Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/123

 London, and also with Bristol and Hull, was begun in 1776 by the celebrated Brindley. a native of the county, and completed under Smeaton and Rennie. It passes through Derbyshire from Burton, following the course of the Trent The Chesterfield canal was begun in 1771 by Brindley, and completed by his brother-in-law, Mr Henshall, in 1776. It enters the county at Killamarsh, and terminates at Chesterfield. There are also the Langley Bridge or Erewash canal, the Peak Forest canal, the Ashton-under-line, the Cromford, the Ashby-de-la- Zouch, the Derby, and the Nutbrook canals. Nowhere have railways received a more complete develop ment than in this county, and nowhere are their beneficial effects more apparent. For this the system of the Midland Company must claim the chief credit. The roads in Derbyshire are numerous, and generally in good condition. The great road from London to Manchester crosses the Trent near Shardlow, and passes through Derby and Ashbourne into Staffordshire.

Geology, Minerals, &c.—With the exception of drift gravel, and some alluvial deposits, the rocks of this county belong to the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic periods. The mountain limestone underlies all the other rocks, and in the Peak district rises to a great elevation. It is in this formation that the well-known caves of Derbyshire occur. The calcareous rocks are confined to the western side of the county, Tissington being the southern, Castleton the northern, Axe Edge the western, and Matlock the eastern extremities. There is also an outcrop at Crich. The intrusive beds of toadstone (some of which attain a tluckness of 200 feet) and volcanic mud mark great submarine eruptions when this ancient lava was spread over the sea-bottom. It is estimated that upwards of half a million tons are worked yearly. The marbles are numerous and valuable for ornamental purposes. Derby shire also contains several metallic ores viz., galena, barytes, zinc, calamine, fluor spar, and elaterite. Galena (sulphide of lead) is obtained rather extensively, some mines near Castleton having been worked by the Romans. In 1874 the quantity raised was 4301 tons, from which were extracted 800 ounces of silver. In connection with galena zinc is found, of which 4050 tons were raised in 1876; of calamine (carbonate of zinc) 30 tons. Barytes is used as an inferior white paint, and also for ornamental purposes. The total output for 1876 was 2700 tons. Blue John is a somewhat rare fluor spar, impregnated with oxide of man ganese, It is one of the most ornamental minerals of the county, and is much used in the manufacture of tazzas, brooches, &amp;lt;fcc. In one or two places a thin seam of coal is found in the mountain limestone. Copper was once worked in this formation at Eoton, on the border of the county, but it has never been abundant. Traces of gold have also been found in toadstone Chert is got near Bakewell, and is used for the manufacture of porcelain. The most remarkable and rare mineral is elaterite, or elastic bitumen, found at Windy Knoll, near Castleton. It is found only at two other places at Montrelaix in France, and in Con necticut, United States. The fauna of this formation may be briefly tabulated as follows, from Etheridge s list Ccelenterata, 54 species ; Echinodermata, 27 ; Crustacea, 15 ; Brachiopoda, 96 ; Lamellibranchiata-Monomyriata, 29; Gasteropoda, 55; Cephalopida, 31; Pisces, 12. The surface soils of the mountain limestone are very unproduc tive, and, as a rule, can only be used for grazing. The Aoredale rocks make a narrow margin round the above formation, forming also the range of hills between Hope and Edale valleys, and extends to the north of the Peak, attaining a thickness of 500 feet. As is usual with this rock, frequent landslips take place, notably at Alport Tower, Dove Holes, and at the southern flank of Mam-Tor, the latter having carried with it part of the old Roman camp, &c. The Millstone Grit is part of a large formation stretch ing into adjacent counties. It is a long, narrow outcrop, running from north to south on the whole western side of the Coal Measures from Stanedge Pole to Little Eaton. There is also an outcrop, 200 feet thick, south of the Trent. The high table-land of the Peak is of this formation. It is a valuable building-stone, and as such it is extensively used, as well as for millstones, from which it derives its name. The Coal Measures are the southern continuation of the great Yorkshire coal-field. They occupy the larger portion of the eastern side of the county from a few miles south of Sheffield to near Balborough Hall, where they dis appear under the Permian. The coal-field (which extends into Notts) covers an area of about 700 square miles, 230 of which are in this county. At Shireoaks the top hard coal is worked, at a depth of 510 yards, the overlying Permian rock being only 200 feet thick. The principal coals worked are the deep soft and deep hard, both import ant. Still more so is the clod, or black shale ; but the best of all is the Kilbourne, near Belper, which is equal to the best Newcastle. Upwards of 10,000 people are employed in the Derbyshire coal-fields, which produce annually more than 7,000,000 tons. The ironstones associated with this coal-field are very valuable, yielding upwards of 130,000 tons annually. The Permian is represented in the north east by a narrow strip of Magnesian Limestone, which is said to be one of the best building stones in the kingdom. The surface soils of this formation are probably the most fertile in the county, its barley or malt having become famous. A narrow strip of the Bunter stretches just on the edge of the Yoredale, from Ashbourne to Quarndon, and patches occur to the north of Breadsal, at Sandiacre, and in the neighbourhood of Repton. The Keuper Red Marl and Sandstone occupy the larger part of South Derby shire, the most northerly point being near Ashbourue. The sandstones are extensively used for building purposes. An important bed of gypsum is worked at Chellaston, which is burnt and pulverized for making plaster of Paris, the white variety being made into chimney ornaments, statuettes, &c. The Drift Gravel is confined almost to the south and east of the county. Near Derby it is very abundant. Much light has been thrown upon the fauna of the Pleistocene period by the researches of Mr Penniugton at Castleton, and Messrs Mills and Heath at Cresswell. The more rare and important &quot; finds&quot; are the mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, Irish elk, reindeer, cave bear, wolf, British lion, hyaena, glutton, Arctic fox, machairo- dus (?), &c., and a large collection of palaeolithic imple ments. Peat bogs are spread over all the moorland districts of the Yoredale and Millstone Grit.

Agriculture.—In the valley of the Trent a large surface is laid down in permanent grass, being devoted to cattle- feeding and dairy purposes, while heavy crops of wheat, turnips, &c., are grown in other parts of the district. Dairy farms are numerous; and Derbyshire cheese, which holds a high reputation, is annually sent to the metropolis, or to the seaports for exportation. Cheese fairs or markets are held in various parts of the county, as at Derby, Burton-on-Trent, Ashbourne, Uttoxeter, and Loughborough. Barley is much cultivated, especially about Repton and Gresley, and also in the east of the county, the inducement being great from the proximity of Burton, the great seat of the brewing industry. In the upland districts, where the soil is poor and the climate harsh and unfriendly, agricultural industry is much less important and profitable. It is chiefly devoted to the feeding of sheep. The following figures, taken from the Agricultural Returns for 1873 and 1876, shows the distribution of the agricultural acreage of the county, and the numbers of live stock, in those years : 