130 Prof. E. Hull— Reply to Mr, Kinahan. 



which occur in the lower portion of the Ballycastle Coal-field. Some 

 years ago I pointed out, in a paper published in the Trans. Roy. Geol. 

 Soc. Ireland, vol. ii. (1871), and therefore accessible to Mr. Kinahan, 

 the analogy between the beds of the Ballycastle Coal-field and those 

 of the Lower Coal-formation and underlying Calciferous Sandstone 

 Series of Scotland — referring the beds to a similar geological horizon. 

 On the publication of the paper, Professor Geikie expressed his 

 concurrence in my views. According to Mr. Kinahan, however, we 

 have an intercalation of Old Eed and Carboniferous rocks, unknown 

 elsewhere amongst British formations. 



Mr. Kinahan seems to deny the existence of Permian beds near 

 the City of Armagh, 1 as coloured and described in the Survey 

 publications, and for the purpose of doing so, deliberately mis-states 

 the position of the beds at this spot, notwithstanding clear and ex- 

 plicit descriptions given in at least two publications, 2 accompanied 

 by sections, showing the position of the Permian beds with reference 

 to the Carboniferous Limestone. These beds consist of sandstones, 

 breccias, and conglomerates, resting on the marble beds of the Car- 

 boniferous Limestone, and after I had (in 1872) identified them as 

 Permian beds, they were visited by Prof. Bamsay, who concurred in 

 my view, recalling as they did to his mind the " brockram " of the 

 Vale of the Eden. Mr. Kinahan, however, dissents from the views 

 of Professor Ramsay and myself, which he is at perfect liberty to 

 do ; but in order to justify his dissent, makes a statement which is 

 entirely erroneous, namely, that Mr. Egan, who surveyed the ground, 

 has proved that the supposed Permian beds are " interstratified " 

 with limestones with fish-remains; 3 and secondly, that the limestones 

 of Armagh belong to the upper division of the Carboniferous Lime- 

 stone Series. If this is so, then the maps of Sir R. Griffith and of 

 the Geological Survey, which represent the beds near Armagh as 

 Lower Limestone, are altogether wrong. 



Mr. Kinahan has been commended for his disregard of " authority," 

 and unquestionably independence of opinion is a high quality in a 

 man, provided it be accompanied by candour in stating the case as 

 against himself, and weighing the views of others. The instances 

 I have given will suffice to enable the reader to form his own con- 

 clusions on this question. 



I have now done with Mr. Kinahan's views ; nor shall I again be 

 tempted to notice them. Except for the discredit they are calculated 

 to bring on that branch of the public service to which he belongs, 

 they might well be passed over in silence. Perhaps, after all, even 

 this apprehension is groundless. 



Geological Survey Office, Dublin, 

 \2th February, 1879. 



1 " Geology of Ireland," p. 133. 



2 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. Lond. vol. xxix. p. 402, and Explan. Memoir to Sheet 

 47, by F. W. Egan, p. 11 (1873). 



3 There is no reference given for this statement, and Mr. Egan, in a letter in my 

 possession, says : "In reply to your letter of yesterday, I fail to see where I have 

 proved that the red and other coloured sandstones (considered by you to be of Permian 

 age at Armagh) are interstratified with limestones." 



