GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF MANCHESTER. 153 



in which, at places, trap had been discovered. The existence 

 of traces of former volcanic action was also to be found not 

 remote from Droitwich. With respect to the second sub- 

 division, it was argued that it was impossible that beds of 

 salt, one 75 and another averaging 105 feet in thickness, 

 could be injected without breaking up the overlying strata, 

 and sending veins of sak into the fissures so caused ; but 

 that, at Northwich, the strata overlying the salt were per- 

 fectly regular and not dislocated, and no veins of salt were 

 found in any stratum above the 7^ feet or highest salt; and 

 further, that the fractures which were found in the strata 

 lying between the salt were gentle, such as would be caused 

 in the settlement and gradual hardening of the same. This 

 was shown in some specimens, in one of which a diagonal 

 crack had taken place ; the edges of the laminae were slightly 

 bent, and a vein of salt had run in. This slight displace- 

 ment was covered over again by horizontal layers, thus show- 

 ing that the infiltration of the salt was contemporaneous with 

 the deposit of the stratum. This contemporaneous deposit 

 was also well shown in other specimens. At this place an 

 account was given of certain strata of rock and salt, which 

 had been bored through at Mr. Newman's pit at Marston, 

 near Northwich. These particulars, it was stated, had not as 

 yet been made generally known. Till within a few^ years, 

 the thick or second bed had not been sunk through, though 

 worked into, at some places, 117 ^eet. At Mr. Newman's 

 pit, the thickness of the lower bed was 96 feet. The new 

 shaft was sunk to a depth of 150 feet below the second or 

 thick salt, and passed through four beds of salt of various 

 degrees of purity, of the respective thicknesses of 6 feet J 

 inches, 3 feet 4 inches, 6 feet, and 11 feet 6 inches. The 

 appearance of these and of the beds long worked, taken 

 both individually and collectively, w^as such as would be 



