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On the Perna Bed and the Weald Clay at Reigate
313 ON THE PERNA BED AND THE WEALD CLAY AT REIGATE. WITH REPORT OF EXCURSION TO REIGATE, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4TH, Ig22. By GERARD W. BUTLER, B.A., F.G.S., F.Z.S.
THE
junction of the Lower Greensand and the Weald Clay was very well seen at the end of Ig21, in the pit near Woodhatch, N.W. of Earlswood Common, belonging to Mr. Cyril W. Brown; and this pit was visited by the Geologists' Association on February 4, Ig22. The pit was first worked by Mr. C. W. Brown's grandfather in r813; so that it has a history of 109 years. It displays, over most of its area, a flat surface of Weald Clay on a level with the road from Woodhatch to Redhill. But, within the memory of the present owner, the Lower Greensand extended from the N. as a small hill over the N.W. part of the pit, thus forming a fairly thick covering above its basement Perna Bed, whose sand and sandy nodules rest immediately upon the blue Weald Clay. In the more northerly part of the west side of the pit the hard grey nodules crowded with the shells of Perna mulleti Desh., Bed, and other mollusca, have for some years been known to local geologists. In the summer of Ig21, for the first time, at least within recent years, the men have been working a part of the pit where the Perna Bed nodules, owing to the slope of the surface, have had a covering of barely eight feet of Lower Greensand. As this sandy covering is permeable, the iron of the nodules has been weathered red, and practically all the lime of the included fossils has been dissolved away. The fossils in these weathered nodules are not ruined however. On the contrary they are, as biological material, preferable to those in the less altered nodules, for, if the weathered nodules are allowed to dry before being carefully broken up, it is easy to clean and dissect out external and internal casts, the detail of which is often beautiful, and usually excellent for specific identification. The grain of the nodules being fine, we get sharp moulds, not only of the outside of shells, but also of their inside, showing clear details of hinge-teeth and of muscle- and mantleattachments. In contrast to this, the fossils in the harder, less altered nodules, are much more difficult to extract and, when extracted, seldom show anything but the outside of shells, and this usually blurred, either by adhesion of the matrix or by fracture of the relatively soft and brittle shell in extraction. As said, the main layer of Perna Bed nodules rests directly on the Weald Clay; but a few nodules with fossils are found three or four feet higher
G. W. BUTLER.
up. The I! feet at the base of the Lower Greensand is by far the most fossiliferous; and I think that practically all the species recorded in the subjoined list might be found in that layer. Most of the fossils obtained by me, however, were extracted from nodules kindly put aside for me by two of the workmen, Messrs. C. and G. Young, to whom my best thanks are due; but, collecting in this way, I cannot be certain of the exact level of origin of all the specimens. During the exceptionally dry summer of 1921 the Weald Clay was well seen in the pit; and for a short time in the autumn, when the excursion of the Geologists' Association was planned, the junction with the overlying Greensand was very clearly seen. Here, as in other localities, a most distinct lithological break was visible between loamy non-laminated Atherfield Clay at the base of the Lower Greensand, and the pure dark clay of the Weald Clay, more or less shaly when dry. During 1921 my attention was mainly given to the Perna Bed, and early in 1922 slips of the pit sides, and the rise of the water-level in the pit, prevented further study of the Weald Clay, except for the uppermost 12 feet or so; but I may mention some points noted in the dry summer of 192I. (a) At about five feet below the Lower Greensand the Weald Clay is full of shells of T/icarya strombiformis (Schl.) with some Melanopsis attenuatus J. de C. Sow., and a few small Cyrena media Sow. Such a fauna "with Ceriihium " has been regarded as indicating the invasion of marine conditions during Weald Clay time. (b) A few feet lower down, the clay contains many scattered vertebra: and other bones of small teleostean fish, and many ostracods. Dr. A. Smith Woodward, F.R.S., informs me that there were scales of an undetermined species of Leptolepis. (c) A few feet lower still, exposed in the summer, but covered by water before the end of January 1922, is a hard nodular layer some six inches thick, containing Paludina, Cyrena media Sow., Erodona (PotamomyaJ sp., and plentiful tuberculate Ostracoda. Metacypris fittoni (Mantell). (d) Lower still occurred thinner, more or less iron-stained, hard layers full of small Paludina, Cyrena media, and Ostracoda. On the surface of a slab, covered with Metacyprisjittoni (Mantell). Dr. Smith Woodward found a small tooth of the elasmobranch fish Acrodus ornatus A.S.W. I may add that from the Weald Clay of this pit I have five well-preserved and well-marked species of Ostracoda, which, by reference to the late Prof. T. Rupert Jones's papers, I have partly identified as (I) Metacyprisjittoni (Mantell), (2) Cyprideaspinigera Sow., (3) Cyprione bristovii Jones. Of the other two, one may be Cypridea valdensis (Fitton). The fifth is a well marked and
PERNA BED AND WEALD CLAY AT REIGATE.
