356 
Mr. Webster on the Re y gate Stone. 
found layers of chert of several inches in thickness, which are so 
characteristic of the green sandstone, and also alternating thick beds 
of hard stone, or rag , similar to what occurs in other places where 
the green sand is found. This rag differs from the soft fire-stone, 
chiefly in having the calcareous matter in a crystallized state, the 
other ingredients, the siliceous sand, the mica, and the green earth, 
being the same. One branch of the drift is carried into the beds 
of the hard stone. To the south of this hill, the ferruginous sand 
bed is seen cropping out, and evidently below the level of the 
quarries. 
On putting together all these circumstances, viz. the nature of the 
Reygate firestone, and its subordinate beds of chert and hard rag, 
its situation below the chalk marl and above the ferruginous sand ; 
and comparing them with the nature and situation of the green 
sandstone in other places, for instance, at the Undercliff in the Isle 
of Wight ; the identity of these formations appears to me as evident 
as any with which I am acquainted: and whatever may be the 
anomalies in the history of the English strata, yet here, at least, no 
difficulty presents itself, but only such slight differences as every 
new locality exhibits. The bassetting or outcrop of the stratum we 
have been considering, is distinctly traced running west and east, 
keeping parallel to the chalk of the north downs. 
Stretching in the same direction, and about two miles to the 
south, is the hill or ridge on which Nutfield stands, the road to it 
from Merstham, F G, being cut in a soft but highly ferruginous 
sandstone, through which it continues to the top of the hill. On the 
summit are the fuller’s earth pits, H, open to the day. There are two 
varieties of this substance; an upper bed of six feet, I, of a yellowish 
colour, and a lower one, K, of ten feet of a slate grey : the first is 
most esteemed, though they are usually mixed. In these beds are 
