CHAPTER III. 



NEW RED SYSTEM. 



UPPER FORMATIONS. 



1. Saliferous Marls, fyc.—2. Red Sandstone and Quartzose Conglomerate. 



In the preceding chapter it has been shown, that the Lias is succeeded by beds of green 

 and red marl, constituting the upper portion of the great series of strata, called in the 

 annexed stratigraphical table the New Red System. In this system are included all those 

 deposits of marl, sandstone, and limestone, which lie between the Lias and the car- 

 boniferous rocks, and which from their great development in certain parts of the island, 

 are capable of being divided into formations, by differences in lithological and fossili- 

 ferous characters. In the South-west of England, Messrs. Buckland and Conybeare 1 have 

 described them as consisting of upper marls, central sandstones, and a lower deposit 

 of conglomerate, composed of fragments of carboniferous limestone cemented by a 

 calcareous paste containing magnesia. The last-mentioned rock, called by them the 

 Dolomitic conglomerate, is the equivalent of the magnesian limestone of Durham and 

 Yorkshire, and lies unconformably upon the coal measures. In the North-east of En- 



1 With regret I observe, that in reference to this system, my distinguished friends Messrs. Buckland and 

 Conybeare have recently abandoned (it is to be hoped for a short time only) the simple English name of New Red 

 Sandstone, adopting the Greek derivative " Pcecilitic " or " Poikilitic," which being translated means variegated 

 or spotted, the " Bunter " of the Germans, or " Irise " of the French. There are strong reasons why this hard 

 word should not be received in our geological tables. 1st. There are great masses of the New Red Sand- 

 stone which are not spotted or variegated. 2ndly. There are vast tracts of England, Scotland, and Ireland, in 

 which the Old Red Sandstone is quite as much spotted as the New. Now, as the great object of nomenclature 

 and classification is to simplify, I cannot perceive why in the very region, of all others in Europe, where the di- 

 stinctions which have led to a great stratigraphical separation between the New and Old Red Sandstones are 

 best displayed, a name should now be borrowed from the French, which with equal fitness may be applied to 

 either of these systems, since it expresses nothing more than a lithological feature common to them both. I 

 therefore earnestly hope that the long- established and well-understood names of New and Old Red Sand- 

 stone, the one above, the other below the coal measures, may be adhered to by all British geologists. In 

 France the nomenclature of Brongniart might well be received, since in that country there is no great system 

 representing the Old Red Sandstone of the British Islands, though we know that it is largely developed in 

 Norway, and, according to Mr. Lyell, in Silesia and Bohemia. (See Principles of Geology, vol. iv. p. 313. Ed. 4.) 



