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 PALAEONTOLOGY range in the Silurian. At Dudley Calymene blumenbachi is very numerous, and locally known as ' the locust.' Of the corals, it will suffice to mention the simple cup-shaped Petrcea elongata and the more complex Favo sites and He Ho Ikes. Of the Woolhope limestone the fossils are generally the same as those of the overlying Wenlock beds, but there are two peculiar trilobites, respectively known as Homalonotus delphinocephalus and Illanus barriensis ; whether, however, these actually occur within the limits of the county it is difficult to ascertain. On the western flanks of the Malverns the Wenlock limestone and shale, especially the latter, are exceedingly rich in fossils, but since Worcestershire is not the typical area for this formation, mention need be made of only a few. In the limestones the sponge-like Stromatopora, and corals of the genera Omphyma (cup-coral), Heliolites, Haly sites (chain-coral), Favosites, and Cyathophyllum are ex- ceedingly abundant. Those curious Palaeozoic organisms known as graptolites also occur ; they consist of a tubular shaft on one or both sides of which are small cups for the reception of the polypites. Echinoderms of a primitive type, many of which were stalked (stone- lilies), are also common. Trilobites are represented by the genera Acidaspis, Encrirmrus, Calymene, Lie has, Phacops, Homalonotus, etc. ; and many curious jaws of annelid worms have also been discovered. Among the lamp- shells we have representatives of the straight-hinged genera Strophomena, Pentamerus, Spirifera, Orthis,Atrypa, etc., but in the absence of figures there would be little use in enumerating the various species by which these and other generic types are represented. A few genera of bivalve molluscs occur, as well as gastropods of the Paleozoic genera Euomphalus, Murchisonia, Bellerophon, etc. Since the Ludlow and Aymestry beds, forming the top of the Silurian, as well as the Old Red Sandstone, are but poorly represented in the county, no special mention need be made of their fossils. Neither would any advantage be gained by referring in detail to the vegetable and other fossils of the Forest of Wyre coalfield, which are, at least for the most part, identical with those of the English Coal Measures generally. It may be mentioned, however, that ferns presenting a net- work arrangement of the veins (a somewhat rare type) have been described by the late Professor John Morris ^ from a shaly sandstone near Kidderminster, and assigned to the genus Woodwardites. A shale bed near Dowles Brook is remarkable for the number of impressions of fern-leaves it contains. The Permian beds of the county appear mostly unfossiliferous ; while the Triassic (inclusive of Rhastic) strata contain very few inver- tebrate fossils. The Upper Keuper Sandstone of Pendock yields, how- ever, the bivalve-like shells of the little crustacean known as Estheria minuta. As regards the Lower Lias of the county, it must suffice to say that its fossils are for the most part those of this formation generally. An exception must, however, be made with regard to the so-called ^ Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xv. p. 8o. 29