between the New mine stone and Sulphur coals, sometimes, as at Ettingshall Lodge colliery, in the following form:—
| FT. | IN. | |
| New mine stone, in two measures | 3 | 3 |
| Dark clunch | 9 | 0 |
| Pennystone measures | 6 | 0 |
| Sulphur coal | 2 | 6 |
To the paleontologist it will be interesting to know that[1] marine shells in considerable abundance occur near Oldbury in the lower part of the New mine stone and the upper part of the Pennystone, like those so well known in the neighbouring coal-field of Shropshire. They are, however, confined to a very small district between Oldbury and Portway. In one mass of ironstone Lingula were mingled with the common shells called Unio[2] which are so abundant in many of the ironstones; but it appeared that generally where undoubtedly marine shells were present these so-called Uniones were absent. Lingulæ are also found in other parts of the coal-field and in lower measures. The Producta was observed by me in 1858 as occurring also in considerable abundance in the "White" ironstone between Rowley Regis and High Haden.
22. (XIX.) Sulphur Coal.—This is called as frequently the Stinking coal. It is, I believe, rarely used, on account of its impure and sulphureous qualities. It is, however, mentioned in its proper place in nearly every section we have over the whole district from Hawne, where, with a batt, it is 2 ft. 6 in, thick, up to Bentley and the Brown Hills, where it is generally stated as from 1 foot to 4 feet in thickness. At Coneygree near Dudley it is said to be 6 feet thick; and at Tipton-green the Stinking coal and batt is described as having a thickness of 9 feet. Generally its thickness varies from 2 feet to 4 feet, except around Corbyn Hall and Shut End, where it is often only 2 or 3 inches thick.
At the Cathedral pits in the Rising Sun trough at the Brown Hills, the Sulphur or Stinking coal occurs at a depth of 250 feet, a depth which should bring in the Heathen coal and Thick coal, if the beds in the northern part of the field retained the same structure which they have in the south. The following is an abstract of the section there:—
| FT. | IN. | FT. | IN. | ||||
| 1. | Soil, and clay, sand and gravel | 45 | 6 | 81 | 0 | ||
| 2. | Black and grey clunch | 35 | 6 | ||||
| 3. | Coal, | believed to be the Bentley Hey coal | 3 | 10 | |||
- ↑ My late lamented colleague, Professor Edward Forbes, informed me that these fossils are:—
- Producta scabricula.
- Avicula quadrata.
- Pecten (?) unnamed.
- Lingula mytiloidcs (?).
- Orbicula nitida.
- Conularia quadrisulcata.
- Fish teeth and bones undetermined.
- An echinus very much broken up, probably archaocidaris, but in too fragmentary a state to be exactly determined.
