é 
on the Great Derbyshire Fault. 193 
far from the existence of such a fault appearing, I think 
there are demonstrative proofs to the contrary, in some of 
the situations where Mr. Farey has traced it, particularly at 
Nottingham. According to Mr. F. it ranges directly along 
the south side of that town, and, if I understand him rightly, 
the sand rock which rises from the vale of Trent owes its 
elevation to this fault. But, as I have stated in the chapter 
on Faults in my ¢ Introduction to Geology,’ *‘so far from 
any dislocation of the strata being perceptible, the beds 
of the sand rock at Nottingham are nearly. horizontally 
divided by seams which contain rounded pebbles. The 
strata at Ruddington Hills on the opposite side of the vale 
are but little inclined, the strata in the vale are nearly ho- 
rizontal wherever wells or excavations have been made, 
No disturbing force appears to have changed their position 
sinee their formation.” 
Mr. Farey has accused me of great eagerness in attacking 
‘his faults.” So far from this being the case; for a long 
time after the publication of this great discovery, I sus- 
pended my opinion until [ had an opportunity of re-ex- 
amining my native county, where Mr. Farey has heen 
pleased to trace it. Having fully satisfied myself of its 
non-entity, having had an opportunity of conversing with 
many intelligent gentlemen in its vicinity, who like myself 
could discover no trace of its existence, I certainly had a 
tight to express my own opinion respecting it. I could 
scarcely avoid the subject when delivering a Lecture on the 
Geology of England at the Russell Institution last year, 
and again in: my Introduction to Geology recently pub- 
lished; but Iam not conscious of having discovered any 
eagerness to attack or oppose Mr. Farey’s opinions, and 
I am inclined to believe, that those who honour that work 
with their perusal will be at a loss to discover what cause 
of offence [ have given. If the discovery of truth were, as 
it ought to be, the sole object of pursuit in such discussions, 
it would be best attained by a calm investivation of facts. 
The question may be compressed in a small space, and I 
am particularly desirous that it may not be involved in ex- 
traneous inquiries, and buried under a multitude of words. 
Dean Swift has compared certain writers to narrow-necked 
bottles, ** The less they have in them, the more noise they 
make in pouring it out;” and he who would avoid such a 
comparison wou'd do well to compress his ideas into a cons 
cise and intelligible form, when they relate to subjects 
which can pear expected to interest a limited number of 
readers, 
Mr: 
