bright yellow hue of the washed malmsr, those bricks which are formed of the yellow clay which has been exposed to repeated washings, are thus accounted for.
The septaria lie horizontally, and are disposed at unequal distances from each other in seemingly regular layers; and, as has been just observed of the stratum itself, they become of a paler colour, and it may be added suffer decomposition, when placed so high in the stratum as to be exposed to the action of percolating water. They frequently include portions of wood pierced by the Teredines, Nautili, and other shells ; and it is a fact that may be worthy of being attended to, whilst inquiring into their formation, that the septa of calcareous spar frequently intersect the substances enclosed in the septaria.
This stratum is to be found not only wherever the preceding deposition extends, but in other parts also where that has been removed. The cliffs of this clay, at Shepey, extend about six miles in length; the more elevated parts, which are about ninety feet in height, being about four miles in length, and declining gradually as they terminate towards the east and west.
The fossils of this stratum have been already carefully particularised. A catalogue of those found at Shepey was added by Mr. Jacobs to his Plantæ Favershamienses; and an account of several of the fossil fruits found at Shepey was published by Dr. Parsons in the fiftieth volume of the Philosophical Transactions. The fossils of Hampshire have been scientifically described by Dr. Solander, in the Fossilia Hantonensia of Mr. Brander, where the fossils themselves are very exactly figured.
It was not supposed, even after the publication of these accounts, that the fossils of Shepey and those of Hampshire were of the same stratum. Among the Hampshire fossils no mention is made of crabs, lobsters, tortoises, nautili, nor of the heads or bodies of fishes
