April 1.68 September .......... 213 24.32 May ......................................... 2·09 October. .............. 2.86 Total average for the year being 24 inches and §. Mr. Pilkington has observed, that during a period of twelve years the thermometer never fell below 5 degrees, nor rose above 85. In most sum- Temperamers it varies from 64 to 74 degrees. During sharp frosts it remains at ture. about 14 degrees. The air on the mountainous parts of Derbyshire is for the most part clear and dry: it receives little heat from the rays of the sun, and must consequently be colder than in lower situations, but it is also considered to be comparatively more pure and healthful. With the exception of one disorder to which the inhabitants of mountainous countries are said to be more or less subject, there are no epidemic Health and diseases in Derbyshire, and the average duration of human life is calculated Longevity. rather higher here than in other English counties.* The disorder to which we allude is the bronchocele or Derbyshire neck. In Switzerland, particularly in the Vallais, the people are subject to excrescences on the throat similar to the Derbyshire neck, and the cause is said to be the springs which are impregnated with tufa, nearly similar to the incrustations at Matlock. The Rev. Mr. Davies thus describes this complaint as it appears in this county. "It is a swelling seated on the fore-part of the throat, occasioned by the enlargement of the thyroid gland; but not unfrequently the gland becomes subdivided into several fleshy portions, connected closely to each other by cellular membranes. The form and contents of this tumour are very various: during the first years of its existence it is reddish, and moderately compressible; endowed with little sensibility, highly vascular in its texture, not readily going into suppuration, and leaving the external skin of its natural colour. It is generally believed that the swelling, in the greater number of cases, is truly sarcomatous or fleshy; while some have said the bronchocele consists of a honey-like matter; others that it contains little portions of bone and hair; others, that it is inflated by air; and some that it is distended by a watery or puriform fluid: all these opinions may be occasionally true. Females, children, and persons of relaxed and delicate constitutions, are more subject to this affliction than males, adults, and persons whose habits are rigid and vigorous: but sometimes persons of apparently good constitutions, of either sex, are affected by it."+ The following are the most remarkable instances of Longevity in the county: Adam Wolley, of Allen Hill, near Matlock, died in 1657, aged 100. Grace Wolley, wife of the above, died in 1669, aged 110. Cornelius Chrich, died at Ashover, in 1789, aged 101. Sarah Hollins, died at Somercotes, about 1820, aged 102. Mary Bate, died at Beighton, in 1792, aged 105. Mrs. Bakewell, died at Derby, in 1791, aged 99. William Cooke, died at Barbrough, in 1640, aged 100. In Taddington Churchyard is the following inscription. Here lies the body of William Hewed, who departed this life Nov. 19, 1718, aged 218. Mary Gratton, died at Taddington, in 1795, aged 101. Alice Buckley, died at Taddington, about the year 1821, aged 106. Davies's View of Derbyshire. Geology. CHAPTER II. Geology and subterranean geography of Derbyshire. Principal strata, and their positions. Gravel: clay: marl: magnesian limestone. Coalmeasures, fault, &c. in the great coal field. Gritstone: mineral limestone and toadstone strata, mineral veins, &c.: fourth limestone, its gulfs or caverns and fault. Soils. Minerals. Mining. List of Derbyshire minerals. Lead, and modes of working the veins, &c. Copper. Iron. Coals, modes of working, &c. Marbles, stone quarries: slates, &c. Earths. Summary. CHAP. 2. THE coals, iron, lead and marble found beneath the surface of the earth, constitute much of the wealth of this county, while the violence which in the northern districts has broken up the layers or coats of the globe, has also disclosed to our investigation the regular position of those layers or lamina which form the earth's incrustment. Miners must for ages have known that beds of a more or less close or cohesive nature, of different colours, and apparently of very dissimilar matter, lay over each other in particular districts, but the scientific study and classification of these beds is comparatively very modern. A German writer named Lehman, observed, that "the lower rocks in some of the mining districts were distinguished from the upper rocks by their hardness and by their structure, which was for the most part either crystalline or slaty; they were also distinguished by the absence of shells and other organic remains, and by the absence of fragments of other rocks which occur so frequently in the upper rocks or strata. He further observed, that many of the upper strata, besides containing organic remains, appeared to have been formed of fragments of the lower rocks, broken down and agglutinated together; and hence he inferred, that the lower rocks were formed prior to the creation of animals, and he gave them the name of primitive or primary, and distinguished the upper by the name of secondary." But it is not in the nature of geology to make rapid advances, and its investigations have much oftener served for grounds of dispute than for the advancement of science. Geologists have formed systems when they ought to have been contented with the slow process of acquiring facts, and they have been discussing whether fire or water has been the agent in breaking up these masses of strata, and of thereby affording them the means of research, instead of quietly accumulating the abundance of facts thus offered to their contemplation. The best and now most general arrangement of the strata to be found in their writings, is the following: 1. Primary. 