I 



CiRC. No. 79. 



From the Peak to Blue Wyke Point that portion of the cliffs which 

 faces the sea presents a noble series of precipices, of which the ' alum 

 shale ' at first constitutes the base, succeeded by the jurensis-heds, 

 not developed elsewhere in this part of Yorkshire — then the Grey 

 Sandrock of the Dogger {Lifigula bed), the Yellow Sandrock, and 

 lastly, the true Dogger. Owing to the strong S.E. dip, these beds 

 plunge one after another beneath the sea. 



The Grey Sandrock of the Dogger constitutes the little platform 

 of Blue Wyke Point, being harder than the siriatulus beds below, out 

 of which Blue Wyke has been excavated, and also harder than the 

 Yellow Sandrock above, which has been eaten back to the very base 

 of the cliff. Continuing in the direction of the dip (S.E.) the true 

 Dogger is seen to approach the shore line, where it may be con- 

 veniently studied before plunging, in its turn, beneath the sea. The 

 Dogger, as developed in the Peak cliffs and at Blue Wyke Point, 

 exceeds 30 ft. in thickness. It is a chocolate-coloured Sandstone, 

 often somewhat marly, and has a variable charge of iron, in places 

 losing somewhat of its sandy character and becoming oolitic. The 

 upper beds are probably the most rich in iron, which occurs partly as 

 carbonate. It has never been worked here. The Dogger at this place 

 is remarkable for a number of Nodular beds, the lowest of which is 

 often charged with Terebratida trilineata. Towards the top is a rich 

 shell-bed, full of JVerincea ci?tgenda and many other fossils, which prob- 

 ably represents a low part of the vmrchisoncB-zone. Most of the shells 

 are now converted into spathic iron, having a thin coating of oxide. 



The Lower Estuarine series, which succeeds the Dogger, is well 

 developed at the Peak, where it constitutes the bulk of the cliffs in 

 successive tiers of Sandstone parted by layers of Shale. A dark Shaly 

 bed containing abundance of a species of Trigonia is often conspicuous 

 — the Ellerbeck bed of the Survey. There is but a partial develop- 

 ment of the Millepore Rock in these cliffs, so that the Middle Estuar- 

 ine can scarcely be said to be separated from the Lower Estuarine. 

 Towards the upper edge of the cliff face, the 'trod' by which it is 

 possible to ascend is seen to cross some shaly beds which contain 

 fossils of the Scarborough or Grey Limestone series, and this group 

 of beds crops out in fields a little to the north-east of Peak Station. 



Botany. 



Mr. Thomas Newbitt, of Whitby, writes that the northern slopes 

 of the Peak have not yet, so far as he is aware, been fully explored by 

 any botanist, and consequently our explorers may meet with some 

 rarities ; but it must be admitted that the district is usually considered 

 a somewhat unpromising field. The hills are too low for Montane 

 species, and little woodland exists. The neighbourhood is 'richest in 

 ericetal and sylvestral flowering plants and mosses whicli affect low 

 hilly districts' ('North Yorkshire'). On, or near the edge of, the 

 moors may be found Scirpus pauci/loriis, Torinentilla reptans, GnapJia- 

 liiini dioicufii, Pedicularis sylvatica, Ulex galln, and U. europceus^ and 

 in the damper spots EriopyJiomm vaginalum, Drose?-a, long and round- 

 leaved, Pinguicula vtilgaris, etc. I'he cliffs facing the sea are also 

 disapi)ointing, but Parnassia paliistris, Cochlearia officinalis^ etc., may 

 be found there. The woody dells contain Saniciila europcea, Tell- 

 er ium scorodonia, Spircea ulmaria, Angelica sy Ives iris, Fragaria vcsca, 



