mith for a thin band
of shelly limestone which, in the south of England, breaks up in the
manner indicated. Although only a thin group of rocks (10-25 ft.), it is
remarkably persistent; it may be traced from Weymouth to the Yorkshire
coast, but in north Lincolnshire it is very thin, and probably dies out
in the neighbourhood of the Humber. It appears again, however, as a thin
bed in Gristhorpe Bay, Cayton Bay, Wheatcroft, Newton Dale and Langdale.
In the inland exposures in Yorkshire it is difficult to follow on
account of its thinness, and the fact that it passes up into dark shales
in many places--the so-called "clays of the Cornbrash," with _Avicula
echinata_.

The Cornbrash is a very fossiliferous formation; the fauna indicates a
transition from the Lower to the Middle Oolites, though it is probably
more nearly related to that of the beds above than to those below. Good
localities for fossils are Radipole near Weymouth, Closworth, Wincanton,
Trowbridge, Cirencester, Witney, Peterborough and Sudbrook Park near
Lincoln. A few of the important fossils are: _Waldheimia lagenalis_,
_Pecten levis_, _Avicula echinata_, _Ostrea flabelloides_, _Myacites
decurtatus_, _Echinobrissus clunicularis_; _Macrocephalites
macrocephalus_ is abundant in the midland counties but rarer in the
south; belemnites are not known. The remains of saurians
(_Steneosaurus_) are occasionally found. The Cornbrash is of little
value for building or road-making, although it is used locally; in the
south of England it is not oolitic, but in Yorkshire it is a rubbly,
marly, frequently ironshot oolitic limestone. In Bedfordshire it has
been termed the Bedford limestone.

See JURASSIC; also H. B. Woodward, "The Jurassic Rocks of Britain,"
vol. iv. (1894); and C. Fox Strangways, vol. i.; both _Memoirs of the
Geological Survey_. (J. A. H.)

CORNEILLE, PIERRE (1606-1684), French dramatist and poet, was born at
Rouen, in the rue de la Pie, on the 6th of June 1606. The house, which
was long preserved, was destroyed not many years ago. His father, whose
Christian name was the same, was _avocat du roi a la Table de Marbre du
Palais_, and also held the position of _maitre des eaux et forets_ in
the _vicomte_ (or _bailliage_, as some say) of Rouen. In this latter
office he is said to have shown himself a vigorous magistrate,
suppressing brigandage and plunder without regard to his personal
safety. He was ennobled in 1637 (it is said not without