S58 NEW RED SANDSTONE, 
supposed to be of later formation than that already 
described under the name of old. It is also called 
variegated sandstone and red marl, and is one of the 
most extensive rocks in Europe, being the site of the 
salt-mines of Cheshire and Poland, and of the mercu- 
ry of Idda. Although rock-salt and gypsum are 
found both in the secondary and tertiary strata, yet 
their occurrence is regarded as most characteristic 
of the new red sandstone. They thus occur in Eu- 
rope ; and in Cheshire (Eng.), 42 yards below the 
surface there is abed of salt 2^ yards thick ; and be- 
low this there is another bed., which has been sunk 
into 40 yards without penetrating through it. 
What is called new red sandstone is a very mis- 
cellaneous rock, or, rather, group, being made up of 
1. Psammite, a rock composed of quartz, with an 
argillaceous cement, coloured red by oxide of iron. 
2. Red marl, or, as it is called in Jersey, red shale. 
3. Bituminous and Carboniferous Shales, 
4. Conglomerate, composed of pebbles of quartz, 
feldspar, and rounded fragments of oldjer rocks^ ce- 
mented by a red clay^ 
5. Red Clay, 
6. Gypsum. 
7. Rock-salt, 
8. Magnesian limestone. 
It contains, besides, beds of lignite (coal), iron 
ore, strontian, barytes, manganese, eobalt, bismuth, 
copper, lead, &ci. 
It is yet in dispute among geologists whether the 
inew red sandstone, or a rock equivalent to the 
jiew red sandstones of the Old World., does exist in 
this country. We have already stated the reasons 
which induced Professor Hitchcock to consider the 
sandstone of the Connecticut galley as belonging 
to this formation, and in our judgment they are 
satisfactory. In our own state there seems to be 
great uncertainty in relation to the date of our 
