NATl'KAL HISTORY OF 



I i I STORY OF COMMERCE. 



ClIAiMi .!' 111. 

 B EFFECTS OF GEOLOGY OH nil. IXDUVTKY OF THE BBITIKM 



ri.ovi.K (i-outi nued). 



Dirtributiou of Miucnil Product* fronlmmd) Rlttol of 

 Geology to Ai;ricuitiir< Itotanicol AKIHSO', praMatod by Geo- 

 logical Formations. 



(<.) A**<>i-iiill<>n of Iron and Coal in their Relation to 



W( 

 to 



rl* 



The carboniferous s\ -;em contains our greatest sou i s 

 natural wealth. It yields the coal which gladdens 

 r he;irths, ami heats our roaring furnaces. It sup- 

 ies us with iron ores and lime, and with the fuel neces- 

 for smelting the. iron, for the most part in close 

 ximity to tho ores. We have thus two conditions 

 pee i: illy favourable to tho production of cheap iron 

 in IK Lint ore and fuel occurring together. In no other 

 untry perhaps, save Belgium, do we find an equally 

 vourablo combination of circumstances. The absence 

 Ireland of any vast deposits of bituminous coal 

 u-ily prevents the establishment in that country of 

 >t industry in which the cot of fuel forms 

 ny very largo proportion of the total cost of production. 

 ileiire, \ve have not had there any successful establish- 

 ment, of iron-smelting in recent times. The iron ores, 

 r, both as earthy and bituminous carbonates and 

 haematites, are now largely exported from Ireland to 

 d and Scotland to supply the enormously in- 

 asing demand. 



L-irge quantities of copper and other ores raised in 

 n land, Chili, Mexico, etc., are sent to Swansea to be 

 smelted, as the proportion of fuel which is required 

 would render th? process in those countries too costly to 

 be profitable. In other words, it is cheaper to carry ore 

 the coal than coal to the ore. Similarly tho various 

 clays raised in the south of England are transported to 

 Staffordshire to be converted into useful articles. 



Previous to the employment of steam as a motive force, 

 water was the prime mover; consequently our manu- 

 iries, at that time, were located where water-power 

 was at command. But on the application of coal to the 

 neration of steam, the seats of manufacturing industry 

 were necessarily transported to districts where this 

 mineral could be obtained abundantly and cheaply. 

 Norwich, York, and Spitalfields could then no longer 

 compete with the towns more favourably circumstanced, 

 and in course of time ceased to be the great manufac- 

 turing centres. Lancashire, on the introduction of steam 

 machinery, soon became the greatest manufacturing 

 district, owing to its situation with respect to our coal- 

 fields and to our outlets of commercial industry. 



From the time of the Romans to the seventeenth cen- 

 ry the Weald of Kent and Sussex was one of the chief 

 ites for tho production of iron, because of the close 

 proximity of the fuel, wood, to the ore ; but when coal 

 came to be used in the reduction of the ores, this branch 

 of industry declined, and was soon removed to districts 

 where the more abundant and cheaper supply of fuel 

 was to be found. 



Prom the foregoing remarks we have an explanation 

 why the coal-producing counties are the centres of our 

 .nufacturing industry. 



Other bedded mineral products are met with in 

 strata of various ages. Slates are quarried in Silurian 

 rocks in Carnarvon and Merioneth, in Cumberland, and 

 in some parts of Scotland. In these districts there is a 

 very large population supported entirely by the quarry- 

 ing and preparing of slates. 



Bock salt is confined in Great Britain to the Keuper 

 sandstone and marls. 

 Muilding and architectural atones are chiefly quarried 



5 H.K. 



Devonian, carboniferous, Permian, and oobtf* 



-ira'a 



Then: i M . largo brand i oC industry- 



ml, and tho boaiM of an extensive ieriti of cbeou- 



. ..i ma . t he cunt of fuel doe* not form 



a |.iv|>.<ml. -ruling item. Thin mineral i* collected m 



Scotia i rth-eastern portu of England, etc., being 



I from the carbonifcrou* and newer formation*. 



Coorolitee, the exaviau of extinct gigantic reptile*, and 

 pteudo-coproUtu, the OMOOUS remains of large vertebrate*, 

 and nodular concretions of phosphate of lime of organic 

 origin, cannot be expected to occur in strata of an *Pck 

 anterior to that in which those animal* lired. They 

 occur in ili.- Imssic. and neocomian, and cretaceon* 

 strata, and in the newer tertiaries, these last formation* 

 being characterised by tho remains of whftles and OtJMT 

 mammals, a -t ar* by ifhtlnjo*nnri, plt$io$tmn* 



and other huge reptiles. AH a source of manure, copro- 

 litea have become important. 



3. Detritfil. 



The chief minerals found in detrital deposits are gold- 

 and tin-stone, i.e., stream-tin. Being derivative, the- 

 occurrence of these minerals indicates the existence of 

 rocks containing them, either in tho immediate neigh- 

 bourhood, or in tracts drained by a local stream or ifca 

 tribute 



Keeping in view the geographical distribution of tbo 

 paleozoic rocks, especially of the Silurian, Devonian, 

 iiiid carboniferous systems, and the fact of these strata. 

 being the sources of our chief mineral wealth, let us now 

 apply these phenomena to tho industrial pursuits of the 

 people of these areas. 



III. Relation of Geology to Agriculture. 



1. Botanical Aspect presented by Geological Formation*. 



It has been stated that the Soils of a country vary to- 

 a great extent with the nature of the rr.derlying geolo- 

 gical formations. This phenomenon may be best illus- 

 trated by reference to the district in the line of section 

 shown in Fig. 1. (See page 225.) 



The western parts of Wales, where the land attains an 

 elevation of from 2,000 to 4,000 feet above the sea-level 

 are covered with heath, and are only fit for inferior pas- 

 ture lands. Monmouthshire, Brecknockshire, Hereford, 

 and parts of Worcestershire are occupied by the rocks 

 of the old red sandstone formation; and in conseooenee 

 of their susceptibility of decomposition, the marls break- 

 ing up into rich earth fitted for tillage, they naturally 

 form a more fertile soil than that derived from the slates- 

 of the west; hence we have in the former district* 

 good corn lands and productive orchards. 



The low plain of new red sandstone presents facilities 

 for agriculture similar to those of the old red sandstona 

 tract. 



The configuration of tho surface of the country occu- 

 pied by the Jurassic rocks which succeed, may bo viewed 

 as on alternation of clays and limestones. The outcrop* 

 of the clays can actually be traced by the wide valleys, 

 which are permanent grass lands ; whilst the limestone* 

 compose ranges of low hills or more elevated grounds. 

 These limestone ridges form escarpments (see Pbf. 1) 

 along the line of strike, that is, on the side (N.\V.)on 

 which the several clays rise up from beneath the cal- 

 careous beds. The soil on these limestones is well 

 adapted for the growth of cereals, turnips, and clovers. 



Passing on to the cretaceous series, which in the south 

 extensive tracts, we meet with silicoons, argil- 

 . and calcareous soils. The rocks in the western 

 part of the wealden area contain little limo and much 

 silica, and are covered by some very wide-spread heaths 

 not worth bringing into cultivation. The natural forest 

 lands of the Weald or Wold are on the wcaldcn clay, 

 which has l>een cultivated, though only of late years, bx 

 the help of deep drainage. 



