H 



probably remain a matter of conjecture. Notwithstanding the 

 distance from the nearest coast line, and the fact that the outcrop 

 of the Farrington series is far inland, it is possible that the source 

 may be the waters of the Bristol Channel, which may find their 

 way along the lines of faults or other underground fissures to 

 this inland district. The great difi"erence of level, however, 

 between these Springs at difi"eaent Collieries hardly seems to 

 favour this theory. But is it not also possible that we have in 

 these Salt Springs, long hermetically sealed, a remnant of that 

 ancient sea which swept away the upturned edges of the Coal 

 Measures, before the New Red Standstone began to be deposited. 



In conclusion, the writer would only allude to one or two 

 circumstances connected with these Springs, which may or may 

 not have some bearing on their origin. Sir Charles Lyell, in his 

 Elements of Geology, page 362, remarks that "As in various 

 parts of the world red and mottled Clays and Sandstones, of 

 several distinct geological epochs, are found associated with Salt, 

 Gjrpsum, and Magnesian Limestone, or with one or all of these 

 substances, there is in aU likelihood a general cause for such 

 coincidence. Nevertheless, we must not forget that there are dense 

 masses of Red and Variegated Sandstones and Clays, thousands 

 of feet in thickness, and of vast horizontal extent, wholly devoid 

 of Saliferous or Gypseous matter. There are also deposits of 

 Gypsum and of common Salt, as in the Blue Clay formation of 

 Sicily, without any accompanying Red Sandstone or Red Clay." 



Now it is a strange coincidence that the beds of Grey Sand- 

 stone in which these Radstock Springs rise^ occur near, and, for 

 the most part, immediately under the Red and Mottled Shales 

 which intervene between the Radstock and Farrington series; 

 but this may be a coincidence only, and it may be questioned 

 whether either of the theories indicated offers any adequate 

 solution of the origin of these Springs, which will probably 

 remain a matter of doubt and uncertainty. 