2. Intermediate or transition. 3. Secondary; comprising the lower secondary series and the upper secondary series. * Bakewell's Introduction to Geology. 4. Tertiary. 5. Basaltic and volcanic. 6. Diluvial and alluvial. The Primary rocks contain no fossil remains of animals or vegetables. -Transition or intermediate rocks are less crystalline than the primary, and occasionally contain organic remains of the most inferior animals.— Many of the Secondary rocks abound exclusively in the fossil remains of vegetables, analogous to ferns, palms and reeds; while the rocks in the former or transition class contain exclusively the remains of marine animals. In the upper series of secondary rocks there are organic remains of marine animals, but of different genera and species from those in the lower rocks.—“ It is in rocks of this species," observes Bakewell, “that we first meet with remains of animals of a higher class, which are possessed of a brain or spinal marrow; but these vertebrated animals are all of the oviparous order, such as fish, or the saurian or lizard tribe."-The Tertiary strata are the uppermost of all the regular rock formations: they consist chiefly of clay, limestone, and friable sandstone: they contain marine shells, and shells resembling those found in fresh water; and some of these strata "contain numerous bones of quadrupeds of the class mammalia, but these for the most part belong to genera and species which no longer exist upon the earth.”+- Volcanic and basaltic rocks cover in an irregular manner the rocks of the preceding classes, but their origin is much disputed.Diluvial and alluvial deposites indicate the action of mighty inundations, which have swept over the face of different districts of the globe, and generally consist of thick beds of sand or clay, and fragments of rock and loose stones, more or less rounded by attrition. "The classes of rock above enumerated have their appropriate mineral productions, and with the exception of rocks of the first class, their appropriate remains; and it would be as useless to search for regular beds of common coal in the primary rocks, as it would be to search for metallic veins or statuary marble in the tertiary strata."‡ To explain the positions of these strata as they are found in Derbyshire, we refer our readers to the geological plate, which represents various sections within the county. That in the first compartment marked (A) represents a section of the strata between Grange mill and Darley moor. The upper outline shows the surface of the earth; the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, &c. the respective strata. Under the river Derwent is represented a fissure filled up with rubble: but, there is reason to believe, that Mr. Whitehurst, from whose excellent work we have taken this illustration, was mistaken in supposing that the strata was so much broken beneath the bed of this river. No. 1. Millstone-grit, 120 yards. A coarse sandstone, composed of granulated quartz and quartz pebbles. The former retain the sharpness of fragments newly broken, the latter are rounded as stones on the sea shore. This stratum is not productive of minerals, nor figured stones representing any part of the animal or vegetable kingdoms. Bakewell's Introduction to Geology. † Ibid. Ibid. It may be proper to observe, that this slight geological sketch is abridged wholly from Mr. Bakewell's Introduction. CHAP. 2. Geology. CHAP. 2. The quartz pebbles contained in this stratum, indicate a pre-existent state; for it is well known that quartz is a parasitical substance, formed in the fissures of a quartzose stone, as spar is formed in those of limestone, and not in strata. This shows that the pebbles were first formed in fissures; that the strata were broken, and their fragments rounded by attrition, as stones on the sea beach, or in rivers. The quartz pebbles abovementioned are white; the colour of the quartzose stones from whence they are produced is black, brown, &c. They are in common use for paving streets, and are frequently variegated with seams of white quartz running through them. They are the common gravel-stone of Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, &c. Quartzose stone is analagous to flint; it strikes fire with steel, and resists acids. It is less hard than flint, and breaks with a rough surface. We are told that the minerals in Norway and Sweden are contained in the fissures of a quartzose stone. No. 2. Shale or shiver, 120 yards. A black laminated clay, much indurated, contains neither animal nor vegetable impressions, and is not