid than the typical form; it has acute elevated curved radii much more closely arranged than in costula, and in some instances they are nearly regular and equal for an entire volution, in other instances the costos are less conspicuous and more unequal, but they are scarcely fasciated, it is comparatively rare. Simpson places this form in the Middle Lias, which is an error, as I have ascertained from comparing the original specimen in the Scarborough Museum with other examples from Blue Wick. The fourth variety ‘“‘ Comptus,’’ Ammonites comptus, Reinecke, is distinguished in the young state by fine closely arranged sigmoidal radii, which are fasciated at occasional intervals by folds of growth, subsequently they are not fasciated and gradually disappear; Reinecke’s figure represents the young condition of this variety which accompanies the other varieties in the Upper bed of the Sands at Frocester Hill. The fifth and largest variety ‘‘Mooret,’’ Ammonites Moore, Lycett, figured and described in my little work, ‘‘ The Cotteswold Hills,” is more nearly allied to comptus than to the other varieties in the characters of its radii, which, however, are not fasciated, they are very fine, acute, but not altogether regular or equal; in large specimens more than half of the last volution is destitute of ornament. A comparison of Zieten’s figure of A, Aalensis with that of 4A. Moorei will form my best exouse for having in the first instance failed to discover the affinity of the two forms; their dissimilarity is indeed so great that it will require some faith in the foregoing statements to realize the idea of their specific unity in the absence of a good series of connecting specimens. The varieties of A. Aalensis may therefore be arranged into the following groups, 7 disregarding the intermediate and connecting links, some of which form an absolute passage from the one to the other. Ammonites AAtEnsts. 1. Aalensis, A. Aalensis, Zeten. 2. costula, A. costula, Reinecke. 3. regularis, A. regularis, Simpson. 4. comptus, A. comptus, Reinecke. 5. Mooreit, , Plate 1, represent specimens of ordinary type from Purton, near Sharpness Point. Figures 2, 28, 2b, Plate 1, are half grown, and 3, 4, 4%, more advanced forms, in neither of which is the beak obliquely incurved, but is very nearly central,—the lateral lobe is scarcely traceable in either of these specimens, while it will be observed that the smaller valves differ much in character. On comparing figures 2 and 4 with fig. 3, that of 3 is seen to be exceedingly massive, composed also of very thick plates, and rising prominently above the margin of the lower shell, whilst those of figures 2> and 44, being formed of thin laminz, are concave, and, as seen in profile, with scarcely any portion of them visible above the margin of the lower valves. All these are from the Ammonites Bucklandi bed at Purton, where they occur in immense numbers, and in the best possible state of 86 preservation, both in the limestone layers and in the clays. Figures 3 and 4 may appear of greater width than usual in proportion to their length, but if studied in the inexhaustible series always to be found in the locality indicated, the observer may speedily convince himself, that every conceivable form intermediate to these, exists there, and that these extreme forms, as well as others hereafter to be described, are not only united, but virtually inseparable. Figures 1, 14, 1>, and 2, Plate 2, are taken from two specimens of Mr. W. C. Lucy’s collec- tion, from the Pentacrinites tuberculatus zone, at Fretherne. The side furrow upon these is remarkably distinct, and may be traced to the extreme apex of the beak, giving rise to a corresponding ridge in the smaller valve. This peculiarity, which instantly forces itself upon the attention of the observer, who has previously visited Purton Cliff, as it seldom or never presents itself in specimens from that locality, has doubtless its physiological value. The smaller specimen, Fig. 2, Plate 2, exhibits most of the characters of Gryphza obliqua, but placed in juxta-position with the larger, the possibility of its being other than a less advanced stage of the same species, cannot for a moment be enter- tained. These with Figures 1, 14, 1, Plate 5, and Figures 3 and 4, Plate 4, represent full grown individuals, than which very few attain to greater size; and it is noticeable, that the patriarchal giants of their race, presenting the most distinctive characters of G. incurva, are not found where examples are most readily procurable, and in the largest number, but in higher stages than the A. Bucklandi or P: Tuberculatus zones, particularly in the lower portion of the yellowish grey clays, which lie between the zone of Ammonites obtusus, and that of Ammonites oxynotus. Exceedingly good specimens have been obtained from excavations in Gloucester, which have been placed at our disposal by the kindness of Mr. Henry Arkex1; they are also frequently obtained from farm drain-cuttings in the neighbourhood. Figures 3, 3%, 3>, and 4, 4%, 4», Plate 2, represent specimens of the dwarfed variety, which occurs in the upper portion of the yellowish grey clays above alluded to, where they assume a somewhat marly character, as seen exposed on the estate of T. B. Lu. Baxer, Esq. at Hardwicke, in this county, on the surface of a piece of land called Southfield, not far from the canal bank, on the left hand descending from Gloucester, crossing the sixth bridge. Several specimens were found in a small depression in the soil, which will readily be seen upon entering the field. These dwarfs are placed in comparison with the form last figured, not for the sake of contrast, but in natural ascending order, as its successor and legitimate representative, presenting all its essential characters, exhibiting all its marks of perfect development 87 and old age, being overgrown by the same parasites,* which, like them, have succumbed to the changes of the conditions of existence common to all of them, and differ from their predecessors, only in diminished proportions. Both the assumed adult forms before referred to, G. incurva and obliqua, occur sparingly in the A. oxynotus beds, whilst the young form here exhibited, Figures 2, 3, and 4, Plate 3, is very common, and is doubtless that, which at a more advanced age, has received the name of G. suilla, to which we shall have occasion hereafter to more particularly refer. The next four specimens produced are from beds still higher in the series, in the group which probably represents the Ammonites rari- costatus zone of Oppel, well exposed in “‘ Skirts’ cutting’ on the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway. Fig. 2, 28, 2, Plate 4, is from ‘“ Skirts’ cutting,” where it occurs with Ammonites planicostatus and Hippopodium. Figure 3, Plate 4, is from the Hippopodium bed, described by Mr. Gavey in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, associated with Ammonites raricostatus. Figure 2 being evidently a half-grown form closely resembling the variety Figures 1, 14, 15, Plate 4, intermediate to G. Mac- cullochii and cymbium last figured, it is worthy of notice that while Figure 3, Plate 4, approaches very nearly in outline to Gotpruss’s figure of G. cymbium, Plate 85, Figure 1, Fig. 4, Plate 4, re-assures us that we have still before us Gryphea incurva. It has become more elongated in proportion to its width, but preserves every other character ; while Figs. 2 and 3, making allowance for dissimilarity of age, differ from it only in having lost almost every trace of the lateral furrow. Closely associated with these forms, differing only in the same degree as Gryphza, Var. striata of Goldfuss, from Gryphea incurva rugosa, is the specimen represented by Figures 2, 24, 2», Plate 5, which still more nearly approximates to Gryphza cym- bium, before mentioned. This specimen, which is the only one we have seen from the stratum in which it was found, is from the zone of Ammonites Henleyi, and may be considered to be the last appearance of what we believe to be any variety of G. incurva in the lower lias, unless Figures 3, 3%, 3%, Plate.5, from a specimen lent us by the Council of the Worcester Naturalists’ Society, deposited in its Museum by Mr. Gavey, without naming the locality from which it was derived, should prove to be, as is probable, from the Ammonites Ibex beds of Mickleton, which would bring us almost to the base of the middle lias. These specimens agree perfectly with those figured * Anomie and Serpulx, 88 by Goxpruss, as G. Maccullochii; but for ourselves, after carefully comparing a great number of similar forms from other beds, and the figures given by Gotpruss, Sowrrsy, and TERQuEM, we can discover only such differences of degree, and not of kind, as have induced us to consider all the forms hitherto presented to be mere varieties of Gryphea incurva. SowrErsy’s figure of the Shell upon which he based his species of Gryphza Obliquata, carresponds in general character with our own figures 5, 5%, 5>, Plate 3, taken from speci- mens of the same type; but we must remark that his drawing is as incorrect, as the specimen itself from which it was made must have: been imperfect, lines of the ligamental fossa being continued in the engraving over the apex of the shell, from which the lines of growth commence! Figures 6, 6%, 6%, 7, 7%, 7%, Plate 3, Figures 1, 14, 1), 2, 2a, 2b, Plate 4, represent forms intermediate to the last, to the various forms called G. cymbium, by Gozpruss, and to G. Maccullochii, of other Authors, found in various beds ranging from that of Ammonites Bucklandi, at Purton, to those exposed in the brickyard at Honey- bourne Station; these, and the specimens exhibited in conjunction with them, agree perfectly with many published figures to which the distinctive appellations quoted have been assigned; but with the series at our disposal before us, it is impossible to separate them, even as well marked varieties, from Gryphzea incurva. We will now take into consideration, the actual vertical range of this species, which extends we believe nearly to the base of the Liassic formation, and much lower than the beds in which it first becomes known to us by the name, which we have hitherto applied to its commonest form. This question we shall be better able to discuss after the examination of other forms, which occur within the same or neighbouring limits. Upon close inspection, almost every specimen of Gryphza, will show that it has been in its earliest stage, attached by the flattened or scarcely rounded extremity of the beak, to a foreign body, and it is noticeable that the symmetrical development of the adult, appears to have mainly depended upon the period at which it became free, the comparative duration of which, in various individuals, being indicated by the extent of area so rounded or flattened. Most of those hitherto exhibited and figured, must have freed themselves compara- tively early, as in none of them is the once attached surface, sufficiently large to break considerably the regular curve of its outline, whilst in some of them, it is so obscure as to be traced with difficulty. Upon transferring to paper the outlines of that portion of the shell only, which could have existed at the time of its assuming its liberty, which 89 is easily done by tracing, in well cleaned examples, those lines of growth of which the edges converge at the point, where the profile curve of the external portion of the true apex commences, and from which the lines of the ligamental fossa recede, it will be clearly seen that it must once have so closely resembled the young of an oyster, as to render it difficult to distinguish the one from the other. Having now arrived at the conclusion that the young Gryphite must, for a period, more or less uncertain, resemble an oyster, it becomes interesting to ascertain how long such resemblance might endure, and to what extent it could proceed. In figures 5 and 5%, Plate 2, we represent the upper surface and profile of a shell which is attached to a Gryphite by a base so large, furnished with an upper valve so rugose and convex, with ridges following, and corresponding with, the inequalities of the shell upon which it grew, exhibiting very obscure and irregular concentric lines of growth, and an appearance so completely that of an Oyster, and different to that of aGryphite, that no one, who had never seen similar specimens, in a series of still further advanced stages, could admit its relationship in any degree to the latter: notwithstanding which, proof most complete to the contrary can be produced, by figures 6, 6%, 6%, Plate 2, representing the profile, upper, and lower surfaces of a shell of this description, which have become free at a more advanced age; whilst figures 1 and 14, Plate 3, show another, which, apparently unable to acquire its liberty, is developed, while still attached, into an indubitable Gry phite. If we carefully examine the detached shell we may learn from it not only a portion of its own history, but so much of that of its neighbours, as will enable us to account for many of the peculiarities of these abnormal individuals. A reference to figure 4, Plate 4, will show, upon a little reflection, that in a shell of typical form, growing in the ordinary manner, its inhabitant enlarged the habitable space, by adding foliations to the front and sides of its shell, depositing at the same time, in the space nearest to the beak, which had become inconveniently contracted for its accommodation, could not be enlarged, and from which the animal’s instinct led it to retire, a corresponding amount of shelly matter, and bringing forwards the proportionately expanding ligament, into its ever widening furrow, after itself. This furrow or pit is seen in figure 4, Plate 4, above referred to, and the shell itself well shows why the incurved portion of the beak, must have continued to increase in thickness and weight during the life of its tenant, whilst the opposite extremity of the chamber became thinner and weaker. It is apparent that the animal could not, under any circumstances, extend the space required for its habitation in a backward direction, H 90 and it is equally clear that had it, while attached, extended it forwards in the manner which it adopts when free, and to the same degree in the same time, it must have recurved upon itself, until its further growth would have been arrested, and respiration impossible. Granting, therefore, that this be true, it follows that the animal possessed an intuitive perception of the exigencies of its position, and, to a certain extent, the power of accommodating itself to them. We see, for instance, in the examples before us, that, unable to pro- vide that normal degree of concavity which is proper to the larger valves, the creatures compensated themselves for the circumscription, by giving an unusual convexity to the smaller valve, a corresponding degree of lateral expansion to the larger, and retaining throughout the period of their existence, those modifications of form which were rightly special only to a portion of it.* Here naturally arises the question, whether the young animal could of its own volition free itself from connection with the body to which it had attached itself, and this we think may be answered affirmatively, from the fact, that, in the majority of instances, that connection could have endured but for a short time. The primary point of adhesion must in general have been so small in the young fry, and applied to surfaces so even, that a very slight exertion of force of any kind, either voluntary or involuntary, would have sufficed to detach it; but we can readily conceive that in the event of adhesion taking place to uneven surfaces, as shown in figures 5 and 6, Plate 2, and fig. 1, Plate 3, where rugosities of the kind suggested exist in every part of the valves of each, the union between the two bodies, must have become so complex as to render separation impossible, except by the application of very considerable force. In the event of contact remaining unnaturally prolonged, as in the case of Ostrea leviuscula and irregularis of Munster, the foregoing observations would in all cases properly apply. Quenstedt’s figures of Ostrea irregularis and rugata (Der Jura, table 3, figure 15, a, b, and f. 18, and those of Chapuis and Dewalque)+} are so evidently taken from imperfect individuals of this species, that more than a reference to them is unnecessary, Quenstedt’s figure 16 resembling so closely our figure 5, Plate 2, as to appear, upon a cursory view, to have been copied from the same specimen. The shells usually labelled as G. suilla, appear to be selected from the small flat-looking examples before referred to as occurring abundantly in certain localities with * Compare relative length and breadth of Figure 1 and Figure 4, Plate iv. t Description des Fossiles des Terrains Secondaires de la Province de Luxembourg. 91 Ammonites oxynotus, figures 2, 3, and 4, Plate 3, and which are nothing more than the young of Gryphea incurva, probably var. obliqua. We have obtained large series of these at the brick-pits near Lanthony Priory, Gloucester, and upon the canal banks between Lanthony Bridge and the second mile post, the adult form being com- paratively rare in the stratum. ‘The shells figured as G. suilla by Goldfuss, are also immature forms, no longer considered by most Paleontologists to be other than varieties of G. incurva, although they seem to occur in such vast numbers, not advanced beyond this stage of growth, in particular strata, as to form their charac- teristic shells. Quenstedt, treating of the Malmstein of his Lias Alpha, says significantly, with regard to the resemblances of this shell to others, “ Here, in the space between the worked stone, we meet for the first time with distinct Gryphites which are very nearly allied to arcuata, nevertheless, it is true, not yet with their doubled, crooked, incurved beak upon them. Their precise determination is also rendered difficult, on account of their appearing for the most part as Casts. I doubt not that G. arcuata proceeds from these, although they are smaller and flatter.” ‘Hehl allows them to continue under Zieten’s name of G. ovalis; others call them G. suillus of Schlotheim, because those from the Haimberge, near Géttingen, are somewhat broader. G. obliquata of Sowerby also, T. 112, f. 3, often agrees very well with them. We cannot arrive at a firm foundation with all such form-comparisons, since they again differ amongst themselves in an extraordinary degree. , Here stratigraphical position must assist us, or we proceed entirely in error.” (Page 54, Der Jura.) “He refers to Ostrea rugata, which occurs with Ammonites angulatus, little wrinkled casts with crooked, strongly incurved beaks, but which belong rather to the group of O. rugata,” described by him in the same work, at page 60. Zieten’s figure of G. ovalis is here useful for comparison, and Quenstedt, at page 46, suggests the same between it and his O. rugata, a more thin and delicate shell, which appears ata still earlier period. His O. irregularis and O. rugata are both referred to his Ammonites psilinotus beds,—our Am. planorbis beds—the first, described as a small, but frequently recurring oyster attached to Plagios- toma and Monotis (avicula,) inequivalvis, and growing upon them, but upon separation quickly assuming the manner of growth of the Gryphites: the second as occurring at -‘ Hiittlingen, between the Malmstein and the G. Arcuata beds, forming a thick bank, entirely filled with its thin wrinkled shells,” which forcibly call to mind G. arcuata, although the strata of the Arietenkalk,” (our A. Bucklandi beds) “are those in which this fully developed shell first appears.” He nevertheless maintains that it is traceable even lower than the Malmstein beds, we presume, in the form 92 before mentioned. We may incidentally mention here, that in his description of G. incurva, he says it ought to be named G. rugosus, as having been first figured under that denomination in the last century, by Lang, in his Historia Lapidum, &c. T. 48, f. 1 and 2. He attributes all such modifications of this form as G. obliqua, and Mac- cullochii to this species; the most remarkable of these to difference of age; and consequently to the greater or less expansion of base, at the time of the larger valve acquiring its freedom: in illustration of this he gives a figure, T. 9, f. 9, (which is an exaggeration of our own Figure 6, Plate 2,) with the following observations :—“ As such causes producesimilar results in all the Jurassic Gryphites, I do not think these last should be considered oysters, although they bring to mind O. irregularis, before mentioned. (Page 48, Jura.) What is most remarkable is only this, that the axes of upper valves, not truncated, but, exogyreform, are turned outwards. How easy for such abnormalisms to become here- ditary, and so, apparently to degenerate into another species.” OpPEL, in his “‘ Mittlere Lias Schwabens,” under his Ostrea Amalthei, makes the following remarks, on separating these shells into distinct species :—“ Goldfuss figures, an O. irregularis, from the lias marl, of Linz, and we have similar examples in our lower Numismalis-marl, with G. cymbium and G. obliqua. In Table 4 and 8 I have figured such a one, to which is attached Ostrea cymbium; nevertheless, this oyster passes completely into Gryphea, when its point of attachment becomes somewhat smaller, and changes with its growth from G. cymbium to G. obliqua, and the latter to O. irregularis; so that when many examples are placcd together I am not able to define the distinct limits between O. irregularis and G. cymbium. As we have similar variations of form between G. arcuata and G. calceola, so are O. irregularis, as well as G. obliqua, to be considered as individuals of G. cymbium, whose large, attached surface, has deranged the entire form of the shell.” ZrETEN figures, as G. incurva var. lata. the G. obliquata of these pages, stating that it is found with G. incurva in great numbers, parti- cularly at Betzgemuth, near Boll, while Opren treats it as a distinct species, and makes it the leading shell of a particular zone, above the A. oxynotus bed, and immediately underlying the Lias Gamma of Quens- tedt. With OppeL’s observation, as applicable to our own district, we entirely disagree, as we find specimens of G. obliqua plentifully with G. incurva wherever it occurs, (of which it can easily be proved to be but the half grown stage,) exhibiting all the eccentricities of which that form is susceptible. The shell which he calls G. obliqua, and places doubtfully in his 93 A. “Jamesoni-bed,” we shall mention with the Grypheza of the marlstone series. Cuaruts and Dewa.qve, in their “ Description des Fossiles des Terrains Secondaires de Luxembourg,” consider the following to be Synonymes of Ostrea irregularis of Miinster in Goldfuss, “‘ 1835, Petrefacten, plate 79, figure 5,” which they adopt as occurring in the “Sable et Grés de Martinsart,” and the “ Marne de Jamoigne,” (the first and second stages of their inferior lias,) which corresponds. nearly enough with its strati- graphical position in other localities, and consequently admits the application of the observations of OppEL and QuENsTEDT, already cited, in which it is treated as merely a variety of G. incurva, of Ostrea Laeviuscula Miinster, fig. 6, plate 79; O. ungula Minster, 1835, Handbuch, 325, (jeune) ; O. semicircularis Remer, 1836, plate 3, fig. 6; O. irregularis, D’Orbigny, 1850, Prod. t. 1, p. 238; O. intermedia Terquem, (MS.) 1853. Lycert, with regard to the Gryphea Buckmani, in our transactions, remarks—“ The adherent species will be found to exhibit greater variability than the others ; it may consequently be inferred that the form is connected with a position which was accidentally attained by variation of the attached shell.”* . It is useless to make further references to published descriptions of this oyster-like form, as most recent authorities coincide with the opinions which are here stated, and which derive additional support from a fact made known to us, since the commencement of these pages by an observer upon whose trustworthiness we can safely rely, Mr. Tomes, of Welford Hill, viz. that a perfect Gryphite form with the shell, well preserved, closely resembling young specimens of the G. obliqua or rather G. Maccullochii varieties, occurs in the White Lias of Bridgend, Glamorganshire, Figures 5, 5, 5>, Plate 1, proving most * Goldfuss, at the conclusion of his descriptions of Gryphites, makes the following observations :— “It is evident, that in the Gryphites of the Liassic formation only, are combined those characters by which they can be distinguished as species from Oysters. Indeed, in those of the Oolitic formation, their near relationship to the Oysters is plainly shown; and in the Cretaceous, as well as in the Tertiary formations, are found several kinds, in the individuals of which the presence or the absence of the distinguishing character of Gryphites, appear to be attributable merely to accidental variations of form, for this reason, both Ostrea truncata and Gryphea navicularis, are sometimes considered Oysters, sometimes Gryphites.” In reference to Ostrea vesicularis, tab. 81, fig. 2, a to p, from the Chalk, the young form of it, as there shown, is precisely that of a Gryphite, whilst with age it assumes the expanded, flattened form of the Oyster; he also remarks, that— “Count Miinster distinguishes from G. truncata (tab. 81, fig. 2, c, g. f,) the broad thin individuals with striated and flat upper shells, as Ostrea vesicularis, (tab. 81, fig. 2, a, b, c,) the first named, in fact, frequently assuming the narrow boat-shaped form of G. arcuata.” So interminable is the variety of which the entire family is susceptible. 94 satisfactorily that it exists considerably lower than even Quenstedt had ventured positively to place it. There can be no doubt, that the great confusion of ideas which has existed with regard to what we consider to be one species, as evidenced by the hosts of synonymes for it, to which we have been compelled to refer, arose from that love of species making which characterized most of our earlier Palzontologists. No sooner did an abnormal form present itself, than it was seized upon and named as a new species, whilst the examination of the series would have shown its true connection with common types. In species of which the number varies so much indi- vidually, as in the oyster tribe generally, this precaution is most essential, to enable us to arrive at safe conclusions in this respect: the most symmetrical forms having been set up as types, whilst, in point of fact, these are rather exceptional than otherwise. We can convince ourselves in the instance of G. incurva that this shell is capable of assuming every shape between that of a flat oyster and one of so different a development, as to have suggested the propriety of conferring upon the individuals exhibiting it, a distinct generic name. It has been shown, how the entire character of the shell has been affected, by circumstances which enforced upon it a more or less permanent adhesion to the body to which it had primarily attached itself;—that the lateral furrow, upon the presence or absence of which specific differences have been supposed to depend, is one of the most fallacious characters upon which they can be based. We can perceive that the differences between the assumed species of G. incurva, obliquata, Maccul- lochii, and cymbium, are less than those existing between the young, half-grown, or adult states of either. We know that other creatures, inhabiting the same sea zones, pass upwards from the point at which they first appear, through a greater, or at least as great, a stratigraphical range as either of these. Do we not then rightly pause before we draw sharp lines of demarcation, whilst neither the facts presented to us in the formation under consideration, nor our knowledge of physiological facts, as exemplified in the existing life of our own epoch, afford us any valid pretext for so doing ? To show in the clearest possible manner the nature of the differences to which we have just alluded, we here refer to a diagram constructed expressly for the purpose, representing Gryphza incurva of the best known type, and fullest dimensions. By uncovering the drawing from its upper portion downwards, may be made to appear in succession, first, its oyster condition; secondly, that of Gryphea suilla; thirdly, that of G. obliqua, young; fourthly, that of G. obliqua, adult; fifthly, G. incurva, half-grown; sixthly, ditto two-thirds grown; seventhly, adult; eighthly, 95 in its most aged form. A comparison of any of the forms we have re- ferred to, may, by placing almost any two shells of different sizes in juxtaposition, so that the curves of their beaks shall be as nearly as possible parallel, will exhibit the same difference of degree between them, in quite as satisfactory a manner. The names by which the numerous varieties have been hitherto known, and under which they are figured, may of course always admit of a certain use, as those of varieties only of G. incurva, as which they ought to be generally recognised. We have only further to remark, that the repetition of the differences of character specified by various writers in the forms which it has been our principal object to prove to be varieties of one species only, would be, in connection with the artistic illustrations so ably rendered by Mr. Bone, and the preceding observations, superfluous. We simply invite attention to the fact, that not only is there no clear distinction between them when studied ina fairly selected series; that no particular form is special to any portion of the Lias of which we have yet treated stratigraphically; but that in our district, wherever Gryphites numerously occur, all the forms most widely diverging from the ordinary type of G. incurva are found, presenting differences from it, so infinitely modified as to make arbitrary separation between them of specific value, quite as unintelligible as absurd. These observations may be applied with equal propriety to other species and genera of shells equally common in the Liassie strata. The accident which prevented the writer being present to read this paper, has also prevented his perfecting his references to the next species in stratigraphical order, which will be made the subject of a further communication to the Club. pin comet vy fe af VAih. Sioa!s, yal ae oe \% hail se MR sig Cree . chev my ace iyoegins: gl tent gabe ad wade rae f aye eh Hulowres Le Rin fs, vk by Peale P x a A Te ya at 41 MOOG “gals vB ae abt fat “ong nb i ; dat) url cor td Tt, ia ae Oe ae aie, ots fe, une sD be rotit “i an) rae *ohebwiay ee, ‘a Hana p ux caivunl i ne @ C188 penibra, gl, goat wintwtamdls: 4 ou iv Sivve a ths ‘a Sea of na | anit ost 4iatinih ih 9 ye ot, ae mur Bot 7 ee 4] oigeailt ist tl PSD aay i ibn, ¥ Lact: wy Mau Ae lds baggy TH. oat nih grit nis *} } " pe ty ail 7 Wie tt fechas: tif opts t i 1 ‘ et f ain ie fp , . oe GOI US AL SL bp yy ap o Type LSPLf, YZ KZ “MH UE: Flints from Stroud Hill. 97 On some Flint Instruments, and the Geological age of the deposit in which they were found upon Stroud Hill. By Joun Jones. READ AT DUDLEY, JUNE 177TH, 1863. One of our Associates, Mr. E. Wircnetn, of Stroud, having observed during the excavation of a reservoir upon the brow of the hill upon which the town stands, that the superficial clay resting upon the Oolite was charged with land and freshwater shells, the writer, at his special invitation, accompanied him to the spot, and deems the observations then made to be of sufficient interest to lay before the Members of the Cottes- wold Club. - The space occupied by the Reservoir is partially excavated in the Clypeus bed—the upper member of the Inferior Oolite,—the interstices of the rock being puddled with the tenacious clay, by which it was covered before the operations in progress commenced, and which, from the conformable manner in which it has been deposited, is evidently im situ, and must have extended far beyond the edge of the declivity near to which it is now exposed. _ The total thickness of the clays laid bare at this point is from 15 to 20 feet, and their elevation above the sea is about 700 feet. A clearer idea of their position and correlation with other beds, than can be conveyed by words, will be obtained by reference to the accompanying plate. Upon close examination, we find that the claybank represented as containing shells, flints, &c., consists of two formations of different ages. The lower portion is the unfossiliferous retentive clay of the Fullers- earth, by which the percolation of water is arrested, and which forms the true basin of supply for the artificial reservoir now forming. The middle portion, to which we invite special attention, appears at the first glance to be merely a continuation upwards of the last, the argillaceous elements of which it is principally composed, being manifestly the same, and obtained from its disintegration ; but interspersed with a few broken and worn shells of Ostrea acuminata, the characteristic shell of superior beds of the same formation, are found great numbers of land and freshwater shells, belonging to species of Mollusca, which are still common in the district, and which we shall fully enumerate with other objects to be described. 