THE MINERALS OF THE MIDLANDS. 205 



barytes and minute rhomboidal crystals of ferriferous carbonate of 

 lime are also occasionally met with. On the west side of the End Hill 

 and in some part of the eastern side a rock is met with, the characters 

 of which correspond very nearly with those of sienite. It is composed 

 of hornblende and felspar, with a few spangles of mica." ..." The 

 Epidote is found on the End Hill under various appearances; in some 

 of these the crystalline forms peculiar to this substance may be seen, 

 but I did not meet with any complete, well-defined crystals. It is most 

 commonly found in a compact and granular state, forn:ing small veins 

 of a yellowish green colour, which sometimes pass through the granite 

 and sometimes through the sienitic rocks." . . . "Ou the north- 

 east side of the Worcestershire Beacon, and in the road leading from 

 Great Malvern to St. Ann's Well, I found a rock of loose, coarse-grained 

 textui-e, with an earthy fracture composed of mica and hornblende in a 

 state of decom2'<5sition, mixed with red felspar." . . . "This rock 

 is traversed by a vein of sulphate of barytes about four inches in thick- 

 ness, and which occasionally includes detached portions of the rock 

 through which it passes. The particular spot where I saw this rock 

 was where an excavation had been made in the hill round a house 

 newly built, and as the rock was cut down to a considerable depth, a good 

 section of it was exposed to view." .... Speaking of the Wych, 

 Mr. Horner writes: "I found here some small portions of a granite 

 partially decomposed, and the surfaces of the fragments into which it 

 breaks are covered with dendritical delineations of manganese." . . 

 The road now mentioned (Worcester and Ledburj' road) rises along the 

 side of the valley above Little Malvern, and winds round the northern 

 face of the Herefordshire Beacon. In making it the rock has been cut 

 down considerably on one side. I found a greater uniformity in the 

 rocks of this part of the range than in those which compose the 

 northern half ; there is less granite, and hornblende also occurs more 

 rarely. The most prevalent rock is one of a pale flesh-colour of a fine 

 grain, and chiefly composed of compact felspar ; it is very full of 

 fissures, so that it easily breaks into small irregular fragments, the 

 surfaces of which are covered with yellow oxide of iron, and on some 

 of these are dendritical delineations of manganese. They are occa- 

 sionally covered with small rhomboidal crystals of spathose iron of a 

 golden yellow colour, with a metallic lustre. Calcareous spar some- 

 times in distinct crystals is likewise occasionally met with in it." 



" A short way to the south of the Herefordshire Beacon there is a 

 mass projecting above the surface, which consists of a fine conglomerate 

 of a dark brown colour, composed of felspar, steatite, and calcareous 

 spar, united by a fen-o-argillaceous base, and containing some minute 

 specks of a greenish-yellow substance, in diverging fibres, which is 

 probably actinolite. The rock is attracted by a magnet. In a lane at 

 the foot of the Herefordshire Beacon, on the western side, I found a 

 vein of red haematite passing through a rock consisting of red felspar 

 and quartz partially decomposed." 



At the end of the paper are given analyses of the mineral waters 

 of the Malvern Hills. I should insert them here, but I expect to 

 meet with more recent analyses. Perhaps some of the readers of the 

 " Midland Naturalist " can help me here. 



•' An Account of the Brine Springs at Droitwich," by Leonard 

 Horner. F.R.S. (Trans. Geo. Soc, vol. ii., p. 9.1).--In this paper is 

 given an analysis of the brine, and a (juotation from Nash's Histor_v 

 of Worcestershire describes the rock sunk through for brine. Gypsum, 

 miscalled " talc," occurs apparently in considerable thickness — 75 feet 

 is mentioned — and on boring through this gypsum the brine rises and 

 fills the pit. It is mentioned incidentally that slender veins of 



