506 



C. Darwin, Esq., on the 



parallel to and above the white one of lime. Some other cinders, which had 

 been scattered in another part of this same field, only about half a year be- 

 fore, lay either on the surface or were entangled in the roots of the grass. 



The second field, I mention only from the fact of the cinders being buried 

 in such quantities, about three inches deep, as to form a stratum nearly one 

 inch in thickness. The layer in some parts was so continuous, that the upper 

 soil was united to the lower only by the longer roots of the grasses. The 

 sub-soil was a red clay, and it occurred a little below the cinders. 



The third case which I shall describe, is that of a field which, Mr. Wedg- 

 wood informed me, was waste land fifteen years ago. It was at that time 

 drained, ploughed, harrowed, and well covered with burnt marl and cinders. 

 It has not been disturbed since, and now supports a tolerably good but rather 





fc*- 



^J 



B. Burut Marl. 



C. Quartz Pebbles. 



coarse pasture. The section in this field, as represented in the wood- cut, was, 

 turf half an inch ; vegetable mould two inches and a half; a layer, one and a 

 half inch thick, of fragments of burnt marl, (conspicuous from their bright 

 red colour), of cinders, and a few quartz pebbles, mingled with earth. One 

 of the angular fragments of burnt marl lying near the bottom, measured one 

 inch in length by half an inch in breadth, and a quarter in thickness. Lastly, 

 about four inches and a half below the surface, was the original black peaty 

 soil. We thus find, beneath a layer, nearly four inches thick, composed of 



