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X.— Short Account of the Bocks in the Neigh- 
hourhood of St John's, Newfoundland, 
By Mr John Baird. 
{Read 2Sd Februarij 1822.) 
In^ approaching the fishing grounds on the coast of Ame- 
rica, the soundings were from sixty to thirty fathoms; over 
the great Bank of Newfoundland, generally about thirty- 
five. The lead brought up a fine sand, and frequently 
small pieces of a rough flint, together with particles of 
a green smooth mineral, in the form of coarse green 
sand. It is certainly a singular fact, that so large a por- 
tion of shallow water should exist so far out at sea, the 
sea deepening so rapidly beyond the Bank. Is it not pro- 
bable that a large tract of dry land had formerly existed 
where the Bank is now found? The rocks which formed 
this land may have been composed of very soft mate- 
rials, and the occurrence of flint and green sand over 
the Bank seems to indicate that the greater part of the ori- 
ginal rocks had been of the Chalk and Green Sand Forma- 
tions. A country composed of these rocks, which are of 
