It ought, in conclusion, to be observed, that the remains are deposited in a certain wing or chamber of the cave, about two feet above the floor where the water runs, so that they would lie dry, with the exception of the calcareous droppings from the roof, or in the case of the cavern water being swollen above the capacity of the lower channel to contain it.
Although a considerable portion of the cave has been destroyed by the quarrying operations, which are still going on, there remains yet a much larger extent undisturbed, so that more remains will most likely be discovered.
Dec. 17th, 1861.
[These bones, with specimens of the stalagmite, etc., have been transmitted to us and will receive careful study and consideration. We shall shortly give a concise and accurate account of them.—Ed. Geol., 22 Dec. 1861.]
PROCEEDINGS OF GEOLOGICAL SOCIETIES.
Geological Society of London.—December 4.—Sir R. I. Murchison, V.P.G.S., in the chair. The following communication was read:—"On the Bracklesham Beds of the Isle of Wight Basin." By the Rev. O. Fisher, M.A., F.G.S. After noticing the researches of Prestwich and Dixon, the author proceeded to state that most of the "Bracklesham beds" are displayed at low water at Bracklesham Bay; but other and higher beds belonging to the same series are to be observed in the New-Forest, at Stubbington, and in the Isle of Wight. By means of the fossils, for the most part, Mr. Fisher divides the series into four groups:— 1. The uppermost abounds in Gasteropoda, and has several fossil-beds. One of these, in the eastern part of its range, is full of Nummulina variolaria (No. 16 of Mr. Prestwich's Section of Whitecliff Bay, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. ii. pl. 9); the N. variolaria bed of Selsea and of Stubbington; and the Shepherd's Gutter bed at Bramshaw, New Forest. The beds above the last-named are—1st, a portion of No. 19 of the Whitecliff Bay section and the coral-bed of Stokes Bay and Hunting Bridge (New Forest); and 2nd, the shell-bed at Hunting Bridge, and pebble-bed, with shell-casts, at Highcliff. The lowest bed of this group is the "Cypræa-bed" of Selsea, the "Cardita-bed" of Stubbington, and the Brook bed in the New Forest. 2. This group is more sandy than the last; it has two fossil-beds, one of which contains Cerithium giganteum (at Hillhead, Stubbington; and half a mile west of Thorney station, Bracklesham Bay). 3. This is a sandy group, and is remarkable for the profusion of Nummulina lævigata in its principal fossil-bearing beds. 4. This embraces the lowest fossiliferous sands of Bracklesham Bay. Its distinctive shells are Cardita acuticosta and Cypræa tuberculosa.
Some species of mollusks pass upwards from the Bracklesham into the Barton series; yet the Fauna of the Bracklesham beds has a sufficiently distinct facies; and the following species range through this series, and are confined to it—Cardita planicosta, Sanguinolaria Hollowaysii, Solen obliquus, Cytherea suberycinoides, Voluta Cithara, and Turritella sulcifera. Pecten corneus is also characteristic, but is met with higher up.
