•bf ^lajlic BituMen of Derl>)Jhirei a2j 



^ Mr. ]Nfawe has made known in his Mineralogy of Derby- 

 ■Ihire the principal varieties of the foffil caout-chouc ; but as 

 he has attended rather to thofe felecl fpecimens fitteft for or- 

 namenting colieftions, than to a fy Hematic defcription of thefe 

 pieces as well as of the matrices which accompany them, 

 and as he thought it of no ufe in his plan to enter into details 

 refpefting the nature and depth of the places where the foHil 

 caout-chouc is found, I (ball fupplv the deficiency in this 

 part, which is fo intimately conne«9;ed with geology. 



In order to cive a topographical idea of the place, I fhall 

 obferve, that "in going l^rom Derby to Cadleton you are 

 obliged to afcend a pretty rapid acclivity to a large plain in 

 the form of a mountain, which extends for feveral leagues in 

 every direftion. All this elevated, rugged, and rocky diUritil 

 is known by the name of High PeakT It is in general cal- 

 careous, and even abundant in fliells, except fome argil- 

 laceous ftrata, and particularly feveral veins of trapp which 

 interfed tranfverfely the calcareous ftrata, or which, difpofed 

 fometimes in banks, proceed nearly parallel with beds of 

 limeftone. I fhall fay nothing of the veins of lead ore, of 

 the beautiful cryftals of fparry fluor, of the calamine and 

 other minerals found in this diftrift. For an account of 

 thefe I fhall refer to the Defcription of Derbyfliire, White- 

 hurft on the Formation of tiie Earth *, and Ferber's Oryao- 

 graphia of Derbyfhire t, or that which I gave myfelf of the 

 environs of Buxton and of Caftlcton in my Tour through 

 England and Derbyfliire |. 



Caftleton is not' feen till you are, as I may fay, above 

 it, and till you arrive at the edge of a rapid and ileep de- 

 clivity, which intcrCcCls, in an abrupt and fuddcn manner, 

 this part of the mountain furrounding the bafon, at the bot- 

 rtom of which the fmall village in queftion is fituated as in 

 the middle of a funnel. . 



The revolution which divided this mountain, by tearing 

 afundcr its fides, arofe, no doubt, from one of thofe grand 

 •natural events (imilar traces of which are to be found even 

 in the High Alps; but here this terrible comrnotion, by 

 opening the bofom of the earth, has uncovered feveral mi- 

 neral riches which without this accidental circunillauce 

 would never have been known. 



• Inquiry into the Orig^inal State and Formation of the Earth, &:c. by 

 Jolm W'hitchurft. London, 410 v\ith plnres. 



t KlTay on the Oryflography of Dei by (hire, by Mr. Ferber, tranflated 

 from the German. 



I Voyajjc tn Angietcrrc, en EcofTc ct aux lies Hebrides, &ic. i voii. 

 Sv*). avtx tig. 



'. : Q^a, One 



