In transcribing the following passage from Smith’s text, I have begun with the rough OCR material provided by the Internet Archive and then collated it with the Internet Archive’s page images. If you spot any errors, please notify the webmaster. — George P. Landow
The soil, on shattery fragments of these strata, is good, where tinged with red, and the stone is loose enough to be absorbent, as in some parts of Somerset and Devon. Oaks grow kindly on the steep sides of the woody glens in these strata. And in some parts of Wales, where these rocks are water-tight, such yellow tough clay may be seen as generally produces oak. The strata of slate, in the most mountainous parts, usually occupy lower situations than the harder rocks, with which they alternate: some of these, on Snowden, approach the regular figure of basalt. The deep narrow valleys of these mountainous districts are filled with fragments of the more rocky heights, abound with large lakes, or are very wet and springy: hence those who have seen the sharp-pointed mountains which pierce the clouds, and the deep bottoms of spungy peat, which hold the water they produce, may account for the humidity of these high situations. [50-51]
Related material
- A County-by-County Geological Description of England’s Counties
- Smith’s Explanation of His Map of Geological Strata in England and Wales
- The History of the Idea of Geological Strata before William Smith’s Formulation and Map
Bibliography
Smith, William. A Memoir to the Map and Delineation of Strata of England and Wales. London: John Cary, 1815.
Created 11 September 2018