to the oxidation of the iron, though the rock itself does not act in any sensible manner on the magnet. This limestone has a superficial resemblance to iron-stone and to some basaltic rocks; passages however might be traced to the slate-clay just mentioned, with which perhaps it alternates. I found its spec. grav. 2,641. It was not in situ, but comes very probably only from a little distance.[1]
On taking a general view of the district here described, we shall find that of the two islands which it comprehends, one, the Isle of Wight, has its greatest dimension from east to west, while the other, the Isle of Portland, extends longitudinally from north to south, or nearly so: that in the Isle of Wight, the shelving of the land, independently of the particular slopes of the hills, is from south to north, as is clearly shewn by the rise of the Medina river, and by the elevation of Niton, one of the most southern villages, situated on the back of St. Carherine's-hill.[2] In the Isle of Portland, on the contrary, we have an uninterrupted plain, with a gradual and uniform slope from north to south, of nearly four hundred feet in a distance of five miles. No river, that I am aware of, waters the Isle of Portland, but the inhabitants are plentifully supplied with fresh water, by two very line and abundant springs.[3]
In the Isle of Wight, the tract of land to the north of the ridge
- ↑ The Kimeridge coal is used as fuel by the poor people in the neighbourhood, and the ashes spread over the meadows, are considered as a good manure.
- ↑ It may not be amiss perhaps to observe, that in the Isle of Wight, and along the coast of Hampshire, the rivulets which empty themselves into the sea, go by the name of china, which is synonymous with gully, and the beds of those streams or brooks widen very much at their approach towards the sea.
- ↑ One of them, called Fortune's well, is situated a little above the village of Chesil, on the way to the signal-house. The other spring is in the south of the isle, at the village of Southwell, a name derived no doubt from the spring.
