ISLE OF MAN. GEOLOGY. LIMESTONE. 559 



ferences, and the present object is rather to select the 

 most important circumstances, than to enter into a detail 

 of every minute particular which was examined. 



But before quitting this part of the subject, it is proper 

 to point out the very remarkable forms which the unstra- 

 tified limestone assumes on weathering ; by which, toge- 

 ther with its superior durability, it is in all cases readily 

 distinguished, even at a distance, from the stratified. In 

 almost every instance, its superior hardness, and the greater 

 resistance it offers to the sea and weather, cause it to 

 project in rough masses, often many feet in height, above 

 the surrounding stratified rock. It presents in these, as 

 in most other cases, an angular large fracture ; consisting 

 of an aggregation of small irregular pyramidal bodies with 

 intervening cavities ; not the least semblance even of dis- 

 placed stratification being visible. In some instances it 

 decomposes by weathering, into round honeycombed cavi- 

 ties separated by irregular ridges; resembling that lime- 

 stone which occurs at Broadford and at Kilbride in Sky. 

 Its resemblance to that rock in other circumstances, will 

 be apparent from the whole of its history, and each serves 

 mutually to illustrate the other. 



In attempting to determine whether or not the lime- 

 stone of this island is conformable to the schist on which 

 it lies, it becomes immediately obvious that it must occur 

 in both ways, namely, parallel to some of the strata of 

 that rock, and at angles to others; since, in a general 

 view, it is placed at a common low angle, while the schist 

 occupies every intervening one from the horizontal to the 

 vertical line. Under the circumstances of obscurity for- 

 merly stated, respecting the real position of the schistose 

 beds, and the difficulty of distinguishing them from the 

 laminae, it would be impossible to determine this point 

 more accurately ; since they may often appear conformable 

 where they are reversed, and the contrary. 



It would be superfluous to trace all the points where 

 the actual junction of the schist and limestone can be 



