On the Distribution and Organic Contents of the “Ludlow Bone Bed” in the Districts of Woolhope and May Hill. With a Note on the Seed-like Bodies found in it

Abstract

In a paper read to this Society in June last* I noticed the occurrence at Hagley, four miles N.E. of Hereford, of that remarkable deposit the “Ludlow Bone Bed,” a stratum interesting not only for its wide extension, as contrasted with its very slight vertical thickness, but also as presenting nearly, if not quite, the earliest known indication of Vertebrate Life on the surface of our Planet. I showed its close conformity, at Hagley, to the type of the same deposit as first described by Sir R. Murchison near Ludlow (‘Silurian System,’ p. 198), and enumerated certain Fish and Mollusca which it there contained. I also briefly referred to certain seed-like bodies which seemed to indicate the commencement, or at least the first appearance, of terrestrial vegetation. The interest of the subject has since induced me to trace out the same deposit at various points towards the S.E. Prof. Phillips had already indicated the existence of Ichthyic fragments near the boundary-line of the Silurian and Devonian systems at two or three points in this direction (Mem. Geol. Surv. vol. ii. pp. 178, 191), but had not gone into much detail as to their structural character. Having succeeded in tracing this stratum at additional localities, and having obtained in it some fossil remains of considerable interest, it seemed desirable to communicate these rules to the Society. It will be remembered that at Hagley the Ludlow Bone-bed occurs as a thin stratum of fish bones, scales and coprolites, mixed with carbonaceous fragments,