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To give some idea of the antiquity of the Oxford Clay alluded to—and that is quite a “young clay” geologically speaking—we may remark that at the time it was laid down not a single species of animal existed like those now living. The only mammals found, very small and very lowly organised, were like kangaroo rats; the birds were more like flying reptiles than anything else; it was the age of reptiles, and enormous, unwieldy brutes swam in the water or floundered about on land; huge sharks abounded, and armour-clad fish of kinds very different to those now existing roamed the sea; even the “shell-fish” were not altogether like modern ones; whilst the plants find their nearest modern analogues in the wilds of Australasia. No elephants, tigers, lions, bears, or dogs lived then, and the face of Nature wore a totally different aspect to what obtains at the present time in any part of the globe.

And this seems a fitting opportunity to the writer to put on record the fact that many of the most wonderful remains found in the Oxford Clay and the neighbouring Kimeridge Clay are due to the discoveries of brickmakers. Without their valuable aid scientists would be quite unable to clearly depict the life of those remote epochs. We have mentioned Peterborough; some most interesting remains have been found in the clays near that town during the past few years. To appreciate this let the reader visit the fossil reptile gallery of the British Museum (Natural History), at South Kensington. One of the most recent acquisitions, set up a year or two ago, is the skeleton of a young Plesiosaurus—without doubt the most perfect specimen in the world of its kind—from Peterborough. The Plesiosaurus was a large swimming reptile, with paddles, and a long neck.