4 Rev. J. Clifton Ward—Geology of the Isle of Man. 
slates of Greeba and St. John’s seems however to be continued 
across the valley. On the whole it appeared to me that the Skiddaw 
Slates of the Isle of Man throw no light on the divisions of the same 
series in the Lake District; and probably, when the island is 
minutely surveyed, all defined bands being traced, more help will 
be derived from the Lake District than given by the Isle itself. 
CaRBONIFEROUS. 
The various beds of the Carboniferous Limestone Series are very 
minutely described by Mr. Cumming, and I would here only offer 
some remarks, (1) on the conglomerate at the base, and (2) on the 
volcanic rocks interbedded with the limestone. 
1. Basement Conglomerate.—Although Mr. Cumming gives to 
this conglomerate and its associated sandy beds the name of Old Red, 
it should: be specially noted that at the early date at which he 
wrote he recognized the complete conformity between these beds and 
the overlying limestone. 
It is scarcely necessary for me to notice the paper by Mr. Howorth 
published in the Grotocican Macazine, 1877, pp. 411 and 456, as 
his endeavour to lay bare the supposed errors made by Mr. Cum- 
ming has been met by a paper in the May number of the same 
Magazine for 1879, by Mr. G. H. Morton. It is, however, 
preposterous that one who confesses himself to be “not an ex- 
perienced geologist” should so confidently assert that the conclu- 
sions drawn, after long and careful study, by one who was an 
experienced geologist, were erroneous. Nothing could be clearer 
than that the conglomerate beds underlie the Carboniferous Lime- 
stone, that they are almost wholly made up of sandstone or quartzite 
pebbles, and that the beds do not represent boulder deposits of the 
Glacial Period. 
On the western side of Langness the conglomerate may be well 
studied in its relations to both underlying and overlying rocks. At 
low tide the complete conformity of the conglomeratic beds dipping 
westwards, with the overlying limestone, may be well seen, and 
near high-water mark the complete unconformity of the conglo- 
merate with the underlying Skiddaw Slate is also admirably shown. 
This is especially the case where an arch has been worn through 
the slate, the upper part consisting of conglomerate; close by is a 
little fault, throwing the conglomerate against the slate (see Fig. 3). 
For the most part the pebbles lie with their long axes in the planes 
of bedding, and so far as I remember it was but exceptionally that the 
formation assumed anything of the appearance of a true glacial or 
boulder deposit. 
The red sandstone cliffs north of Peel contain conglomeratic 
portions, and dip tothe north-west. These beds have been described 
by my friend Mr. Horne,’ who parallels them with the Calciferous 
Sandstone series of Scotland. 
2. Volcanic Rocks of Carboniferous Age.—The coast-line between 
Castletown and Poolvash is perhaps the most interesting part of the 
1 Trans. Edin. Geol. Soe, vol. ii. pt. 3, 1874. 
