UC-NRLF 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
RESEARCHES 
 
 IN 
 
 NEWER PLIOCENE 
 
 AND 
 
 POST-TERTIAHY GEOLOGY. 
 
GLASGOW: 
 JOHN GEAT, 99 HUTCHESON STREET. 
 
 LONDON : 
 WILLIAMS AND NORGATE, 14 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 WILLIAMS AND NORGATE, 20 SOUTH FREDERICK STREET. 
 

RESEARCHES 
 
 NEWER PLIOCENE 
 
 AND 
 
 POST-TERTIARY GEOLOGY. 
 
 JAMES SMITH, ESQ. OF JOKDANHILL, F.K.S., 
 
 MEMBER OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF FRANCE, ETC. 
 
 GLASGOW: 
 JOHN GRAY, 99 HUTCHESON STREET. 
 
 1862. 
 
BKLL AND BAIN, PRINTERS, GLASGOW. 
 
EARTH 
 
 SCIENCES 
 LIBRARY 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 I HAVE been induced to collect into one volume a series of 
 papers on the more recent geological deposits, the result of 
 upwards of thirty years' observations, conducted chiefly in the 
 basin of the Clyde, a locality the richest with which I am 
 acquainted in the fossils of the glacial period. They were 
 communicated to different Societies, published in different 
 Transactions, and in some cases given only in abstract. They 
 are now printed in full as they were originally read, with the 
 exception of the Catalogues of Recent and Sub-fossil Shells, 
 which I have enlarged so as to comprehend the discoveries 
 made since their first publication ; and I have endeavoured, 
 by notes^to point out how far my conclusions have been 
 modified by subsequent researches. In order to judge of the 
 soundness of these modifications, I must ask the reader to 
 bear in mind the dates of the papers and the state of our 
 knowledge of the superficial deposits when they were written. 
 In addition to the advantages of residing in a rich loca- 
 lity, I have to acknowledge that of the personal assistance of 
 such naturalists as Dr. Scouler, Captain Brown, the late Mr. 
 George B. Sowerby, Edward Forbes, and the Rev. Dr. 
 
 Landsborough, when accompanying me in my dredging cruises. 
 
 b 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 I mention them in the chronological order in which they 
 assisted me. I had hoped at one time to have been able to 
 add to the list the name of my friend, Sir Charles Lyell ; but 
 although I had not the good fortune to have his assistance in 
 the field, I have ha f d, from the very beginning of these 
 researches, the benefit of his advice, and the encouragement 
 afforded by the interest he took in their prosecution. 
 
 I have made use of his terminology in distinguishing the 
 latest tertiary from the recent or post- tertiary. In the note 
 at page 26 I have expressed doubts as to whether the Clyde 
 Arctic should be included in the newer pliocene; but as these 
 doubts never can be entirely removed, in consequence of the 
 loss of some of the unknown shells, of which only one speci- 
 men was found, I adhere to the original classification.. 
 
 In the paper on the relative ages of the tertiary and post- 
 tertiary deposits of the Clyde (No. VI.), I have classed the 
 tertiary with " the newer pliocene, or pleistocene, of Lyell," 
 (p. 79.) I did so because he wrote to me that it was his in- 
 tention to make use of the term " pleistocene," in place of 
 newer pliocene, in designating these beds. That intention he 
 has, as I think, rightly given up, for it would preclude the 
 use of the expression " older pliocene," which, in some cases, 
 may be necessary, especially in classifying the Italian and 
 Sicilian pliocene, just as I found it necessary to use the term 
 " older miocene " in a paper on the Lisbon tertiary. The 
 term has since been made use of by Edward Forbes, to desig- 
 nate beds of the same age as those of the Clyde, which he has 
 also termed glacial. 
 
 I have to express my best thanks to John Buchanan, Esq., 
 of Glasgow, for permission to include in the Appendix 
 
PKEFACE. Vll 
 
 his elaborate paper on the Glasgow canoes (No. IV.), which 
 is scarcely less valuable in a geological than it is in an 
 archaeological point of view, by showing that great changes 
 of level must have taken place during the human period. 
 
 I am also indebted to John Buchanan, Esq. of Ardoch, 
 for having at my request drawn up an account of the great 
 debacle at Martigiiy in 1818 (No. III.), which it was his good 
 fortune to witness, and to escape with his life. 
 
 The illustrations owe much of their value to the graphic 
 pencil of my friend, Andrew Macgeorge, Esq. His sketches 
 were taken upon the spot, with the intention of elucidating 
 the subjects of the papers. And lastly, I have to express my 
 obligation to T. F. Jamieson, Esq. of Ellon, for having 
 furnished me with a Catalogue of the Aberdeenshire Glacial 
 Shells. 
 
 In the papers on Madeira and Gibraltar, the fundamental 
 rocks no doubt belonged to the older formations; but in 
 each my object was to describe the subsequent changes, 
 many of which must, and all of which may, have taken place 
 during the newer pliocene or post-tertiary periods. 
 
 JORDANHILL, October, 1862. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 I. On Indications of Changes of Level in the West of 
 
 Scotland, ' . . . .1 
 
 II. On the Last Changes in the Relative Levels of Land and 
 
 Sea in the British Islands, . . . . . . 6 
 
 III. On the Phenomena of the Elevated Marine Beds of the 
 
 Basin of the Clyde, 28 
 
 Catalogue of Shells from the Glacial Deposits of Britain 
 
 and Ireland, 46 
 
 Shells from the Mammaliferous Crag, in the Catalogue of 
 
 E. Forbes, 56 
 
 Shells not found Fossil in the British Islands, from the . 
 
 Catalogue of E. Forbes, 57 
 
 List of Marine Shells in the Glacial Beds of Aberdeen - 
 
 shire, 57 
 
 Catalogue of the Recent Marine Shells of the Frith of 
 
 Clyde, 59 
 
 IV. Notices of the Newer Pliocene Deposits in Scotland and 
 
 the Western Islands, 65 
 
 V. On the Climate of the Newer Pliocene Tertiary Period, . 71 
 
 VI. On the Relative Ages of the Tertiary and Post-Tertiary 
 
 Deposits of the Basin of the Clyde, . . . .76 
 
 VII. On the Geology of the Island of Madeira, ... 85 
 
 VIII. On the Geology of Gibraltar, 98 
 
 IX. On Recent Depressions in the Land, . . . .115 
 
SI CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 X. On Scratched Boulders, . . . . . . 127 
 
 XI. On the Occurrence of Marine Shells in the Stratified 
 
 Beds below the Till, 139 
 
 XII, On a Split Boulder in the Island of Little Cumbrae, . 144 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 I. Letter from Hugh E. Strickland, Esq., to the Author, . 149 
 
 II. Note to Account of Madeira, ..... 153 
 
 III. Account of the Debacle in the Valley de Bagne, by J. 
 
 Buchanan, Esq. of Ardoch, . . . . .155 
 
 IV. Ancient Canoes found at Glasgow, by John Buchanan, 
 
 Esq., .' . ' . . . ^ . . . * . 160 
 
 V.'Note on Earthquake Waves, ' 186 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 COLOURED VIEWS. 
 
 1. Whin Dykes, Cumbrae, . . . . Frontispiece. 
 
 2. King's Cove, Arran, Page 9 
 
 3. Gibraltar and Straits from Rock Gun, ... 98 
 4 Split Boulder, Little Cumbrae, 144 
 
 WOODCUTS. 
 
 5. Section showing the Effects of a sudden Upheaval, . 24 
 
 6. Fossil Trees in Sandstone, 37 
 
 7. Diagram of the Whin Dykes, Cumbrae, ... 39 
 
 8. Natica Smithii (Glacial Beds), 53 
 
 9. Natica clausa, Fusus Peruvianus, and Tellina proxima, 74 
 
 10. Crassina multicostata, Turbo expansus, and Velutina 
 
 undata, . 75 
 
 1 1. Diagram of the Western Face of the Rock of Gibraltar, 99 
 
 12. Diagram showing the Formation of New Deposits by 
 
 the Sea, 104 
 
 13. Section from West to East of Middle Hill, ... 105 
 
 14. Section from West to East of O'Hara's Tower Height, . 106 
 
 15. Oliva found in the Gravel Pits near Worcester, . . 152 
 
 16. Volcanic Bomb (Madeira), 155 
 
ON INDICATIONS OF CHANGES OF LEVEL 
 
 IN 
 
 THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 
 
 THE following is the abstract of a paper read to the 
 Geological Society, Nov. 16, 1836, and printed in their 
 "Proceedings," vol. ii., p. 427. I have not considered it 
 necessary to give it at full length, as the matter is in effect 
 contained in the paper which follows, " On the last Changes 
 in the Relative Levels of the Land and Sea," read before the 
 Wernerian Society. 
 
 Before Sir Charles Lyell's visit to Sweden and his dis- 
 covery of proofs that changes in the sea-level were now 
 actually taking place, the occurrence of marine remains in 
 localities where they could not have been deposited by our 
 present seas was ascribed to the retiring of the sea, or, since 
 the publication of the " Horae Diluvianse," to diluvial action ; 
 and no doubt the violent rushes of water caused by earth- 
 quake waves are known to leave marine remains at higher 
 levels than can be ascribed to diurnal action of any kind. 1 
 I had, previous to the meeting of the British Association at 
 
 1 That shells, &c., should be thrown up to a higher level by earthquake 
 waves is so obvious a result that nobody thinks of mentioning it. I remem- 
 ber but one case where it is noticed. In the " Edinburgh Evening Courant," 
 Feb. 2, 1727, I find the following passage: "On the back of the earthquake 
 which happened here last week a vast number of periwinkles, cockles, and 
 shells were thrown upon the coast. The priests went in procession and 
 cursed these small fishes ! "From Malta, Dec. 12, 172G. 
 
 C 
 
2 CHANGES IN LEVELS OF SEA AND LAND 
 
 Edinburgh in 1834, been engaged in investigating, in the 
 basin of the Clyde, the so-called, and I still think correctly 
 called, diluvial phenomena, i. e., the effects of the tumultuary 
 and transitory action of water, and, as usual at the time, 
 I ascribed the occurrence of shells in localities distant from 
 the sea to the same cause which had transported boulders so 
 far from the parent rocks. It is true that I did meet with 
 cases where no marks of violence were exhibited, and in 
 which the testaceous remains were evidently in situ. This 
 was particularly the case in a most interesting section of 
 a marine deposit discovered by my late noble friend, Lord 
 John Campbell, afterwards seventh Duke of Argyll, in which 
 the balani were still adhering to the rocks and stones, and 
 the more delicate shells in the most entire state, and in 
 their natural position. It was impossible to suppose that 
 they had been subjected to violent action of any kind; still, 
 a projecting rock might have caused an eddy, and in the 
 tranquil waters under its lee they might have remained undis- 
 turbed ; but this solution only met part of the difficulty : 
 these undisturbed remains were at a higher level than the sea 
 ever reaches. Sir Charles Lyell's account of the phenomena 
 observed by him in Sweden, and given verbally to the British 
 Association at Edinburgh in 1834, induced me to make a 
 careful examination of the raised deposits in the above-men- 
 tioned locality, the description of which follows. 
 
IN THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 
 I. 
 
 ON INDICATIONS OF CHANGES 
 
 IN THE 
 
 RELATIVE LEVELS OF SEA AND LAND IN 
 THE WEST OF SCOTLAND, 
 
 Read to the Geological Society, Nov. 16, 1836. 
 
 IN the West of Scotland are two superficial deposits. The 
 lowest, in some districts called "till," consists of stiff im- 
 stratified clay, confusedly mixed with boulders. It rarely 
 contains organic remains, but stags' horns, tusks and bones 
 of the elephant, have been found in it in the bed of the 
 Union Canal at Kilmarnock, and remains of the elephant 
 associated with marine shells at Kilmaurs in Ayrshire. 
 
 The upper deposit is composed of finely laminated clay, 
 overlaid by sand and gravel ; and marine remains of existing 
 species occur in every part of it, but most abundantly in 
 the clay. It has been traced by me on both sides of the 
 Clyde from Glasgow to Roseneath and Greenock, at points 
 varying from thirty to forty feet above the level of the sea. 
 I have also observed sea- worn terraces on each side of the 
 Clyde below Dumbarton, and between Cloch Lighthouse and 
 Largs. 
 
 The following are the principal localities at which the clay 
 bed has been examined : 
 
 A brick-yard at Glasgow, thirty feet above high- water-mark, 
 where the author found the remains of six species of recent 
 marine shells of common occurrence on the adjacent coasts 
 of Scotland ; also a branch of an elm and an oak tree with 
 
4 CHANGES IN LEVELS OF SEA AND LAND 
 
 its roots. The canal from Glasgow to Paisley and Johnston 
 was excavated in the clay at the height of forty feet above 
 the sea, 1 and numerous remains of twenty- six species of 
 existing marine testacea were found in it. In a pond lately 
 dug at Paisley a bed of clay was exposed, to which a violet 
 colour had been given by decomposed mussels, in a manner 
 similar to that described by Mr. Lyell in his memoir on 
 change of level on the coast of Sweden. 2 In the brick and 
 tile-works around Paisley, and in the adjoining parishes, 
 recent shells are abundant. Near Renfrew cockles are so 
 numerous that a farm and hill are called Cockle Farm and 
 Cockle Hill. At Johnston, which is about eight miles 
 from the sea, and at a point about forty feet above its level, 
 in making a well there were found bones of fishes and sea- 
 fowls, fragments of sea- weeds, crabs' claws, and numerous 
 layers of shells imbedded in sand and clay, which rested 
 on a deposit of till more than seventy feet thick. Besides 
 these localities, recent shells have been noticed at Helens- 
 burgh, also near Loch Lomond, at Dalmuir, and the shores 
 of the Frith of Forth. 
 
 With respect to the origin of these deposits, I am of 
 opinion that the lower, or till, resulted from the violent 
 though transitory action of a body of water; but that the 
 upper was gradually deposited at the bottom of a sea of 
 sufficient depth to protect it from the agitation of waves, and 
 that it was raised to its present level by a process analogous 
 to that described by Mr. Lyell as now taking place on the 
 shores of the Baltic. 3 
 
 Of the period when the change was effected I offer no 
 conjecture; but I may state that it must have been anterior 
 to the occupation of Britain by the Romans, because the 
 
 1 When this paper was written, all the shells found in the raised deposits 
 were supposed to be identical with recent British species, and were named 
 after those they most nearly resembled. 
 
 2 "Phil. Trans.," 1835, pp. 5, 7. Ib., 1835, p. 1. 
 
IN THE WEST OP SCOTLAND. O 
 
 terminations of their wall on the shores of the Forth arid the 
 Clyde were constructed with reference to the present level 
 of the sea. On the banks of the Frith of Clyde there are 
 vitrified forts and tumuli to which the same observation 
 applies; and no human remains or works of art have been 
 found in the clay. 
 
 At my first examination I concluded, judging from the 
 sea-worn terraces which skirt the coasts, that the change of 
 level could not exceed forty feet, but I have since observed 
 the clay at the height of fifty feet ; and Mr. Buchanan of 
 Arden has found oyster shells near Loch Lomond, seventy 
 feet above the sea. I, however, believe that at the period 
 when the clay was accumulated and the terraces formed the 
 relative level of sea and land was stationary, and that, if 
 we may judge from the comparative dimensions of the 
 ancient terraces with those now forming, the period during 
 which the level was thus stationary must have greatly 
 exceeded 2,000 years. 
 
 The important question, if the Fauna and Flora of the 
 period when this deposit was accumulated were identical 
 with those of the present epoch, it would be premature now 
 to determine. A very great proportion of the species of 
 shells, amounting in all to about seventy, abound in the 
 present seas; and it is worthy of remark that Astarte 
 garensis, which is common in the clay at Helensburgh, is 
 found in great numbers in the Gareloch. On the other hand, 
 some of the species have become very rare, if not extinct 
 with reference to the coast of Scotland. 
 
 With regard to the geological position of the upper deposit, 
 it must be placed among the newer pliocene; and as it 
 belongs to one of the first steps in the descending series, 
 every circumstance connected with it should be carefully 
 observed and recorded, that researches into the more ancient 
 formations may bo conducted with greater success. 
 
LAST CHANGES IN THE RELATIVE LEVELS OF 
 II. 
 
 ON THE LAST CHANGES 
 
 I 
 IN THE 
 
 EELATIVE LEVELS OF THE LAND AND SEA 
 IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 
 
 Bead to the Werrierian Society, April 21, 1838. 
 
 THE occurrence of recent marine remains at higher levels 
 than those at which they could have been deposited by our 
 present seas early attracted the notice of the Wernerian 
 Society; and its memoirs contain a valuable collection of 
 facts illustrative of this subject. The communications of 
 Messrs. Stevenson, 1 Bald, 2 Home Drummond, 3 Blackad- 
 der, 4 and others, 5 furnish numerous observations respecting 
 indications of changes in level on the eastern coasts of Scot- 
 land, whilst those of Captain Laskey 6 and Mr. Adamson 7 
 record similar phenomena in the basin of the Clyde and 
 Loch Lomond. 
 
 My attention was first called to the subject by the dis- 
 covery of marine shells, agreeing in general with those of 
 the adjoining seas, imbedded in blue clay, at Ardincaple, 
 the seat of Lord John Campbell, in Dumbartonshire. At 
 that time it was usual to ascribe all such appearances to 
 diluvial action; and although the shells bore no marks of 
 violent transportation, the bivalves being entire, with the 
 epidermis uninjured, and in their natural position; yet, as 
 
 1 " Wern. Mem.," Hi., 327. * Ib., v., 424, 572. 
 
 2 Ib., L, 483 ; and Hi., 125. 5 Ib., ii., 342, 348; v., 572, 575. 
 
 3 Ib., v., 440. 6 Ib., iv. 568. 7 Ib., iv., 334. 
 
LAND AND SEA IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 7 
 
 the distance from the sea was small, I imagined they might 
 have been protected from injury by having been lodged in 
 an eddy. Two of the shells appeared to differ from any 
 known species ; one of them, a Tellina (T. 2?roxima), is so 
 common as in many localities to become characteristic of 
 this deposit. It resembles the T. tenuis, but is distin- 
 guished by a brown epidermis ', the other resembled a 
 Natica, but was destitute of the umbilicus. The only spe- 
 cimen procured of this shell I unfortunately broke, but not 
 until a sketch of it had been taken. Lord John Campbell 
 was kind enough to order a new excavation to be made, in 
 hopes of finding other specimens, but without success. 1 
 
 Soon after this Mr. Thomas Thomson gave an interesting 
 description of a similar deposit at Dalrnuir in Dumbarton- 
 shire, in the "Records of General Science." 2 He collected 
 twenty-nine species, which were submitted to the inspection 
 of Mr. Sowerby, who pronounced three of them to differ 
 from any known recent British shells ; one of them was said 
 to be Natica glaucinoides, a crag fossil; another, Fusus 
 lamellosus, which had only been observed about the Straits 
 of Magellan; 3 and a third, Buccinum striatum, an unknown 
 species. This remarkable fact, coupled with my own obser- 
 vations, led me to imagine that the term " recent," which 
 had usually been applied to such deposits, was perhaps not 
 rigidly correct. In order to ascertain how far it was so, I 
 determined to collect as many of the shells belonging to 
 them as I could. In a fresh excavation I made at Dalmuir, 
 I increased the number of species, from that locality alone, 
 to upwards of seventy. The Rev. Mr. Landsborough of 
 Stevenston, in Ayrshire, was kind enough, at my request, 
 
 1 This is the Natica or Bulbus Smithii Brown. See " Catalogue of Glacial 
 Species," No. 123. 
 
 " Wern. Mem.," vol. i., p. 131. 
 
 3 Ib., vol. viii., Plate T., fig. 5, s. See remarks on this shell in " Catalogue 
 of Glacial Species," No. GO. 
 
8 LAST CHANGES IN THE RELATIVE LEVELS OF 
 
 to collect marine remains from the elevated shelly deposits 
 in his parish; and Mr. Witham sent me a collection from 
 similar beds on the Yorkshire coasts. In order to render 
 the comparison between the existing and more ancient races 
 of testacea as exact as possible, I determined, at the sugges- 
 tion of Mr. Lyell, to avail myself of the facilities which the 
 possession of a yacht afforded, to collect and form a catalogue 
 of those now existing in the same seas. Amongst the shells 
 dredged up several new species have been discovered. I 
 failed, however, in finding any of the unknown subfossil 
 ones. As by far the greatest number of the shells from 
 the ancient deposits have been found in the basin of the 
 Clyde and North of Ireland, 1 I have confined the catalogue 
 of recent shells to those which are now to be found in the 
 same seas; a comparison of the two catalogues will thus 
 show how far their former inhabitants coincide with the 
 existing species. 
 
 In the prosecution of this inquiry I discovered marine 
 remains so frequently that any attempt to describe or enu- 
 merate the localities would exceed the bounds of this paper. 
 When once I was furnished with a clue, I found them in 
 places where their presence had never before been suspected, 
 sometimes in great numbers ; whilst at others the very same 
 beds were altogether destitute of them. This is peculiarly 
 remarkable in a finely laminated clay, which I have traced 
 to a great extent in the counties of Lanark, Renfrew, and 
 Dumbarton. It is equivalent to the carse clay pf the 
 Forth and Tay, and must have been deposited at the bot- 
 tom of a tranquil sea, at such a depth as not to have been 
 disturbed by the agitations of the surface. The shells and 
 other marine remains with which it abounds are almost in- 
 variably found in the lower part of this bed, 2 a circumstance 
 
 1 I have now limited the shells in the recent catalogue to those of the Frith 
 of the Clyde. 
 
 2 I believe it would be more correct to sav under this bed. The shells 
 
LAND AND SEA IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 
 
 which can only be accounted for by supposing a sudden 
 depression, which has converted a half-tide deposit into a 
 deep-sea one. The testaceous animals have thus been en- 
 tombed alive in the beds subsequently formed, and their 
 remains are preserved with all the perfection of recent 
 specimens. Associated with this clay, we frequently find 
 extensive beds of pure gravel and sand, also destitute of 
 organic remains, although there can be no doubt of their 
 marine origin. Mr. Lyell has observed the same thing in 
 similar beds in Sweden. l 
 
 We must be cautious, therefore, in concluding that allu- 
 vial beds in which we do not find such remains are fresh- 
 water ones; and, of course, equally so in deciding on their 
 marine origin, till confirmed by the presence of their appro- 
 priate remains. 
 
 These deposits are much more extensive, both as to the 
 amount of change of level and superficial extent, than has 
 been generally supposed. We have conclusive evidence that 
 the whole of the British islands have, at periods which, 
 geologically speaking, are by no means remote, been subjected 
 to changes both of depression and elevation. The submarine 
 forests which have been observed on so many parts of our 
 coasts are proofs of the former kind of changes, whilst those 
 of elevation are evidenced by raised beaches, sea- worn cliffs 
 and caves, 2 stratified beds of sand, gravel, and clay, and, 
 above all, by the marine exuvia3 which they contain. 
 
 The deposits thus formed must, in Scotland at, least, be 
 intercalated between the two first groups in Mr. De la 
 Beche's classification of rocks, viz., the modern group and the 
 
 sometimes occur in the clay, but more frequently in sandy beds below it. This, 
 however, does not affect the conclusions drawn from the position of the shells. 
 
 1 "Phil. Trans.," 1836, pp. 11 and 15. 
 
 2 On the west coast of Arran are several caverns, scooped out by the wasting 
 action of the sea ; of these, the largest is " King's Cove," so named from King 
 Robert Bruce, who found shelter in it in his wanderings in the island. JSeo 
 accompanying Plate. 
 
10 LAST CHANGES IN THE RELATIVE LEVELS OF 
 
 erratic block group. 1 We infer that they are posterior to 
 the latter, from their superposition, and that they do not 
 belong to the former, from the absence of the remains of 
 man or of works of art. The erratic block bed, which has 
 also been termed diluvium, has in Scotland received the 
 provincial name of till. It is very accurately described by 
 Mr. Bald, 2 under the name of the old alluvial cover, in his 
 paper on the coal formation of Clackmannanshire. It 
 generally consists of stiff unstratified clay and gravel, con- 
 fusedly mixed with water-worn masses, and also with 
 angular fragments of sandstone, shale, and coal, which have 
 not suffered from attrition, although comparatively soft in 
 their structure. Organic remains are excessively rare in it. 
 Mr. Bald, who remarked this, afterwards found the tusk of 
 an elephant imbedded in it in the excavation of the Union 
 Canal; but, unwilling to draw an important inference from 
 a solitary fact, he supposed it might have been placed in the 
 situation in which it was found from some accidental cause. 
 Since that time, however, elephants' bones and tusks have been 
 found near Kilmariiock, and at Kilmaurs, in Ayrshire. I am 
 assured by Dr. Scouler of the Royal Society of Dublin, and 
 Dr. Couper of the University of Glasgow, who visited these 
 localities, that, in both instances, they were imbedded in the 
 till. At Kilmaurs they were associated with sea-shells ; and 
 on one occasion I also found shells imbedded in it, much 
 broken, and deprived of their colour. Mr. Trimmer, in 
 describing the diluvial deposits in Carnarvonshire, in the 
 " Proceedings of the Geological Society," 3 states that he found 
 broken shells in the diluvium of the low cliff near Beau- 
 maris. He also found broken shells in a bed of sand on the 
 summit of Moel Tryfane, 1,400 feet above the level of the 
 
 1 Subsequent discoveries show that the erratic block group belongs to the 
 older superficial deposit now termed glacial. 
 
 2 Wern. Mem.," vol. i., p. 481 ; vol. Hi., 12* 
 
 3 Vol. i., p. 332. 
 
LAND AND SEA IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 11 
 
 sea. The expressions seems to imply alluvial rather than 
 diluvial agency. Mr. Trimmer, however, informs me that 
 he ascribes their presence at so high an elevation to the latter 
 cause, the beds having all the appearance of violent action, 
 and the subjacent rocks worn and scratched by friction of 
 transported peebles. Mr. Phillips also is inclined to think 
 that in Holderness the irregularity of deposition of the shelly 
 gravel seems to point to diluvial currents rather than to 
 change of level. 1 
 
 It is not, therefore, a necessaiy inference that the mere 
 discovery of sea-shells at high levels is a proof of permanent 
 submergence. Their fragments, like those of coal, sand- 
 stone, and shale, mark that the distance from which they 
 have been transported is a short one. It is only when found 
 in situ, in regularly stratified beds, that we are entitled to 
 draw such conclusions; but their presence in diluvial beds 
 must be held as an exception to the general rule. 
 
 Although this is not the place to offer any speculation 
 respecting the origin of the till, I think it evident that it 
 must have arisen from causes altogether different from those 
 which have produced the marine alluvia. Whatever they 
 were, they must have been violent and transitory. Of their 
 violence we have ample proof in the size of the fragments 
 they have transported, as well as the erosion of the rocks 2 
 over which they have passed, but that they suddenly ceased 
 must be inferred from the confused manner in which the 
 different parts of the till are arranged. Submarine currents 
 might indeed have moved the largest boulders, but they 
 must have been deposited somewhat in the order of size and 
 gravity; the sand, clay, and smaller fragments being swept 
 forward till the diminished velocity of the current was un- 
 equal to bear them farther, and banks of gravel, sand, and 
 
 1 " Treatise on Geology," p. 198. 
 
 2 The phenomenon of " erosion " must now bo ascribed to glacial action, a 
 cause not suspected when the paper was written. 
 
12 LAST CHANGES IN THE RELATIVE LEVELS OF 
 
 clay, would be formed. No inference can therefore be 
 drawn from it as to the former level of the land, as rushes 
 of water capable of producing such effects must have dis- 
 turbed the alluvial covering both above and below the sur- 
 face of the sea. 
 
 All observers concur in supposing that the cause which 
 produced the diluvial covering of the great coal-field of 
 Scotland must have had its origin to the westward, 1 modi- 
 fied, however, by the form of the ground. Near Glasgow, 
 it is quite evident that its action must have been from the 
 north-west. In levelling a mass of it, the workman laid into 
 a heap all the boulders which were too large to be lifted by 
 the spade: this afforded an opportunity to estimate the 
 relative proportions of the different rocks, which I found to 
 be as follows : 
 
 White sandstone and shale, . . .60 per cent. 
 
 Trap, 30 
 
 Clay-slate and grauwacke, . . .10 
 
 Granite, . . . . . 1 
 
 Total, . 101 
 
 The sandstone was evidently derived from the subjacent 
 coal formation, the trap boulders from the Kilpatrick Hills, 
 which are about ten miles to the north-west, their identity 
 being proved by the zeolitic minerals which they contained ; 
 the slate and grauwacke from hills in Dumbarton and 
 Argyleshires, about double that distance; the granite blocks 
 must have been transported from still greater distances. 
 Beyond the Kilpatrick hills the trap and white sandstone 
 boulders disappear, and are replaced by grauwacke, clay- 
 slate, and red sandstone, whilst those of granite and mica- 
 slate become numerous. 2 Near Helensburgh, twenty- three 
 
 1 This remark must bo confined to the valley of the Clyde and east 
 coast of Scotland. 
 
 2 When Professor Agassiz visited Glasgow in 1840 he asked me to 
 describe the till, or boulder clay, before he himself had examined it. Upon 
 
LAND AND SEA IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 13 
 
 miles to the north-west of Glasgow, the granite strongly 
 resembles that of Ardnamurchan. At Roseneath I have 
 seen rolled fragments of a compact reddish granite so much 
 resembling that of Inverary as to leave little doubt of its 
 identity. In all of these cases the bearing of the supposed 
 original rocks is north-west, but in 'all of them the interven- 
 ing space is intersected by deep arms of the sea and steep, 
 precipitous mountain ranges. It appears to me, therefore, 
 that the till is as ancient as the period of their elevation, and 
 was most probably caused by the violent geological action 
 by which it was accompanied. 
 
 It is, at all events in Scotland, anterior to the marine 
 alluvia which I am describing, and which have been observed 
 reposing upon it in many places. It is proper, however, to 
 observe, that in some instances we find stratified alluvium 
 below the till. I have observed this near Glasgow and on 
 the west coast of Ireland; and Mr. Bald, in describing that 
 of the Forth, remarked that in one case, when it was cut 
 through to the depth of 162 feet, the lower bed appeared to 
 have been deposited in water in the most quiescent state, as it 
 was divided into the finest laminse. In neither of these cases 
 were marine remains detected, but Mr. Mantell has described 
 an ancient beach as passing under the elephant bed in 
 Sussex, and Sir Philip Egerton found a bed of shells under 
 the ordinary sand diluvium of Cheshire. 1 These facts do 
 not invalidate the conclusion, that the changes in the level 
 are posterior to the deposition of the till : they only prove 
 
 my doing so he said, " You are describing the effects of water, not of ice." 1 
 agreed with him, and took him, in the first place, to the above- described 
 locality; his attention was immediately arrested by several scratched 
 boulders which lay amongst the others; his remark to me was " Here we have 
 the effects of glacial action ; but this does not change my opinion. I see the 
 action both of water and ice." This I believe to be the true explanation of 
 the phenomena presented by the unstratified superficial beds. 
 
 1 Proceed. Geol. Soc.," vol. ii., p. 190. See also the paper On the 
 Occurrence of Marine Shells in Stratified Beds below the Till," post. 
 
14 LAST CHANGES IN THE RELATIVE LEVELS OF 
 
 that it has not swept away the whole of the pre-existing 
 alluvia. I have observed the marine beds resting on till 
 near Glasgow, and in the excavations of the railway from 
 Edinburgh to Newhaven. Mr. Thomson has observed it in 
 Dumbartonshire. 1 At Johnston, near Paisley, in digging 
 a well, a marine deposit, containing the bones of fishes and 
 sea-fowl, 2 the claws of crabs, sea-weed, and shells, was found 
 to rest upon a bed of it upwards of seventy feet in thickness. 
 Mr. Robberds 3 and Mr. Rose 4 have observed the same 
 order of position in the county of Norfolk. 
 
 We can, therefore, have no hesitation in considering that 
 in these localities changes of level have occurred posterior 
 to the deposition of the diluvial covering, although it is not 
 improbable that in some parts of the British Islands it may 
 have been lodged on the surface subsequent to the period 
 when the sea had become stationary at its present level. I 
 am inclined to think that this has been the case on the west 
 coast of Ireland: in the counties of Clare and Kerry I 
 observed no stratified beds above the diluvium, and, on the 
 shores of the Shannon, which divides them, no terraces 
 except those forming at present. These facts, however, seem 
 rather to prove different periods of diluvial agency than of 
 elevation and depression. 
 
 The changes of level must have taken place anterior to 
 the historic period, which in this country dates from the 
 invasion of the Romans. Diodorus Siculus, 5 who wrote 
 during the reign of Augustus, describes St. Michael's Mount 
 in Cornwall, under the name I*T/J, as an island connected 
 with the mainland by a space covered every tide, but dry 
 at low- water a description which would apply accurately 
 
 1 " Records of General Science," vol. i., 132. 
 
 2 The fourchette of a diver : this bed was fifty-four feet above the sea-level. 
 
 3 " Phil. Mag.," Oct., 1827, p. 281. 
 * Ib., Jan., 1836, p. 34. 
 
 5 Diod. Sic., book v. Quoted in Thomson's " Outlines of Mineralogy and 
 Geology," vol. ii., p. 45. 
 
LAND AND SEA IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 15 
 
 ui tne present day. In Scotland, the Roman wall, which, 
 crosses the island from sea to sea, has evidently been formed 
 at both ends with reference to the present level. The same 
 observation applies to British tumuli and vitrified forts, 
 which are perhaps of still greater antiquity. It is, there- 
 fore, highly probable that no changes of level have taken 
 place since the British Islands have been tenanted by 
 
 man. 
 
 We have ample proof that traces of these changes occur 
 in every part of our coasts. In England, the observations 
 of Messrs. Phillips, 2 Rose, 3 Robberds, 4 Sedgwick, 5 &c., on 
 
 1 Since the above was written, Mr. Geikie, a very competent observer, has, 
 in a late number of the " Edinburgh Philosophical Journal," given an account 
 of his discovery of Roman pottery in a raised beach on the south side of 
 Leith, indicating an upheaval of twenty-five feet on the shores of the Forth 
 since the Roman occupation. Assuming that I am correct in concluding that 
 the last changes were anterior to the period in question, we must infer from 
 Mr. Geikie's observations either a local upheaval or that the Roman pottery 
 was more ancient than the reign of Hadrian ; either supposition is perfectly 
 possible and consistent with my conclusions respecting the relative age of the 
 Roman wall and this Last change of level, or at least with the western por- 
 tion of it. I cannot at this moment refer to the evidence on which I grounded 
 my opinion. I have a distinct remembrance of an account of a Roman 
 road which must have been under the sea had there been an elevation since 
 its construction, and the late Mr. Dobie Wilson, a sound antiquarian, who 
 resided near the western termination of the Roman wall, wrote in answer to 
 my queries on the subject, " Some Roman coins were found by the workmen 
 employed in digging the canal at Ferrydike, in this neighbourhood, within 
 ten feet of the high-water-level of the Clyde. It is clear, therefore, that the 
 height of the river there is the same now as at the period of the Roman 
 occupation." The proof drawn from the position of at least three vitrified 
 forts and an ancient tumulus, situated close to the present level, appears to me 
 to prove that it is more ancient than the period in question. I am, however, 
 now satisfied that changes of levels have taken place since the British Islands 
 were inhabited by man. 
 
