134 
THE GEOLOGIST. 
Here, then, the error consisted in the mistaking the Lias for Wenlock 
Limestone — coal being found in Staffordshire reposing upon the 
Silurian beds, and lying between this latter deposit and the New 
Eed Sandstone, as in the diagram below. 
Section 3. 
Blub Rock. Red Rock. 
1. Wenlock Limestones and Shales. 2. Co«L 8, New Red Sandstone. 
"We see from this instructive case that the mere practical miner was 
led astray by the glimmering light which he possessed — thus showing 
how important it is that practice should be guided by a due estimate of 
the whole of the facts of the case ; and the man who is in possession of 
these will be the true scientific man, as he will be the most practical 
one. 
(To be continued.) 
THE COMMON FOSSILS OP THE BRITISH EOCKS. 
By S. J. Macece, Esa., F.G.S., P.S.A., &c., &c. 
CHAPTEK II. 
The Rocks and their Teachings. 
(C tinued /rom oaoe 103.) 
on 
But what are the silent voices of the past saying — for what 
have the wonderful and mysterious powers of nature for so 
many ages been labouring? Where, through all the strange mys- 
teries of the past, is the finger of God pointing? To MAN, 
and the world that is his. Look at all the appropriations of every 
kind of organic and inorganic matter to such varied and different 
purposes by our race, and can we divert our minds from contemplating 
the vast time and the numberless operations which have assisted 
in the elaboration of the materials necessary for our comforts or our 
wants ? Past and present creations alike show that animals fitted 
for each 'peculiar condition of our planet have existed at every period ; 
but of all those classes which have passed away, or of those which 
exist, there are none which have not been limited in their geo- 
