Correspondence. 571 
rock through which Mr. Stephenson penetrated was really greenstone, 
as noticed at page 499 of your last number. Mr. Hull, in the ‘ Me- 
moirs of the Geological Survey,’ gives a correct account of this 
achievement. My anecdote is original only as regards the words 
used by Mr. Stephenson on the occasion. Yours truly, 
Srr,—The anecdote in the concluding paragraph of your Novem- 
ber number is interesting, in spite of its geological inaccuracies, as 
it tends to throw light on a question that has often puzzled me. The 
facts are these :—A very slight examination would show that the 
Coal-measures of the Coleaton and Snibston Field pass to the east 
beneath a thick mass of New Red marl and sandstone, and that still 
further to the east the two must abut and end off against the western 
flank of the mass of slaty and igneous rocks of Charnwood Forest. 
Thus much we may safely assume that Stephenson knew when he 
began to sink through the New Red at Snibston in search of the 
Coal-measures. The sinking was carried down through the marls 
and the underlying sandstone till a bed of greenstone (not ‘ granite’) 
was struck. It would have been only natural to take this for the 
underground prolongation of the Charnwood Forest rocks, and con- 
sequently to conclude that the shaft was too far to the east, and that 
there was no hope of finding Coal-measures there. But, nothing 
daunted, Stephenson carried on his work, and after passing through 
sixty feet of greenstone reached, not ‘more productive Coal-mea- 
sures,’ but the first Coal-measures that had been met with in the shaft. 
Now I have often wondered whether Stephenson had any reason for 
hoping in the end to be successful, or whether it was only a plucky 
determination to go on, even in the dark, and see what would come 
of it. I think your anecdote shows that the latter was the case; but 
perhaps some of your correspondents may be able to tell us more on 
the subject. Yours obediently, 
: A. H. GREEN. 
28, Jermyn Streer: Nov. 7, 1865. 
ANCIENT BRONZE IMPLEMENTS. 
To the Editor of the GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. 
Dear Sir,—I hear that bronze implements have been discovered 
in the Kirkhead Cavern. Surely the exact analysis of the metal of 
which they consist would prove of interest. If samples of ancient 
bronze, brass, or other alloys are placed at my disposal, I shall be 
most glad of the opportunity of analysing such of them as are likely 
to yield good results. Fragments of from five to ten grains generally 
afford sufficient material for one quantitative analysis, but a larger 
quantity is preferable——I am, dear Sir, yours truly, 
A. H. Cuaurcu. 
R. A. Cortesn, CrrENcESTER : Oct. 29, 1865. 
