64 THE OLDEST ROCKS OF ENGLAND. CHAP. 



is common about Malvern Wells. In some parts (about the 

 Hereford Beacon and Wind's Point) the laminae of crystallized 

 hornblende are very remarkable, and offer some resemblance 

 to the dark gneiss of the Hebrides. 



Granite in veins and what appear to be separate masses; the 



felspar is often very largely crystallized reddish orthoclase ; 



the quartz is of considerable size ; the mica varies in quantity, 



always of pale tints. No tourmaline ; no garnet. 



Syenite, meaning by this a kind of granite with hornblende. It 



is often of fine grain, and obscurely laminated. 

 Diorite, a felspatho-hornblendic rock, the felspar not being ortho- 

 clase ; granulation often very large. The felspar is white or 

 pale red, and lies amidst the hornblende much as in large- 

 grained ordinary greenstones. Its crystallization has not 

 been determined. The hornblende is often of that sort some- 

 times called rich, on account of a certain effect of light 

 reflected from its planes (North Hill). 



Besides these, which are all well-marked rocks, we have fre- 

 quently greenstones, felspatho-hornblendic, or felspatho-augitic 

 compounds, the felspar not being orthoclase, and not distinctly 

 crystallized. It is difficult to determine whether these are to be 

 distinguished into Diabase, as containing augite, and Diorite, as 

 containing hornblende, or which is the easiest but not very satis- 

 factory method, grouped under the title of Aphanite. The dis- 

 tinctions are not of much importance in geological reasoning. 



Felstone occurs in the hill sides above Little Malvern, but no 

 true porphyry. 



Quartz rock was formerly seen in the road-cutting of Cowley 

 Park, but it has been removed by ' improvements' of the road. 



Serpentine, or rather a trappean rock approaching to it, is found 

 in the slopes above Little Malvern and in other parts of the 

 southern hills. 



Mineral veins are scarcely known in the Malvern Hills, and 

 there is no trace of slaty cleavage. 

 Among minerals we may notice : 



Mica in veins of considerable thickness, in the ridge above Great 

 Malvern. 



Talc in a vein cutting through gneiss, in the Wych. 



Epidote in small crystals as of frequent occurrence, though in 