98 _ Much of the soil from this portion, upon immersion in water separates into a fine, almost impalpable, sediment, which readily permits the extraction of the imbedded shells, free from stain and fracture, in the same degree of perfection as those from the well-known Pleistocene freshwater beds, at Grays, in Essex, from which indeed, if mingled with them, they could not be distinguished. The upper portion of the bed cannot be separated by its organic contents from that which we have just described, but upon its surface becomes lighter in colour, from the greater admixture of calcareous matter, which hardens upon exposureintoa lighter-coloured spongy-looking substance, resembling the Tufa formed in the neighbouring streams, indicating the probable exhaustion of the clays, upon which the water action which formed it had been exercised, and the consequent, though less considerable, corresponding action upon the calcareous beds below them. The significance of these observations can only be appreciated when connected with circumstances to be mentioned hereafter. No trace of water-course or ancient pond exists near the spot, and we know that the streams of all the valleys immediately around us have their sources in the waters collected by the Fullers-earth bed first mentioned, precisely as those of the upper or North Eastern portion of the valley where this does not occur, originate in the clays of the Upper Lias, where they crop out upon those slopes of the Cotteswolds, the water-shed of which finds its way to the Severn. It is difficult to imagine that the recent deposit could have been formed since the bed upon which it reposes assumed its present angle of inclination towards the valley, as its thickness at the point of section proves that its outward extension must have been considerable. As we know that no trace of it is found upon the summit of the hill, which is occupied by a great Oolite bed, stratigraphically higher than that which supports it, dipping moreover at an angle of two degrees only towards the E.S.E., we may be satisfied that it never existed there, and can extend inwards or upwards but to a,small distance, easily estimated, were it of any importance in answering the questions which naturally suggest themselves, viz.: when, and under what circumstances, was it formed, and were its margins swept away ? We have only to glance at the two outer headlands of the inlet, to be reminded that the great valley upon which we look down, is entirely one of denudation, and that the space between us and heights of the same level, was once occupied by continuations of the hill-masses upon which we stand, as far, at least, as the older hills which form its opposite boundary ; we have to consider, therefore, in the changes of surface 99 which have occurred in this district, not so much the effects of water and atmospheric action upon exposed escarpments like those now exhibited to us, as those of an enormous erosive force upon a vast tract of nearly level country. As it is clear that this erosive force must have at first operated upon the surface, we may assume that it commenced during its slow emergence from the sea. What may have been the highest bed in continuous sequence ever deposited here, we have no means of judging, but we know that denudation had affected beds, from those of the Great Oolite to the lower portion of the Fullers-earth Clay, upon which the freshwater deposit lies, before the latter could have been formed. As its organic remains are principally of creatures living under existing conditions near the spot where they are found, we may be sure that the excavating process had continued in operation upon the underlying beds for a lengthened period. As the fall of the upper beds towards the vale is manifestly produced by the exca- vation of others beneath them, we must infer that this took place at a period very remote as regards historical time ; for the removal of these, which were probably loose Pisolitic beds, or the Upper Lias Sands, can only be attributed to the time, at which the eroding power had produced the outline of the present basement beds of the Cotteswolds. Series of falls, leaving terrace after terrace of rocky beds, displaced by the removal of the last-named strata, resting at various distances from each other upon the sides of the hills, and at different angles of inclination, may be seen so frequently, as at Haresfield, that we cannot hesitate to ascribe the deep covering of oolitic detritus, which almost everywhere here renders it difficult to ascertain what beds are really in situ beneath, to a similar origin. The fact of finding the freshwater formation accom- panying the dislocated beds in their descent, is sufficient to prove that it occupied the same relative position to these, as that in which we find it, prior to their fall. The excavation of the vale still continued far below this point, as we subsequently learn from the examination of the mass of deposit by which great cavities have been partially refilled ; we must consequently conclude that the freshwater bed must be at least as ancient, if not more so, than any formed ata level below those whose excavation caused its displacement. We cannot doubt that during the whole period of denudation here, the dry land was peopled by animated groups analogous to those which inhabited the surrounding country, and, as organic remains can be our only guides to any trustworthy approximate conclusion upon the first point, and what the character of the land might be, we will proceed at once to examine them. G2 100 The Univalve shells are as follows : Helix nemoralis, Clausilia nigricans (? ) 5 rotundata, Succinea putris (? ) 3 umbilicata, Zua lubrica, 9 fulva, Limneus truncatulus, », pulchella, Cyclostoma elegans, Zonites alliarius, Carychium minimum, 5 nitidulus, Acme fusca. ‘i excavatus, BIvALvEs. » erystallinus, Pisidium pusillum, Pupa umbilicata, re, As all these creatures are still living around us, their habits and the conditions requisite for their well-being, known to us, from a consideration of the latter we may reasonably assume that they have been in all time what they are now ; reasonings, therefore, based upon this knowledge, are as likely to be correct, when applied to their existence in distant Geological time, as when applied to their occurrence in regions far distant from each other in the present day. Helix nemoralis inhabits woods and gardens, and Helix wmbilicatus the loftiest, and consequently driest, points of the hills. Cyclostoma elegans is found amongst the moss, which usually covers ‘ the loose rubbly Oolite upon the summits and sides of the hills, and affects chalk and limestone districts generally, betokening, therefore, a certain predilection for a dry habitat. Pupa wmbilicata we have usually found in the moss covering old walls and under stones; Gray says, also under the “bark of trees in shady places.” The teeth of these specimens are unusually prominent, showing that the animals existed under circumstances favourable to their most perfect development. Claustlia nigricans does not differ sufficiently in habit to call for special notice, but those which follow are of entirely different character. Zonites alliarius and excavatus are found under stones with Helix rotundatus, or in situations in a slight degree more damp. Zonites nitidulus sometimes with the above, but generally in places still more humid. Helix pulchella, Zonites crystallinus, Carychium minimum, and Acme fusca, amongst wet moss in all situations, from that which fringes the margin of the streams, upwards, and in the decaying leaves of the beech woods which crown the hills—the last-named rare, Carychium exceedingly abundant. Zua lubrica inhabits moss in damp localities, as upon the banks of the Gloucester and Berkeley, and Newent canals, but generally in situations where the animal can adopt at will, the degree of 101 moisture necessary for its existence, by change of position. Suceinea, of which we find no adult specimens, unless they are of stunted growth, or that the outer portion of the shell from its extreme tenuity and fragility has not been preserved, is a truly amphibious shell, frequenting rank herbage, in the most humid situations, and occasionally without any apparent necessity, immersing itself in the rill or pond in whose vicinity it exists. A Pisidiwm, which from its want of concavity appears to coincide more nearly with the descriptions of P. cinereum than that of obtusale, and P. pusillwm, are the only other water shells found here—both being found in small ponds in many situations. From the consideration of the preceding list of Mollusca, the conditions under which the deposit was made suggest themselves with a certain degree of clearness. There were probably thickets near, and moss-clad soil, from which, as they dropped and died, the Helix nemoralis and Cyclostoma were washed by storm torrents to a lower level. A torrent of sufficient force to disturb and finally entomb these, would more easily scour the mosses of the damp uncultivated district over which it coursed, bearing from their habitats in numbers proportioned to their smallness, the others named in the list, as Carychium, Pupa, Zonites, and Zua. The Pisidium and Limneus, -from their active and hardy habits, are precisely the shells which we might expect to find in such a locality. A somewhat similar assemblage of shells may be found in the small boggy patches, which are still in the course of formation upon the sides of May Hill, under circumstances closely analogous to those suggested in the older instance. The space of time during which these operations of nature have continued, can only be duly estimated by those who have carefully inspected the deposit, and examined the material of which it is composed. It was our intention to have examined the finer portion into which it resolves itself in water, for Diatomace, but the short time afforded by the interval between our visit and this meeting has not permitted us to fulfil it. The conditions requisite to form such a deposit at this spot have long ceased to exist, but it is not improbable that the elevating or disturbing force, which has given to the Cotteswold range its normal dip of about two degrees to the 8.S.E., exerted itself subsequent to the deposition of this sedimentary bed, for which opinion reasons may be assigned ; and this would have sufficed to alter the entire character and direction of its water-collecting system. The application of this remark may not be readily apparent, but, looking across the Severn to the hills of the Forest 102 of Dean, we are reminded that the dip mentioned commences there, affecting all the intervening beds, from the upper portion of the New Red Sandstone to those of the Great Oolite near us, and the beds more especially under consideration. At this point, and in many neighbouring places, as before remarked, the Oolitic beds upon the edge of the hill are not in their original position, and were accompanied, when the change took place, by the more recent formation, indicating that this must have been deposited where we find it prior to their disturbance. Previous to the scooping out of the picturesque “combes” around us, which contribute so much to the beauty of one of the finest landscapes of its kind in England, the now distant hill-tops must have formed portions of a widely-continuous level tract, presenting, probably, the features of a dreary upland moor, alternations of morass and thicket, the deposit before us possibly representing the bottom of one of its ponds of considerable capacity, subject to accession of sediment, from the effect of storm torrents or periodical rains upon the land sur- rounding it. Of the period as computable by years, during which these creatures have existed, we can no more form an idea than of any other beyond the pale of history or tradition, but we are informed of the contemporaneous existence of man, by the presence of flint instruments with cutting edges, carbonised wood, oolitic stone changed in colour by the action of fire, the bones of animals, a portion of a deer’s antler, apparently that of the red deer, and what, from the description of the workmen who had not cared to preserve it, was probably the tusk of a boar, all in close proximity. These objects were found in about the middle of the second bed: the flint instruments by Mr. Wircuett ; the others, with the exception of the tusk, by both of us together. No disturbance of the soil subsequent to their entombment, nor for the purpose of making it, was anywhere traceable ; and had this taken place, it must have been apparent from the necessary displacement of the tufa-looking crust of the upper portion, which, as we specially remarked, differs much in litho- logical character from that in which they were found. One of the pieces of burnt Oolite, more resembling freestone than any of the beds above it, and probably from the slaty bed above the lower Oolite Marl, must evidently have been carried up to the spot upon which it was found, as well as the flints. All these objects were found, not in a heap, but in such relative positions as they might be expected to occupy on being thrown or dropped into a pond of moderate depth. The flints are so admirably preserved, that their cutting edges are as well adapted to fulfil their purpose, as when they were first made ; their 103 appearance, in fact, is such as to induce any one, not cognizant of the circumstances of their discovery, to pronounce them at once to be of recent fabrication, and, from the precision with which the direction of the fractures is given, that they were produced by the most perfect appliances of modern ingenuity. The accompanying lithograph, representing them of their exact size, is sufficient to show by how few strokes their shape was produced. Having obtained a flake from a flint of considerable size, the smooth plane of fracture from which is shown on the under side in jig. 2, two other strokes “would seem to have produced the sloping surfaces on the sides, shown in fig. 3, the central portion representing the worn and discoloured surface of the larger mass from which it was originally detached. It will be observed that these specimens are all of the rudest type, and it is probable that the peculiar colour of the largest has been produced by fire. As little appears to be known respecting the manu- facture of such flints as we still use, the following remarks may be found of some interest in connection with the subject. It is not to be supposed that the men who made these flint instruments used the means applied by modern gun-flint makers; but that they had arrived at an equal degree of knowledge as to the kind of stone which would suit their purpose, or not, from observations forced upon them by long experience, is certain. The manufacture of gun-flints has been a secret in our own times, and the signs by which the flints fit for this purpose were chosen, have not been generally known until M. Dolomieu published an account of the method practised in France some years since, in the ““Memoire de |’Institute Nationale des Sciences,” from which it appears that only large flints, varying in weight from two to twenty pounds, were made use of. Their colour should be uniform, their fracture perfectly smooth and equal throughout, and (as in the case before us) slightly conchoidal, the last property being the most essential; as upon it depends the facility with which the nodules are divided ; whilst their transparency should permit of letters being read through a flake of a quarter of a line in thickness, when laid close upon the paper. Flints which do not readily exhibit these characters are rejected as intractable, but where they are otherwise, an expert workman, by the aid of “ several hammers and a chisel,” can make a thousand in the space of three days. We need scarcely remark that, with the exception of a few small scattered fragments found in the gravel of thevale, no flints whateverare found within a distance of many miles of the county, and that the larger instrument before us is a flake from one of considerable size, will appear from its inspection. The circumstance of the bones of animals, which have probably 104 always been the favourite food of primitive man, having been found with flint knives, fire-marked stones, and charcoal, in many instances, if not conclusive as to their intimate connection with, and relation to each other, are surely sufficient evidences of the co-existence of man at the same period with them. There is a peculiar aspect about the small group of shells enumerated which may be worthy of more attentive consideration. With the excep- tion of Zonites excavatus, which hitherto has been found in Great Britain only, they are extensively distributed over Europe, indicating, from the wide distance apart of the extreme points at which they have been found, great indifference to, or capability of enduring considerable difference of climate ; with one exception again, that of Helix wmbilicatus, (whose habit of affecting the highest points of the rocks upon which it is found has before been mentioned, and whose absence may therefore be readily accounted for in flat or low-lying localities,) all have been found fossil in the Pleistocene freshwater deposits at Grays, Copford, Clacton, &ec., and in others equally well known of similar age. These facts will be better understood by inspecting a list which will exhibit at a glance, their relations to the views at which we arrive from their study. Living in the Living in distant Fossil in Pleistocene Freshwater District. Countries. Deposits elsewhere in Britain. Zonites alliarius ... ... Dalmatia... ... ... Charing », excavatus ... ... Britainonly ... ... Stutton Clacton, Copford, Maidstone Stutton, Clacton, Copford, Maidstone », erystallinus ... Sweden, Spain... = », rotundata ... ... Sweden, Sicily + fat, Copford, Helix nemoralis ... .... Sweden, Dalmatia . » umbilicata ... * Grays »» pulchella i ee N. America { Cropthorn, Stutton, Canaries Clapton Pupa umbilicata ... ... Dalmatia... ... ... Clacton Copford, Clausilia laminata _... Sweden, Sicily... ... Clacton, Copford 4ua lubrica ... ... +. Sweden, Sicily... ... Grays, Copford Kipiptan ict ee ees France, er Cropthorn, Clacton, Germany Copford, Stutton, : Cropthorn, Clacton, Limneus truncatulus ... Sweden, Greece... Copford, Grays, Stutton Cyclostoma elegans _... Dalmatia... .. Maidstone, Gedgrave Carychium minimum ... Sweden, Germany ... Grays, Clacton Meme fused cee atay ass SpA ce bc, Stutton, Maidstone Pisidium pusillum ... Sweden, France Grays, &e. 105 In juxta-position with these we place another table, showing the mammalian remains with which they are found associated elsewhere :— Arvicola agrestis » amphibia ... Bison priscus Bos primigenius »» longifrons Capra hircus Castor Europeus Cervus capreolus » elaphus Elephas primigenius Equus fossilis Felis leo » spelea .. » catus Hippopotamus major Hyena spelea Macacus pliocenus ... Megaceros Hibernicus Paleospalax magnus Rhinoceros leptorhinus re tichorinus Sorex fodiens » remifer Sus scrofa Talpa vulgaris Trogontherium Cuviert Ursus speleus PLACE FOUND. Grays, Crayford ”? ”? Kent, Essex, Yorkshire Grays, Ilford { Berks, Essex, Middlesex, Witshire, Ireland PLACE FOUND. Walton, Essex Grays Bacton Norfolk, Essex Valley of Thames, &c. Grays, Clacton ” gee Ilford, Brentford, and Folkstone Erith, Kent Grays { Essex, Norfolk, I. of Man, and Ireland Bacton, Norfolk Clacton, Ilford Chartham, Kent Bacton, Norfolk » Ostend ” ” f{ Bacton, Cromer, Norfolk, **') and Siberia Essex, Norfolk. Amongst these, accepting the specific determinations of Owen and others, the field and water Voles, the cat, the red deer and roebuck, the goat, the water and oared shrews, the mole, and the common pig are still living in Great Britain. The Aurochs (Bison priscus) still exists, though untamed, by the forbearance and under the protection of man, in Lithuania, Wallachia, and some districts of the Caucasus. 106 Our breeds of domestic cattle are presumed to be descendants of Bos longifrons. Remains of the Beaver have been found in the neighbouring Nailsworth valley, at no great distance, as recorded by Mr. Lycert in his “Cotteswold Hills,” and we know that it was found in Wales as late as the twelfth century, and is now living in remote parts of Europe. A full half, then, of the animals recorded in this list are still living, and the majority of that proportion, moreover, in this country. With the exception of the Horse, no genera allied to those of the great Pachyderms, whose bones we find sparingly scattered through the gravel, as Elephas, Hippopotamus, Rhinoceros, or to Hyena, are found in Europe, or in ‘ttorresponding latitudes over the world, whilst each is fully represented in tropical or sub-tropical climates, as well as the great cats, the monkey, the bear, and the undomesticable species of ox and deer. What is the natural conclusion to which an intelligent blending of these tables brings us? We have no more reason to doubt that all these creatures, from the tiny Carychiuwm to the huge elephant, lived here at the same time and together, than that they did so in the valley of the Thames, where their mingled remains have occurred still more abundantly. It may be remarked that, with the exception of the deer and boar, none of the mammalia in the table have left their traces in the hill deposit, but we have yet, in due order, to mention a circumstance which will effectually obviate any objection offered upon that ground. With regard to their known simultaneous occurrence elsewhere in Britain, and present. geographical distribution, may we not reasonably infer, as suggested by LyxExt, that during the Pleistocene fresh-water deposits, this country formed the extremity of a great continent of such genial temperature and climate that, whilst not too cold to be endurable by the organic forms now confined to southern latitudes, it was not hot enough to drive northwards those which now inhabit it? The mere calling _ over the roll in which their names are given, is suggestive of a climate intermediate to what we now call tropical and temperate, by a refrigerating change in which, whilst the northern forms were unaffected, the tropical forms became extinct, as stated by LyELt. We shall endeavour to show that this theory is not destitute of support, from circumstances which present no great obstacles to their verification. The period to which their remains have been generally referred is that at present called “Lacustrine” bylocal geologists; but with regard to the mode in which the gravel deposits in which they occur in our district have been accumulated, and the “eombes” and “bottoms” formed, we feel satisfied that no mere accumulation of lakewater or ordinary current action will reasonably account for either. As our observations upon this subject would make 107 the present paper much too long for this meeting, we reserve them for future communication. Looking towards the hill-top, we are reminded by the equivalents of the Stonesfield slate, or other beds still higher in the series which occupy it, that between the Fuller’s-earth bed upon which we stand, and that in whose detritus like shells and remains are embedded to the eastward all the Upper Oolitic, Wealden, Cretaceaous, and Tertiary formations are interposed ; and however great may be, in our view, the antiquity upon which we insist for our protégés, what insignificant parvenus they become when compared with their predecessors of whatever kind in any bed beneath them. Here we are compelled to pause and recognize the lapse of a vast epoch, of which the only record remains in the evidence of erosive power by which the combes around, and broad vale before us, have been produced, and by which enormous rock masses spread over a great tract of country have been swept away, from the highest of the Jurassic system developed here, to those of the Silurian May-hill Sandstone, and Conglomerates. Over the formations thus denuded flowed the sea which separated the principality of Wales from England by the Straits of Malvern, as traced by Murchison, Strickland, and Buckman, of whom the last named has more particularly brought the fact under our notice in a special treatise. By an attentive summary of the facts there recorded, conviction may be arrived at, as regards the truth of the theory which it was desired to establish, although no particular effort is there made to solve certain difficulties presented by the subsequent accumulations of gravels and drift in the space once occupied by the ocean waters, and upon these we will venture a few remarks. When we examine neighbouring straits, accessible to tidal action, we find that the central point, or that where the opposing currents meet, as might be expected, is the most favourable to resistance of erosion and deposit of sediment; this therefore, upon the bodily gradual elevation of the region into the state of dry land would be the first exempted from the as constantly retroceding action of the tides. A peninsula once formed, we may follow with tolerable accuracy, although but in imagination, the changes which followed. The opposite shores of its isthmus necessarily became the heads of two deep inlets, which finally subsided into the estuaries of the Severn and Dee, the once, when debouching into the strait, insignificant streams, now expanded into the great waterveins of the newly exalted land,; may we not thus account for the more frequent occurrence of sea shells at present existing in the British, St. George’s, and Bristol Channels, at Bridgnorth, and other localities in Shropshire, Staffordshire, and Worcestershire, than 108 at levels which must have been subject to alternations of encroachment and silt deposit, long after the districts mentioned were dry land, subject only to atmospheric disintegration; and may we not also, attribute the persistency with which marine plants cling to such spots as Longdon Marsh, not so much to its having been a shallow backwater of the Severn, as to its having been a deep hollow of the old strait, forming, when isolated from it, a reservoir, first of truly salt and then of brackish water, whose saline particles are still to a great extent retained by the soil. Upon this supposition we can conceive why such plants as Scirpus maritimus, and others mentioned in Buckman’s Essay, are found growing here and in similar localities, though absent in others throughout tracts more frequently inundated by the Severn, and constantly washed by its tides. We may here make a few brief remarks upon the correlation of the lake period, upon which Mr. Symonps has more than once ably addressed us, and of the existence of which no more doubt can be entertained than of the Strait of Malvern, with the freshwater deposit to which I have called your attention. The conversion of the bed of the strait into dry land must, of course, be attributed to its elevation, and not to the recession of its waters. The physical characters of the country, through which the Severn flows, suffice to inform us that its course must have been barred at various points, by obstacles which have since been cleared away by its own long operating powers. We know that the oolitic capping of the hills gradually thins out westward, and from the entire absence of any trace of it, except in its drifts, we believe that it did not extend from its present escarpments farther than the upturned edge of the forest coal basin in this district, against (not upon) which it rested conformably with the lias beds, which we still find in that position at Awre, Westbury, Purton, and Beachley ; we can therefore readily imagine the damming up of the waters of the Severn and its tributaries, to involve the existence of series of large freshwater lakes, for any indefinite period. Now if we glance at the course of the river upon the geological map, we must remark that it has finally forced itself into communication with the sea, at precisely the point, which, given the stratigraphical conditions, might have been predicated ; where, in fact, the unconformable conjunction of two rock-masses of very different degrees of coherence, one being particularly susceptible of frost and general atmospheric influences, afforded the most direct and readiest line of egress. We know that the rocks upon the opposite side of the channel, which 109 had been thrown up long before an atom of the secondary rocks had been deposited against them, from their greater compactness and durability, presented materials better calculated to resist water action than the softer Oolite rocks, when brought into operation with equal force upon both, which must have been the case, and would therefore tend to the much more rapid disintegration of the latter. This must be apparent when we take into consideration the fact that, from want of exposure to the sun, these could not have been hardened and consolidated as we know them ; for it is only by complete and lengthened exposure that they even now become weather proof. Supposing the most constant direction of the winds and tides to have been the same as at present, which the conformation of the excavated valley goes to show, the erosive force would be principally upon the softer rocks, leaving the harder comparatively intact. That this was so, we may gather from the fact that the heads of most of the combes here are in the direction of the N.N.E., according with that of the tides, strengthened by the still prevailing W.S.W. winds, the currents being thrown off, moreover, in the ‘same direction from the spurs of the older hills, and producing corresponding depressions in those of the secondary formation. Thus we find the old limestone rocks thrown up at acute angles, as ramparts around the coal formation, and preserving the measures within them little abraded, whilst the clays and shales above the coal have been greatly denuded, and form what may properly be called basins within them. A glance at the map and sections proves this. That its course may have been modified or influenced by analogous circumstances, in its upper portions, seems more than probable, but this fact, for want of positive personal knowledge, we remit for future verification. Are there no circumstances to show that the perpendicular cliffs of Westbury, Wainload, and the Mythe, are comparitively modern faults ? but of the occurrence of these we may have to speak hereafter in the promised paper, As the lake period is presumed to have contributed to our local geology the great bulk of the oolitic gravels, which, with their interesting contents, strew the vale of Evesham, Gloucester, and Berkeley, we shall briefly mention, in connection with these, a fact which has come to our knowledge, within the last week, communicated, like that which heads the paper, by Mr. WircHetL, whose acuteness of observation, assiduity in collecting facts, and liberality in imparting them, since he has commenced the study of geology, are entitled to the highest credit. The oolitic gravel in question is too well known to require here any particular description, it will therefore be sufficient for our purpose to remind you that along the sides of the Cotteswolds, in addition to fossils from almost 110 every bed from the lower lias to the great oolite, indicating clearly those from which its materials have been derived, it contains the bones of Elephants, Rhinocerosses, and Hippopotami, some of which are now laid before you, and that for the most part in the Gloucester end of the vale it rests immediately upon the denuded beds of the lias. The bones of these great Pachydermata, more or less abundantly scattered over the area of the deposit, are sufficient to prove the existence of these animals, when the said deposit took place in the country of which it is the detritus. ji These bones have been found fossil in Pleistocene freshwater deposits at Grays, Erith, &., as before mentioned, associated with the identical species of shells, which we have submitted for your examination, in precisely similar condition. At Gannecot quarry, near Stroud, as shown in the section at 3, on the left underlying about twenty feet of this gravel, immediately upon the lias, and below the elephant bones produced, some of these same shells are found, with many others, all of which belong to species now living in the district, and are supplementary as regards necessarily co-existent con- ditions, to those already described, as will appear from the following list.