﻿1864.] 
  

  

  MTJRCHISON 
  AND 
  HARKNESS 
  PERMIAN. 
  

  

  151 
  

  

  mian 
  rocks 
  occur. 
  This 
  area, 
  which 
  is 
  altogether 
  detached 
  from 
  

   that 
  of 
  the 
  Yale 
  of 
  the 
  Eden 
  and 
  the 
  Great 
  Cumberland 
  Plain, 
  has 
  

   been 
  noticed 
  by 
  Professor 
  Sedgwick* 
  and 
  Mr. 
  Binney 
  f. 
  The 
  Penrith 
  

   sandstones 
  here 
  are 
  very 
  thin 
  — 
  not 
  more 
  than 
  three 
  feet 
  on 
  an 
  

   average. 
  Their 
  dimensions 
  are, 
  however, 
  very 
  irregular, 
  as 
  they 
  

   have 
  been 
  deposited 
  on 
  the 
  eroded 
  surface 
  of 
  a 
  purple 
  Carboniferous 
  

   sandstone 
  on 
  which 
  they 
  repose 
  (see 
  fig. 
  2). 
  In 
  lithological 
  cha- 
  

   racter 
  these 
  sandstones 
  resemble 
  the 
  magnesian 
  breccias 
  of 
  Hilton- 
  

   beck, 
  and, 
  as 
  in 
  them, 
  the 
  limestone-fragments 
  have 
  usually 
  the 
  

   potato-stone 
  feature. 
  The 
  only 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  Penrith 
  sandstones 
  

   represented 
  here 
  are 
  the 
  highest 
  beds. 
  

  

  Fig. 
  2. 
  — 
  Section 
  at 
  Barrowmouth, 
  near 
  Whitehaven. 
  

  

  a. 
  Upper 
  Permian, 
  or 
  St. 
  Bees 
  Sandstone. 
  

  

  b. 
  Red 
  and 
  green 
  marls 
  with 
  gypsum. 
  

  

  c. 
  Yellow 
  magnesian 
  limestone 
  with 
  fossils. 
  

  

  d. 
  Breccia 
  of 
  e, 
  being 
  the 
  Upper 
  member 
  of 
  the 
  Lower 
  Permian, 
  passing 
  into 
  c. 
  

  

  e. 
  Coal-sandstone. 
  

  

  In 
  no 
  other 
  localities 
  in 
  Cumberland 
  or 
  "Westmoreland 
  have 
  we 
  any 
  

   exhibition 
  of 
  the 
  Penrith 
  sandstones, 
  or 
  lowest 
  member 
  of 
  the 
  Permian 
  

   group. 
  There 
  is, 
  on 
  the 
  Cumberland 
  coast 
  south 
  of 
  St. 
  Bees, 
  a 
  red 
  

   sandstone 
  which 
  has 
  been 
  referred 
  to 
  by 
  Professor 
  Sedgwick. 
  This, 
  

   however, 
  is 
  not 
  well 
  exposed, 
  but 
  it 
  probably 
  belongs 
  to 
  the 
  highest 
  

   portion 
  of 
  the 
  Permian 
  series 
  to 
  be 
  subsequently 
  alluded 
  to. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  district 
  of 
  Furness, 
  in 
  Lancashire, 
  the 
  representatives 
  of 
  

   the 
  Lower 
  Permian 
  sandstones 
  occur, 
  but 
  only 
  to 
  a 
  slight 
  extent, 
  

   yet 
  under 
  circumstances 
  of 
  very 
  great 
  interest. 
  

  

  c. 
  Furness 
  area.- 
  — 
  The 
  Furness 
  Eailway, 
  at 
  Park, 
  from 
  about 
  a 
  

   mile 
  and 
  a 
  half 
  to 
  two 
  miles 
  north 
  of 
  Furness 
  Abbey, 
  exhibits 
  the 
  

   lowest 
  of 
  the 
  Permian 
  rocks. 
  A 
  section 
  opened 
  out 
  by 
  the 
  rail- 
  

   road-cutting 
  is 
  here 
  in 
  part 
  through 
  Carboniferous 
  Limestone, 
  which 
  

   forms 
  the 
  lowest 
  rock 
  seen. 
  Reposing 
  upon 
  this 
  limestone 
  is 
  a 
  mass 
  

   of 
  a 
  peculiar 
  character, 
  consisting 
  of 
  angular 
  fragments 
  of 
  limestone, 
  

   partially 
  cemented 
  together 
  in 
  the 
  higher 
  part, 
  but 
  having 
  inter- 
  

   spaces 
  between 
  the 
  fragments 
  in 
  the 
  lower 
  portion. 
  This 
  peculiar 
  

   limestone-breccia 
  is 
  locally 
  known 
  as 
  " 
  Crab 
  rock." 
  

  

  * 
  Geol. 
  Trans., 
  2nd 
  Series, 
  vol. 
  iv. 
  p. 
  395. 
  

  

  t 
  Mem. 
  of 
  Lit. 
  and 
  Phil. 
  Soc. 
  of 
  Manchester, 
  vol. 
  xii. 
  p. 
  51, 
  

  

  