 2 "Geol. of Yorkshire," vol. i., p. 23. 
 
 3 " Fhil. Mag.," Jan., 183G,p. 30. 
 
 < " Phil. Mag.," March, 1827, p. 223, &c. 
 3 "Geol. Soc. Proceedings," vol. i., p. 409. 
 
16 LAST CHANGES IN THE RELATIVE LEVELS OF 
 
 the east coast; Messrs Mantell, 1 De la Beche, 2 Sedgwick, 
 and Murchison, 3 on the south; and Sir Philip Egerton, 
 Messrs. Murchison, Gilbertson, &c., 4 on the west, show 
 that on all parts of the English coasts they are to be met 
 with. In Scotland, in addition to the notices in the 
 " Wernerian Memoirs," already adverted to, the "Statistical 
 Account " abounds in direct or incidental notices of similar 
 phenomena. My own observations, and those of every well 
 qualified observer, confirm their universality in this part of 
 the island. 
 
 In Ireland I have seen them on the east, north, arid 
 west coasts. I am informed by Mr. Griffiths that he has 
 observed them in Cork and Waterford, and Captain Port- 
 lock has recently found them in stratified beds at an eleva- 
 tion of 400 feet. Proofs of such changes have also been 
 observed in the Channel Islands and on the opposite shores of 
 the Continent, all probably referable to the same geological 
 epoch. 
 
 These marine beds have been discovered at every eleva- 
 tion, from that of the present level of the sea to a height of 
 at least 400 feet above it ; and in the solitary instance of 
 Moel Tryfane shells have been found at the height of 1,400 
 feet ; but as the cause of their occurrence in that situation 
 is doubtful, we may conclude that the highest elevation at 
 which proofs of such recent changes have been hitherto 
 discovered is limited to 400 feet. 
 
 At this height Mr. Gilbertson found sea-shells in stratified 
 beds of gravel and sand near Preston in Lancashire. Mr. 
 Murchison, 5 who visited this locality, observed " similar 
 phenomena over a very considerable tract of country occu- 
 
 1 " Geol. of Sussex," 285. " Geol. Proceed.," vol. ii., 203. 
 
 2 " Geol. Manual," p. 149. 
 
 3 " Proceed. Geol. Soc.," Dec., 1836. 
 
 4 " Fourth Report Brit. Assoc.," p. 654. 
 
 5 "Address to Geological Society," Feb., 1832. 
 
LAND AND SEA IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 17 
 
 pying the ancient estuary of the Ribble. Sands, marls, and 
 gravels, occasionally forming terraces, are spread over this 
 great area, sometimes in finely laminated beds, but for the 
 most part loosely aggregated, and bearing a great resem- 
 blance to the arrangement of the same materials now in the 
 act of formation on the adjoining shores. Many of the 
 shells found in these beds far inland, and at heights extend- 
 ing to 300 feet above the sea, are perfectly identical with 
 existing species." Mr. Murchison justly infers that such 
 appearances must be ascribed to actual elevation rather than 
 to the action of diluvial currents. Sea -shells were found by 
 Mr. John Craig, mineral surveyor, at Ardrie, about ten miles 
 to the east of Glasgow, at the height of about 350 feet ; they 
 were found between a mass of blue till and a bed of yellow 
 stratified clay, which rested upon it. Mr. Craig was inclined 
 to suppose they belonged to the till, the shells having been 
 filled with blue clay; but I have observed the same thing 
 in shells which certainly belonged to the stratified deposit, 
 and it is easily accounted for. The action of the sea upon 
 such a bottom would naturally stir up the clay so as to fill 
 dead shells. Those found in this locality do not bear marks 
 of violent transportation, and the distance from the sea is so 
 great that it is difficult to suppose that such fragile shells as 
 the Mytilus edulis and Tellina proximo, could have been 
 borne along uninjured by diluvial action. I am therefore 
 inclined to consider that the shells found at Airdrie belong 
 to the alluvial beds, and have been confirmed in this opinion 
 by having had some specimens of the Tellina proximo,, a 
 species which has only been found in this deposit, sent to me 
 from the same locality. 1 
 
 Mr. Prestwich 2 also found, at the height of 350 feet, in 
 beds of sand, gravel, and clay, at Gamrie, near Banff, the 
 
 1 See also the account of marine shells since found in the same neighbour- 
 hood, at a height of 524 feet, in the paper "On Shells below the Till," post. 
 
 2 " Proceedings Geological Society," May 3, 1837. 
 
18 LAST CHANGES IN THE RELATIVE LEVELS OF 
 
 following recent shells: Astarte Scotica, Tellina tennis?- 
 Buccinwm undatum, Natica glaucina, Fusus turricola, Denta- 
 lium dentalis. They were extremely friable, but perfectly 
 uninjured. 
 
 The promontory of Brayhead, in the county of Wicklow, 
 is formed by a cliff of alluvial strata of coarse gravel and 
 sand, containing sea-shells ; it is at least 200 feet high, and 
 the hill of which it is a part, and which is evidently com- 
 posed of the same beds, is perhaps 100 feet higher. Here, 
 therefore, this deposit reaches to the height of 300 feet. 
 At Howth, on the north side of Dublin bay, are similar 
 cliffs, at the height of about 100 feet, also containing shells 
 and other marine exuvise. 
 
 In the Isle of Sheppey, 2 recent shells have been found 
 in a bed 140 feet above the present level. In Norfolk, 3 
 and in Yorkshire, 4 they have been found at the height 
 of 100 feet. Near Berwick, Mr. Milne 5 observed a tract 
 of table-land at the height of 100 feet above the level of 
 the sea. It consists of vertical strata, which have all had 
 their edges worn down to a level plain, just as would have 
 been the case if the rocks had been exposed to the action of 
 marine currents incessantly sweeping over their edges. 
 When the tide is far out exactly the same appearance is 
 presented by the vertical rocks which form the bottom of 
 the shore for a considerable distance out from the existing 
 cliffs; and were there to be an elevation of the coast, 
 another table-land would be formed exactly resembling, 
 but 100 feet above, the former. 
 
 In the basin of the Forth, beds of razor-fish (solen) and 
 bones of the seal have been found at the height of ninety 
 
 1 I examined, along with Professor E. Forbes, Mr. Prestwich's shells, and 
 found they belong to the glacial epoch. 
 
 2 "Proceedings Geol. Soc.," vol. i., p. 410. 
 
 3 " Phil. Mag.," Jan., 1836, p. 30. 
 
 4 Phillips's " Geology," p. 198. 5 " Fourth Report Brit. Assoc.," p. 638. 
 
LAND AND SEA IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 19 
 
 feet. 1 At that of seventy feet, marine remains have been 
 found on the banks of Loch Lomond, 2 on the Yorkshire 
 coast, 3 in Devonshire, 4 and in the Island of Skye. 5 I have 
 found them in several localities in the basin of the Clyde, 
 at the height of from seventy feet to the present high- water- 
 mark. 
 
 At an elevation of about forty feet there has been ob- 
 served on many parts of our coast a series of raised beaches 
 and terraces, which, by their magnitude, indicate the prodi- 
 gious length of time at which the sea-level must have been 
 stationary at this height; and if we may judge of its dura- 
 tion from the relative size of the ancient terraces with those 
 now forming, it must have exceeded the recent period, 
 of which 2,000 years is but a part, by an immense 
 amount; but this is but one of the epochs in the history of 
 this formation. Between the great terrace and the sea 
 several subordinate ones, and beaches, have been observed, 
 each of them marking long-continued periods of repose, 
 whilst a sudden deepening, two or three fathoms below the 
 low-water-mark, is probably caused by another line of ter- 
 races now covered by the sea. 
 
 The great terrace, the base of which seems very gener- 
 ally to be between thirty and forty feet above the sea, forms 
 a marked feature in the scenery of the west of Scotland, 
 in those parts where the violence of the Atlantic has not 
 swept away the plateau of marine alluvia which, in the less 
 exposed situations, is always interposed between it and the 
 sea. 
 
 The northern part of the county of Ayr, which is com- 
 posed of a coarse red sandstone or conglomerate, has been 
 
 1 " Wern. Mem.," vol. v., p. 572. 
 
 2 Letter from Mr. Buchanan, of Arden. 
 
 3 By Mr. Witham, of Lartington ; Phillips's "Geol. of Yorkshire." 
 
 4 " Geol. Soc. Proc.," Dec. 14, 1836. 
 
 5 M'Culloch's " Western Islands," vol. 1, p. 293. 
 
20 LAST CHANGES IN THE RELATIVE LEVELS OF 
 
 worn by the former action of the sea into a magnificent 
 range of cliffs, in some places rising to the height of 300 
 feet: the two Islands of Greater and Lesser Cumbrae lie 
 opposite to .it, and have corresponding terraces. The for- 
 mer of these islands is composed of the same sandstone, 
 intersected by trap veins ; both the trap and sandstone have 
 been worn away, but in different degrees, and the dykes 
 are left standing out from the cliffs like ruined walls, 
 affording no doubtful evidence of the length of time during 
 which the sea formerly washed their bases. 1 
 
 Similar phenomena have been observed in Jura, Mull, 
 and Islay, at elevated levels, as well as at that of our present 
 seas; and they furnish, as Mr. M'Culloch observes, "the 
 most perfect record which geology affords of the wasting 
 
 1 The time is not yet gone by with geology, as it has with astronomy, 
 when the conclusions drawn from its phenomena are supposed to be inconsis- 
 tent with the Word of God. I rejoice, however, to feel assured that, in 
 yielding to evidences which it is impossible for me to resist, I am neither 
 denying its truth nor wresting it to my own purposes. That interpretation 
 which admits, to the fullest extent, the remoteness of the " beginning," was 
 not invented to meet a geological difficulty, but has been held by learned and 
 pious men of all ages. To those who, unacquainted with the science, 
 think the conclusions drawn from its investigation too uncertain, and too 
 contrary to each other, to be worth attending to, I would say, that such dis- 
 crepancies of opinion are every day disappearing as the science advances; 
 and on the point in question there is no controversy which deserves the 
 name. There is, indeed, no rule without exception. At the meeting of the 
 British Association held last year at Liverpool, I remember an elaborate 
 paper was published to prove that the theory of gravitation was contrary to 
 Scripture : it, of course, called forth no remark. At Newcastle, a gentleman, 
 well entitled from his labours in one department of the science to be listened 
 to with respect, more especially as he did not impugn opinions differing from 
 his own, took what I must call the sceptical side of this inquiry, by endea- 
 vouring to prove the uncertainty of geological evidence. The paper was 
 honoured by a reply from Professor Sedgwick, whose reasonings were responded 
 to by an audience containing a greater amount of high geological authority 
 than perhaps was ever before congregated under one roof, in a manner which 
 proved that on this point at least there was no dispute. 
 
LAND AND SEA IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 21 
 
 action of the sea upon the land." 1 After remarking that 
 the destroying causes of such as are found on our present 
 shores are so obvious that it would be superfluous to point 
 them out, he offers the following speculations on the origin 
 of those in question : " The other case, that of outstand- 
 ing inland dykes, such as those of Cumbrae, and the more 
 conspicuous examples in Islay and Mull, is more difficult of 
 explanation. It is equally evident, however, even in these 
 two instances, that the surrounding strata must once have 
 existed at least at the same level as the summits of the pre- 
 sent dykes. Nor can any obvious causes now be traced by 
 the operation of which so great a removal of land has been 
 effected : there are no rivers in any of the instances enume- 
 rated to which it could be attributed; nor, indeed, could 
 any action of a river be imagined capable of producing 
 those effects on surfaces so irregular." He supposes they 
 may have resulted from the tedious operation of the atmo- 
 sphere ; but the actual change of level affords an easy solu- 
 tion of the difficulty ; and in each of the cases cited we have 
 the additional evidence of such an origin from marine re- 
 mains, imbedded in the alluvial strata which accompany 
 them. 
 
 Although we have traces of changes of level on every 
 side of the British Islands, it would be premature to say 
 whether or not they are all universal, or whether some of 
 them may not be confined to particular districts. There can, 
 I apprehend, be no doubt as to the lower levels under the 
 great terrace. The plateau at its base, except where since 
 worn away by the action of the sea, is invariably composed 
 of marine beds of sand, gravel, or clay ; but the case is doubt- 
 ful as to those at higher elevations ; and if the shells at the 
 top of the mountain of Moel Tryfane be considered as a 
 proof of elevation, we may 'safely assume that it must have 
 
 1 M'Culloch's " Western Islands," vol. ii., p. 480. 
 
22 LAST CHANGES IN THE RELATIVE LEVELS OF 
 
 been a local one. 1 Although we do not observe any such 
 marks of violence as are indicated by extensive inclinations 
 of the stratification, or by the fractures, erosions, and un- 
 stratified deposits which have been produced by diluvial 
 agency, it is quite evident that some of these changes must 
 
 1 Since writing the above, I have read with much pleasure Mr. Trimmer's 
 paper on the diluvial drift in Wales and Ireland in the " Journal of the 
 Dublin Geological Society." I agree with him entirely as to the well-marked 
 difference between diluvial deposits and those caused by permanent submer- 
 gence ; and if I differ with him as to the origin of the gravels of Howth and 
 Bray, it does not in the slightest degree affect the argument. He appears 
 for he has not come to that part of the subject to consider them the result of 
 diluvial action, whilst I agree with my friend Dr. Scouler, with whom I 
 visited them, that they are proofs of elevation. Mr. Trimmer, after noticing 
 the ready reception of the diluvial theory of Buckland, remarks, that " the 
 interest excited by these new and striking facts (i. e., proofs of change of 
 level) had now diverted the current of geological speculation into an opposite 
 direction from that in which it had lately flowed ; and from the one extreme 
 of having generalized too hastily on diluvial phenomena, geologists began 
 to run into the other, of endeavouring to exclude diluvial action from the 
 list of geological agencies, to expunge the very name from geological 
 nomenclature, to forget all the evidence which had been collected of the 
 passage of large bodies of water over the land, and, in every mass of trans- 
 ported gravel in which marine shells of existing species were discovered, to 
 see a raised beach, or a marine formation, of gradual accumulation, regard- 
 less of the proofs which, in many cases, existed of such deposits being due 
 to the sudden and transient action of the sea." It is impossible to examine 
 the diluvial deposits which I have formerly noticed, without remarking the 
 evident effects of such sudden and transient action, so perfectly resembling 
 those which we know must have been owing to similar causes. In the 
 summer of 1818 I had an opportunity of observing the deposit caused by the 
 irruption of the lake which had been formed by a glacier in the Valley of 
 Bagne, and which was spread over the valleys of the Dranse and the Rhone, 
 before it was covered by vegetation or obliterated by cultivation. No word 
 could so well express its appearance as " diluvium," except that the occur- 
 rence of works of art formed a prominent feature, especially below the village 
 of Martigny, where several houses were destroyed, and where beams, hewn 
 stones, and fragments of "furniture, were confusedly mixed with gravel and 
 clay. At Greenock, in 1834, I witnessed the effects of an inundation, 
 
LAND AND SEA IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 23 
 
 Lave been sudden; and beds of testaceous animals have 
 been entombed alive by the subsequent deposit of clay or 
 sand from a considerable depth. This is particularly ob- 
 servable in the laminated clay in which marine remains are 
 so frequently found in the basin of the Clyde. The upper 
 parts seem quite destitute of them, and it is only when the 
 excavations are made deep enough, such as in digging wells 
 and coal-pits, or in the lower beds of brickworks, that they 
 may be expected to be found. In the brickworks near 
 Glasgow, I am often told by the workmen that they are not 
 deep enough for shells. 
 
 Such sudden changes, we know, have in recent times 
 taken place on the west coast of America and in Cutch; 
 and no doubt earthquakes have accompanied the ancient 
 changes as well as those of a modern date. Fissures and 
 
 caused by the breaking down of the head of a reservoir, in which upwards of 
 thirty lives were destroyed. In its track to the sea it exhibited all the 
 phenomena of diluvial action. The streets and walls were marked with 
 furrows ; masses of stone, and even of cast-iron, were mixed up with clay 
 and gravel without regard to their gravity ; whilst within the houses every- 
 thing was covered with a thick layer of fine silt, exactly as in the diluvial 
 caves. Were this covering, therefore, to occur in insulated patches, we 
 might seek in similar causes for similar effects ; but where could the lake 
 have existed so vast as to have swept away nearly the whole of the alluvial 
 covering of the great coal basin of Scotland from sea to sea, and lodged it in 
 one confused mass in some places hundreds of feet in thickness ? Its cause 
 must, I apprehend, be sought for in some sudden geological action of a 
 magnitude far surpassing any like event recorded in the short page of human 
 history. The long-continued action of submarine currents could not have 
 been the cause of the beds in question, although I have no doubt that they 
 often have given origin to coarse beds of gravel improperly termed diluvium. 
 When I wrote the foregoing note I had not observed the regularly striated 
 rocks now ascribed, I have no doubt rightly, to glacial action : the above- 
 mentioned " furrows " caused by heavy bodies hurried along by the rush of 
 waters bore no resemblance to the glacial strain. I mention this because my 
 late distinguished friend, Dr. Fleming, has quoted the note in his " Lithology 
 of Edinburgh," in proof of his own views respecting the origin of " silt " 
 phenomena. 
 
24 
 
 LAST CHANGES IN THE RELATIVE LEVELS OF 
 
 dislocations are occasionally to be observed in the beds of 
 sand and clay, produced probably by such causes. In an 
 excavation made* at Warriston, in the line of the Edin- 
 burgh and Newhaven Railway, in cutting through a ridge 
 of about 400 yards long, 100 yards broad, and 10 yards 
 high, the section, which was at right angles with its 
 length, exhibited numerous rents traversing the beds, which 
 could only have been produced by a sudden upheaving. A 
 horizontal section would have represented the fissures as 
 parallel with its length, whilst the cross one shows them 
 radiating, as it were, from a centre. The inclination of 
 
 the beds is too great to be ascribed to original inequalities 
 in the mode of deposition. In some cases they form an angle 
 of more than 60 degrees with the horizon. Some of them 
 consist of fine and coarse sand or clay, and others of small 
 fragments of coal. The section presented a beautiful minia- 
 ture model of the stratification, fissures, slips, and faults 
 of a coal-field. These beds are covered by another of 
 gravel, which lies unconformable to them, and has evidently 
 been deposited immediately after, filling from above some 
 of the open fissures. It is impossible to account for these 
 appearances without supposing that they are the effect of 
 a local upheaving. 
 
 Although, however, the changes in level might in some 
 cases have been sudden, and attended with earthquakes, it 
 is probable that in others they have been slow and gradual, 
 like those taking place in Sweden at the present day. In- 
 deed, with the exception of the absence of works of art, 
 nothing can more perfectly agree with the appearances of the 
 
LAND AND SEA IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 25 
 
 ancient marine alluvial beds than Mr. Ly ell's description 
 of similar, but more recent, ones in Sweden. I have often 
 met with beds of shells imbedded in marly clay, which had 
 received a violet colour from the decomposition of the 
 common mussel (Mytilus edulis), exactly as described by 
 him. 1 
 
 The question as to the identity of the flora and fauna of 
 the present period with that of submergence is an impor- 
 tant one. It would perhaps be premature to say with cer- 
 tainty whether they are identical or not. With regard to 
 the vegetation, no observations which have yet been made 
 show any difference between it and the existing race of 
 plants. But too little has been done in this department to 
 be of any value in settling the question. The same obser- 
 vation applies to the remains of birds and land animals; or 
 to those of cetacese, Crustacea, algse, zoophytes, and other 
 marine remains which have been found in these deposits. 
 I have endeavoured to institute as rigorous a comparison as 
 I could between the testacea of the two periods, and refer 
 to the catalogues which I have appended to this paper for 
 the results. It will be observed that, although the greatest 
 proportion of the shells are identical with existing species, 
 there is a certain proportion which differs from them. 2 Of 
 those which are unknown, some may probably yet be dis- 
 covered in a recent state ; whilst others, in place of being 
 specifically different from their recent congeners, may be 
 only varieties arising from the different circumstances 
 under which they were placed. Still, as the per centage of 
 
 1 " Phil. Trans.," 1835, p. 1. 
 
 - At the late meeting of the British Association at Newcastle, I had an 
 opportunity of clearing up some points of interest respecting the unknown 
 species of shells belonging to these deposits, and have to acknowledge the 
 advantage I derived from the kind assistance of Messrs. Adamson and 
 Alder, and from my visits to the Museum of Natural History, which is 
 arranged in a manner well worthy of the scientific reputation of that splendid 
 city. 
 
26 LAST CHANGES IN THE RELATIVE LEVELS OF 
 
 unknown shells is as great as that of the newer pliocene 
 of the Sicilian deposits, it appears highly probable that a 
 considerable change must have taken place in the fauna. 
 
 The organic remains belonging to these deposits have 
 been termed Quaternery by some geologists, and Subfossil 
 by others. Professor Phillips includes the beds in which 
 they are found amongst the post-tertiary and modern 
 deposits, although with some doubt j observing, that it is 
 difficult to "discriminate between the Sicilian tertiaries, 
 with 95 per cent, of existing species of shells, and the con- 
 chiferous gravels and sands of Holderness and Lancashire, 
 in which, among twenty species of shells now living in the 
 German Ocean, one occurs which is not yet known. If the 
 Lancashire shells are, like those of Specton, Uddevalla, and 
 the coasts of Devon and Calvados, raised beaches, and to 
 be classed in the modern epoch, why are the Sicilian ranked 
 as tertiary 1 ?" 1 It appears to me that Mr. Lyell has solved 
 the difficulty by classing amongst the tertiary formations 
 "all those geological monuments which cannot be proved 
 to have originated since the earth was inhabited by man." 
 The appearance of man on the surface of the earth is an 
 event of such transcendent importance as to justify its 
 being used as the separating line of the recent or human 
 period, and those which preceded it. Changes of level have 
 Occurred in every stage of the earth's history: those of 
 which I have been treating must have taken place during 
 that which immediately preceded the recent period, and, of 
 course, the organic remains belong to that division of the 
 tertiary group which he has named the newer pliocene. 2 
 
 1 " Treatise on Geology," p. 263. 
 
 8 Sir Charles Lyell has since made the identity of the existing testaceous 
 fauna the test of the post- tertiary epoch. Shells are the medals of creation, and 
 as their existence is in no case dependent on the operations of man, no better 
 theoretical division could be imagined; but not until every existing species 
 is known can we be certain of the non-existence in a recent state of any of 
 
LAND AND SEA IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 27 
 
 It is of great importance that every circumstance connected 
 with this deposit should be carefully observed and recorded, 
 as an accurate knowledge of it cannot fail to throw much 
 light on that hitherto obscure branch of geology, the nature 
 and origin of the different alluvial beds which compose 
 the earthy covering of the more ancient formations; and, 
 as it must be the object of the science to proceed from what 
 is known to what is unknown, we cannot too minutely 
 investigate that part of it which forms the first step in the 
 descending series, in order that we may obtain firmer foot- 
 ing in prosecuting our researches into the more remote 
 epochs of the history of the earth. 
 
 the shells found in various marine deposits. Although, however, we may not 
 arrive at absolute certainty, my own impression is, that the shells of the 
 glacial epoch, that are not British, are still living in the Arctic seas, and 
 therefore do not belong to the newer pliocene. 
 
28 PHENOMENA OF THE ELEVATED MARINE BEDS 
 
 III. 
 
 ON THE PHENOMENA 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ELEVATED MARINE BEDS OF THE BASIN 
 OF THE CLYDE. 
 
 Read to the Wernerian Society, 26th January, 1839. 
 
 THE following paper appears in the " Memoirs of the Wer- 
 nerian Society" as the second part of that on "The last 
 Changes of the Relative Levels of the Land and Sea in the 
 British Islands/' whereas its object was to investigate the 
 phenomena produced by these changes, and to draw such 
 conclusions from them as the facts seemed to warrant. 
 Perceiving these conclusions, if I may be allowed to say so, 
 were of no small importance, my first object was to institute 
 a comparison between the existing testaceous fauna of the 
 British seas and that which preceded it, assisted by two such 
 eminent conchologists as the late Mr. George B. Sowerby 
 and Mons. Deshayes, the former of whom accompanied me 
 on a dredging cruise, and the latter examined and reported 
 on the shells, especially with reference to their climatal 
 conditions. We ascertained for the first time the very 
 decided difference between the present fauna and that 
 which preceded it, amounting to not less than 30 per cent, 
 of shells no longer inhabitants of the British seas (see the 
 lists of shells from the Kyles of Bute and the Greenock 
 Railway), and also for the first time that the climate of the 
 British Islands at the period of their deposition must have 
 been colder than it is at present. 
 
OF THE BASIN OF THE CLYDE. 29 
 
 My lamented friend, H. E. Strickland, to whoin I com- 
 municated the conclusions with respect to climate, &c., 
 strongly advised me to send a paper on the subject to the 
 Geological Society, which would bring a discovery which he 
 considered of great importance into notice sooner than in 
 the more limited circulation of the " Memoirs of the Wer- 
 nerian Society" (see his letter on the subject, Appendix, No. 
 1). In consequence of his advice I drew up and sent to the 
 Geological Society my paper on the climate. The present 
 paper, however, was the first, so far as I know, in which it 
 was maintained that a colder climate preceded the present. 
 
 Since my last communication, I have continued my 
 examination of the elevated marine beds of the basin of the 
 Clyde. Although it is not my intention to describe the 
 different localities in which they have been observed, there 
 are two which I connot avoid noticing, in consequence of 
 the very remarkable proportion of extinct or unknown 
 shells which they contain. The first of these is in the 
 Island of Bute, which I visited in company with Mr. G. B. 
 Sowerby, for the purpose of dredging for shells. Upon 
 landing to search the shore near its northern extremity, we 
 found several valves of the Pecten Islandicus, a shell of the 
 existence of which, in a recent state, in the British seas, Mr. 
 Sowerby had previously expressed his disbelief. We were 
 anxious, therefore, to ascertain whether or not these were 
 the exuviae of a living race, and determined to dredge for 
 them in the Kyle, or narrow sound, which here separates 
 the island from the mainland. This we afterwards did, 
 but without success, and the inhabitants assured us they 
 had never seen any in a live state. Subsequent inquiry 
 convinces me that all the specimens hitherto discovered 
 belong to the ancient deposit. 
 
 Our doubts were at all events set at rest with regard to 
 the shells in question; for, upon removing the stones and 
 shingle which lay upon the beach, they were found im- 
 
30 PHENOMENA OF THE ELEVATED MARINE BEDS 
 
 bedded in a finely laminated clay belonging to it, and which 
 we observed in a section formed by a stream, passing from 
 under the sea to a higher level. It abounded in marine 
 shells, of which we distinguished twenty-four species, not 
 more than one-half of which have been found in the adjoin- 
 ing inlet, and one-third of them are altogether unknown as 
 British. A proportion so great I considered as altogether 
 accidental; but having since examined a locality in which 
 it was equally large, I attribute it in part to the circum- 
 stance of both these deposits being sea-bottoms and not 
 beaches, and consequently being in a great measure desti- 
 tute of the common littoral shells which abound in them, 
 but chiefly to the fact that the extinct or unknown species 
 are those which occur in greatest abundance in the raised 
 beds. 
 
 A flood in the stream had washed numbers of the fossil 
 shells out of the clay, and left them on the shore mixed up 
 with recent ones. A conchologist unaware of their origin 
 must have been delighted with his success in discovering a 
 locality which afforded so many new species. 1 
 
 Amongst them Mr. Sowerby found a panopcea which 
 was new to him, but which he has since identified with the 
 P. Bivonce from the elevated clay beds near Palermo. It 
 is described and figured by Dr. Philippi in the " Enumera- 
 tio Molluscorum Sicilise." (Tab. II., fig. 1.) Mr. Wood 
 has also pointed out to me one from the crag, which is 
 apparently of the same species. 
 
 One of two valves of the Panopcea Aldrovandi have been 
 
 1 This mixture of shells from deposits of different ages has been adduced 
 by Mr. Charlesworth as one of the sources of error in the inferences drawn 
 from the per centage of living and extinct species in the tertiary formations. 
 It is no doubt a possibility which ought always to be kept in mind ; but it 
 cannot affect the present inquiry, except in the rare cases of shells which are 
 actually extinct having been supposed to be recent species. Marine shells in 
 situ in elevated beds must necessarily belong to the period when the sea stood 
 at a higher level. 
 
OP THE BASIN OF THE CLYDE. 31 
 
 found on our shores, one of which, in the cabinet of Mr. 
 Falconer, of Carlowrie, is marked "from Yarmouth;" and 
 in that of Mr. Bean, of Scarborough, there is a specimen of 
 the same genus, P. Glycemeris, found on the Yorkshire 
 coast; it is figured in the " Nat. Hist. Mag.," vol. viii., p. 562. 
 It, however, differs so much in shape, and in the muscular 
 impression, from the one in question, as to render it prob- 
 able that it is a distinct species. 
 
 A single specimen of this shell was found some years ago 
 on the opposite side of the frith, near Largs, by Mr. W. 
 Struthers. It is possible, therefore, that it may still inhabit 
 the adjoining sea. Mr. G. Forrester, of Glasgow, who had 
 it in his possession, tells me, however, that it had no ap- 
 pearance of being recent, and is inclined to think that it 
 belonged to the ancient deposit. The following is a list of 
 the shells we picked up upon this occasion. Those which 
 have been found recent in the Kyles of Bute are marked R, 
 and those which have become extinct or are unknown are 
 marked with an asterisk. 
 
 Cyprina Islandica, R. Modiola vulgaris (modiolus), R. 
 
 Crassina (Astarte) Garensis, R. Fusus antiquus, R. 
 
 Elliptica, R. Nucula margaritacea (nucleus), R. 
 
 Multicostata, *. rostrata (leda oblonga), *. 
 
 Tellina proxima, *. Saxicava rugosa, R. 
 
 Pecten opercularis, R. N. S. (sulcata), *. 
 
 Islandicus, *. Panopsea Bivonse (arctica), *. 
 
 Natica glaucinoides (Clausa), *. Mya arenaria, R. 
 Balanus costatus, JR. truncata, R. 
 
 Serpula triquetra, R. N. S. (Uddevallensis), *. 
 
 Spirorbis corrugatus, R. Cardium edule, R. 
 
 Turbo (Littorina) littoreus, R. Sphenia Swainsoni, R. 
 (Lacuna) vincta, R. 
 
 In the line of the Greenock and Glasgow Railway a sec- 
 tion has been made in a hill between Greenock and Port- 
 Glasgow, which exhibits, in the descending order, the 
 following beds : 
 
32 PHENOMENA OP THE ELEVATED MARINE BEDS 
 
 1. Vegetable soil. 
 
 2. Coarse gravel, two feet, 
 
 3. Sand, ten feet. In these two I did not find any 
 organic remains. 
 
 4. A series of thin beds of sand, gravel, and clay, full of 
 sea-shells. In the course of two visits I distinguished 
 thirty-three species. 
 
 5. Diluvium, with boulders of unknown depth. 
 
 The shelly beds are about fifty feet above the level of 
 the sea, but as it is a deep-water deposit, it indicates a 
 much greater actual change of level. It will be observed 
 by the subjoined list that the shells agree in a remarkable 
 manner with those found in the Island of Bute, and differ 
 in as great a degree from those of the adjoining sea 
 marked R. 
 
 Cyprina Tslandica, R. Trochus inflatus, *. 
 
 Crassina (Astarte) Garensis, R. Mya truncata, R. 
 
 Multicostata, *. N. S. (Uddevallensis), *. 
 
 Tellina proxima, *. ovalis, R. 
 
 Pecten Islandicus, *, Cardium edule, R. 
 
 Natica Glaucinoides, *. Anomia Ephippiutn, /?. 
 
 clausa, *. Patella Virginea, R. 
 
 Balanus Costatus, R. Fissurella (cemoria) Noachina, R. 
 
 Turbo (Littorina) littorea, R. Fusus Banffius, *. 
 
 Expansus, *. Peruvianus (Scalariformis), . 
 
 Canalis, K. turricolus, R. 
 
 Modiola vulgaris, R. discrepans, R. 
 
 Nucula (Leda) oblonga, *. Buccinum undatum, R. 
 Gibbosa (Leda pygmaea), *. Mactra striata, *. 
 
 Minuta, R. Lucina undata, R. 
 
 Saxicava rugosa, R. Ampbldesma prismaticum, *. 
 K S. (Sulcata), *. 
 
 I have lately, through the kindness of Professor Jameson, 
 had an opportunity of submitting the unknown shells to 
 M. Deshayes. He observes that these formations are to 
 Great Britain and Ireland what those of Palermo are to 
 
OF THE BASIN OF THE CLYDE. 33 
 
 Sicily, and correctly supposes that they contain a large 
 proportion of the shells which still live on our shores. His 
 remarks on the particular shells have been added to the 
 descriptions which accompany the catalogue. It will be 
 observed that the whole of those examined by him which 
 are still to be found recent, but not in the British seas, occur 
 in northern latitudes. This strongly confirms an opinion 
 I had previously entertained, that the indications of climate 
 which could be gathered from the organic remains of these 
 deposits pointed to a lower temperature than that of the 
 present period. It was first suggested by observing the 
 identity of many of the shells most common in them with 
 those found by Mr. Lyell at Uddevalla, and figured in his 
 paper on the elevation of land in Sweden, in the " Philoso- 
 phical Transactions" for 1835. Mr. L. has since pointed out 
 to me the Fusus Peruvianus of Lamarck, as still inhabiting 
 the Arctic seas. I have also had an opportunity of showing 
 these shells to Dr. Gray of the British Museum. On a 
 cursory examination he could not detect any of them as 
 British, but remarked that they had all the appearance of 
 Arctic shells. In the Clyde-raised deposits shells common 
 to Britain and the northern parts of Europe occur in much 
 greater abundance than they do at present. The Pecten 
 Islandicus, which has probably entirely disappeared, and 
 the Cyprina Islandica, which, if found recent in the Clyde, 
 is extremely rare, are amongst the most common of the 
 fossil species. 
 
 We know too little of the Flora of this period to be 
 warranted in drawing any inferences respecting climate from 
 it; but the plants known to belong to it are all such as 
 would agree with a lower temperature; and the Scots fir, 
 now only indigenous in the north of Scotland and Norway, 
 occurs in the submarine forests of Wales and Hampshire. 
 
 There are, however, some of the fossil shells which have 
 been supposed to lead to conclusions of an opposite nature. 
 
