THE GEOLOGIST. 



inspection of the celebrated Caverns, which were kindly lighted up by the per- 

 mission of Lord Ward, who, unsolicited, offered this act of courtesy to the Clubs. 

 The lighting up of these caves, or rather old deserted quarries, had a most striking 

 effect, and was greeted with loud cheers by the numerous body of spectators. The 

 united Clubs afterwards dined together at the hotel, and a few brief scientific 

 disquisitions— in which Dr. Grindrod, Mr. Brodie, Mr. Lees, &c., took part — 

 terminated a very pleasant and interesting excursion. The united Clubs formed 

 a large party, numbering twenty-seven persons, including Mr. Salter, of the 

 Geological Survey. 



The third meeting of the season took place at Coventry, on the 11th of August. 

 The members assembled at the King's Head Inn at 11.30, and proceeded to the 

 Wyken Colliery, for the purpose of inspecting a portion of the Warwickshire 

 coal-field. Mr. Whittem, the owner of the pits, here explained the character and 

 extent of the coal-bearing strata in the district, which was clearly illustrated by 

 a section of one of the pits. The party being duly equipped in miners' dresses, 

 went down the shaft with comparative ease and safety, and descended about three 

 hundred feet into the bowels of the earth, under the guidance of Mr. Whittem and 

 the foreman of the pit. Although the examination of the coal in situ was attended 

 with considerable labour, those present were amply repaid for the instruction 

 afforded them by a personal inspection of a deposit which is one of the mo.st 

 valuable and important in the world. It is very rarely that the coal itself appears 

 at the surface, as most other formations do, and therefore it can only be seen and 

 worked at a considerable depth underground ; and the members of the Field Club 

 were glad to avail themselves of this opportunity of seeing the Avay in which it 

 was obtained, and the position it occupied with reference to the new red sandstone 

 formation, which it underlies. On their return to the pit's mouth, there was 

 only sufficient time to examine the quality of the ironstone associated with the 

 coal at another pit, and to bestow a hasty look at a large steam-engine used for 

 forcing up the water from below, which was of excellent quality, and of a slightly 

 mineral character. 



The Warwickshire coal-field is of limited extent, the principal pits being at 

 Sowe (its south-eastern limit), Wyken, Bedworth, and Nuneaton. It is more or 

 less affected by faults, and a considerable upthrow of trap-rock occurs in 

 one part, where it is extensively quarried, and is similar to that at Hai tshil!, 

 which is another outburst of the same igneous deposit, and may be traced at 

 intervals as far as Charnwood Forest, in Leicestershire. The quality of the coal 

 is variable, the best being tolerably good. The shale and ironstone associated 

 with it contain the usual carboniferous plants, and, in places, shells belonging to 

 the genera Unio and My tilus, and an entire and, probably, new species of Limulus, 

 were found at Sowe Colliery some years ago, by the Rev. P. B. Brodie. At 

 Bedworth there is a strong band of fresh-water limestone, containing spirorbis 

 (microconchus) carbonarius, which has also been detected in the Leicestershire, 

 Shropshire, and Lancashire coal-fields. This limestone does not occur at Wyken 

 and Sowe. 



A few members who arrived late visited several churches and other places of " 

 archaeological interest, for which the ancient city of Coventry is famous, and at 

 four o'clock the party, now nearly twenty in number, sat down to dinner. After 

 the usual business of the Society had been transacted, Mr. Whittem, at the 

 request of the President, made a few additional remarks on the coal formation of 

 the district, and Mr. Brodie gave a short account of the discovery of a new and 