* LIST OF SHELLS FROM BELOW THE GRAVEL. Ancylus fluviatilis os oe Sweden, Sicily. Limneus wuricutarius Hie a pereger ... eas = Sweden, Dalmatia. truncatulus Helix nemoralis ... aoe ie Zua lubrica #85 Pupa muscorum ... aa oF Germany, Italy. Zonites excavatus The Limnaads and Ancylus are still as naturally looked for in the stream below us, as the Helicide, &c., would be sought upon the hill-sides or elsewhere. Taking these facts then into consideration, with the presence of human implements in undisturbed beds of apparently like antiquity, we believe them to be as good proofs of the contemporaneity of man with the great extinct pachyderms, as any which can be deduced from the position of the world-famous flints of Abbeville. So much has been written about these, and so many questions of deep scientific interest depend upon the establishment of their approximate age, that we con- sidered it to be a duty to lay the present specimens, and what we believe to be the facts connected with them, before you. * This must be regarded as by no means complete, as the shells named in it are the product of a few hours search; it might doubtless therefore, with little labour, be greatly extended. 111 Many of our conclusions are drawn exclusively from some details of recent Natural History, which may seem tedious to examine, but for ourselves we think that a critical acquaintance with the habitudes of tribes of animals might be brought to bear more frequently upon the solution of geological problems, with advantage. We talk confidently enough of the conditions under which certain deposits were formed, from the most ancient to the most recent, of “coast lines,” “deep seas,” and “estuarine areas” of wide extent; but it appears to us sometimes with a seeming looseness, rather calculated to engender doubt or indifference, than to inspire confidence as to our theories, in others. These observations may appear trivial for want of a little more attention to detail, but we may reflect that with all our accumulations of facts, no man has ever yet presumed to say that the geological phenomena of a very limited area in a single formation, had quite unravelled their mysteries to his gaze, however serutinising ; his difficulties arising, probably, not so much from the want of power to deal with the generalities, as from the inability to appreciate the importance, and perceive the application, of special though apparently trifling, details. Adopting the principle, the value of which has been fully recognized by LyEtn and Darwny, that there is generally discoverable a degree of relationship between the present inhabitants of a district and those which immediately preceded them, we believe that the test here applied, in a limited space, is as satisfactory in its results as when made use of in their generalizations. In conclusion we have only to say that we have entered into this subject in the most humble spirit, seeking only for truth, and pretending to no degree of authority, still believing such investigations, by others who have more time and ability to devote to them, to come particularly within the scope of such provincial scientific bodies as those now assembled, and if honestly carried out to be likely to lead us as individuals to more satisfactory information than we have yet acquired upon many subjects. divas tere oe é eye % et Rep or oe wire TPES saad, nah) Magee FRA sade atm te -oxeeie! wet iors: Peery Pie as bi $p nit j ie Wet ak sh Bae oe oA VLA Lhe Raima sth reed geit Se) ee a th ‘ 113 Address to the Cotteswold Naturalist’s Field Club. 1863. By the President W. V. Guisz, F.L.S., F.G.S. GENTLEMEN,— The proceedings of the Club during the past year, and its position and prospects at this, the commencement of the present season, are such as to justify me in assuring you of our continued prosperity and success. Our finances have served for the publication of the handsomest and most important fasciculus of papers which has been published by the Club for many years, for which we are largely indebted to the stimulus given by the appointment of a publishing committee two years ago. Mr. Jones’s paper on “ Gryphwa incurva, and its varieties,” is the first-fruits of a resolution then adopted, of publishing figures and correct descriptions of the different groups of Jurassic fossils—a department of Paleontology, for the illustration of which our county offers peculiar advantages. It will readily be understood that plates finished with the needful precision and care—without which they are indeed of little use—cannot be executed without a considerable expenditure of money—that is, considerable with reference to our limited means—though the sum be in itself sufficiently moderate. That we have not overstepped the limits of our income is due in some respects to the fact that our expenditure in previous years was within our income, and thus a margin has been left beyond what was required for the expenses of the Club, which has sufficed for all our neces- sities. It is, however, evident to me, and I think you will concur with me in the opinion, that if we are to carry out our intention of publishing well-illustrated works, we must defray the necessary expenditure out of our annual income, without trenching upon the resources of the future. IT am unwilling, if it can be avoided, to ask for an increase of our annual subscriptions; but should there be risk that our work, and thus our useful- ness, should be contracted through lack of funds, it would hardly be acting the part of either prudent or earnest men, to hesitate about increasing our subscriptions. In the meantime I am prepared to recommend that an entrance fee of one pound be for the future required from all new members; and I have the greater confidence in recommending the adoption of this measure, with a view to its yielding a source of revenue, inasmuch as I am of opinion that looking to the status of the Cotteswold Club, it may well be H 114 expected that those who are desirous of being enrolled in its ranks should be called upon to pay for what is in truth no barren honour. It may be urged that the adoption of this rule would have the effect of checking the growth of the Club. And though I do not believe that such would be its effect—at least to any injurious extent—I should not be disposed to object to the exercise of a modifying influence in restricting somewhat a growth which has been of late very rapid, and which threatens unless a limit be put to our undue expansion, to create at no distant time an amount of business too great for an unpaid and unassisted secretary to perform. On that account, therefore, I am prepared to recommend that our numbers should not at any time be permitted to exceed 100—a limit amply sufficient to keep our ranks open to the working Naturalists of the County, and to protect us against the charge of exclusiveness, while for all practical purposes it would be sufficiently manageable. It will be remembered that when three years ago you did me the honor to place me in the distinguished position which T have since held as your president, I found the Club in some respects an exclusive body, limited to 40 in number. This had its advantages and its disadvantages,—the prin- cipal advantage being that a small body was more easy to work than a large one. But this comparatively unimportant benefit was more than counter-balanced by the evil tendency inherent in so limited a society—a tendency to an exclusiveness, which, possibly useful in the earlier stages of association when enthusiasm is fresh and work new, has in process of time, as these stimulants become weaker, a tendency to produce languor and decay of interest, which in our case manifested itself in slackness of attend- ance at the meetings of the Club, accompanied by an almost total cessation of printed work. Under these circumstances I asked permission to throw open the Club, and to invite the co-operation of all lovers of Natural Science in the County, in the work of aiding to maintain the Cotteswold Club in the high position to which, under the skilful leadership of my predecessor in the chair, it had attained. The expansion and impetus thus given have since then been productive of all the advantages which I anticipated. A large infusion of fresh blood has brought with it renewed vitality. Our meetings have been invariably well attended, our papers have increased in numbers and in importance, and our list of members has gone on increasing, until the time appears to have arrived, when out of consideration to the labour of our secretary, it seems necessary to set bounds to our undue expansion. It is with a view to effecting this purpose, while we at the same time employ the accession of fresh members as a means of enlarging our reve- nues, that I ask your approval of the proposal now submitted for your 115 acceptance,—not doubting that should the means suggested for increasing our revenues fall short of the object aimed at, the Club will readily consent to an increase of our subscriptions, rather than suffer the reputation of the Club to decay, or its work to be starved for lack of the requisite funds. Having made these preliminary observations, I will now proceed to give a summary of the work done by the Club during the past season. The annual meeting of the Club was held at the Ram Inn, Gloucester, on Wednesday, 26th of February, when the usual business was transacted, the accounts audited, and the officers for the ensuing year appointed ; when you were pleased to manifest your confidence in me, by re-electing me to the office of president. The secretaryship, which had been held by Mr. Jones for two years with great advantage to the Club, was resigned by that gentleman, owing to increasing pressure of business interfering with his leisure, and Mr. Lucy was unanimously chosen to fill the vacant post. The day’s excursion was directed to an examination of the drifts of the Severn Valley, as exhibited in the neighbourhood of Gloucester. The question of the distribution of the different beds of gravel, and their relation to one another, is one which has assumed a vast extension of interest and importance since the researches of Mr. Prestwicu and others have shown that these beds are capable of sub-division into a higher and lower series, characterised by well-marked organic contents, amongst which the discovery both in this country and on the continent of Europe, of human works of art, associated with osseous remains of now extinct quad- rupeds, have attracted to these beds an amount of attention proportionate to the novelty and importance of the arguments deducible from these startling discoveries. The gravels in question are found distributed at various heights along the flanks of the valleys which bound many, perhaps most of our river- courses, and indicate the amount of water-action previous to the excava- tion of the present channels. Mr. Prestwicu is of opinion that the constituents of these gravels are in all cases derived from beds now existing “in situ” along the valleys, and consequently that they have been brought down and deposited by the present rivers. He considers that these gravels may be divided into two distinct series, denominated by him “ High Level” and “ Low Level” drifts, the latter occupying a position but a few feet above the present water-level, while the former are to be looked for at heights varying from 50 to 200 feet above the level of the valley. Occa- sionally, however, beds of gravel are found at intermediate levels, leading to the conclusion that the “ Upper-lying” and ‘“ Lower-lying” drifts must be regarded as the extremes of a continuous series, rather than as beds which owe their origin to separate and distinct influences. The “ Upper H2 116 Level” gravels would necessarily be the most ancient, and the beds lying at the lower part of the valley the most modern. What, however, may be the value to be attached to these terms, ancient and modern, can only be measured by a careful consideration of the physiological circumstances attending the relative position of these erratic deposits, with reference to the under-lying strata. A careful review of the evidences bearing upon this interesting subject, especially those presented by the gravel-beds on the Somme, in which human works of art have been found in the “ High Level” drifts, associated with the remains of the Mammoth and other extinct quadrupeds, have, however, afforded a standard of measurement which gives reason to believe that the presence of man in Western Europe dates from a period of time incalculably remote. Along the course of the Severn valley in the neighbourhood of Glou- cester, it is not difficult to trace beds of gravel which may be called ““ Upper” and “Lower” drifts. The former, occupying the summits of all the rounded hills, out-liers for the most part of the Lias, which like those at Hartpury, Maisemore, Apperly, &c., formed shoals in the ancient tertiary sea of the Severn Straits, and are capped by gravels which represent the first emergence of dry land as the river began slowly to subside into its present ehannels. The “ Lower drifts” are represented by beds of gravel at the very base of the valley, but little elevated above the highest margin of the river. Both sets of gravels have this feature in common, that a large portion of their constituent mineral contents are derived from the degradation of the Old Red Sandstone, mixed with chalk flints, and portions of traps and sienites, derived in many cases from very remote sources. But with these features of agreement, this difference is observable, that whereas the more ancient gravels exhibit little if any traces of oolite detritus—the lower beds are largely formed, especially on the eastern side of the valley, out of the constituents of the oolitic rocks. This at any rate is noticeably the case in those beds examined by the Club at Highnam and Over, and those which they inspected at the summit of Maisemore Hill. At the latter locality not a vestige of oolite could be detected, even in the minutest grains, while at the former station that mineral was seen to form one of the principal con- stituents of the beds. This subject is still too obscure to permit of any beyond the broadest generalization, and it is difficult to lay down any canon by which to determine with any degree of exactitude the relative horizons of these erratic deposits, which higher up the Severn, as at Upton, present a sec- tional arrangement so closely resembling that of the same beds at Menche- court and Moulin Quignon, on the Somme, even to the Lacustrine Silt in the valley, that the one section may be said nearly to repeat the conditions 117 of the other. But at Gloucester, it seems no longer possible to correlate the beds with those higher up the valley. Mr. Symonps, who has made a study of this intricate subject, informs me that he has “never seen any gravels near Gloucester which he can correlate with the well-marked ter- races, near Worcester, at Upton, and on the Avon, at Cropthorne.” He is disposed to consider all the drifts near Gloucester, as belonging to the High Level series, such as those of Tunnel Hill, near Upton, and Shut- honger, beyond Tewkesbury. The obscurity which surrounds this question is further complicated in the Gloucester district by the difficulty of measuring the effect of tidal action, which must be largely taken into account in any computation of the forces which contributed to the formation of the existing gravel-beds; forces which must not only have disturbed and re-arranged the materials of olden drifts, but must have been the means likewise of commingling with the gravels borne downwards by the natural current of the river, a large pro- portion of detritus derived from beds in an opposite direction. Our col- league, Mr. Joun Jonzs, expresses an opinion derived from a long study of these estuarine conditions, that a large proportion of the transported deposits in the lower portion of the course of the Severn owe their origin to such influences, and that the limestone and chalk flints which are there met with in such profusion, may be traced to beds which have been denuded and broken up to the south-westward, in the direction of the present outflow of the river. The further prosecution of this question, which is one full of novelty and interest, I strongly recommend to the Cotteswold Club, as being well within the scope of their observation, and one which will repay a long, careful, and elaborate study. There are teachings, depend upon it, which have yet to come from these phenomena, which it will tax the skill of our ablest geological experts to develope. Wednesday, 14th of May. The Club met at Cardiff, with a view to an examination of the Junction—beds between the Lias and the New Red Sandstone, at Penarth, of which beds the section at that locality is one of the most complete and instructive to be met with in the West of England, extending from the Lima-beds of the zone of “Am. planorbis” to the base of the Lias, thence through the so-called Rhetic beds of Moore, and a considerable thickness of the uppermost Keuper deposits. The party commenced their observations at the Northern extremity of the excavations above the new dock, where the following succession of beds was measured and tabulated in ascending order from the Keuper marls :— 118 1. Black Shales... ae Bae tee Wa deeb. 2. Bone-bed ... ee Ad ... 1 foot 5 inches. 3. Black Shales .. ie at ... 9 feet. 4. Lower Pecten-bed ... Ss ... 8 or 9 inches. 5. Black Shales... oa ree vaey MA feet: 6. Upper Pecten-bed ... Ze ... 7 or 8 inches. 7. Black Shales... ah a ... 38 toA4 feet. .8. Estheria-bed ? eOSE. ue ... 4 inches. 9. Monotis-bed ? eae F ..- 10 or 12 inches. To these succeed a series of Shaly beds, =“ intermittent bands of grey stone, intercalated in the lowermost layers abounding in Ostrea liassica, Modiola minima, Cardium, and Myacites. At the Southern extremity of the excavation, the beds above the Upper Pecten-bed were examined, and the following succession tabulated in ascending order :— 1. Black Shales 2. Indurated Marls vas pa &. Pioet 3. Compact Limestone band eet «+ (6 inches, 4. Shaly Limestone be : ... 1 foot 4 inches. 5. Intermittent band, containing ioaiai 1 foot. rheticum eae Sr 6. Compact dark-coloured Eateendty con- os Sorcha taining comminuted Shell # 7. Shaly-beds, assuming a more compact | 45 feet structure in the upper layers : 8. Ostrea liassica beds The following list of fossils from the bed marked 7 was noted :— Area, sp. Lima punctata. Modiola minima. Cardium rheticum. Axinus, sp. Together with many other Rhetic. forms. These shales, together with the under-lying limestones, were assigned by the geologists present to the “‘ White Lias,” to which, from their position and contained fossils, they were adjudged to belong. The fine section at Pennarth Head displays the whole series of beds at one view. Here, upon a Keuper base of great thickness, seamed through- out with white layers of gypsum, the Rhetic and Lower Lias beds are exhibited in a grand escarpment calculated at not less than 200 feet. This is a very valuable section, and when compared with those at 119 Westbury, at Uphill, near Weston-super-Mare, and others, affords valuable materials towards the elucidation of the beds intermediate the Planorbis beds of the Lower Lias, and the red marls of the Keuper, wherein the persistence of the Pecten beds, the Bone-bed and its remarkable organ- isms, with the accompanying Black Shales, will be remarked as indicating a geological series as complete in itself as it is in many respects divergent from the beds above and below. Mr. Cuartes Moor: identifies this series of beds with the so-called Rhetic beds of Giimbel, and then assigns to them a separate and distinct value in the geological scale; while, on the other hand, our able colleague, Dr. Wricut, is at present disposed to regard them asa portion of the Keuper series, of which they constitute, in his opinion, the uppermost member. From Penarth the party proceeded to Llandaff, where the renovated glories of the fine old Cathedral elicited warm expressions of admiration at the excellent taste displayed in the restoration of the lately ruinous struc- ture. So successfully indeed has the modern architect supplemented the plans of the original designers, that it is difficult to say where the older portion of the work terminates, and that of the restorer has begun. After dinner, which took place at the Angel, Mr Jonzs’s admirable paper on the Lias Gryphites was read, and an unanimous vote of thanks was accorded to the author for this very valuable contribution to the published works of the Club. Wednesday and Thursday, 18th and 19th of June. The Club met at Weston-super-Mare, in Somersetshire, in pursuance of a plan then for the first time acted upon, of appointing that one of the meetings of the Club should be held outside the boundaries of the county, a plan which I strongly recommend should be made one of annual observance for the future. Such a divergence from the beaten path of routine which has hitherto confined the Club within its own frontiers, is calculated to act most beneficially, by opening out to us fresh fields for observation and research, thereby expand- ing our views and enabling us to institute comparisons between similar scientific facts as developed in our own county and elsewhere, while we are at the same time brought into contact with individual observers of congenial tastes and pursuits, and with Societies of Naturalists like our own, with whom we are thus enabled to make acquaintance, while at the same time exchanging notes and observations to the manifest advantage of all parties. On Wednesday, 18th of June, a considerable number of the leading mem- bers of the Woolhope, Malvern, Bath, Bristol, and Somersetshire Natural History Societies, met us at Weston-super-Mare. The principal object of this day’s excursion was directed to the examination of the celebrated bone-cavern, at Banwell, and of the remarkable collection 120 of animal remains obtained from that and from other caverns in the neigh- bourhood, by the veteran BEarD, who has dedicated a life-time to that pur- pose, and has by his industry amassed a treasure of the highest interest and importance, which it is to be hoped will never be permitted to be dispersed. Since publicity has been given to the very remarkable aggregation of evidence bearing upon the discovery in caves of the bones and works of man, in company with those of extinct animals, to which discoveries the important work of Sir Cuaries LYELL, on the “ Antiquity of Man,” has now set the seal of recognition, the question of these caves and their strangely associated contents has become one which opens to us a novel and most fascinating field of enquiry. Already great advances have been made in opening up this question, and the vigour with which it is being prose- cuted promises ’ere long to lift the veil of obscurity which has so long shrouded this class of facts. It unfortunately happens that these caverns at Banwell, and elsewhere, have been opened at a time and under circumstances which have precluded a fair and impartial examination of the conditions under which the osseous remains were accumulated within their recesses. The theory that all such evidences were referrible to a “deluge” that took place some 4 or 5,000 years ago, which found the predaceous animals whose remains are there preserved, inhabiting these fissures as dens, and conveying thither as prey those others whose bones are entombed with them, obtained such universal acceptance, that nobody presumed to doubt the fitness of the explanation to meet all the difficulties of the case; while as regards the discovery of human remains, the theory of “ burial” at once satisfied all the requirements of the case, and conveniently dispensed with further enquiry. Thus it happens that the presence of animal remains in the Banwell Caverns was at once referred to the causes above-mentioned; and as a natural consequence of this method of reasoning, the exploration of the contents of the cave was not conducted upon any systematic principles. Everything there now appears to have been so much disturbed by human agency that little reliance can be placed upon present appearances. Enough, however, still remains to guide the observer to certain facts and conclusions. In the first place there are distinct marks of water-action upon the roof and sides of the cavern, which tell unmistakeably of the passage of a powerful current of water through the fissure during a lengthened period of time. Secondly, the cave has been filled from floor to roof with a mass of angular and subangular fragments of rock compacted in a muddy paste, throughout which the bones and teeth of quadrupeds are found, not in layers, as might be expected to be the case, had the cavern been used as a den, the floors of which were gradually raised, but strewn as it were broadcast throughout 121 the entire deposit. It is observable that these bones exhibit no appearance of being rolled. - There is therefore no reason to associate the marks of water-action on the roof and sides, with the date of the in-filling of the bones and angular fragments. Moreover, it is clear that so long as the water had force to propel the stony fragments, no layer of mud could accumulate. But that a change at length took place is certain, probably in consequence of some convulsion by which the drainage of that district was altered, and the waters which had used that channel were diverted, except perhaps at particular periods of overflow, when fissures now closed may have given access through infiltration from neighbouring caverns—possibly the resort of carnivora—to the gravel and bones which we now find “ Confus’dly hurled, The relies of a former world,” in such profusion, and in such a remarkable state of preservation, in the Banwell Caves. Thursday, 19th of June, was occupied in an excursion to Wells Cathe- dral and Glastonbury Abbey. The geologists afterwards ascended the Tor Hill, at Glastonbury, examining by the way the structure of this command- ing elevation, which, in common with many other eminences, rising abruptly out of the flat levels of Somersetshire, remain to show the eroding effects of water-action over a vast thickness of beds, of which these out-liers are now the only evidences. The following ‘“ Notes upon the Geology of the Tor Hill, near Glastonbury,” were supplied to me by Epwarb HarTSWwIck Day, Esq., F.G.S. “ The height of this hill may be roughly estimated at about 500 feet. Our knowledge of the geology of its lower portion is obscure, there being no quarries or natural sections to lay bare its strata. Whether the beds of the Keuper enter at all into its stucture, or whether as at Street, they underlie the surface of the surrounding valley, I cannot say, since the lowest beds that I have been able to notice are some of the Limestones of the ‘ Buck- landi-zone’ of the Lower Lias. These occur in a quarry on the north side of the hill, at about 90 feet over the level of the valley at the Brick-Kilns. I cannot, however, say to what portion of the Lima series these beds belong. «A little above the quarry mentioned, I found sands belonging to the Middle Lias, but I am by no means sure that they are in their original position; on the contrary, Tam inclined to think that they have slipped from a higher level. The junction of the Lower with the Middle Lias is there- fore totally concealed. In the lane leading from the town to the Tor, a section is obtained of a portion of the Middle Lias Sands; and in the quar- ries on Stone Down, we find these sands capped by two beds of Marlstone, 4 fect in thickness. These in turn are covered by the Upper Lias clays and 122 ragstones, of which I have seen 13 feet exposed without arriving at their junction with the sands above. From these quarries to the summit of the hill is somewhere about 180 feet, the greater part of which is composed of the Upper Lias Sands, with indurated bands and layers of sandy nodules. “Of the inferior Oolite Limestones which would, if present, rest upon these sands, I have seen no trace in this hill. Were they represented, their hard masses would assuredly be conspicuous upon the face of the very steep incline. I have never, however, found even a single displaced block nor an Inferior Oolite Fossil on the sides of, or beneath the hill. The Inferior Oolite may possibly be there for all that; I can only say that I have not been able to find it. “ The following lists of fossils, though very small, are sufficient to identify the Marlstone and the Upper Lias respectively :— From ‘Tue MartstTone.’ From ‘Tue Upper Litas.’ Ammonites margaritatus, Ammonites communis, Belemnites irregularis, ———— crassus, Pecten equivalvis, ——. Raquinianus, Terebratula cornuta, ———— bifrons, resupinata, ————_ serpentinus, ——_——— punctata, radians, Moore, Belemnites tricanaliculatus, Rhynchonella tetrahedra, Terebratula Lycetti, acuta, ETI Species of Myacites, Lima, Rhynchonella Moorei, Avicula, and other genera, Rhynchonella Bouchardit. occur, all recognisable as Middle Lias forms. ‘“N.B.