PERMIAN BEDS OF SOUTH LANCASHIRE. 45 



Stank in Furness, as it resembles that deposit in all its 

 characters, both physical and chemical. It diflFers much 

 from the ribbon-beds of limestone found in the red marls 

 of Newtown, Patricroffc, Astley, Bedford, and Leigh, and 

 bears more resemblance to the great central deposit of 

 Yorkshire magnesian limestone. Now, can this bed he 

 above the former? It is possible that such may be the 

 case, and it is desirable that every exertion should be used 

 to ascertain the fact. The section at Stank, above alluded 

 to, and the Rougham-Point section near Cartmel in Fur- 

 ness, described in my first paper, are the places where the 

 question. Does the Stank, Skillaw-Clough, and Bentley- 

 Brook limestone occupy the same position as the ribbon- 

 beds of limestone near Manchester and Leigh ? or is it a 

 bed occupying a higher or lower position in the permian 

 group ? is likely to be answered by experimental bores. 



Near Manchester, the permian beds occur in the follow- 

 ing descending order : — 



ft. 



1. Beds of red and variegated marls, containing thin beds 



of limestone and gypsum, affording Sckisodus, BaJce- 

 vellia, PleurophoTUs, Turbo, Bissoa, &c., about 300 



2. Conglomerate brown sandstone, about 50 



3. Soft red and variegated sandstone (Collyhurst), about ... 500 



4. Conglomerate sandstone (Astley), containing pebbles of 



white quartz and common coal-plants. This, with beds 

 of finer-grained sandstone, all called lower permian, is 

 about 60 



The permian strata of the north-west of England are not 

 so clearly classified as they ought to be. Some of the 

 sections near Manchester, especially that seen in the 

 Valley of the Irk, in Cheetham and Newtown, would 

 apparently show that the red marls containing limestones 

 and fossils of the genera Bakevellia, Schizodus, &c., passed 

 into the overlying trias. This passage no doubt is only 

 apparent, and not real ; and, notwithstanding that the trias 

 is seen reposing on the marls, it is most probable that 



