Mr. Smeaton 9 s IFvrks, Gte 103 



Yards 



Sand, of Bedfordshire 10 or 20 



Northampton lime and Portland; limes \ 



lying in several strata J 



Lyas strata 70 or 100 



Sand, of Newark about 30 



Ked elay, of Tuxford and several 100 



Sherewood Forest, pebbles and gravel ... 50 unequal 



Very fine white sand uncertain 



Roch Abbey and Brotherton limes 100 



Coal strata,' of Yorkshire " 



The Mr. Michel alluded to, was, it appears, the late Rev. 

 John Michel, rector of Thornhill, near Wakefield, York- 

 shire, who was an intimate friend of Mr. Smeaton, the late 

 Mr. Cavendish, Sec. &c, and whose name must be very 

 familiar to most of your readers, from his (natty valuable 

 papers in the Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 

 of which he was a member. 



This account of the strata, imperfect as it is, appears to 

 me important, as showing, that Mr. Michel was acquainted 

 with the principal features of the south of England strata, 

 at an earlier period than any thing was published on the 

 subject, especially if we suppose, as is most reasonable, 

 that this communication was made verbally by Mr. Michel 

 to his friend Mr. Smeaton, very soon after November 1788, 

 who took it down on the cover of a recent letter, as being 

 the only piece of paper then at hand; for Mr. Smeaton's 

 decease in September 1792? shows that it must have been 

 prior to that time. 



It appears to me probable, that this account was princi- 

 pally made from the result of Mr. Michel's observations, 

 m his journeying* by thegreatNorth road between the place 

 of his residence and London; The " chalk" being that 

 which appears from near Hatfield to Baldock ; the " golt" 

 being the chalk- marie (and perhaps some alluvial clays 

 also) thence to near Sandy in Bedfordshire; where, doubt- 

 less, the " sand" is situate, to which he alludes. Jn cross- 

 ing Northamptonshire from Wansford to Stamford, the 

 " limes" are first noticed, which he rightly associates with, 

 and considers the same as, those of Portland-Island, though 

 distant 170 miles therefrom in a straight line! The next 

 are the " lyas" strata, which appear between Grantham and 

 Balderton; and here, the use of a term for these strata of 

 limestone, which was not then known or in use, I believe, 

 nearer than Gloucestershire or Somersetshire, shows again 



G 4 that 



