214 PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [Mar. 19, 



the course of the Caldew, both below and above Dalston, the dip here 

 being N.N."W. at 10°. No trace of the argillaceous series is seen in 

 this river ; and the only evidence it affords of the inferior sandstones 

 is at the bridge near Eose Castle, above which light-coloured rocks 

 of Carboniferous age occur. 



West from the Caldew, in Chalk Beck, a good exposure of the upper 

 sandstones and the argillaceous beds appears. The former, which 

 dip N.W., have afforded the Eomans materials for the construction 

 of the western portion of Hadrian's Wall ; and the latter seem to 

 repose upon a breccia, to the south of which occurs the fault sepa- 

 rating the red sandstones from the Carboniferous rocks. The strata 

 here, and also those which occur near this at Westward, have been 

 described by Mr. Binney in the memoir before alluded to. 



West of these localities the wpjper sandstones strike W.S.W., abut- 

 ting directly against the Coal-measures of West Cumberland. At 

 Maryport these upper sandstones are seen jn near proximity to the 

 Coal-measures. They are also well developed in the cliffs north of 

 this place, where they exhibit the N.W. dip they usually assume in 

 the west part of the Cumberland plain. 



On the English shore of the Solway these upper sandstones are 

 not well seen ; there is, however, every reason to infer that they 

 occupy the whole of the flat area of N. Cumberland, except the por- 

 tion covered by Lias referred to by Mr. Binney * (see fig. 4). 



The Sefotch shore of the Solway, especially E. of Annan, affords 

 these upper sandstones. They also, in Scotland, occupy the south- 

 ern halves of the parishes of Canobie, Half Morton, and Kirkpatrick 

 Fleming, the greater portion of the parish of Annan, the southern 

 part of Cummertrees, and also the whole of Dornock and Graitney. 



The Scotch area of upper sandstone has for its northern boundary 

 the same fault which in Cumberland separates it from the Carboni- 

 ferous formation ; but in Dumfriesshire this fault has a direction 

 nearly E.Is^.E. and W.S.W. 



§ 8. In Dumfriesshire, besides the fine section in the Esk, S. of 

 Ejiotty Holm, the upper sandstones are seen in Half Morton, and at 

 Cove, in Kirkpatrick, on the west side of the Caledonian Eailwa5^ 

 They are also very extensively worked in the neighbourhood of 

 Annan. Their general dip shows that they trough under the Solway, 

 and become united with their equivalents on the south side of the 

 Firth : see the section from Kirkpatrick to the Chalk Beck limestones 

 showing their arrangement (fig. 4). 



Little has been said concerning the lithology of the inferior and 

 the upper sandstones. 



There is a well-marked difference in this respect between them. 

 In the former the particles are more angular, often exhibiting shining 

 facets ; the colour is also brighter than that of the upper sand- 

 stones, and there is an absence of the interstratifying clay-beds 

 which usually accompany the latter. These latter are more compact 



* Quart. Journ. Greol. Soc. vol. xv. p. 549. 



