of the Parallelism of Contemporaneous Lines qf Elevation. 405 



North Wales, those of Central England at Dudley, in the N.E. 

 of Warwickshire and at Ashby, those on both sides of the 

 great Penine chain on the east in Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Dur- 

 ham, and Northumberland, and on the west in Lancashire, 

 and again mantling round the Cumbrian group to White- 

 haven, we shall find the subjacent old red sandstone and car- 

 boniferous limestone, and all the coal-measures, more or less 

 elevated, generally very considerably so, and the stratification 

 of this whole series generally conformable ; whereas the lower 

 strata of the new red sandstone and the intervening dolomitic 

 limestone will be found comparatively almost horizontal, and 

 little disturbed, and altogether unconformable to the carboni- 

 ferous series ; so that it should appear that the principal asra 

 in which the disturbing forces which have produced these 

 phaenomena acted, was at the very close of the carboniferous 

 period, and 'anterior to that of the dolomitic formation, al- 

 though it may, indeed, be said that this may with equal pro- 

 priety be assigned as the concluding sera of a succession 

 of elevations acting with a general uniformity of direction 

 during the whole period of the deposition of the carboni- 

 ferous rocks rather than one single violent elevation ; and 

 certainly the phaenomena of the exact conformity of the whole 

 coal series has scarcely hitherto been so minutely examined 

 as to authorize our pronouncing very positively which of these 

 hypotheses seems best to explain them, although, from the 

 general conformity which I have noticed, I should certainly 

 incline to adopt that of a single period of elevation. The 

 continental coal-basins of the Meuse, and many of those of 

 Northern Germany, appear to have been elevated at exactly 

 the same period. The lines of these elevations are, however, 

 assuredly not parallel, for those in the south portion of our 

 island generally range east and west, and those in the north 

 range north and south, forming tangents to the curve which, 

 as I have already noticed, expresses the general line of the 

 elevation of our strata of whatever age. But to proceed regu- 

 larly with the detail. 



The carboniferous limestone first shows itself on the southern 

 coast along the skirts of Torbay, Devonshire : it is here greatly 

 elevated and contorted, and we may refer to the intrusive 

 masses of greenstone as the probable cause of the disturbance. 

 The lowest beds of the Exeter conglomerate, usually classed 

 with the new red sandstone, also partake in this disturbance, 

 which might seem to refer it to a more recent period than 

 that of which we are now treating; but yet it does not appear 

 altogether improbable that these may be the very lowest de- 

 posits of this great series, and possess ■ comparative antiquity 



