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in the county of Cork. Specimens of the culm from
Killarney, Tralee, and Castleisland were nearly incom-
bustible, which may be accounted for from their having
been taken from the surface. In a drift in the river
Awineeghrea, a branch of the Flesk, the specimens
resemble plumbago. It is possible, by sinking, to obtain
coal like that of Kilkenny. A band of limestone, con-
taining a few organic remains, traverses the southern
part of this formation: it is chiefly blue, compact, with
chert over it, and to the west partly regularly stratified.
Where it shows itself in the middle of the Slieve Lughar
bogs, in Lord Kenmare’s quarries, it is also blue and
compact, without any chert, but a good deal of calcare-
ous spar. It next appears about two miles west of
Killarney, on the Flesk, much intermingled with horn-
stone or chert, and, finally, constitutes the great depo-
sition which forms nearly all the islands and promontories
on the north side of the Lower lake. The limestone
there meets the brown transition rocks of the moun-
tains; and near the junction it is traversed by metallic
veins of copper and lead. A second band is found in
various places along the course of the Gheestan, where
it is blackish and mingled with chert. The whole bottom
of the valley of the Maine consists of limestone lying in
strata, which, though generally confused, appear to lap
on each side above those of the mountain. The lime-
stone is generally compact, much impressed with marine
remains; black and hard towards Tralee, where it is
dressed as marble; whitening and more tender towards
Castleisland and the Maine, and of course more readily
calcined: both kinds are excellent and nearly pure.
Towards the northern side of the beds they become more
flinty, and are separated from the mountain rocks by
thin beds of Lydian stone, black or blueish grey, with the
cross fracture slightly conchoidal. Towards Tralee this
becomes a complete horn slate, the shiver of which is
highly valued for road gravel. There are large banks of
shell sand in Castlemaine bay: it is of a muddy blueish
cast, containing numerous whole shells of the species of
cardium. One of the Skellig rocks, which has often
been called marble, contains nothing but bolts of quartz
traversing the brown slate. The mountain of Slieve
Mish, which runs parallel to the Maine on its northern
side, and terminates in the peninsula of Corkaguiney,
is composed of old sandstone or grit, dipping about
40° to N. 8° W.: towards the interior the dip is greater,
and the rock more indurated. It is covered with thick
beds of millstone grit, or coarse-grained conglomerate,
with pebbles of quartz, jasper, and feldspar. The com-
ponent rock of the mountains which form nearly the
whole of the southern part of the county is of the tran-
sition class, being a clay-slate or ardesia, which dips to
the S. 55° E., at an angle of 68° from the horizontal; so
that, though nearly on edge, it presents its cliffs and
sections to the north-west. This position is favourable
to its decomposition. From the facility with which the
water penetrates, the strata split and crumble down the
mountain side, leaving a considerable detritus at the foot
of all the cliffs, finally decomposing into an adhesive
loam well suited to the production of grain crops, and
forming a principal component of many fertile soils in
the South of Ireland. The range of mountains which
separates the bay or river of Kenmare from Bantry bay
is composed of beds of schist and sandstone of various
colours, but similar in their composition to the grau-
wacke formations of other parts of the county. The
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clay-slate is quarried for roofing in some places, but as
the works have seldom proceeded far below the surface,
that raised is generally shivery and small, yet much of
it is equal in quality to the Easdale and Ballahulish, in
the West of Scotland. It is blue, purple, and green,
according to the intermixture of iron or chlorite; splits
readily and bears piercing, is slightly foliated or wavy,
harder and more silicious than Bangor slate, and very
durable. The convenience of export has hitherto only-
admitted of quarries being opened at Cahir, Begnish,
and Valencia; at the last place flags of large dimen-
sions are quarried, which find a ready market in London.
The general slate rock, especially towards the south and
centre, is in many places penetrated with veins of quartz;
is highly indurated, and in some places the traces of
stratification are entirely obliterated in the smaller spe-
cimen, though always recognizable in the great, where
the rock is found in situ. From the colour communi-
cated by the chlorite, the rock is provincially called
greenstone, being similar in aspect, though of different
composition, to that so called by mineralogists. When
the red oxyde is more abundant, it is called brownstone.
Where the induration is not so great as to destroy the
schistose as well as the lamellar structure, the rock is
used as flag or rubble stone. Flags of this sort are
common on the surface. But the most common land
stones here are the blocks of more highly indurated
rocks, which, parting from the mass by cracks and
fissures, have had their angles decomposed and worn off,
and are to be met with in the form of round boulders at
great distances from their original seat in the mountain.
One of the most singular rocks occurs close to the road
from Killarney to Ballyvourney, at the head of the glen
of Glenflesk: it rests on the transition slate of the
county, and is a close-grained compact sandstone, im-
bedded in which are minute prismatic crystals of flesh-
coloured feldspar, and here and there geodes, six or
eight inches in diameter, containing sparry iron-ore and
white quartz. It thus comes under the description of
porphyritic rocks, and is the only one at present known
in the South of Ireland. It may also be mentioned that
in all the mountains the common grit-stone contains
large quantities of spar or crystal, or both; also sparry
iron-ore, and iron pyrites in crystals. The Roughty
stream separates beds of limestone from others of clay-
slate; and near the head of the Kenmare river are seve-
ral islands abounding with limestone and beautifully
variegated marbles. Limestone occurs on other parts
of this coast. Iron is found plentifully in the southern
baronies, where there were two manufactories of it, one
at Killarney, the other at Blackstones, but both have
been long since discontinued from want of fuel. Lead-
ore is found in many parts. Copper of a golden colour
was raised at Muckross, and when the mines were
worked, grey cobalt and cobalt bloom were found in
considerable quantities; purple copper at Ardfert; and
marcasites of copper in Glanerought. The marble of
Tralee has spots like that of Kilkenny, but larger and
fuller of sparry substance: it takes a high polish.
Marble of inferior quality is found in several other parts.
In some of the islands in the bay of Kenmare is a varie-
gated marble of red and white, interspersed with yellow,
green and purple spots. A grey marble in Cappanacoss
island was formerly extensively worked by Sir William
Petty. Near Castleisland is found the Lapis Hibernicus
auctorum, or “Irish slate:” its taste is sour, and it