,1821.] the Geology of the Malvern Hills. 17 



and at the nearest to it in strata dipping to the east conformable 

 with the dip of the hill, it is, therefore, very considerably hightr 

 than the country on the east of the range which consists of the 

 same deposit. 



The soil which supports the moss and grass with which these 

 hills are generally covered appears, for a few inches in depth, to 

 assume the character of vegetable mould, but that there is below 

 it, and covering the rocks of which the hills are constituted, a 

 depth of loose earth, is not only evinced by the generally smooth 

 surface of the hills, and by the occasional openings beneath the 

 vegetation, but also by the fresh mole-hills which are found in 

 many places, and even near the summits of some parts of the 

 range. This loose earth varies in colour from that of common 

 sand to a fawn colour, and in substance sometimes resembles 

 sandy loam in appearance : it is probable that it has resulted 

 from the decomposition of the softer and more readily decom- 

 posable rocks of these hills, and it is owing lo this decomposition 

 that " the comparatively little opportunity for examining the 

 nature of the rocks of this range is confined to those which rise 

 here and there on the summits and sides above the grassy cover- 

 ing, and to the sides of the carriage road which runs near its 

 base for a considerable distance on both sides the range, and 

 round its northern termination, and to the quarries at the latter 

 place, and also Castle Morton quarry, about two miles south 

 of Little Malvern ;" to which may be added the loose masses in 

 the ravine behind Great Malvern, and in that between North Hill 

 and End Hill. 



It must be acknowledged that it is impossible to give 

 to the rocks of these hills one general designation ; but they 

 appear to belong to sienite and the trap formation. The differ- 

 ence between sienite and greenstone consists only in the colour 

 of the felspar. These rocks may, for the most part, be denomi- 

 nated greenstone ; often, however, they consist decidedly of 

 sienite, and sometimes may properly be termed sienitic green- 

 stone ; occasionally epidotic sienite. Whenever the felspar 

 appears in any considerable mass, either in the form of a bed, 

 or stratum, or of a vein, it is almost uniformly of a red colour, 

 while in those in which that substance is in small grains (and 

 is sometimes so small that the rock appears homogeneous), it 

 is most commonly ^hite, or of a greyish-white colour, more 

 rarely red. 



The minerals of this range may be considered as being com- 

 prehended in the following list : 



Crystalline hornblende may be considered as being the pre- 

 vaiUng rock of these hills. 



Red felspar, often enclosing hornblende, sometimes mica, 

 epidote, or calcareous spar ; occasionally interstratified, and in 

 veins. 



An earthy substance, sometimes resembhng lithomarge, but 

 New Series, vol. i. b 