315
plentiful Cypridea, with a single tubercle, but differing from C. spinigera in its smaller size and more tapering hind end, and in having two or three furrows extending from the dorsal border transversely part way across the shell. From some of the harder layers and from some of the softer more shaly layers, when dry, surfaces covered with beautifully clear specimens may be obtained. Thus in future summers this pit should be worth watching for the Weald Clay, as well as for the Perna Bed. LIST OF FOSSILS FROM THE Perna BED OF THE WOODHATCH PIT. PORIFERA-Cliona sp. Boring sponge, of habit slightly different from that of Cliona. ANTHOZOA-Holocystis elegans (Lonsdale). ECHINoIDEA-Enallaster (Hemipneustes) fiuoni Forbes. Peltastes wrighti Desor. Fragment of another species of regular Echinoid [Hemicidaris ?]. ANNELIDA-Serpula (one or more species). POLYZOA-A cyclostomatous form. BRACHIOPoDA-Terebratula sella Sow. LAMELLIBRANCHIA-Ostrea diluviana (Linn.). Anomia leevigata J. de C. Sow. Exogyra sinuata (Sow.). tuberculifera Koch & Dunk. conica Sow.). " sp. Plicatula d. placunea Lam. Lima (Mantellum) parallela (}. Sow.). Pecten (Chlamys) robinaldinus d'Orb, (Camptoneetes) cottaldinus d'Orb. " (Neithea) morrisi (Pict. & Ren.). Gervillia aleeformis (Sow.). " sublanceolata (d'Orb.). Perna mulleti Desh. " sp. Modiola (Brachydontes) veetiensis Woods. Septifer lineatus (J. de C. Sow.). Mytilus laneeolatus J. de C. Sow. Pinna robinaldina d'Orb. Area carteroni d'Orb. " dupiniana d'Orb. Barbaiia austeni (Forbes). " aptiensis (P. & C.). Grammatodon sp.
o.
316
G
W. BUTLER.
lAMELLIBRANCHIA-Cueull~ad.
jorbesi (P. & C.). d. cornueliana (d'Orb.). " d. fittoni (P. & C.). Nuculana scapha (d'Orb.). Trigonia nodosa J. de C. Sow. caudata Ag. " etheridgei Lycett. Cardita jenestrata (Forbes). Astarte subcostata d'Orb. " (Eriphyla) transversa Leym. Cardium ibbetsoni Forbes. " sp. nov. ? d. moutonianum d'Orb. Cyprina d. anglica Woods. meyeri Woods. saussuri (Brongn.). " sowerbyi d'Orb. " (Venilicardia) protensa Woods. Thetironia minor (J. de C. Sow.) Cyprimeria (Cyclorisma)parva (J. de C. Sow.). Tellina carteroni d'Orb. " sp. d. incequalis J. de C. Sow. Panopiea d. mandiinda (Sow.). " gurgitis (Brongn.). Pholadomya martini Forbes. Thracia robinaldina (d'Orb.) Corbula isocardiaformis Harbort. " striatula J. de C. Sow. Turnus dallasi (Walker). Boring Mollusc sp. GASTROpoDA-Emarginula neocomiensis d'Orb. Scalaria canaliculata d'Orb. N atica laroigaia d'Orb. Cerithium aculeatum Forbes. " turriculatum Forbes. Aporrhais dupiniana (d'Orb.). glabra Forbes. " robinaldina d'Orb. Pterocera fittoni Forbes. " Fusus " sp. CEPHALOPoDA-Parahoplites sp. nov. d. laoiuscuius von Koenen. " sp. nov. (of same group). Nautilus radiatus Sow. As the above species were obtained from one small area (18 ft. x 45 feet) it is probable that, if this pit be watched, this list may be extended.
PERNA BED AND \VEALD CLAY AT REIGATE.
317
BRIEF NOTES ON SOME OF THE FOSSILS.
