Observations on the Discovery of Coprolites in the Stanley Shale and Flockton Stone, Or Fish Coal, by Mr

Downloaded from http://pygs.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on October 2, 2021 171 converted it, and manufactured the steel into tools, which were apparently of the best quality; but he was fearful of injuring the character of his articles, and, being still doubt ful whether it was safe to send them out to his customers, he requested him (Dr. Scoresby) to examine them, and, on submitting them to the test, he found that although the steel of which they were made was lower by £10 per ton than what the manufacturer had usually employed, it was in every respect of equal quality. The notice having been read, which had been laid upon the table at the Annual Meeting, It was proposed by Mr. PITT, and seconded by Mr. Morton, and carried unanimously, That the Specimens composing the Museum of this Society, be removed to the Apartments of the Leeds Philosophical and Lite rary Society, and that they be kept there as a separate Collection, and remain the property of the West-Riding Geological and Polytechnic Society, and be reclaimable at pleasure, on due notice, and that the following gentlemen be requested to carry the fore going Resolution into effect, and that they be appointed a Com mittee, to make the needful arrangements, viz., Mr. Briggs, Mr. Holt, Mr. Morton, Mr. J. G. Marshall, Mr. Embleton, Mr. J. W. Leather, Mr. Teale, and Mr. Thomas Wilson. Dr. INGLIS moved, and Mr. BRIGGS seconded, the fol lowing resolution, which was carried unanimously : That the thanks of the meeting be given to the Literary and Philosophical Society of Huddersfield, for their kindness in afford ing the use of the Hall on the present occasion. Dr. INGLIS then read the following Paper :— OBSERVATIONS ON THE DISCOVERY OF COPROLITES IN THE STANLEY SHALE AND FLOCKTON STONE, OR FISH COAL, BY MR. M. SIMPSON, OF WHITBY. COMMUNICATED BY JAMES INGLIS, ESQ., M.D., HALIFAX. As facts ought to form the basis of every Geological theory, and as your Society has for one of its great objects the pro- Downloaded from http://pygs.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on October 2, 2021 172 motion of Geological Science, I feel satisfied that every fact and practical observation made by Members, or others, will at all times be readily listened to by you, when communicated to the Society, It is not my intention at present to offer any remarks upon the long contested question regarding the origin and formation of Coal. My object in bringing the present communication before you is simply to add what is considered to be a fact to those already collected upon thia subject; and further, to place upon your books the name of Mr. Simpson, your late Curator, as the first discoverer of what have been considered to be Coprolites in our own immediate Coal-formation. Without, therefore, troubling you with a more lengthened preface, you will allow me to read the few following pages, which Mr. Simpson has written at my request, and has kindly permitted me to present to the Society. " Having lately," says he, " directed my attention to the remains of Fishes occurring in the roofs of some of the York shire Coal Beds, it has been thought desirable that I should communicate the result of my observations to this Society. It is well known to several of the members that the remains of fishes occur in many of the dark shales of the Yorkshire Coal Series; but I shall confine my observations principally to the beds which form the roofs of the Stanley Shale Coal and the Flockton Upper Bed. " The first of these, viz. the Stanley Shale Coal, is about 80 yards deep at Stanley, near Wakefield, and very near the surface on Westgate Common. It underlies the important sandstone beds of Altofts, Wakefield, and New Miller Dam. At about 18 yards beneath is another bed, called Stanley Main Coal, of very variable quality, which, however, on account of its proximity to the Stanley Shale Bed, is of great service in ascertaining its identity. " The Flockton Bed lies about 260 yards beneath the Downloaded from http://pygs.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on October 2, 2021 173 Stanley Shale Bed, from which it is separated by the Stanley Main, the Warrenhouse, and the Haigh Moor Coal, includ ing two important beds of Sandstone,—viz. the Horbury and Dewsbury Rock, which overlies the Haigh Moor Coal;—the other, which is, I believe, denominated the Bradgate Rock, and may be seen near Middleton, Dawgreen, and Thornhill, overlies the Flockton Bed. " The places where I have observed the working of the Flockton Bed, are Middleton, Adwalton, Cleckheaton, Dews- bury, Overton, and Flockton. The upper part, or roof of this bed, which contains the remains of fishes, is generally called Stone Coal, and is what Mr. Embleton has denominated at Middleton Fish Coal. The