Proceedings of the Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society (Volume 3) (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1852 Excerpt: ... THE Limestone of Cannington Park has always been a geological puzzle; and, long since geology has become a science worthy the attention of learned men, it has been considered nonfossiliferous. Nearly forty years ago, the well known Geologist, Leonard Horner, explored Cannington Park very carefully, and his observations on it are published in one of the early numbers of the Geological Transactions, in a paper entitled, " Sketch of the Geology of the Western part of Somersetshire." In this interesting and valuable report, Mr. Horner says: "I examined this Limestone with very great care, in order to discover whether it contained any organic remains, and particularly at the decomposed surfaces, and at those places where the stone was bruised by the blow of the hammer, but I could not find the slightest trace; and some of the quarry men, who had worked there for several years, told me they had never found anything of the kind." Notwithstanding Mr. Horner failed to discover fossils in this rock, he records the following opinion, in the paper above quoted: "It is very probable that by a more minute examination, madripores and shells will be found in this Limestone, for there are lamina of calcareous spar dispersed through it, which are strong indications of organic remains." In 1837, the late Rev. D. Williams read a paper, to the Geological Section of the British Association at Liverpool, on the Geology of parts of Cornwall, Devon, and West Somerset, wherein he says: "The Exmoor and Quantock group is of such perfectly simple structure, as to be briefly explained by a series of emergencies, the key to unlocking it being found in the fact that the lowest and most ancient emerged at, and towards, the north-east; thus, in the ascending order, the Cannington Park Limes...