1890-91.] 259 



have been once the residence of the bishops of Connor. Re- 

 suming their walk along the railway, the party soon reached 

 the commencement of the great bank of New Red Sandstone 

 which extends along the shore till it is cut off by the basaltic 

 rocks of Whitehead. These Keuper Marls, as the upper divi- 

 sion of the New Red Sandstone is called, here form a steeply 

 sloping bank of bright red hue, traversed by irregular seams of 

 gypsum and selenite. Now the hammers and picks were got 

 to work, and a number of fine specimens obtained. The 

 sulphate of lime occurs here in various forms — in transparent 

 blocks formed of thin lamellae, which can easily be split asunder, 

 which form suitable examples for experiments in polarization of 

 light ; in lustrous masses of fibrous texture, to which form most 

 of the larger specimens belong ; and in white granular masses 

 composed of numbers of small transparent crystals loosely 

 bound together. Proceeding slowly along this interesting 

 escarpment, a halt was called just beyond where the railway 

 emerges from a deep cutting through a projecting spur of red 

 marl, flanked by a trap dyke, and opens into the pretty bay on 

 the southern side of Whitehead. Here, the Secretary's whistle 

 having called the party together, the formal meeting of the day 

 was held, the only business transacted being the pleasant 

 formality of electing a number of new members. A short 

 descriptive address was then given by the President of the Club 

 (Mr. William Gray, M.R.I.A.) on the geology of the neighbour- 

 hood. In the course of his remarks he pointed out that the 

 geological features displayed in the immediate vicinity of where 

 they now were, illustrated admirably the structure of the 

 greater part of Antrim and the adjoining counties. Looking 

 southward from Whitehead over the undulating hills of County 

 Down to where rose the distant blue peaks of the Mourne 

 Mountains was, as it were, looking backward into remote 

 geological time, and the record which it has left is displayed in 

 the series of rocks that extend from point to point. The 

 granite represents the fundamental rock — the base on which 

 the whole series of stratified rocks has been laid down. Lying 