roof of the Stanley Shale Bed is exceedingly similar, and indicates a similar mode of form ation. " My attention having been directed to the fishes of the Yorkshire Coal Strata, by a fine collection presented to the Museum by Mr. Embleton, I commenced examining some dark shale brought out in sinking a shaft at Stanley, when to my no small surprise and delight, I found that it not only contained detached teeth and scales of fishes, but also nume rous Coprolites, in the highest state of preservation. Finding these so interesting, I collected a great number of specimens at this locality, and also diligently examined the same shale at Newton Lane-end, at Grove Colliery, and at Westgate Common, at all which places I obtained abundant specimens. " The shale containing these remains forms the roof of the Stanley Shale Coal, and is at Stanley six or eight inches in thickness : from the bed of coal upon which it rests upwards it passes into dark bind, which here contains numerous dis persed remains of molluscous animals, and nodular masses of iron-stone, rich in a small species of unio. This bind, when exposed to the atmosphere for a short time, becomes shivery, and the shells are liberated from the matrix. The shale itself Downloaded from http://pygs.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on October 2, 2021 1?4 resists longer this action of the atmosphere, but upon a long exposure, splits into thin plates; when newly brought out of the pit, it exhibits an exceedingly fine and homogeneous texture, and splits with a conchoidal fracture. The organic remains are not confined to any particular portion of the shale, but are indiscriminately disseminated through the whole stratum, the Coprolites being by far the most numerous. The shale is highly bituminous, and would, in many parts of the country, be regarded as a valuable article for fuel. It is soft and smooth to the touch, and slightly soils the fingers. When burning, it makes a crackling noise, gives out flame and smoke in abundance, and leaves a great deal of exceedingly fine, soft, white ashes. Some slight traces of lepidodendra may occa sionally be detected in this shale, and a thin bituminous film, of a brilliant lustre, may in some places be observed, which seems to have had its origin in decomposed vegetable matter. This shale is entirely destitute of all remains of molluscous or entoraostracous animals. The shale at Newton Lane-end, about a mile from the former locality, is very similar to that observed at Stanley, but it is of a coarser texture, which arises from a large quantity of sulphur disseminated in minute specks through the mass, coating with a bright golden hue the teeth and scales of fishes, or spreading in flowers near the Coprolites. Here, as at Stanley, the teeth and scales are detached, and after carefully examining a great deal of shale, I have scarcely in any instance met with any thing like the outline of a fish. In some places small assemblages of teeth, scales, and other parts of fishes, may be observed mingled together in confusion. " The shale at Grove Colliery is very similar to that at Stanley; and a fragment presented to the Museum by Mr. Briggs, from Whit wood Colliery, two miles East of Stanley, is also similar. The shale at Westgate Common contains, besides the remains of fishes, some exceedingly sharp speck mens of a small lepidodendron. Downloaded from http://pygs.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on October 2, 2021 175 " The Flockton Stone, or Fish Coal, is still more bituminous than the last; it is often used in the manufacture of gas; but when burned, it leaves a large quantity of tine, soft, brown ashes: a resinous substance, called middletonite, is found in it, which is supposed to be of vegetable origin. The remains of fishes in this bed, as in the Stanley shale, are disseminated throughout the entire mass, but certain layers may be observed in which they are more abundant. The parts are, as in the former shale, all detached, and blended together in confusion. Coprolites also are found in the Fish Coal, but they are by no means so well preserved as in the Stanley bed; indeed, they appear to have fallen upon a harder ground, and to have suffered from the action of the waters in which they were deposited. " The thickness of the bed may be said to be about six or eight inches, the upper portion of it containing also layers of compressed shells. There appears to be little or no difference between the specimens from Overton and those from Mid- dleton. At Dewsbury, the compressed shells occur in the whole mass, but I did not observe any remains of fishes; indeed the remains of fishes seem to be confined, in a great measure, to certain localities ; for whilst they are abundant at Sir John Kaye's pit, at Overton, none could be found at the pit of Messrs.

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