 D 
 
34 PHENOMENA OF THE ELEVATED MARINE BEDS 
 
 Amongst the fresh-water fossil shells Mr. Sowerby has 
 observed that the Cyrena Trigonula 1 resembles one from 
 the Canal of Alexandria, and another resembles the Unio 
 Littoralis, 2 a recent shell from Auvergne. He has, however, 
 pointed out differences which sh6w that they are not of the 
 same species, and therefore furnish no evidence respecting 
 climate. Mr. Murchison has also found two extinct shells, 
 an Oliva and Sulla Ampulla, which he thinks give indica- 
 tions of a warm climate. 3 But as the Oliva has not been 
 identified with any recent species, the same observation 
 applies to it as to the Unio and Cyrena* The Bulla 
 Ampulla occurs in the Indian seas; but, according to 
 Deshayes, 5 it is also to be found in the European seas. The 
 preponderance of evidence is therefore clearly in favour 
 of the supposition that the climate was colder than 
 it is at present. It appears to me that we have similar 
 evidence respecting that of Sicily during the newer pliocene 
 period. According to Dr. Phillippi, 6 out of ten of the fossil 
 shells which still exist in a recent state, but not in the 
 Mediterranean, there is one which belongs to the Red Sea ; 
 all the others are to be found in the more northern parts of 
 Europe. According to Deshayes, 7 twenty-seven belong to 
 a northern and three to a southern latitude. Slight altera- 
 tions of climate are easily explained. There is ample proof 
 of extensive changes of level having taken place in America 
 in times which, geologically speaking, are extremely recent. 
 
 1 Figured and described, " Nat. Hist. Mag.," vol. vii., p. 275 ; also in 
 Lyell's " Elements of Geology," p. 60, fig. 24. 
 
 2 The recent shell is figured in Lyell's " Elements," p. 61, fig. 27; the 
 fossil in the " Nat. Hist. Mag.," Oct., 1838, p. 548. 
 
 3 " Silurian System," p. 534. 
 
 4 See note on this shell in catalogue. 
 
 5 Vide Tables of Tertiary Shells, appended to Lyell's " Geology," vol. iii., 
 first edition, p. 18. 
 
 6 "Enumeratio Molluscorum Sicilise," 4to, Ber., 1836. 
 
 7 Tables of Tertiarv Shells. 
 
OF THE BASIN OF THE CLYDE. 35 
 
 Such a change as would send the Gulf Stream to the south 
 of the line, or into the Pacific, would necessarily reduce the 
 temperature of our seas, and account for the Arctic charac- 
 ter of the shells. 1 
 
 The evidences of depression furnished by the terrestrial 
 deposits which have been called submarine forests, are not 
 less conclusive than are those of elevation derived from the 
 marine beds. They occur on the west coast, in the Western 
 Islands, the Orkneys, and in several points of the east coast 
 of Scotland. The most extensive is that of the basin of 
 the Tay, which has been described by -Dr. Fleming. It 
 has been observed in detached portions for about ten miles 
 on the south side of that river, and also on the opposite 
 shore, and extends through the whole of Strathearn. 2 It 
 may be described as a bed of peat, containing stumps of 
 trees in the attitude of growth, resting upon beds apparently 
 of marine origin, and covered by others containing marine 
 shells. There can be no doubt, therefore, as to its relative 
 age. In the statistical account of the parish of Longforgan, 3 
 we have the following interesting description of it : " By an 
 examination lately taken at the Braes of Monorgan and 
 Polgavie, where the river Tay has made its greatest en- 
 croachments, and where the banks are from 19 to 20 feet 
 perpendicular height, the following strata can be distinctly 
 traced. 1st, A brownish clay mixed with sand and vegetable 
 earth, about 1^ foot deep, forming the present prolific upper 
 surface. 2d, About 4 feet deep of a brownish free clay, 
 with a proportion of sand, but no vegetable matter. The 
 only difference between these two is probably owing to 
 cultivation, manure, sun, and air. 3d, About 2 feet 3 
 inches of a poor yellowish clay, without sand, but mixed 
 with cockle, mussel, and other marine shells, but no vegetable 
 substances, ith, A strong blue clay 3| feet deep, containing 
 
 1 "Transactions of the Royal Soc., Edin.," vol. ix., p. 419. 
 
 2 " New Stat. Acct," No. x., p. 60. 3 Vol. xix., p. 556. 
 
36 PHENOMENA OF THE ELEVATED MARINE BEDS 
 
 sea-shells and roots of vegetables, the growth of which would 
 seem to have been checked by the superincumbent stratum. 
 5th, Also a strong blue clay, with yellowish seams in it about 
 5 feet deep, and containing a much greater proportion of 
 vegetable substances than the fourth stratum, but under 
 like circumstances. The river rises to the surface of 
 this stratum in stream-tides. 6th, Three feet deep of the 
 same kind of strong blue clay, mixed with more than 
 double the quantity of vegetable roots than in the fifth 
 stratum, but which also seems to have been borne down, 
 and their vegetation extinguished, by some superior pressure. 
 These three are separated from each other by a small seam 
 of sand and clay, which forms a pretty exact line of division, 
 and through which the vegetable roots do not seem to have 
 passed. 7th, A real peat-moss, near 4 feet deep, quite full 
 of various kinds of vegetables, with roots, trunks, and 
 branches of trees, the surface of which forms the bed of the 
 Tay, in many places of which the moss can be distinctly 
 traced perfectly entire, clean, and firm, without having 
 received the least injury from the flux and reflux of the 
 tide, and out of which at other places great quantities of 
 peats have been dug at different periods, and are so still. It 
 is very remarkable that, in this stratum, many roots of large 
 trees are to be found, principally alders and birch, at about 
 13 feet from each other, perfectly upright, in the same 
 situation in which the tree had originally grown, 1 with 
 
 1 The phenomena of these beds, of comparatively modern date, are most 
 instructive, and throw much light on those of the earlier formations. A fossil 
 forest, agreeing most perfectly with the one above described, is imbedded in 
 the sandstone of the coal measures in a quarry near Glasgow. As it is 
 within two miles of my residence, I watched the progress of its being un- 
 covered almost daily during the time the operations of the quarry were 
 carrying on. They were abandoned, however, after at least a dozen of trees 
 had been laid open, chiefly on account of the difficulty of extracting building 
 stones from amongst their roots. The trees were necessarily destroyed as the 
 work proceeded ; but, at my request, Mr. Black, the proprietor, was kind 
 
OF THE BASIN OF THE CLYDE. 37 
 
 their ramifications extended among the moss, arid some of 
 the smaller fibres penetrating the clay below. The trunks 
 and branches of the trees, lying horizontally, are all fresh, 
 and have the appearance of having been borne down, and 
 laid flat by some powerful cause; and what is also very 
 remarkable, many of the roots seem to have had their trunks 
 cut off about six inches above the original surface. 8th, 
 Immediately below the peat-moss is blue clay, without any 
 mixture, and no vegetable roots or substances. 
 
 " A man now living, and seventy- two years of age, who has 
 sunk twenty-three pit wells in several parts of the Carse, 
 
 enough to order two of them to be preserved, one of them, a, with the roots 
 laid bare, the other, 6, enclosed in a mass of the stone in which they were 
 
 imbedded. The first has been since removed, but the latter remains, and the 
 truncated ends of the roots may be observed on every side. The trees were 
 as near each other as they could have grown, the roots branching naturally 
 out, without fracture or disturbance ; the trunks, about two feet above the 
 roots, were overlaid by a bed of stone, through which they did not pass; over 
 this was another of shale, at least seven feet thick. We have here all the proofs 
 of a tranquil submergence, probably in a sheltered lagoon. The trees have 
 been sanded up about two feet from the original surface, and the upper part 
 removed by natural decay or the force of the wind, and a stratum of sand 
 superimposed. As the water deepened, the clay which now forms the shale has 
 been deposited, just as sandbanks are at present forming in the shallows, and 
 beds of clay in the deep water in the Frith of Clyde. Mr. Edward Forbes 
 has observed a fossil forest, agreeing in all respects with the above, in the 
 coal formation of the county of Fife. It is near Anstruther, and has been 
 exposed by the action of the sea. 
 
38 PHENOMENA OF THE ELEVATED MARINE BEDS 
 
 says, that after he penetrated the cultivated surface, he 
 always found 10 feet of brownish clay, without vegetable 
 mixture; under that, blue clay with vegetable roots and 
 sea-shells; and generally at about 19 feet he found peat-moss 
 from 3 to 9 inches deep, then blue clay again, with vegetable 
 roots of different depths, from 9 inches to 6 feet, and under 
 that, about two feet deep of moss again, composed of oak, fir, 
 beech, and bogie wood. He has seen taken out of this moss 
 deers' horns, skulls, and other bones. Below this moss he 
 generally found blue clay and quicksand." 
 
 In the neighbouring parish of Newburgh 1 a well has 
 been lately dug, in which the following beds were passed 
 through : 
 
 1. Carse clay, marine. 
 
 2. Peat-moss (submerged forest). 
 
 3. Fine sand. 
 
 4. Till or diluvium, with boulders of unknown depth. 
 We have here the most direct proof of the place this 
 
 ancient forest holds in the series of deposits, resulting from 
 the last changes in the levels of the sea and land. It is to 
 be regretted that so little is yet known of its animal or vege- 
 table remains ; but it is to be hoped that a field so new and 
 so inviting, and which promises, both to the zoologist and 
 botanist, so rich a harvest of discovery, will ere long attract 
 well qualified observers. 
 
 In my last paper I offered some remarks on the immense 
 length of time which it must have taken to form the ancient 
 cliffs and terraces, compared with that which has elapsed 
 since the sea became stationary at its present level. I have 
 since endeavoured to form something like an estimate of the 
 duration of these two periods, by comparing the extent of 
 the projection of the whin dykes which stand out both from 
 the ancient cliff and from that which is now forming. 2 I 
 
 1 "New Stat. Acct," No. x., p. 60. 
 
 2 See frontispiece. 
 
OF THE BASIN OF THE CLYDE. 39 
 
 found, upon measuring that part of the dyke which projects 
 from the inland cliff, that it extended 208 feet from it, whilst 
 it only extended 13 feet from the present. Hence it must 
 have taken sixteen times as long to wear away the sandstone 
 in which the dyke has been formerly imbedded, in the former 
 period of repose, than in the present one. In the annexed 
 diagram, a represents the ancient whin-dyke, b the present 
 one, e the former, and c the present sea-level. 
 
 We have here an opportunity of comparing a minute frac- 
 tion of geological time with a, very long one of historical 
 time, or rather with one of which the whole of historical time 
 is but a part, probably a small part. 
 
 I am aware that numerical results drawn from a single 
 observation of this nature must be liable to great errors. 
 But I have had no opportunities of multiplying them since 
 this mode of comparison occurred to me, and I give it merely 
 for the purpose of showing how such observations may be 
 made. I am convinced, however, that the disproportion will 
 be found to be no less than the one above stated ; and that 
 by a careful examination of these dykes, which afford, as Dr. 
 M'Culloch remarks, 1 the most perfect record which geology 
 furnishes of the wasting action of the sea, we may even attain 
 something like an estimate of the actual time which has 
 elapsed during their formation. Could we ascertain the rate 
 of the wasting action of the sea, and the extent of rock 
 removed by it, we should have the answer at once. I do 
 1 M'Culloch's " Western Islands." 
 
40 PHENOMENA OF THE ELEVATED MARINE BEDS 
 
 not despair of arriving at a proximate value of both these 
 elements of the calculation. In the example I have given 
 we have ocular evidence that the sea, when it stood at its 
 former level, must have removed upwards of 400 feet of the 
 sandstone rock; to this must be added the amount of what 
 has been wasted since the sea stood at its present level. 
 This, however, cannot be much, judging from the relative 
 dimensions of the outstanding dykes. It will be seen that 
 the waste of sandstone on the remaining part of the platform 
 is not quite double that of the trap. If we assume that it has 
 been a little more, and take 420 feet as the amount removed, 
 at the same rate we have 26^ feet, the amount removed by 
 the sea at the present level. This agrees very well with the 
 shape of the ground, and is probably not far from the truth. 
 With regard to the rate at which the sandstone of Cumbrae 
 yields to the wasting process which is continually acting, all 
 I can say is, that it is too slow to be perceptible in the life- 
 time of one generation. I can appeal to my own recollections 
 of these rocks for nearly half a century, and, except in one 
 instance, can observe no change in their form. The one I 
 allude to is vividly impressed on my memory as the favourite 
 scene of boyish amusement. I can perceive that the sea has 
 not beat against it so long in vain. One part of it was hewn 
 into a particular shape, the projecting corners of which are 
 worn away; but in the body of the rock itself no trace of loss 
 can be perceived. A flight of steps near this have lost none 
 of their perpendicularity, and some millstones, which have 
 formed part of a breakwater for at least a century, have 
 apparently lost none of their original thickness. The rate 
 of waste in this locality is therefore extremely slow ; but as, 
 both from the nature of the rock and the moderate force of 
 the sea in a narrow sound, it must be very regular, were the 
 spots where such observations are made carefully marked, 
 future observations might afford something like a measure of 
 the time requisite for producing such effects. 
 
OF THE BASIN OF THE CLYDE. 41 
 
 I formerly expressed an opinion that some change had 
 taken place in the testaceous fauna of Britain since the last 
 alterations of the sea-level, and that, although a large pro- 
 portion of the shells were identical with those of the present 
 epoch, some of them had become extinct. I am confirmed 
 in this opinion both from the observations I have since 
 made and from those of others. Professor Phillips states 
 that "among a dozen or twenty shells in the gravel of 
 Holderness, one extinct species is met with." 1 On the 
 coast of "Wexford Mr. Griffiths found shells of existing, 
 and also of extinct species, some of which appeared to cor- 
 respond with those of the crag. 2 Mr. Woodward marks 
 the Buccinum granulatum, an extinct crag-shell, amongst 
 the fossils of the brick-earth in Norfolk, which belongs to 
 this formation ; 3 and Mr. Murchison, amongst sixteen species 
 of marine shells discovered by him, found one which appears 
 to be extinct, and one which is not known as an inhabitant 
 of the British seas. 4 
 
 It appears that a similar proportion of recent and extinct 
 species is found to exist in the land and fresh-water shells 
 as amongst those of the sea. The labours of Messrs. Strick- 
 land, Wood, Morris, and Brown, have thrown much light 
 upon the lacustrine and fluviatile deposits of this period. 
 Mr. Strickland found in the gravel of the valley of the 
 Avon, amongst twenty-four species of shells, three which 
 were extinct. 5 Mr. S. Y. Wood, in Suffolk, one extinct, 
 Cyrena, trigonula, and two about which he was doubtful. 6 
 Mr. Brown discovered one at Gosford in Essex; 7 and Mr. 
 Morris, in describing a fresh-water deposit at Grays, in the 
 
 1 " Treatise on Geology," vol. i., p. 299. 
 " Proceedings of Brit. Assoc.," 1835. 
 Woodward's " Geology of Norfolk," p. 36. 
 " Silurian System," p. 533. 
 
 "Silurian System," p. 555; " Geol. Proc.," vol. ii., p. 111. 
 " Nat. Hist. Mag.," vol. vii., p. 274. 
 Ib., vol. ix., p. 431. 
 
42 PHENOMENA OF THE ELEVATED MARINE BEDS 
 
 same county, observed, that though many of the shells are 
 identical with recent ones, some few species are certainly 
 different. 1 Making every allowance, therefore, for the 
 chances of future discovery, or for the difference of opinion 
 of conchologists as to species, we must admit that some 
 change has taken place in the testacea, A much greater 
 one must, however, have taken place amongst the mammalia 
 of the same period, of which by far the greatest number 
 appear to have become extinct. In Scotland the remains of 
 the elephant, the stag, and the fallow-deer, 2 all probably of 
 extinct species, have been found in the diluvial drift or till ; 
 and in marl-pits or marine beds, those of the rhinoceros, 3 the 
 Swedish elk 4 (Cervus alces), and the Irish elk 5 (G. Megaceros). 
 It may be questioned, however, whether either of the elk 
 species belong to the tertiary epoch. But although in this, 
 as in many other cases, it may not be possible to say whether 
 certain deposits belong to the present or the tertiary periods, 
 in theory the line of demarcation is an obvious one, viz., the 
 difference of organic life. 
 
 The creation of man, apart from all other considerations, 
 and regarded merely as a physical event, effected a change 
 in the fauna; and as it is the latest with which we can be 
 
 1 Nat. Hist. Mag.," vol. ix., p. 264. 
 
 2 The elephant has been found in the till on the line of the Union Canal, 
 " Wern. Mem.," vol. iv., p. 58 ; in the parish of Kilsyth, " Stat. Acct.," vol. 
 xviii., p. 233; at Kilmarnock, the remains of which are preserved in the 
 Andersonian Museum, Glasgow ; and at Kilmaurs, associated with sea-shells, 
 and with the horns of the deer and fallow-deer, all apparently of extinct 
 species : they are preserved in the Hunterian Museum. 
 
 3 Notices of the rhinoceros in Scotland will be found in the " Wern. 
 Mem.," vol. iv., p. 582, and vol. v., p. 573. Additional notices will be 
 found in the controversy between Drs. Fleming and Buckland respecting the 
 animals extirpated by man or destroyed by the deluge, " Edin. Phil. 
 Journal," vols. xi. and xii. 
 
 * There is a head and horns of the elk from a marl-pit in Perthshire pre- 
 served in the Hunterian Museum. 
 
 4 Vid. "New Stat. Acct," Ayrshire, p. 353. 
 
OF THE BASIN OF THE CLYDE. 43 
 
 cognizant, it forms the boundary between the two periods. 
 But, in practice, the mere absence of a single species may 
 often lead to erroneous inferences. The earth was probably 
 tenanted by man long before he became an inhabitant of 
 these islands; and therefore, the absence of his remains, 
 or of works of art, is not of itself a proof that a deposit does 
 not belong to the recent period. 
 
 Mr. Lyell informs me that, in future editions of his work, 
 he means to extend the term " recent, so as to comprehend 
 every deposit in which all the fossil-shells are of recent or 
 living species, whether such strata can be shown to belong 
 to the historical period or not. This modification of my 
 former arrangement will be found more convenient in prac- 
 tice, because all the subdivisions, the eocene, miocene, 
 pliocene, and recent, will then be founded on purely con- 
 chological considerations. If any of the species of' shells are 
 extinct, even the smallest proportion, I term the strata 
 newer pliocene." There can, I think, be no question as to 
 the practical convenience of this rule in judging of the age 
 of a deposit. If the distinction of the tertiary beds and 
 those now forming depends upon the difference of organic 
 life (and I know of no other), and if we find a perceptible 
 difference amongst the testacea, we may conclude ct, fortiori 
 that there must be one still greater amongst the mammalia, 
 because every observation hitherto made concurs in this. 
 But whether we look to the absence of human remains or 
 works of art, the occurrence of extinct or unknown shells, or 
 of extinct land animals, we must conclude that the organic 
 remains of the deposits I have been describing belong to a 
 different zoological era from the present to that which Mr. 
 Lyell has termed the newer pliocene. 
 
 I shall now briefly notice, in the ascending order, the dif- 
 ferent members of this deposit as they occur in the central 
 district or great coal-field of Scotland. 
 
44 PHENOMENA OF THE ELEVATED MABINE BEDS 
 
 Resting immediately on the carboniferous strata, we find 
 
 \st, The stratified alluvium formerly mentioned as occa- 
 sionally to be met with under the till. It consists of beds of 
 sand, gravel, and clay, and is apparently of marine origin. 
 No organic remains have yet been found in them; but they 
 seldom occur in beds of pure sand or gravel, such as these ; 
 and there are only a few insulated patches, the remains 
 evidently of the alluvial covering, which has been removed 
 by the same cause which lodged the till or diluvium on the 
 surface. 
 
 2d, The diluvium or till. 1 
 
 3d, Alluvial beds similar to No. 1. I have no doubt they 
 
 1 For accounts of the diluvial deposits in Scotland, see Mr. Bald's descrip- 
 tion of it, under the name of the old alluvial cover, in his observations on the 
 coal formation of Clackmannanshire, " Wern. Mem.," vol. i., p. 481, and vol. 
 iii., p. 105, and in his notice of the fossil elephant, Ib., vol. iv., p. 58. See 
 also Colonel Imrie's paper on the geology of the Campsie Hills, in which 
 there is an excellent description of the grooves and scratches caused by it, on 
 the upper surface of the trap-rocks, " Wern. Mem.," vol. ii., p. 35. 
 
 Sir James Hall's papers on the revolutions of the earth's surface, in the seventh 
 volume of the " Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh," page 150, 
 contain not only a most accurate and elaborate account of the " Diluvian 
 facts in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh," but also, in my opinion, the most 
 satisfactory explanation. He adopts the suggestion of Pallas, that it was 
 owing to submarine volcanic action, and, in the true spirit of philosophic 
 induction, sought in the recorded accounts of violent earthquakes for causes 
 which could produce similar effects not, indeed, of the same magnitude, but 
 of the same nature ; whilst, at the same time, he tested these by actual ex- 
 periments. By explosions under water he produced waves resembling those 
 which so frequently accompany earthquakes, and justly observes that " no 
 limits could well be assigned to the magnitude to which such a wave might 
 reach." 
 
 We are indebted to Sir Woodbine Parish for collecting the historical 
 notices of the marine inundations which have accompanied earthquakes on 
 the coast of Chili and Peru ; and it is impossible to examine the original 
 authorities without seeing in them causes capable of producing effects analo- 
 gous to those presented by diluvium. Acosta, after describing the earthquake 
 of 1686, observes, that "It caused the like trouble and motion at sea as it 
 
OF THE BASIN OF THE CLYDE. 45 
 
 will prove of marine origin ; but no organic remains have 
 yet been noticed in them. 
 
 kth, The submarine forests. 
 
 5th, The elevated marine beds described in this and the 
 former paper. 
 
 Above these we find fresh-water deposits, chiefly lacus- 
 trine, containing, along with the bones of the existing 
 races of mammalia, those of the common and fossil elk and 
 the beaver, 1 but with no such difference in the fauna as 
 described by Mr. Strickland. We cannot, therefore, in 
 Scotland, as yet separate them from the recent period. 
 
 It is quite obvious that no single movement of elevation 
 or of depression can account for the phenomena presented 
 by these beds of marine or terrestrial origin. We find 
 indisputable traces of several ; some of them separated by 
 long intervals of time. But however numerous the changes, 
 however vast the intervals, they form but one page in the 
 voluminous history of the earth which geology unfolds. 
 That page has been but just opened, and the few feeble 
 characters inscribed upon it by so early a labourer must 
 be necessarily imperfect. 
 
 had done at Chili, which happened presently after the earthquake, so as they 
 might see the sea furiously to flie out of her bounds, and to run near two 
 leagues into the land, rising above fourteen fadome." 
 
 In Mr. Milne's paper on the coal-fields of the Lothians there is an elaborate 
 account of it under the name of boulder clay ; and also in Mr. M'Laren's 
 " Geology of Fife and the Lothians." 
 
 1 See Dr. Neill's paper on the beavers of Scotland, " Wern. Mem.," vol. 
 iii., p. 207. 
 
46 CATALOGUE OF SHELLS FROM THE 
 
 CATALOGUE OF SHELLS FROM THE GLACIAL DEPOSITS OF 
 BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 
 
 When I drew up the catalogue of shells from the then 
 so-called "newer pliocene deposits in the British Islands," 
 it was not known that there were in the elevated marine 
 beds of sand, gravel, and clay, which cover the older forma- 
 tions, at least two deposits differing in climate and fauna, 
 and separated by wide intervals of time. I accordingly com- 
 prehended the whole in one list. In my paper, No. Y. of 
 this volume, I have shown that there were two distinct 
 formations, which I then termed newer pliocene and post- 
 tertiary. In the present catalogue I have endeavoured to 
 give as complete a list of the older deposits as the present 
 state of our knowledge would admit of. In the first volume 
 of the " Memoirs of the Geological Survey," Edward Forbes 
 gave a catalogue raisonne of it, including those of the 
 mammaliferous crag, and also those of the corresponding 
 age in other countries. Those I have given separately; but 
 as I have preserved his terminology, and in every case given 
 his numbers, there will be no difficulty in comparing his 
 catalogues with mine. 
 
 CONTRACTIONS. 
 
 ). Dalmuir, shells found in that locality. 
 
 & Stevenston, shells found in that locality by Dr. Landsborough. 
 R. Recent British. 
 
 F. $ H. Forbes and Hanley. 
 
 E. F. Edward Forbes, Catalogue of Glacial Shells, " Mem. Geol. Survey." 
 N. 8. New Species. 
 
 G. S. Geological Survey. 
 
 'W. Woodward, Catalogue of Arctic Shells, " Manual of the Mollusca.'' 
 
GLACIAL DEPOSITS OF BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 47 
 
 Marine TESTACEA, including CIRRIPEDIA, ANNELIDA, and FORAMINIFKUA. 
 
 1. Abra alba (E. F., 18), D., Clyde beds. 
 
 SYN. Syndosmya alba, F. & H. Ligula Boysii, Mont. B. 
 
 2. Abra prismatica (E. F., 19), Clyde beds. 
 
 SYN. Amphidesma prismatica, Brown. Syndosmya prismatica, F. 
 &H. R. 
 
 3. Anomia Ephippium (E. F., 83), Clyde beds. R. 
 
 4. Anomia Squamula (E. F., 84), S., Irish drift, R.] Arctic seas, W. 
 
 SYN. Anomia aculeata, F. & H. R. 
 
 5. Anomia undulata, S, Clyde. 
 SYN. Anomia patelliforinis. R. 
 
 6. Aporrhais pes-pelecani (E. F., 110), D., Clyde; Aberdeenshire, 
 
 Jamieson. R. 
 
 7. Artemis exoleta (E. F., 47), Clyde beds. R. 
 
 8. Artemis Isevigata, S p Landsborough. Examined by E. Forbes, who 
 
 pronounced it a distinct species. See remarks on Astarte propinqua. 
 
 9. Artemis lincta (E. F., 48), Clyde beds, D. R. 
 
 10. Astarte borealis (E. F., 37), Clyde beds; Aberdeenshire, Jamieson; living 
 
 in Arctic seas. Supposed by Edward Forbes to be identical with 
 Crassina Withami of my former catalogue; but upon comparing 
 specimens of each with him, he became satisfied that they were 
 distinct species. Mr. Hancock, in his report on shells dredged ir 
 Davis' Strait, also considers it a distinct species. 
 
 11. Astarte compressa, Mont. (E. F., 41), Clyde beds; Aberdeenshire, Jamie 
 
 son ; living in Arctic seas, W. 
 
 12. Astarte Crebricostata (F. & H., 456), D., Bute ; Spitzbergen, W. 
 
 13. Astarte Danmoniensis (E. F., 39), S., Banff. Considered by E. Forbes to 
 
 be identical with Astarte Scotica, although the margins of the former 
 are crenated, the latter not. As both varieties occur in the Clyde 
 beds, I have inserted both ; living in Arctic seas. R. 
 
 14. Astarte elliptica, Br. (E. F., 38), Clyde beds; Aberdeenshire, Jamieson; 
 
 Arctic seas, W. 
 
 SYN. Astarte Gairensis, Nicol. Astarte ovata, Br., Arctic seas, 
 Deshayes. R. 
 
 15. Astarte Multicostata, Smith, D., Clyde beds, Isle of Man. E. Forbes 
 
 considers it a variety of Astarte compressa ; if so, it is one of those 
 well-marked varieties which indicates a change of geological con- 
 ditions as strongly as a specific difference would. According to M. 
 Deshayes, it occurs in abundance in the North seas, and is found in a 
 fossil state in Russia and Uddevalla. 
 
48 CATALOGUE OF SHELLS FROM THE 
 
 16. Astarte propinqua, Landsborough, S. Allied to Astarte Multicostata, 
 
 but with a much stronger hinge ; it was submitted to E. Forbes, who 
 pronounced it a distinct species. " 
 
 17. Astarte Scotica, Clyde beds; living in Arctic seas. R. 
 
 18. Astarte semisulcata, Bute, Wick, Bridlington ; living in Davis' Strait, 
 
 Hancock. A fragment of a single valve was sent to me by the late 
 Mr. Witham, and named in my former catalogue Crassina Withami. 
 I dredged a single valve in Rothesay Bay, but I am satisfied it was a 
 fossil. According to Mr. Hancock it abounds in Davis' Strait. See 
 remarks on Astarte Borealis above. E. Forbes found it in the till 
 at Wick. 
 SYN. Astarte Lactea, Sowerby. Crassina Withami, Smith. 
 
 19. Astarte sulcata, Clyde beds; living in Arctic seas, M'Clintock. 
 
 20. Astarte Uddevallensis, D. It agrees with the shell figured in Ly ell's 
 
 Uddevalla fossils, f. 21, 22, and named by me accordingly. 
 
 22. Balanus balanoides (E. F., Cirrhipeda, 2), Clyde beds, D. ; living in the 
 
 northern and Celtic regions of the European seas, E. Forbes. R. 
 
 23. Balanus communis (E. F., Cirrhipeda, 1), common ; living in the northern 
 
 and Celtic regions of the European seas, E. Forbes. R. 
 
 24. Balanus concavus, Darwin, p. 235, Aberdeenshire, Jamieson, Crag. 
 
 25. Balanus costatus, D. R. 
 
 26. Balanus crenatus, D. ; living in the Arctic seas, as far as Lancaster 
 
 Sound. R. 
 
 27. Balanus Scoticus, Clyde beds. 
 
 28. Balanus Uddevallensis (E. F., Cirrhipeda, 3), Clyde beds, Uddevalla : 
 
 living in the Arctic seas. 
 
 SYN. Balanus porcatus, Darwin. Mr. Darwin considers this as the 
 same species as the last ; if so, it is one of those well-marked varieties 
 which indicates a change in the climatal conditions which affected it. 
 I have found it in the till or boulder clay in the basin of Clyde. 
 
 29. Buccinum ciliatum (E. F., 130), Bute, R. ; living in the Arctic seas, W. 
 
 SYN". Buccinum Humphreysianum, F. & H. 
 
 30. Buccinum striatum, Sowerby, N. S., D. Described in " Records of 
 
 General Science," 1., 134. 
 
 31. Buccinum undatum var. (E. F., 129), D., Clyde beds, common; Aberdeen- 
 
 shire, Jamieson ; Arctic seas, W. R. 
 
 32. Cardium aculeatum, S. R. 
 
 33. Cardium echinatum (E. F., 62), Bute, Forth beds, in the till at Wick. R. 
 
 34. Cardium edule (E. F., 58), Clyde beds. R. 
 
 35. Cardium exiguum (E. F., 61), D., Bute. R. 
 
 SYN. Cardium pygmaeum. 
 
GLACIAL DEPOSITS OF BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 49 
 
 36. Cafdium laevigatum (E. F., 63), S., Landsborough. R. 
 
 37. Cardium Norvegicum, Aberdeenshire, Jamieson; living in the seas of 
 
 northern Europe. 
 
 37*. Cardium fasciatum, Mont., Bute. R. 
 37f. Cardium Suecicum, Bute, J. Richmond. R. 
 
 38. Cemoria Noachina (E. F., 92), D., Clyde beds; living in Greenland. R. 
 
 SYN. Puncturella Noachina, Lowe. Cemoria Flemingii, Leach. 
 S9. Corbula nucleus (E. F., 22), Scotch and Irish beds. R. 
 
 40. Cylichna alba, Clyde beds ; Arctic seas. 
 
 41. Cylichna cylindracea, Aberdeenshire, Jamieson ; Bute, Richmond. R. 
 
 SYN. Bulla cylindracea, Volvaria cylindracea, Br. 
 
 42. Cylichna obtusa, Aberdeenshire, Jamieson. R. 
 
 SYN". Bulla obtusa, Mont. 
 
 N.B. This and the preceding shell were in so fragile a state that their 
 determination is doubtfully given. 
 
 43. Creusia verruca (E. F., Cirrhipeda, 5), Clyde beds. R. 
 
 44. Cryptodon, N. S., Aberdeenshire, Jamieson. 
 
 45. Cyprsea Europaea (E. F., 142), Irish drift. R. 
 
 46. Cyprina Islandica (E. F., 44), Clyde beds, common ; Forth beds, Aber- 
 
 deenshire, Jamieson ; found by me in the till. R. Arctic seas, W. 
 
 47. Dentalium dentale, Gamrie, Prestwick. R. 
 SYN. D. Tarentinum, F. & H. 
 
 48. Dentalium entale (E. F., 85), Aberdeenshire, Jamieson; Wick, in the 
 
 till ; Spitzbergen, W. R. 
 
 49. Donax trunculus (E. F., 26), S., Irish beds. R. 
 
 50. Fissurella Grseca (E. F., 91), Clyde beds. R. 
 
 51. Fusus antiquus (E. F., 122), D. R., Crag; living in Arctic seas, W. R. 
 
 52. Fusus Banffius (E. F., 114), Clyde beds; Gamrie, Jamieson, Crag ; living 
 
 in the Arctic seas. R. 
 SYN". Trophon clathratus. 
 
 53. Fusus Barvicensis (E. F., 113), Irish drift. R. 
 
 54. Fusus carinatus, Aberdeenshire, Jamieson. R. 
 
 55. Fusus curtus, N. S., S., Landsborough; living Nova Zembla, Greenland. 
 
 56. Fusus despectus (E. F., 121), Bridlington; living in the Arctic seas. R. 
 
 57. Fusus discrepans, Br., D. R. 
 
 58. Fusus Fabricii (E. F., 116), Irish drift, James; seas of Greenland. 
 
 59. Fusus Forbesi (E. F., 118), Strickland, Isle of Man. 
 SYN. Trophon cinereus, Say ; living in N. England Coast. 
 
 60. Fusus imbricatus, Smith (E. F., 118, var. /S), D., Aberdeenshire, Jamieson ; 
 
 living in the Arctic seas, W. This shell, which was discovered 
 at Dalmuir by Mr., now Dr. Thomas Thomson (see " Records of 
 E 
 
50 CATALOGUE OF SHELLS FROM THE 
 
 General Science," i., 134), was submitted to Mr. George Sowerby, and 
 was at first supposed by him, from the examination of a very incomplete 
 specimen, to be identical with the Murex lauiellosus of Lamarck a 
 shell from the Straits of Magellan ; upon which Mr. Sowerby, in a 
 letter to me, writes, " Mr. Thomson published it as Murex lamellosus 
 (which is properly a Fusus). . . . Your Dalmuir Fusus certainly 
 very nearly resembles the Murex Peruvianus of Min. con. ; neverthe- 
 less, I do not consider them as positively identical, for I find in all the 
 specimens of the Dalmuir shell traces of the angular posterior part of 
 the lamellae, which I think proves them to be only full grown speci- 
 mens of the shell, also from Dalmuir, called Murex (Fusus) lamellosus, 
 by Thomson." In Forbes's catalogue it is entered as var. ft of the 
 Fusus scalariformis of Gould. In my former catalogue it is considered 
 as the young of Fusus Peruvianus ; but as no such change occurs in its 
 analogues from the Arctic seas, I am now satisfied that it is a distinct 
 
 SYN. Trophon clathratus. 
 
