92 



THE GEOLOGIST. 



" In conclusion, I would remark that I have merely selected the cracker- 

 nodules in illustration of the subject ; similar occurrence of concretions being 

 repeated at intervals throughout the whole series of the Greensand strata, as at 

 Blackgang and Cliii's End. Also at Shanklin, in the nodules of ironstone, and in 

 a greyish gritty sandstone, are many of the same kinds of fossils as at Atherfield, 

 together with others not to be found in the ' Crackers.' Therefore, as they have 

 all died together, the question arises, Did they all live and feed together ? — 

 Yours, &c., M. W. Norman." 



Cad c ASIAN Geology. — " Sir, — I have just read through with intense interest 

 that best of monuments to a great and glorious spirit passed away, ' The Testi- 

 mony of the Rocks,' by Hugh Miller ; and in his eighth lecture, on the Noachian 

 Deluge, where he so clearly proves ' that season of judgment' to have overtaken 

 only the then inhabited world, ' the Low Steppe of the Caucasus,' it occurred to 

 me, that if this Avere the case (which I accept in full faith, as coming from such an 

 authority), bones of those wondrous antediluvian giants might be found in that 

 region, and there alone. Does no geologist care to make such a search ? where, 

 too, the hidden marvels must lie so near the surface, comparatively speaking, and 

 where the discovery would set one more seal to the truths of his wondrous science. 

 Yours, &c., E. E. Byng, Lymington." 



The geology of the Caucasus and its vicinity is laid down in a handsome map 

 by Koch, and has to some extent been worked out in detail by Koch, Abich, and 

 others ; but mammalian remains appear to be rare in the superficial deposits, as 

 far as observation has yet been made in that wild countiy, and no fossil human 

 bones have been met with. M. Abich, of St. Petersburgh, is, we believe, now 

 occupied in a large work on Caucasian geology. 



Geology op Shap District.—" Professor Phillips, in his ' Treatise on Geo- 

 logy,' when describing the erratic block gToup, says, ' that the line followed by the 

 blocks from Shap through Lancashire, and northward to Carlisle, is in a great 

 depression parallel to the fault of the Penine chain.' 



" L Do the strata dip fi'om Shap into the vale of Eden, and then rise towards 

 the Penine chain of mountains, so as to form a trough-formed depression I 2. Or 

 do they dip from Shap to the western or down-thrown side of the Penine faidt ; 

 and then on the eastern, or upheave-side, dip away again to the eastward ? 3. Is 

 there a ridge of high ground from Orton by Ravenstoiiedale and Mallerstang Forest 

 through this depression, and does its general altitude seem to be as high as the 

 low part of the Penine chain on Stainmoor? 4. To what formations do the 

 deposits which rest in the hollow from Carlisle to Kirby Lonsdale belong, and 

 what is their nature ? — John Curry." 



1. The strata dip from Shap at a slight angle to the Craven fault, and then at 

 an increased angle to Eden : towards the Penine fault and chain they rise again ; 

 but the stratification is not very clear in its details to the east. 2. The beds still 

 dip westwardly on the eastern side of the Penine fault ; but the strata are locally 

 disturbed, 3. We are not personally acquainted with the physical and geological 

 details in this district. A comparison of the Ordnance Survey and any good 

 geological map will help the querist. 4. From Carlisle the Kew Red Sandstone 

 reaches to about midway between Lazonby and Appleby ; the underlying Permian 

 beds are then exposed as far as Brough and Kirby Stephen. The ^Mountain or 

 Scar- limestone then succeeds to the south-east as far as Ravensdale, where the old 

 Silurian Schists are exposed. These extend to Kirby Lonsdale, with the excep- 

 tion of some intervening patches of Mountain Limestone and Old Red Conglo- 

 merate. 



Mammalian Remains.— " Sir, — In turniug over the pages of old topogra- 

 phical books I often meet with notices of mammalian remains. If you think the 

 extracts I have sent will serve any useful purpose in jNIr. Prestwich's inquiry, 

 I shall be pleased to furnish you with more of them from time to time. — F. S. A." 



" in the cutting of some works at Eau Brink (near King's Lbui) in 1819, at 

 tlie depth of twenty-two feet from the smface of the earth and in a bed of shingle, 

 a quantity of various kinds of marine shells Avas found, and from thence was taken 

 out a pair of beautiful antlers attached to the upper part of a skull, Avitli every 



