464- Retrospective CriHeismM 



the vale of the Eden, and supposing the latter to underlie the mountain lime 

 stone, has been long explbdedj nevertheless some excdllent geologists have 

 very recently again confounded the two formations, by considering the con- 

 glomerate, as it displays itself lipon Melmerby Fell, as the lower member 

 of the new red sandstone, analogous to the well-known Exeter conglomer- 

 ate. This error has arisen from the peculiar nature of. the ground, and 

 from a too confined examination of the stratum. On Melmerby Fell the 

 whole face of the escarpment is thrown into disorder by great land-slips 

 which have taken place, so that, in rising upwards, we would appear to 

 arrive at several beds of the same rock. Thus in endeavouring to reach 

 the great or Melmerby Scar limestone, which here forms so important a 

 feature, after toiling up a steep ascent, we arrive at what appears to be the 

 regular basset of the stratum, but, when upon it, find, that it is only a 

 fragment slipped from the bed, which in ay be seen at a great height above. 

 This is precisely the cause of the confusion in the old red sandstone : it is 

 here raised considerably above its usual level, by the greater protrusion of 

 the slate rocks ; and, in ascending the Fell by Melmerby Beck,-^it makes its 

 appearance several times, so that its true relation to the adjoining strata is 

 very difBcuit to define. By tracing the foot of the escarpment southward^ 

 k may be seen in many places undisturbed, but perhaps can no where be 

 studied to greater advantage than in Blencarn Burn, between Melmerby 

 amd Knock. Here it is found at the base of the cliff regularly reposing upon 

 the clay slate rocks, and having resting upon it the alternating beds of the 

 mountain limestone formation. If we examine this group of slate and 

 greenstone rocks, and the beds associated with it, according to the views 

 recently propounded in France by M. Elie de Beaumont, it/ would ap- 

 pear that the range of Crossfell had been raised after theiconsolidatioa 

 eif ti?e coal measures, and bfefore the deposition of the new redi sandstone. 

 ■JKe-'beds of mountain limestone and coal strata, throivft into' a piosition 

 almost vertical by the rising of the slate and greenstone rOcks, prove the 

 ficSt^,;pi^)iiSs»tioifiBfiiTd! the! >imdisturbed state of' the new red sandstone, 

 i^hdch, lyce'a* sea, sweeps rotind aild fills up the inequalities of the olddr 

 Mrstt^ h&ug thus brought into contact 'with rocks of all ages, ^\ould 

 appear to prove the "^ec6adi'^^WiUmviiM^itmi,AiNeimasikuupout 7^ 

 i^pt)U^ iSS^ riiiw bohiis iyimi oi Jn-^irioa Ibw nssd ovbH Lluoria I ** 

 "io Bap ^jielii^fhltmjl'; ^^g^^rtG>^. •E;»f pJ'O0j)3di l^iiintmbsfeaiiK«ras 

 ti«ttiyfayPT^lua|jl@jlj)a|^s''be not unnecessarily/8cwH]iIeA bj^bowltroversyi : 

 TSO^itofAcBiofyiM (Jbs^k^ons of T. E. of Can-vtaittoe sfeaUriAetefiwfe-jbe is 

 lwi^ft«s<^c«sibl(K/ Ifhelbteltlef 8 of Dr. IJre in plafcif^'the tifa^isbore tfoe 

 Bpii«it-'3lg,^^ar|d^hich^^in:rf]3pi^ol»ahce, I deemed'anlttlHpoitteDfr/euriDr^ybbr 

 Gambrid^g. Qorrefepondent says ought only to be ooa^ideucnd .asif^JU'igFoas 

 over)sJght.*4w theffeoi'rection of the jjress ! " Be it s6. !» iSoraeylpediiaps^jfwiH 

 thifi^ ^i'lEiiiSuej^fclikiotfas seveix; as mine. ■iButJdaiETJoB.ybb Helwwits 

 when h«&'4fe8em #Bi»<t)l>^r^"re is actually right in)his!a«cbimt^df ilbe strata 

 and fossils-^ (5f>tfee HgsWhgS beds ? > Can it be correct to "stated' itricmfi part 

 of "^he volume, that those dGi)OsiiS are probably of marine origin, "and that 

 their orgauic remains are-iVautili, Ammoni/'^A,&c. (i>. Urc,-\p. 21^.); «aAm 

 another part to mention that herbivorous ^ptiles, terrestrial vegetables, 

 &c, are found' in ^e same^ljfedQ, -and qwo^er as authority an author (lDf. 

 Ure^ p. 453.) who main tain .4 that neither J^autili, nor AmmoniV^^, nor any 

 of the other ancient multilocular genera of;TestiiU:^a, occur in them ? I might, 

 indeed. Sir, refer to th^ Number <t)fii}tair Joirf-rml (p. 12.) in which T. E.'s 

 letter appears, in support of the objections advanced in my former commu- 

 nication : Mr. Bakewell's remarks render mine unnecessary. The attempt 

 of T. E. to defend the accuracy of the plates is so manifest a failure as 

 scarcely to require refutation. Scaphites, Coneybeare, p. 73. " The first 

 genus {Ammonites) occurs rarely in the upper chalk ; die second (Sca- 

 phites) o«/y in the lower ^'' If this be an error, it is Messrs. C5oneybeare and 



