99 



ON THE HEMATITE IRON MINES OF LOW 

 FURNESS. 



By H. W. SCHNEIDER. 



(Read at the Bowness Amiiial Meeting.) 



In the Furness District the apparent irregularities of the strata are 

 beyond measure bewildering, and Professor Sedgwick and several 

 other eminent geologists have in vain attempted to solve the 

 difficulties they present. Theories, again, as to the origin of the 

 Hasmatite itself, are so various, and so irreconcileable with one 

 another, and with observation, that all is yet hazy and undeter- 

 mined. It is the object of this paper to contribute something to 

 the facts already accumulated, from which competent geologists 

 may deduce the conditions under which the Haematite has been 

 deposited. It is unnecessary to say that such a discovery would 

 render Haematite mining, which is now a matter of chance, a 

 science of certainty and exactitude, and by cheapening production, 

 would confer infinite benefit on the Furness District. 



Whether Haematite be a water formation, or the result of 

 volcanic action, none can say. There appears, however, to be 

 one general law concerning it — and the only law which, up to the 

 present time, has been found consistent in working the Haematite 

 mines, viz : — That the largest masses of ore are found at the junction 

 of the Clay Slate and the Mountain Limestone. Yet these deposits 

 are so irregular in shape and position, that it would appear utterly 

 impossible to indicate any law regulating their formation. 



Another point, however, deserves attention, viz : — That to the 

 south the Mountain Limestone dips below the New Red Sandstone, 

 and to the S. W. beneath the shales and sandstones of the Yoredale 

 Rocks. 