(a) Perna Jnulleti Desh,
This species is figured from one side in many text books, and it is of course described in Woods' Monograph on the Cretaceous Lamellibranchia, When one writes of it one should have a figure drawn from in front, as well as one from the right side. For Perna mulleti is one of the many lamellibranchs, which, like many cephalopods, and most gastropods, lose in later life the bilateral symmetry with which they started. A front view of the adult shell shows the two points into which the anterior and posterior" folds," described by Woods, are continued, curving to the left side. Hundreds of specimens seen in this pit confirm Woods' opinion that the essential form of this curious shell, in its adult state, is constant, though the proportions of parts may vary. The largest specimens from this pit greatly exceed the measurements of the three specimens given by Woods. Thus I have one withLength of hinge-line . . . . .. ISO mm. (6 inches). Length from umbo to postero-ventral angle in a straight line. . . . . . . . . ... 175 mm. (7 inches). Length from umbo to postero-ventral angle following the outer curve of right valve ......••........... '" zoo mm. (8 inches). The most interesting point observed is that up to the stage when the greatest measurement is 50 mm. (z inches) the shells of Perna mulleti are bilaterally symmetrical, with no points curving towards the left side. In fact such young shells resemble some of the less modified Avrculidze or certain Jurassic Pernas. But soon after the two-inch size is reached the shell develops the form characteristic of the adult. Another point of interest is that in such small (two-inch) specimens the ligament pits are confined to the anterior half of the straight hinge line, and that these only gradually extend back to its posterior end. (b) Cardita fenestrata (Forbes). Of this species from the " Perna Bed and Atherfield clay of Atherfield," and" Atherfield beds of Peasemarsh and East Shalford," Woods says-" The hinge and interior are unknown, and the generic position of the species is not free from doubt." If my identification is right, the external and internal casts of this species are among the most beautiful and sharpest from this pit, and support its reference to the genus Cardita. (c) Corbula striatula,]. de C. Sow. Mr. C. P. Chatwin, F.G.S., drew my attention to the fact that the casts of the most perfect specimens of this species show casts of the siphon tubes or else that this species had an extension of the shell or other protection over these tubes. As regards this latter possibility
318
PERNA BED AND WEALD CLAY AT REIGATE.
d. specimens labelled Anatina (Cercomya) gurgiti« P. & C. from this same horizon in the Isle of Wight, shown in Table Case 8 in Gallery VIII. (Invertebrata) of the Geological Department, British (Nat. Hist.) Museum, S. Kensington. On the other hand, these more perfect specimens show a bounding line where the shell ends in the other specimens, suggesting that we really have casts of the siphon tubes extended beyond the shells. (d) Boring Mollusca and Boring Sponges. The objects bored by these have been almost completely dissolved, little but a red powder that brushes away being left. But, by very careful examination of the flat shell-like bounding surfaces, and traces here and there of shell structure, one gathers that in all cases it is the thick shells of such molluscs as Exogyra sinuata, or Perna mulleti, and not pieces of wood or rock that have been bored; a conclusion that is supported by the frequent association of molluscs and sponge boring the same object. The specimens should be allowed to dry before treatment. Then, what one has left after carefully brushing and blowing away the fine red powder, are the red sandy casts of the borings. In the case of the molluscan borings one sometimes ::.ees exposed, or can with care dissect out, the external or internal cast of the boring shell. In the case of the sponges there are two types of borings, often tier above tier-(i) nearly typical Cliona borings with expanded roundish chambers connected by narrow radiating passages; (ii.) more commonly, anastomosing passages without appreciable expansions at the points of meeting or branching. In conclusion my best thanks are due to Dr. F. L. Kitchin, F.G.S., and to Mr. C. P. Chatwin, F.G.S., for their constant kindness and expert help at the Geological Survey Museum in Jermyn Street, without which kind help in naming the fossils I could not safely have drawn up the list. Dr. L. F. Spath, F.G.S., also kindly told me about the ammonites, and Dr. A. Smith Woodward, F.R.S., about the Wealden fish remains. Last, but not least, I would thank Mr. C. W. Brown, the owner of the pit, for his always generous and sympathetic welcome to myself, as to other geologists; and also for his helpful information as regards the history of the pit. REPORT
OF
EXCURSION.
