264 Dr. Berger on the Geology of some Parts 



to tlie oxydation of the iron, though the rock itself does not act in 

 any sensible manner on the magnet. This limestone has a superfi- 

 cial resemblance to iron-stone and to some basaltic rocks ; passages 

 however might be traced to \he slate-clay just mentioned, with which 

 perhaps it alternates. I found its spec. grav. 2,641. It was not hi 

 situ, but comes very probably only from a little distance.* 



On taking a general view of the district here described, we shall find 

 that of the two islands which it comprehends, one, the Isle of Wight, 

 has its greatest dimension from east to west, while the other, the Isle 

 of Portland, extends longitudinally from north to south, or nearly 

 so : that in the Isle of Wight, the shelving of the land, independently 

 of the particular slopes of the hills, is from south to north, as is 

 clearly shewn by the rise of the Medina river, and by the ele- 

 vation of Niton, one of the most southern villages, situated on the 

 back of St. Catherine' s-hilLf In the Isle of Portland, on the con- 

 trary, we have an uninterrupted plain, with a gradual and uniform 

 slope from north to south, of nearly four hundred feet in a distance 

 of five miles. No river, that I am aware of, waters the Isle of Port- 

 land, but the inhabitants are plentifully supplied with fresh water, 

 by two very fine and abundant springs.^: 



In the Isle of Wight, the tract of land to the north of the ridge 



* The Kimeridge coal is used as fuel by the poor people in the neighbourhood, and the 

 ashes spread over the meadows, are considered as a good manure. 



+ It may not be amiss perhaps to observe, that in the Isle of Wight, and along the coast 

 of Hampshire, the rivulets which empty themselves into the sea, go by the name of chine, 

 which is synonymous with gullij, and the beds of those streams or brooks widen very 

 much at their approacli towards the sea. 



+ One of them, called Foriunc^s kcII, is situated a little above the village of Chesil, 

 on the way to the signal-house. The other spring is in tlie south of the isle, at the village 

 of Southwell, a name derived no doubt from the spring. 



