The Fauna, of the Keisley Limestone. Part I

During a recent rearrangement of the fossils from this limestone in the Woodwardian Museum my interest was especially aroused by the number of peculiar and unnamed specimens amongst them; and I was thus led to examine them with particular care, and subsequently to visit Keisley myself and collect more in the field, as well as to inspect Prof. Harkness's collection at Carlisle, and the specimens in some small private collections. The following descriptions have therefore been based on the examination of as large an amount of material as was available. Prof. Harkness's collection at Carlisle and that of Prof. Nicholson and Mr. Marr at Cambridge are those upon which the well-known lists of Keisley Limestone fossils have been founded; the last list was published by Prof. Nicholson and Mr. Marr in 1891.

By carefully removing the matrix I have been able to bring out many minute characters previously invisible, and have also discovered several entirely new species, which make an important addition to our knowledge of the bed.

Many thanks are due to Mr. Marr, Prof. Nicholson, Mr. Goodchild, Chancellor Ferguson, of Carlisle, Mr. E. T. Newton, and others for help and information.

In this first past of my communication the tribolites alone are dealt with, being the largest and most characteristics section of the fauna. In the second and concluding part the rest of the fossils will be described, and the general relations of the fauna discussed.