—Ammonites spinosus and Rhynchonella furcillata occurred to me also in these beds, but on fragments of stone evidently derived from the Middle Lias.” Wednesday, 23rd of July. The Club met at the Frocester Station, and proceeded over Frocester Hill, by way of Uleybury, Longdown, and Peak- down, to Dursley, examining by the way the succession of beds met with in-the ascent of Frocester Hill, attention being more particularly directed to the Cephalopoda-bed, which has been so thoroughly explored, and its contents noted by Dr. Lycert. The examination of this bed was greatly facilitated by the labours of workmen employed under the direction of Mr. WiTcHELL, to clear away the rubble and expose the Ammonite-bed, which yielded to the hammers of the party a good suite of characteristic fossils. At the summit of the hill, attention was attracted to the striking example of oblique lamination, which is there presented. The upper beds, perfectly horizontal, are here seen to rest upon others in all respects perfectly homo- 123 geneous, but inclined at a very considerable angle, the line of juncture between the two being exactly parallel to the upper and undisturbed beds. No satisfactory explanation has yet been offered of the remarkable phen- omena of “oblique lamination,” or “ false bedding.” Mr. Hutts, in his notice of the geology of the country round Cheltenham, makes mention of the subject, but without supplying any key to the solution of the difficulty. This is a subject which would well repay investigation, and it is one which can only be cleared up by a careful comparison of facts accumulated over a large area, and ‘observed with an eye to minute particulars, having regard more especially to the phenomena of cleavage planes and ocean currents, to the influence of both of which agencies, put more especially to the former, this very puzzling arrangement of beds is probably referable. Near Uleybury, the Club visited the remarkable “ tumulus,” which was opened in 1821, and again in 1854,—the chambered interior of which still remains in a good state of preservation. A carefully-drawn account of the facts attending the examination of the tumulus on both the occasions referred to, has been published by Dr. Tuurnay, in the 11th Vol. of the Archeological Journal. He has likewise treated the subject of the human remains found in the barrow, in the first Decade of Crania Britannica. The examination of this ancient place of burial caused attention to be drawn to a similar mound, said to be on the eve of demolition, being deemed an obstruction, situated at the distance of a mile or so, near the village of Nympsfield—and the interest of the audience being further stimulated by a report that a partial irruption had already been made into the mound by rude boors in quest of stone, and that some bones had been discovered __it was resolved that immediate steps should be taken for obtaining the consent of the proprietor to a systematic examination of the tumulus, by a committee of the Club, who should be instructed to make a careful report of the result of their labours. Accordingly a committee was named, which afterwards met on the 30th of August, and completed the task assigned to them, entrusting to Proressor Buckman the duty of drawing up a report of their proceedings, which will hereafter appear in the published records of the Club. The Club dined together at the Bell Inn, Dursley. After dinner a paper was read by the secretary, from Dr. Lycert, of Scarboro’, on some Ammo- nites of the district, which was followed by another on “The distribution of the land, fluviatile, and Iucustrine Mollusca of the County,” by Mr. Joun JONES. Wednesday, 20th August. The Club met at the Kemble Station on the line of the Great Western Railway. The examination of the inter- esting “Fault” between that point and the tunnel, gave occupation to the 124 geologists, to many of whom the position was a new one; and as the point in question is a good example of those “ shakes” and “ dislocations” of such frequent occurrence throughout the Cotteswold district, the ex- amination of the beds on both sides of the line of fracture occupied the eyes and hammers of the party for some time. At this point the “Great Oolite” is seen on a level with the overlying “ Forest Marble” and “ Cornbrash,” indicating a “ down-throw” of considerable magnitude. A good suite of fossils were here collected, principally from the “ Corn- brash,” which yielded— Terebratula obovata, Myacites securiformis, maaxillata, Lima duplicata, Avicula echinata, Echinobrissus clunicularis, Gresslya peregrina, Clypeus Plotit. From hence a walk down the line of railway to the Tetbury-road station, afforded the party an opportunity of examining the small but well-characterised patch of “‘ Bradford Clay,” which is exhibited at that point in the road-cutting between the station and the small roadside inn close by. This uppermost member of the Great Oolite series is but sparingly developed in any part of the Cotteswolds ; indeed I know of no other locality in the district where so good a suite of its distinctive fossils may be obtained. The following were collected by the club, and noted upon the present occasion :— Terebratula digona, Rhynchonella coarctata, cardium, Claw of a crustacean, Fragments of Urchins. From the Tetbury-road station the party proceeded to visit the ancient entrenchment in the parish of Cotes, known as Trewsbury Castle—a position as it would seem of some importance, judging from its extent— which comprises within its area a space of some eighteen acres. It appears difficult at this time of day to assign an object for a detached camp of such extent within so short a distance of the great military station of Corinium. That it was occupied by the Romans does not seem to admit of a doubt, as coins of that people have been found on the site; and during the visit of the Club a well-sinking had revealed portions of pottery of a coarse description, to which the antiquaries of the party unhesitatingly assigned a Roman origin. The Club was met at this point by the proprietor of the demesne, upon which Trewsbury stands, Mr, Dew, who most courteously invited the party to partake of refreshment at his residence ; a proposal which met 125 with very ready acceptance. It was found, however, that this refectionary interlude occupied so much time, that the delay rendered impracticable the prosecution of that portion of the programme of the day’s work, which embraced a visit to Sapperton Tunnel and Hailey Wood, and it was deemed advisable to proceed direct to Cirencester. Here a visit was paid to the Museum of the Royal Agricultural College, to that of Roman Antiquities adjoining Lord Bathurst’s Park, and to the so-called “ Bull- ring,” at the Querns, which Proresson Buckman regards as the site of the Roman Amphitheatre. The party dined at the Ram Inn, about 26 in number. In the absence of the secretary, the vice-chair was occupied by Proressor Buckman. After dinner Prorrssor Buckman introduced to the notice of the Club specimens of Cnicus tuberosus, grown from plants of C. acaulis, discovered by the Professor, at Avebury Circle, Wilts, and transferred by him to a richer soil—showing in a most interesting manner how the one form, ' few-flowered, stemless, and with simp‘e roots, changes by cultivation into the tall, many-flowered, and tuberous-rooting form of C. tuberosus. These experiments show the genus to be highly capable of variation, and hence in all probability much confusion has arisen in regard to nomen- clature, a point which after all, experiments alone can settle. Masor Barnarp exhibited examples of a Pyrus, new to our county, and indeed, as it would seem, to England generally,—Pyrus fennica, of Babington, to which that distinguished authority assigns “ Mountains in the Northern part of the Isle of Arran,” as the only known British locality. The discovery of these plants in our neighbourhood is a circumstance of great interest to botanists, and reflects credit upon the acuteness and intelligence of our associate. An interesting discussion ensued upon the sudden and inexplicable appearance of new and strange plants, on newly cleared ground, of which curious instances were mentioned by Mr. Norwoop, the president, and others. It is probable that carefully collected observations on this class of facts would prove of value by throwing light upon the obscure and hitherto unexplaiued circumstances connected with the origin and distri- bution of plant life. Before separating it was resolved that an extra meet of the Club should be held at Cheltenham, in September. Accordingly, on Wednesday, 94th of that month, the final meeting of the Club for the season took place at the Queen’s Hotel, Cheltenham, from whence the party, accom- panied by many lady-visitors, proceeded to Sudeley Castle, near Winch- comb, the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Dent. A halt took place by the 126 way near the summit of Cleeve Hill, to allow of an examination of the “‘ Road-stone” quarries, where Dr. WricuT gave to the assembled com- pany a brief but lucid description of the very interesting beds opened up at this point, which, with their peculiar organic contents, are of especial interest to the geologist, as at no other locality throughout the Cotteswold district is the “ Middle” or “ Humphresianus zone” of the Inferior Oolite equally well displayed. This section was made a special subject for elucidation by the Cotteswold Club two years ago, when it was thoroughly worked out by Dr. Wricut, and Messrs. Jones and Norwoop. From hence the excursionists proceeded direct to Sudeley Castle, where they met with a most hospitable reception from Mr. and Mrs. Dent, who had most considerately provided luncheon for their visitors. The dinner, which took place at the Queen’s Hotel, was well attended, both by gentlemen and ladies; amongst the latter the presence of the distinguished authoress of the Queens of England must not be’ over- looked. After dinner a paper was read by Proressor Buckman, on the “ Enno- bling of Wild Plants,” and some observations by Dr. Brrp upon the “Tumulus,” lately opened by the Club, at Nympsfield, gave rise to an animated discussion, embracing the question of pre-historic evidences, and the probable duration of man upon the earth during periods of time far exceeding those to which some computations would limit his existence. The subject was debated in all its aspects by different speakers, the Rev. W. S. Symonns, Dr. Wricut, Mr. D. Nasu, and the Rev. Mr. Norwoop, taking a prominent part in the discussion, which seemed at last to favor the ante-dating of humanity, though whether to the extent of “ myriads of years” as one gentleman contended, seemed hardly to be conceded. With the account of this meeting terminate the records of the trans- actions of the Club during the year 1862,—a season distinguished among many others by the large amount of energy displayed by the Club in the pursuit of all those branches of science which come within the range of its cognisance,—an energy which, well applied and judiciously directed, cannot fail of securing for us, as a scientific body, that place and conside- ration which we have striven to obtain. But further, I believe, that by persistence in such a course of action, we shall best accomplish a primary object of our association,—that of fostering a love of natural science amongst those who come within the circuit of our influence, and of hold- ing out a helping hand to younger students of nature, who should be led to group themselves around us—as around a nucleus—which offers to them at the same time a position as naturalists, and the society of those who are well qualified to lead and instruct them in those delightful paths ee a ia 127 of enquiry which have been to us such a fruitful source of happiness. In conclusion, let me beg of you to accept my warm thanks for that support which you have so cordially and so continuously given to me. To that support, aided by the valuable co-operation of your secretary, am I enabled to attribute any measure of success which may have attended my endeavours to administer the affairs of a body of gentlemen, which numbers amongst its members so many distinguished for eminent attainments and scientific reputation, as, I am proud to say, are enrolled on the records of the CorreswoLD CLUB. On the Natural History, Geology, &c., of Sharpness Point District. By Joun Jones. Lead at the Cheltenham Meeting, 1863. How little is popularly known of the river to which the second rank in England is universally accorded, may be inferred from the fact, that in a novel by a writer of deserved repute, published, let us say, within the last ten years, a gentleman is made to take up his fishing rod and to throw a fly on the Severn, in the immediate neighbourhood of Bristol, without, so far as we have observed, attracting the notice of the professional critics, by whom the work in question has been reviewed. It may be, that the author himself performed an experiment, swz generis, and was fortunate enough to realize his expectations ; but we feel eon- fident that no other individual would think of fly-fishing, in water of about the colour, and nearly the consistency, of pea-soup. In truth, we believe, that with the exception of those persons who win their bread from its waters, few of the dwellers upon its shores, in the lower part of its course, care to know more of it than is revealed to them in the immediate vicinity of their own homes. No steamers laden with pleasure- or lucre- seeking passengers ply upon it, above the mouths of the Bristol Avon and the Wye. The low-lying shores of its Estuary, con- sisting of dead levels of alluvium, through which it flows for many miles, possess no scenic attractions which can bear the briefest com- parison, with those of its above named tributaries ; its turbid waters are therefore frequented only by the wanderers’ who navigate the craft, which since the opening of the Gloucester and Berkeley canal, in the year 1827, have brought supplies of cereals, timber, and other merchandize, for the populous districts of the Midland Counties. The few and transitory glimpses of it, obtainable from the South Wales Railway, are eminently unsatisfactory. On the ebbing or flowing tide, a few scattered sails, or the dark smoke of a steam-tug may arrest the eye ; and at low water, a few fishermen, armed with hand-nets, may be seen wading slowly, or standing perfectly still, in the ‘pools’ left here and there in the sad expanse of sandy mud or muddy sand, conveying the idea of beings, fated to abandon all human habits and instincts, and to adopt those of the patient but ever hungry heron. Although this unflattering description is not likely to attract the attention of the ordinary tourist, yet we do not despair_of convincing ; 129 the Geologist and Natural Historian that he may as well, and worthily, spend a few days in this portion of Sabrina’s domain, as in many other localities whose charms are superficially more apparent. By the way, the mention, or rather indication, of the existence of meretricious beauty in connection with the name of Sabrina, brings to mind a difficulty in reconciling the very opposite idea represented by the Celtic word from which her Latin name appears to have been euphonized, with that which the readers of Milton, are accustomed upon his showing, to attach to it. He tells us in Comus:— “There is a gentle nymph not far from hence That with moist curb sways the smooth Severn stream, Sabrina is her name, a virgin pure * * * * * * The guiltless damsel, flying the mad pursuit Of her enraged stepdame, Guendolen, Commended her fair innocence to the flood, That staid her flight with his cross-flowing course.” The statement that she thereupon became goddess of the river ; the description of her reception by the water-nymphs, of the offerings made to her by the shepherds, who ; ‘ Threw sweet garland wreaths into her stream Of pansies, pinks, and gaudy daffodils.” The purpose for which her aid was invoked, and the song in which this is formally done by the attendant spirit, beginning, “Sabrina, fair, Listen where thou art sitting, Under the glassy, cool, translucent wave, In twisted braids of lilies knitting, The loose train of thy amber-dropping hair : Listen, for dear honour's sake, Goddess of the silver lake, Listen and save,” teach us unmistakeably, that the scene of her death was popularly believed to have taken place in the upper and pellucid portion of the stream ; that her Latin name was almost synonymous with virgin purity and honour. Strange to say, the Celtic appellation, Hafren, bears a signification of the most opposite and degrading character ; the last in fact that should be deemed appropriate to any female. Philology alone, we fear, will not enable us to account for the difference in meaning, of words avowedly identical in derivation. Can it be, that as the river changed in character from the crystal stream, to the muddy tide fare, so did the I 130 meaning attached to its primitive designation ; or did the inhabitants of the Southern parts of Wales, who still sometimes exchange uncompli- mentary epithets with their Northern neighbours, spitefully or con- temptuously adopt a name held in honour by their hereditary foes or rivals as one of infamy amongst themselves 4? * The ventilation of this question might, perhaps, elicit some of that curious information, or of those ingenious hypotheses which find a genial home in the pages of “ Notes and Queries.” The names of places and persons in the districts dominated by the Romans, composed of Celtic elements, appear to have been generally euphonized by them, and adopted into their language. We cannot doubt, that in the case under consideration, the honours of deification, and the legend or myth attached to the name of Sabrina were of Roman origin, and the principles upon which the word “ Hafren” has been converted into “Sabrina,” admit of exemplification from so many languages and their dialectic changes, as to become per- fectly intelligible. The Latin tongue having no sound equivalent to that of the hard Welsh “uch,” by the process of adaptation of sounds to the power of vocal enunciation, which becomes in the lapse of time characteristic of races, and may be traced through many other lan- guages, has substituted for it the softer sound of 8. Without going more deeply into the subject of dialectic variations, it will suffice to be reminded how constantly and systematically such changes are adopted, even by people of cognate origin, The transition of P, F, or V, into B and P, is common to too many lan- guages and dialects, to require more than a passing reference. In point of fact, the difference of pronunciation, as regards either letter, is little greater than that upon which the lives of a race once hung in the word “ Shibboleth.” The Saxons, in all probability, adopted Romano-British words for incorporation into their own language in like manner. Ignoring the myth, they felt that, by the natural change of B into V, the name would be not only significant, but appropriate, and Sabrina, the nymph, became Sveferan, by elision Svefren, from ‘Se feran,’ Anglo-Saxon, to go to the sea, “the sea fare or way,” by which name it is still known, pre- serving amongst the people of the district, through all the changes of language which have since taken place, its ancient pronunciation. Few words, could more succinctly prove the correctness of the principle, upon which we may suppose the later appellation to have been formed, or which enables us more truly to trace derivations of others, exhibiting similar peculiarities, from languages as distinct w 131 from each other as are the significations necessarily attached to their elements. Thus we see that the name, Hafren, presuming it to be derived from the same root as from the Celtic verb, “‘ Hafru,” “to render sluggish,” is sufficiently appropriate to the river, in that part of its course which must always have been of the greatest social importance, * as from Worcester to Kingroad no greater fall than of about 4 inches in a mile takes place. The Latin name, to possess any meaning at all, must be derived from a common root with sabulum, and saburra, “sand, or fine gravel,” and, in testimony of its perfect applicability in this sense, to a river more charged with sediment than any other in Europe, we need only cite Shakespeare, who, in his King Henry IV., calls it “ the sandy-bottomed Severn.” Upon the Anglo-Saxon appellation, we have already sufficiently expa- tiated ; and, if in despite of the fanciful vagaries of some of the admirers of philology, we have been able faintly to illustrate her value, as a hand- maiden of history, we willingly incur the risk of being considered somewhat prolix, in the hope of showing, in the present instance, how notes, evoked apparently at random from various strings, may be made to combine in one harmonious chord. The compiler of the History, attributed to Nennius, names the “Duo hig Hafren,” the two kings of Severn, as amongst the wonders of Britain, representing the conflict between the ebbing and the flowing tide, to which the Saxons gave the name of ‘Hygre’ or ‘Egor,’ the equivalent of the Latin AXquor, or the ‘flood,’ of the various Scandinavian and Teutonic dialects, the latter being the term generally applied to the phe- nomenon at the present day, ‘Eager’ and ‘Hygre’ being nearly obsolete. Thomas Carlyle derives the term from the name of a Jotun or giant, who was the personified spirit of Sea Tempest, but he does not state where, in old Norse literature, traces of the supposed exist- ence of such a semi-deified power may be found. Another term which is also frequently used for it—Bore—is clearly traceable to to the Saxon word, “ Beran,” to bear or carry, from the facilities which it lent to the transit of merchandize, and for the purposes of ordinary social intercourse. The district to which we shall chiefly direct attention at present, is that which lies between Sharpness Point and the Hock Crib, at * “Sed tamen duo flumina, preclariora ceteris fluminibus, Tamesis ac Sabrina, quasi duo brachia Britannie, per que olim rates, vehebantur ad portando divitias, pro causa negotiationis.”-—Nennius. 12 132 Fretherne, (the ‘Scearp-Nesse,” ‘(Acute Promontory,” and the “Hock Crib,” or “curved lying place”) comprising the “‘ New Grounds ;” so called from their having been formed, and reclaimed from the Severn, at a very recent period. Our object in recording the following observations is to show how many of the objects, which excite our curiosity and enthusiasm, during hurried voyageson Highland lochs or Norwegian fiords, submit themselves to investigation in our immediate neighbourhood, we there- fore, invite our audience to accompany us in a day’s ramble over the tract in question. We embark at 7 a.m., at Gloucester, in the steamer, Wave, on a glorious morning in August, and, after breakfasting on board with her intelligent Captain, Mr. Calway, land at Sharpness about 9.50, in time to witness the entrance of two or three fine ships from America and the Black Sea, with several smaller vessels from less remote shores, and admire the remarkable skill with which they are handled by the dock-master, pilots, and their crews, in the narrow entrance to the port. Taking advantage of the momentary closing of the swing bridge over the outer lock, we pass into the gardens of Lord Fitzhardinge, to which he so liberally grants access, selecting a seat which commands the best view of the river channel towards Kingroad, and watch with equal interest the departure of a motley fleet of vessels, composed of French luggers, Dutch galliots, an Austrian polacca, and smaller craft, for various ports of the Bristol Channel, to take in the cargoes with which Gloucester as yet, is not in a position to furnish them ; casting a longing glance at Aust Cliff in the distance, with thoughts of its celebrated bone beds, as the vessels recede rapidly from us upon the falling tide, we re-cross the canal entrance and prepare for the return journey, leaving Sharpness Point at - about 11 o'clock. Now, commencing the business of the day, we do not proceed far, before we have the satisfaction of knowing, that we have completely mystified a small group of anglers, seated upon a timber raft on the opposite side of the canal, by baring an arm and taking a stone or two from the water, for the purpose of satisfying ourselves that our old friends, Veritina and Ancylus fluviatilis and Dreissena polymorpha, (which occur here in great number and of large size,) are | well, and carrying away a few to supply “the ripe wants of a friend.” This done, we proceed towards Purton, plucking from the canal bank here and there, a handful of moss for examination by the way. ; Upon most occasions, we have had no difficulty in adding to our collection, specimens of Zua lubrica, Azeca tridens, and two species of Vertigo, but on the present, from the dryness of the season, we are unsuc- 133 cessful. From the same cause, the fine, highly coloured lichens which cover the sea wall, have lost their attractions. Crossing the wooden. bridge, over the sluice which allows the waste waters of the canal to escape, we approach the place at which the ferry boat from Pyrton on the opposite side lands its passengers, the names of both being probably derived from the same Anglo Saxon elements of Per-tiin, ‘‘the dwelling on the pier,” and evidencing the antiquity of the ferry, the rights pertaining to which are still strictly enforced by the lessee. An interesting chapter in practical Geology may be read by the initiated from this spot. We stand nearly upon the summit of the protruded Silurian dome, represented in a coloured section, published in the first edition of Murchison’s “ Silurian system,” and may find in abundance under our feet, characteristic shells and corals of the upper Ludlow beds, though much damaged by the action of the tidal waters. The colour of this rock differs so little from that of the Old Red Sandstone beds which once rested immediately upon it, and still flank it, that the precise point of contact is difficult to discover. Upon the opposite shore, full in our view, are the Old Red Sand- stone Rocks which form the upturned edges of the Forest of Dean coal basin, the equivalents of the cornstones, and show at a glance, by the well marked anticlinal lines of their strata, dipping from one point towards Lydney, and from another towards Gloucester, the wave-like character of the motion of the subjacent beds, by which their elevation, - with that of the Silurian Rock, just mentioned, was effected, and their curvatures produced. The transverse section, showing how this last passes under the others, appears to us to be of equal interest to the published section, and we have here ventured to produce it, from such observations as the constantly changing bed of the river has enabled us to make ; remarking that from the inaccessibility of the former, the club would confer a boon upon its members by re-publishing it. Walking along under the cliff, towards the Berkeley Arms oe from the seat, in front of which, the finest view of the district, to be seen from the river, may be obtained, we arrive at the mass of Old Red Sandstone, anticlinal to that over which we have just pased, upon which the house stands, although, from the amount of silt deposited within the last ten or twelve years, the point of junctionisobscured; and crossing theroad leading to the Pier, we come at once to the lias beds, which form the well-known Purton section, reposing unconformably upon the same. Some forty years since, the principal channel ran under this cliff, but, from the 134 operation of the breakwater commenced by the late Earl Fitzhardinge, land is rapidly forming here, and the current has been diverted to the Forest of Dean side. The alluvial deposit behind the breakwater, in the direction of our course, from its yet unstable character, renders it difficult to trace the liassic beds from their immediate line of contact with the Devonian : but at the distance of about half a mile from the Inn, they become accessible, and, notwithstanding many slips of the soil, allow their strata to be tabulated, from highwater mark, in the following ascending order : Stiff and somewhat laminated clays, containing young Ammonites, an occasional Belemnite, eee alan the ae incurva in all its varieties . . 2to 3 ft. * Limestone band, containing y cn ye, Conybear Rhynchonlt, _ Spirifer, Lima, Pecten, Modiola, &c. : 4 . 10 inches Distinctly laminated clays, which become midiies in en upwards 12 to 14 ft. Limestone band . : ; 5 . Sto 10in. Stiff blue clay, varying in thickness, Ph which eo oolitic gravel and vegetable soil Few scenes can more vividly impress themselves upon the mind of a young geologist, than that which presents itself here, after a fall of the rock, and its exposure for a few weeks to the tidal and atmospheric action. The beach is sometimes strewn with the fossils of which a list is subjoined, in the finest possible condition, more especially as regards Gryphites, which are found of every type conceivable within ‘the limits of one species ; and that one only exists here, the writer has ‘endeavoured to prove in a former paper, now forming a part of the Transactions of the Cotteswold Naturalists’ Club. Next in order, as regards number and state of preservation, come the Ammonites and Nautili, some of which are of very large dimensions. A portion of a Nautilus, which must have been at least eighteen inches in diameter, is now lying before us, and Am. obtusus of not inferior size. The smaller fossils may easily be separated from their stony matrix with a light hammer and small chisel, but the only safe mode of proceeding with such specimens as those above-named, is to expose to the alternate action of tide and frost, the blocks in which they lie embedded, by which method some of the best specimens known from this locality have been obtained. From the fact of the chambers of the larger Nautili and Belemnites being either partially hollow, or filled with crystals of carbonate of lime, combined with the extremely brittle character of the coating of petrified shelly matter which covers, and separates them, the blow of a hammer, however skilfully applied, almost invariably fractures them irreparably. Those curious concretions to which no English name has yet been 135 given, but which the Germans call “Nagel-Kalk,” are found here in great numbers, varying in size from that of a small belemnite, to that of a man’s head, or even larger. No difference in the texture of the stone of the separate portions can be distinguished by the eye, yet we know that there must be a sufficient cause for their being so acted upon by exposure to the atmosphere. We are not acquainted with any theory as to their origin or nature, and therefore wonder what they might have been. We observe that organic remains, such as the fragment of an encrinite, or a broken shell, is more frequently imbedded in the central, than in the outer portion, of such as we meet with, and the question suggests itself—can they have been sponges, buried in the thin band of fine mudstone in which they occur 4 If so, there is an indefinable kind of consolation in the thought, that though the body have entirely perished, the fact of the Divine gift of life having once pervaded this apparently purposeless concretion, has left its own testimony in the partial outlines here exhibited. We have obtained from the beds described the following fossils :— Belemnites Ammonites Conybeart Lima gigantea obtusus var. minama Nautilus lineatus —— punctata Gryphea ineurva, with all its . antiqua varieties Cardima Ostrea, covering the larger Unicardium cardioides Ammonites, in great per- Spirifer Wallcottit fection, of large size, and Terebratula numismalis covered again themselves Rhynchonella variabilis by Serpule and Placunopses And several small Cerithiform Pecten, two species univalves We have now afrived at the end of the cliff near the second break- water. Higher up the vale of Gloucester, it is difficult to obtain a clear idea of the correlation of the vast beds of gravel composed of the detritus of the liassic and oolitic beds of the neighbouring hills, contain- ing elephant and hippopotamus remains, occasional chalk-flints, &c., with what is popularly known as the Northern Drift, (but to which appella- tion, we conceive that there are substantial reasons for objecting.) Be that as it may, the order of superposition is well shown, in a small excavation within a few yards of the breakwater upon the edge of the cliff, where a bed of the gravel above-mentioned has been worked to a small extent. 