The members, numbering about a dozen, were met at Reigate station by the Directors, Miss M. C. Crosfield, F.G.S., and the writer. They walked direct to the Woodhatch pit, returning from Redhill station by the 4.36 p.m. train. Mr. A. J. Bull acted as Excursion Secretary.
THE
junction of the Lower Greensand and the Weald Clay was very well seen at the end of Ig21, in the pit near Woodhatch, N.W. of Earlswood Common, belonging to Mr. Cyril W. Brown; and this pit was visited by the Geologists' Association on February 4, Ig22. The pit was first worked by Mr. C. W. Brown's grandfather in r813; so that it has a history of 109 years. It displays, over most of its area, a flat surface of Weald Clay on a level with the road from Woodhatch to Redhill. But, within the memory of the present owner, the Lower Greensand extended from the N. as a small hill over the N.W. part of the pit, thus forming a fairly thick covering above its basement Perna Bed, whose sand and sandy nodules rest immediately upon the blue Weald Clay. In the more northerly part of the west side of the pit the hard grey nodules crowded with the shells of Perna mulleti Desh., Bed, and other mollusca, have for some years been known to local geologists. In the summer of Ig21, for the first time, at least within recent years, the men have been working a part of the pit where the Perna Bed nodules, owing to the slope of the surface, have had a covering of barely eight feet of Lower Greensand. As this sandy covering is permeable, the iron of the nodules has been weathered red, and practically all the lime of the included fossils has been dissolved away. The fossils in these weathered nodules are not ruined however. On the contrary they are, as biological material, preferable to those in the less altered nodules, for, if the weathered nodules are allowed to dry before being carefully broken up, it is easy to clean and dissect out external and internal casts, the detail of which is often beautiful, and usually excellent for specific identification. The grain of the nodules being fine, we get sharp moulds, not only of the outside of shells, but also of their inside, showing clear details of hinge-teeth and of muscle- and mantleattachments. In contrast to this, the fossils in the harder, less altered nodules, are much more difficult to extract and, when extracted, seldom show anything but the outside of shells, and this usually blurred, either by adhesion of the matrix or by fracture of the relatively soft and brittle shell in extraction. As said, the main layer of Perna Bed nodules rests directly on the Weald Clay; but a few nodules with fossils are found three or four feet higher
G. W. BUTLER.
up. The I! feet at the base of the Lower Greensand is by far the most fossiliferous; and I think that practically all the species recorded in the subjoined list might be found in that layer. Most of the fossils obtained by me, however, were extracted from nodules kindly put aside for me by two of the workmen, Messrs. C. and G. Young, to whom my best thanks are due; but, collecting in this way, I cannot be certain of the exact level of origin of all the specimens. During the exceptionally dry summer of 1921 the Weald Clay was well seen in the pit; and for a short time in the autumn, when the excursion of the Geologists' Association was planned, the junction with the overlying Greensand was very clearly seen. Here, as in other localities, a most distinct lithological break was visible between loamy non-laminated Atherfield Clay at the base of the Lower Greensand, and the pure dark clay of the Weald Clay, more or less shaly when dry. During 1921 my attention was mainly given to the Perna Bed, and early in 1922 slips of the pit sides, and the rise of the water-level in the pit, prevented further study of the Weald Clay, except for the uppermost 12 feet or so; but I may mention some points noted in the dry summer of 192I. (a) At about five feet below the Lower Greensand the Weald Clay is full of shells of T/icarya strombiformis (Schl.) with some Melanopsis attenuatus J. de C. Sow., and a few small Cyrena media Sow. Such a fauna "with Ceriihium " has been regarded as indicating the invasion of marine conditions during Weald Clay time. (b) A few feet lower down, the clay contains many scattered vertebra: and other bones of small teleostean fish, and many ostracods. Dr. A. Smith Woodward, F.R.S., informs me that there were scales of an undetermined species of Leptolepis. (c) A few feet lower still, exposed in the summer, but covered by water before the end of January 1922, is a hard nodular layer some six inches thick, containing Paludina, Cyrena media Sow., Erodona (PotamomyaJ sp., and plentiful tuberculate Ostracoda. Metacypris fittoni (Mantell). (d) Lower still occurred thinner, more or less iron-stained, hard layers full of small Paludina, Cyrena media, and Ostracoda. On the surface of a slab, covered with Metacyprisjittoni (Mantell). Dr. Smith Woodward found a small tooth of the elasmobranch fish Acrodus ornatus A.S.W. I may add that from the Weald Clay of this pit I have five well-preserved and well-marked species of Ostracoda, which, by reference to the late Prof. T. Rupert Jones's papers, I have partly identified as (I) Metacyprisjittoni (Mantell), (2) Cyprideaspinigera Sow., (3) Cyprione bristovii Jones. Of the other two, one may be Cypridea valdensis (Fitton). The fifth is a well marked and
PERNA BED AND WEALD CLAY AT REIGATE.
