1822.] Mr. Winch on Blocks ofGrmnte, Syenite, ^x, 373 



ones of 1821 is 101. February was the driest, and September 

 and November the wettest. 



The south, south-west, and west winds, have been the most 

 prevalent: those winds were noticed to blow on 224 days. On 

 the 18th, 19th, and 20th of March (about the vernal equinox), 

 the wind blew hurricanes from the north-west, attended with 

 rain, snow, and sleet. On the night of the 30th of November, 

 and following morning, the wind blew a most violent gale from 

 the south-west, accompanied with hail and rain; the damage 

 done in consequence, by the falling of cliimneys, unroofing of 

 houses, &.C. was great; severalUves were lost in Liverpool and 

 other places, and a large number of vessels suffered in the har- 

 bours and on the neighbouring coasts. 



Bridge-street, Jan. 28, 1S22. 



Article VII. 



On Blocks of Granite, Si/enite, S)C. imbedded on Diluvium, 

 By N. J. Winch, Esq. FLS. and MGS. 



(To the Editor of the Annals of Philosophic.) 



SIR, Netccastle-upon-Tyne, March 10, 1822. 



Among the interesting phsenomena serving at every step to 

 arrest the attention of the geologist, there is one of ordinary 

 occurrence in the north-east of England, which, I beheve, is 

 not as yet satisfactorily accounted for; and in hopes that some 

 of your correspondents may be able to explain the true cause of 

 a circumstance appearing' to me to be enigmatick, I take the 

 liberty of addressing you on the subject. Embedded in the 

 diluvium of Northumberland, Durham, and Yorkshire, large 

 blocks of granite, syenite, porphyry, grey wacke, as well as of 

 encrinal hmestone, and basalt, are every where to be met with. 

 .That the granite, &c. 8cc. should have been transported by the 

 agency of a powerful current of water from the cheviots or even 

 from the mountains in the vicinity of the Cumberland Lakes, 

 previous to the formation of the vale in which the river Eden 

 flows, can readily be imagined ; but the puzzling part of the fact 

 is, that the loose earth in which these large and heavy masses 

 are deposited appears to owe its origin to the strata immediately 

 below it. For instance, on the red sandstone of the vale of Tees 

 there is a red soil ; and our porphyritic, basaltic, and encrinal 

 limestone hills, are well known to afford a rich and fine pasturage, 

 owing to the nature of the earths, resulting from the disintegra- 

 tion of these rocks. On the other hand, the coal field is gene- 

 rally covered by a strong clay mixed with a portion of sand 