 61. Fusus Islandicus, Martini (E. F., 120), Irish drift, James, Crag; living 
 
 in the Arctic seas. 
 
 62. Fusus scalariformis, Gould (E. F., 115), D., Aberdeenshire, Jamieson; 
 
 living in the Arctic seas, Turbot-banks, Belfast ; living Norway. 
 SYN. Fusus Peruvianus Lamarck. M. Deshayes remarks that 
 Lamarck's name was given in ignorance of its habitat. 
 
 63. Fusus muricatus (E. F., 112), Wexford, James, Crag; living in the 
 
 seas of Boreal America. R. 
 SYN. F. echinatus, Phillippi. 
 
 64. Fusus propinquus, Alder, Aberdeenshire, Jamieson. R. 
 
 65. Fusus purpureus, Ireland. R. 
 
 66. Fusus Sabini(E. F., 119), Irish drift, Bridlington; living in the Arctic 
 
 seas. R. 
 
 67. Fusus, N. S. (E. F., 117), Wexford, James. 
 
 68. Fusus, N. S., S., Landsborough. 
 
 69. Kellia suborbicularis, Aberdeenshire, Jamieson, who remarks that the 
 
 specimen " is in so fragile a state that its determination is doubtfully 
 given." R. 
 
 70. Lacuna Montacuti (E. F., 98), Ireland. R. 
 
 71. Lacuna vincta (E. F., 99), D., Bute, Aberdeenshire, Jamieson, R. 
 
 Greenland, W. 
 
 72. Leda antiqua, Smith, N. S. ; resembles the Leda oblonga, but is higher in 
 
 proportion to its breadth, and transversely striated. 
 
 73. Leda caudata, D. R. ; living in the Arctic seas. 
 
GLACIAL DEPOSITS OF BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 51 
 
 74. Leda minuta (E. F., 69), D., R, Aberdeenshire, Jamieson; living in the 
 
 Arctic seas. 
 
 75. Leda rostrata (E. F., 70), Clyde beds, Aberdeenshire, Jamieson ; living 
 
 in the Arctic seas. 
 
 76. Leda oblongoides, Wood (E. F., 72), Wexford, James. Probably L. 
 
 limatula. 
 
 77. Leda pernula; living in the Arctic seas. 
 
 78. Leda pygmaea (E. F., 71), Clyde beds, Forfarshirt, Lyell ; Aberdeen- 
 
 shire, Jamieson ; living in the Arctic seas, W. R. 
 
 79. Leda truncata, Br., Fifeshire, Fleming. This, like Leda oblonga, 
 
 Pecten Islandicus, and other shells, was supposed to be still an 
 inhabitant of the British seas, but is so no longer; living in the 
 Arctic seas, W. 
 
 80. Leda, N. S. (E. F., 73), Wexford, James. 
 
 81. Littorina littoralis, common Clyde beds. R. 
 
 82. Littorina littorea (E. F., 100), Clyde beds, D. R. 
 
 83. Littorina palliata (E. F., 102), Clyde beds, R.; living in the Arctic 
 
 seas, Deshayes. 
 SYN. Turbo expansus, Br. 
 
 84. Littorina patula, D., Bute. R. 
 
 84*. Littorina Squalida, Clyde ; living in Arctic seas. 
 
 85. Littorina rudis (E F., 101), Clyde beds. R. var. Tenebrosa ; living in 
 
 Arctic seas. 
 
 86. Lottia Virginea (E. F., 90), D., Clyde beds. R 
 SYN. Acmea Virginia, Muller ; patella parva. R. 
 
 87. Lucina ferruginosa, Aberdeenshire, Jamieson. R. 
 
 88. Lucina flexuosa (E. F., 33), D., Clyde beds, R. ; living in Greenland. 
 
 89. Lucinopsis undata, a pleistocene fossil, F. & H. R. 
 
 90. Lutraria elliptica (E. F., 15), Irish and Lancashire beds, E. Forbes. R. 
 
 91. Mactra elliptica (E. F., 15), S., Landsborough. R. 
 
 92. Mactra solida (E. F., 1 1), S., Landsborough, Forth beds. R. 
 
 93. Mactra striata, Br., D. 
 
 94. Mactra subtruncata (E. F., 13), Forth beds. R. 
 
 95. Mactra truncata (E. F., 12), Forth beds. R. 
 Mangelia. See Pleurotoma, 
 
 96. Margarita undulata (E. F., 152), D., Bute; living in Arctic seas. 
 SYN. Trochus inflatus, Smith. 
 
 96". Margarita cinerea, Rothesay, Richmond; living Belfast, Finmark, 
 Canada, Greenland. 
 
 97. Mitra, N. S. (E. F., 140), Wexford, James. See remarks of E. Forbes 
 
 on the apparent anomaly of finding a mitra in glacial beds. 
 
52 CATALOGUE OF SHELLS FROM THE 
 
 D8. Modiola albicostata, Sowerby, D. 
 
 99. Modiola Modiolus (E. F., 75), D., Clyde beds; Arctic seas, W. R. 
 SYN. Modiola Papuana, Mytilus modiolus. 
 
 101. Modiola, N. S., Bute. 
 
 102. Montacuta bidentata (E. F., 21), Bridlington, R.; living in the 
 
 Arctic seas. 
 
 103. Murex erinaceus (E. F., Ill), D. R. 
 
 104. Mya arenaria l (E. F., 8), Bute, R.; living in the Arctic seas, W. 
 
 105. Mya truncata (E. F., 7), D., Aberdeenshire, Jamieson, R. ; living in 
 
 the Arctic seas, W. R. 
 
 106. Mya Uddevallensis, Forbes : perhaps a variety of the last ; but if so, it is 
 
 an Arctic variety. Bute, Wick in the till; living in the Arctic 
 seas, W. Hancock. 
 
 107. Mytilus edulis (E. F., 74), Clyde beds, common, R. ; living in the 
 
 Arctic seas, W. 
 
 108. Nassa granulata (E. F., 136), Ireland. 
 
 109. Nassa incrassata (E. F., 137), D. ; living in Arctic seas, W. 
 SYN. Nassa macula. R. 
 
 110. Nassa Monensis, Forbes (E. F., 132), Isle of Man. 
 
 111. Nassa Pliocena, Strickland (E. F., 133), Isle of Man. 
 
 112. Nassa reticulata (E. F., 134), Scotch and Irish beds. R. 
 
 113. Nassa semistriata (E. F., 135), Wexford; living in the Algean. 
 
 115. Natica clausa (E. F., 147), D., very common in Clyde beds, Uddevalla ; 
 
 living in Arctic seas, R. 
 
 116. Natica fragilis, Smith, D., Clyde beds; considered by E. Forbes to be 
 
 natica monilifera, much decayed. 
 
 118. Natica glaucinoides, Sowerby ; Aberdeenshire, Jamieson, Crag. 
 
 119. Natica Groenlandica (E. F., 148), Aberdeenshire, Jamieson ; Bute, 
 
 Richmond, Bridlington, R. ; Arctic seas. 
 SYN. Natica pusilla. 
 
 120. Natica Helicoides (E. F., 146), Aberdeenshire, Jamieson; Bute, Arctic 
 
 seas, W. R. 
 
 121. Natica monilifera (E. F., 143), common in drift beds. R. 
 SYN. Natica glaucina. 
 
 121*. Natica Montagui, Forbes, Clyde beds, Bute, J. Richmond. 
 
 122. Natica nitida (E. F., 145), Aberdeenshire, Jamieson; Nar Valley, 
 
 Irish drift. 
 SYN. N. Alderi, F. 
 
 123. Natica Smithii, Br. (E. F., 149). It is thus described, " The only 
 
 specimen ever met with of this most interesting shell, a member of 
 the division of ampullariform naticae, was found by the Duchess of 
 
GLACIAL DEPOSITS OF BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 53 
 
 Argyll in the pleistocene beds at Ardincaple. That specimen was 
 presented to Mr. Smith, and was de- 
 scribed and figured by Captain Brown in 
 the eighth volume of the 'Wernerian 
 Transactions.' It has since unfortunately 
 been destroyed. From its delicacy it is not 
 likely to occur in the more disturbed beds 
 of the drift, but should be looked for in the 
 Clyde beds. It is extremely probable 
 that when an opportunity for compar- 
 ing may occur, the Bulbus Smithii will 
 be found to be identical with the Natica Jlava of Gould a rare 
 living inhabitant of the Newfoundland banks." Captain Brown 
 considered it, from its want of a cavity in the pillar-lip, as an 
 Ampullaria, and named it "A. Smithii. ," It was examined by E. 
 Forbes in its perfect state, who wrote the following remark : " Ampul- 
 laria Smithii is surely a Natica." 
 
 The following is Captain Brown's description of this shell : 
 " Shell very thin, ventricose, subglobose, smooth, glossy, and desti- 
 tute of an umbilicus; spire consisting of three obtuse, depressed 
 volutions, which are separated by a deep groove; aperture some- 
 what semi-lunar or oblong-ovate, straitened and pointed above, and 
 expanding widely and rounded at its base ; outer lip thin ; pillar-lip 
 broadly reflected on the columella above, and narrowing as it 
 descends ; colour, pale reddish-brown, and livid gray ; length, an 
 inch and a quarter ; breadth, an inch and a tenth." 
 
 Found at Ardincaple near Helensburgh, by Lady John Campbell. 
 
 Captain Brown, to whom the shell was first submitted, considered 
 it to be an ampullaria, but this being objected to, he created the 
 genus "Bulbus," and named the shell Bulbus Smithii. In an 
 excavation at the Rothesay gas- work two specimens of a natica were 
 found, which I am satisfied were of the same species. See Hugh 
 Miller's " Sketch Book of Popular Geology," p. 327. They differ 
 from it only in the mode by which the callus conceals the aperture 
 in the pillar-lip; but as they diifer from each other in an equal 
 degree, we must suppose that the differences were mere varieties. 
 Owing to the extreme fragility of the shell, and my own want of 
 care, they were also crushed. 
 
 124. Nautilus (Rosalina) Beccarii, D. ; living in all seas. R. 
 
 125. Nucula Minuta (Leda, E. F., 69), D.; living in Arctic seas. 
 
 126. Nucula Nucleus (E. F., 65), common. R. 
 
54 CATALOGUE OF SHELLS FROM THE 
 
 126*. Nucula tenuis (E. F., 67), Clyde, Aberdeenshire ; living in Arctic seas, 
 (var. inflata.} R. 
 
 127. Nucula Proxima (E. F., 66), Aberdeenshire, Jamieson; Wexford drift. 
 
 128. Ostrea edulis (E. F., 82), Clyde beds. R. 
 
 129. Fanopsea Arctica (E. F., 6), Clyde beds, Wick on the till, Aberdeen- 
 
 shire, Fleming; Arctic seas. R. 
 SYN. Panopsea Bivonae, Panopaea Norvegica. 
 
 130. Patella lams (E. F., 88), D., Ireland, Banffshire. R. 
 SYN. Patella cserulea, Mont. 
 
 131. Patella pellucida (E. F., 87), D., Clyde beds. R. 
 
 132. Patella vulgata (E. F., 86), Clyde beds. R. 
 
 133. Pecten Islandicus (E. F., 76), D., Clyde beds, common; Aberdeenshire, 
 
 Jamieson ; Norwich Crag ; living in Davis' Strait, Hancock ; 
 Arctic seas, Greenland, Newfoundland, and Boreal America. The 
 Clyde fossils agree more exactly with those from Davis' Strait than 
 with those from Newfoundland. 
 
 134. Pecten maximus (E. F., 77), Clyde beds, Crag. R. 
 
 135. Pecten obsoletus, Loch Lomond, Adamson, Crag. R. 
 SYN. Tigrinus, Muller. 
 
 136. Pecten opercularis (E. F., 78), Clyde beds, Crag. R. 
 
 137. Pecten similis, Fifeshire, Fleming. R. 
 
 138. Pecten sinuosus (E. F., 80), D., Clyde beds, Crag. R. 
 SYN. Pecten pusio. 
 
 139. Pecten triradiatus (E. F., 81), Loch Lomond. R. 
 SYN. P. Danicus, Chem. 
 
 140. Pecten varius (E. F., 79), D., Clyde beds. R. 
 
 141. Pectunculus pilosus (E. F., 64), Ireland, Isle of Man. R. 
 
 142. Pholas crispata (E. F., 3), S., Aberdeenshire, Jamieson. R. 
 
 143. Pholas dactylus, S., Landsborough. R. 
 
 144. Pleurotoma discrepans (E. F., 124), D. R. 
 
 145. Pleurotoma rufa (E. F., 126), Aberdeenshire, Jamieson; Bute, Rich- 
 
 mond ; Bridlington ; living in Arctic seas. R. 
 SYN. Mangelia rufa. 
 
 146. Pleurotoma septangularis (E. F., 125), Ireland ; living in Arctic seas. R. 
 
 147. Pleurotoma Turricula (E. F., 123), R. D., Aberdeenshire, Jamieson; 
 
 Bute, Richmond ; living in Arctic seas, W. 
 
 148. Pleurotoma N. S. (E. F., 127), Wexford, James. 
 
 149. Pleurotoma N. S. (E. F., 128), Wexford, James. 
 
 150. Pleurotoma N. S., Ayrshire beds; " allied to Bron's Pleurotoma 
 
 reticulata. It is a very distinct species," E. Forbes. 
 
 151. Pleurotoma Trevelliana, Aberdeenshire, Jamieson, R. ; living in Arctic seas . 
 
GLACIAL DEPOSITS OF BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 55 
 
 152. Psammobia Feroensis (E. F., 25), Preston, Irish drift. R. 
 
 153. Purpura Lapillus (E. F., 131), Scotch and Irish beds, R. ; Greenland, W. 
 
 154. Rissoa labiosa, Bute. R. 
 
 155. Rissoa subumbilicata (E. F., 104), D. R. 
 
 156. Rissoa ulvse, D. R. 
 
 157. Rissoa Ventrosa, D. R. 
 
 158. Saxicava arctica, Aberdeenshire, Jamieson; living in Arctic seas. R. 
 
 159. Saxicava pholadis, D. ; living in Davis' Strait, Hancock. R. 
 
 160. Saxicava rugosa (E. F., 23), Clyde beds, Aberdeenshire, Jamieson; 
 
 living in Arctic seas, W. JR. 
 
 161. Saxicava sulcata, Smith (E. F., 24), Bute, Uddevalla; living in Davis' 
 
 Strait, Hancock. 
 
 162. Scalaria Groenlandica (E. F., 105), Aberdeenshire, Jamieson, R.; living 
 
 in Arctic seas. R. 
 
 163. Serpula triquetra, D., S., Landsborough, Clyde beds. R. 
 
 164. Serpula, N. S., S., Landsborough. 
 
 165. Solen ensis (E. F., 5), Irish and Lancashire drift. R. 
 
 166. Solen siliqua (E. F., 4), Clyde beds, Irish drift. R. 
 
 167. Spirorbis corrugatus, Bute. R. 
 
 168. Spirorbis nautiloides, S., Landsborough, Clyde beds. R, 
 
 169. Thracia declivis (E. F., 17), Belfast. R. 
 
 170. Tellina baltica (E. F., 29), D., Isle of Man, Aberdeenshire, Jamieson. R. 
 
 SYN. Tellina solidula, var. ; living in Spitzbergen. 
 
 171. Tellina calcaria (E. F., 31), Clyde beds, very common, with Banffshire, 
 
 Prestwich; Aberdeenshire, Jamieson ; Caithness, Cleghorn; found 525 
 feet above the level of the sea. (" Journal of Geol. Soc.," vi., 386). 
 Forbes & Hanley include it amongst recent British shells ; but as 
 only one valve has yet been found, its existence as a living species 
 is admitted to be doubtful; living in the Arctic seas, Ross, 
 Beechy, &c. 
 STN. Tellina proxima. 
 
 1 72. Tellina Groenlandica (E. F., 30), Belfast ; living in the Arctic seas. 
 
 173. Tellina tenuis (E. F., 28), Scotch raised deposits. R. 
 
 174. Tellina N. S., Aberdeenshire, Jamieson. 
 
 174*. Terebratula caput serpentis (E. F., 2), Ayrshire, Spitzbergen. 
 174f. Terebratula psittacea (E. F., 1), Ayrshire, Bramerton, R. 
 
 175. Tornatella pyramidata (E. F., 141), Wexford, James ; Aberdeenshire, 
 
 Jamieson. 
 
 176. Trichotropis borealis (E. F., 138), Ireland; Bute, Richmond; ranges 
 
 throughout the Boreal and Arctic seas, F. & H. R. 
 
 177. Trochus cinerarius (E. F., 155), S., Landsborough, Bute. R, 
 
56 SHELLS FROM THE MAMMALIFEROUS CRAG. 
 
 178. Trochus exasperatus (E. F., 154), Wexford, James. R. 
 
 179. Trochus magus, Clyde beds. R. 
 
 180. Trochus tumidus (E. F., 156), Clyde beds. R. 
 
 181. Trochus umbilicatus, Ireland. R. 
 
 182. Trochus zizyphinus (E. F., 153), Ireland. R. 
 
 183. Turritella incrassata (E. F., 108), Wexford, James, Crag. 
 SYN. Turritella triplicate 
 
 184. Turritella terebra (E. F., 107), Clyde beds. R. 
 SYN. Turritella communis. 
 
 185. Turritella, N. S., beds of the Mersey, E. Forbes. 
 
 186. Velutina laevigata (E. F., 95), D. ; living in Arctic seas. R. 
 
 187. Velutina undata, Smith (E. F., 97), D., Norwich Crag; living in 
 
 Davis' Strait. 
 SYN. V. zonata, Gould. 
 
 188. Venus aurea (Tapes, E. F., 51), Irish raised deposits. R. 
 
 189. Venus casina (E. F., 57), Isle of Man, Ireland. R. 
 
 190. Venus decussata (Tapes, E. F., 49), Scotch and Irish beds. R. 
 
 191. Venus fasciata (E. F., 52), Ireland. R, 
 
 192. Venus gallina (E.. F., 56), common. R. 
 
 193. Venus ovata (E. F., 54), Irish and Scotch beds. R. 
 
 194. Venus pullastra (E. F., 50), Clyde beds. R. 
 SYN. Tapes pullastra. 
 
 195. Venus verrucosa (E. F., 55), Wexford, James. R. 
 
 196. Venus virginea (Tapes, E. F., 53), Scotland and Ireland. R. 
 
 SHELLS FROM THE MAMMALIFEROUS CRAG, INCLUDED IN 
 THE CATALOGUE OF E. FORBES. 
 
 Abra intermedia (E. F., 20), Southwold. 
 Astarte pisiformis (E. F., 42), Bramerton. 
 Bulla obtusa (E. F., 156). 
 Cancellaria costellifera (E. F., 139), Bridlington. 
 Cardita scalariformis (E. F., 45), Bridlington. 
 Cardita corbis (E. F., 46), Southwold. 
 Cerithium punctatum (E. F., 109), Bramerton. 
 Donax trunculus (E. F., 26), Bramerton. 
 Lucina radula (E. F., 34), Thorpe. 
 Lucina undularia (E. F., 35), Bramerton. 
 Mactra stultorum (E. F., 10), Bridlington. 
 
SHELLS NOT FOUND FOSSIL IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 57 
 
 Mactra arcuata (E. F., 14). 
 
 Mya lata (E. F., 9), Bramerton. 
 
 Nassa semistriata (E. F., 135), Coralline and Red Crag, Wexford. 
 
 Natica N. S. (E. F., 144), Bridlington. 
 
 Nucula Cobboldiae (E. F., 68), Bramerton, &c. 
 
 Rissoa semicostata (E. F., 103), Bramerton. 
 
 Rissoa subumbilicata (E. F., 104), Bramerton, 
 
 Scalaria Groenlandica (E. F., 105), Thorpe, &c. 
 
 Scrobicularia piperata (E. F., 16), Bramerton. 
 
 Tellina crassa (E. F., 27), Postwick. 
 
 Turritella incrassata (E. F., 108), Coralline Crag, Wexford. 
 
 Velutina elongata (E. F., 96), Thorpe. 
 
 Venus fasciata (E. F., 52), Bramerton. 
 
 SHELLS FROM THE SAME CATALOGUE NOT FOUND FOSSIL 
 IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 
 
 Astarte Laurentiana (E. F., 43), Canada. 
 Capulus Hungaricus (E. F., 94), Sweden, common in the Crag. 
 Cardium Groenlandicum (E. F., 60), Sweden, &c., Red and Norwich Crag. 
 Cardium Islandicura (E. F., 59), Sweden, &c. 
 Coriocella conspicua (E. F., 150), Sweden. 
 SYN. Lamellaria perspicua (F. & H.) 
 
 Emarginula crassa (E. F., 93), Norway, Coralline and Red Crag. 
 Lottia testudinalis (E. F., 89), Sweden. 
 Scalaria Borealis (E. F.,1C6), Sweden, Canada, Turbot-banks (fossil ?), Belfast. 
 
 LIST OF MARINE SHELLS FOUND IN THE GLACIAL BEDS OF 
 ABERDEENSHIRE BY MR. T. F. JAMIESON. 
 
 Fholas crispata, Lin., .... Gamrie, King Edward. 
 
 Saxicava arctica, Lin., .... St. Fergus. 
 
 rugosa, Lin., .... Belhelvie. 
 
 Panopaea Norvegica, Spengkr, . . Belhelvie. 
 
 ? Mya truncata, Lin., King Edward. 
 
 Tellina solidula, Putieny, . . . Belhelrie, King Edward, Gamrie. 
 
 proxima, Brown, . . . Belhelvie, King Edward, Gamrie. 
 
58 SHELLS FOUND IN GLACIAL BEDS OF ABERDEENSHIRE. 
 
 Cyprina Islandica, Lin., .... 
 
 Astarte elliptica, Brown, . . . 
 
 borealis, Chemnitz, . . . 
 
 compressa, Mont., . . . 
 
 ? Cardium echinatum, Lin., . . . 
 
 ? Norvegicum, Spengler, . 
 
 Lucina ferruginosa, Forbes, . . . 
 
 ? Kellia suborbicularis, Mont., . . 
 
 Cryptodon, new species, .... 
 
 Mytilus edulis, Lin., 
 
 Nucula tennis, Mont., .... 
 Leda pygmaea, Munster, . . . 
 Leda pernula, Mulkr, .... 
 Pecten Islandicus, Mulkr, . . . 
 ? Cylichna cylindracea, Pen., . 
 
 ? obtusa, Mont., .... 
 Dentalium entale, Lin., .... 
 Lacuna vincta, Mont., .... 
 Scalaria Groenlandica, Chem., . . 
 Aporrhais pespelicani, Lin., . . . 
 
 Natica nitida, Don., 
 
 clausa, Sowerby, .... 
 
 helicoides, Johnston, . . . 
 
 glaucinoides, Sowerby, . . 
 
 pusilla, Gould, .... 
 
 Bela (mangelia) turricula, Mont., . 
 
 Trevelliana, Turton, 
 
 rufa, Mont., . . . 
 
 Nassa incrassata, Mutter, . . . 
 
 Buccinum undatura, Lin., . . . 
 
 Fusus propinquus, Alder., . . . 
 
 Trophon clathratus, Lin., . . . 
 
 scalariformis, Gould, . . 
 
 Turritella communis, Risso., . . 
 
 Balanus concavus, Aberdeenshire. 
 
 Belhelvie, King Edward, Gamrie, 
 
 Invernettie. 
 Belhelvie. 
 
 Belhelvie, King Edward, Gamrie. 
 Belhelvie, King Edward, Gamrie. 
 Belhelvie, King Edward. 
 King Edward, Gamrie. 
 St. Fergus. 
 St. Fergus. 
 St. Fergus. 
 Gamrie. 
 
 St. Fergus, King Edward. 
 St. Fergus. 
 King Edward. 
 Belhelvie. 
 St. Fergus. 
 St. Fergus. 
 
 Belhelvie, King Edward, Gamrie. 
 King Edward. 
 King Edward. 
 King Edward. 
 King Edward. 
 King Edward, Gamrie. 
 King Edward, Gamrie. 
 King Edward. 
 King Edward. 
 King Edward, Gamrie. 
 King Edward, Gamrie. 
 King Edward, Gamrie. 
 King Edward. 
 King Edward, Gamrie. 
 King Edward, Gamrie. 
 King Edward, Gamrie. 
 Belhelvie. 
 King Edward. 
 
RECENT MARINE SHELLS OF THE FRITH OF CLYDE. 59 
 
 CATALOGUE OF THE RECENT MARINE SHELLS OF THE 
 FRITH OF CLYDE. 
 
 In the catalogue of the recent shells appended to this 
 paper in the " Memoirs of the Wemerian Society," I in- 
 cluded those of the north of Ireland, my object being to 
 afford the means of instituting a comparison between the 
 shells of the raised deposits and those of our present seas; 
 and having discovered a deposit at Portrush containing 
 nearly 100 species, I considered it necessary to include the 
 species now living in the adjoining sea. I was not then 
 aware that there were two distinct ages in the raised beds, 
 and that the Portrush shells were all recent. I have, there- 
 fore, limited the catalogue of the shells to those of the Frith 
 of Clyde and its tributary inlets, Loch Fine, &c. In doing 
 so I have arranged the genera and species alphabetically, 
 and adhered to the nomenclature of Forbes and Hanley, 
 which precludes the necessity of giving synonyms or figures, 
 all of which will be found in that work. 
 
 Aclis nitidissima. Amphysphyra hyalina. 
 
 unica. minuta. 
 
 Acmaea testudinalis. Anomia aculeata. 
 
 virginea. ephippium. 
 
 Adeorbis subcarinata. patelliformis. 
 
 Akera bullata. squamula. 
 
 Amphidesma compressum, Lands- striata. 
 
 borough. undulata. 
 
60 
 
 CATALOGUE OF THE 
 
 Aplysia hybrida. 
 Aporrhais pes-pelicani. 
 Area lactea. 
 
 tetragona. 
 Artemis exoleta. 
 
 lincta. 
 Astarte arctica. 
 
 compressa. 
 elliptica. 
 sulcata. 
 triangularis. 
 Balanus balanoides. 
 crenatus. 
 perforatus. 
 porcatus. 
 Scoticus. 
 
 Brochus arcuatus. 
 Buccinum hepaticum. 
 
 undatuvn. 
 Bulla Cranchii. 
 Caecum glabrum. 
 
 imperforatum. 
 trachea. 
 
 Cardium aculeatum. 
 echinatum. 
 edule. 
 fasciatum. 
 medium, 
 nodosum. 
 Norvegicum. 
 pygmaeum. 
 rusticum. 
 serratum. 
 Suecicum. 
 
 Ceratisolen legumen. 
 Cerithiopsis Islandicus. 
 Norvegicus. 
 tuberculare. 
 Cerithium adversum. 
 reticulatum. 
 subulatum. 
 
 Chemnitzia clatbrata. 
 eximia. 
 indistincta. 
 non. desc. Arran. 
 refuscens. 
 rufa. 
 
 Chiton asellus. 
 cinercus. 
 fascicularis. 
 Isevis. 
 
 marmoreus. 
 ruber. 
 
 Circe minima. 
 Clitia striata, Bean. 
 Cochlodesma prsetenue. 
 Conovolus bidentatus. 
 
 denticulatus. 
 Corbula nucleus. 
 Coronula diadema. 
 Crania anomola. 
 Flemingii. 
 spiralis. 
 
 Crenella decussata. 
 discors. 
 marmorata. 
 Creusia Verruca. 
 Cylichna cylindracea. 
 mammillata. 
 obtusa. 
 truncata. 
 umbilicata. 
 Cypraea Europaea. 
 Cyprina Islandica. 
 
 minima, Bean, 
 Dentalium entalis. 
 
 Glabrum, Mont. 
 Tarentinum. 
 Donax anatinus. 
 I trunculus. 
 Emarginula crassa. 
 
 Mulleri, Eyton. 
 
RECENT MARINE SHELLS OF THE FRITH OF CLYDE. 61 
 
 Emarginula reticnlata. 
 
 Lucina borealis. 
 
 Eulima bilineata. 
 
 flexuosa. 
 
 distorta. 
 
 spinifera. 
 
 nitida. 
 
 Lucinopsis undata. 
 
 polita. 
 
 Lutraria elliptica. 
 
 Eulimella Scillae. 
 
 Lyonsia Norvegica. 
 
 Fissurella reticulata. 
 
 Mactra cinerea. 
 
 Fusus antiquus. 
 
 elliptica. 
 
 Boothii, Br. Lansb., 415. 
 
 solida. 
 
 Islandicus. 
 
 stultorum. 
 
 Norvegicus. 
 
 subtruncata. 
 
 undatus, Eyton. 
 
 truncata. 
 
 Hiatella precisa, Landsborough. 
 
 Mangelia attenuata. 
 
 lanthina comraunis. 
 
 costata. 
 
 Isocardia cor. 
 
 gracilis. 
 
 Jeffreysia diaphana. 
 
 laevis. 
 
 opalina. 
 
 Leufroyi. 
 
 Kellia nitida. 
 
 linearis. 
 
 rubra. 
 
 nebula. 
 
 suborbicularis. 
 
 purpurea. 
 
 Lacuna pallidula. 
 
 rufa. 
 
 puteolus. 
 
 septangularis. 
 
 vincta. 
 
 striolata. 
 
 Lamellaria perspicua. 
 
 teres. 
 
 tentaculata. 
 
 Trevelliana. 
 
 Leda caudata. 
 
 turricola. 
 
 Lepton convexum. 
 
 Marginella Isevis. 
 
 nitidum. 
 
 Modiola modiolus. 
 
 Lima hians. 
 
 phaseolina. 
 
 Loscombii. 
 
 Montacuta bidentata. 
 
 subauriculata. 
 
 ferruginosa. 
 
 Littorina littoralis 
 
 substriata. 
 
 littorea. 
 
 Murex erinaceus. 
 
 neglecta. 
 
 Mya arenaria. 
 
 neritoides. 
 
 ovalis. 
 
 patula. 
 
 truncata. 
 
 rudis. 
 
 Mytilus edulis. 
 
 saxatilis. 
 
 Phaseolinus, Eyton. 
 
 tenebrosa. 
 
 Nassa incrassata. 
 
 ziczac. 
 
 reticulata. 
 
 Loligo media. 
 
 Natica monilifera. 
 
62 
 
 CATALOGUE OF THE 
 
 Natica Montagui. 
 
 Pecten similis. 
 
 nitida. 
 
 sinuosus. 
 
 pusilla. 
 
 striatus. 
 
 sordida. 
 
 tigrinus. 
 
 Nautilus Beccarii. 
 
 turaidus. 
 
 crispus. 
 
 varius. 
 
 Neasra abbreviata. 
 
 Pectunculus glycimeris. 
 
 cuspidata. 
 
 Phasianella pullus. 
 
 Nucula nitida. 
 
 Philine aperta. 
 
 non. desc. Arran, Landsb. 
 
 catena. 
 
 nuculeus. 
 
 punctata. 
 
 radiata. 
 
 scabra. 
 
 tenuis. 
 
 Pholas Candida. 
 
 Octopus octopodia. 
 
 crispata. 
 
 Odostomia Albella. 
 
 dactylus. 
 
 conoidea. 
 
 Pilidiura fulvum. 
 
 costata, Landsborough. 
 
 rubrum, Landsborough. 
 
 cylindrica. 
 
 Pileopsis Hungaricus. 
 
 decussata. 
 
 Pinna pectinata. 
 
 eulimoides, van b. excavata. 
 
 Pleurobranchus membranaceus. 
 
 excavata. 
 
 plumula. 
 
 interstincta. 
 
 Pleurotoma sinuosa. 
 
 ornata. 
 
 Propilidium Ancyloide. 
 
 plicata. 
 
 Psammobia costulata. 
 
 Rissoides, 
 
 Ferroensis. 
 
 spiralis. 
 
 Tellinella. 
 
 turrita. 
 
 vespertina. 
 
 unidentata. 
 
 Puncturella Noachina. 
 
 Ostrea edulis. 
 
 Purpura lapillus. 
 
 parasitica, Bean. 
 
 Rissoa abyssicola. 
 
 Otina otis. 
 
 alba. 
 
 Ovula acuminata. 
 
 Ballia, Lands., p. 358. 
 
 Patella athletica. 
 
 Beanii. 
 
 pellucida. 
 
 calathisca. 
 
 vulgata. 
 
 cingilla. 
 
 Pecten Danicus. 
 
 costata. 
 
 Jaraesoni, Smith. 
 
 costulata. 
 
 maximus. 
 
 crenulata. 
 
 niveus. 
 
 fulgida. 
 
 opercularis. 
 
 Goodallii. 
 
 pusio. 
 
 inconspicua. 
 
RECENT MARINE SHELLS OF THE FRITH OF CLYDE. 
 
 63 
 
 Rissoa interrupta. 
 
 Solecurtus Candidas. 
 
 labiosa. 
 
 Solen ensis. 
 
 minutissima. 
 
 marginatus. 
 
 parva. 
 
 pellucidus. 
 
 punctura. 
 
 siliqua. 
 
 rubra. 
 
 Sphaenia Binghami. 
 
 rufilabrum. 
 
 Spirialis Flemingii. 
 
 scalariformis, Landsborough. 
 
 Spirorbis conicus. 
 
 semistriata. 
 
 corrugatus. 
 
 soluta. 
 
 serpula. 
 
 striata. 
 
 heterostrophus. 
 
 striatula. 
 
 lucidus. 
 
 subumbilicata. 
 
 nautiloides. 
 
 tenuis, Alder. 
 
 Syndosmya alba. 
 
 ulvse. 
 
 Boysii. 
 
 vitrea. 
 
 intermedia. 
 
 Zetlandica. 
 
 prismatica. 
 
 Saxicava arctica. 
 
 tenuis. 
 
 rugosa. 
 
 Tapes aurea. 
 
 Scalaria comraunis. 
 
 decussata. 
 
 Turtoni. 
 
 pullastra. 
 
 Scaphander lignarius. 
 
 Virginea. 
 
 Scrobicularia piperata. 
 
 Tellina crassa. 
 
 Serpula carinata. 
 
 Donacina. 
 
 filograna. 
 
 fabula. 
 
 granulata. 
 
 incarnata. 
 
 lobata. 
 
 prismatica. 
 
 lucida. 
 
 punicea. 
 
 lumbricalis. 
 
 solidula. 
 
 Mulleri. 
 
 tenuis. 
 
 serrulata. 
 
 Terebella chrysodon. 
 
 spiralis. 
 
 conchilega. 
 
 tubularia. 
 
 Medusa. 
 
 vermicularis. 
 
 Terebratula caput serpeutis. 
 
