Page:A Treatise on Geology, volume 1.djvu/214

rather the only, complete series of the Permian system in the British islands, is that of the north of England, where alone certain lower members are clearly exhibited. The following synopsis is founded on the views of Professor Sedgwick. ('On Magnesian Limestone', Geological Transactions.)

e. Laminated limestones of Knottingley, Doncaster, &c., with layers of coloured marls, 30 or 40 feet.

d. Gypseous red, bluish, &c., marls, 50 feet.

c. Magnesian limestone, yellow, white; of various texture and structure; some parts full of fragmentary masses, 100 feet.

b. Marl slates; laminated, impure, calcareous rocks, of a soft argillaceous or sandy nature, 20 feet.

a. Lower red sandstone, with red and purple marls and micaceous beds; sometimes the grits are white or yellow; and pebbly, or loose sand. Occasionally passes into coal measures, on which it rests, 50 feet.

Magnesian conglomerates border the Staffordshire and Salopian coal fields, and have a lower red sandstone beneath them. At Manchester, the magnesian limestone is somewhat better defined; at Kirkby Stephen, it is represented by a brecciated limestone rock; and at St. Bee's Head is a complicated formation of considerable thickness, in which the calcareous part is an important feature.

Germany.	England.	France.
Lower Bunter.
Stinkstein, rauchwacke, &c.	Upper limestone.
Gypseous marls.	Gypseous marls.	Gres de Vosges.
Zechstein.	Magnesian limestone.
Kupfer schiefer.	Marl slate.
Rothetodteliegende.	Lower red sandstone.	Gres rouge.

The Organic Remains of this system, though not numerous, are exceedingly interesting to the naturalist and geologist, from the strong testimony they offer of the successive changes of the living creation, according to the new circumstances of the land and sea. The fossil