NATURAL HISTORY. 
101 
this formation at some distant period, from the evident 
traces of distortion which some of the quarries 
present, and this is most probably to be referred 
to the irruption of a basaltic dyke which according to 
the statement of Mr. Pearson, rises abruptly on the 
eastern side of the range, in the parish of Shelsley 
Beaachamp. This dyke is entirely unconnected 
with any of the same formation, and there is no rock 
of a similar character nearer than the Clee Hills, 
which are ten miles distant. As another proof of the 
disturbance the strata of these hills have sustained, 
it may be mentioned that a small unconnected patch 
of limestone occurs in the parish of Astley, on the 
eastern side of the range, abutting upon Abberley 
Hill, while another equally limited mass appears in 
the parish of Rock, to the north-west. The beds 
of impure slaty limestone contain the butterfly trilo- 
bite, Asaphus caudafus, and the Dudley trilobite, 
Calymene Blumenbachii, has been found, though 
rarely, in the purer lime. The sandstone beds are 
rich in bivalves. 
The coal field subordinate to this formation occurs 
on the north-western side of the Abberley Hills. 
No coal has been found on the eastern side of the 
range, except small patches in the parish of Ribbes- 
ford, which have been detached from the main body 
by some convulsion of nature. One isolated out-crop 
has been discovered at the bottom of the river Severn, 
pass into greyish limestone, and again alternate — their connection is exceedingly- 
curious and interesting. The sandstone, like the hme, has an almost vertical incli- 
nation, occasionally fancifully diverging from the straight line." 
