276 MINERALOGY. 



calcareous stone, rich in animal remains; another consisting of 

 beds of limestone with sandstone, and beds of coal and shale ; a 

 third of grit and other stone with little lime, but considerable 

 quantities of coal; and lastly the rich coal fields of West Cum- 

 berland. These vast formations occupy what was the ancient 

 coast line when the district was insular, and during the periods 

 of deposit and induration, must have undergone considerable 

 changes of elevation and arrangement. 



New Red Sandstone, &c. — Magnesian limestone and con- 

 glomerate are found in a few localities, one near Whitehaven, 

 another near to Rosley ; and immediately underlie a very extensive 

 deposit, namely, the New Red Sandstone, which occupies a wide 

 field, over, and external to, the Carboniferous series, ranging 

 from Kirkby Stephen to Maryport, and from Whitehaven, across 

 the Duddon, to Low Furness and Cartmel. This being the most 

 recent formation, we close with it, our sketch of the geology of 

 the lakes, which, short and imperfect as it is, we consider sufficient 

 to accomplish the object stated at the beginning, and more in 

 accordance with the plan and purpose of this work, than if the 

 subject had been treated in a manner more worthy the rank it 

 holds as a branch of physical science. The mineral productions 

 of the district will be noticed separately. 



ECONOMIC MINERALOGY OP THE DISTRICT. 



It is supposed, and on good grounds, that the mineral treasures 

 of the Lake country have been made available to the purposes of 

 life, in war, in the arts, and in commerce, for something like two 

 thousand years ; and there is also reason to believe that of these, 

 the earliest made use of by the primeval inhabitants of this 

 country was — 



Copper. — The Copper Mines of Coniston therefore may be 

 held to be the most ancient works of the kind north of Cornwall ; 

 and some idea of the enormous extent to which the ores of this 

 metal have been deposited originally in the Coniston fells may be 

 deduced from the fact that though these mines have been wrought 



