258 



NEW RED SANDSTONE. 



supposed to be of later formation than that already 

 described under the name of old. It is also called 

 variegated sandstone and red marl, and is one of the 

 most extensive rocks in Europe, being the site of the 

 salt-mines of Cheshire and Poland, and of the mercu- 

 ry of Idria. Althongh rock-salt and gypsum are 

 found both in the secondary and tertiary strata, yet 

 their occurrence is regarded as most characteristic 

 of the new red sandstone. They thus occur in Eu- 

 rope ; and in Cheshire (Eng.), 42 yards below the 

 surface there is a bed of salt 26 yards thick ; and be- 

 low this there is another bed, which has been sunk 

 into 40 yards without penetrating through it. 



What is called new red sandstone is a very mis- 

 cellaneous rock, or, rather, group, being made up of 



1. Psammite, a rock composed of quartz, with an 

 argillaceous cement, coloured red by oxide of iron 



2. Red marl, or, as it is called in Jersey, red shale. 



3. Bituminous and Carboniferous Shales. 



4. Conglomerate, composed of pebbles of quartz, 

 feldspar, and rounded fragments of older rocks, ce 

 mented by a red clay. 



5. Red Clay. 



6. Gypsum, 



7. Rock-salt. 



8. Magnesian limestone. 



It contains, besides, beds of lignite (coal), iron 

 ore, strontian, barytes, manganese, cobalt, bismuth, 

 copper, lead, &c. 



It is yet in dispute among geologists whether the 

 new red sandstone, or a rock equivalent to the 

 new red sandstones of the Old World, does exist in 

 this country. We have already stated the reasons 

 w^hich induced Professor Hitchcock to consider the 

 sandstone of the Connecticut Valley as belonging 

 to this formation, and in our judgment they are 

 satisfactory. In our own state there seems to be 

 great uncertainty in relation to the date of our 



