On the Classification and Nomenclature of the Lower Palæozoic Rocks of England and Wales

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Abstract
In a former paper, of which this is a continuation, I endeavoured to ascertain the geological place of some groups of slate-rocks which are seen in certain parts of Westmoreland and Yorkshire near the base of the carboniferous limestone; and I endeavoured to show that the several groups which appeared on one or more of the sections were the equivalents, respectively, of the Coniston limestone , the Coniston flagstone , the Coniston grits , and the Ireleth slates , &c. These equivalents are well known, having been described by myself in former published papers. But a new question may arise respecting their true place in the lower divisions of the whole palæozoic system. In the Cumbrian cluster of mountains, the whole series of deposits below the Old Red Sandstone has been long separated into three great physical subdivisions ; the lowest of which included the Skiddaw slate; the middle was represented by a vast development of green slate and porphyry; while the highest included all the rocks of Westmoreland and Lancashire, from the calcareous slates of Coniston to the highest beds that were overlaid by the old red conglomerates, or were covered by the beds of the great Scar-limestone. Such were Mr. J. Otley's three physical groups; and they were adopted as the basis of classification by myself and others who followed him.

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