A GLOSSARY OF GEOLOGICAL TERMS. 4 * 
By Gideon A. Mantell, LL.D., F.R.S. 
Alluvium, water-worn materials.— Aluminum, metallic base of Clay.— Amor¬ 
phous, shapeless.— Amygdaloid, cellular volcanic rock, the cavities of which are 
filled with other substances.— Anthracite, Stone or Cannel Coal.— Anthracotherium, 
an extinct animal, allied to Balceotheria, found in Anthracite.— Augite , a mineral 
found in many volcanic rocks. 
Basalt , ancient lava, composed of Augite and Felspar, frequently columnar.—- 
Basin, a depression of, or concavity in, strata.— Belemnite, the bone of an animal 
allied to the Cuttle-fish.— Bitumen, Mineral pitch or tar.— Blende , Sulphuret of 
Zinc, occurring in Primary and Secondary rocks.-— Breccia, conglomerate of peb¬ 
bles or fragmented rocks. 
Calc sinter, deposition from thermal springs, charged with Carbonate of Lime.—- 
Calcaire grossier , a Tertiary Limestone.— Calcium , metallic base of Lime.— 
Carbon, the elementary substance of Charcoal and the Diamond.-— Carbonate of 
Lime,ltime and Carbonic Acid.— Carboniferous, belonging to Coal.— Chalcedony, 
a species of Silex, named from Chalcedon, a city of Asia, near which it is found 
in great abundance.— Chert, a Silicious mineral allied to Flint and Chalcedony.—- 
Choanite, a zoophyte of the Chalk.— Cirrus, fossil shell of the Chalk.f— Corn- 
brash, a coarse shelly Limestone.— Conclioidal, shelly.— Conformable, applied to 
parallel strata lying upon each other.— Conglomerate, fragments cemented together. 
*— Crag, a Tertiary deposit; from a provincial term used in Norfolk and Suffolk to 
denote Gravel.— Crater, the vent of a volcano.— Crinoidea, Lily-shaped animals. 
— Crystals, symmetrical forms assumed by mineral substances.— Cyathiform , cup¬ 
shaped. 
Delta, alluvial deposits formed by rivers.— Denudation, strata exposed by the 
action of water.— Detritus, disintegrated materials of rocks.— Diluvium, a term 
formerly employed to designate ancient alluvial deposits.— Dip, the inclination 
of strata.— Dyke , an intrusion of melted matter into rents or fissures of solid 
rocks. 
Earth’s crust, that portion of the solid surface of the earth which is accessible 
to human observation— Encrinite, a genus of Crinoidea.—Eocene, the dawn of 
the present epoch; the early Tertiary.— Escarpment , the steep cliff of a ridge of 
land.— Exuvice , organic remains. 
* From the Wonders of Geology. This list is not intended as a complete geological glossary ; but 
it will be found to serve the general purposes of the student very well.—E d. 
+ See Dr, Mantell’s Geology of the South-East of England, p. 125 ,—Ed. 