 Sepia officinalis. 
 
 Teredo megotara. 
 
 Skenea costulata. 
 
 navalis. 
 
 divisa. 
 
 Norvegica. 
 
 nitidissima. 
 
 Thracia convexa. 
 
 planorbis. 
 
 distorta. 
 
 rota. 
 
 phaseolina. 
 
 Solecurtus coarctatus. 
 
 pubescens. 
 
64 RECENT MARINE SHELLS OF THE FRITH OF CLYDE. 
 
 Thracia villosiuscula. Trophon Barvicensis. 
 
 Tornatella fasciata. clathratus. 
 
 Trichotropis borealis. Truncatella Montagui. 
 
 Tritonia plebeia. Turritella ambigua, Landsborough. 
 
 Trochus alabastrum. communis. 
 
 cinerarius. Turtonia minuta. 
 
 exiguus. Velutina laevigata. 
 
 helicinus. Venus cancellata. 
 
 magus. casina. 
 
 millegranus. fasciata. 
 
 Montagui. gallina. 
 
 perforatus. ovata. 
 
 pusillus. striatula. 
 
 termidus. verrucosa. 
 
 umbilicatus. Vermilia scabra. 
 
 undulatus. triquetra. 
 
 ziziphanus. Xylophaga dorsalis. 
 
 In the foregoing catalogue I have adopted in every case 
 the nomenclature of Forbes and Hanley ; a reference to their 
 work will therefore give the synonyms, figures, &c., of each 
 shell. 
 
NEWER PLIOCENE DEPOSITS IN SCOTLAND. 65 
 
 IV. 
 NOTICES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NEWER PLIOCENE DEPOSITS IN SCOTLAND 
 AND THE WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 " Memoirs of the Wernerian Society," vol. viii., p. 108. 
 
 ENTERING Scotland by the well-known locality of Gretna 
 Green, evidences of the former level of the sea are noticed 
 in the " Statistical Account of the Parish of Gretna," 1 and 
 also in the adjoining parishes of Dornoch 2 and Ruthwell. 3 
 Lochar Moss rests upon marine beds. I suspect, however, 
 that part of them has been silted up in modern times, 
 as vessels and anchors have been discovered in them. In 
 the county of Kirkcudbright there are elevated shelly 
 beds, on the east side of St. Mary's Isle, 4 and in several 
 places the fossil shells are used for manure. 5 In Wigton- 
 shire there are extensive tracts full of them. 6 At Cassin- 
 carie, in the parish of Kirkmabreck, there is a bed of littoral 
 shell? at an elevation of eighteen feet. 7 On the west coast 
 of Scotland these deposits can be observed in Loch Ryan 8 
 
 1 " New Stat. Acct.," Dumfries, p. 263. 
 
 2 Ib., vol. ii., p. 18. 
 
 3 Ib., Dumfries, p. 220. 
 * Ib., vol. be., p. 30. 
 
 5 " New Stat. Acct," vol. xv., p. 82. 
 
 6 Ib., vol. xiv., p. 473, and vol. iv., p. 139. 
 T Information from the Rev. Dr. Lawrie. 
 
 8 " Stat Acct," vol. ii., p. 48. 
 P 
 
66 NEWER PLIOCENE DEPOSITS IN 
 
 and in the bay of Ayr. The Rev. Mr. Landsborough of 
 Stevenston, in a letter to me, thus notices the elevated beds 
 in his parish : 
 
 " There is a cave at Ardeer House ; the rocks which form 
 the walls are evidently water- worn. This cave is near the 
 base of the eastern termination of a ridge, which, with some 
 breaks, is continued from this to Largs, which, I am con- 
 vinced, was once the bounding barrier of the sea. Owing 
 to the mining operations that are going on we have every 
 proof of it in this parish. Betwixt the terrace and the 
 sea, in sinking a coal-pit, they generally have to dig 
 through from eighteen to twenty-five feet of sand before they 
 come to the stratum of clay in which the shells are found. 
 They occur in the churchyard at an elevation of fifty-five 
 feet. The quarry where I found the shells is from fifteen 
 to twenty feet above the level of the sea at high-water. 
 The ridge at the churchyard consists of coarse gravel and 
 sand. The shells found at the quarry were nearly all littoral." 
 
 In the account of the parish of Ardrossan we are informed 
 that " There are many reasons that lead us to conclude that 
 a considerable portion of the lower grounds of this parish 
 were under the dominion of the sea. Sub-fossil sea shells, 
 such as are at present found on the shore, have been found 
 in gravel pits, and in the earthy banks of Stanley-burn, as far 
 up as Kirkhall. They have been also found in a section of 
 the Castlehill, pretty near the summit," &C. 1 
 
 In the adjoining parish of Kilbride the ancient sea cliffs 
 noticed by Mr. Landsborough rise to the height of 300 
 fe'et, and continue parallel to the present coast-line of the 
 frith of the Clyde nearly through the whole of the county 
 of Renfrew. Whilst there are corresponding ones in the 
 islands and opposite shores of the counties of Argyle and 
 Dumbarton, above Dumbarton the high lands recede, and 
 the river Clyde now flows through what must have at one 
 1 " New Stat. Acct," Ayr, p. 194. 
 
SCOTLAND AND THE WESTERN ISLANDS. 67 
 
 time been the bottom of an extensive inland sea, of which 
 Loch Loinond, with its tributary valleys, formed a branch. 
 In every part of the coasts of Argyleshire the ancient cliffs 
 form a marked feature. Dr. Thomson 1 observes that, " On 
 the west coast of Lorn, from Dunstaffnage to Gallanach, an 
 extent of about eight miles bears unequivocal marks of hav- 
 ing been elevated at no very remote period. A considerable 
 portion of this coast consists of pretty steep rocks, the sum- 
 mits of which are elevated 300 or 400 feet above the level of 
 the sea. These rocks show clearly that they have at no very 
 remote period been washed by the sea, at a height certainly 
 more than thirty feet above the present high- water-mark." 
 On the west coast of the county of Inverness, Glengarry 
 informs me that he observes the ancient cliffs and terraces 
 abounding with sea shells ; and at Lochalsh, in the same 
 county, a submarine forest has been observed. 2 
 
 Similar indications of change of level are to be met with 
 in the islands. At Ballaugh, in the Isle of Man, Mr. Forbes 
 found them in beds of gravel and sea sand several feet below 
 the surface, but a greater number above the level of the sea, 
 and from one to two miles inland. These contain sea shells, 
 bleached, but often tolerably perfect. They all appear to 
 belong to the present era, with the exception of a Nassa 
 allied to the N~. macula, but with the spire less produced, 
 the body short, much more ventricose, and the longitudinal 
 ribs fewer. It is named in the catalogue N. Monensis. I 
 have already noticed the occurrence of elevated marine de- 
 posits in Bute and Cumbrae. I have also observed them in 
 Arran and Inchmarnoch. In the " Geological Transac- 
 tions" 3 Captain Vetch gives an account of sea- worn terraces 
 
 1 " Outlines of Mineralogy and Geology," vol. ii., p. 187. 
 
 2 Communicated by the Rev. Wm. M'Lean to the Rev. Colin Smith, 
 of Inverary. See his account of a submarine forest in Tyree, " Edin. New 
 Phil. Jour.," 1829. 
 
 3 " Edin. New Phil. Jour.," second series, vol. i. 
 
68 NEWER PLIOCENE DEPOSITS IN 
 
 in the Island of Jura. 1 I am indebted to the Rev. Mr. 
 Cameron, of Kilchoman, for the following account of similar 
 phenomena in Islay : " A large extent of surface has been 
 added to this island in consequence of the change of level. 
 When the sea stood at the former level, Islay must have 
 consisted of a cluster of isles. What at one time was under 
 the dominion of the sea consists now partly of arable land, 
 partly of banks of rolled stones about the size of six-pound 
 shot, partly of downs formed of broken sea shells, clay-slate, 
 and quartz, so minute as to be blown about by the wind ; 
 partly of morasses and fresh-water lakes round the head of 
 Lochindaal. The former sea-line is as well denned as it is 
 in Rothesay Bay or any part of the banks of the Frith of 
 Clyde. Islay House, with its garden, and a good extent of 
 its ground, stands over the plateau left by the retiring of the 
 sea. In various parts of the island, whatever form the sur- 
 face of this plateau has assumed, I have found, on digging, 
 sea sand mixed with shells of the species that still abound 
 in the various inlets; in the parts of it converted into 
 morasses large oaks are to be found, which appear to have 
 been growing on a bed of clay and sand incumbent on a bed 
 of sea sand and sea shells. 
 
 "The range between the traces of a former high-water-mark 
 and the present low- water-marks of spring tides is, I would 
 say, not under forty feet, and I would almost venture to call 
 it forty-five feet. The west side of the parish presents a line 
 of about twenty miles to the unobstructed flow and swell of 
 
 1 Capt. Bedford, R.N., has since made important and accurate observations 
 on the Jura raised beaches (see " Jour. Geol. Soc.," vol. ii., p. 549), and also 
 on the Lumza Islands and the Kerrera, where he found the height above 
 high-water-level to be forty feet eight inches. Mr. Allan Stevenson found 
 the height of this terrace in Mull to be forty feet six inches. " Edin. New 
 Phil. Jour.," April, 1840. My own levelling in Cumbrae and Bute showed an 
 elevation of about forty feet. There are also lower terraces, one about 
 twenty-five feet. 
 
SCOTLAND AND THE WESTERN ISLANDS. 69 
 
 the Atlantic, and it is to this line the above measurement is 
 applicable." 
 
 In the Island of Mull the same terraces are observable, 
 and the same marine remains are to be found. In Lismore 
 there is a bed of shells composed of all the varieties to be 
 found on the coasts, which has formed a concretion nearly as 
 hard as the limestone rock which surrounds it, about seven 
 or eight feet above the ground. 1 In Tyree the Rev. Mr. 
 Smith has described a submarine forest; and in Skye Dr. 
 Macculloch notices a series of terraces on the shore, " ex- 
 hibiting precisely the same appearances which characterize 
 the terraces that line the alluvial valleys through which 
 active rivers have cut their way," and which, of course, owe 
 their origin to the same causes which have in other places 
 produced like effects. 
 
 In the Orkney Islands submerged forests have been 
 observed ; and on the north coast of Scotland, the Earl of 
 Caithness informs me that, near Scotland's Haven, there is a 
 bed of oysters forty or fifty feet above the sea-level. His 
 lordship has also observed on the north-east coast a littoral 
 deposit between Wick and Duncansbyhead, about a quarter 
 of a mile inland. 
 
 The ancient terraces extend from the Ord of Caithness to 
 Banff 2 At Tain, Mr. Jardine tells me that he found marine 
 shells sixty feet above the sea. At Kilteam, on the north 
 side of the bay of Cromarty, there is a bed of shells at the 
 height of thirty feet, 3 and at Dingwall, at the head of the 
 bay, one of the blue clay full of shells, in which, at the dis- 
 tance of three miles from the sea, there was found one of the 
 vertebrae of a whale at an elevation of twelve feet. 4 At 
 Munlochy, in the county of Ross, and along the shores of 
 
 1 " Stat. Acct," vol. i., p. 494. 
 
 2 "Agricultural Journal," Dec., 1836, p. 431. 
 :; " Stat. Acct," vol. i., p. 283. 
 
 4 " Trans. K. S. Edin.," vol. x., p. 105. 
 
70 NEWER PLIOCENE DEPOSITS IN SCOTLAND. 
 
 Moray Frith, this deposit is observable. 1 There is a raised 
 beach near Kinnairdshead, 2 and at Peterhead Dr. Buckland 
 observed shells at the height of sixty feet. 3 In the counties 
 of Kincardine, Forfar, and Fife, there are many notices of 
 the elevated marine beds, in the " Statistical Accounts." 
 There are also numerous indications of them in the Lothians 
 and Berwickshire, for an account of which I refer to Mr. 
 Maclaren's lately published work on the ( ' Geology of Fife 
 and the Lothians," in which he gives a full and interesting 
 account of the proofs of a rise in the bed of the Forth ; 4 and 
 in the paper of Mr. Milne on the " Mid-Lothian and East 
 Lothian Coal-field," 5 much attention has been paid to the 
 raised marine beds in this part of the island. Mr. Milne 
 states that " he walked along the whole shore from St. 
 Abb's Head, round by Dunbar, North Berwick, Aberlady, 
 Cockenzie, and Newhaven, to Queensferry, and traversed the 
 greater part of the Carse district from Falkirk to beyond 
 Stirling," and everywhere found traces of a change in the sea- 
 level. In his " Report on the Geology of Berwickshire," 6 he 
 notices indications of a change of the sea-level of about 100 
 feet. I have thus traced these deposits round Scotland : 
 they occur in every one of the maritime counties, indicating 
 changes of level in every part of the northern division of the 
 island. I have no doubt that marine beds belonging to the 
 newer pliocene extend also throughout England and Ireland. 
 
 1 Information of Sir T. D. Lauder, and " Stat. Acct.," vol. xiii.,p. 21. 
 
 2 " Stat. Acct.," vol. vi., p. 2. 
 
 3 Jameson's " Edin. Phil. Jour." vol. xii., p. 314. 
 
 4 P. 228. 
 
 6 " Transactions of Royal Society, Edin., vol. xiv., p. 334, &c. 
 6 " Fourth Report Brit. Association," p. 638. 
 
CLIMATE OF THE NEWER PLIOCENE TERTIARY PERIOD. 71 
 
 V. 
 ON THE CLIMATE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NEWER PLIOCENE TERTIARY PERIOD. 
 
 Read to the Geological Society, 24th April, 1839. 
 
 HAVING engaged in the examination of the elevated marine 
 beds indicating the latest changes in the relative levels of the 
 sea and land, chiefly with the object of comparing the fossil 
 shells contained in them with those which are found recent 
 in the adjoining seas, I have been led to the conclusion that 
 there is strong probable evidence for supposing that the 
 climate must have been colder during the period of their 
 deposition than it is at present. 
 
 This opinion is founded on the Arctic character of the 
 shells which are peculiar to, or most abundant in, these de- 
 posits. My attention was first called to this point by remark- 
 ing the identity of the shells found at Udde valla, described and 
 figured by Mr. Lyell in his account of the elevation of the 
 land in Sweden, 1 with some of the most common ones of the 
 raised shelly beds of the basin of the Clyde. At the meeting 
 of the British Association, at Liverpool (1837), I had an op- 
 portunity of submitting those which appeared to have become 
 extinct, or were unknown to Mr. Gray. 2 Upon a cursory 
 examination he could not detect any of them as British, but 
 
 remarked tha.t they bore a very great resemblance to Arctic 
 r.i,^n, 
 
 1 " Phil. Trans.," 1835, p. 1. 
 
 2 Now Dr. Gray, of the British Museum. 
 
72 ON THE CLIMATE OF THE 
 
 Mr. Lyell has since pointed out one of them, the Fusus 
 Peruvianus of Lamarck and Sowerby, as having been found 
 recent by him in Norway; and Mr. George B. Sowerby ex- 
 pressed his decided opinion that the Pecten Islandicus also 
 an Arctic shell, and which is of frequent occurrence in the 
 older superficial deposits has been erroneously supposed to 
 be a recent British species, all those hitherto described having 
 been found in localities where they abound in a fossil state. 
 
 Other shells still common to Britain and the Arctic 
 regions appear to have become much more rare than they 
 were during the former period. I have never yet found a 
 recent specimen of the Cyprina, Islandica in the Frith of 
 Clyde, but in the raised deposits there are extensive beds of 
 them. 
 
 The conclusions respecting climate, drawn from these and 
 similar facts, have been strengthened by a report upon the 
 unknown species found in the raised beds, which I have re- 
 ceived from M. Deshayes through the kind intervention of 
 Professor Jameson, the purport of which is, that the shells of 
 those deposits which are still recent, but which have been 
 undiscovered on the coasts of Great Britain in a live state, 
 are still inhabitants of the Northern seas. The names of 
 those pointed out by M. Deshayes will be found in the an- 
 nexed list. 
 
 The observations hitherto made on the flora of this period 
 are too scanty to be of any value in determining this question. 
 None of the plants, however, which have been enumerated 
 are inconsistent with the supposition of a colder climate ; and 
 the Pinus Silvestris, or Scotch Fir, now only indigenous in the 
 northern parts of the island and Norway, has been found in 
 the submarine forests of Wales and the coasts of the English 
 Channel. The antiquity of these forests has been questioned, 
 but in Scotland they are overlaid by beds of sand, gravel, 
 and clay, containing sea shells. 
 
 Mr. Murchison has noticed the occurrence of an Oliva and 
 
NEWER PLIOCENE TERTIARY PERIOD. 73 
 
 Bulla ampulla in raised superficial beds, as pointing rather to 
 a higher temperature. 1 But as the Oliva has not been iden- 
 tified with any known species, no inference can be drawn from 
 it. With regard to Bulla ampulla, M. Deshayes has marked 
 it, in the catalogue of tertiary shells appended to the first 
 edition of " Lyell's Principles of Geology," as an inhabitant of 
 the European seas as well as of the Indian Ocean. It also 
 occurs in the Sicilian and sub-Apennine beds. 
 
 The circumstance that this and some of the other shells are 
 common to these and the Sicilian deposits may also appear to 
 militate against the supposition of a colder climate ; but it 
 appears to me that we have evidence of the same nature with 
 respect to the climate of Sicily during the newer pliocene 
 epoch. There are two catalogues of the Sicilian fossils the 
 one above alluded to (that of Deshayes), and that of Phillippi, 
 in his " Enumeratio Molluscoruin Sicilise." In the forest 
 there are thirty shells marked as recent, but not to be found 
 in the Mediterranean. Of these, twenty, however, belong to 
 the more northerly parts of Europe and three to warmer 
 climates ; and in the latter there are nine which are found 
 to the north, and one to the south of the Mediterranean. It 
 is scarcely possible to suppose these concurring results acci- 
 dental. It seems probable, therefore, that the climate of 
 Europe was colder during the newest tertiary than during the 
 recent period. 
 
 1 " Silurian System," first edit, p. 534. It is by no means clear that the 
 English beds in which these shells were found were of the same age as those 
 which contain Arctic shells ; or the Oliva may have been a straggler, driven 
 across the Atlantic, entangled in some floating matter. The late Dr. Lands- 
 borough found one in a recent state on the shore of the Island of Cumbrae. 
 An account of the one in question will be found in Mr. Strickland's letter, 
 Appendix, No. I. 
 
74 SHELLS FOUND IN THE 
 
 SHELLS FOUND IN THE NEWER PLIOCENE DEPOSITS IN THE 
 BRITISH ISLES. 
 
 Marine, ...... 190 
 
 Land and fresh water, . . . .57 
 
 247 
 
 Of these there are- 
 Recent marine, ..... 166 
 Land and fresh water, . . . .54 
 Extinct or unknown, . . .19 
 Recent in Arctic seas, . 7 
 European and Indian seas, . 1 
 
 247 1 
 
 ARCTIC SHELLS. 
 
 Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 3. 
 
 FIG. 1. NATICA CLAUSA. Very common in the Clyde beds. "The living 
 analogue of this shell is still found in the North Sea as far as Spitzbergen." 
 Deshayes. 
 
 FIG. 2. Fusus PEKuviANUS, 2 LamarcL "In consequence of Lamarck's 
 mistake of the habitat of this species, he assigned to it the above name. It is 
 
 1 The foregoing enumeration contains both glacial and post-glacial shells, 
 and represented the state of our knowledge of the fauna of the raised deposits 
 when this paper was written. My catalogue of the marine shells of the 
 glacial epoch alone contains 194 species. Of these 146 are recent British, 
 54 Arctic, and 24 unknown. The greater apparent number of the total arises 
 from the circumstance that 30 of the recent British species also occur in the 
 Arctic seas. 
 
 2 The figure represents the shell when young, but the size when full 
 grown, when the ribs lose the angular lamellated process. 
 
NEWER PLIOCENE DEPOSITS IN THE BRITISH ISLES. 75 
 
 never found in Peru, I know it as a fossil in the recent formations of Sweden 
 and Denmark, and it still lives in the North seas, as at the North Cape 
 Trousae." Deshayes. 
 
 FIG. 3. TELLINA PBOXIMA, Brown. " Very common ; I believe a 
 new species. I am acquainted u with it as a living species, occurring in the 
 North Sea, and as a fossil in the recent formations of Sweden." Deshayes. 
 
 Fig. 5. Fig. 6. 
 
 FIG. 4 CRASSINA (Astarte) MDLTICOSTATA. " It occurs in abundance in 
 the North seas, both in a recent and fossil state in Sweden and Norway." 
 Deshayes. There is one of the same size, both recent and fossil, in the basin 
 of Clyde, but the striae are much more regular. 
 
 FIG. 5. TURBO EXPANSUS, Brown. M. Deshayes considers it as a 
 variety of Turbo Neritoides (Linn.'), having the spur pointed. He says, "It is 
 common in all the seas of the North." (Littorina palliata, Catalogue, p. 51.) 
 
 FIG. 6. VELUTINA UNDATA, Brown. " The one (Velutina) having the 
 flattened columella is still found in a recent state in the seas of the north of 
 Europe, and also in Newfoundland." Deshayes. 
 
76 AGES OF THE TERTIARY AND POST-TERTIARY 
 
 VI. 
 ON THE RELATIVE AGES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 TERTIARY AND POST-TERTIARY DEPOSITS 
 OF THE BASIN OF THE CLYDE. 
 
 Read to the Geological Society, November 6, 1839. 
 
 WHEN I wrote the preceding paper on the climate of the 
 newer pliocene period, I was not aware that there were two 
 very distinct deposits in the elevated marine beds, differing in 
 fauna and climate, and separated by wide intervals of time. 
 That paper was read to the Geological Society in spring of 
 1839 (April 16). My researches in the following summer 
 led me to the conclusion that there were two distinct forma- 
 tions. 
 
 On one of my cruises I had the good fortune to be accom- 
 panied by my lamented friend, Edward Forbes a circum- 
 stance which is thus briefly noticed in the late memoir of his 
 life," He returned to Edinburgh on the 26th June (1839), 
 but started again to join Mr. Smith, of Jordanhill, on a 
 dredging cruise among the bays of the Frith of Clyde. He 
 chronicles nothing of note on the voyage." (" Life," p. 245.) 
 Notwithstanding this silence, his visit may be said to have 
 been the turning point in his scientific career. Previous to 
 this period his labours as a zoologist had been confined to 
 living fauna, and I felt anxious to have his judgment on one 
 which, though at the time generally supposed to be iden- 
 tical with it, I was satisfied was decidedly distinct. I took 
 
DEPOSITS OF THE BASIN OF THE CLYDE. 77 
 
 him, in the first place, to the excavation of the Greenock 
 Railway (see page 32), then in progress, which I had previ- 
 ously visited, and which I considered peculiarly instructive, 
 both from its elevation above the present sea-level (fifty feet), 
 and the evidently undisturbed and perfect state of the marine 
 remains, and where, at my first visit, I found that not less 
 than one-third of them were unknown as inhabitants of the 
 adjoining sea. I shall never forget his delight and astonish- 
 ment in finding himself engaged in a testaceous fauna differ- 
 ing so decidedly from that with which he was acquainted. 
 After a few minutes' digging, he exclaimed, " I shall be like 
 Dr. Beck," who had given a similar opinion respecting the 
 Crag shells, " and believe them all different together." And 
 in a few minutes more he uttered a joyous exclamation I 
 should almost say shout, " Conchology is riz." Such was 
 his " first insight into Newer Pliocene Geology," to use his 
 own expression, and which, in too flattering terms, he as- 
 cribed to my instructions. 1 All that I can claim is, to have 
 brought the subject under his notice, under circumstances 
 which induced him to prosecute the inquiry, and which he 
 has done with such success. But I also had to thank his 
 quickness of observation for pointing out the distinction in 
 the different formations in the raised deposits, which it is the 
 object of the following paper to establish. After visiting the 
 Clyde deposits we proceeded to Port Rush, on the Irish coast, 
 where I had discovered a peculiarly rich deposit, having col- 
 lected nearly 100 species in its raised beach, about fifteen feet 
 above the level of the sea. At the first glance he exclaimed, 
 " Here is an end of your Arctic climate : these shells indicate 
 a warmer climate." Next morning he told me that he had 
 been thinking over the climatal condition of the Port Rush 
 shells ; that we were farther out to sea than in the Clyde 
 beds , the shells were, therefore, more pelagic in their char- 
 acter, and had a wider range. He would not, therefore, say 
 1 " Memoirs of the Geological Survey," vol. i., p. 365. 
 
78 AGES OF THE TERTIARY AND POST-TERTIARY 
 
 that they indicated a warmer climate ; but he could see no 
 reason to suppose that they indicated a colder one. This was 
 rather perplexing, as some of the shells were unknown to me ; 
 but upon the discovery of the last of these shells by Captain, 
 now General Portlock, I became satisfied that there were two 
 distinct formations, as stated in the following paper, which I 
 wrote upon receiving from Captain P. an account of his dis- 
 covery and a specimen of the shell. May, 1862. 
 
 In a former paper 1 1 described the indications which I had 
 observed of changes in the level of the sea in the basin of the 
 Clyde, which must have taken place at times, geologically 
 speaking, extremely recent, as the indications are met with 
 above the till or erratic block deposit ; and in a subsequent 
 paper 2 I stated, that from the Arctic character of several 
 shells which have not been found recent in the British Isles, 
 there was strong probable evidence that the climate was 
 colder at the period of their deposition than it is at 
 present. 
 
 Having given a detailed account of my observations, with 
 catalogues of the recent and fossil shells of that district, to 
 the Wernerian Society (" Wern. Mem.," vol. viii.), I confine 
 myself at present to the results of- observations made subse- 
 quently, which afford the most satisfactory evidence that in 
 these comparatively modern deposits there are two distinct 
 formations, differing in climate and fauna, and separated by 
 a wide interval of time. 
 
 1 See "Proceedings of the Geological Society," Nov. 16, 1836, vol. ii., 
 p. 427. 
 
 3 Ib., April 24, 1839, vol. iii., p. 118. 
 
DEPOSITS OF THE BASIN OF THE CLYDE. 79 
 
 If a difference in the testaceous fauna characterizes the 
 tertiary period, the oldest of these, which contains about 
 fifteen per cent, of extinct or unknown species, 1 must be held 
 as a tertiary formation, and belongs to the newer pliocene or 
 pleistocene of Lyell, and the newest, a post-tertiary one, as 
 all the shells hitherto discovered agree with those of our 
 present seas. Both of these deposits are anterior to the 
 recent or historical period. 
 
 We have, therefore, in the superficial or earthy covering 
 of the older rocks three distinct epochs the newer pliocene, 
 post-tertiary, and recent. To the first of these belong the 
 till or diluvium, and the stratified marine beds of sand, gravel, 
 and clay which lie over it, the shells of which contain a 
 decided admixture of unknown species. The same order of 
 superposition is observable in the basins of the Forth and 
 the Tay; and although scarcely anything has been done in 
 the investigation of the marine remains imbedded in their 
 elevated deposits, I have little doubt that, from their exact 
 agreement, both in position and in mineral structure, they 
 will be found to be of the same age as those of the Clyde. 2 
 Should they prove to be identical, the submarine forest of 
 the Tay must also belong to the tertiary period, being over- 
 laid by the stratified marine beds. 
 
 These deposits pass from below the present level of the sea 
 to an elevation which has not been ascertained. In Scotland 
 organic remains belonging to them have been found at the 
 height of 350 feet; and if the elevated terraces of Glenroy 
 are of marine origin, they probably belong to the same period, 
 and indicate a change of upwards of 1,000 feet. I am con- 
 vinced that a very great proportion of .the superficial beds of 
 
 1 Instead of extinct or unknown, I am satisfied that the more correct 
 expression would be Arctic or unknown. 
 
 2 This is partly confirmed by the Nucula pygmcea, one of the unknown 
 shells of the Clyde beds, having been found in the elevated beds of the Tay 
 by Mr. Lyell. 
 
80 AGES OF THE TERTIARY AND POST-TERTIARY 
 
 sand, gravel, and clay, as well as the unstratified till or dilu- 
 vium, are tertiary ; although, where organic remains are 
 wanting, there must always be some uncertainty. During the 
 succeeding or post-tertiary period, a movement of elevation of 
 about forty feet must have taken place. At this height (forty 
 feet) the sea appears to have been stationary for a length of time 
 greatly exceeding the present period of repose. This is indi- 
 cated by a magnificent range of inland sea cliffs, with beds of 
 gravel and sand interposed between them and the sea. All 
 the testacea hitherto discovered in these beds agree with 
 existing species in the British seas: the number of shells 
 collected from them amounts to about 160. I was at first 
 led to suppose that they contained a small proportion of un- 
 known species ; latterly there was only one to which I could 
 not assign a living analogue, viz., Area papillosa, but on that 
 point there is now no doubt; for, within these few weeks, 
 Captain Portlock sent me a specimen which he had dis- 
 covered recent on the coast of Ireland. The raised beaches of 
 the period immediately preceding the last changes of level in 
 the basin of the Clyde do not therefore contain any mixture 
 of unknown shells, although probably accumulated long ante- 
 rior to the recent period. 
 
 During the existing geological epoch no change of level 
 appears to have taken place in this locality, whilst there is 
 direct evidence that at least as far back as the time of the 
 Romans, it was precisely the same as at present. 1 
 
 I subjoin a list of the marine shells which have been found 
 in these beds, and which are not known as inhabitants of the 
 British seas. In stating the proportion which they bear to 
 the recent British species, I have made allowance for the 
 probability of some of them being still inhabitants of our 
 seas, although as yet undiscovered, and for others being 
 varieties of those which are. Had I included them all, the 
 proportion would be nearly twenty per cent. Upon separating 
 1 See " Proceedings," vol. ii., p. 427. 
 
DEPOSITS OF THE BASIN OF THE CLYDE. 81 
 
 the fossil catalogue, in my paper in the " Memoirs of the 
 Wernerian Society," vol. viii., into what I consider tertiary 
 and post-tertiary species, I find the number of the former 151, 
 of which twenty-seven species are unknown as British. 
 
 The researches of the Rev. David Landsborough, in the 
 summer of 1840, fully confirm the existence of two separate 
 epochs in the elevated marine beds, which are newer than the 
 till or diluvium. At Stevenston, in Ayrshire, he found, at 
 the depth of thirty-five feet under the surface, a bed of blue 
 clay, with newer pliocene shells : out of twenty-seven species, 
 there were eight of them extinct or unknown. In a superfi- 
 cial raised beach, in the same parish, he found forty-seven 
 species, all recent; and in another at Largs, in the same 
 county, sixty-eight species occur. 
 
 It is remarkable that none of the fossils of the older of 
 these beds have been yet found mixed up with those of the 
 newer or raised beaches. (May, 1841.) 
 
 1. Tellina proximo, " Wern. Mem.," vol. viii., p. 105, PI. I., f. 21. Closely 
 
 allied to the T. prcetenuis, a crag fossil. It has been discovered in 
 a recent state in the Arctic seas, beyond Behring's Strait, by Capt. 
 Beechy, and fossil at Uddevalla. 
 
 2. Crassinamulticoslata, " Wern. Mem.," vol. viii., p. 104, PI. I., f. 50: "Phil. 
 
 Trans." 1835, PI. II., f. 21. It resembles the C. compressa, a recent 
 species, but is less regularly striated. M. Deshayes says that it is 
 recent in Norway and Sweden ; Mr. Lyell found it in a fossil state at 
 Uddevalla, and Mr. Murchison in Russia. (1840.) 
 
 3. Crnssina propinqua, nearly related to the last, but with a much thicker 
 
 hinge. (1841.) 
 
 4. Crassina Withami, "Wern. Mem.," vol. viii., p. 105, PI. L, f. 25. Found 
 
 by Mr. Witham in a fossil state at Bridlington, and by Mr. Forbes at 
 Wick ; a single valve was dredged by Mr. Sowerby and me in 
 Rothesay Bay : it is perhaps, therefore, a recent shell, but as the 
 G 
 
2 AGES OF THE TERTIARY AND POST-TERTIARY 
 
 newer pliocene deposit passes below the sea at Bute, this is not a con- 
 clusive proof that it is so. 
 
 5. Crassina borealis, Chemnitz, vol. vii., p. 26, PL XXXIX., f. 412. 
 
 Recent hi the North Sea, fossil in the upper crag. 
 
 6. Mya . Closely allied to M. truncata, but differing so con- 
 
 stantly in the muscular impression that Mr. G. Sowerby considers it a 
 separate species. Found fossil by Mr. Lyell at Uddevalla. 
 
 7. Pecten Islandicus, " Brown's Illust," PL XXXIII., f. 3 Although this 
 
 shell appears hi the works of Turton, Fleming, and Brown, as a recent 
 British species, I am satisfied, from the localities given, that the speci- 
 mens described were from the ancient beds in which it is very abun- 
 dant, and that it has not hitherto been found in a living state in our 
 seas. It occurs recent in the North Sea and at Newfoundland, and 
 fossil at Uddevalla. 
 
 8. Nucvla oblonga. This shell also appears in " Brown's Illustrations," 
 
 PL XXV., f. 17, but as it is from a locality whence these fossils are 
 abundant, and as it has not been found since in a recent state, it is 
 probably one of them ; it resembles the N. minuta, but is larger and 
 not transversely striated. Mr. Gray considers it an Arctic shell. 
 Found fossil by Mr. E. Forbes in the Isle of Man, by Captain Portlock 
 in Ireland, at an elevation of 400 feet, and by Mr. Murchison in 
 
 9. Nucula antigua. This shell is transversely striated, and is higher in 
 proportion to its breadth than the N. oblonga. 
 
 10. Numdapygmcea, Goldfuss, PL CXXV., f. 17 ; " Wern. Mem.," vol. viiL, 
 
 p. 107, PL II., f. 10 ; Phillippi, " Mollusc. SiciL," PL V., f. 9. In the 
 catalogue hi the " Wernerian Memoirs," it is named N. gibbosa, but is 
 undoubtedly the N. pygmcea of Goldfuss, a fossil from Mechlenburg. 
 Mr. Lyell found it in an elevated deposit at Dundee ; Mr. S. Wood 
 in the crag, see his catalogue, " Nat. Hist. Mag.," 1840, p. 298. 
 It agrees also with the Sicilian fossil figured and described by 
 Phillippi. 
 
 11. Cytherea Icevigata. A small but very distinct species. (1841.) 
 
 12. Mactra striata, " Wern. Mem.," vol. viii., p. 106, PL I., f. 22. 
 
 13. Saxicava sulcata, " Wern. Mem.," vol. viii., p. 97, Note ; " Phil. Trans.," 
 
 1835, PL II., fig. 25. Closely allied to the 8. rugosa, but much 
 larger and more regular in the transverse striae or ridges. It occurs in 
 a fossil state at Uddevalla. 
 