considered as a stratum productive of minerals, as lead ore, spar, &c. though an instance or two has appeared to the contrary, in a mine called Shawengine, near Eyam, attended with a curious circumstance. A vein of lead ore in No. 3, ascended into No. 2, fifteen or twenty fathoms; and the higher it ascended, the less and less it was mineralized, till it terminated in a white mucus-like substance. Mr. Whitehurst states that he had this information from people of veracity. Quære. Was the ore generated from the mucus-like substance? or was that substance the product of ore decomposed by the acid contained in that stratum ? The above stratum contains ironstone in nodules, and sometimes stratified. The springs issuing from it are of the chalybeate kind: for instance, one near the bridge at Buxton, one at Quarndon, and another beyond Matlock bridge, towards Chatsworth. No. 3. Limestone, 50 yards. Productive of lead ore, the ore of zinc, calamine, pyrites, spar, fluor, cauk, and chert. This stratum also contains figured stones, representing various kinds of marine animals; as a great variety of anemia bivalves, not known to exist in the British seas; also coralloids, entrochi or screw-stones. The impression of a crocodile was found in the above bed of stone, at Ashford, by Mr. Henry Watson of Bakewell. The above stratum is composed of various lamina, more or less separated by shale or shiver, a substance similar to No. 2; especially the upper, which are a good black, take a fine polish, and are thence called black marble. The lower lamine are rather brown, as may be observed in the rocks composing Matlock High-Tor. The ore of zinc is commonly called black-jack and mock-ore, from its similitude to lead ore. It is but lately discovered to contain zinc. When compounded with copper it makes brass, as calamine. Calamine, though similar in its mineral qualities, is apparently a simple brown earth; it is commonly used in medicine by the name of lapis calaminaris. No. 4. Toadstone, 16 yards. A blackish substance, very hard; contains CHAP. 2. bladder-holes, like the scoria of metals, or Iceland lava, and has the same chemical property of resisting acids. Some of its bladder-holes are filled Geology. with spar, others only in part, and others again are quite empty. This stratum is not laminated, but consists of one entire solid mass, and breaks alike in all directions. It does not produce any minerals, or figured stones representing any part of the animal or vegetable creation, nor any adventitious bodies enveloped in it; but is as much an uniform mass as any vitrified substance whatever can be supposed to be: neither does it universally prevail, as the limestone strata; nor is it, like them, equally thick; but in some instances varies in thickness from six feet to six hundred, as will be shown hereafter. It is likewise attended with other circumstances which leave no room to doubt of its being as much a lava as that which flows from Hecla, Vesuvius, or Etna. The various circumstances relative to this apparent lava will be considered in their due place, with some attempt to investigate the cause of its introduction between the limestone strata; and to show why it did not overflow the surface of the earth, according to the usual operations of volcanoes. It must be observed, that the above stratum is known by the following names of black-stone and toad-stone at Matlock and Winster; at Monyash and Tideswell, by that of channel; and at Castleton, by that of catdirt. It No. 5. Limestone, 25 fathoms. This stratum is laminated like the former, No. 3, and contains all the same kinds of minerals and figured stones. It is likewise productive of the Derbyshire marble, so much esteemed for its beauty and excellence in slabs and chimney-pieces. abounds more plentifully with entrochi, or screw-stone, than any other marine productions. The quarry from whence this marble is commonly raised, is situate on Monyash moor, near the road, between that town and Bakewell; its colour is grey. No. 6. Toadstone, 23 fathoms. This stratum is similar to No. 4, in colour and chemical properties; but yet more solid, and freer from bladder holes, as may be observed in Mosey-meer mine, near Winster. No. 7. Limestone, 30 fathoms. Laminated like the former No. 3 and 5, and like them contains minerals and figured stones; but fewer of the latter. Its colour is much whiter than No. 5. No. 8. Toadstone, 11 fathoms. This stratum is similar to No. 6, but yet more solid, as may be observed in Hubberdale mine, near Monyash. No. 9. Limestone, not yet cut through. Productive of minerals and figured stones, like the former, No. 3, 5, and 7, but very few of the latter. N. B. No vegetable forms have yet been discovered in any of the limestone strata.* * The compartment marked (B) exhibits a section of the strata at Matlock High Tor. The numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, on each side the river show the corresponding strata, which as they have a different inclination may be supposed to be dislocated, but Mr. Farey states that the miners have driven a gate across under the river, in solid and unbroken measures. The compartment marked (C) is copied from Bakewell's Introduction * See Whitehurst, Appendix. |
