60 Mr. Hutton's Notes on the New Red Sandstone, ^c. 



No. XI. — Notes on the New Red Sandstone of the County of Durham, 

 below the Magnesian Limestone. By Wm. Hutton, F. G. S., &c. 



Read April 20, 1830. 



Professor Sedgwick, in an elaborate paper just published in the 

 Transactions of the Geological Society, has been the first to point out the 

 true relations of a bed of Sandstone, found underlying the Magnesian 

 Limestone and conformable to it, but unconformable to the Coal Mea- 

 sures. 



This Sandstone had before been observed by Smith, who figures it in 

 his Geological Map of Yorkshire (published in 1821), as the Pontefract 

 Rock, but he mistakes its true nature and value, and classes it with the 

 Coal Sandstones. Professor Sedgwick corrects this error, and very 

 satisfactorily, upon a general view of the whole formation, from Not- 

 tingham to the banks of the Tyne, proves it to be a bed of New Red 

 Sandstone subordinate to the Magnesian Limestone, and also points out 

 its analogy with the " rothe-todte-liegende" of the German geologists ; 

 thus adding another link to the chain connecting the formations of this 

 country with those of the Continent, and one which is of the more im- 

 portance, as it serves to clear up many doubts and difficulties which 

 have hitherto existed, in the comparison of our Strata with those of 

 Germany. 



In treating of the situation of Rocks on a district of great extent, 

 it is absolutely necessary to consider the formations or usual groupings 

 of certain beds, under their general and more prominent characters — in 

 this way, of course, Professor Sedgwick has considered the strata un- 

 der review, and has, in a very clear and comprehensive manner, pointed 

 out their general relations ; but when we examine the Geology of a 

 small district, the different beds composing the formations cannot be 