315
plentiful Cypridea, with a single tubercle, but differing from C. spinigera in its smaller size and more tapering hind end, and in having two or three furrows extending from the dorsal border transversely part way across the shell. From some of the harder layers and from some of the softer more shaly layers, when dry, surfaces covered with beautifully clear specimens may be obtained. Thus in future summers this pit should be worth watching for the Weald Clay, as well as for the Perna Bed. LIST OF FOSSILS FROM THE Perna BED OF THE WOODHATCH PIT. PORIFERA-Cliona sp. Boring sponge, of habit slightly different from that of Cliona. ANTHOZOA-Holocystis elegans (Lonsdale). ECHINoIDEA-Enallaster (Hemipneustes) fiuoni Forbes. Peltastes wrighti Desor. Fragment of another species of regular Echinoid [Hemicidaris ?]. ANNELIDA-Serpula (one or more species). POLYZOA-A cyclostomatous form. BRACHIOPoDA-Terebratula sella Sow. LAMELLIBRANCHIA-Ostrea diluviana (Linn.). Anomia leevigata J. de C. Sow. Exogyra sinuata (Sow.). tuberculifera Koch & Dunk. conica Sow.). " sp. Plicatula d. placunea Lam. Lima (Mantellum) parallela (}. Sow.). Pecten (Chlamys) robinaldinus d'Orb, (Camptoneetes) cottaldinus d'Orb. " (Neithea) morrisi (Pict. & Ren.). Gervillia aleeformis (Sow.). " sublanceolata (d'Orb.). Perna mulleti Desh. " sp. Modiola (Brachydontes) veetiensis Woods. Septifer lineatus (J. de C. Sow.). Mytilus laneeolatus J. de C. Sow. Pinna robinaldina d'Orb. Area carteroni d'Orb. " dupiniana d'Orb. Barbaiia austeni (Forbes). " aptiensis (P. & C.). Grammatodon sp.
o.
316
G
W. BUTLER.
lAMELLIBRANCHIA-Cueull~ad.
jorbesi (P. & C.). d. cornueliana (d'Orb.). " d. fittoni (P. & C.). Nuculana scapha (d'Orb.). Trigonia nodosa J. de C. Sow. caudata Ag. " etheridgei Lycett. Cardita jenestrata (Forbes). Astarte subcostata d'Orb. " (Eriphyla) transversa Leym. Cardium ibbetsoni Forbes. " sp. nov. ? d. moutonianum d'Orb. Cyprina d. anglica Woods. meyeri Woods. saussuri (Brongn.). " sowerbyi d'Orb. " (Venilicardia) protensa Woods. Thetironia minor (J. de C. Sow.) Cyprimeria (Cyclorisma)parva (J. de C. Sow.). Tellina carteroni d'Orb. " sp. d. incequalis J. de C. Sow. Panopiea d. mandiinda (Sow.). " gurgitis (Brongn.). Pholadomya martini Forbes. Thracia robinaldina (d'Orb.) Corbula isocardiaformis Harbort. " striatula J. de C. Sow. Turnus dallasi (Walker). Boring Mollusc sp. GASTROpoDA-Emarginula neocomiensis d'Orb. Scalaria canaliculata d'Orb. N atica laroigaia d'Orb. Cerithium aculeatum Forbes. " turriculatum Forbes. Aporrhais dupiniana (d'Orb.). glabra Forbes. " robinaldina d'Orb. Pterocera fittoni Forbes. " Fusus " sp. CEPHALOPoDA-Parahoplites sp. nov. d. laoiuscuius von Koenen. " sp. nov. (of same group). Nautilus radiatus Sow. As the above species were obtained from one small area (18 ft. x 45 feet) it is probable that, if this pit be watched, this list may be extended.
PERNA BED AND \VEALD CLAY AT REIGATE.
317
BRIEF NOTES ON SOME OF THE FOSSILS.
