CUMMING ON THE ISLE OF MAN. 31*7 



On the Geology of the Isle of Man. By the Rev. J. G. Gumming, 

 M.A., F.G.S., Vice-Principal of King William's College, Isle of 

 Man. 



Plates XIV. to XVIL 



Part I. 

 The Palceozoic Rocks of the Island. 



[Read June 11th, 1815.] 



The Geology of the Isle of Man, though possessing much interest, 

 has hitherto scarcely met with the consideration which it really 

 deserves. 



The earliest geological notice of the island will be found in an 

 account by Mr. Wood, published in 1811; and this was succeeded 

 by a memoir in the First Series of the Transactions of the Geolo- 

 gical Society, published in 181 4, by Dr. Berger*. Dr. Berger's 

 memoir was accompanied by a geological map and some sections, 

 and, together with additional remarks, forming a kind of appendix, 

 afterwards published by Professor Henslowf, it forms an interest- 

 ing and valuable record of what was then known of the district. 



Dr. Macculloch, in his 'Account of the Western Isles of Scotland' 

 (vol. ii. p. 516), published in 1819, described (as far as the advance 

 of geological science would then permit) the different characteristic 

 formations. 



We have also a paper by Dr. Hibbert, " on the Discovery of the 

 Fossil Elk in the Isle of Man," written for the fifth number of the 

 * Edinburgh Journal of Science,' in 1826. 



The only later notice seems to have been the interesting paper on 

 the Pleistocene deposits in the neighbourhood of Ramsey, by Hugh 

 Strickland, Esq., F.G.S , read before the Geological Society in 

 November 18431. 



A mere glance at the geological map of the island will show the 

 reason of this neglect, for it will at once be seen that about three- 

 fourths of the whole surface exhibited at high water consists for the 

 most part of grau\vacke and clay schist, while almost the whole of 

 the remaining part is covered by diluvium beds of drift and plei- 

 stocene sand, and by turf-bogs. 



The first appearance of the island, therefore, to the geological 

 student, is extremely unpromising; and even if his attention should 

 be especially directed to the two localities of Peel and Castletown 

 (the only exception to the apparently unattractive sameness) by the 

 patches of red and blue colour upon tlie geological map, represent- 

 ing the old red sandstone and carboniferous limestone, the apparent 



* Mineralogical Account of the Isle of Man, l)y J. F. Herger, M.D., Gcol. Trans. 

 Ist ser. vol. ii. p. 29. 



t Loc. cit., 1st ser. vol. v. p. 482 ei seg. 



X Proceedings of the Geol. Soc. vol. iv. p. 8. 

 VOL. II 1' ART I. Y 



