GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 



21 



New Red Sandstone. — The upper part of this series of 

 strata is shown by sections derived from Warwickshire^ to 

 be sometimes unconformable to the lower portion which 

 represents the magnesian limestone and inferior beds ; and 

 the latter division is also shown to pass into the coal mea- 

 suresj the intermediate strata being loaded with common car- 

 boniferous plants. In the neighbourhood of Whitehaven, 

 however, there is no passage from the lower new red sand- 

 stone into the coal measures, though the carboniferous flora 

 apparently existed in full perfection during the period in 

 which the former strata were deposited. The new red sand- 

 stone of Dumfriesshire is shown to be continuous with that 

 of the plains of Carlisle, but the lower divisions of the series 

 are considered to be wanting. The strata near Dumfries are 

 stated to be mineralogically the same as those of Corncokle 

 Moor, and to contain impressions of footsteps. To the north 

 of the Galloway chain, the new red series occurs at very few 

 localities ; and, coupling this fact with the great development 

 in many parts of Scotland of red sandstones of the carboni- 

 ferous series, the author concludes that the highest stratified 

 beds of Arran do not represent the new red sandstone, but a 

 portion of the coal measures, though there is no counterpart 

 in England of the upper conglomerate of that island. 



Carboniferous Series. — The carboniferous series of Scot- 

 land is stated to be divisible into the three following groups : — 



1. The rich deposits, with numerous beds of coal, presenting 

 in their characters the closest analogy to the English coal- 

 fields, though their exact position in the geological sequence 

 cannot be determined. 2. A great group, forming the base 

 of the most productive coal measures, and containing beds of 

 coal of an inferior quality, also many thin bands of limestone, 

 alternating with sandstones and shales, and having generally 

 thick beds of limestone at the top. 3. A variable deposit 

 of red sandstones, shales, &c., containing, in the higher por- 

 tions, coal measure plants, with even thin beds of coal, and 