136 Upon the gravel rest two or three feet of vegetable soil, over which is strewn another bed of similar gravel, an inch or two only in thickness, and over all, under the existing herbage, the quartzose and red sandstone pebbles, of the (so-called) northern drift. Taking our stand at this point, and scanning the vale with the eye of a geologist, we may readily trace the sequence of all the deposits, of which _ the elements of the landscape around us consist.. We cannot doubt that the lias upon which we stand, once stretched across what is now the channel of the Severn, and rested upon the red sandstone, as correspond- ing beds do at present on the opposite shore at Awre, near Poulton Court. Looking directly up the river, we may see distinctly, with the aid of a glass, the same beds stretching away in a corresponding direction at the Hock Crib, and we know that a few miles beyond this lies Westbury Cliff, where the lowest beds of the lias rest upon the new red marls, and these, at Flaxley, unconformably against the Upper Silurian rock, thrown up near Sir Martin Crawley’s schools, enabling us to judge at what period the great disturbance of the Protozoic formations in this neigh- bourhood took place. All these, from the Mayhill sandstone to the upper beds of the Carboniferous system, had been placidly deposited in their due order in the depths of a vast sea. The section of the Forest Coal Field, in any direction, shown upon the maps of the Geological Survey, indicates no relative disturbance of its component strata, prior to that effected by the turning up of its edges, by the protusion of older rocks which form the tracts, which separate it from the neighbouring coal-fields of Bristol and Glamorgan, the central portion remaining comparatively undisturbed. The relations of the Secondary, to the Protozoic and eruptive rocks of the district, are everywhere the same, and the line of unconformity between them, may be traced from the trap boss at Tortworth, behind us, on the 8.E., to the flanks of the Malvern range, before ‘us, on the N.W. Wherever first or last exerted, we know that the cosmic force by which that great Sienitic mass was abruptly uplitted, produced the contortions of the Silurian rocks around it, and the undulations of those before us, ; and under our feet; passing hence, still upheaving Silurian strata through those of the Devonian age, and penetrating these again at Tortworth with a mass of trap, it subsides from this point under the Bristol coal-field to produce effects analagous to those already described around and beyond it. It is not our object to trace further the development of this force, and its consequences, but to bring more prominently forward than they have hitherto been brought in the Transactions of the Club, those ——. >) ee 137 geological features, easily accessible at many points in this county, by which we ascertain, approximatively, the period at which these commotions, to which we at present owe the diversity of its soil, and scenery, and access to its mineral wealth, took place. In and around the Forest we have precipitous escarpments of Carboniferous limestone and shales, with those of older rocks, in such position as to prove how great must have been the extent of their detritus, carried away, we know not whither. As the ancient detritic material of the lowest and most compact strata—which would necessarily be the most recent, as the last exposed to aqueous action—has left no trace of its existence here, we may not reasonably expect to discover any debris of the higher strata which once reposed upon these. We have no traces in the Forest area, for example, of the Magnesian Limestone, and its associated beds, which in other parts of England, and upon the continent, follow in regular series those of the Carboniferous system ; yet we find at Bristol a Magnesian conglomerate, with the remains of undoubted Permian reptiles, and as we cannot believe, from the ‘sharp angles of the rock fragments of which it is composed, that they have travelled any considerable distance, we must necessarily suppose that the formation, of which it is the representative, was to some extent developed here. We have seen the upper beds of the New Red Sandstone, deposited unconformably against the upthrown Silurian and the Old Red, at Flaxley and elsewhere; the Lias against the Old Red Sandstone as here; and upon Silurian strata, as near Eastwood; Mr. Coarites Moore has informed us that the fissures of the Carboniferous Limestone of his district contain liassie fossils; and Mr. ErHerepce has shown us a specimen of the same limestone bored by Lithophagide, at whose death, their holes were filled up by then forming oolitic granules. Under these circumstances, as we are not acquainted with any group of strata intermediate to the Permian and Triassic formations; and as we do not find these in contact here, may we not reasonably infer, that beds of Permian age had been deposited here in their due sequence; but having been swept away, either prior to, or in consequence of, their dis- ruption by the disturbances indicated, when the deposition of the Triassic formation commenced, the forms of life which characterized them are here wanting, and the Mesozoic, which characterize the next vast epoch, assumed their places. Truly, if a man have a devotional spirit within him, and can appreciate the immensity of the gulf into which he gazes, and which he is enabled to bridge over, by the exercise of that gift of intellect which 138 distinguishes him from all other created beings, here is a fitting place for its silent outpouring. We hold in our hand a tide-worn portion of one of the stone lilies which, in the words of Edwin Forbes, “ waved wilfully its graceful stem,” in the Silurian sea, at a time so remote from that represented by the ancient stratum upon which we are standing, as to perplex the imagination in any attempt to realize a comparative idea of the lapse of cycles between them, or of those required either for the pre-existent, or subsequent development of the earth’s crust. At our feet lies the crushed shell of a large ammonite, covered with the separated star-like joints of the Lias Pentacrinite, not uncommon here, seeming to suggest, by its agree- ment in general design with the Divine idea manifested in the older form, that the all-pervading intelligence, infinite and eternal, is, indeed, unmindful of nothing that it has made. A glance at the great lias outlier of Robinswood Hill, looming up from the centre of the vale, reminds us that since the changes we have con- templated, others as remarkable have taken place: for we recollect that this must once have been conterminous and continuous with the liassic slopes of the Cotteswolds, which form the back ground of the landscape, and flank it on the right. These, we know, are merely capped by beds of the Inferior Oolite, the detritus and fossils of which, mingled with those of the lias, strew the valley from beyond Evesham, to the quarry on the cliff which we have already visited, evidencing action to which they have been subjected, by which the deep combs and bays, which indent them, have been formed. The recent origin of the gravels is apparent from the remains of the great extinct pachyderms still found amongst them, and occasionally the shells of Mollusca still existing around us. We have expressed some doubt as to the origin of the Drift which overlies these gravels, to which the epithet “Northern” has been expressly applied, because, the further we travel south-westward, the heavier and larger do we find the pebbles, which constitute it, become; and we may reasonably suppose, that the smaller detritus wanders furthest from its parent rock. There may, indeed, have been an influx of similar material at the other end of the valley, but from its sparsely scattered condition, and the minuteness of the fragments, of which it is here composed, we feel rather disposed to ascribe to it a south-westerly than a northern origin. As compared with these drifts, the Severn Channel is of modern formation, for we see at this point that its bed is worn through them and their underlying gravels, a circumstance, which the want of coherence, and difference in the rock materials here in juxtaposition, must have much favoured. ; 139 Another feature of great interest in this district, to which our attention was first called by Mr. CLEGRAM, is the existence of an extensive bed of peat, in which are found trunks and roots of trees, principally oak, in the ordinary state of what is popularly known as Bog-oak. These may be best seen on the sides and in the bed of the watercourse called the Royal Drough, in the excavation of which they were first brought to light. They are accompanied by the catkins of hazel, and the leaves of waterflags and other plants, which show that they could not have been transported far from the place in which they grew. The thickness of the peat-bed is from four to five feet, and it is some feet below the level of high-water mark, covered by brick-earth, of the same character as that still deposited by the Severn, to the depth of ten or twelve feet, indicating that it must have been submerged to a sufficient depth, for this accumulation to have been formed upon it, and subsequently uplifted to its present position. The same deposit is found on the opposite bank of the river, in the parish of Awre, and, as we are informed, on Walmer Common, in the parish of Westbury-on-Severn, at Whitminster, and in other places near Gloucester, from which its extent may be inferred. We are not aware that these facts have been previously noticed by other writers. The trees, when fairly uncovered in excavation, occur in great numbers, and very large “Stag Horns” were found amongst them, some of which are said to have been taken to Berkeley Castle. An entire skull of the Bos primigenius was found in the Severn, not very far from Sharpness Point, nor the spot where the fresh water of the Royal Drough, on the bank-cuttings of which these trees are now best seen, and which runs in places through the peat bed, still keeps open a channel through the sands. The transition from old geology to new is easy enough in theory, but it would be difficult to find another locality, where recent changes have been effected to the same extent as in this. Many of the older inhabitants of Purton have assisted in the discharge of cargoes of stone and coals upon the canal banks, from vessels which could not now approach them from the Severn within the distance of nearly a mile, the operation of the breakwaters erected by the late Earl Fitzhardinge, having converted, within their recollection, a large tract, once washed by the tidal waters, into fertile soil. The quantity of stone applied to the construction of the breakwaters, to which we have frequently referred, has been enormous, and each has been the work of many years; but though the cost of them may not be commensurate with the value of the land reclaimed, it must be remembered that the work, when first 140 commenced, was defensive—not aggressive—and therefore has | not rendered merely passive results. Some idea of the alternately destructive and recompensating action of the river at this point, may be formed from the following information which has been communicated by W. B. CLucram, Esq., the resident engineer of the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal Company :—“‘ The sub-contractor of the Canal between the Cambridge Arm, and Purton, tells me that he retains a distinct recollection of the excavation for the foundation of the bridge walls and platform at the Shepherd’s Patch, which is now a mile and a quarter distant from the Severn, and that at a depth of from 15 to 16 feet below the present surface of the meadows, which are called the New Grounds, they came to the old river mud, upon which were the footmarks of sheep and cattle, as distinct, and sharply defined as though they had been made the day before, extending over a considerable area. These marks were filled up with pure clean sand and mud; sometimes in separate deposits, sometimes mingled together. The mud excavated and exposed to the action of the air, dried and divided into laminz about the eighth of an inch in thickness, showing the quiet tidal deposits. I think you may rely on these facts, as my informant is an observant and intelligent man. The work referred to was executed thirty-nine years ago.” Similar facts were observed also at the Cambridge Arm, at a distance of about a mile from the last-named locality. This is interesting, as teaching us that the Severn silt probably extends inland between the points indicated, to a very considerable distance, and that the deposit has been swept away and replaced numberless times; and showing how simply, naturally, and perfectly, traces of life so readily effaceable as footprints, may be preserved. Should further conservative measures now in contemplation, and of which the preliminaries have been executed, be carried out, another very extensive tract of fertile land will in the course of a few years be re- claimed from the river here. : i If it be interesting to observe the gradual change of vegetable and animal life, which takes place upon draining a small marsh or pond, and submitting its soil to ordinary culture, how much more so must it be to watch the sea shore, or that of an estuary gradually accommodating itself to the conditions of inland existence ; ,and this we may do here. It is just at this spot where the struggle for preponderance, between the estuarine and marine conditions and forms of life is going on. Congers of consider- able size prowl over the sands before us, and are sometimes left stranded upon them. Porpoises, and even whales, have been taken far above us; indeed, it is upon trustworthy record that a man was killed, while bathing at Worcester, = ae. oe a * * . 141 by asword-fish.* Lophius Europeus was caught at Newnham, but a few years since, and exhibited to the Club. The Anchovies, Engraulis encrasicolus, Flem, (which is not considered a common British fish,) must be here in considerable abundance, for they are sometimes caught to the number of a dozen in a tide, in the wicker baskets called puts, which are set for salmon, and it attains here the full size ascribed to it by Yarrell—that is to say, to 6 or 7 inches in length, which is greater than its usual size in the warmer seas, where it occurs in greater abundance. Shrimps may be had for the taking; and upon one occasion (about 1845,) the river here was so full of sprats, that it was only necessary to lower a basket into the water to obtain a supply. It may, probably, be remembered that an extraordinary flight of the Arctic tern passed inland as far as Worcester, about the same time, in such numbers as to be readily knocked down by stones thrown amongst them. If we turn over a stone or piece of drift-wood just within high-water mark, we disturb swarms of Sandhoppers, Talitra locusta,.or its more sedate companion, Ligia oceanica, which the unscientific, would probably mistake for a gigantic woodlouse. If still incredulous as to our vicinity to the sea, or to marine conditions of life, we have only to feel our way carefully at low water, along the edges of the Silurian rocks which stretch out into the river, where the Dictyophyton feeniculatum grows upon them, to find a few peri- winkles (Littorina littorea,) tellina crassa, or Syndosmya alba. Amongst the Fuci, (Fucus vesiculatus ) Littorina tenebrosa is not uncommon. The empty shells of these species are found occasionally sparingly scattered over the sands as far as Fretherne, but we have seldom met with living specimens beyond this point. The current which brings them hither carries them, no doubt, much further, but as there are no rocks to afford them shelter beyond this place, except those of which the breakwaters are formed, they probably become embedded at such depths, in the ever-shisting sands, as to deprive them of life. _ Amongst the captures of rare fish made in the Severn, which have come under our notice, may be mentioned the Morris, Leptocephalus Morrissii, (Yarrell, vol. 2, p. 311,) of which, a specimen was taken at Framilode, in May, 1845, and is now in the possession of T. B. Ll. Baker, Esq., of Hardwicke Court. (Phocena orca of Cuvier) have been captured in the Severn, near this place, and one within three miles and a half of Gloucester. They are supposed to have _ been in pursuit of a large shoal of salmon, as the unusual number of forty-five was taken on the same day, at Minsterworth, near the place where the last named was captured. The largest of these was twenty-two feet and the smallest nine feet in length. Porpoises (Phocena communis) are seen here in small numbers much _ more frequently, and the common species of seal (Phoca vitulina) has been ' seen repeatedly upon the English stones near Beachley within the last few years. 142 Drawing nearer the shore, upon some of the most recently deposited layers of mud, we find patches of Salicornia, the Saltwort, one of the first pioneers of land vegetation, for the places where we remember to have first seen it are either covered with Scirpus maritimus, Glaux maritima, or the short grasses and carices which succeed these, of which cattle appear to be extremely fond. A large mass of lias which has fallen from the cliff into such a position as to be washed only by the highest tides, is covered entirely by Plantago maritima. The Saltwort, under the name of Sam- phire, is gathered and eaten either as a pickle or as a substitute for aspa- ragus, and is said to be very wholesome. From out of the mud-cracks formed by the sun, and shaken by our footsteps, rush numberless Bembidiide and other small beetles, the pedigrees of which would once have excited our highest curiosity, but whose acquaintance upon the present occasion, we decline to make upon any terms. Further from the river, we find other ponds, smaller and shallower than any we have yet examined, too shallow indeed for sticklebacks, though not void of inhabitants, for, as we intercept the sunshine from one of them, the bottom is seen to be covered by a shoal of small crustaceans, resembling Gammarus, which immediately move away rapdily towards the opposite side. Two or three strange-looking, whitish objects, about an inch in length, and a line in breadth, are now crawling leisurely over the raud, now swimming rapidly, anon rising to the surface, and apparently dividing their bodies from one extremity to beyond the middle, groping along the surface with the points of the divided portion. Capturing some of these, we find that the division is caused by the expansion of a pair of claws, longer than the entire body, and that the creature is an amphipodous crustacean, probably the Corophion of Cuvier. Spherosoma dentata, and Nesa bidentata, are also present in considerable numbers, and with Ligia oceanica and Talitra locusta, both of which may be found amongst the Driftwood, or under stones above the tide-reach, and species yet to be mentioned, form an array of its order, with which we are surprised to meet. We are forcibly reminded by the first-named of these, of the outlines of the Bumastis Barriensis of the Woolhope beds of the Silurian formation, which may have resembled them in its habitudes, crawling with its slender feet, or swimming slowly by their aid, and possibly, that of similar caudal appendages, over the unctuous mud of its haunts. Returning to deeper fishing, we discover in a muddy pool which has evidently received an accession to its waters from the tide, a few fronds of Fucus vesiculosus, which we carelessly lift out with the net, and to our great surprise, find that we have at the same time bagged half a dozen of 143 the prawns which are common in marine vivaria, (Palemon squilla,) all laden with ova; as many sticklebacks of the common species, so far surpassing in brilliancy of colour any we remember to have seen, that we formed a resolution upon the spot to endeavour to transfer their tints to paper; and, lastly, what appears to be a full grown loach ! the last a take which puzzles us amazingly, as the water is brackish. One of the sticklebacks, a male, in full nuptial costume, has eyes much larger, and more projecting than any specimen ever previously captured by us; so large and projecting indeed, that seen from above, they looked like two globes, inserted to the extent of about a fourth of their diameter only, in the orbital cavity; the pupil of a deep, lustrous, velvety black, the iris on its inner margin of a bright ultramarine, and upon the outer circumference of a deep crimson lake colour: its back of a lovely dark velvet green, becoming brighter along the sides, and shading off around the the under portion of the fish, into what in various lights appeared at times to be dull gold, or bright silver. The lower part of the head, and fore part of the body was of vivid scarlet, partially paling, and partially deepening _ upon the gill plates into shades of purple. The females were all of a delicate warm brown above, and of a most charming tint below, which we know not how better to describe than by calling it a combination of pearly nacre and burnished silver. These were, of course, reserved for the vivarium, and we may here relate all that we might have to say of them in the sequel. To try the hardihood of these little fish, we placed them in a large fresh- water vivarium, in which were others of the same species from fresh-water ditches, when they immediately made themselves at home, and appeared to suffer no inconvenience from the change of water. In the course of little more than twenty-four hours, they had so completely assimilated themselves in colour to the old settlers, that they could no longer be distinguished from them. The male, probably from irritation, in the same period parted with much of his gay colouring, but his troubles were not destined to last long. Like the young Tobias, “heated with” (what you please) “a vehement dispute ” with a detested rival shook the vase. We did not see him pen a challenge, nor did we see him send it, but certain it is that he fought and fell, and that after death all his brilliancy was restored for some hours, and we duly immortalised him. Upon examining the supposed loach, which we retained in the water in which it was captured, we were surprised to find that the prawns themselves were not more diaphanous and colourless than itself. _As it lay amongst them, the small dark mass of intestine, conformed in appearance so exactly to that of the dark mass of their eggs, that it was difficult for a 144 few moments, to recognize it. The next day, a few dusky, green and grey markings like those of the loach, were distinctly seen extending from the base of the caudal fin to the vent, the tail and other fins also becoming suffused with a faint olive yellow. In the course of two or three days, it had apparently become reconciled to its position, and resembled very much a loach in all its markings and colours, except that whilst the fins became sprinkled with dusky spots, arranging themselves in faint, ill-defined trans- verse bars upon them, the rays assumed a brownish yellow tint, and it stood revealed as an unmistakeable Goby. We have kept chameleons for many months together, we know therefore what we are about when we state that we have never witnessed greater changes of colour in the chameleon, than in this little fish, not referring, of course, to the difference of time in which each creature effected its changes. Under these circumstances, after having carefully compared the descriptions of Coucn and YARRELL, of all the Gobies known to them, we feel inclined to suggest that the Gobius minutus of Yarrell, and the Gobius pellucidus of Couch may be merely the same fish seen under different conditions. At intervals, still further from the river, we meet with other shallow excavations in the soil, (made apparently for the purpose of retaining water for the use of cattle,) totally unconnected with any water-course, and entirely dependent for their supply of moisture, upon rainfalls, or the overflow of the Severn. They can be replenished from the latter source, but seldom, so far as our experience extends. The water which they contain is slightly brackish, but so is invariably that which rises from the liassic strata in the neigbourhood, when newly- pierced, and it so continues until by long-continued percolation of fresh water, the saline elements from the contiguous soil have been dissolved and exhausted. Presuming these small ponds to be chiefly dependent for their water-supply upon rainfalls, we may readily conceive that their brackishness is derived from the salt of tidal origin, inherent in the silt of which the grounds are formed, dissolved by similar processes. None of these ponds afford traces of native vegetation, with the exception of a few fronds of the Bladder ulva, Enteromorpha intestinalis, which subsequent examination shows us to be covered with rare diatomacee, particularly Mavicula hippocampus of large size and rich colour, in full activity; no Hydrobu, Gyrint, or other insect, and with the exception of a small annelid or larva, whose presence was evident from the small spots, in pairs, upon the surface of the mud, but which we otherwise failed to detect, no other life than that which we have already described, could be traced in their waters. Here then, again, we find ourselves in a transitionary state of things i ‘a 145 and the idea suggests itself that the inhabitants of these ponds may be as peculiarly adapted to the circumstances under which they exist, as the vegetation which we have already passed under review. Drawing near to the edge of one of these, we discover a densely packed shoal of minute fish hastening from the shallows in which we have surprised them, to the deeps, which are, nevertheless, not sufficiently profound to conceal from us the footprints of the heron, which has lately been wading amongst them upon a tour of inspection: not that we may suppose that one of the little creatures we have seen could be worthy of his lordly notice, as not one of them exceeds an inch in length, and their lateral and ventral developments are absolutely insignificant. They have very much the appearance of sticklebacks, but the unanimous manner in which they move in shoals, upon the mere falling of a shadow over them, shows that they must be habitually subject to a degree of surveillance very different to that of their ordinary congeners, whose perfect composure or easy impudence in the wayside ditch, or in the vivarium, must have frequently attracted the attention of the observer. We determine to satisfy ourselves of their specific identity, and contrive to cut off the escape of a portion of the shoal in a part of the excavation so shallow, that they cannot escape examination. Sticklebacks, sure enough, are there, of the species commonest in the district, Gasterosteus aculeatus, with two spines, and G. pungitius, with nine, but we find that their companions in flight are the fry of fish, which are unknown to us in any of the neighbouring fresh waters, and which we are unable to identify. The old river bed, traceable from near the lastmamed breakwater for a distance of some three miles towards Frampton, still retains a considerable expanse of shallow water, although not in any way admitting it from the tidal portion, but affords as yet, few attractions ; and, as compared with the smallest pond upon the ‘older reclaimed land, shows itself to be as yet uncolonized. The only water-plant in view, from the spot where we stand, with the exception _ of one small patch of the bulrush, which has taken possession of an “ait ” is the sombre Chara nidifica, the proliferous Stonewort or Water Horse- tail, from amidst which, repeated sweeps of the dredge produce only a few specimens of a dirty, yellow-looking variety, of the common three-spined stickleback—G. Aculeatus, small examples of the common pond snail, Limneus peregrinus, but no other mollusc or insect, even here indicating, that although cut off from the influx of the tidal current, its waters yet hold in solution from the soil, too many of the marine salts, and other elements with which it is impregnated, to fit them for the abode of the ordinary inhabit- ants of fresh water.» K 146 The calcareous incrustations of this Chara here, are also worthy of examination for the number of microscopic creatures attached to them, particularly of Carchesiwm, Zoothamnum, and the Vorticellate Animaleule in general. Upon leaving this spot, we ascend the sea-wall for the better enjoyment of the glorious prospect around us, but are immediately brought back to the subject of which we have been treating. The sight of wattle-stakes still thrusting their heads through the soil of what would at a short distance appear to be rich pasture land, reminds us that the vale of Gloucester for many miles further inland, even at so recent a period as the Roman occupation of Britain, must have presented conditions very similar " to those around us, and that the valuable meadows which generally bear, in the counties of Worcester and Gloucester, the name of “ Hams,” have been reclaimed by operations, and industry, similar to those of which we are considering the traces. ! A glance at the geological chart will show us in the Island of Alney, at Gloucester, and at Arlingham, for example, how great has been the deposit made by the river: and the knowledge of the fact, that water-worn stepping stones, Roman coins and fibulz, have been found in river mud, from 12 to 14 feet below the surface level of Gloucester Quay, at a considerable distance inland from it, must convince us, that not later than the Roman occupation, at least, lakes or morasses must have existed where we now find fertile meadows. The discovery of rows of wattles, (precisely like those before us,) at a still greater depth below the surface, in the excavation known as “Tabby Pitt’s Pool,” must satisfy us that all the tracts.of this district coloured in the maps as alluvial, have been recovered from the river in a similar manner, by intercepting its deposits. Whether these restrictions upon the encroachments of the Severn, were commenced by the Romans or by the Saxons, we know not, although from the statements just made, we may with greater probability ascribe them to the last-named people, and form a tolerably correct idea of the state of the country at the period we have more particularly referred to. Few amongst us would attempt to refute, after a careful consideration of the data upon which they are based, the conclusions at which MurcHIson and Buckman have arrived, as set forth in the treatise upon the “ Straits of Malvern,” published by the Professor afew years since; but it may be newto many, in connection with thealleged antiquity of a race of men which once inhabited this country, to learn that a tradition of the existence of such a “strait” has come down to us from early times, in the pagesof Nennius. We may reasonably infer that the recession of the sea, which has left strewn amongst the gravel beds of Upton-on-Severn, : 147 Bridgnorth, and other far inland localities, remains of marine mollusca, of species still existing upon our coasts, was indeed gradual; that it was followed by the formation of a series of brackish and fresh-water lakes ;— and finally by the obliteration of these, by the permanent sea-way, worn through them by the regular water-shed of the lands now forming the banks of the Severn and their relative districts. We have seen that the oolitic drift of the vale, containing elephant and hippopotamus remains, as deposited upon Purton Cliff, near Sharpness, has been abruptly cut through by the Severn, special facilities for such a proceeding being rendered at that point by the resting of the soft mud, and easily- disintegrated limestone of the lias upon the more resisting masses of Old Red and Silurian. We have seen the so-called Northern drift covering the superficial soil at the same locality, we know, therefore, that it has formed its present course since the last of the great geological changes to which the district in question has been subjected ; and probably so readily traceable, in early times, as regards our human predecessors here, was the ancient strait, from the absence of the plough, or any considerable disturbance of the soil, that Nennius tells us upon the faith of tradition, ‘“ Brittones olim eam (i.e. Britanniam ) implentes, a mari usque ad mare judicaverunt.” It is true that he is speaking of two rivers here, of which the Severn is one, and the Thames the other, but the application of the sentence to the Severn in connection with the modern theory, is not the less curious or remarkable. Up amongst the bushes which partially cover the lias cliff, as we are occupied chipping the upper band of stone, a sound of wings beating the | air comes upon us, and, turning quickly round, we descry a barrow duck, or shieldrake, Zadorna vulpanser, in beautiful plumage, close upon us, steering directly for what we imagine to be a rabbit’s hole, partly con- cealed by the disengaged roots of a hawthorn tree. Subsequent enquiries obtain for us the information that a pair or two of these birds have bred here from time immemorial, and that the young are frequently taken by the men who fish for salmon with hand-nets, and that they show an aptitude for domestication, which we think ought to be, but is not, duly encouraged. After remaining for a few days with the ducks of the establishment to whom they may be introduced, they are allowed to escape and rejoin their kindred. From the fact of the bird to which we more specially allude, continuing to wheel uneasily about the cliff without alighting we have no doubt that the supposed rabbit-hole was simply its proper abode, and the centre of all its hopes and fears. From an isolated patch of Scirpus maritimus, upon the approach of a K 2 148 fisherman, who, in his peculiarly light and airy, or rather amphibious costume, proceeding with his hand-net to capture any stray salmon, who, smitten by the beauty of the scenery, has chosen to disport himselfin one of the pools, instead of proceeding upon his proper business up the river, rise a pair of the common sandpiper, Z'ringa communis, showing that they may be induced, by favourable circumstances, to remain here for the purpose of nidification and its concomitants ; and, from the number of these birds with which we meet in the course of our ramble, we are satis- fied that many other such patches are similarly tenanted. The old Severn channel, before alluded to has still its special denizens. Wending our way for a short space along its banks, we startle more than one flock of wild ducks, still gregarious, although the breeding season can scarcely have terminated, whilst widgeon and teal, both of which evidently breed here, are to be seen only in pairs. Peewits also are here in great numbers, upon the New Grounds, the males apparently frequenting the sands of the Estuary, while the females attend to domestic duties on the dry land, though at such distance as to enable them to keep up a constant interchange of vocal intercourse between the flocks, the cries of any individual of the one being immedi- ately responded to from the other. We cannot positively affirm that any of our acquaintance tumbled along the ground before us to draw us from their nests, (or rather eggs,) according to the popular account of their habits, though they certainly exhibit considerable boldness in flying immediately over us with the same apparent intent, quitting us when we have proceeded to what they consider a safe distance, when another generally takes up the vacated post, and plays the same réle. The New Grounds are traversed by several artificial watercourses for the purpose of freeing the lands from flood and ordinary drainage- waters, which are called reens, from an Anglo-Saxon word cognate with the German word reinen, to purify or clean, signifying a running stream or gutter, and in these, water-hens and herons are particularly abundant, and from the freedom from personal annoyance which they here enjoy, afford the traveller every facility for studying their manners and customs. Armed with one of Burrows’s best Malvern landscape glasses we enjoy special advantages in this respect, and watch them preening themselves, or diving for the creatures upon which they feed, as though no such creature as man had ever disturbed them. _ Upon one occasion we counted nearly thirty herons standing upon the breakwater, and many others were upon the sands around it. Having inadvertently disturbed them, we walked out upon it, to see whether any traces of their food might remain, or whether the small 149 shallow pools of water around it, might be sufficiently clear to enable us to discover what made this point so attractive to them. In the latter not a trace of life was discernible, and of the former we found only a pellet of fur, from the centre of which peeped, what proved to be the tail, and a few of the larger bones of the water vole. About half-way along the wall, were also the well-picked limbs of a rabbit, the state of which we also should have ascribed to the omnivorous propensities of the bird, but were informed that they were indubitably the remnants of the meal of a fox, which had been observed to frequent the spot for some time past. Upon expressing some surprise at this animal selecting such an exposed position for a resting or feeding place, we were informed that the breakwater, near the Berkeley Arms, composed of rough uncemented stones, loosely thrown together, is a not uncommon place of refuge for this animal when hard pressed, in the cavities of which it is perfectly safe from any danger but that of a high tide. It is said to prey to a considerable extent upon the wild geese which frequent “ the grounds,” and which are their principal tenants from the time of their arrival about Michaelmas day, and