18 
DESCRIPTION OF THE ROCKS 
of red and speckled grits are common in the limestone series of Grey- 
stoke Park, Hesket-Newmarket, and other parts of Cumberland. Red 
beds occur in the lower limestone of Kirby Lonsdale. The iron ore 
of Cleator may be viewed as related to this series. 
Similar phenomena are seen on crossing Carter fell, and at several 
points near the Cheviot hills, and the Transactions of the Natural History 
Society of Newcastle contain excellent details of the same kind, con- 
cerning the lowest carboniferous series of the Tweed. Mr. Milne has 
likewise given additional information on this subject, in his account of 
the geology of Berwickshire (Brit. Assoc. Reports, vol. 3). 
It is remarkable that these red sandstones contain few or no organic 
remains, while in the same section at Brough, the yellow grits are even 
full of plants, and the limestones rich in animal remains. If the cause 
of this general absence of organic remains from the old red and new 
red sandstones can be cleared up, a considerable step will have been 
gained for inductive geology. 
MOUNTAIN LIMESTONE FORMATION. 
The mountain limestone may be considered as peculiarly a British 
rock ; for its extent in our island is far greater than in all the rest of 
Europe. The study of it is full of curious interest, and the variations 
which it presents appear well calculated to suggest correct views as to 
the changing conditions of the ocean and land, during one geological 
period. Such views, once obtained, may be applied to other parallel 
cases, and thus, by slow degrees, may a steady light be poured upon 
the now dark problem of the ancient hydrography of the earth. No 
single locality or small district can yield an adequate type for this great 
and variable series of strata, which has one character in the south of 
England, another in the northern counties ; and exhibits some new 
peculiarities in Ireland and Scotland. Yorkshire stands as a middle 
term, to which the extremes of the Northumberland, Cumberland, and 
Derbyshire sections may be conveniently referred : and the generaliza- 
