88 Mr. Thomas Kay on 



The evidence of the boy and man who unearthed 

 this relic is to this effect : that a block of boulder clay 

 fell from a height of 10 feet; that a portion of the jar 

 became visible on the side of the clay, from which it 

 was removed; that two other vessels, one larger and 

 another smaller, were about it in fragments; that the 

 vase itself is stained with the peculiar bluish colour of 

 boulder clay, or " till," as distinct from the yellowish 

 brick clay; and that it could not have fallen the height 

 it did without being smashed unless it had really been 

 fully embedded. In addition, so far as the credibility of 

 the witnesses is concerned, there was no object to be 

 attained by misinforming us. The employer presented 

 the vase voluntarily without consideration ; the other two 

 jars being hopelessly smashed were of no value, in their 

 opinion, to anyone, and not worth preservation. These 

 fragments lie buried beneath the surface of the ground, 

 and are hopelessly lost. Some tons of material have 

 been removed in a vain search for them. 



In relation to this subject it is well to consider the 

 geological conditions which have existed in Stockport 

 and its neighbourhood. First, we have to the west the 

 new red sandstone rock extending from it to and beyond 

 New Brighton, on the Mersey Estuary. Eastwardly, the 

 new red sandstone existed, and partially does so yet, 

 covering the remains of an antecedent tropical time after 

 the coal measures were formed; but this easterly sand- 

 stone is not consolidated into hardened rock. It exists 

 as a friable stone, which is easily reduced by a blow into 

 globular or rounded grains of sand ; which sand is of 

 great use and value for moulding iron and other metals. 

 This peculiar form of sand is like that of a desert such 

 as the Sahara. Its grains owe their rounded surface to 

 the action, by attrition, of the wind, for water contusion 

 produces angular sand, such as may be found on our 



