As the Lias in this county is a very bad material for economical purposes, it is not often extensively quarried; and, considering the few available sections, the number and variety of organic remains which have been, from time to time, collected, are really remarkable, and show the prolific nature of the sea of that period. Some localities in that sea, of course, would be richer than others, as is the case in the present day; but, on the whole, this formation is everywhere marked by a great abundance and diversity of fossils. The Palæontologist often looks with a longing eye at some old quarry, long since closed, which had been at one time famous for its zoological contents, and speculates upon the wonders which lie concealed beneath his feet; and he restores in thought some ancient monster of the deep, some curiously-formed shell, or some strange plant; and perhaps, if he had the power, he would dig away, in the hope of possessing some of these treasures which his imagination has conjured up before him. And yet, after all, such speculations are not so imaginative or unreal as they may at first sight appear, for the strange and extraordinary forms of extinct life, which the extended researches of scientific inquirers have brought to light, seem to justify the highest flights of fancy; and none can tell when or where some wonderful relic of the past may be found.