208 
On the Sandstone of India. 
[July, 
2dly. That it is quarried for architectural purposes. 
3dly. That it is saliferous. 
4 tidy. That it is horizontally stratified. 
5thly. That it is unconformably stratified. 
Now these beds of variegated marks, and grits, are not decisive marks of distinc- 
tion between the new and old Red Sandstone. They may be seen in both. It is true, 
that Werner called his first floetz Sandstone, the “ Bunter Sandstein,” from this 
character ; but it is equally true, that geologists in England were at a loss to know 
which of these two formations was meant by the name ; until it was found that 
the “ old red” on the continent Avas an unimportant bed, subordinate to gran- 
wacke. 
For the sake of an example, we will go no further than the “ Outlines.” In 
p. 468, note, we find, “Red and variegated grits, alternating Avith slate-clay.” English 
equivalent, “ Old Red Sandstone.” Any one who has travelled over the “ Old 
Red,” may call to mind similar instances. 
Indeed, as it is universally allowed, that these tAvo formations are only successive 
deposits, produced by the wearing away of the primary rocks, we can hardly 
suppose, that their diffeernce of composition Avould be marked in the same 
country, where both came from the same rocks ; and, were it so, still less should 
Ave have a right to draAV any inference from such a character, in a distant country, 
wlxeie the rocks from Avhich they Avere deposited, may have been totally different. 
With respect to the second reason “ that it is quarried for architectural 
purposes, the assertion will equally apply to most of the sandstone of the coal 
formation, as well as of the Old Red Sandstone. 
The^ third reason is the only one I can estimate to have any weight Avith it, viz. 
that “ the formation is saliferous,” and on this head the evidence is far from 
satisfactory. The Red Marl” of England, and the adjoining continent, is noted 
for containing extensive beds of rock salt and gypsum. In the Bhartpfir district 
we find there are “ no deposits of rock salt and gypsum }” but “ the soil is 
impre 0 nated to a great depth with saline particles, aqd a saline efflorescence very 
generally appears at the surface. The majority of the wells too are brackish. 
It does not clearly appear upon Avhat rock this soil rests, for shortly afterwards 
the question is asked, Are such saline soils found only in connexion with rocks 
of the New Red Sandstone formation ?” so that the soil here is simply the alluvium 
of the great valley of the Ganges. It seems that in the wells from which the 
salt Avater is drawn, the “ richest Avater” is procured at a depth of from 57 to b’O 
feet. It is, therefore, probable that there is no extensive bed of rock salt below 
t hat depth : that there is none above it, is of course proved by the sinking of the 
wells. Captain Franklin’s evidence is to the same effect. “ The sandstone,” he 
says, is saliferous, because “the plains below are saturated with salt that is, 
I presume, the alluvial plains of the Ganges below the pass of Tara. There are 
also salt Avorks on the banks of the Tons river, but it is not mentioned from 
what source the salt is derived. I conclude, therefore, it is not a “ Rock Salt. 
As salt springs occur in the Northumberland coal formation, (see Mr. 
paper m Geological Transactions,) no inference could be drawn from their presence 
in a sandstone , even were it proved that they issued from the rock itself, and 
were not the mere dratvings of a saline soil. Not a word is mentioned of t 
gypsum, a more constant accompaniment to the “ Red Marl,” than the rock sa 1 
I now come to the fourth reason, “ that it is horizontally stratified j” tlie 
Wth connected with this, “ that it is unconformably stratified ” 