that of their departure, which takes place with equal regularity about the twenty-fifth of March. : From the sounds arising from time to time from Lord Fitzhardinge’s decoy ponds, one of which is also on the New Grounds, they appear to be as well tenanted by ducks. Upon the sands are three kinds of gull in considerable numbers, which, as well as the heron, from the great distance at which they are found from the nearest breeding places of their tribe, are probably young of the year. The sea mew, Larus minutus, the black-backed gull, Larus marinus, and the common gull, Larus canus, may be clearly distinguished, as they are far less timid than the lapwings, amongst which they are scattered. Whilst speaking of the birds of the district, we may mention that at the inn we saw a stuffed specimen of the curlew, Numenius torquatus, which was one of many found dead upon the sands during a long-continued frost of the last hard winter. Whether the frost acted so rapidly upon the sands, at low water, as to prevent their perforation by the bird’s slender bill, or whether the intense cold drove the creatures upon which it fed too far from the surface to be reached by it, we were not informed, but we were assured that it was literally starved to death. These birds do not appear to frequent this district by day, but their cry is frequently heard in the night time. The interest manifested by ourselves in similar anecdotes of birds, led to the discovery, that our host had been a close, though unconscious, observer 150 of many of their habits, and he told a story of a young cuckoo which may be worth. repeating, the truth of which, he avers, can be established by several members of his own family. Having enquired what we thought of the alleged migration of the cuckoo, and received the natural reply, he startled us by stating that we were quite wrong, and that they had frequently been found in hollow trees, in a torpid state, throughout the winter. He did not profess to have seen any of these birds himself, but said that he had heard of them “from old men who had found them,” several times in his life, but to the following statement he insisted upon full credit being given. Some years ago, a young cuckoo having been found in the nest of a hedge sparrow, near the house of his brother, (a respectable farmer, still resident in the neighbourhood,) the attempt to keep it through the winter was determined upon by some of the family. The bird appeared to thrive satisfactorily for some time, but, in the month of November, the cage was one day found open, the bird gone, and no more was thought of the circumstance. Upon the shelves of the dresser of the kitchen in which the bird had been kept, were ranged pewter platters, which, but a few years since, were common in the farm houses of the district, although never used. These were invariably scoured and brightened for Christmas, and, being taken down a day or two prior to Christmas day for the purpose, behind one of them, in the words of my informant, sitting with his feathers all around him, “there was the cuckoo as naked as a worm,” but it did not live long afterwards, in consequence of some negligence on the part of those who had the care of it. But many hours have been spent here, and we must leave the New Grounds, and all that further pertains to their history, satisfied if we have succeeded in directing them to the attention of any one who has leisure to fully work out the subject. The silt of which they are composed, has itself a story to relate. By the kindness of W. B. Ciecram, Esq., who has paid much attention to the Diatomacez, we are enabled to present the following list of species, made out by him, as occurring in great numbers in the Severn mud, for the use of those who may feel inclined to pursue the subject further, as a great many of those comprised in it may be met with here. *Pleurasigma double-angulatum (very large and beautiful) * Mr. Clegram remarks that ‘‘the large P. angulatum is a very distinct and beautiful variety, and I have never seen it from any other locality. The mud from which they were taken was obtained on the shore of Kingroad. All were taken from within the reach of salt water, besides a host of others, which I cannot class from any drawings which I have seen. I doubt whether many of the book varieties are varieties at all, or merely different stages of growth, or under other conditions.” ia - © 151 Pleurasigma angulatum Nitzschia spectabilis elongatum —— bilobata littorale Raphoneis gemnifora strigilis ———_ /fasciolata Balticum ————— pretiosa hippocampus ——— rhombus Sasciola Pinnularia nobilis quadratum ———._ viridis transversale ———— _ alpina Navicula liber , Triceratium favus elliptica Amphleura sigmoidea Jennerit Amphora incurva ————— convexa Gomphonema cristatum Nitzschia sigmoidea Doryphora amphiceros sigma Suritella striatula Upon this list a gentleman who has made the tribe a special study, Joun ABERCROMBIE, Esq., M.D., of Cheltenham, has favoured us with the following highly interesting remarks :—“ This list is most extremely interesting as presenting four species of the genus Rhaphoneis, which is not mentioned at all in SmirH as a British genus, with the exception of Amphora as a synonym for Doryphora. Of the four named, three are American and one Antarctic, according to Ehrenberg—of the three Ameri- can two are fossil,—so that if these are all now living in the estuary of the Severn, it is a most interesting circumstance, and one quite worthy to be made more generally known. The specimens of Dictyophyton feni- culatum mentioned as growing upon the Silurian rocks proved to be completely covered with the frustules of Cocconeis scutatum. Pondering upon the incidents of the day, not, we feel, ill-spent, we make our way to the canal bank at Frampton, passing the brick-pits, which afford, amongst the bulrushes and other water plants which fringe their sides, a secure asylum to many coots and water hens, and, passing through the churchyard and pretty village, with its spacious green, and memories of Fair Rosamond, of which foremost comes to mind a scrap of her epitaph— Non redolet sed olet quid prius redolere solet, we take brief rest, and light refreshment, with mine host of the Bell, as we have still a walk of nine miles before us. Thence to Whitminster, again through a churchyard, glancing rapidly over gravestones inscribed with many familiar names’ One of these, over all that was mortal of a philanthropist, well known in his day, and still remembered by all who knew him with respect and honour, revives those feelings in us 152 with redoubled force, as it shows what the man was, not only in his relations to the world, but more particularly to his domestic circle. Around the plain iron railings which enclose his grave, sleep many of his servants, garnered, like himself, after years of good service, the desire of each apparently having been to lie as nearly as possible by ‘the master,” even in death. But the shadows are gathering round us, increasing rapidly in length and massiveness, and we once more cast lingering glances on the more distant outlines of the well-known landscape fading under the subdued light of the setting sun. It¢s fancy, but his rays seem to linger also, like ourselves, upon spots visited in years long gone by, when, in the freshness of our ardour in the pursuit to science, “were all emotions beautiful and new.” As the pall of night settles over them, we musingly continue our journey homewards, shaping, as far as possible, into the record here given, the thoughts and events of an August day, 153 Report on Miss Holland’s Collection of Lias Fossils. By Tomas Wricut, M.D., F.R.S.E., F.G.S. Havine been requested by our president, Captain GuisE, to make an examination of, and report upon the collection of Fossils obtained by Miss Hotzanp from the Lias of Dumbleton and its vicinity ; on the kind invitation of Epwarp Hottanp, Esq., I visited Dumbleton Hall on the 25th September last for that purpose. I take this oppor- tunity of returning Miss HoLLanp my very best thanks for the very efficient assistance she afforded in carefully examining every specimen with me ; all the localities of the different species had been carefully — noted at the time they were found, this accuracy on the part of the collectors, rendered our task comparatively easy, and enabled me to make this report with much confidence in the general correctness of the state- ments it embodies. The Lias beds in the neighbourhood of Dumbleton belong to the ' Lower, Middle, and Upper Lias. THE LOWER LIAS. The Lower Lias is exposed in a cutting near Toddington, on the Stow road, on the west bank of the river Isborne, from this locality several fossils belonging to the Zone of Ammonites obtusus were found. These were :— Ammonites obtusus, Sow. Two very good specimens. " stellaris, Sow. Nautilus striatus, Sow. Grypheza incurva, Sow. Ostrea, (nov. sp.) The Zone of Ammonites raricostatus. This Zone is represented chiefly by the Hippopodium bed. I found, however, Ammonites densinodus, Quenst., A. Carusenses, d’Orb. Gryphea obliqua, Sow., and Hippopodium ponderosum, Sow. a THE MIDDLE LIAS. The Zone of Ammonites Capricornus. This Zone is well exposed near Dumbleton Hall, in the brick- -yard I found many fragments of its characteristic shell ; the clay is of a good quality, and is dug extensively for the Sccatoniea of different kinds of pottery. I found the following species in Miss Hotianv’s collection, all of which were collected from this pit. 154 CEPHALOPODA. Ammonites Henleyi, Sow. ‘Nautilus truncatus, Sow. " capricornus, Schloth. / Belemnites paxilotus, Schloth. " Loscombi, Sow. Belemnosepia (nov. sp.) " fimbriatus, Sow. GASTEROPODA. Trochus imbricatus, Sow. CONCHIFERA. Gryphza cymbium, Lamck. Lima Hermanni, Voltz. Tnoceramus ventricosus, Sow. Unicardium cardioides, Phil. Cardinia attenuata, Stutch. Mytilus hippocampus, Y. & B. Leda rostralis, Lamck. Cucullea Miinsteri, Ziet. Pinna folium, Phil. Modiola scalprum, Sow. Pholodomya ambigua, Sov. Arca elongata, Quenst. " decorata, Goldf. Astarte, (nov. sp.) Limea acuticosta, Goldf. Pecten equivalvis, Sow. Gervillia levis, Buck. Pleuromya unioides, oem. _BRACHIOPODA. Rhynchonella rimosa, v. Buck. |BRhynchonella tetrahedra, Sow. ECHINODERMATA. Pentacrinus robustus, Wright. Zone of Ammonites margaritatus. CEPHALOPODA. Ammonites fimbriatus, Sow. Ammonites heterophyllus amalthei " margaritatus, Mont. Quenst. several varieties of | Nautilus intermedius, Sow. this species u striatus, Sow. ~ " Engelhardtii, d’Orb. Belemnites paxillosus, Schloth. " Normanianus, d’Orb. i" compressus, Stahd. GASTEROPODA. Pleurotomaria Anglica, Sow. Chemnitzia, undulata, Zet., two " expansa, Sow. species " undosus, Schiibl. Turbo, two or three species Trochus imbricatus, Sov. Actzonina, two species CONCHIFERA. Ostrea pysciformis (nov. sp-) Plicatula spinosa, Sow. Gryphza gigantea, Sow. Monotis equivalvis, Sov. Pecten equivalvis, Sow. _ Lima duplicata, Sow. n einetus, Sow. n gigantea, Sow. » diversus, Buck. u Hermanni, Voltz. ae ae i 155 Lima pectenoides, Sow. Unicardium cardioides, Phil. Limea acuticosta, Goldf. Cardium truncatum, Phil. Pinna folium, Phil. Cypricardia cucullata, Goldf. Pholadomya ambigua, Sow. Modiola scalprum, Sow. Homomya (?) Arcomya elongata, oem. Pleuromya unioides, Roem. Cardinia crassissima, Sow. " rotundata, Goldf- Goniomya capricorni, Wright " donaciforme, Goldf. Solen (?) ¥ Ceromya lineata, Williamson BRACHIOPODA. Terebratula punctata, Sow. Rhynchonella acuta, Sow. " resupinata, Sov. " tetrahedra, Sow. " cornuta, Sow. " yariabilis, Schloth. ECHINODERMATA. Hemipedina Jardinii, Wright Pentacrinus subangularis, Jill. " quadrifida, Zamck. - Spirifera rostralis, Schloth. In the Sands above and below the Marlstone several thin seams of fossiliferous bands occur ; some of those above the marlstone are highly ferruginous, and full of the casts of small shells, of the same species as many in our list. Cardium truncatum is found small, and in abundance, in blocks obtained from the highest point of the marlstone on Dumbleton Hill. Zone of Ammonites spinatus. The Zone of Ammonites spinatus is here so closely united with the marl- stone, that it appears to form its upper portion, lithologically, it is a light coloured friable bed, containing many fossiliferous nodules. Ammonites spinatus, Brug. ; Belemnites breviformis, Ziet.; Lima Hermanni, Voltz. ; Terebratula punctata and Spirifer rostratus, Schloth., are the prevailing forms. THE UPPER LIAS. The Upper Lias caps the summits of Alderton and Dumbleton hills, and attains a thickness in these localities of 150 feet ; the lower part of this for- mation is exposed in the marlstone quarries, where it consists of beds of stiff clay, about 30 ft. in thickness, divided by a band of large light-coloured argillaceous nodules, containing many species of fishes and insects in fine preservation, and called the Fish-bed. The fossils of this formation are all specifically distinct from those of the marlstone on which it rests conformably. The Ammonites of the group Capricorni are all absent from these beds ; and in their stead have appeared great numbers of the groups Faucirert and Pranuxatt ; from the prevalence of one species of the latter I have named this division of the Upper Lias the Zone of 156 Ammonites communis. The best development of this zone is found near ' the Peak, and between Robin Hood’s Bay and Whitby on the Yorkshire coast. The light coloured limestone nodules forming the Fish-bed, have afforded specimens of the following genera of Fishes and Insects :— FISHES. Sauropsis, Pachycormus, Pholidophirus, Lepidotus, Leptolepis. INSECTS. Miss Holland informs me “that she has specimens which correspond with the following plates and figures in Brodie’s Fossil Insects :—Plate vii, figs. 2 and 6; Plate viii, figs. 2, 9,10, 11; Plate x., fig. 4; with unfigured specimens of two insect bodies without wings, one body with one wing attached, and several bodies with folded wings, two beetles, an six wings.” CEPHALOPODA. Ammonites cornucopia, Y. é& B. Ammonites fibulatus, Sow. " Normanianus, (?) @’ Orb. " communis, Sow. " serpentinus, Schloth. |The Aptychi of several species (with aptychus) Loliginites, two or three species " radians, Hein. GASTEROPODA. Alaria, impressions of two or three specimens. CONCHIFERA. Pecten cinctus, Sow. Cucullea Miinsteri, Goldf. Goniomya tetragona, Wr. Lithodomus in fossil wood Tnoceramus dubius, Sow. CRUSTACEA. Glyphea, (nov. sp.) Eryon Barrovensis, McCoy ECHINODERMATA. Acrosalenia crinifera, Quenst., on thin slabs with hair-like spines Pentacrinus, (nov. sp.) From these beds Miss Hotianp has also obtained three teeth, a small bone supposed to belong to a Pterodactyle, some portions of the skin of an Ichthyosaurus, and a Fern belonging to a new species. Dercemper, 1862. 157 List of Reptiles found in Gloucestershire. By Joun Jones. AutHovueH the following list will not be found to differ, as regards the number of species recorded, from that of many other British localities, I am induced to offer it to the Cotteswold Club, for the purpose of calling attention to habits of some of the animals named, which have not, I believe, been noticed by the authors of popular publications in which they have been mentioned. Chelonia imbricata, the Hawk’s Bill Turtle, is said by Dr. Turton to have been taken in the Severn in the year 1774, and having since been taken in the river Parret, in Somersetshire, as recorded by Mr. W. Baker, of Bridgewater, in the proceedings of the Archeological Society of that county, I presume to record it as an occasional visitant of ourselves. Zootoca vivipara, the Viviparous Lizard, is not uncommon upon dry banks, particularly in the Forest district and about May Hill. It is probably equally common throughout the district ; but from its timidity, combined with the correspondence of its colour with the ground upon which it basks, and the rapidity with which it retires upon being approached, it generally eludes observation. . Anguis fragilis, auct., the Blind or Slow-worm. Common. Natrix torquata, the common Ringed Snake. One of these, which I kept for a few months, I have seen dart at flies upon a sunny garden wall. Is it in wait for this kind of prey that it basks in sunny places, and not merely for the enjoyment of warmth ? Vipera communis, the Adder or Viper. By no means uncommon, and in many places where its existence is not suspected. Particularly abundant in the Box wood at Boxwell, where it is said to attain to a larger size, and to assume brighter markings than usual. Rana temporaria, the common Frog. Everywhere. Bufo vulgaris, the common Toad. Common everywhere, but requiring further observation as to its breeding places to modify certain ideas respecting it, which appear to have been stereotyped for popular Natural 158 Histories. I have not unfrequently met with the young in great numbers together, smaller in size than the young of the frog when it leaves the water, and in places remote from watercourse or pond. From its known habit of entering holes and fissures which it can never again quit of its own will, could the fact be established that this reptile can propagate in moist places, or in a very small quantity of water, it would enable us to account for its appearance in numbers, in the anomalous situations in which it has been lately discovered, as set forth in The Times. Triton cristatus, the Salamander or Warty-Newt, appears to replace the common species in certain portions of the district ; for instance, in the neighbourhood of Tortworth, where, during one season at least, it appeared to abound, whilst the first named was comparatively rare. The statement in the Hnglish Cyclopedia, “that this species habitually lives in»the water, and is seldom to be found on land, unless the pond which has been its abode is dried up, and the animal is obliged to walk in search of another,” does not accord with my own observations. At the end of the breeding season this species uses every endeavour, like T. punctatus, to leave the water ; and I have found it under stones near ponds where no diminution of the water had taken place. In the course of the last year a very large specimen escaped from my vivarium, and was found early during the present spring in the cellar, in perfect health, Upon being handled it emitted a powerful odour ingupportably disgusting. The largest specimen I ever saw of this species was found during a dry summer under a stone in a ditch at Corse, measuring fully nine inches in length. Whilst searching for small mollusca amongst the roots of grass, I have found, not unfrequently at a considerable distance from water, a small newt, which agrees in general character with the description of the young of this species, but thinner and more delicate in all its proportions; and which can bear the privation of moist atmosphere for a very short time. Upon transferring one of these to a collecting-box, for two or three hours only, upon my arrival at home I found it dead, and so dry and rigid that no further process was necessary for its preservation. It may possibly be the young of the next species. Lnssotriton punctatus, wuct., the Smooth Newt, is the commonest species in the Vale of Gloucester, and is much more active in its habits than the last named. Lissotriton palmipes (?) is a species mentioned by Mr. Baker, in the paper before referred to, as occurring in the neighbouring county of Somerset, but totally unknown to me. I name tt here merely to call lgeke Vis apo tSige CLO A abit lagly sae a a te re d ) 159 © Me was informed that one or more specimens were seen in succeeding summers upon the side of the hill, but as I have not heard of them for C a long time I presume that they have died out in that locality. Ps “ < % 4 a oe us 7 gf * a _< 160 On the doubtful nativity of Daucus Carota and Pastinaca sativa. By J. Buckman, Professor of Geology and Botany. It is now generally admitted that parsnips and carrots, in the state known to farmers and gardeners, are derived from wild plants: thus the edible parsnip is supposed to have been derived from the Pastinaca sativa, wild parsnip, now so common a denizen of our fields, and the Daucus Carota, wild carrot, equally common, is referred to as the original of the carrot. Now upon experiments in ennobling of our wild parsnip, I have already laid some evidence before the Cotteswold Club ; it may, however, be well to remark that experiments in this matter, both as regards parsnips and carrots, have met with varied success. : Thus Dz CanpDoLE is reported to have tried to improve the carrot, with success, whilst with the parsnip he utterly failed. Professor Linpiey tells us that M. Povsarp has ascertained “that the wild parsnip becomes improved immediately when cultivated, and that experiments promise well,”—how well I have proved by developing a new and superior sort. Again with regard to the carrot, the Professor says—“that the hard-rooted wild carrot is really the parent of our cultivated varieties, remarkable as they are for the succulence and tenderness of their roots, has been experimentally proved by M. Vit~morin, who succeeded in obtaining, by cultivation, perfectly tender eatable roots, from seeds saved from plants only three or four generations off the wild species.” Still a modern French Naturalist, of great experience, M. DEcAISNE, tells us that he has tried to ennoble the wild carrot and has not succeeded, and from this he draws the conclusion that our cultivated forms were especially created for the use of man. As we should suppose that very few botanists agree to this theory, we shall let the facts we have already brought forward stand in maintenance of its opposite, namely, that cultivated forms are derived from wild species, often apparently very different ; at the same time, it may be well to state, that in all probability some of the discrepancies of experimenters may have arisen from some confusion in the species operated upon. In 1860 I gathered some seed of the Daucus maritima, (sea-side carrot) at Bognor, which, on being sown in a prepared plot the following spring, certainly resulted in fairly succulent roots, which, on being cooked, were pronounced by our party of four, to be excellent. While on this 161 subject it may be mentioned, as not a little remarkable, that so many of our garden esculents should be derived from sea-side plants, thus, probably carrots, but certainly celery, sea-kale, asparagus, and cabbage. This would seem to point to the fact that cultivation requires a complete change of the circumstances necessary to maintain a wild condition ; and hence cultivated plants can only be kept up by the ‘labours of a cultivator. Now whether the D. maritima is really a species is doubtful ; I quite agree with BenrHam in considering it as a variety of D. Carota; speaking of the former he says it is “a decidedly maritime variety, with leaves somewhat fleshy, with shorter segments, more or less thickened peduncles, more spreading umbels, more flattened prickles to the fruits, is often considered as a distinct species.” Quite as doubtful, too, do I consider it as to whether the Carrot or Parsnip are original wild natives of Great Britain. They are both amongst the earliest of our introduced plants, and they would appear to be both of southern and eastern origin; southern Europe and Asiatic Russia being the aboriginal localities for these plants. They have both spread throughout the States in like manner as with ourselves, but they are not claimed as natives. I have not had time to investigate the literature of these two plants, which I shall yet hope to do; in the mean time I leave the matter in the hands of our Club, feeling assured that it will elicit some interesting discussion. Dwr! 162 On the Ammonites of the Lias Formation. By THomas Wriaut, M.D., F.R.S.E., F.G.S8. BEFORE entering upon a description of the Ammonites of the Lias, I shall give a short account of the different zones of life into which this formation is now divided, with a view of defining more accurately the distribution of the different species of this group in time and space ; and likewise as an example of the value of Ammonites to the Palzontologist as indicators of time in the study of the secondary rocks. English geologists divide this formation into Upper Lias, Marlstone, and Lower Lias, but these sub-divisions require additions and modifications in order to place the liassic beds of the British Isles in correct correlation with those of France, Switzerland, and Germany. For on the Upper Lias clays, in certain localities, are superimposed extensive arenaceous deposits, which, previous to the publication of my Memoir on the Upper Lias Sands,* were grouped with the Inferior Oolite, and in the Lower Lias are included several beds of clays and marls which, with the Marl- stone of English authors, form the Middle Lias of continental geologists. Taking the Lias beds so well exposed in their natural order of super- position in the North and South of England, in the magnificent sections on the Yorkshire and Dorsetshire coasts, and naming each group of beds by the most characteristic Ammonite contained therein, we find the following zones of life, taken in descending order :— * Paleontographical and Stratigraphical Relations of the so-called Sands of the Inferior Oolite.—Quarterly Journal Geological Society, vol. xii., p. 292, 1856. 163 Tue Upper Lias.—The sands of the Upper Lias forming the upper portion of this zone are characterized for the most part by Ammonites belonging to the group Falciferi, as Ammonites opalinus, Rein., and A. radians, Schloth. ; Ammonites Jurensis, Ziet., and A. imsignis, Schiibl., both belonging to other groups, are likewise associated with them. The clays of the Upper Lias, forming the lower part of the zone, are everywhere distinguished by other species of Falciferi, as Ammonites bifrons, Brug. ; A. serpentinus, Schloth.; and numbers of the group Planulati, as Ammonites communis, Sow.; A. anguinus, Rein.; and A. JSibulatus, Sow. Tue Mippte Lias.—This is divisible into five zones, each characterized in descending order by :—1. Ammonites spinatus, Brug.; 2. A. mar'ga- ritatus, Mont. ; 3. A. Capricornus, Schloth.; 4. A. Jbew, Quenst.; 5. A. Jamesoni, Sow. Tue Lower LrAs is divisible into seven zones. These are:—l. Zone of A. raricostatus, Ziet.; 2. A. oxynotus. Quenst.; 3. A. obtusus, Sow. ; 4, A. Turneri, Sow.; 5. A. Bucklandi, Sow.; 6. A. angulatus, Schloth. ; 7. A. planorbis, Sow. Complicated as these sub-divisions may at first sight appear to those who have regarded the Lias merely as a great clay deposit, with a uniform fauna throughout, still their accuracy may be clearly demonstrated in the grand section on the Dorsetshire coast, extending from near Bridport Harbour on the east, to Pinhay Bay on the west. Within these limits the entire series of beds rise beneath each other on the shore, and are exposed in the cliffs, so that this coast section may be said to be complete from the great arenaceous deposit of Upper Lias sand, containing Ammonites opalinus, with each succeeding zone of the Upper, Middle, and Lower Lias, down to Ammonites planorbis, and its Ostrea series resting on the Avicula contorta beds of the Trias formation. * In the table_on the following page I have placed the different zones of the English Lias in correlation with those of Germany, so well described by Professors QuENSTEDT, OppEL, FRAAs, and others ; those of France, by the late M. A. d’Orpicny; those of England, by Sir Roperick Mourcuison, Sir Henry De La Becue, and the Rev. W. D. ConyBEARE. L2 164 as ‘pog-ou0g [Ae 1OMOT ‘SerT qaed. 10.0] egy | SUPT OT AL gaed soddn sery OFM sou0qs ‘ ou] past Bur E IOMO'T ‘soTpou Ul sopIUOWMUTY ‘ped "TACT EM ireecy cys saddq, ‘TRIN SNLOBOVOTIA "O}TJOC) AOLIOFUT, oy} JO peg JOMO'T ‘ayag 0) a ‘TULHSLUSUO pog euog pue pur souoja | — aS ele -oull'T ‘spog 4oosuy Sel] pur uermeg IOMOT [ “spa PS ‘ped J oyMOWUy | soreyg | speq eturprep SUrT uiutpododdryy IOMO'T Binal snosdvIq9O ‘90 4ST, ‘serry seddQ *OFTOO, SOMeFaT “UOsryoUN TT “‘TUIHSUALSTONOTS) ‘VIMOLNOO VINOIAY ‘erry sop fo au0g “‘pog-au0g IozNyTIO A” ‘ ‘SITUONVId “WWW ioe i dr fo ou0g ‘SALVTODNV ‘WW ‘Moq-snqemany ‘oye TOUL fo au0Z7 pe ial: (0 mn purg ‘TaNVIMONG ‘WY ; i ki ee "2 SVT fo au0g ie ey ‘TWaNUAT, ‘WHY 9404 snyemoroqny, fo au0g SVI'T UIMOT ‘sOSO1a0 “WY "UA WNUQULY ‘qqg0q-snsn4qg fo aU0z ‘SOLONAXO ‘WNW ‘qg0q-8njouAxG, fo ou0g “UOT ALIOWIN J, ‘SALVLSOOLUVA ‘WHY "499 -SNyV4SOOIIeyy *q SUIT fo au0z ‘INOSENV ES “WITW a Bead fo auog / ; ; 439q-x0 ine cad ee pabsarUusroUlsvwun AT ‘SANUOOIYAVO "WHY , SD Riel fo auoz ‘ ‘SALVIIUVOUVN "WNW ‘SVIT HIGaIpt fo au0g UatsnuT ‘qqoq-snyeyIesre yy “BUOYIUAAY}OU F ‘SQLVNIdS ‘WWW fo auoZ ‘qq0q-snqeutdg ‘p sery ‘SINONIOD SHLINOMITY "SVIT UddaQ *490q-ueku0MOpIsog “safaryosuatuoprwod fo 2u0gz ‘2 SUry ‘SISNTUAP SHLINONNY U9V9.L00, J, ‘q40q-SIsaeIn ¢ pabLaUsrsuain fe fo 9u0g ‘J Sery qy brig *hubr40, P “addoQ “ypajsuan() ‘INVIONGY 40 HLAOG “TONVU TL ‘DUNAWALUD A ‘VIGVAG ‘punjbug pun ‘hunuiay ‘sounng fo spog svy'T oY? fo uonnpattoo ay2 fo mom vjngn) F weaker heal or 165 Ammonites, Bruguiére, 1792. Cornu AMMONIS, Lister, Lang, and other old authors. AmmonitEs, PLANULITES, ORBULITES, Lamarck. Orsuites, AMMONITES, de Blainville. - PLaNvuLites, ELLIPSOLITES, Amaurugus, PELAGUSE, SYMPLEGADE, Mont. Ammonrres, Exurpsouites, Sowerby. Nautitus, ARGONAUTA, Reinecke. Ammonites, PLANULITES, GLORBITES, Crratites, De Haan. Animal unknown ; shell multilocular, spiral, discoidal, compressed, or ventricose ; whorls regularly convoluted on the same plane, always contiguous, and more or less involute ; chambers separated by transverse septa, flat or convex in the middle, and deeply sinuated at the outer border, forming on the mould, beneath the shell, a very complicated arrangement of branching sutural lines; siphuncle external, dorsal as regards the shell ; dwelling chamber large, sometimes exceeding an entire whorl; mouth variously formed, often contracted, and compressed, ellip- tical, oblong, rounded, quadrate, or ventricose, according to the shape of the shell ; aperture furnished with thickened bands, or lateral processes of various forms and dimensions in the different species. The marginal foliation of the septa was supposed by von Bucs, who first described them in detail, to afford a permanent character for the diagnosis of the species; to facilitate their description he called the outlines of the septa sutwres; when they are folded the elevations are saddles, and the intervening depressions lobes, which form the more subdivided and branched portion of the edges of the septa, and extend backwards from the aperture ; the saddles are less subdivided, their folioles more rounded, and they project forward towards the mouth. The lobes are divided into dorsal, superior and inferior lateral, auxiliary, and ventral. ' The dorsal lobe is single, surrounds the siphuncle, and occupies the middle region of the back of the shell. The superior lateral lobe is in general large, and situated at the upper third of each side of the whorl. The inferior lateral lobe is smaller than the superior lateral, and is seen on the lower third of the whorl; the auxiliary lobes, two or three in number, are disposed obliquely near the inner margin, and the single ventral lobe is situated in the middle region of the whorl, opposite the dorsal lobe, and resting’ upon the previous turn of the shell. The saddles are subdivided into the dorsal saddle, situated between the dorsal and the superior lateral lobes; the lateral saddle, between the superior lateral and inferior lateral lobes; and the auviliary saddles, between the auxiliary lohes. 166 The lobes and saddles vary with age in different species ; not only do their ramifications increase in complexity during the whole life of the animal, but their number augments with growth. According to von Bucu, all Ammonites have only six lobes, the dorsal, ventral, and two lateral. In some species this number continues the same through life, whilst in others, one, two, or more auxiliary lobes are added to the laterals on each side ; and their number and development increase with the age of the individual. Notwithstanding this change in the form and number of the lobes of Ammonites with age, and which detracts much from their diagnostic value in the determination of the species, still they constitute an important feature in their history, and their special form and arrange- ment should always be carefully noted whenever they are seen, or can be exposed by the removal of a portion of the wall of the shell. The late M. A. d@Orpieny stated that after having made reasonable deductions for the varieties due to age, sex, and pathological conditions, he estimated the number of Ammonites to amount to 530 species ; so that it is indispensable to classify them into groups in order to facilitate their determination. With this view, SowerBy, in his Systematical Index of the Mineral Conchology, vol. vi., p. 249, divided the Ammonites into three sections— lst Margin rounded, 2nd Margin flattened, 3rd Margin keeled, the latter subdivided into (a) keel entire, and (b) keel crenated. Von Bucu, in 1829, divided Ammonites into twelve groups, the characters of which were founded upon the external form and arrangement of the septa, which he had then just described for the first time. These groups are— GROUP EXAMPLE DISTRIBUTION 1 ARIETES A. Bucklandi, Sow. Lower Lias 2 FALcirEeRi A. serpentinus, Schloth. Up. Lias and Low. Oolites 3 AMALTHEI A. margaritatus Mont. Middle Lias and Oolites 4 CAPRICORNI A. Capricornus,Schloth. Middle and Upper Lias 5 PLaNuLati A, triplicatus, Sow. Upper Lias and Oolites 6 Dorsati A. armatus, Sow. Lias 7 CoRoNnaRil A. Henleyi, Sow. Lias and Oolites 8 MacrocerHatt A. Herveyi, Sow. Oolites 9 ARMATI A, Rhotomagensis, d’ Orb. Cretaceous 10 Dentati A, splendens, Sow. Oolitic and cretaceous 11 Ornati A. Duncani, Sow. Oolitic 12 FLExvosi A. radiatus, Brug. Lower Cretaceous y* 167 M. A. d@Orsieny grouped Ammonites into 21 sections, founded upon the classification of von Buon, these are, (A.)