40 Geological Discoveries at Billesdon Coplow, 



which ascribes to every distinct stratum a new order of organic 

 beings, nor dwell upon the unanticipated facts which my prac- 

 tical efforts have brought to light in this locality ; but, in actual 

 consistency with Mr. Smith's theory, I will proceed to adduce 

 a few of the many instances which have occurred in this 

 kingdom of the successful penetration, even from the surface 

 of the oolite, to the carboniferous strata or independent coal 

 formation. As instances : Paulton Hill, near High Littleton, 

 Gloucestershire, is topped with oolite, beneath which is a 

 bed of lias ; then the newer red sandstone or marl, and finally 

 the pennant or coal seams, at a moderate depth. In another 

 part of the same county, the thickness of these beds, which 

 lie above the coal, is as follows : — Oolite, 6 yards ; lias 53 

 yards ; red marl, 44 yards : in all, 1 03 yards to the coal form- 

 ation. Coal is equally accessible through these formations near 

 the Mendip Hills, and in some parts of Wales, &c. In the 

 above districts, as in all others, the various superstrata of the 

 carboniferous formation vary much in thickness, in compara- 

 tively short distances. The Walton pit, a short distance east 

 of Glutton, and near to Midsummer Norton, descends through 

 the red ground, containing shaly limestone, in which fossils 

 abound, and through the like order of mill grit, shale, and 

 sandstone, to the depth of 200 fathoms, where the main bed 

 of coal occurs. These instances sufficiently demonstrate the 

 probability of the existence of coal in this place, at an obtain- 

 able or definite depth, especially when we take into account 

 its proximity to the red marl and newly discovered coalfields 

 to the west, and distant hence about fifteen miles in a direct 

 line ; and, additional to these considerations, we may reason- 

 ably calculate upon the latent existence, and consequent 

 assistance, of some of those wise ordinations of Providence 

 termed faults, by means of which the coal of very extensive 

 fields is found to be, in many instances, thrown near the sur- 

 face, when otherwise it would, in consequence of its natural 

 dip, soon be out of the reach of the miner. 



In the vicinity of these natural intersections (the consequences 

 of subterranean convulsions), vast stratified masses, several miles 

 square, are found to have been upheaved from very consider- 

 able depths. From among hundreds of instances of this case on 

 record, I may here adduce two or three in illustration : — The 

 coal formation of Ashby Wolds is a curiously denudated mass, 

 entirely surrounded by the red marl, which (if it existed prior 

 to the catastrophe) appears to have fled from its assigned geo- 

 logical destination, when the volcanic thunders shook the mi- 

 neral treasures of its sub-neighbours, and summoned them to 

 approach nearer to the light of heaven. The coal measures of 



