18 Murchisori s Silurian System. 



by the new red sandstone. Again, — " On Walliston Com- 

 mon, Salop, in one of the attempts to find coal the Lias was 

 bored, after sinking 250 feet, to a further depth of 150 feet, 

 making a total of about 400 feet. A little black lignite or 

 jet was found, but nothing to justify the most remote pro- 

 bability of the formation containing coal." At the mouth 

 of the trial pits Mr. Murchison collected twenty-six species 

 of fossil shells, six of which proving the formation to be 

 identical with the Brora beds, in which a lignite occurs. 

 In numerous other instances Mr. Murchison points out the 

 ruinous consequences of sinking for coal without the advice 

 and opinions of scientific men. Speaking of a spirited un- 

 dertaking of the Earl of Dartmouth, in which seven hundred 

 feet of sandstone was penetrated at Christ-Church, Mr. 

 Murchison observes, that it is impossible to mention the 

 success that attended the enterprise, without congratulating 

 geologists on the effect which their writings are now pro- 

 ducing on the minds of practical men, since it was entirely 

 owing to inferences deduced from geological phenomena 

 that this work was commenced, whilst its success was de- 

 rided by many of the practical miners in the adjacent coal 

 field. The south-east parts of the county of Durham have 

 been rendered by this means a great and productive coal 

 field, in spite of the prejudices and predictions of the old 

 school of miners, to whom such important matters used 

 to be entrusted. See p. 58 — 66. 



The practical importance of the subject being established 

 on such facts as these, we need not apologise to our readers 

 for devoting a larger space to the notice of this work than 

 its title and scientific details would seem to demand in an 

 Indian Journal. The truth however is, that Mr. Murchison's 

 work is the best model that could be chosen by the Indian 

 geologists who would render efficient service either to sci- 

 ence or to the practical value of the minerals of the country. 

 To those who have not paid much attention to geology, we 

 would remark, that the true coal formations repose between 