—Species with an entire dorsal keel. SECTION EXAMPLE DISTRIBUTION 1 Arretss, von Buch A. Bucklandi, Sow. Lower Lias 2 Faxcireri, von Buch A. serpentinus, Schloth. Upper Lias 3 Cristati, d’ Orb. A. cristatus, Deluc. Cretaceous (B.)—Species with the back channelled 4 Tupercunati, dOrb. A. auritus, Sow. Cretaceous middle (C.)—Species with the back sharp without being in a keel. 5 Ctyreirorm, d’Orb. A. Goupilianus, dOrb. Cretaceous (D.)—Species with the back prominent and crenulated on the ; median line. 6 AmanrHet, von Buch A. cordatus, Sow. Lias and Oolites 7 PuLcHELut, d Orb. A. Brottianus, d Orb. Lower Cretaceous 8 Ruoromacensis, d’Orb. A. Deverianus, dOrb. Middle Cretaceous (E.)—Species with the back excavated, provided with tubercles on the sides. 9 Dentati, vonBuch A. mamillaris, Schloth. Lower Cretaceous 10 Orwati, von Buch A. Duncami, Sow. Middle Oolites (F.)—Species with the back more or less square. 11 Fuexvosr, von Buch A. radiatus, Brug. Neocomian 12 Compressi, d’Orb. A. Beaumontianus,d Orb. Cretaceous 13 Armati, von Buch A, perarmatus, Sow. Mid. & Up. Oolites | 14 Aneunicosrat, dOrb. A. Martini, d’Orb. Lower Cretaceous 15 Capricorni, von Buch A. Capricornus, Schloth. Lias and Oolites (G.)—Species with the back convex. 16 Hererornyiu, dOrb. A. heterophyllus, Sow. Lias 17 Licati, dOrb. A, ligatus, @ Orb. Cretaceous 18 PLanoxati, von Buch 4. communis, Sow. Upper Lias 19 Coronaru, von Buch 4. Blagdeni, Sow. Inferior Oolite 20 MacrocgPHatt, v.Buch A. coronatus, d’Orb. Neocomian and Oolites 21 Freriati, d’Orb. - A. fimbriatus, Sow. Ditto 168 First Group, Arreres, von Buch, 1829. Ammonites with the shell in nearly all ornamented on the sides with simple radiating and projecting ribs; the back rounded, angular, or square, nearly always provided with a median keel, and a groove on each side thereof. Siphuncle in the keeled forms prominent, situated in the dorsal prominence. Mouth prolonged into a projecting process. Septa formed of lobes and saddles, with unequal ramifications. The dorsal lobe as deep as it is wide, and longer than the superior lateral lobes. The lateral saddle extending in general further forward than the others ; the dorsal saddle very short. This group contains forms which are found only in the Lower Lias ; the species are distributed, through the zones of Ammonites planorbis, angulatus, Buckland, Turnert, and obtusus, which they all well characterize. The group Arietes is divisible into two sections. (A.)—Arietes without a keel, including three well-marked species. AMMONITES PLANORBIS, Sowerby. " ANGULATUS, Schlotheim. " Sauzeanus, d’Orbigny. (B.)—Arietes with a keel. Ammonites Buckianpi, Sow. AMMONITES OBTUSUS, Sow. " ConyYBEARI, Sow. 0 Bonnarvu, d@’ Orbigny. " TuRNERI, Sow. " Brook, Sowerby. " ROTIFORMIS, Sow. " sEMIcosTATUS, Young & Bird. " STELLARIS, Sow. " BISULCATUS, Bruguiére. The Arietes without a Keel. AMMONITES PLANORBIS, Sow. (PI. i, Fig. 1.) AMMONITES PLANORBIS, Sowerby, Mineral Conchology, p. 448, 1824. " gRuGATUS, Young & Bird, Geol. of Yorkshire, tab. 13, fig. 13, 1829. " PSILONOTUS, Quenstedt, Flozgebirge Wiirtembergs, p. 127, 1843. " PSILONOTUS L&VIS, Quenstedt., Cephalopoden, p. 73, tab. 3, fig. 18, 1849. " Hacenowl, Dunker, Palaeontographica, p. 115, tab. xiii., fig. tab. xvii, fig. 2, 1846. " PLANORBIS, Oppel, Juraformation, p. 73, 1856. " PSILONOTUS, Quenstedt, Handbuch der Petrefactenkunde, p. 354, 1852. " PSILONOTUS LEVIS, Quenstedt, der Jura, p. 40, 1858. " -Macponetin, Portlock, Report on Londonderry, p. 134, Pl. xxix. a., fig. 12, 1843. a ae es 169 Shell smooth, discoidal, compressed; back rounded without keel, whorls four-fifths exposed, only slightly involute ; surface of the thin test covered with fine hair-like lines of growth. Dimensions.—Greatest diameter, 2 inches ; height of the last whorl at mouth, seven-tenths of an inch ; width, half an inch ; whorls one-fifth involute. Description.—This Ammonite is found nearly always crushed between lamine of shale; its natural form is therefore rarely seen, except in some Yorkshire specimens. It has a smooth discoidal shell, covered with fine, hair-like lines of growth, (pl. 1, fig. 1,) the back is round, and without a keel; the whorls, six in number, increase rapidly in diameter, and are four-fifths exposed, so that the whorls are only slightly involute. Dorsal lobe small, and little divided ; superior lateral lobes long, five digitations ; inferior lateral lobe shorter, three digitations ; ventral lobes small, short, and few digitations. (Fig. 1, a, 6.) This species includes two well marked varieties, (a) levis, the form which I have figured and described, and (6) plicatus, which has ribs on the lateral parts of the whorls. This variety has been figured by Sowerey, in the Mineral Conchology, as Ammonites Johnstonii; and by @Orzieny, in the Paléontologie Frangaise, as A. tortilis, (tab. 49,) and A. torus, (tab. 53.). It is described by QuENSTEDT, in his monograph on the Cephalopoda, as A. psilonotus plicatus. A. Johnstonii has thirty short rounded ribs on the lateral sides of the whorls, that do not extend across the back, nor to the suture of the enveloped whorl. All the ribs completely disappear before they reach the back, which is smvoth, rounded, and without the trace of a keel. Affinities and Differences.—The character of the lobes connects this Ammonite with the group Arietes to which it is referred, but it wants the keel, dorsal furrows, and ribs, which distinguish most of the species of that group. The smooth forms exhibit sometimes folds on their sides, and these pass by insensible gradations into the ribbed varieties, which Sowersy figured as A. J ohnstonit, and d’Orsieny as A. torus ; the absence of a keel, and the simplicity of the lobes, impart a peculiar character to this first Ammonite of the Lower Lias. Locality and Stratigraphical Position.—I have collected A. planorbis in the first or lowest zone of the Lower Lias; wherever these beds are exposed it forms their most characteristic fossil. It is very abundant in the shales of this zone, at Brockeridge and Defford Commons, and at Binton, Wilmcote, and Grafton, Warwickshire ; at Street and Uphill, Somerset ; Penarth, Glamorgan ; and at Pinhay Bay, and Uphill, near Lyme Regis, Dorset ; where it is found in the upper part of the light-coloured 170 argillaceous limestone called White Lias. In the Yorkshire coast it is found in large water worn boulders at Robin Hood’s Bay; the best specimens I know have been obtained from these blocks, in which it lies in clusters. The beds from whence these boulders have been detached are out at sea, as the rock is not found in situ at low water mark. AMMONITES ANGULATUS, Schlotheim. (Pl. 1, fig. 4, a, 6, fig 5.) AMMONITES ANGULATUS, Schloth., Petrefactenkunde, p. 70, 1822. " Repcarensis, Young & Bird, Geol. Survey, Yorkshire Coast. " ANGULIFERUS, Phillips, Geol. of the Yorkshire Coast, p. 192, vol. 1, tab. 13, fig 19., 1829. " COLUBRATUS, Zieten, Versteinerungen Wiirtembergs, tab. 3, fig. 1, p. 3, 1830. " CATENATUS, d’Orb., Pal. Fran. ter. Jura., tab. 94, p. 301, 1842. " Moreanus, @’Orb., " " tab. 93, p. 299, 1842. " Cuarmassel, d’Orb., " tab. 94, p. 296, 1842. " LeienEvetit, d’Orb., " tab. 92, p. 298, 1842. " ANGULATUS, Quenst., Cephalopoden, p. 74, pl. iv., fig. 2, 1846. " ANGULATUS, Quenstedt, Petrefactenkunde, p. 354, tab. 27, fig. 7, 1852. " ANGULATUS, Quenstedt, der Jura, p. 43, tab. 3, fig. 1, 1858. " ANGULATUS, Chapuis et Dewalque, Fossiles de Luxembourg, p. 36, pl. iv., fig. 1, 1853. " RepcaREnsis, Simpson, Fossils Yorkshire Lias, p. 100, 1855. Diagnosis.—Y oung shell compressed, whorls involute, half enveloped ; sides with numerous, 26 to 30, sharp, simple, flexed ribs, which pass round the dorsal border, and terminate abruptly in a furrow in the centre of the back, or in a smooth truncated surface. Adult shell, seven inches in diameter, compressed ; whorls flattened, sloping towards the back; sides smooth, with long, faint, biflexed ribs, and shorter and more marked ribs near the dorsal border ; back narrow, round, smooth ; aperture compressed. Dimensions.—One of my largest specimens from Lyme Regis measures seven inches and two-tenths in diameter. Height of the last whorl near the mouth is two inches and six-tenths ; width, one inch and four-tenths. Whorls one-half covered by the involution of the spire. Description—Like many other Ammonites, this species must be studied at different stages of growth, if we are rightly to understand its true characters. Up to about the diameter of an inch the whorls have from 25 to 30 sharp simple ribs, which terminate abruptly and form a marked angle on the back—hence the origin of the specific name ; at a later — PULLASTRA BED. C.Rhoticum Mod.minima. Ay. contorta. Pull. arenicola. 10 5 Gyrolepis Alberti. Sargodon tomicus. Pull. areni- cola. Saurichthys apicalis Av. contorta. 3 # Fossils. Coprolites. Teeth. Scales. 6. Alternating Beds of Red Grey, and White Maris Mk a ‘ baa = tapi | (aes we ‘¥ 1s pers pe 236 On the Ammonites of the Lias Formation. By Tuomas Wnicut, M.D., E.RSE, F.G.S. (Continued from page 179.) Aymonrres ConyBeari, Sowerby. (Pl. 3, fig. 2, 3.) A. Conyseari, Sowerby, Mineral Conchology, tab. 131, p. 70, 1816. " Sedgwick & Murchison, Trans. Geol. Soc. Lond., 2nd series, vol. 3,p. 312, 1830. " Zieten, Die Versteinerungen Wiirtembergs, tab. 26, fig. 2, 1831. " Hoffman, Karstens Archiv. 13, p. 267, 1840. " Zeuschner, v. Leonhard, und Bronn’s Jahrbuch, p. 429, 1842. " d Orbigny, Paléontologie Frangaise ter. Jurassique, pl. 50. p. 202, 1843. " Pilla, Saggio compar. dei ter. d'Italia, p. 70, 1845. " Lardy, v. Leonhard, und Bronn’s Jahrbuch, p. 210, 1846. " Ezxio de Vechi, Bulletin Soc. Geol. Fran., 2nd series, tom. 4, p. 1079, 1847. " Quenstedt, Cephalopoden, p. 80, tab. 3, fig. 13, 1849. " Savi e Meneghini, Consider. sulla Geol. della Toscana, p. 72, 1851. " Buch, v. Leonhard, und Bronn’s Jahrbuch, p. 316, 1851. " Renevier, Bulletin de la Soc. Vaud. sci. nat. tom. 3, p. 139, 1852. " Merian, Verhandlungen der naturf. Ges. in Basel, p. 151, 1852. " Escher, v. Leonhard, und Bronn’s Jahrbuch, p. 167, 1853. " Studer, Geologie der Schweiz, vol. 2, p. 30, 1853. " Oppel, die Juraformation, p. 69, 1856. " Hauer, iiber die Cephalopoden der nord. Alpen, tab. 2. p. 16, 1856. " Quenstedt, der Jura, p. 78, 1858. Diagnosis.—Shell discoidal, much compressed ; back tricarinated ; whorls numerous, 8 to 10, slightly involute and numerously costated ; costa in adults from 40 to 60 in a whorl, small, round, obliquely arcuate, and 236 interrupted, terminating at the outer carine; back rounded, with a large prominent obtuse keel, bounded by two deep sulci and two external lateral carine ; aperture oblong, nearly quadrate. Dimensions.—Transverse diameter, 10} inches ; height of aperture, 2 inches ; width of aperture, 2 inches. Specimens measured by M. Haver, 3} inches diameter; height of the last whorl, 22,; width, 23,; diameter of the umbilicus, ,°° of the diameter of the shell. Description.—This is one of the most characteristic and widely dis- tributed species of the zone of Ammonites Bucklandi, as shown by the table of synonyms prefixed to this article. Its form in general is very persistent, and its specific characters are subject to fewer variations than most of its congeneric forms. The specimen I have figured was obtained from the same locality as the type drawn by Sowrrsy, namely, the Bucklandi beds of Weston, near Bath, from cuttings made during the formation of the Great Western Railway. Another very fine typical example, collected at the same time and from the same locality, is con- tained in the British Museum. “It measures 18 inches in greatest diameter, and 4 inches across its last chamber in thickness; eight whorls are capable of being counted, but the innermost portion is not capable of being made out.” Mr. Henry Woopwarp, F.G.S8., has kindly given me these measurements. The adult shell consists of from eight to ten slightly involute whorls, about the width of their height ; the inner whorls are nearly all entirely exposed, the turn of the spire only concealing a portion of the back. The sides are convex and costated. The ribs are simple, narrow, obtuse, and slightly arched, and disappear at the outside of the lateral carine, near the dorsal sulci ; they are numerous, and increase with the diameter of the shell; in the specimen I have figured there are 68 ribs in the outer whorl; in general terms the number may be said to range from 40 to 60. ; The back is broad and provided with a large obtuse prominent keel, on each side thereof is a deep sulcus bounded by an outer carina, so that the back of this shell is tricarinated with two sulci. The spire is composed of whorls, with convex costated sides nearly fully exposed, the outer whorl having a strongly developed tricarinate back. Mouth aperture, nearly quadrate with rounded angles. The septe, according to d’ORBIGNY, are symmetrical, foliated on each side, and divided into two or three lobes formed of nearly equal branches. Dorsal lobe much longer and as wide as the superior lateral lobe, formed of a single 237 narrow branch with four double digitations. Dorsal saddle much larger than the superior lateral lobe, and unequally divided by an accessory lobe (pl. 3, fig. 3 a.) Superior lateral lobe formed of nearly symmetrical parts, the external branch sometimes provided with acute elongated digitations. Lateral saddle, narrow, irregular. Inferior lateral lobe, provided with two unequal branches. Sometimes there is a small auxiliary lobe. The line of the central ray setting out from the extremity of the dorsal lobe passes beneath all the other lobes. The following important observations were made by the late M. d’Orsieny,* on the development of A. Conybeari : “This species is smooth only up to the diameter of 2 millimétres— rarely it remains so up to 3. It afterwards developes ribs similar to those of adult age, and has a small keel without lateral sulci; at the diameter of 12 millimétres it has often 36 ribs ; at the diameter of 19 millimétres, 46. In others this number augments less, and that upon the less com- pressed specimens with large whorls. Upon these, for example, at the diameter of 55 millimétres, there exists only 35 to 40 ribs; upon individuals of 100 millimétres to 198 millimétres, there were 66 ribs. In all the cases the lateral sulci on each side of the keel were not developed on the specimens observed up to the diameter of 30 millimétres. These differences in the number of the ribs and their proximity or separation seem to appertain to the sexes, the shells with numerous ribs being probably those of the males. The lobes from early age have very nearly the same form. From the examination of a very large specimen it appears that ribs disappear in extreme old age.” Affinities and Differences.—This species resembles A. Kridion, Hehl., from the Lower Lias, and figured in Zisren’s Petrifact. de Wiirtemburg, tab. 3, fig. 2, and in d’Orpieny, Paléontologie Frangaise, tab. 21, fig. 1-6. It is distinguished however from A. Conybeari by having fewer ribs, and these being more sharp and straight, and terminating in a prominent process near the back; the keel is more acute, and there are neither lateral sulci nor carinz ; the dorsal and lateral saddles have likewise a different form, and the phases of development of A. Kridion, according to d’Orsteny, are very different from those of A. Conybeari; the shell of the former remaining much longer in the embryonic state without ribs. Locality and Stratigraphical Position.—This is a very characteristic shell of the Lower Lias. I have collected it from the zone of Ammonites Bucklandi in the deep cuttings of the Bristol and Birmingham Railway near Bredon, at Fretherne on Severn, Coombe Hill, and several other * Paltontologie Frangaise ter. Jurassique, tom. 1, p. 204. gs galse q 238 localities in Gloucestershire ; Weston, near Bath; Saltford, near Bristol; Lyme Regis; and Robin Hood’s Bay, Yorkshire. Mr. Jones found it at Purton on Severn.* Foreign Localities :—It characterises the Lower Lias in the zone of Grypheu arcuata in many Departments in France, as Cher, Jura, Ain, Meurthe, and Cote-d’Or ; in Swabia it is collected at Vaihingen, Méhringen, Bebenhausen, and Niirtingen ; for the other countries in Europe in which it is found the reader is referred to the table of synonyms. History.—First figured by Sowrrsy ; afterwards by Zimren, d’ORBIGNY, and Haver. These figures are all good, and leave but little to be desired. AMMONITES ROTIFORMIS, Sowerby, (Plate 3, fig. 1.) AMMONITES ROTIFORMIS, Sowerby, Mineral Conch., vol. 5, tab. 453, 1824. " OBLIQUE-CosTATUS, Zieten, die Versteinerungen Wiirtembergs, tab. 15, fig. 1, 1830. " ROTIFORMIS, Zieten, die Versteinerungen Wiirtembergs, tab. 26, fig. 1, 1831. " ROTIFORMIS, @’ Orbigny, Paléontologie Frangaise ter. Jurassique, plate 89, 1844. " OBLIQUE-cosTATUS, Hauer, Jahrbuch geologischen Reichsanstalt, Band 4, p. 736, 1853. " ROTIFORMIS, Studer, Geologie der Schweiz, Band 2, p.30, 1853. " ROTIFORMIS, Hauer, die Cephalopoden aus dem tips der Alpen, tab. 1 and 9, s. 13, 1856. " ROTIFORMIS, Quenstedt, der Jura, p. 67, tab. 7, fig. 1, 1858. " ROTIFORMIS, Oppel, die Juraformation, p. 77, 1856. Diagnosts.—Shell discoidal, compressed; back tricarinated; whorls numerous, quadrate, slightly involute, and strongly costated; coste from 27 to 30 ina whorl, simple, strong, arched, and terminating near the back in a large, round, obtuse tubercle; back large, flat, with a median keel, two lateral sulci, and marginal carine ; aperture quadrate, depressed, sinuous anteriorly. ; Dimensions.—Transverse diameter, 7 inches ; ; height of aperture, 1? inches; width of aperture, 1? inches. M. d’Orzieny’s specimen :— width of the last whorl, =3,; portion overlapped of last whorl, +2,; thickness of last whorl, 42,; width of the umbilicus, 5635, Description.—Shell discoidal, compressed, with quadrate whorls, strongly ribbed, and slightly involute. In the specimen I have figured, * Proceedings of the Cotteswold Club for 1863, p. 135. Q@Z1S 4MU 3 aqe1d hub 1940 (T ULOdf SAUNING 4 ‘mo avaghuog sagqu0 UU OP Z ° Au bagag, WZ UMA SIAM GY wl MO” "9IMLOY 170A SOPPUOUMAY Vi duit VAVULE HT NN PAL Jeu pe pop aoqreg mr =~ ” ” , . 1 ' ‘ ‘ ‘ . 2 | ‘ a . . . 7 y 4 + % « 239 (plate 3, fig. 1,) the inner whorls are partly absent, and in part concealed ; in SoweErBy’s type, only four whorls can be counted, the central ones being absent; in d@’Orsieny’s fine specimen, which is almost perfect, there are eight whorls, and this we may regard as the normal number in a shell 180 millemétres in diameter; the number of ribs in a whorl differ much in different specimens, thus in SowerBy and Zieren’s shells there are 27; in Haver’s, 34; and in d@’Orsieny’s, 45; they are simple, strong, and arched, and terminate near the back in a large, round, obtuse tubercle. SowErsy says, “the ribs rising in knobs just as they reach the front give the whorls a very square aspect ; the ribs and the hollows between them are nearly equal. The back is wide, in consequence of the extension given to this region by the size of the costal tubercles ; upon the middle line of the back is a strong, thick, rounded keel, having on each side thereof a deep sulcus, bounded by lateral elevations, so that the broad back is tricarinated with two intervening sulci. The spire is composed of quadrate whorls, with prominent coste, and a series of nodules along the curvature of the spire. The aperture is quadrate, depressed, and sinuous anteriorly. The septe in this species, aecording to M. A. d’ORBIGNY, are sym- metrical, divided on each side into four lobes, of which the two external lateral are formed of unequal parts. The dorsal lobe, (plate 3, fig. 1a.) one-third longer than the superior lateral lobe, is ornamented on each side with a long denticulated branch. The dorsal saddle, one-half the width of the superior lateral lobe, formed of three divided leaves, of unequal size, of which the median is the largest. The superior-lateral lobe terminates by two points, and has on each side three or four others. The lateral saddle, narrower than the superior-lateral lobe, is formed of three unequal leaves, resembling those of the dorsal lobe. The inferior- lateral lobe, half the width of the superior-lateral lobe, terminates by two points. The two aumiliary lobes ave very smal], and divide into one median and two lateral points. ‘The central ray, in parting from the extremity of the dorsal lobe, passes well below all the lobes externally visible, but reaches the extreme ventral lobe, which is bifurcated, and accompanied on each side by a very large ventral saddle.” A finities and Differences.—This species resembles in many characters A. Conybeari. It is distinguished, however, from that form, by having a wider back, fewer ribs, and each terminating in a large obtuse tubercle; the sept are likewise much more complicated than those of A. Conybeare. It resembles A. Bisulcatus, Brug., in possessing simple ribs with dorsal tubercles, and two deep sulci on each side of the median keel. It is 240 distinguished from that form in having narrower whorls, a larger umbilicus, and very different septe: compare, for example, the sutures in plate 3, fig. 1, with those in plate 4, fig. 2a. Locality and Stratigraphical Position.—This is a very rare Ammonite ; my specimen was collected from the Lower Lias, near Lyme Regis, its precise horizon I could not ascertain ; SowERBy’s specimen was found in the Lias, near Yeovil; I have seen fragments from a railway cutting through the Lower Lias of Somerset. Foreign Localities—M. d’Orxteny collected it from the Lower Lias, with Gryphea arcuata, at Ponilly, Cote d’Or, where it is rare. Professor QUENSTEDT says it is most abundant in Germany, and is collected at Vaihingen, Méhringen, Gmiind. Professor Haver’s figured specimen was collected in the Yellow Kdéssener beds at Enzesfeld, near Vienna. Professor StupER found it in the Lower Lias of the Berner Alps; and Larpy at Coalat and Fondement, near Bex. AMMONITES BIsuLCATUS, Bruguiére, (Plate 4, fig. 2 a, b, ¢.) Rob. Plot’s Natural History of Oxfordshire, tab. 5, fig. 14, p. 110, 1677. Martin Lister, Historia Angliz, de Lapidibus Turbinatis, tab. 6, fig. 3, p. 207, 1678. AMMONITES BISULCATA, Bruguiéres, (pars) Encyclopéd. Method., tom. 1, p. 39, No. 13, 1789. " MULTICOSTATA, Sowerby, Mineral Conchology, tab. 454, 1824. " MULTICOsTATA, Zieten, Versteinerungen Wiirtembergs, tab. 26, fig. 3, 1830. " BIsuLCATUS, d’Orb., Paléontologie Fran., pl. 43, p. 187, 1842. " MULTICOSTATUS, Quenstedt, die Cephalopoden, p. 80, 1849. " MULTICOSTATUS, Quenstedt, Handbuch der Petrefactenkunde, p. 355, 1852. " BIsuLcATUS, Hauer, die Cephalopoden aus dem Lias, pl. 1, fig. 3, p. 14, 1856. MT BISULCATUS, Oppel, die Juraformation, p. 77, 1856. " MULTICOSTATUS, Quenstedt, der Jura, p. 67, tab. 7, fig. 2, 1858. Diagnosis.—Shell, depressed, discoidal; back, tricarinated; whorls, subquadrate, with 30 to 40 strong, sharp, bent ribs, having a tubercle near the dorsal margin of each ; median keel, strong, with two sulci and two lateral carine ; aperture, subquadrate, bisinuated anteriorly; lateral septa with three lobes. Dimensions.—Transverse diameter, 8 inches; height of aperture, 2? inches: width of aperture, 24 inches. 241 Description.—The table of synonyms prefixed to this article is very limited when compared with the lists given in the works of M. d’OrBieny and Professor Haver; it is due, therefore, to the reader and myself that I should give my reasons for excluding many of the citations of my contemporaries. In my description of Ammonites Bucklandi, Sow.,* I have stated that M. Brueuiers, in the Encyclopédie Methodique, tom. 1, p. 39, described, under the name of Ammonites bisulcata, two distinct forms.—(A.) Ammonites Bucklandi, Sow., and (B.) Ammonites multi- costata, Sow. These two forms were thus described :— A.—“Ammonites costis simplicibus raris, dorso bisulcato, carina acuta intermedia.” B.—“‘ Ammonis cornu spina in ambitu eminente, striis lateralibus, ex toto orbem extimum trajicientibus.” The variety A. had been previously figured by Martin Lister in his Conchyl. Anglie, p. 207, tab. 6, fig. 3, and by Lane in his Historia Lapidum Figuratorum Helveti, tab. 24, fig. 1, and there described as “Ammonis cornu striatum valde striis integris elatis in spinam inter duos sulcos eminentum abeuntibus.” The variety B. had been included in BRUGUIERE’S general diagnosis of Ammonites bisulcata, and most authors have followed BruauiereE in grouping both forms under one specific name. I am inclined however, to think that Sowerby was right when he figured both forms under distinct names, as M. d’Orpieny and Professor Haver, in their works already cited, have figured good type forms of d. multicostata, Sow. I assume that this is the recognized type of Brucuirern’s A. bisulcata in France and Germany, whereas the true A. Bucklandi, Sow., is seldom figured in any work on Lower Lias fossils. I have, therefore, determined to retain BruGuiere’s name for his var. B., and SowrrsBy’s name for var. A. In accordance with this view I have excluded all references to the synonyms of authors, unless I had a figure or a specimen for my guide, to determine the form referred to in the citation ; this mode of proceeding has necessarily diminished my list, but makes it more correct for reference. Ammonites bisulcatus has a depressed discoidal shell, with a strongly tricarinated back, and subquadrate whorls. The sides are provided with 30 to 40 simple, narrow, slightly bent ribs, each terminating in a blunt tubercle, near the dorsal border. From the tubercle the rib bends sharply forwards, and disappears at the outer carine. The back is flat and tricarinated, the median keel a little more prominent than the laterals, and the two sulci, although well marked, are not very deep in my specimens; the lateral carinz are well defined; the shell is bevelled * Proceedings of the Cotteswold Naturalists’ Club for 1863, p. 173. 242 off from the ridge to the row of tubercles, and presents a series of oblique undulations occasioned by the vanishing of the ribs. The spire is composed of subquadrate whorls: in a specimen, 53 inches in diameter, there are six whorls visible; on the outer whorl are 37 ribs; on the second, 30; on the 3rd, 29; on the third, 29; so that in this example the number of the ribs increases with the number of the whorls. The aperture is quadrate, rather higher than wide, a little enlarged at the spire, and sinuous above where it is marked by the central keel, the sulci, and lateral carine. (PI. 4, fig. 2 b.) The sept are symmetrical, foliated on each side, and divided into three lobes, and three saddles formed of unequal parts, fig 2c. Dorsal lobe, narrow, one-third longer and a little wider than the superior-lateral lobe, having on each side five slightly unequal digitations. Dorsal saddle, one-fourth wider than the superior-lateral lobe, and divided into three unequal parts by two unequal accessory lobes. Swperior-lateral lobe, a little longer than wide, has three foliated brauches on each side. Lateral saddle, nearly double the width of the superior-lateral lobe, divided into many unequal lobes. Jnferior-lateral lobe, nearly as wide as the superior-lateral, and divided into numerous unequal digitations. Auxiliary saddle, half the size of the superior-lateral lobe, divided into several unequal folioles. Aumiliary lobe, narrow, descending much lower than the others, and formed of two branches, the one external, and the other inferior. The line of the central ray passing by the dorsal lobe cuts the superior-lateral lobe. Affinities and Differences.—This Ammonite strongly resembles A. Bucklandi, Sow.; it is distinguished, however, by having the whorls more quadrate, and the general form being more angular; the 34 to 36 ribs, have each a tubercle near the dorsal border, from whence they curve sharply forwards towards the sulcus. In A. Bucklondi there are about 24 ribs, which gradually disappear on the dorsal border, and there are no tubercles near the angle of the sulcus. It is distinguished from A, obtusus, to which it has a general resemblance, by having narrower whorls, tuberculated ribs, and a flatter back. Locality and Stratigraphical Position.—This species has been found in the Zone of Ammonites Bucklandi, (Lower Lias,) near Lyme Regis and Charmouth, on the coast of Dorset; near Bath; in the deep cuttings of the Bristol and Birmingham railway, near Defford, Bredon, Cheltenham, and Gloucester; and in other localities in the Vale of Gloucester, as by Coombe Hill, Highnam, and Berkeley. The Warwick Museum contains ypu op : op : cieelee ESE “MOK S29DIS00IFINU SOPUDUMY Z sou jo yooyos qokoy 'snyy Woup GaUNINSY 5 / ‘Mog '9nBenqIgo saqTUuoMMYy J qu py Pp s09Tee MT durqanyuer hy’ N YW 4248 9DuU £ & ve AONE PEAT FAP ARE AE TR LETS ES 243 some fine specimens from the Lima beds of the Lower Lias of Warwick- shire; and my friend Joun Lxckensy, Esq., F.G.S,, has several fine shells of this species collected from the Lower Lias at Robin Hood’s Bay, on the coast of Yorkshire. Foreign Localities.—Germany,—in Swabia, according to Professor OpPEL, it is abundant in the Bucklandi beds of Bodelhausen, Vaihingen, Moringen, and Gmiind, and in France from the same zone in the vicinity of Metz, (Moselle,) and Avallon, (Yonne.) Liistory.—The history of this species is curious and instructive: towards the end of the 17th century it was figured by Puor and Lister in this country, and by Lane and Bourcuet on the continent. In 1787, it was first correctly described in the Encyclopédie Methodique by M. Brueuiere as A. bisuleata, he recognized two distinct varieties of the species, one with few ribs, without tubercles; the other with numerous ribs having a tubercle on each. Sowrrsy, in his Mineral Conchology, in 1818, figured the former as A. Bucklandi; the latter, in 1824, as Ammonites multicostata. Unfortunately this author entirely overlooked the excellent work previously done on Ammonites by M. Brucurere. In 1830, Zreren figured as A. multicostata a good type.specimen from the Lias Limestone of Altingen, near Tuttlingen, so that Brucuizre’s specific name was nearly forgotten, when M. A. d’Orsieny, in his Paléontologié Frangaise, in 1844, gave a historical account of this species ; d@’OrzIGNY, however confused A. Bucklandi, Sow., with A. bisulcatus, Brug., an error which I have endeavoured to rectify in my description of these two forms. AMMONITES OBTUSUS, Sowerby. (Pl. 4, fig. 1, a, 0, c.) AMMONITES oBTusus, Sowerby, Mineral Conchology, vol. 2, tab. 167, p. 151, 1817. " Smiruu, Sowerby, Mineral Conchology, vol. 4, tab. 406, p. 148, 1823. " ostusus, Phillips, Geology of Yorkshire, p. 164, 1829. i" optusus, d’Orbigny, Paléontologie Frangaise ter. Jurassique, - pl 44, p. 191, 1842. " optusus, Chapwis de Dewalque, Fossiles de Luxembourg, pl. 4, fig. 3; pl. 5, fig. 1; p. 39, 1853. " TuRNERI, Quenstedt, Cephalopoden, tab. 3, fig. 19, p. 77, 1846. Shell compressed ; back carinated, carine obtuse; aperture rotund-com- pressed, bisinuated above ; whorls subrotund with lateral ribs; coste, 25 Q 244 to 30, obtuse, vanishing near the carinal sulci; lateral septe 3 lobed ; shell covered on the back and sides with fine longitudinal lines, 28 on each side of the whorl, producing a series of punctuations where they in- tersect the transverse lines of growth. Dimensions.—The usual size is from 6 to 8 inches in diameter, but it attains 12 to 14 inches. The relative dimensions calculated from several specimens are—height of the last whorl, 43,; width, 35,3 width of the umbilicus, ;43,; involution of the whorl, 23, of the diameter of the shell. Description.