Lower Calcaire grossier, or Glauconie grossiere, B.1, Table—The lower part of the calcaire grossier, which often contains much green earth, is characterised at Auvers, near Pontoise, to the north of Paris, and still more in the environs of Compiègne, by the abundance of nummulites, consisting chiefly of _N. lævigata, N. scabra,_ and _ N. Lamarcki,_ which constitute a large proportion of some of the stony strata, though these same foraminifera are wanting in beds of similar age in the immediate environs of Paris. Fig. 222: Nerita conoidea. Soissonnais sands, or Lits coquilliers, B.2, Table—Below the preceding formation, shelly sands are seen, of considerable thickness, especially at Cuisse-Lamotte, near Compiègne, and other localities in the Soissonnais, about fifty miles N.E. of Paris, from which about 300 species of shells have been obtained, many of them common to the calcaire grossier and the Bracklesham beds of England, and many peculiar. The _Nummulites planulata_ is very abundant, and the most characteristic shell is the _Nerita conoidea,_ Lam., a fossil which has a very wide geographical range; for, as M. d’Archiac remarks, it accompanies the nummulitic formation from Europe to India, having been found in Cutch, near the mouths of the Indus, associated with _Nummulites scabra._ No less than 33 shells of this group are said to be identical with shells of the London clay proper, yet, after visiting Cuisse-Lamotte and other localities of the “Sables inférieurs” of Archiac, I agree with Mr. Prestwich, that the latter are probably newer than the London clay, and perhaps older than the Bracklesham beds of England. The London clay seems to be unrepresented in the Paris basin, unless partially so, by these sands.[9] LOWER EOCENE FORMATIONS OF FRANCE. Argile Plastique, C.2, Table—At the base of the tertiary system in France are extensive deposits of sands, with occasional beds of clay used for pottery, and called “argile plastique.” Fossil oysters (_Ostrea bellovacina_) abound in some places, and in others there is a mixture of fluviatile shells, such as _Cyrena cuneiformis_ (Fig. 216), _ Melania inquinata_ (Fig. 216), and others, frequently met with in beds occupying the same position in the London Basin. Layers of lignite also accompany the inferior clays and sands.