John Taylor

“ When the fossils of the limestone are cleft open, they are often seen to contain a little globule of bitumen. Do not all the labours of the geologist prove that death is as much a natural law as that of birth, and that creation has been concomitant with extinction, as with individuals has been life and death? ”

“ Plutonic action has not been absent in the neighbourhood, for at the top of this fissure are beds of greenstone, and an imperfectly columnar basalt, whilst the limestone around seems to be somewhat crystallized by the heat to which it has been subjected by the intrusion.
Old Mam Tor, the "Shivering Mountain," in geological position lies just above the limestone. The shales which compose it are speedily decomposed by atmospheric agency, and hence have given rise to the popular name which the mountain bears. ”

“ The flora of the locality is particularly interesting, especially that of the lower class. Maidenhair, spleenwort, and rue-leaved spleenwort grow upon almost every wall; and the cystopteris in several species is also common, whilst the adder's-tongue and the little moonwort are exceedingly plentiful in the richer pastures. The number of mosses is exceedingly great. ”