—This Ammonite has a discoidal shell, moderately com- pressed on the sides, but more so towards the back, which is furnished with a very thick obtuse keel, having on each side a deep sulcus separ- ating it from the two lateral carinz formed by the angles of the sides and back ; mouth compressed, bisinuated at the summit, and strongly grooved by the turn of the spire; whorls slightly compressed in the middle, and more so towards the upper third; provided with from 25 to 30 moderately prominent acute ribs, which are arched, and disappear at the angle of the back before they merge into the lateral carinal sulci; the valleys between the ribs are very regularly concave. The entire surface of the shell is traversed by fine longitudinal lines, as if they had been cut by a graver ; on the specimen before me there are sixty-six such lines on the back and sides of the whorl, and at the point where they intersect the transverse lines of growth a punctuated depression is produced, which imparts an ornamental character to the shell of this species. The septz are symmetrical, divided on each side into four lobes and four saddles, formed of unequal parts. The dorsal lobe is long and wide, and divided on the median line one-third of its length, presenting numerous small equal-sized digitations around its circumference ; the dorsal saddle as large as the dorsal lobe, has shallow ramifications on its outer side, and three small festoons on its anterior border; the superior lateral lobe is conical, and about two-thirds the length of the dorsal lobe ; the superior saddle is larger than the dorsal saddle, and presents some better developed simple festoons on its border than those on the latter; the inferior lateral lobe is about as large as the superior, and presents numerous small rounded digitations on its circumference ; the awwiliary saddle is about one-fourth the size of the dorsal, and has a similar form; the auxiliary lobe is nearly as large as the infero-lateral. Affinities and Differences.—This species very much resembles Ammon- ites stellaris, Sow.; so much so, that the one is often mistaken for the other. Both have longitudinal lines on the shell, and punctuations at 245 the points of intersection of these with the lines of growth; in A. stellaris ~the shell is more compressed, the keel smaller and not so obtuse ; the digitations of the lobes are likewise more complicated, and the saddles longer and narrower. Locality and Stratigraphical Position.—This Ammonite characterises a well marked zone of life in the Lower Lias, which was well shown at Bredon during the cutting of the Bristol and Birmingham Railway, and from whence I obtained all my best specimens. The rock consisted of dark-gray bluish shales and marls, with irregular and inconstant bands of limestone. This Ammonite is found near Statford-on-Avon, in Warwickshire; it is collected in great abundance between Lyme Regis and Charmouth, where the shells are replaced and their septe filled with crystallised carbonate of lime. These beautiful fossils are called ‘Tortoise Ammonites” by the local collectors. The young examples of this species found with A. planicosta, Sow., in the Marston marble of Somersetshire, which belongs to the zone of A. obtusus, have been figured by SowERBY under the name of A. Smithit. In Robin Hood’s Bay, on the Yorkshire coast, I have found this species, which, however, is very rare in that county, A. ste/laris being here the dominant form, and called A. obtusus in most of the public and private collections. On the continent of Europe it has been found in France, in the environs of Saint-Ramber, (Ain,) and in the province of Luxemburg, at Ethe. It is found in South Germany in many localities. Professor QUENSTEDT mistook this species for 4. Z’wrneri, Sow., and figured it as such ; the Professor, however, recognised the stratigraphical importance of this form, as he found it characteristic of a zone, which he called “Turnerithone.” It is found at Balingen, Oster-dingen, Betzingen, and Betzgenreith. 246 Address to the Cotteswold Naturalists’ Field Club. Read by the President, W. V. Guise, Esq., F.L.S., F.G.S., at the Annual Meeting, held at the Bell Hotel, Gloucester, on Wednesday, 29th March, 1865. GENTLEMEN,— The return of another season calls us again together, to renew, as I hope, the happy associations of former years, in pleasant rambles a-field, in the exchange of congenial thought, in friendly greeting and intercourse, and in the enjoyment of that spirit of good fellowship which gives a zest to our pursuits, and clothes the sober aspect of philosophy in a “light and joyous livery.” There is little in the present condition of the Club which calls for any special remarks from me. Our number of contributing members, 86, is somewhat under our full complement, a deficiency which will, as I believe, be shortly made good by the expected addition of fourteen new members. The fasciculus of our proceedings is a very good one, and shews no falling off in the number or value of the papers contributed. This will complete the third volume of our Transactions. At the meeting which took place in the Forest of Dean, a strong desire was expressed that the Section of Drybrook, made by Mr. Jonzs and our Secretary, Mr. Lucy, should be published. The proposal attracted some attention at the time, and application has since been made for the section by the Secretary of the Severn Valley Field Club. It seems very proper that this design should be carried out, but its execution during the current year must, I fear, be deferred, as our funds are not at present in condition to bear the expense. This, again, brings me to the point to which I drew your attention last year, of the insufficiency of our subscriptions to meet the expenses of the Club. Hitherto, by careful management, we have kept out of debt. This year, however, we are threatened with a deficiency, not large it is true, but such as constrains us to economise our outlay, and in so far to starve our work. It is my intention, therefore, to propose that our subscriptions be advanced to £1. annually in lieu of 10s., which will amply suffice to provide for the due publication and illustration of the important monographs and other scientific papers of value, which need more space for their due expansion than we are now in position to afford. 247 It is with a sense of real regret that I have to announce to the Club the desire expressed by Mr. Lucy to retire from the office, which for the past three years he has discharged so eminently to our advantage as the Honorary Secretary of the Club, the duties connected wherewith have become more burthensome upon his time than his leisure would permit. Personally I feel under the greatest obligation to him for his assistance and support, which have rendered my labours light indeed. By the Club generally, his retirement will be felt as a loss well nigh irreparable. Where amongst us can we find one endowed with so many fitting quali- fications for the post?—presenting, as he does, a rare union of tact, discretion, and gentlemanly courtesy, combined with a catholic love and competent knowledge of Natural Science; and habits of method and order which he has brought to bear with such admirable results upon the business of the Club. Mr. Lucy has kindly consented to discharge, temporarily, the duties of Secretary pending the appointment of his successor, to whom he tenders his valuable advice and assistance. In the meantime, I desire to commend the selection of a gentleman to fill the vacant post, to the careful consideration of the Club, whose interests are vitally concerned in the appointment. I proceed now to give an account of the proceedings at the different field-meets held during the past season. The annual meeting of the Club took place on Wednesday, 9th March, at the Queen’s Hotel, Cheltenham, at which the usual business was transacted, the accounts audited and passed, and the officers for the ensuing year elected, when you were pleased to testify your confidence in myself and Mr. Lucy by again choosing us to fill the posts of President and Secretary respectively. ‘ The very unfavorable condition of the weather prevented any distant excursion ; but in spite of the snow, which fell without intermission during the afternoon, several members of the Club visited the newly- established library in Clarence Street, in which an assemblage of 4,000 volumes of well-selected works in science and general literature does infinite credit to the energy of our colleague, Major Barnard, by whose active agency this useful establishment has been organised and arranged. The members dined together at the Queen’s Hotel. After dinner the President read his annual address. An interesting paper was then read by Mr. WircHELu upon the very remarkable deposit containing worked flints and other evidences of man’s presence, which were found associated with land and freshwater shells in the excavations for a reservoir on the summit of a hill above Stroud, in a bed which has now obtained notoriety 248 through the published views of our colleague, Mr. Joan JoNEs ; who was the first to draw attention to the phenomena there presented in a very learned paper, which appears in our Transactions for the year 1863. In that paper, Mr. Jones—basing his views upon a careful consideration of existing conditions—suggests the possibility that the ancient people, whose works were there brought to light, might have existed upon that spot previous to the formation of the Stroud valley. Mr. WircHex's paper is directed mainly to the effect of land-slips on the spot, and in the immediate neighbourhood, to which agency he is disposed to attribute the phenomena of the beds in question. The subject is, however, still open to further investigation, which, as its importance justifies, it will doubtless receive at the hands of the Cotteswold Club. The reading of the President’s address, brought again under discussion the circumstances connected with the opening of the Foxcote “tumulus,” which, upon a former occasion, aroused the susceptibilities of some of the antiquaries concerned; who, to confess the truth, did not seem to be quite in accord respecting the facts of “the find.” This gave occasion to much waggery and good-humoured banter, which found expression, at length, in the following humourous lines from the pen of our colleague, Mr. D. Nasu, which I here proceed to embalm in the records of the Club. THE DOCTOR AND THE PARISH CLERK. THE FOXCOTE FIND. ‘‘ Well, neighbour, if you axes I to tell you what I found In the tump at Foxcote yonder, in the fourteen acre ground, If you'll stand a drop of summat, for talking makes me dry, T’ll tell you what I knows on it, and the gospel truth thereby. Not what I told them chaps as come up here from Cheltenham town A axing lots of questions, and a writing of it down: ‘A doctor’ and ‘a parson,’ and another gent I knows, Leastways I knows his father, as 1’ve reason to suppose, For he given me seven days in quod, for nothing as you may say, Only being drunk of a Saturday night, and ’saulting pleeseman Day.” Well, you knows the fourteen acre ground, and the tump as used to be there, -*Twas nout but a heap of stones as was throwed promiscuous-like in the air, For I minds when the field was first ploughed up, and how we gathered the stones. So when they comes a axing I if I’d found in it any old bones, * Sergeant Day, a well-known, active officer of the Cheltenham police force. This is a convincing proof of the truthful character and minute accuracy of the whole statement.—WVore by P. P., Parish Clerk. 249 Or kwines*t or brass fardens, or such like, or anything out of the way, I were stummered like just at first, and were just a going to say T hadn’t found nothing at all, when I thought of a bit of a lie ; So I told’em I’d got all they ax’d for, and had putten’em carefully by, To home in my cottage at Foxcote, and if they’d come up the next day, I'd show ’em the bones and the kwines, and tell ’em exact where they lay. So I gets me a lot of old kwines that the childer has oftentimes found, And the plough will turn up by the score when they breaks up a piece of new ground, And some half-a-score of old bones as I got for a pint of beer From old Joe Smithers, the sexton, down by the churchyard here ; And a piece of a broken pot as I’d throw’d at my misus’s head, When she were a aggrawating about the drink, as she said ; And I puts ’em out in the garden, and covers ’em up from the rain, And waits till these ’ere gents should be looking in again. The first as come was ‘the doctor,’ and he looked so mortial wise, Thinks I he is sure to find out as I’m telling on him lies ; But Lord! when he seed the bones he took to ’em just as kind As they’d been his own grandfather’s as he’d known time out of mind ; And he said ’twere a hancient Briton as somebody had drew’d,+ And after they’d taken his pictur the Romans had had him slew’d. But I know’d better than that, for old Joe Smithers said Them bones was the bones of a woman as hadn’t died in her bed, For she’d been crossed in love, and drownded herself in a pond, And that’s why she werd’n’t buried in cussicrated ground. Then I gives the kwines to the parson and tells him how they was lain Along with the bones in the tump, as he said they ought to ha’ been ; And I gave the young’un the pot, which I didn’t say nothing about, For he looked so grumpy and sly, I were fear’d he ha’ found me out. So they gives me a crown apiece, and I thanks ’em for favours past, And I drinks to their healths, and hopes as this’un won’t be the last, For I knows of another field with a main big tump of stones, But I says nothing on it as yet, for I havn’t got no more bones.” + Kwines for coins.—Our friend’s orthography is a little uncertain. ¢ My worthy neighbour has evidently misunderstood the observation of the learned doctor. The latter knowing that a skeleton found in a tump must be that of a Druid, the high priest of a pagan and idolatrous superstition formerly prevailing in our now enlightened land, at once pronounced that the bones exhibited to him were what they ought to have been, which is the same thing as if they had been so. —P. P., Clerk of the Parish. Wednesday, 25th May. The Club met at Stroud, and proceeded under the guidance of Mr. E. Wircnett to Rodboro’ Hill, to examine certain shallow depressions in the soil, with contiguous tumps of earth very numerous in the upper surface and slope of the hill, and supposed to be referrible to the hut-dwellings of the earliest inhabitants. These had attracted the attention of Mr. WiTcHELL, whose researches had been 250 rewarded by finding some pieces of Roman pottery. Two of these “pit- and-tump” excavations were opened by the Club, but without result beyond finding stones which bore marks of fire upon their surface. The probability is, that these depressions were used as temporary cooking- places, the earth being thrown up to windward, after a fashion that is still prevalent among the natives of Hindostan. The presence of long lines of earthwork still plainly shew that the hill was at one time strongly fortified, and the cooking-places may well have been the work of camp- followers, probably of the period of the Roman occupation, from the character of the pottery. From Rodboro’ the party visited the quarries at Minchinhampton, so fully described by Dr. Lyczrt in his work on the ‘Cotswold Hills.” After descending the valley to Woodchester, several sections were examined in the railway-cuttings of the Nailsworth line, now in course of construction. The Secretary read a letter from Mr. Jonny Jones, in illustration of an accompanying specimen of F'usus vesiculosus, which by its expansion under heat had torn assunder during very low tide, a small piece of com- pact stone on which it grew. Mr. Jones says, “ It is readily conceivable that in warm climates where the rise and fall of the tide is considerable, similar operations may take place upon an extensive scale. The decom- position of rocks by vegetation of a low character is, of course, well known, but the present instance serves to illustrate the action of a disintegrating force, the existence of which is probably little known.” The Secretary likewise read a paper by Mr. Jonsgs, in amplification of Sir Cuartes Lyett’s First Chapter on the “Antiquity of Man,” concluding as follows :— ‘*], That the great changes in the characteristic vegetation of the districts referred to, have been effected solely by modifications of temperature, in great part produced by telluric oscillations. “2. That the laws regulating the periodical prevalence of certain forms of vegetable life have been uniform in their operation at all times. «3. That the zones of vegetation above recognized, have always maintained relations toward each other similar in kind to those which now exist between them, and that on this supposition the difference of climate which character- ised the periods indicated respectively by the prevalence of fir, oak, and beech, may be roughly estimated from the difference between the number of degrees of latitude which form the limits of the northern range of each, which appears to be about four in each instance. ‘And lastly, That the lapse of time required for the changes traced, and the natural operations involved in effecting them, far surpassed in duration the scope of our most extended chronologies.” 251 On Friday, 24th June, the Club met at Mitcheldean, and breakfasted at the George Inn. After breakfast the members visited the fine old Church, which has recently been carefully restored. From thence the party passed along the new road, examining by the way the succession of sandstones, limestones, and “mine” measures, and the curious old mining places, called “Scowles,” from a British word signifying “hiding-places.” Some of these are of great extent and depth; they have been worked by ancient miners as far as the water would permit. These “Scowles” have been formed by the excavation in the Mountain Limestone of certain cavities filled with iron ore, called by the miners “ Pouches” and “Churns.” Our colleague, Dr. Brrp, in the paper on the “ Forest of Dean,” read to the Club at this meeting, has some interesting information on the subject of these “ Scowles,” respecting which, and all matters connected with Forest history, his long residence in that district and his intimate acquaintance with its peculiarities, especially fit him to be its chronicler. He states, “In conversing with a person some years ago on the means employed by the ‘old men’ to procure the mine from these cavities, and to follow it through the narrow crevices in the hard rock to the water-level: he gave it as his belief, that when the cavities contracted so much as to prevent them from getting at the mine, they were in the habit of lighting strong charcoal or wood fires until they had burned the limestone rock into lime, which they slaked and removed, and thus opened a way from one cavity to another, so as to enable them to follow the mine—that there are clear traces in many of the old ‘Scowles’ of the employment of such a plan for removing the rock—that it was efficient, but much more tedious than that of blasting with gunpowder.” The party proceeded by Wig Pool to the cutting on the Ross road, and thence by Drybrook, Nailridge, and across the Forest to the Speech House. At Drybrook the elaborate and careful section of Messrs. Jones and Lucy was examined throughout, and compared layer by layer, with the original, and found scrupulously correct. I have already directed attention to the propriety of publishing this work, as soon as our funds will permit. The members dined together at the Speech House, after which a paper on the “Forest of Dean” was read by Dr. Brirp. On Thursday, 21st July, the Cotteswold, Malvern, and Woolhope Clubs met at Ross. The programme for the day embraced a boat voyage down the Wye,and a walk by English Bicknor and Symond’s Yat to Whitchurch, returning thence, by carriages, to Ross. The Club mustered for breakfast at the Royal Hotel in great foree—the numbers somewhat inconveniently 252 swollen by an influx of visitors of both sexes—whom the beauty of the weather and scenery drew together in numbers which threatened to disconcert all the arrangements of the secretary, and to convert the meeting into a pic-nic. It would be well, in order to prevent disappoint- ment in future, that ladies and gentlemen should recognise the fact, that there is necessarily a limit to the admission of visitors to the Field Club Meetings, especially in those cases where more Field Clubs than one come together, when the accommodation required for the members taxes all the energies of the executive to provide for it, without the further embarrassment caused by a large influx from without. Happily, in this instance, the foresight and tact of our Secretary, Mr. Lucy, were equal to the requirements of the occasion; and so complete were the arrangements for the transport and supply of such a large party, that no hindrance or difficulty occurred. After breakfast, a move was made to the boats, into which admission was gained by means of tickets issued by the Secretary—a preliminary which necessarily occasioned some delay. At length the flotilla got under way, the President’s barge leading, and in gallant array the boats swept down the first bend of the river, and under the arch of the bridge at Wilton. But here an unforeseen obstacle brought the whole toa standstill —the first of a series of a like nature, which at one time threatened to bring the voyage to a sudden and unexpected termination. The water, owing to the long drought, was lower than the boatmen “had ever know’d it,” and, on the shallows below the bridge, the President’s barge came to grief, taking the ground with a dull grating sound, and remaining there, firmly fixed, in spite of all efforts. The next boat, bearing the President of the Malverns, followed suit, and in a few seconds the whole flotilla was “hard and fast,’”—-poling, shoving, swaying,—while the entire popula- tion on the banks turned out to see the fun. The delay here was very considerable ; and though the boatmen exerted themselves to the utmost, —toiling bare-legged in the water—nearly half-an-hour elapsed before the boats were again afloat. A mile above Goodrich all the passengers were landed, there being a a long reach of the river too shallow to admit of passage by laden boats. This afforded an opportunity of visiting the castle, which was availed of by many. Again re-embarking, the party proceeded down the river, enjoying the richly-varied scenery which the windings of its course displayed, until, in due time, they arrived at Lydbrook, where, in a small hostelry hard by, the discovery of good bread, cheese, and beer, brought — 253 refreshment to the wayfarers, and much profit, it is to be hoped, to the landlady. At this point the boat voyage terminated ; and in a hot sun, by dusty ways, a long string of pedestrians struggled up the hill that leads to English Bicknor; but ere they had reached the summit, a very unlooked for, and under the circumstances, a very unwelcome, change in the atmosphere took place,—it began to rain, and, by the time that the party had gained the shelter of the church at English Bicknor, the rain fell heavily. The church, which still retains traces of Norman work, sufficient to render it of interest to the antiquary, was examined with much attention. The clergyman, Mr. Burvov, affording every facility to the visitors, and personally inviting attention to the points most worthy of notice. Time, however, would not permit of much delay ; and in a steady down- pour of rain the excursionists proceeded on their way, which led them by a romantic path through the Forest, commanding from above most extensive prospects of rock and wood, with the beautiful Wye winding far below. These glories culminated at Symond’s Yat, where, however, the continued rain forbade a long delay, and all hurried down to the ferry below, by which the further bank of the river was gained, and a mile or two further, Whitchurch, where the foresight of the Secretary had established an ample supply of vehicles for the transport of the party to Ross. What boots it to tell in what draggled trim the passengers arrived? —and how those who, like Gehazi, had taken the precaution to secure “two changes of raiment,” rejoiced greatly in their forethought; while others less provident had to go to bed instead of to dinner. Suffice it to say, that in due time all the party came together, some eighty sitting down to table, and doing ample justice to the good things provided for their entertainment by the hostess of the Royal Hotel. After dinner, the Rev. W. S. Symonps read a short notice of the geology of the district around Ross, which the state of the weather had prevented his delivering in the field. Dr. Brep read a paper on the round and long tumuli of the Cotteswold Hills, on the character of the Roman remains and the beautiful flint implements found in these tumuli. The following list of plants noticed in the course of the day’s excursion was supplied by Dr. Buxt of Hereford. 254 Ranunculus fluitans Thalictrum flavum Galium mollugo Hyoscyamus niger Lysimachia vulgaris Achillea ptarmica Saponaria officinalis Nasturtium sylvestre Verbascum virgatum Valeriana officinalis Campanula latifolia Lythrum salicaria Epilobium hirsutum and roseum Chlora perfoliata Cynoglossum sylvaticum Molinia cerulea Butomus umbellatus Tika Europea and grandiflora Hypericum pulchrum and dubium Epilobium salicifolium, a wanderer, was also gathered, and grows in places in the district. Rhamnus catharticus grows in a wood near, not visited. Tilia purvifolia, an unusually fine specimen, grows in a lane, near Whitchurch, leading to the ferry. Wednesday, 17th August. The members of the Club met at the Queen’s Hotel, Cheltenham, where they were joined by the President, Secretary, and many of the Malvern Club; a joint meeting of Field Clubs having been arranged for the occasion, comprising besides the Malvern Club, those of “Dudley” and “the Midland:” the two latter, however, owing to local impediments, failed to keep tryst. Between 30 and 40, however, took the field under the geological guidance of Mr. ETHERIDGE, of the Geological Survey, whose beautiful sections of the Jurassic series in different parts of England, afforded a most instructive opportunity of comparing the Oolitic system elsewhere, with the typical development thereof in the now classical Leckhampton Section, towards which point the excursion of the day tended. An omnibus and four horses conveyed the party to the Seven Springs, which, as one of the fountain-heads of the Thames, is regarded with much local reverence ; while in summer time an Egeria is never wanting to dispense its limpid and ice-cold waters to the thirsty wayfarer—for a consideration—which custom of the place was, on the occasion referred to, duly observed. At Leckhampton Hill the section was thoroughly examined, and debated with reference more particularly to the correlation of its beds with the same series elsewhere, when a slight difference of opinion between Dr. Hout and Mr. Eruerince gave point and interest to the discussion. The day was remarkably fine, and the prospect from this well-known point was never seen to greater advantage. The party dined together at the Queen’s Hotel. After dinner Mr. Beacu read an instructive and interesting paper upon the Fungi of the 255 neighbourhood, dwelling more particularly upon those kinds which are best adapted for food. His remarks were illustrated by drawings most carefully and characteristically executed. Your President, who has closely studied this class of organisms, urged upon all the importance of cultivating a more extended knowledge of the Species of Fungi, which, irrespective of their great beauty, variety, and interest as objects of investigation by the botanist, offer with lavish bounty an abundance of good and wholesome food, which only requires to be known to secure the highest appreciation, not merely of the gastronome or experimentalist, but of the cottager and his family, who may, from these countless stores, secure many a savoury and nutritious addition to their frequently hard and unpalatable fare. These things are better understood on the Conti- nent of Europe, where the peasantry are accustomed to preserve Fungi in oil or pickle for culinary purposes ; and death from poisoning by these vegetables is rarely known to occur. Dr. Birp read a paper on the Mammalian drifts opened up by the railway-cutting at Beckford, in the Vale of Evesham, which paper was illustrated by sections and drawings made by Mr. Parkinson, C.E., and by a collection of teeth and bones of the Mammoth, Rhinoceros, Horse, Ox, &c. I would strongly advise a visit by the Club to these gravels, a thorough investigation of which, with especial reference to their deri- vation, bedding, and contents, would afford matter for a very valuable report. The history of these drifts has yet to be written, and will form, when completed, a most important contribution to our knowledge of a very obscure subject, to which recent discoveries have given more than ordinary point and interest. I may add, that in a visit paid to Beckford, last summer, in company with our colleague, the Rev. Mr. Symonps, I obtained from the gravel a portion of shell, which was identified by Mr. GwyNNE JEFFERIES as Lucina borealis ; as its name indicates, a truly boreal type, bearing reference to the period when the glacial conditions which had at one time prevailed, were passing off. At the request of the President, Mr. Erneripce gave a sketch of the Geology of the district, as a further illustration of the practical field- work done by the Club in the morning. He exhibited a fine diagram of the “New Red Lias,” “Oolitic,” and “Chalk” formations, with their characteristic Ammonites, Testacea, and fossil organisms, and explained the causes of many geological phenomena connected with the thinning- out of the strata. He also shewed the physical changes in the structure and lithological character of the same rock in different localities, and 256 dwelt upon the necessity of a correct knowledge of the fossils peculiar to each bed, as the only true means of identifying strata. Mr. Parkinson exhibited drawings of “Belas Knap” tumulus,—of the large long skulls of the most ancient race of men, from the round tumuli, —and a correct representation of a shepherd’s hut near Ablington, supposed to have been an ancient British residence; and a neatly-drawn diagram of Bredon Hill, shewing the position of the round and long tumuli upon it, the situation of the sand, of the serrated flint flakes, and the course of the road, with the position and stratification of the gravel- bed; pointing out the relative position of the most ancient human evidences, the human skulls, and the Roman horse-shoes, coins, and bone pins, together with the position on the Lias marls and mud in which the extinct mammalian remains were discovered. Fine specimens were shewn of the horns of the Bos longifrons, from the silt and gravel of the Chelt, near the Old Wells, Cheltenham. On the 14th September, the British Association for the advancement of Science met at Bath, under the presidency of Sir Cuartes LyeEzt, when the Cotteswold Club, in accordance with its programme, made Bath their place of meeting. Your President, in association with the President of the Malvern Club, the Rev. W. S. Symonps, of Pendock, hired a large house in Pulteney Street, Bath, for the occasion; which became the centre for the members of both Field Clubs, who rallied round them on the occasion, a social circle of the most agreeable character, comprising among ladies and gentlemen of high social position and scientific eminence, many of the most distinguished members of the Britsh Association, including their illustrious President, Sir Cartes LYELL; Professor Puiiuipps, (President elect ;) Mr. Luspocn, F.R.S., and Mrs. Lussocx; Dr. Hooker, F.R.S., and Mrs. Hooxer; Professor Harkness, F.R.S., and Miss Harkness; Sir WinuiAM Jarping, F.R.S., and Miss Jarpine; Lord EnNIsKILuEn, F.R.S.; The Deanor HEReEForp ; Sir WILLoucHBY J ONES, and many others. This field-club centre proved an extraordinary success, imparting a force and cohesion, which gave importance to an embodiment, the dis- severed elements of which had been previously capable of exercising but little influence, but, thus combined, affording support to the Association, from an entirely new quarter, the value of which was fully recognised. It is proposed to perpetuate this institution, and with that view, Mr. Symonps and myself have already taken measures for securing accommodation at Birmingham, during the ensuing congress of the 257 British Association at that town, when we hope to make such arrange- ments as shall enable us to offer to those members of the Field Clubs who may attend the meeting, a centre of common resort, where they may find many elements of social comfort, as well as such friendly counsel and assistance, as, in a strange locality, is so greatly needed by casual visitors. In conclusion, I have only to congratuluate the Club upon its continued prosperity, which I trust will be fully sustained; and to thank you all for the kind confidence which you continue to repose in me, to which, and to the support I have received from our Secretary, and from each of our associates, I attribute any measure of success which may have attended my efforts to promote the well-being of the CorreswoLp CuuB. END OF VOL. III. PRINTED BY JOHN BELLOWS, GLOUCESTER. sabato > ical + 3S, ¥. i ne Ae : Ti Fee Ms Sak oS ihe Sane wigs So Se con Gane . ra > Te F, ere, Shes fy) ») MASE >) 3 Bees. } we! Lai? A 2D DD AP) Wy > EDP DPD D | be 2D YN Dr 5 = By