 14. Panopcea Bivonai, "Wern. Mem.," vol. viii., p. 107, PL II., f. 4 ; Phillippi, 
 
 " Mollusc. SiciL," PL II., f. 1. Fossil in the crag and Sicily ; a single 
 specimen has been dredged on the east coast of England, now in the 
 
DEPOSITS OF THE BASIN OF THE CLYDE. 83 
 
 possession of Mr. Jeffreys (vide " Nat. Hist. Mag.," vol. viii., p. 582), 
 which Mr. Sowerby considers to be the same species. 
 
 15. Natica clausa, " Wern. Mem.," vol. viil, p. 103, PL I., f. 16 ; " Phil. 
 
 Trans.," 1835, PI. II., f. 7. Recent in the Arctic seas and fossil at 
 Uddevalla. 
 
 16. Natica glaucinoides, " Min. Con.," p. 479, f. 5. Found also in the crag. 
 
 17. Natica fragilis. This shell is smaller and more fragile than the N. 
 
 glaucinoides, and has no callus or tooth over the umbilicus. 
 
 18. Nassa Monensis. Found by Mr. E. Forbes in an elevated deposit in the 
 
 Isle of Man. It differs from the N. macula in having the spire less 
 produced, the body-whorl much more ventricose, and the longitudinal 
 ribs fewer. It appears intermediate between the N. macula and 
 N. ambigua. 
 
 19. Buccinum granulatum, " Min. Con.," PI. CX., f. 4. Found in the brick 
 
 earth of the Nar, which I consider a newer pliocene deposit. (Wood- 
 ward's " Geol. of Norfolk," p. 36.) It is also a crag fossil. 
 
 20. Buccinum striatum, " Wern. Mem.," vol. viii., p. 100, PI. I., f. 9. 
 
 21. Trochus inflatus, " Wern. Mem.," vol. viii., p. 1, f. 10. This appears to be 
 
 the same as one found fossil at Uddevalla, figured by Hisinger,,Ze^cea 
 Suecica, PI. XXX., f. 3, and erroneously supposed to be the T. tumi- 
 dus of Montagu. Recent in the Arctic seas, in Mr. Bunbury's collec- 
 tion. 
 
 22. Turbo expansus, " Wern. Mem.," vol. viiL, p. 101, PI. I., f. 12." Com- 
 
 mon in the Arctic seas." Deshayes. 
 
 23. Velutina undata, "Wern. Mem.," vol. viii., p. 101, PL I., f. 15. This 
 
 shell is also said by M. Deshayes to be an Arctic species. 
 
 24. Fusus Peruvians, Murex, "Sow. Min. Con.," PL CCCCXXXIV., f. 1; 
 
 " Wern. Mem.," vol. viii., p. 100, PL II., f. 5 and 9, Lethcea Suecica, 
 PL XXX., f. 7. It is also found fossil in the crag and at Uddevalla, 
 and recent in the Arctic seas. 
 
 25. Fusus inibricatus, " Wern. Mem.," p. 100, PL I., f. 5, 6, and II., f. 7. In 
 
 my catalogue in the " Wernerian Memoirs " this is considered as the 
 young of F. Peruvianus, but as no such change takes place in its ana- 
 logues from the crag and Arctic seas, I am now satisfied it is a distinct 
 species. 
 
 26. Fusus curtus. 
 
 27. Bulbus Smitkii, "Wern. Mem.," vol. viii., p. 103, PL I., f. 18. Resembles 
 
 a Natica, but is destitute of an umbilicus or cavity on the pillar 
 lip. There is an unnamed shell from the Sicilian pleistocene in the 
 collection of the Geological Society which I consider to be identical 
 with it. 
 
84 TERTIARY AND POST-TERTIARY DEPOSITS OF THE CLYDE. 
 
 As this catalogue differs considerably from that published 
 in the "Wernerian Memoirs," I think it right to explain 
 that the new shells have been discovered since it was printed, 
 and that I omit the following for the reasons assigned. 
 
 1. Rissoa Fallax, "Wern. Mem.," PL I., f. 7, 8. Considered by Mr. 
 
 Sowerby to be Cingula ringilla, H. 
 
 2. Area papillosa, Ib., PL I., f. 19. Since discovered recent by Captain 
 
 Portlock. 
 
 3. Turntella cingulata, Ib., PL L, f. 23. Want of evidence. See 
 
 " Memoir," p. 101. 
 
 4. Bulla Ampulla. 
 
 5. Oliva. These two last were found in the elevated marine beds, described 
 
 by Mr. Murchison in his " Silurian System ;" but till the testaceous 
 fauna be more thoroughly investigated, it is impossible to say whether 
 they belong to the same period as the Ch'de shells or not. I suspect, 
 however, that tropical shells are occasionally found on our shores as 
 stragglers. Dr. Landsborough found an Oliva on the shore of the 
 Island of Cumbrae. 
 
ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF MADEIRA. 85 
 
 VII. 
 ON THE GEOLOGY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE ISLAND OF MADEIRA. 
 
 Read to the Geological Society, January 6, 1841. 
 
 THE external crust of the Island of Madeira, to the depth of 
 several thousand feet, is entirely composed of volcanic matter, 
 which must have been erupted in the open air during the 
 tertiary epoch. It is therefore to be classed amongst sub- 
 aerial tertiary volcanoes. 
 
 Perhaps no volcanic region in the world offers more favour- 
 able opportunities for geological investigation. Mural pre- 
 cipices of stupendous height everywhere skirt the coasts or 
 wall in the ravines of the interior, and exhibit numerous beds 
 of basaltic lava, interstratified with scoriae, ashes, tufas, and 
 ancient vegetable soils. To account for its rugged and 
 fragmentary character, geologists have had recourse to the 
 convenient agency of a great convulsion of nature, which 
 rent the island from the foundation, and left it and the archi- 
 pelagos of the eastern Atlantic the shattered fragments of 
 a vast continent, the fabled Atlantis of the ancients. But 
 these are mere poetic fancies, unsupported by a single geolo- 
 gical fact, and disproved by the strictly insular character of 
 the fauna, which is destitute of a single mammiferous animal. 
 To account for its physical structure, however, we have no 
 occasion to seek for unknown causes, when we have ample 
 evidence that, for an immense length of time, the island has 
 been subject to the action of volcanic fires, issuing from 
 
86 ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF MADEIRA. 
 
 numerous and distant craters. Every fresh eruption would 
 overthrow and ruin the effects of those which preceded; 
 whilst the subsequent action of mountain torrents would be 
 scarcely less destructive ; for however hard the basaltic rocks, 
 they separate easily in a vertical direction, from their colum- 
 nar structure, and, resting upon earthy tufas or incoherent 
 ashes, every flood undermines a portion, and sweeps its frag- 
 ments towards the sea. Hence the steep and lofty sides of 
 the ravines, whose magnitudes are apparently so dispropor- 
 tioned to the streams which flow through them. It is to 
 these causes, and not to violent convulsions and upheavings, 
 that I ascribe the peculiar features of the external configu- 
 ration of Madeira. 
 
 The lavas are wholly basaltic ; and from the proportion of 
 crystals of olivine which they contain, may be termed olrvine 
 basalt : they are compact, scoriaceous, and vesicular. 
 
 1st. Compact Basalt. This occasionally occurs in amor- 
 phous masses; but more frequently it assumes a rudely 
 columnar structure. Sometimes, but rarely, the columns are 
 quite regular. We find it in beds or conle"es, interstratified 
 with other volcanic products, and in dykes which intersect 
 all the other beds. 
 
 2d. Scoriaceous Basalt. This variety is rough and porous, 
 resembling the slag of a foundry, owing, no doubt, to its 
 contact with the atmosphere. Where the bed is thin the 
 whole of it is scoriaceous ; but in those of a certain thick- 
 ness it is only the upper and lower surfaces which are so. 
 Sometimes, as at Vesuvius, the expansion of the air has 
 formed caverns of considerable magnitude. There are two 
 of these immediately to the west of the principal landing- 
 place at Funchal, one of which is figured by Bowdich in his 
 " Excursions in Madeira," &c. 
 
 3e?. Vesicular Lava. The porousness of this variety, which 
 pervades the whole mass, and is not, as in the former case, 
 superficial, is caused unquestionably by the expansion of 
 
ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF MADEIRA. 87 
 
 included gases. The vesicles, when large, have been flattened 
 by the gravity of the lava, and elongated in the direction of 
 its flow. When numerous and minute, like those in bread, 
 the rock is easily hewn into shape, and is known as the 
 " Cantaria rija," or hard building stone of the island. 
 
 The next class of igneous rocks are those which have been 
 projected into the air, and fallen again in fragments of various 
 sizes from those termed volcanic bombs to sand and ashes. 
 From the situations in which the larger masses are found, 
 they appear to have fallen simultaneously with or during the 
 showers of sand and ashes, as they occur in every part of the 
 beds, in which they have been half-buried by the force of 
 their fall, the laminae on the lower side being bent round 
 them j and as they are higher on one side than the other 
 they indicate the direction as well as the force of their 
 descent. The minuter fragments consist of white lapilli or 
 pumice, and dark-coloured scoriae, or cinders and sand. 
 
 The pumaceous lapilli are coloured white or light yellow : 
 in size they rarely exceed a pigeon's egg, but are generally 
 much smaller. From their porous texture when dry, their 
 specific gravity is less than water; but if immersed, and the 
 pores become filled, they get heavier, and gradually sink to 
 the bottom. 
 
 The beds of pumice vaiy in thickness from a few inches to 
 several feet. Some of them lie on the surface; but others 
 are interstratified with basalt and tufa. Very often a certain 
 portion of the dark, heavy cinders or scoriae are mixed with 
 the pumice, without regard to their gravity a certain proof 
 that they could not have been deposited under the sea, 
 because, when thrown in the water, an instant separation of 
 the heavy and light ashes takes place. It is true that when 
 the pumaceous ashes become saturated with water they sink 
 to the bottom ; but from their softness and fragility they are 
 rounded by the slightest motion of the water. 
 
 The dark-coloured scoriae or cinders also form extensive 
 
88 ON THE GEOLOGY OP THE ISLAND OF MADEIKA. 
 
 beds; they have generally a reddish hue, and vary in size with 
 their distance from the orifice of eruption. 
 
 Both the white and dark-coloured ashes are loose and 
 incoherent, except when mixed up with earthy matter, or 
 when they have fallen immediately upon the cone of erup- 
 tion before cooling, when they have been agglutinated into 
 a scoriaceous mass. 
 
 A large proportion of the volcanic rocks is composed of 
 tufas and conglomerates, all of which appear to owe their 
 consistence to water. Some of them, it is probable, have 
 been erupted as mud (moya or lava di acqua); in others 
 sand and ashes have been washed down by floods, and mixed 
 up with the earthy matter of pre-existing tufas or soils. 
 Fragments of vegetables are by no means uncommon ; but I 
 am not aware of any other organic remains having been dis- 
 covered in them. Many of these beds have been converted 
 into vegetable soils ; and it is interesting to observe the roots 
 of plants still in the attitude in which they grew, and the 
 very same phenomena which are now taking place at the 
 surface occurring in strata which have been for so many ages 
 buried under solid rocks. Thus we find both the soil and 
 subsoil. 1 The plants are chiefly to be found on the top or 
 vegetable soil; but some of them have pushed their roots 
 down through the hard and unmoved ground, and the cracks 
 or fissures are in many cases filled with closely matted roots 
 and fibres, converted into carbonate of lime. 
 
 The vegetable remains have been charred when the soils have 
 been overflowed by lava. In this case earthy tufas and soils 
 have been burnt to the colour and hardness of brick ; 2 and 
 when the superincumbent mass is of great thickness, and, 
 of course, the cooling process has been slow, this volcanic 
 brick has assumed the columnar structure. The columns 
 are from a quarter-of-an-inch to several inches in diameter, 
 and still retain the charred plants, some of them in 
 1 Sect. 2. 9 Sect. 2, g. 3. 
 
ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OP MADEIRA. 89 
 
 the vertical position, and passing from one column to 
 another. 
 
 The conversion of soil into brick has been observed in 
 recent volcanoes. In the " Historia Insulana," an account of 
 the Portuguese insular possessions, Cordeyro, the author, in 
 describing an eruption which he witnessed in the Azores, 
 says, that where the lava overflowed the soil it was converted 
 into stone or bisconto (baked earth). In Colonel Macironi's 
 " Memoirs," amongst other geological notices, he describes a 
 similar effect, " Over this clay a stream of incandescent 
 basaltic lava had flown, apparently from a crater on a higher 
 ridge of hills behind, and thus converted the clay into a hard 
 red brick, exactly of the consistence of our tiles." 
 
 Where the clay which has been burnt contains a propor- 
 tion of sand or ashes, it forms a building stone which is much 
 used on the island. 
 
 The non -volcanic rocks of Madeira occur in three localities, 
 viz., the limestone of San Yicente, the coal or lignite of San 
 George, and the sands of Canigal. 
 
 The first of these is a bed of limestone, described by 
 Bowdich as belonging to the transition series, from its re- 
 semblance to the calcareous formation at Alcantara, near 
 Lisbon, which, however, is a hippurite limestone equivalent 
 to the chalk. 
 
 As this may be termed the fundamental rock of the island, 
 I determined to visit it, in order to ascertain the correctness 
 of this supposition. I found a bed of limestone crossing a 
 mountain stream at an elevation of between 2,000 and 3,000 
 feet above the level of the sea. It is intersected by two 
 dykes of decomposing basalt, and abounds in zoophites and 
 marine shells. Unfortunately the day was so far spent that 
 we could only devote half-an-hour to collecting the fossils. 
 I made out, however, the following genera : Lucina, Cytherea, 
 Cardium, Pecten, Pectunculus, Spondylus, Cyprcea, Voluta, 
 Fasciolai'ia, Strombus, Murex. Some of them are mere casts, 
 
90 ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF MADEIRA. 
 
 and others are much broken. I have not, therefore, been 
 able to ascertain the species. There can, however, be no 
 doubt as to their belonging to the tertiary epoch, although, of 
 course, it is impossible to say to which division. 
 
 This limestone lies immediately under the Paul de Serra 
 a plateau or table-land at an elevation of 5,000 feet. 
 Hence the superincumbent mass, which consists of beds of 
 basalt and tufa, must be about 2,500 feet in thickness. I 
 regretted much that my unexpected departure from the island 
 prevented me from returning and forming a more complete 
 collection of the organic remains of this interesting deposit, 
 which is in fact the key to the geological age of Madeira. 
 
 On the north side of the island, on the banks of one of the 
 tributary streams which flow into the river St. George, there 
 is a bed of vegetable matter resembling brown coal or lignite, 
 but which Professor Johnston considers to be peat the dried 
 relic of an ancient peat-bog, which owes its compactness, 
 lustre, and rhomboidal fracture to the action of the basalt 
 which overlies it. Upon analyzing it he finds that it con- 
 sists of 
 
 Carbon, . . . . . . 60-7 
 
 Hydrogen, . . . . . 5 '82 
 
 Oxygen and Nitrogen, . . . .33-47 
 
 99-99 
 
 and contains 20-05 per cent, of ash. This is the organic con- 
 stitution of true peat from various localities. When burnt it 
 emits the odour of burning peat. No peat at present occurs in 
 Madeira, nor has any, as far as I am aware, been found so near 
 the equator. This seems to indicate that the climate has been 
 colder during the period of its deposition than it is at present. 
 At Canical, near the eastern extremity of the island, a 
 sandy valley crosses from the northern to the southern shore. 
 The sand is composed of minute particles of basalt and 
 comminuted shells j imbedded in it are a vast number of land 
 
ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF MADEIRA. 91 
 
 shells and encrustations of plants, which have been converted 
 into carbonate of lime. 
 
 Tn consequence of the want of vegetable structure or vege- 
 table matter, the origin of these fossils has been called in 
 question, particularly by Dr. Macaulay, of Edinburgh, in a 
 late number of Jameson's " Philosophical Journal." Dr. 
 Macaulay had them analyzed, and finding only carbonate of 
 lime, silica, phosphate of lime, and animal matter, he has 
 come to the conclusion that they are of animal origin, and 
 considers that the formation is " a tract of fossil coral, be- 
 longing probably to the family of Alcyonidse." 
 
 As these, however, are mere casts, I do not consider that 
 an analysis of the matter which has filled them up, and re- 
 placed the original substance, throws any light on what its 
 nature was. But although there is no internal structure, one 
 of the specimens bears very evident impressions of external 
 structure resembling an equisetum, and all of them the most 
 perfect resemblance to plants even to the marks of torn-off 
 branches with the bark healed round the wound. 
 
 I therefore still retain the opinion I originally formed, that 
 we have here what was formerly a wooded valley, which has 
 been filled up with blown sand from the sea-shore. Similar 
 deposits occur in New Holland and at the Cape of Good 
 Hope, and the same explanation has been given by Peron, 
 the French naturalist, by Dr. Abel, and by Mr. Darwin. 
 Whether this explanation be the right one or not is a matter 
 of comparatively small geological importance \ not so that 
 which regards the nature of those fossils about which there 
 can be no doubt. I mean the shells. Upon this point the 
 labours of the Rev. Mr. Lowe leave nothing to be desired. 
 That gentleman has investigated with great care the terres- 
 trial mollusca of Madeira, both recent and fossil, and the 
 result of his comparison of the Canic^l shells with those which 
 still inhabit the island, is, that one-sixth of them have become 
 extinct or are unknown. This deposit, therefore, belongs to 
 
92 ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF MADEIRA. 
 
 the newest tertiary or pleistocene of Lyell. We have thus 
 two fossiliferous beds, both of them belonging to the tertiary 
 system one of them lying below and the other above the 
 volcanic beds, and rendering it probable that the period of 
 volcanic activity must be referred to the latter part of that 
 epoch. 
 
 In one of the small islets adjoining Porto Santo there is a 
 bed of fossiliferous limestone. I did not visit it; but as it 
 supplies the lime-kilns of Funchal, I had ample opportunities 
 for collecting the fossils, which consist almost exclusively of 
 casts. By the assistance of Professor Agassiz, whose re- 
 searches on the casts of fossil and recent rnollusca supplies a 
 most important desideratum in Paleontology, the species of 
 some of them have been ascertained; and as they are all 
 recent, the date of the island must be extremely modern. 
 Notwithstanding which, the limestone is so hard and granular 
 in its structure, that, had it not been for the fossils, it might 
 have been taken for primary marble. The volcanic action 
 here is evidently submarine ; the contact of the basalt and 
 limestone is so close that when broken it never separates 
 at the junction. The elevation, however, has produced 
 no disturbance in the stratification, which is nearly hori- 
 zontal. 
 
 On the Island of Porto Santo, on the other hand, the beds 
 of basalt are scoriaceous on the surface, and rest on volcanic 
 bricks, from whence I infer that it is a subaerial volcano. 
 There is also upon it a sandy deposit, containing encrusted 
 vegetables and land shells resembling that at Canical. 
 
 The Disertas, a group of islands separated from Madeira 
 by a strait of about three leagues in breadth, may be described 
 as a chain of volcanic mountains, running north and south, 
 nearly at right angles with that of Madeira. 
 
 The sea cliffs reach to their very summits, and exhibit a 
 series of beds of basalt, ashes, tufas, and volcanic bricks, inter- 
 sected by innumerable dykes. The strait between two of 
 
ON THE GEOLOGY OP THE ISLAND OF MADEIRA. 93 
 
 these islands has all the appearance of the section of a crater, 
 the sides being composed of perpendicular masses of brown 
 scoriae, whence the other beds decline on each side. No 
 fossils have yet been discovered upon them. 
 
 The principal chain of mountains of Madeira must at one 
 time have been much higher, because we find beds which are 
 only formed at the base of a cone at their very summits. 
 There is therefore no great cone like Etna or the Peak of 
 Teneriffe. There are, however, the ruins of several truncated 
 craters and many small lateral cones. The most extensive 
 of these craters is the Curral das Freiras, an immense ravine 
 about three miles in length and one in breadth, and nearly 
 2,000 feet in depth, with a gorge opening to the south. It is 
 surrounded on every side, except the open one, with precipices, 
 which are stratified in the same manner as the sea cliffs, with 
 beds of basalt, tufa, and ashes. When seen across their ends, 
 in the face of the precipices, they are symmetrical and nearly 
 horizontal, but on the sides of the open gorge they are ob- 
 served to dip outwards towards the base of the mountains, 
 parallel to the inclination of the surface. This is one of those 
 ancient craters with a baranco or open side, which are sup- 
 posed by Yon Buch to be craters of elevation ; and it resem- 
 bles so perfectly one of them the Caldeira of the Island of 
 Palma that his description of it would serve for the Curral. 
 Indeed, the mineral structure of the Island of Madeira agrees 
 so perfectly with the description which that author gives of 
 the more ancient parts of Teneriffe and the other Canary 
 Islands said by him to have been formed under the sea and 
 subsequently elevated into craters of elevation that it ap- 
 pears to me that the circumstances under which they have 
 been formed must have been the same. But the supposition 
 of submarine formation in the volcanic portion of Madeira is 
 excluded by the occurrence of vegetable soils with plants in 
 situ. In Teneriffe it is not supported by a single fact, whilst 
 the scoriae and ashes have all the appearance of those erupted 
 
94 ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OP MADEIRA. 
 
 in the open air. Without calling in question, therefore, the 
 existence of such phenomena in other quarters of the globe, 
 I am satisfied that they are not to be met with in Madeira, 
 and doubt as to their occurrence in the Canaiy Islands, 
 There are other craters in different parts of the island, gener- 
 ally in a ruinous state, with the exception of two, which are 
 tolerably entire. There are also many lateral cones of erup- 
 tion, such as the round conical hills in the parish of St. 
 Antonio, to the west of Funchal. They are generally so 
 completely clothed with vegetation as to conceal their struc- 
 ture; but upon one of them the Pico de St. Joao there are 
 the ruins of a fort. When we examine the scarp and 
 counter- scarp of the ditch, we find that the hill is composed 
 of a scoriaceous conglomerate of fragments of all sizes, which 
 must have fallen in a half-fused state, and become agglutin- 
 ated upon the spot, forming an unstratified mass of a reddish- 
 brown colour, intersected by minute basaltic veins. The 
 small fortified island in Funchal Bay, and the adjoining 
 eminence at the landing-place, are formed of a similar con- 
 glomerate, and are no doubt the remains of a cone of eruption. 
 I have observed sections of many of these cones in the face 
 of the sea cliffs some of them covered over by beds of lava 
 and tufa erupted from other craters. At Cape Giram the 
 thickness of the superincumbent mass resting upon one of 
 these cannot be less than 1,400 feet. Nothing is more 
 striking at first sight than the beauty and regularity of the 
 volcanic stratification, or than the richness and variety of its 
 colouring. The earthy tufas vary from chocolate brown to 
 pale yellow, the volcanic bricks from crimson to light red; 
 the scoriaceous ashes are claret coloured, and the pumice 
 milk-white. The regularity of stratification, however, is 
 only apparent, for we never find the beds recurring in the 
 same order in distant localities. Thus, near the Socorro, 
 on the east side of Funchal, they are arranged as fol- 
 lows : 
 
ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF MADEIRA. 95 
 
 1st or uppermost bed, Basalt, . . 10 feet. 
 
 2. Fine ashes, . . . . 6 in. 
 
 3. Volcanic brick, columnar, . . 1 6 
 
 4. Laminated tufa, with lapilli, . . 1 
 
 5. Vegetable soil and subsoil, with roots in situ, 12 
 
 6. Yellow laminated tufa, . . . 10 
 
 7. Thin layer of pumice, . . . 6 
 
 8. Dark vegetable soil, . . . 1 
 
 9. Yellow tufa, . . . 10 
 
 10. Fine pumice, . . . . 6 
 
 11. Yellow tufa, . . . 4 
 
 12. Pumice, . . . . . 5 
 
 13. Vegetable soil, . ... . 2 
 
 14. Brown tufa or subsoil, . . 10 
 
 15. Laminated dark scoriae or ashes, . . 1 
 
 16. Brown soil, . . . . 6 6 
 
 17. Scoriaceous basalt, uncertain, passing under sea. 
 
 On the cliff immediately to the west of the principal land- 
 ing-place we find the beds in the following order : 
 
 1st or uppermost, Basalt. 
 
 2. Volcanic brick, columnar. 
 
 3. Dark ashes, laminated. 
 
 4. Brown tufa. 
 
 5. Dark ashes. 
 
 6. Light-brown tufa. 
 
 7. Vegetable soil. 
 
 8. White pumice. 
 
 9. Scoriaceous basalt. 
 10. Volcanic brick. 
 
 The most remarkable series of volcanic beds is that of Cape 
 Giram, on the south side of the island, about six or eight 
 miles to the west of Funchal. 1 Here the sea cliff reaches an 
 elevation of upwards of 1,600 feet, and is stratified from the 
 base to the summit. The lower beds are partially concealed 
 by fragments of basalt, but I observed them to be composed 
 of agglutinated scoriae and ashes evidently the summit of 
 
 1 Sect. 4. 
 
96 ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF MADEIRA. 
 
 an ancient cone which had subsequently been covered over 
 by tufas and lavas erupted from some other orifice. The 
 volcanic mountain thus formed has at one time presented a 
 steep escarpment to the east, at least as high as the present 
 cliff perhaps one of the sides of the crater : this, however, 
 has been buried up by repeated eruptions of scoriae and ashes 
 from a third crater, just as we see walls and cottages wreathed 
 up by snow, by a subsequent process. These beds have been 
 rent, and the fissures filled with lava from below, as we find 
 them terminating in an angle upwards. The next and last 
 process has been the formation of the falaise or cliff by the 
 wasting action of the sea. Every attempt to count the beds 
 which form this stupendous precipice I found to be vain, but 
 they must amount to several hundreds, a proof of the im- 
 mense duration of the period during which the island has 
 been subjected to the action of volcanic fires. 
 
 The existence of the marine limestone of S. Vicente, at an 
 elevation of at least 2,500 feet above the level of the sea, is 
 no doubt a proof of elevation of the land or depression of the 
 sea to that amount; but as it is only seen at one point, it is 
 impossible to say whether the change has been caused by 
 volcanic forces acting immediately upon it or not. But it is 
 evident from the nature of the superincumbent strata that the 
 greater part, if not the whole of them, have been deposited 
 subsequently. I have not observed any proofs of elevation 
 of the land during, or subsequent to, the volcanic period 
 such as raised beaches, inland cliffs or sea-worn caves, or 
 marine remains higher than the present sea-level. There 
 are, however, strong indications of a movement of subsidence. 
 The scoriae and ashes and beds, with vegetable remains, dip 
 under the sea, and are found in situations where they could 
 not have remained had the sea-level been the same as at 
 present. 
 
 The force which produced the fissures, and injected them 
 with lava, which form the basaltic dykes and veins, appears 
 
ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF MADEIRA. 97 
 
 to have produced but little effect upon the stratification. I 
 searched in vain for dislocations or faults ; the beds, upon the 
 contrary, almost always agree with the inclination of the 
 surface. The exceptions are few and easily explained, and 
 neither earthquakes nor changes of level have altered them 
 from their natural position. 
 
98 ON THE GEOLOGY OF GIBRALTAR. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 ON THE GEOLOGY OF GIBRALTAR. 
 
 Read to the Geological Society, Nov. 20, 1844. 
 
 THE continent of Europe is terminated on the south, and that 
 of Africa on the north, by a secondary formation of consider- 
 able extent, which is cut into two by the Straits of Gibraltar. 
 The prevailing rock on both sides is siliceous sandstone, 
 generally of a yellowish brown colour, which is associated 
 with limestone and shale in different states of induration, 
 and also with subordinate beds of chert and coal. Judging 
 from external character, I should pronounce it to belong to 
 the true coal-measures, but the indications furnished by 
 organic remains point rather to the Jurassic group. The 
 evidence, however, is by no means conclusive ; fossils are of 
 such rare occurrence, and in such an imperfect state, that no 
 certain inference can, in the present state of our knowledge 
 of its organic remains, be drawn from them. The Gibraltar 
 limestone contains casts of marine shells, chiefly Terebratulse, 
 one of which appears to be the T. fimbria and the other the 
 T. concinna of the " Mineral Conchology," both belonging to 
 the lower oolite. A coal-pit has lately been opened about 
 four miles to the north of Gibraltar, but hitherto with no 
 other success than the discovery of a bed of arenaceous shale, 
 with thin flakes of highly crystalline coal. The late Mr. 
 Drummond Hay, the British consul at Tangier, informed me 
 that there are also indications of coal on the African side of 
 the Straits.. 
 
 The hills round the Bay of Gibraltar rise to an elevation of 
 between 2,000 and 3,000 feet, and at their base there is a 
 
I 
 
 I 
 
ON THE GEOLOGY OF GIBRALTAR. 99 
 
 series of low swelling hills of tertiary limestone, which, as I 
 have elsewhere shown, belong to the great miocene formation 
 of the south of Europe. 1 
 
 The mountain, or rock, of Gibraltar, as it is usually called, 
 forms an oblong peninsula, extending two miles and a-half 
 from north to south, and three-quarters of a mile in breadth. 
 It is terminated on the north by a perpendicular cliff, 1,250 
 feet in height; its greatest elevation is 1,470 feet, and its 
 southern extremity is marked by a triple series of cliffs and 
 terraces. The elevated part of the rock, which occupies the 
 northern half of the peninsula, is divided into three distinct 
 eminences, by gaps in the summit and ravines at the sides. 
 The most northerly eminence is called by the Spaniards 
 "Salto de Lobos," or "Wolf's Crag;" by the English the 
 precipice is called the North Front, and the height above it 
 the Rock-gun, from the gun perched on its summit. The 
 hill in the centre is called Middle Hill, or the Signal Station, 
 and the southern height, " Pan d'Assucar," or the Sugar-loaf, 
 but more commonly O'Hara's Tower. To the south of this 
 there is a plain called Windmill-hill Flats, about 400 feet 
 above the level of the sea. This is bounded by an escarpment, 
 and succeeded by a second and lower plateau called Europa 
 Flats ; and at the southern extremity of the promontory there 
 is, or rather was, a third terrace, separated by a sea-worn cliff 
 from the Europa Flats; but the cliff is now concealed by 
 fortifications, and the terrace by a glacis. 
 
 Fig. 1. 
 
 In the above diagram is represented the general appearance 
 1 See " Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society," vol. I, p. 235. 
 
100 ON THE GEOLOGY OF GIBRALTAR. 
 
 of the western face of the rock. The beds of limestone in 
 the elevated part dip to the west, but from Windmill-hill 
 Flats, southwards, they dip to the east. About halfway up 
 the western side of the elevated part there is a precipice 
 parallel to the ridge on the summit or axis of the rock ; at 
 the base of this precipice there is a plain of stratified siliceous 
 sand, called the red sands, upon which the town is built, and 
 the esplanade and Alameda, or public garden, formed. On 
 the shore at the western base of the rock, and parallel to its 
 axis, there is a series of beds of highly indurated shale ; these 
 are nearly vertical, and separated as they are from the 
 stratified limestone beds by sands or breccia, it is impossible 
 to determine whether they lie over or under them. The 
 same may be said of beds of secondary sandstone, which also 
 occur on the west side of the rock, but are not seen in contact 
 with the limestone : this, however, is not a point of any geo- 
 logical consequence, as they all evidently belong to the same 
 formation. 
 
 No rocks of the miocene tertiary period, although these are 
 so largely developed in the immediate neighbourhood, occur 
 in the promontory of Gibraltar j neither are there any newer 
 tertiary deposits, unless we call the breccia, in which the 
 bones of the cave-bear and fossil elephant have been found, 
 tertiary. The post-tertiary rocks are numerous, and of great 
 geological interest from the light they throw upon the former 
 changes which the rock must have undergone subsequently to 
 its first upheaval. The most important of these is a red 
 sandstone, containing recent marine shells : on the south-east 
 it attains a thickness of riot less than 300 feet : it is formed 
 of water- worn grains of quartz, cemented by the calcareous 
 matter deposited by the water which percolates through the 
 superincumbent rock : it is extremely hard and tough, and is 
 used in preference to the secondary limestone for lining the 
 embrasures. The next in importance is the breccia, which 
 covers the flanks of the mountain. It is chiefly composed of 
 
ON THE GEOLOGY OF GIBRALTAR. 101 
 
 great and small fragments of the limestone, cemented in the 
 same manner as the sandstone. We also find masses of soil 
 and mud similarly cemented, and in these the bones and 
 shells of land animals have been found. They form the well- 
 known bone-breccia of Gibraltar, some part of which must be 
 of great antiquity, as it contains the bones of extinct animals; 
 other parts of it are so modern as to contain the remains of 
 man and works of art. The bone-breccia has been discovered 
 in various parts of the rock, but the principal locality in 
 which it occurs is a fissure in the face of the cliff at Rosia 
 Bay. In scarping the rock for the purpose of making it 
 more inaccessible, much of the bone-breccia has been removed, 
 but enough remains to show its origin. It is lodged in a 
 fissure which has evidently been connected with a cavern, the 
 habitation of carnivorous animals : the floor, like that of the 
 present open caves, has been formed by the dust of vegetable 
 soil, blown into them during the dry season : this has become 
 mixed up with fragments and minute splinters of bone the 
 remains of the prey of its former inhabitants. A land-flood 
 has swept this bony mud, in a semi-fluid state, into the fissure 
 where it is now found. The direction of the flow can be 
 distinctly traced. The splinters, instead of being arranged 
 horizontally, are generally vertical, or rather parallel to the 
 sides of the fissure; the mud has, in time, been indurated 
 into breccia by calcareous infiltration, and afterwards cracked 
 across by some of the numberless shocks to which the rock 
 has been exposed ; while this transverse fissure has in its turn 
 been filled with stalagmite. Major Imrie, who has described 
 the geology of Gibraltar in the " Transactions of the Royal 
 Society of Edinburgh," observed this circumstance, and in- 
 ferred from the septa or divisions thus formed, that the fissure 
 had been filled at different periods. This, however, is not the 
 case ; for not only is the flow uninterrupted, but a pebble has 
 been cracked across, one-half of which is above and the other 
 below the division. There are larger fragments mixed with 
 
102 ON THE GEOLOGY OF GIBRALTAR. 
 
 i 
 
 the splinters, upon one of which I observed the marks of the 
 teeth of some animal. The cave which has furnished the 
 bony matter no longer exists ; but this can excite no surprise 
 where so many causes of ruin have occurred ; and in point of 
 fact this locality forms part of the great landslip to be after- 
 wards described. I have no additions to make to the list of 
 animals whose bones have been found in this breccia, except 
 those of the cave-bear and the fossil elephant. By permission 
 of the governor, I made an excavation in Martin's Cave, but 
 with no other success than the discovery of rude fragments 
 of pottery, a piece of melted lead, and the bones of recent 
 animals. 
 
 The subordinate beds of chert present no peculiarity which 
 requires to be noticed, and there has been no coal found in 
 situ upon the rock itself. I shall now proceed to inquire into 
 the geological causes to which the rock owes its present con- 
 figuration. 
 
