256 
THE GEOLOGIST. 
Eastern and Eastern Counties of England, including Lancasliire, Cheshire, and Staf- 
fordshire. The nearest body of the Oolite and Lias series would be in the East 
liiding of Yorkshire, and in the northern part of Lincolnshire. Tlio 
nearest granites, probably, are Shap Fell, and those near Uavenglass in Westmore- 
land. Huddersiield is nearly equidistant from the Trap-rocks of Buttermere, 
Ulleswater, &c., from those of Charnwood Forest, and from those of Wellingtonand 
the Breidden, on the borders of Wales. The Brown Coal of Germany presents 
several varieties of lignite, some of it being in the condition of bog-oak, and 
some almost approaching to glance-coal. There seem to be two main seams of 
brown-coal over the north of Oermany, but for the most part the numerous 
patches of these lignites spread over Europe are more or less isolated accumu- 
lations of vegetable matter in the sediments of the estuaries and lakes of the 
middle Tertiary period, the upper Eocene of some geologists, the oligocene of Dr. 
Beyrick, and some of the brown-coals of Southern Germany belong to the upper 
Tertiary period. A paper, treating of the brown-coal of (ienuany, read by Mr. 
ILimilton, was printed in V"ol. X. of the Geological Society's Journal. 
Septakia of the London Clat. — "Sir, — Could you oblige by informing me, 
through the medium of your valuable periodical, how those concretions, called liy 
geologists 'scjitaria,' which are met with so abundantly in the London Clay, came 
into the position in which we now find them, viz., in such horizontal strata, what is the 
reason for tb.eir pecidiar internal structure, of what minerals are they essentially com- 
posed, and in what books am I likely to find a full account of tlie Lower Eocene 
strata, more especially ? Yours, &c., — Amatok Natue.?: (Cavendisli Stiuare)." — 
The septaria of tlie London clay are composed of clay and carbonate of lime, 
with some silica. Similar concretions have been found to contain asmucii as 50 per 
cent, of lime, whilst their day -matrix contained only about 10 ])er cent. Dr. 
Jackson has observed that the crystallizing force of the carl)onate of lime is the 
cause of the concretionary str\u't>n-e and form of such nodules; the foreign bodies 
frequently found witliin them liaving served as nuclei around which this semi- 
crystallisation toiik place : the carbimate of lime has segregated and carried 
with it the inert particles of clay ; and their splueroidal fonn is that whicli would 
result from this action when the force was not adequate to the prodiietion of 
crystals. Subsequently, during the contraction of the nodular mass, crevices were 
formed, in which carbonate of lime more or less freely crystallized, forming veins 
or hard divisional plates ; hence the name seplarium. The apparent horizontality 
of these nodules is owing to the original bedding of the several layers of clay witli 
difi'erent proportions of fossil remains, which may have been, to some extent, a 
source of the carbonate of lime. Mr. Prestwich is the chief English author on 
the tertiary strata of England. His numerous memoirs have apjieared in the 
" Journal of the (ieological Society ; " and the small work lie has lately ])ublished, 
"The Ground beneath us," contains a cdncisc epitome of his views and deductions; 
■we recomuiend it for our querist's pcriisal. 
New Bed Conceetions.- — The note of W. R. B., of Stockport, referring to 
New Bed Sandstone specimens from the Mersey, between Egremont and New 
Brighton, is diificult to answer, as we have none of the specimens before us. 
Possibly they are ripple-formed layers with argillo-calcareous concretions, the 
origin of which cannot be determined ^^■ithout actual inspection. Oiu' correspon- 
dent's suggestion of their beiug " nuid-balls " may be correct. 
Works on the Geology of North Staffordshiee. — Sir, — I have l)een 
mucii interested by the articles in the Geologist, on the carlioniferous beds ; and 
write to ask if you can recommend any books which give full information as to 
that formation, especially of the coal-beds themselves? As I liave <)i)]iortunities and 
facilities for personal inspection of the North Stallbrdshire coal-field, I sliall feel 
particularly obliged if you can direct me to any books written with special 
reference to that field. Jn your last innnber, I saw a notice of the Ulini/ii/ 
Jdiii wd ; is the North Stairordshire coal-field, in its geological aspects, noticed in 
this work, if so, what is its jjrice ? — C. F. L. licok."— We cannot point to any special 
work (111 the Nortli Slall'onUliire coal-licld. Prt)iessor Jukes has described that of 
South Stallbrdshire in minute detail in the " Itecords of the School of Mines" 