(a) Perna Jnulleti Desh,
This species is figured from one side in many text books, and it is of course described in Woods' Monograph on the Cretaceous Lamellibranchia, When one writes of it one should have a figure drawn from in front, as well as one from the right side. For Perna mulleti is one of the many lamellibranchs, which, like many cephalopods, and most gastropods, lose in later life the bilateral symmetry with which they started. A front view of the adult shell shows the two points into which the anterior and posterior" folds," described by Woods, are continued, curving to the left side. Hundreds of specimens seen in this pit confirm Woods' opinion that the essential form of this curious shell, in its adult state, is constant, though the proportions of parts may vary. The largest specimens from this pit greatly exceed the measurements of the three specimens given by Woods. Thus I have one withLength of hinge-line . . . . .. ISO mm. (6 inches). Length from umbo to postero-ventral angle in a straight line. . . . . . . . . ... 175 mm. (7 inches). Length from umbo to postero-ventral angle following the outer curve of right valve ......••........... '" zoo mm. (8 inches). The most interesting point observed is that up to the stage when the greatest measurement is 50 mm. (z inches) the shells of Perna mulleti are bilaterally symmetrical, with no points curving towards the left side. In fact such young shells resemble some of the less modified Avrculidze or certain Jurassic Pernas. But soon after the two-inch size is reached the shell develops the form characteristic of the adult. Another point of interest is that in such small (two-inch) specimens the ligament pits are confined to the anterior half of the straight hinge line, and that these only gradually extend back to its posterior end. (b) Cardita fenestrata (Forbes). Of this species from the " Perna Bed and Atherfield clay of Atherfield," and" Atherfield beds of Peasemarsh and East Shalford," Woods says-" The hinge and interior are unknown, and the generic position of the species is not free from doubt." If my identification is right, the external and internal casts of this species are among the most beautiful and sharpest from this pit, and support its reference to the genus Cardita. (c) Corbula striatula,]. de C. Sow. Mr. C. P. Chatwin, F.G.S., drew my attention to the fact that the casts of the most perfect specimens of this species show casts of the siphon tubes or else that this species had an extension of the shell or other protection over these tubes. As regards this latter possibility
318
PERNA BED AND WEALD CLAY AT REIGATE.
d. specimens labelled Anatina (Cercomya) gurgiti« P. & C. from this same horizon in the Isle of Wight, shown in Table Case 8 in Gallery VIII. (Invertebrata) of the Geological Department, British (Nat. Hist.) Museum, S. Kensington. On the other hand, these more perfect specimens show a bounding line where the shell ends in the other specimens, suggesting that we really have casts of the siphon tubes extended beyond the shells. (d) Boring Mollusca and Boring Sponges. The objects bored by these have been almost completely dissolved, little but a red powder that brushes away being left. But, by very careful examination of the flat shell-like bounding surfaces, and traces here and there of shell structure, one gathers that in all cases it is the thick shells of such molluscs as Exogyra sinuata, or Perna mulleti, and not pieces of wood or rock that have been bored; a conclusion that is supported by the frequent association of molluscs and sponge boring the same object. The specimens should be allowed to dry before treatment. Then, what one has left after carefully brushing and blowing away the fine red powder, are the red sandy casts of the borings. In the case of the molluscan borings one sometimes ::.ees exposed, or can with care dissect out, the external or internal cast of the boring shell. In the case of the sponges there are two types of borings, often tier above tier-(i) nearly typical Cliona borings with expanded roundish chambers connected by narrow radiating passages; (ii.) more commonly, anastomosing passages without appreciable expansions at the points of meeting or branching. In conclusion my best thanks are due to Dr. F. L. Kitchin, F.G.S., and to Mr. C. P. Chatwin, F.G.S., for their constant kindness and expert help at the Geological Survey Museum in Jermyn Street, without which kind help in naming the fossils I could not safely have drawn up the list. Dr. L. F. Spath, F.G.S., also kindly told me about the ammonites, and Dr. A. Smith Woodward, F.R.S., about the Wealden fish remains. Last, but not least, I would thank Mr. C. W. Brown, the owner of the pit, for his always generous and sympathetic welcome to myself, as to other geologists; and also for his helpful information as regards the history of the pit. REPORT
OF
EXCURSION.
The members, numbering about a dozen, were met at Reigate station by the Directors, Miss M. C. Crosfield, F.G.S., and the writer. They walked direct to the Woodhatch pit, returning from Redhill station by the 4.36 p.m. train. Mr. A. J. Bull acted as Excursion Secretary.