 Its geological history is instructive as an example of the 
 extraordinary number, as well as complicated nature, of the 
 movements which have caused the irregularities on the sur- 
 face of the earth. We are apt to ascribe the presence of 
 marine remains in elevated situations to some great convulsion 
 by which they have been raised from the bottom of the sea, 
 and to suppose that they have remained subjected to no 
 changes but such as are caused by the diurnal action of the 
 elements ; but an examination of the mountain of Gibraltar 
 forces us to admit that it must have undergone not one, but 
 many movements, both of elevation and depression, some of 
 them attended with rupture and dislocation of the strata, 
 others with mere changes of level : to these must be added 
 the effects of chemical agents,. landslips, blown sands, and the 
 wasting action of the sea. Some of the disturbances must 
 have obliterated every trace of preceding ones ; but although 
 we cannot hope to be able to describe all the changes which 
 have taken place, enough of evidence remains to attest the 
 
ON THE GEOLOGY OF GIBRALTAR. 103 
 
 existence of many of them, and to furnish a clue by which we 
 can in some measure decipher the order of their occurrence. 
 
 We know from the marine remains contained in them that 
 the beds of limestone must have been formed at the bottom 
 of the sea during the secondary period, in a position nearly 
 horizontal, and that they must have been lifted up to an 
 angle with the horizon by some force acting from below, 
 doubtless of an igneous nature. Whatever it was it must 
 have been deep-seated, as there are no igneous rocks in the 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 A force sufficient to rend the superincumbent beds would 
 tilt them upwards on one or both sides of the rent; and if 
 any part of them stood above the surface, it would assume the 
 form of a three-sided prism, one of whose sides coincided with 
 the planes of the beds, another with their truncated edges; 
 the third side, or apparent base, would be formed by the sur- 
 face of the sea ; whilst the ends of the prism would be nearly 
 perpendicular. It would appear, in the case of Gibraltar, that 
 the rent or fissure caused by the subterranean force ran south 
 and north ; that the beds gave way on one side of the rent 
 (the west), and were lifted up to an angle of about 19. From 
 the natural tendency which hard, flat bodies have to break 
 across at right angles, the inclination of one of the slopes 
 being 19, that on. the opposite side of the ridge would be 
 about 71, the complement of the right angle, whilst the ends 
 would be perpendicular. 
 
 If we raise the front edges of an octavo volume about an 
 inch and a-half off a table, leaving the back resting upon it, 
 and suppose it nearly submerged in water, the part above the 
 surface would afford a tolerably correct model of what the 
 rock must have been after its first upheaval. The boards 
 would be found to form an angle of about 19 with the sur- 
 face, the front edges 71, whilst the ends would be vertical. 
 
 This, if not the original form, is at all events the most 
 ancient form of the rock of which any evidence remains. In 
 
104 ON THE GEOLOGY OF GIBRALTAR. 
 
 its northern extremity we have the ruins of what must have 
 been one of the ends of the great prism, and in the stupendous 
 escarpment of the North Front its vertical termination. 
 
 The earliest epoch in the history of the rock is that in which 
 its beds were deposited at the bottom of the secondary ocean. 
 The second is that which followed the first upheaval, in which 
 it took the form already described. In this position fresh 
 beds would be deposited round its base, composed of the dis- 
 integrated matter of the rock itself, and that of the neigh- 
 bouring shores. 
 
 a Elevated limestone rock. b Sea forming new deposits at its base. 
 
 X 
 
 Fig. 2. 
 
 Accordingly we find in different parts of the rock, and 
 chiefly in the presence of raised marine deposits, which must 
 have been deposited subsequently to the first upheaval, but 
 anterior to the second, proofs not only of the changes of level 
 which it must have undergone during this period, but also of 
 the long duration of the period. In process of time, however, 
 a second upheaval has taken place, which tilted up the beds 
 19 more than they were at first. This disturbance, however, 
 did not extend to the whole peninsula, the northern part 
 being left in its original position. The rock must therefore 
 have been broken across, and the line of fracture must be 
 that which separates the beds in the original position, with a 
 dip of 19, from that part which has been elevated 19 more, 
 and is consequently at an angle of 38. This separating line 
 is well marked by the gap in the summit and ravines on the 
 sides which separate the Middle Hill from that on the north, 
 or Eock-gun Height. (See first diagram, in page 99). 
 
 The consequence of this movement has been to place the 
 oldest, or limestone beds, at the inclination of 38, in which 
 
ON THE GEOLOGY OF GIBRALTAR 105 
 
 we find them at Middle Hill, and the new beds subsequently 
 formed at an angle of 19, or sloping inwards to the hill, as 
 may be observed at its base. During the long continuance of 
 the preceding epoch, the wasting action of the sea had scooped 
 out a cliff and terrace, upon this terrace horizontal beds of 
 sand had been deposited, and upon these, again, newer beds 
 have been deposited unconformably, or sloping outwards. 
 Finally, in one of the numerous changes of level to which the 
 rock has been subjected, and of which proof will be after- 
 wards offered, the whole of these beds have been lifted up 
 and covered with the blown sands of Catalan Bay, on the east 
 side. These sands slope against the face of the cliff at an 
 angle of 30, at which inclination they are kept by the winds 
 from the east, which are the only ones which reach them. 
 
 Fig. 3. 
 
 In the above diagram 3, which represents a section from 
 west to east of Middle Hill, a is the limestone; c, beds 
 of sandstone and sand formed subsequently to the second 
 upheaval, but when the sea-level was different; dd, the 
 present beaches; e, blown sands. With the exception of 
 the limestone, the mineral composition of all these beds is 
 the same, consisting of comminuted particles of quartz and 
 limestone, d and c have been indurated into thin crumbling 
 strata; they contain fragments of sea shells, but although I 
 have found none sufficiently entire to ascertain the species, 
 they have all the appearance of being recent. 
 
 A third upheaval in the same direction, but still farther to 
 the south, has again tilted up the beds in that part of the 
 rock about 19, leaving the northern and middle hills in thrir 
 
106 ON THE GEOLOGY OF GIBRALTAE. 
 
 former position, but inclining the strata to the south to 57. 
 The line of division is marked by an indentation to the south 
 of the signal-post, called in Spanish La Quebrada, or broken 
 ground. We are now arrived at the fourth epoch in the 
 history of the rock; and in this locality we find deposits 
 belonging to each. At one spot, a little to the east of 
 Martin's Cave, and looking towards it, the whole of them 
 may be seen in juxtaposition. 
 
 O'Hara's Tower. 
 
 Fig. 4. 
 
 In the diagram marked 4, which represents a section from 
 west to east of the third or O'Hara's Tower height, the 
 secondary limestone, a, originally level, has been lifted up 
 by repeated upheavals to an angle of 57; the beds 6, formed 
 at the base of the rock subsequently to the first upheaval, 
 have been lifted up by the second and third upheaval to an. 
 angle of 32. As the two preceding movements were of 19 
 each, had the beds at b been originally horizontal, the angle 
 would have been 38; they must therefore have sloped out- 
 wards 6 C , which is about the inclination of the present sands 
 on the eastern beach. In mineral structure they are precisely 
 the same as those forming at the present day, except that 
 they are hardened into stone by the percolation of calcareous 
 water, and tinged of a reddish colour by the oxide of iron. 
 The separate beds at this particular point are but a fraction 
 of an inch in thickness, but the mass composed of them is 
 nearly 100 feet thick. 
 
 In the same diagram, c represents beds formed during the 
 preceding period, and these must have been horizontal, as 
 
ON THE GEOLOGY OF GIBRALTAR. 107 
 
 their slope inwards is exactly the amount of the third up- 
 heaval. At d are other beds formed subsequently to the 
 last upheaval, but when the sea-level was different. At this 
 locality they form the floor of an ancient sea- worn cave, and 
 contain marine remains. The only species I have been able 
 to make out, the Patella ferruginea, is still to be found recent 
 in the Mediterranean. This last bed I ascertained by baro- 
 metrical measurement to be nearly 600 feet above the present 
 sea-level. The rough ground on the left represents an 
 extensive landslip of great antiquity. 
 
 Above this series we come to Martin's Cave. The floor of 
 it slopes inwards 11; it is evidently sea- worn, and must have 
 been formed during the preceding period, or that between the- 
 second and third upheavals, when it must have sloped out- 
 wards 8, an angle corresponding with the present shore, 
 which varies from 8 to 4. To this period also belong beds 
 of modern sandstone, which are about 100 feet higher, or 700 
 feet above the present sea-level, and which also dip inwards 
 11. These last contain marine shells, apparently recent : they 
 occur near the mouth of two sea- worn caves, which, however, 
 belong to the subsequent epoch, as their floors are horizontal. 
 
 Still further to the south other disturbances must have 
 taken place; but we want the evidence furnished by inclined 
 modern deposits to ascertain their number and amount. I am 
 inclined to think that one or more upheavals raised up the beds 
 till they became vertical, and then overset them, because we 
 find the beds at the south end of the elevated part of the rock 
 nearly vertical, whilst farther to the south they dip in an 
 opposite direction, or to the east. We have evidence of at 
 least one upheaval subsequent to the last-mentioned. Im- 
 mediately under that part of the rock where the beds are 
 vertical, there is a sea- worn cave (Flint's) elevated about fifty 
 feet above the sea, with beds of sandstone below it, dipping 
 inwards 11. This indicates that the movement has been in 
 the same direction as those which preceded it, that is, giving 
 
108 ON THE GEOLOGY OF GIBRALTAR. 
 
 the beds a dip to the westward. Thus, by a series of con- 
 secutive upheavals, the beds have been raised from their 
 original horizontality till they became vertical. Beyond this 
 they dip in an opposite direction but whether they have 
 been thrown down from the vertical, or raised up from the 
 horizontal position, is a point concerning which I have no 
 evidence to offer. The inclination of the beds of shale on 
 the west side, and the precipice or cliff already described, 
 were perhaps caused by or connected with the upheavals, of 
 which we have such distinct traces on the eastern side. But 
 this part of the rock is so much obscured by sands, breccia, 
 and vegetable soil, as to prevent any satisfactory conclusions 
 being arrived at. 
 
 The next class of movements to which the rock has been 
 subjected is that producing general change of level. No such 
 change has taken place during the historical, or probably the 
 human period. Ancient geographers describe it as almost sur- 
 rounded by the sea. The ruins of Carteia, a city of antiquity 
 in the time of the Roman republic, can be traced to the level 
 of the sea ; and ancient graves, containing stone hatchets and 
 daggers, have recently been discovered not more than ten feet 
 above it. 
 
 The sandy plain immediately to the north of the fortress 
 appears to have belonged to the period of stationary level 
 which immediately preceded the present : it is full of marine 
 shells. On the British side of the Spanish lines the ground 
 has been much disturbed by the operations of the different 
 sieges, but beyond them it is in its natural state, and affords 
 a most perfect example of a raised shallow sea-bottom. On 
 the west side it is buried under sand-hills, but on the east, 
 where it is exposed to the winds from the Mediterranean, 
 the sands have been blown away, leaving the deserted shells 
 on the surface in such numbers that, when seen from the 
 summit of the rock, the ground is absolutely white with 
 them. Notwithstanding their numbers, however, on my first 
 
ON THE GEOLOGY OF GIBRALTAR. 109 
 
 examination I could not find more than five or six species, 
 and these exclusively bivalves, the most numerous of which 
 were the Cardium tuberculare, Pectunculus pilosus, Donax 
 trunculus, and a Venus allied to Venus gallina, the V. senilis 
 of Phillippi. An examination of the sandy bottom of the bay 
 by the dredge showed that it also was ' the exclusive habita- 
 tion of gregarious bivalves. The Spanish boats dredge for 
 shell-fish in the adjoining bay, in about two fathoms water : 
 in examining the cargo of one of the boats, I found but one 
 univalve, which contained a hermit crab, as if to prove that 
 it was a straggler. The species were the same as those of the 
 raised deposit. The only difference I could observe was, that 
 the thick and strong shells, the Cardium and Pectunculus, 
 were more abundant in proportion in the ancient 
 deposit; but this is easily accounted for, since these shells 
 live in agitated water; and though they abound on the 
 Mediterranean side of the neck of land, they are rare on the 
 shores of the bay side ; but when it was covered by the sea it 
 was unsheltered, and naturally contained both kinds of mol- 
 luscs. Nothing, indeed, can be more perfect than the 
 resemblance of this ancient sea-bottom to that of the present 
 bay, or, rather, to the appearance which it would present if 
 raised above the sea, since the eastwardty winds from the Med- 
 iterranean would then blow the sands to the west side, and 
 leave the shells on the surface* As the boats dredge in two 
 fathoms water, and this shelly deposit is raised about two 
 fathoms, the difference, or amount of the change, must have 
 been about twenty-four feet. Now it is remarkable that 
 exactly twenty-four feet above the present littoral zone, an 
 ancient one was discovered, in which the resemblance was, if 
 possible, still more perfect than in the corresponding sea- 
 bottoms. The rocky shores on the east side of the rock, 
 between high and low water, are perforated by Lithodomi, 
 and covered with Balani and numerous clusters of the rock 
 mussel (Mytilus arcuatus). In the elevated deposit the 
 
110 ON THE GEOLOGY OP GIBRALTAR. 
 
 Balani were still adherent, the shells of the Pholades in their 
 holes, and the clusters of mussels in the most perfect state. 
 These fossils were found in a crevice, and their preservation 
 is owing to a thin coating of stalagmite. From the state of 
 the shells, with both valves adhering, the animals must have 
 been alive when the elevation took place. I infer, therefore, 
 that it was instantaneous. This deposit was discovered in a 
 quarry at the North Front. In scarping the ancient sea cliff 
 at Europa Point, a raised beach was found at the height of 
 fifty feet, and another twenty feet higher. In this last, the 
 molar tooth of the fossil elephant was found with sea shells 
 adhering to it. From these deposits I collected nearly 100 
 species, all recent : the cliff in which they were found is about 
 eighty feet high. Above this is the extensive sea-worn 
 plateau of the Europa Flats : its surface is almost entirely 
 composed of bare water- worn rock'; but there are, notwith- 
 standing, patches of the indurated sand, in which I found 
 imbedded a valve of the Pecten maximus, and other fragments 
 of shells. This plateau is backed by a second range of cliffs, 
 in the front of which, at the height of 170 feet above the sea, 
 there is an oyster-bed ; and in the same cliff, but ninty-four 
 feet higher, in scarping the rock, there was discovered another 
 recent shelly deposit. On the east side of the rock, just 
 above the third Europa advance battery, there is a bed of 
 bivalves (Pectunculi), corresponding in height with the oyster- 
 bed ; and on the same side of the rock the hard modern 
 sandstone, already mentioned, occurs in beds of great thick- 
 ness, with occasional sea shells, all recent. At the height of 
 600 feet I found, as formerly noticed, a similar bed with 
 recent shells. All the deposits hitherto mentioned are in 
 their natural position, and are consequently newer than the 
 upheavals attended by dislocation and change of position. 
 But although 600 feet is the highest point at which we have 
 the evidence of organic remains to prove these more recent 
 changes of level, yet, as the whole surface of the rock is sea- 
 
ON THE GEOLOGY OP GIBRALTAR. Ill 
 
 worn, and I find no break in the continuity of the surface, 
 and as also many of the sea- worn caves, at much higher levels, 
 are in their natural position, I infer that the whole mountain 
 up to its summit, a height of 1.470 feet has been submerged 
 subsequently to the last of the disturbances. 
 
 We cannot account for the phenomena which present 
 themselves, without supposing movements of depression as 
 well as of elevation ; but such movements are always difficult 
 of proof, because the sea washes away and re-arranges the 
 loose unconsolidated beds : hence vegetable deposits, such as 
 submarine and subterranean forests, are exceptional cases of 
 rare occurrence; but where petrifaction has taken place, the 
 sea does not destroy the rocks. Beds formed of vegetable 
 soil and mud, and containing nothing but the remains of 
 land animals, converted into breccia by calcareous water, 
 must have been formed on land; and as we find at Gibraltar 
 such beds passing under the sea, we must admit a depression 
 of the land since they were formed. I am satisfied, however, 
 that the formation of every variety of the Gibraltar breccia is 
 a subaerial process. The rain water, percolating through the 
 fissures which everywhere intersect the rock, dissolves a 
 certain quantity; but as the largest portion of the water is 
 evaporated before it reaches the sea, it deposits the calcareous 
 matter upon whatever it comes in contact with, and unites 
 the whole into breccia a process which cannot take place 
 under water; but if we admit that the breccia has been 
 formed upon land, we must also admit many and extensive 
 movements of depression, for we everywhere find it sea- worn. 
 When the beds are marine, they must have been elevated 
 before they were cemented into breccia, again depressed before 
 they were water-worn and scooped into sea caves, and after 
 that elevated many hundred feet above the sea, as we find 
 them near Martin's Cave. 
 
 The next class of causes which have acted upon the rock of 
 Gibraltar are of a chemical nature, and to one of these I have 
 
112 ON THE GEOLOGY OF GIBRALTAR. 
 
 ascribed the formation of the breccia, namely, the solvent 
 quality of water combined with a certain portion of carbonic 
 acid; and when we consider the extraordinary quantity of 
 breccia which everywhere covers the flanks of the mountain, 
 and the quantity of calcareous matter required to cement it, 
 which has been abstracted from its internal recesses, we can 
 have no difficulty in accounting for the number and extent 
 of its caverns. Several of these, as formerly noticed, are 
 external, and have been scooped out by the sea; yet even 
 these, when we examine them, are generally found to be 
 pre-existing fissures widened. The sea-worn caves are hori- 
 zontal and at right angles with the line of coast ; the internal 
 ones are vertical, and branch out in every direction : one of 
 these, the well-known cave of St. Michael, is of unknown 
 extent, and from the recent researches of Lieutenant Bisk, 
 R.N., appears to communicate with both sides of the moun- 
 tain. On the east side, which is not obscured by vegetation, 
 may be seen, in inaccessible situations, the openings of many 
 such caverns. 1 
 
 1 Extract of letter from Lieutenant Risk, R.N., to Mr. Smith: 
 
 "GIBRALTAR, Avr/ust 2,'5. 1844. 
 
 " When leaving for England you were kind enough to request me to inform 
 you of any progress, or discovery of interest, I might make in the exploration 
 of St. Michael's Cave; and had I been less unsettled I should, ere this, have 
 sent you an account of one circumstance which has excited some attention in 
 the garrison, and in which you probably will take some interest. While 
 descending one day I thought I would more minutely examine some of the 
 smaller caves near the lower part, to discover any passages leading downwards. 
 In carefully looking into a small hole in the side of one of these, I discovered a 
 j;air of ttorns and part of the skuli of some animal, imbedded in the flooring of 
 the cave. I immediately had it removed, and discovered it to be the skull or 
 a large goat, perfect. This led to a further search, and, I found the whole 
 flooring of the cave filled with bones of different animals, large quantities of 
 which I removed and brought to town. They consist of goats, rabbits, rats, 
 and some birds, of which latter I have not been able to collect sufficient to 
 discover the species. Of the animals I have procured several skulls, and am 
 
ON THE GEOLOGY OF GIBRALTAR. 113 
 
 The great mass of the breccia is composed of the fragments 
 of limestone which have been thrown down or fallen to the 
 base of the rock; the next in quantity is composed of the 
 marine sandstone. It is to be observed, that where these 
 beds are not in a position to receive the water from the lime- 
 stone rock, they have not been converted into breccia. This 
 is the case with the extensive beds of sand on the west side ; 
 the water which falls upon them does not pass over the rock, 
 and they are still unconsolidated. 
 
 Landslips. A_t the base of the southern eminence we have 
 proofs of an extensive landslip; the rock which has given 
 way is limestone breccia; the sides of the ravines are water- 
 worn, showing change of level since it took place. At the 
 base of the North Front there has been another landslip, also 
 previous to the present sea-level, as the mass of rock which 
 has fallen down has been hollowed out all round by the action 
 of the sea. 
 
 The inland cliffs and terraces at the southern extremity, as 
 
 able to trace about six almost perfect skeletons. I also found the lower fourth 
 of a femur, nearly as large as a full-grown human one, with a considerable 
 quantity of adipocere, and the shell of a very small tortoise. These were all 
 very firmly imbedded in the limestone formation, of which the cave principally 
 consists. This discovery naturally led me to trace any openings by which 
 such a large number of animals could have entered. From above it was im- 
 possible ; for until I enlarged the passages no animal of the size of a goat 
 could by any possibility have been forced through them neither, as the cave 
 now is, could they have entered from below by any known passage. Many 
 circumstances in the appearance of the cave lead me to conclude that the 
 entrance, wherever it be, is from below, and that I am not very far from some 
 cave on the eastern side of the Rock. It is difficult certainly to imagine what 
 could have attracted goats or rabbits to a place like St. Michael's Cave; and 
 the only explanation I can give, after my hurried investigation, is that there 
 has been some passage, now nearly closed, and that these animals have either 
 wandered in there to die, or been taken in by force. I found no monkeys' 
 bones. I have enlarged one passage, leading a very considerable way down, 
 which may perhaps be the one by which the animals have entered. Here, as 
 elsewhere, the air is perfect!}' good." 
 
 I 
 
114 ON THE GEOLOGY OF GIBRALTAR. 
 
 well as the littoral caverns, which are numerous, and occur 
 at every elevation from the present shore to near the summit, 
 are evidently the result of the long-continued action of the 
 sea. 
 
 In conclusion, I have to observe that these disturbances, of 
 which we have such clear proofs, form but a portion of those 
 to which the rock has been subjected. They give us in chrono- 
 logical order the geological history of the elevated part, but 
 throw no light on the relative antiquity of those disturbances 
 which have lifted up the beds at its western base to a vertical 
 position, or elevated those at the south with an inclination 
 opposite to that of those at the north, or caused the great 
 escarpment of the western slope of the mountain. 
 
 With regard to the period in which the upheavals attended 
 with rupture and dislocation of the strata took place, we 
 have scarcely any evidence. Those shells which were de- 
 posited before they ceased have the appearance of being 
 recent, but the number of species is too few in the beds 
 deposited before the last of these disturbances to afford any 
 certain inferences as to their age. On the other hand, we 
 have ample evidence to prove that, since the testaceous fauna 
 was the same as at present, many movements both of elevation 
 and depression must have taken place. 
 
ON RECENT DEPRESSIONS IN THE LAND. 115 
 
 IX. 
 ON RECENT DEPRESSIONS IN THE LAND. 
 
 Read to the Geological Society, Feb. 24, 1847. 
 
 THE human period may be subdivided into the present, or 
 that in which geological events are subjected to our own 
 observation; the historical, or that in which they have 
 been observed and recorded ; and the antiquarian, in 
 which, although we cannot assign a date to them, we 
 can prove from human remains or works of art that they 
 must have taken place since the earth was inhabited by 
 man. 
 
 Having recently observed proofs of movements of depres- 
 sion in each of these periods, I proceed to notice them in 
 their retrograde order. 
 
 When I visited Pozzuoli in 1819 the floor of the temple 
 of Serapis was dry, but I remarked that the channels cut 
 across it for the purpose of draining the waters of the 
 thermal spring which rises within its precincts were nearly 
 filled with sea-water, with a sensible current flowing in- 
 wards, or from the sea; when I returned in 1845 I found 
 that the high -water -mark stood at twenty- eight inches 
 above the pavement, exhibiting a rise of about an inch 
 yearly. 
 
 As there is a rise and fall of tide of nearly ten inches 
 within the building, and as I have no means of knowing 
 the state of the tide at my first visit, I cannot speak with 
 certainty as to the exact change of level which had taken 
 place during the interval between my observations. I am, 
 
116 ON RECENT DEPRESSIONS IN THE LAND. 
 
 however, satisfied that it could not be much more or less 
 than one inch yearly. 1 
 
 Professor Forbes, of Edinburgh, visited the temple in 1826, 
 and Mr. Babbage in 1828; and as both of these gentlemen 
 took notice of the state of the tide, and have favoured me 
 with the record of their observations taken at the time, I 
 am enabled to compare them with my own, and find that 
 the differences agree very nearly with what I have above 
 stated. 
 
 Professor Forbes found the depth of water at full tide 
 about twelve inches, which is sixteen inches below my mea- 
 surement made eighteen years and a-half afterwards. 
 
 Mr. Babbage, who made a section of the building, has 
 marked the high-water-level about two inches below the 
 top of the plinth, or lowest member of the base of the 
 columns, which is about fourteen inches below that observed 
 by me seventeen years afterwards. 
 
 Professor Forbes again visited the temple in 1843, when 
 he noticed the height at which the surface stood at the base 
 of the coluniDs; and as I also measured the depth at the 
 same spot, I find that our measures agree as nearly as 
 possible. He says that when they were taken " the level 
 was lower than usual, being very calm, yet the water rose 
 above the first roll of the pillar" (the TORUS), i. e., about 
 twenty inches above the floor. He adds, " There appears to 
 be much more water than when I saw it in 1826." 
 
 He does not mention the state of the tide, but his obser- 
 vation must have been made within half an hour of high- 
 water, as the date was 9th December, 1843, and the hour 
 between 10 and 11 A.M.; but it was high- water in the Bay 
 of Naples upon that day about eleven, being two days after 
 
 1 I have since found from an old letter that the observations were made on 
 the 7th March, 1819, about 6 P.M. The high-water on that day was at 
 6h. 30m., and as the observation of 1845 was taken from high-water-mark, 
 we have a depression of 28 inches in 26 years. 
 
ON RECENT DEPRESSIONS IN THE LAND. 117 
 
 full moon ; the time of high-water at Naples being 9h. 23m. at 
 full and change. 1 
 
 In order to enable future observers to estimate the annual 
 rate of depression with more accuracy than I have been able 
 to do, I have to mention that when I made my measure- 
 ments there was no disturbing cause to affect the mean level 
 of the sea in the Bay of Naples. 
 
 The winds for some time previously had been light and 
 variable, and at the time in question (llth May, 1845, at 7 
 A.M.), it was so calm that the oscillations of the surface did 
 not exceed two inches on the pier of Pozzuoli. The observa- 
 tions were taken exactly at low- water; for when engaged 
 in examining the tunnel by which the water within the 
 building communicates with the sea, I noticed the first of 
 the flood entering it. At that time the water stood 1^ inch 
 above the square plinth, or lowest member of the base of the 
 
 1 As the state of the tide is an essential element in all calculations 
 respecting the rate of change of level, it is necessary that it should be 
 stated, or at least that the date and hour of the day be given, to furnish 
 the means of making the necessary correction of the observed depths. The 
 establishment of the Port of Naples, as given by Signer Nobile in the 
 " Kendiconti delPAcademia delle Scienze di Napoli," is as follows : High- 
 water at full and change of the moon 9 hours 23 minutes ; rise and fall of 
 the tide 378 millimetres (14-8 inches). Within the temple of Serapis the 
 rise and fall is certainly not so much. I found the marks of the preceding 
 tide 10 inches above low-water. Cav. Nicollini states it to be nine- tenths of 
 a (Neapolitan) palm, or 9^ inches. He also notices that the time of the turn 
 of the tide is well marked (ben distinto} in the outlet. I can confirm this by 
 my own observation. 
 
 The mean level of the Mediterranean is, of course, affected by the winds. 
 In looking over Cav. Nicollini's observations, I find that the difference 
 between any two consecutive tides rarely amounts to 100 millimetres, or 4 
 inches; and only upon one occasion is it so much as 131, or 5 '17 inches. 
 It appears, however, that he omitted to record unusual elevations caused by 
 the " buttature " or swell on the outside. 
 
 From the open form of the Bay of Naples, the sea-level must soon recover 
 its equilibrium ; hence observations made in calm weather cannot be much 
 affected by this disturbing cause. 
 
118 ON RECENT DEPRESSIONS IN THE LAND. 
 
 southernmost of the three pillars, and 9J inches above the 
 step upon which they rest: hence it must have stood 11 
 or 12 inches above the plinth at high- water. 
 
 I think it right to state that my conclusions respecting 
 the annual rate of change of level differ considerably from 
 those of Cavalier Nicollini, who has made a series of obser- 
 vations on the depth of the water between the years 1822 
 and 1838. They prove the important fact that a gradual 
 change of level is taking place ; but according to his calcu- 
 lations it is only at the rate of seven millimetres, or less than 
 one-third of an inch annually. 
 
 Upon examining his tables, however, I find that though 
 the entries repeatedly descend to zero on the scale of his 
 hydrometer, they never go below it ; and, on the other hand, 
 he rejects all the high numbers, confining his data to the 
 three lowest of each year, from which he infers that the 
 amount of rise in these sixteen years was only 112 mil- 
 limetres, or about 4J inches, which, divided by sixteen, 
 the total number of years of observation, gives the above- 
 mentioned result. It is obvious that the mean rate which 
 he arrives at by this mode of calculation must be too small. 
 This, however, does not diminish the value of his observa- 
 tions; and I regret I cannot avail myself of them in the 
 present comparison, because I am unable to discover the 
 relative height of his low- water-mark with the bases of the 
 columns, or even with the level of the floor. 
 
 In consequence of an accident to his hydrometer, he has 
 erected a new one, wliich gives the depth at high- water above 
 the floor (sopra del piano). This, in January, 1838, was half 
 a metre, or about twenty inches, being about eight inches 
 below my observation made seven years and a-half after- 
 wards, agreeing veiy nearly with the rate deduced from the 
 observations made by Professor Forbes, Mr. Babbage, and 
 mysel 
 
 It appears to me that this depression has been going on 
 
ON RECENT DEPRESSIONS IN THE LAND. 119 
 
 for many years, probably since 1538, the date of the last 
 paroxysmal elevation, according to the contemporary accounts 
 published by Sir William Hamilton, and mentioned by Mr. 
 Lyell in his account of the building. 1 
 
 In "La Vera Antichita di Pozzuoli," printed at Rome, 
 1 652, there is a bird's-eye view of this locality, in which the 
 three columns are represented standing in the garden of a 
 villa, at a considerable distance from the sea, and between it 
 and the building are seen two churches, Santa Maria Gratia- 
 runi and Jesu Maria; and in the " Guida di Pozzuoli," 1709, 
 the columns are thus noticed : " Nell giardino oggi di Ales- 
 sandra Flauto si vedono tre coloune maravigliose tutti di 
 un pezzo." The whole of the intervening space, with its 
 buildings, has disappeared, and there are two sea-walls stand- 
 ing in the sea parallel to the present one, built to protect the 
 road. One of them is, if I recollect right, twenty or thirty 
 feet from the shore, and the other about double the distance. 
 
 The church of Madonna del Assunto is now surrounded 
 by the sea, and connected with the land by a causeway, which 
 it has been found necessary to raise, and the surface of the 
 water is level with the floor of the building. 
 
 The road from Naples along shore was being raised at the 
 time I visited it, and from everything I could learn upon 
 the spot from the old people, a gradual subsidence has been 
 going on for many years. 
 
 The following appears to be the history of the changes in 
 the relative levels of sea and land, which have taken place 
 subsequent to the erection of the building, at which time the 
 
 1 It would appear that this movement of depression, -which has been going 
 on since the last upheaval in 1538, has stopped and been succeeded by a 
 movement of gradual elevation. In 1851 Professor William Thomson, of the 
 University of Glasgow, observed on the 5th July, at 6h. 25m. P.M., the water 
 stood 4 inches above the plinth. It was high-water that day at 9h. 31m.; 
 hence it must have been about the level of the plinth at low- water, or 1| inch 
 below my observation in 1815. The movement, theiefore, since my last 
 observation, must have been retrograde. 
 
120 ON RECENT DEPRESSIONS IN THE LAND. 
 
 ground must have stood at a higher level than it does at 
 present : 
 
 1. The first movement of which we have evidence is that 
 of gradual depression. This is proved by the false floor which 
 has been placed several feet above the original one. The 
 same process has been necessary in the causeway which con- 
 nects the church of La Madonna del Assunto with the shore : 
 the sea having washed away a portion of the pavement, an 
 older one is exhibited about two feet below. 
 
 2. This has been followed by a period of stationary level, 
 during which the columns were perforated by lithodomous 
 molluscs. 
 
 3. A gradual movement of elevation. This is proved by 
 grants made to the University of Pozzuoli in 1501 and 1503, 
 of the land which the sea was leaving dry (il terreno die il 
 mare andava lasciando in secco), as noticed by Cav. Nicollini. 
 
 4. The paroxysmal elevation in 1538 described in the 
 contemporary accounts. 
 
 5. Lastly, a gradual subsidence, which is still going on at 
 the rate of about one inch yearly. 
 
 The next series of proofs of recent depression belongs 
 to the historical period. The phenomenon of submerged 
 forests is nowhere more largely developed than on the coasts 
 of Britanny, Normandy, and the Channel Islands. The great 
 rise of tide, amounting in some places to nearly fifty feet, 
 and the flatness of the shores over which it ebbs and flows, 
 in some places not less than seven miles, afford opportunities 
 for observation probably nowhere else to be found. 
 
 The chief peculiarities which distinguish this forest are, 
 first, 
 
 The freshness of the wood. When exposed, the wood does 
 not differ from that of other submerged forests in respect of 
 decay. Such was the case with what I observed in the Bay of 
 St. Ouen in Jersey; but Col. Le Contour, who lives in that 
 
ON RECENT DEPRESSIONS IN THE LAND. 121 
 
 neighbourhood, showed me the stem of an oak, which had 
 been laid bare by a heavy gale, in the most perfect state 
 of preservation. In a communication to the Agricultural 
 Society of Jersey, he thus describes it : " After the gale, 
 which had greatly denuded the sands, I had the good fortune 
 to see the stem of one of these ancient oaks. The trunk 
 stood four feet above the peaty soil on which it was firmly 
 rooted; its diameter was about three feet. ... It was 
 still heart of oak." 
 
 I observed at low-water, on the shore between Granville 
 and Avranches, stems of oak in the attitude of growth in a 
 similar state of preservation, 1 and, in the same locality, the 
 stem of a large tree standing upright. Being surrounded by 
 water, I could not approach it sufficiently near to ascertain 
 the species; but it is known to form part of the original 
 forest. 
 
 According to the Abbe Manet, these ancient stems are 
 locally termed Coerons, and in some places canaillons. The 
 wood is used for economical purposes, such as beams in the 
 roofs of houses, furniture, in which its hardness and dark 
 colour give it the polish of ebony, and for espaliers, " qui 
 resistent long temps aux injures de 1'air et qui portent avec 
 eux leur peinture," (p. 63.) 
 
 The next peculiarity which distinguishes these forests is, 
 that they contain the ruins of ancient buildings and works of 
 art. I cannot speak as to this from my own observation, 
 but the Abbe Manet has brought forward a great mass of 
 evidence proving their occurrence on the French coast ; and 
 Falle, the historian of Jersey, states that there are buildings 
 in the submerged forest of St. Ouen. I can, however, give 
 the authority of Capt. (now Admiral) Martin White, RK, 
 
 1 Visitors passing to the south of the rock of Granville, at low-water, on 
 the road to Saint-Pair, see the dry and rugged trunk of a tree covered with 
 polypi and sea- weed. " Historical Account of Mont St. Michel," by James 
 Hairby, M.D. 
 
