214 Geology. 



ing strata above the Pennant, and the lower all that between 

 this latter Sandstone and the Millstone Grit. The first, or 

 Radstock series, is divided from the second, or Farrington 

 series, by from 500 to 700 ft. of unproductive ground, con- 

 taining beds of red shale from 130 to 250 ft. thick, as highly 

 coloured as Haematite. The Radstock series has eight 

 veins, varying from 9 in. to 2ft. 4in., known by local names 

 in all about 13^^ ft. thick, the beds being parted by bands 

 of Shale and Sandstone. The second, or Farrington series, 

 consist of six veins, from ift. 2in. to 2ft. 4in., and is about 

 loj^ ft. thick. The Coal of both these series is adapted for 

 Household use, the first series, however, being superior in 

 quality to the second. None of these veins exceed 3 ft. in 

 thickness, and many of the thin seams, which would not be 

 considered worth the trouble of winning in the richer fields 

 <jf the North are worked here at a profit. 



This rock is peculiar to our district, for 

 Sandstone whcreas the Coal Measure Sandstones in 



the North and Midland counties are more 

 evenly distributed throughout the various seams of coal, 

 they seem here to be focussed as it were in one solid 

 mass, estimated at 2,000 ft., consisting generally of thick 

 beds of siliceous grit, sometimes very fissile from the 

 mica which abounds in them. Coloured red at the surface, 

 this colour does not permeate the interior, which is of a 

 bluish grey tint, sometimes speckled with carbonaceous 

 markings, and charged with the oxides of iron. It affords 

 excellent stone for structural purposes, and is the best material 

 for tombstones, for which it is largely quarried in the vicinity 

 of our city. It may be well studied in the picturesque gorge 

 ■of the Avon at Hanham, through which that river has cut its 

 way to Bristol. Some interesting beds may also be seen at 