122 ON RECENT DEPRESSIONS IN THE LAND. 
 
 who has executed, under the directions of the Admiralty, 
 an elaborate survey of this part of the French coast. He 
 informs me that on a shoal, which is named in the French 
 charts " La Parisienne," he has brought up with the lead 
 fragments of brick and tile, and is quite satisfied that it has 
 been formed by the ruins of an ancient building. He has 
 also seen, under water, lines running along the bottom evi- 
 dently artificial, and which are probably the same as those 
 mentioned by Borlase in his account of the Scilly Isles, 1 
 which are locally called "hedges," i. e., ancient stone walls, 
 which, he says, " are frequently seen upon the shifting of 
 the sands in the friths between the islands." The same 
 author also mentions a straight-lined ridge, like a causeway, 
 running across the old town creek in St. Mary's, which is 
 now never above water. 
 
 Another peculiarity of this forest is the great vertical 
 range through which it can be observed. The tide rises and 
 falls, as already noticed, in the Bay of Cancale, nearly fifty 
 
 1 Borlase's account of the Scilly Islands contains many proofs that they 
 have been subjected to a movement of depression during the human period. 
 If they are the same as the Cassiterides mentioned by Strabo, and there is 
 no other group to which his description can apply, it is quite evident that a 
 great depression must have taken place since he wrote. The traditional 
 account of the loss of land between Scilly and Cornwall is well known. It 
 was first mentioned by Camden, but he treated it as a mere fable, " nescio 
 qua fabula." His translator, Bishop Hudson, mentions a report that at the 
 Seven Stones, rocks between Scilly and the mainland, fragments of windows 
 had been brought up by the hooks of the fishermen. Admiral White, who 
 has also surveyed this part of the English Channel, states in a letter to me, 
 "When sounding upon and among the Seven Stones, between the South Stone 
 and the Pollard, we brought up pieces of lead, glass, and slate, and, in one 
 instance, two small pieces of rusty iron nails, and part of an iron hinge, quite 
 soft ; and my impression certainly was that buildings had formerly existed 
 there. The appearance of the rocks in question seem to favour such an 
 opinion, as in one place there is a stone flat surface of great extent, and now 
 only a very few feet below the surface ; and, what is singular, that part is 
 now, and has long been known under the appellation of ' the town.' " 
 
ON RECENT DEPRESSIONS IN THE LAND. 123 
 
 feet ; and Admiral White informs me he has seen, as far as 
 the eye can penetrate below the surface at low-water, stumps 
 of trees in situ beneath the sea, with the roots shooting out 
 in every direction. He has observed this phenomenon both 
 on the coasts of France and Jersey. These trees could not 
 be less than sixty feet below high- water. 
 
 The most important point connected with this forest, 
 however, is the precision with which the date of the submer- 
 gence can be ascertained. 
 
 The account given by ecclesiastical historians and metrical 
 chroniclers is as follows : About the beginning of the eighth 
 century St. Aubert, Bishop of Avranches, founded a church 
 in honour of the Archangel Michael, upon the mount which 
 now bears his name, which was then surrounded by a forest, 
 and was more than two leagues distant from the sea. Being 
 anxious to procure some relics of the patron saint, he sent 
 two priests to Mount Garganus, in the south of Italy, for a 
 portion of the red altar cloth which the archangel had left 
 when he visited that place, and of the marble of the altar 
 upon which he stood. 1 During their absence, according 
 to the Pere de Moustier, in his " Neustria Pia," " Deo 
 permittente mare sylvam quantum que esset superavit 
 et prostraviti replevitque arena locos Monti Tombelino 
 adjacent es; nuntii, autem reversi 16 Octobris 2 saltus arena 
 refertos adeo mirati sunt ut novum orbem se ingressos 
 putaverunt." 
 
 The Abbe De la Rue, in his " Essai Historique sur les 
 Bardes," vol. ii, p. 303, quotes an ancient poem by 
 Guillaume de Saint- Pair, a monk in the monastery of 
 
 1 " Partem silicet rubei pallioli, quod ipse memoratus archangelus in 
 Monte Gargano supra altare quod ipse construxerat posuit, et partein raar- 
 raoris supra quod stetit." Vol. viii., No. 80. 
 
 2 In corroboration of the season (October), the Abbe Manet states that 
 certain places are remarkable for the number of well-preserved acorns and 
 nuts which are found in them (p. 53). 
 
124 ON RECENT DEPRESSIONS IN THE 
 
 Mont St. Michel, who flourished in the twelfth century, 
 who says that what was then sand was formerly a forest : 
 " Ceu qui or est mer et areine 
 
 En icels terns est forest pleine 
 
 De mainte riche venaison 
 
 Mais ore il noet li poisson. 
 
 En le forest avait un mont," &c. 
 
 But in monkish historians and metrical chronicles we are 
 naturally apprehensive of finding legends for history, in 
 explanation of appearances the origin of which is unknown. 
 
 Professor De Hericher, of Avranches, in his work entitled 
 "Avranchin Monumentale et Historique," quotes certain 
 ancient MSS. preserved in the public library in that town, 
 which belonged to the Benedictine Abbey of Mont St. 
 Michel, but were dispersed at the revolution, which give 
 an account of the sudden eruption of the sea, by which the 
 ancient forest was submerged. I availed myself of the 
 opportunity which a visit to that place afforded me of ex- 
 amining them. 
 
 The volume No. 34 contains several works in different 
 hands, but all of great antiquity. The one alluded to by 
 M. De Hericher, which he considers, from its palaeography, 
 to have been written in the ninth century, has for its title, 
 "Incipit revelatio Ecclesise Sancti Michaelis in monte qui 
 dicitur Tumba in occiduis partibus sub Childeberto Rege 
 Francorum, Auberto Episcopo." 
 
 The account contained in it is as follows : " Qui primum 
 locus, sicut a veracibus cognoscere potuimus narratoribus, 
 opacissima claudebatur silva longe ab oceano ut estimatur sestu 
 millibus distans sex, abditissima prsebens latibula ferarum. 
 
 " Mare quod longe distabat paulatim assurgens oninem 
 silvse illius magnitudinem virtute complanavit, et in arense 
 suse formam cuncta redegit. 
 
ON ftECENT DEPRESSIONS IN THE LAND. 125 
 
 " Quasi novum ingress! sunt orbem quam primuni vep- 
 rium densitate reliquerant." 
 
 M. De Hericher, unwilling to admit an actual change of 
 level, supposes that the distance, " ab oceano sestu," refers to 
 low -water, and as Mont St. Michel is six miles from it, 
 concludes that no change has taken place ; but the account 
 of its having been surrounded by wood leaves no room for 
 such a supposition. 
 
 According to PSre de Moustier, the return of the mes- 
 sengers took place 16th Oct., 709. This date agrees with 
 that assigned to the event by the metrical chronicle quoted 
 by the Abbe De la Rue, who observes, " Ces revolutions 
 durent avoir lieu suivant le poe'te sous l'e"piscopat de St. 
 Aubert et sous le regne de Childeberte." Vol. ii., p. 303. 
 
 The Abbe Manet states, that during the great gale of 9th 
 Jan., 1735, the violence of the sea " sur les greves du Mont 
 Saint Michel fit sortir des sables une quantity prodigieuse 
 de ces billes qu'on y trouva presque toutes couchees du nord au 
 sud" (p. 53.) This is exactly the position in which the sea, 
 rushing in to fill up a sudden depression, would lay the 
 stems, as the Bay of Mont St. Michel or Cancale is open to 
 the north. 
 
 The last proof of recent submergence which I have to 
 offer belongs to the antiquarian division of the human period : 
 it occurs in the Islands of Malta and Gozo. 
 
 A great part of the surface of the Island of Malta is com- 
 posed of a soft stone (miocene tertiary) ; across it may be 
 observed the tracts of wheels, about four feat apart and very 
 deeply marked on the rocks, the depth being rarely less 
 than eighteen inches. They cross the island in every direc- 
 tion, but have no connection with any of the existing lines 
 of communication, neither is there any tradition concerning 
 them. On the south side of Malta they terminate in the 
 mural escarpments which skirt that part of the coast. At 
 
126 ON RECENT DEPRESSIONS IN THE LAND. 
 
 the east end, at a place called St. George, in the Bay of 
 Marsa Sirocco, I observed them passing under the sea as far 
 as my eye could reach. On this occasion the water was turbid, 
 from the quantity of sea-weed which had been blown into 
 the bay; but Bres, a Maltese author, in his "Malta Antica 
 Illustrata," states that they can be observed at the bottom of 
 the sea, as far as the eye can reach in the clearest weather. 
 He also mentions that they occur at the west end of Malta, 
 and on the opposite part of Gozo. 1 As he has not indicated 
 the precise locality, I searched for the tracks in vain at the 
 west end of the island. Mr. St. John, of Valetta, informs me 
 that he has observed these tracks on Filfolo, a detached 
 rock which lies about a mile distant from Malta. 
 
 At St. Paul's Bay, on the north-west side of the Island, 
 there is a narrow channel separating the small Island of 
 Selmoon from the mainland of Malta. Across this channel, 
 at the depth of ten or twelve feet, may be seen a vertical 
 escarpment of about the same height, causing a sudden 
 change in the depth of water of about two fathoms. This is 
 evidently an ancient sea cliff, indicating a period of sta- 
 tionary level anterior to the present; but this must have 
 been preceded by another movement of depression, also 
 within the human period ; for this difference of height would 
 not account for the continuity of Malta, Gozo, and Filfolo, 
 which the occurrence of these tracks, in each of them, seems 
 to indicate. 
 
 The occurrence of the fossil elephant in Gozo, formerly 
 noticed, 2 probably belongs to a much more remote period. 
 
 1 " Nel estremita di Malta che reguarda il Gozo si S9orgono strade con 
 solchi fatti nella dura pietra dai carri e quest! solchi si veggono prosequire 
 nel fondo del' mare e nella parte opposta del Gozo se ne osservono de parallel! 
 a quelli di Malta." Bres, " Malta Antica Illustrata," p. 59. 
 
 2 " Proceedings of the Geological Society," June, 1846. 
 
ON SCRATCHED BOULDERS. 127 
 
 ON SCRATCHED BOULDERS. 
 PART I. 
 
 Read to the Geological Society, June 4, 1845. 
 
 THE phenomenon of scratched boulders has of late attracted 
 attention from its supposed connection with glacial action ; 
 but before the researches of Professor Agassiz had excited so 
 much interest on the subject, it had been but little attended 
 to. When he visited Scotland in 1840, with the object of 
 searching for proofs of the former existence of glaciers in 
 that country, and their connection with the erratic blocks 
 and the so-called diluvium or till, his attention was imme- 
 diately arrested by the striae which were observed upon 
 some of the blocks. He, however, admitted to me then, as 
 he has since done in his paper on the subject, that the deposit 
 in which these boulders occurred " was not produced by true 
 glaciers, although intimately connected with the phenomena 
 of ice." He also states, in the above-quoted paper, that "the 
 erratic blocks in Switzerland are always angular," which is 
 just what might have been expected if they were transported 
 by ice, whether upon glaciers or icebergs. The erratic blocks 
 in Scotland, on the other hand, are rounded, and we have 
 two problems to solve, how have they been rounded ? and 
 how have they been scratched ? Before attempting to answer 
 these questions, it is necessary that we should be made 
 acquainted with all the circumstances under which these 
 blocks are found ; we can then compare the facts with pro- 
 posed solutions, and by excluding those which are inconsistent 
 
128 ON SCRATCHED BOULDERS. 
 
 with well-established facts, be driven at last to that solution 
 which explains them all. 
 
 Every person has seen pebbles ground on one side for the 
 purpose of exhibiting their polish or structure; and the 
 commonest observer cannot fail to draw the following con- 
 clusions : 
 
 1. That the stone has undergone two different kinds of 
 attrition since it has been separated from its native rock, 
 totally distinct and unconnected with each other. 
 
 2. The rounding process must have preceded the giinding 
 one. 
 
 3. The stone must have been at liberty to roll in the one 
 case, but must have been held fast in the other. 
 
 4. The rounding has been caused by the action of water. 
 The case of the boulders is precisely that of the pebble, and 
 
 my present object is to show how they have been held fast. 
 I think it right to observe that the great mass of boulders at 
 Bell's Hill, near Glasgow, where M. Agassi z first observed this 
 phenomenon, and to which he has since repeatedly alluded 
 in his writings, although most satisfactory on many points, 
 threw no light upon this : the boulders were not in situ; a 
 hill, composed of till, in which they were imbedded, had been 
 levelled, and they were left in heaps. There was therefore no 
 means of knowing whether the cause, whatever it was, acted in 
 a certain and uniform direction a point of great consequence 
 in this question. 
 
 Some late observations which I have had an opportunity 
 of making convince me that the cause which has produced 
 the furrows upon the boulders is identical with that which 
 has produced the similar effect upon rocks in situ, and that 
 they are posterior to the deposition of the till, or at least to 
 the deposition of the older till or boulder clay, if it shall be 
 established that there have been at least two deposits of this 
 nature. 
 
 There are three positions in which boulders may be found 
 
ON SCRATCHED BOULDERS. 129 
 
 in the till. They may be altogether buried in it ; they may 
 be partially buried in it, with their upper surface exposed ; 
 or they may rest on the surface. Rocks in situ may be 
 covered with the till, or part of their surface may be exposed. 
 This distinction is an important one, because if the striae on 
 rocks occur below the till, they have probably been caused by 
 its deposition. If, however, they are only found on the 
 exposed surface, we may infer that they are posterior to it ; 
 and in like manner, if the striae upon boulders are only 
 found upon their exposed surfaces, we may draw the same 
 conclusion. 
 
 On my last visit to Scotland I observed on the shore of 
 the Gareloch, about twenty-five miles from Glasgow, two 
 boulders of considerable magnitude, half buried in the till, 
 with their upper surfaces scratched. They were near enough 
 to enable me to observe that the strise were perfectly parallel, 
 and in the same direction in both stones ; and near the foot 
 of the Campsie range of hills I observed the same phe- 
 nomenon on the exposed surface of a trap rock. The direc- 
 tion was the same in all the three cases, viz., from the north 
 of west to the south of east. This coincidence can scarcely 
 be accidental, particularly as it agrees with the observations 
 of others. 
 
 Colonel Imrie, in his account of the geology of the Campsie 
 Hills, 1 notices the striated surface of the trap rocks, and their 
 direction from west to east, "except where turns in vales had 
 partially influenced the course of the current." He also 
 notices that some of the boulders had scratched surfaces, in a 
 position which indicated they had come from the west. Mr. 
 David Milne, in his paper on the Lothian coal-field, in the 
 " Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh," 2 states, 
 respecting the boulders of the till in that district, " Though 
 these boulders are generally smooth, some of them have ruts 
 
 1 " Memoirs of the Wernerian Society," vol. ii., p. 35. 
 
 2 Vol. xiv., p. 310. 
 
 K 
 
130 ON SCRATCHED BOULDERS. 
 
 or scratches on their upper sides, which have been apparently 
 produced by the passage over them of harder bodies. I have 
 more particularly observed these scratches on blocks of lime- 
 stone, sandstone, and greenstone. It is an object of some 
 importance to ascertain the direction of these ruts, but it is 
 in very few places in the district where this can be ascer- 
 tained. The direction of the ruts can be very distinctly seen 
 along the shore at Joppa, near Portobello, and at Seafield, 
 near Leith. They appear at both places between west and 
 west-south-west by compass, but the most general direction is 
 west-half-south. A great many boulders have lately been dug 
 out of this deposit in the excavations for the Newhaven and 
 Edinburgh railway; the direction of the scratches upon them 
 is west-half -north." 
 
 I have never observed any furrowed surfaces below the 
 till; 1 on the contrary, whenever I have seen it in contact 
 with the subjacent rock, it exhibits marks of violent action, 
 fracture, and denudation. Mr. John Craig, of Glasgow, 
 whose pursuits as a mineral surveyor render him familiar 
 with this, informs me that he has observed the same thing. 
 But if the mode of deposition has been a violent one, the 
 cause must have been a transient one, otherwise the smaller 
 broken fragments would in all cases have been removed ; but 
 the contrary is the case ; by far the greatest number of frag- 
 ments are those of the subjacent rock, more or less rounded 
 according to the distances from which they have been 
 brought. 
 
 The melting of ice has been suggested as the cause of 
 debacles capable of transporting boulders; but the melting of 
 ice could never produce a debacle in the rigid sense of the 
 word I mean such a debacle as would be produced by the 
 bursting of a waterspout, or the head of a reservoir, or an 
 
 1 There is a furrowed, scratched, and polished surface of the sandstone below 
 the till at the great stone quarries of Craig Leith, of a part of which plaster 
 casts were taken by Captain Basil Hall. 
 
ON SCRATCHED BOULDERS. 131 
 
 earthquake wave; the laws of matter prevent it. The con- 
 version of sensible into latent heat is necessarily a work of 
 time : floods, possibly of great violence, might result from 
 such a cause, capable of moving the greatest masses; but their 
 action would be continuous, and they would necessarily 
 separate the larger from the smaller fragments, and all of 
 them from the clay in which they are imbedded ; they would 
 be arranged both according to their size and their gravity ; 
 but neither of these is the case, and I must conclude, with 
 Sir James Hall, that such effects are " inexplicable by any 
 diurnal cause." But even if this difficulty could be got rid 
 of, a more insuperable one meets us: such floods must 
 necessarily run down the hills, and into the natural lines of 
 drainage of the country. In the west of Scotland the great 
 line of drainage is marked by the course of the river Clyde, 
 and floods poured from the contiguous mountains must inevit- 
 ably follow its course to the sea ; but the very reverse of this 
 is the case. I never yet saw or heard of an erratic block in 
 the valley of the Clyde, where its course could be traced, 
 that did not come in an opposite direction to the flow of the 
 river. We can trace their course, not from the mountains to 
 the sea, but from the sea to the mountains. Mr. Milne, in 
 another paper on the geology of Roxburghshire, 1 after notic- 
 ing " that the parent rocks were in all cases to the westward 
 of the boulders," contends that they could not be transported 
 by glaciers ; and after noticing the line of drift, he adds, "A 
 glacier which transported (boulders) from Criifel to the hills 
 of Liddesdale, besides being forty miles long, must have 
 crossed the valleys of the Nith, Annan, Esk, and Tarras 
 rivers, as well as the high ridges separating them ; it must 
 have done so without having any lateral barriers to retain 
 and guide it ; and lastly, it must have moved up the valley 
 of the Liddel for at least fifteen miles of its course." If this 
 argument is good against the action of glaciers in transport- 
 
 1 " Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh," vol. xv., p. 480. 
 
132 ON SCRATCHED BOULDERS. 
 
 ing boulders, it is still better when applied to the case of 
 boulders assumed to have been transported by glacial floods. 
 It appears to me to be perfectly conclusive against both 
 hypotheses. 
 
 I am very far from contesting the former existence of 
 glaciers in Scotland : on the contrary, I consider it in the 
 highest degree probable that they did exist ; and when we 
 find scratches on the vertical faces of rocks not following a 
 definite course, but having the same direction as that of the 
 valleys, and when we find boulders arranged as they are in 
 moraines, then the action of glaciers affords a natural and 
 satisfactory solution j but these are exceptional cases, and 
 after many years' study of this deposit I have never met with 
 any. The action of icebergs has also been suggested : here 
 also I have no difficulty in admitting the probability of their 
 former existence, and there is proof that much of this deposit 
 was permanently submerged about the period to which we 
 must refer these phenomena, viz., about the end of the tertiary 
 period. These icebergs, however, must have obeyed every 
 impulse of wind and tide j and when we find angular masses 
 transported from a distance, resting on the surface, or im- 
 bedded in marine strata, we may infer with great probability 
 that they were dropped from icebergs. This also is an excep- 
 tional case, of which I have never met an instance. But 
 even if such phenomena were much more frequent than we 
 find them to be, they would throw no light whatever on the 
 origin of the boulder clay. The explanation which is attended 
 with fewest difficulties is that propounded by Sir James Hall, 
 and by one and all of the early Scotch observers, and main- 
 tained with great ability and knowledge of detail by Mr. 
 Milne, in his valuable papers already referred to, the first of 
 which, indeed, has no reference to the glacial theory, which 
 was not then propounded, at least in this country. This 
 explanation, modified by later discoveries, is as follows: 
 A rush of water, such as that produced by earthquake 
 
ON SCRATCHED BOULDERS. 133 
 
 waves of sufficient violence to tear up not only the pre- 
 existing unconsolidated cover, but considerable portions of 
 the subjacent rocks, and perhaps obliterate the inequalities 
 caused by disturbances in the coal-measures, passed over the 
 island from west to east, or rather from the north-west, 
 depositing the whole in a confused mass on the surface. In 
 that part which was under the sea, beds of gravel, sand, and 
 clay were deposited. In process of time a second debacle 
 again swept over the island in the same direction, but with 
 much less violence than the first j the stratified beds, perhaps 
 of no great thickness, were swept away, leaving, however, 
 occasional patches sufficient to attest their existence, and 
 also part of the pre-existing diluvium, reducing the inequa- 
 lities and grinding the exposed surfaces of the rocks and 
 boulders ; for it is to this second debacle I ascribe the scratch- 
 ing of the rocks and boulders ; and here I think ice acted an 
 important part, and was probably the principal agent in 
 grinding down the substance over which it passed. A colder 
 climate and a north-west direction both point to a frozen 
 ocean which was perhaps broken up by the convulsion which 
 caused the diluvial wave, and the ice of which was swept over 
 the land in the same direction. That there are two separate 
 deposits of till I have no doubt ; the newer is finer, lighter 
 in the colour, and with fewer and smaller boulders than the 
 older, and when seen in contact the junction is well-defined. 
 Such a junction may be seen in the cover of Gilmorehill 
 quarry, near Glasgow. Mr. Craig informs me that he found 
 the femur of the fossil elephant in stratified beds between 
 these separate deposits; and Mr. Milne describes them under 
 the names of the " upper covering of gravel and boulders," 
 and the " lowest boulder clay," enumerating four stratified 
 beds between them. M. d'Archiac, in his account of the 
 geology of the Department de 1'Aisne, also notices two 
 unstratified deposits, both of which he ascribes to diluvial 
 action. 
 
134 ON SCRATCHED BOULDERS. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Read to the Geological Society, April 19, 1848. 
 
 THERE are two modes by which we may suppose that boulders 
 have been scratched; they may have been held fast in a fixed 
 position whilst some hard substance passed over them, or 
 they may have been entangled in the under surface of a 
 moving body, such as an iceberg or glacier, and dragged over 
 rocks, which would thus also be scratched. 
 
 I cannot doubt but that both these causes have contributed 
 to the production of the phenomena in question. The 
 instances to which I mean at present to call the attention 
 of the Society belong to the former class the boulders have 
 been stationary whilst the scratching body, whatever it was, 
 passed over them. 
 
 In a former communication I stated that I had observed, 
 on the shores of the Gareloch, in Dumbartonshire, two 
 boulders half imbedded in the till or diluvial covering, 
 both of them grooved in the same direction, from 3ST.N.W. 
 to S.S.E., and concluded that it was not probable that the 
 parallelism was accidental : subsequent observations have 
 fully confirmed this conjecture. In the following year 
 Mr. Maclaren, of Edinburgh, discovered rocks on both sides 
 of the Gareloch, which were grooved in the same direction 
 as the above-mentioned boulders : I have since had an 
 opportunity of confirming his observations and of discover- 
 ing additional instances, some of them in the immediate 
 vicinity of the two boulders. I have also discovered several 
 additional scratched boulders, and in every case the direction 
 of the scratches is the same. As this is also the direction 
 of the axis of the valley which forms the trough of the 
 Gareloch, Mr. Maclaren concludes that they have been 
 caused by a glacier, which formerly filled it. 
 
ON SCRATCHED BOULDERS. 135 
 
 Whatever was the cause, it must have been subsequent to 
 the deposition of the till at least in this locality. We must 
 be careful, therefore, not to confound the two phenomena, 
 and conclude that these boulders were transported by the 
 moving body which produced the scratches. 
 
 From the difficulty, if not impossibility, of accounting 
 for these furrows except by glacial agency, and from the 
 marked resemblance which the till bears to the moraines 
 left by ancient glaciers in Switzerland, it has been con- 
 cluded that the cause of both deposits was the same. A 
 careful examination of the Swiss moraines, however, satis- 
 fied me that they are essentially different. We have in 
 both cases a confused assemblage of fragments of rock and 
 earthy matter thrown together without regard to gravity, 
 and in both cases the erratic blocks are found to have 
 come in a certain direction. So far the resemblance is 
 complete ; but in Scotland we find that the blocks become 
 rounded, and diminish in size as they recede from the 
 parent rock. In ancient moraines they do neither. There 
 is nothing in fact, either in glaciers or in icebergs, to 
 round the blocks they bear along with them, or to reduce 
 them in size. The conditions, therefore, required, before 
 we can admit that blocks have been transported by glaciers, 
 are, angularity, a given direction, and no apparent diminu- 
 tion in size. Those which have fallen from icebergs ought 
 to have the same characters, except as to definite direc- 
 tion; they ought also to be superficial. It appears to me 
 that the phenomena presented by the till could only be 
 produced by the tumultuary and transient action of 
 water. 
 
 Supposing this to be the case, could blocks impelled by 
 a sudden rush, such as an earth quake- wave, produce the 
 scratches ? Without denying the possibility of their doing 
 so in any case, I do not consider it possible in the present 
 one the striae are too regular. A rock in the immediate 
 
136 ON SCRATCHED BOULDERS. 
 
 neighbourhood of the above-mentioned boulders may truly 
 be called a "roche polie;" and in one place there is a 
 furrow eighteen inches broad and six inches deep, which 
 could not possibly be caused by a rolling mass. 
 
 The scratched rocks pass under the sea. I do not, how- 
 ever, consider this as a proof of the recentness of the 
 scratching process, but of a recent subsidence of the land. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 Read May 17, 1848. 
 
 ALTHOUGH I have not attempted to explain the particular 
 phenomena described in the former part of this paper, 
 I think it must be admitted that the scratches and furrows 
 on rocks and boulders must, in many instances, be ascribed 
 to glacial action either in the shape of icebergs or glaciers. 
 
 If we suppose that the temperature of Great Britain 
 was as low at the period to which we must ascribe them, 
 as it is in other quarters of the globe at present, under 
 correspondent latitudes, and there is no antecedent im- 
 probability in the supposition, then ice under both forms 
 must have been in action. Let us inquire what would be 
 the effects of such a state of things. In a period of 
 geological repose glaciers would scratch the rocks on the 
 sides and bottoms of their valleys, moraines would be 
 deposited, and fragments of rocks, detached from the shores 
 and resting upon, or entangled in, the coast ice, would be 
 carried out to sea and dropt on its bottom at different 
 depths; but in this case the blocks would be found at 
 lower levels than the rocks from which they were detached. 
 
 Mr. Darwin, in a late paper, has, however, shown that 
 
ON SCRATCHED BOULDERS. 137 
 
 boulders frequently occur at a level considerably higher 
 than their parent rocks, and has accounted for it by sup- 
 posing that they were floated to their present position by 
 ice during a movement of depression of the land. 
 
 Now we have, in the superficial beds in the basin of the 
 Clyde, evidences of such a movement, which must have 
 taken place in the period when the climate was colder than 
 at present, and which, if not paroxysmal, was sufficiently 
 rapid to have entombed alive the testaceous inhabitants of 
 the sea, and to have covered them up to a considerable 
 depth with beds of finely laminated clay, which could only 
 have been formed at the bottom of the sea. It is obvious 
 that such a movement must have had the effects ascribed 
 to it by Mr. Darwin. 
 
 In former communications I have shown that the elevated 
 marine deposits in the superficial beds in this locality 
 belong to two distinct epochs, namely, the newer pliocene 
 or pleistocene, in which there is a perceptible change in 
 the fauna, and the post-pliocene, in which the marine 
 remains agree with those of our present seas. 
 
 In the newer pliocene beds the shells which are recent, 
 but unknown in the British seas, have all been found in 
 the Arctic seas. Here then we have evidence of a colder 
 climate, and can thus account for the presence of ice upon 
 our shores. Now, it is in these beds that the proofs of 
 depression occur. Beds of littoral and sublittoral shells, 
 such as the Mytilus edulis, are found to underlie beds of 
 laminated clay totally destitute of organic remains, which 
 are sometimes thirty feet in thickness, and seldom less than 
 ten, except in cases where they have been removed by the 
 subsequent wasting action of the sea. 
 
 In the shelly beds the shells are, generally speaking, 
 in situ, the bivalves with both valves adherent, still 
 covered with epidermis, and the borers in their vertical 
 position. As there is no gradation from beds in which 
 
138 ON SCRATCHED BOULDERS. 
 
 the animals must have been alive when they were covered 
 up, to others totally destitute of organic remains, we cannot 
 ascribe their absence in the latter to the gradual process 
 of decay, but to an entire change of conditions, and that 
 change must have taken place with a certain degree of 
 rapidity, otherwise the shells would have exhibited some 
 evidences of the lapse of time which occurred between 
 the time when the animals were alive and that in which 
 they were covered up. 
 
 Under these circumstances the ice upon the shores must 
 have been floated to a higher level, and with it the fragments 
 of rock resting upon it. 
 
 I am satisfied, therefore, that Mr. Darwin has solved one 
 of the numerous difficulties which we encounter, when we 
 attempt to explain the phenomena of the erratic block beds. 
 
 The same cause would also account for the position of the 
 superficial boulders, which must, in many cases, have been 
 brought into their present situations subsequently to the 
 deposition of the till. 
 
MARINE SHELLS IN STRATIFIED BEDS BELOW THE TILL. 139 
 
 XL 
 ON THE OCCURRENCE 
 
 OP 
 
 MARINE SHELLS IN THE STRATIFIED BEDS 
 BELOW THE TILL. 
 
 Read to the Geological Society, April 24, 1850. 
 
 IN the basin of the Clyde the till, or unstratified boulder 
 clay, generally rests upon the beds of the coal formation, or 
 upon rocks of an earlier date; and these subjacent rocks are 
 almost always fractured where they are in contact with the 
 till. There are, however, exceptions; sometimes the till 
 rests upon scratched but unbroken surfaces of those rocks; 
 and sometimes, but very rarely, we find immediately below 
 the till beds of sand, gravel, and laminated clay, fragments 
 apparently of an older alluvial covering, which has not been 
 entirely removed by the cause, whatever it was, which lodged 
 the till on the surface. 
 
 Until the discovery which I am about to communicate, no 
 marine remains had been found in the beds underlying the 
 till. We had therefore no direct evidence to prove that 
 those beds are of the same age as the deposits which lie 
 above them. 
 
 Having been informed by Mr. John Craig, F.G.S., that a 
 bed of shells had been discovered near Airdrie, much higher 
 than any previously found in Scotland, I considered it of 
 importance to ascertain the exact amount of the elevation 
 above the present level of the sea, as well as the species of the 
 
140 ON THE OCCURRENCE OF MARINE SHELLS IN THE 
 
 shells, and the nature of the deposit in which they were 
 found. Mr. Craig kindly accompanied me to the locality, 
 which is near the Monkland Iron Works, and about fourteen 
 miles to the south-east of Glasgow. 
 
 The shelly deposit in question proved to be a bed of the 
 Tellina proximo,, Brown (T. calcarea ?, Linn.), an Arctic 
 species extremely abundant in the Clyde pleistocene beds 
 overlying the till, and which I had formerly procured from 
 a brickwork in the same neighbourhood. The shells in the 
 present instance were discovered by Mr. James Russell, an 
 operative miner, in digging a well. 
 
 I ascertained the elevation of the place above the summit- 
 level of the Monkland Canal, by barometrical measurement, 
 to be 248 feet, which, added to the height of the canal, 276 
 feet, made the elevation of the surface of the ground 524 feet 
 above the high- water-level of the sea. 
 
 This is at least 150 feet higher than the highest level at 
 which any shelly deposits have been hitherto discovered in 
 Scotland, and they have only been discovered so high as that 
 level in the two following instances : Mr. Craig found shells 
 near Airdrie, 1 at the estimated height of 350 feet, and Mr. 
 Prestwich found them at the same height at Gamrie in 
 Banff. 2 
 
 At the time when Mr. Prestwich made that discovery, it 
 was not suspected that the shells in these very modern 
 deposits differed in any respect from the shells now inhabiting 
 the adjoining seas, and he accordingly named those which he 
 discovered after the recent species which most nearly resem- 
 bled them. Suspecting that a difference existed, I requested 
 leave to examine them. Having done so, I find that they 
 possess the same Arctic character that the Clyde shells do, 
 and in particular, that the species which Mr. Prestwich 
 
 1 See my paper on the "Last Changes of Level in the British Islands," 
 "Mem. of Wernerian Society," vol. viii., p. 59. 
 
 2 " Proceed, of Geol. Soc.," vol. il, p. 545. 
 
STRATIFIED BEDS BELOW THE TILL. 141 
 
 named Tellina tennis is in fact the Tellina proximo,, the same 
 species as that found on the present occasion. This is a fact 
 of some importance, because it has been supposed by many 
 geologists that none of the shells found in the raised beds in 
 the east coast of Scotland differ from those now inhabiting 
 the adjoining sea. 
 
 The most remarkable circumstance attending the present 
 discovery is, that the shells were imbedded in the stratified 
 clay below the till. 
 
 Mr. Russell states, that at the depth of fourteen feet from 
 the surface, after passing through the till, he came to a bed 
 of brick clay, containing the shells, which were therefore 510 
 feet above the level of the sea. I could entertain no doubts 
 as to the nature of the superincumbent matter, as that part 
 of it which had been thrown out was left lying at the mouth 
 of the well. It was unquestionably the true till. Indeed, 
 if I had entertained any doubt as to this point, it would have 
 been removed by the discovery of a small granite boulder, 
 which was found about two feet above the bottom of the till. 
 I may here observe that granite boulders to the east and 
 south of Glasgow are excessively rare and very small. I 
 have not seen any larger than a man's head ; but as we go to 
 the north-west they increase both in number and in size. The 
 nearest granitic rock in that direction is at Cruachan, about 
 sixty miles to the north-west of Airdrie. 
 
 In the till itself organic remains are so rare that it has 
 been considered by some geologists as altogether destitute 
 of them. There are, however, perfectly well-authenticated 
 instances of the bones of the fossil elephant being found in 
 it, and upon one occasion I found broken and water-worn 
 fragments of shells irregularly dispersed in it, 1 amongst which 
 I recognized the massive hinge of the Cyprina Islandica, 
 Linn, sp., and the stem of a large species of Balanus, 
 apparently the same as that figured by Sir Charles Lyell in 
 1 See my paper in " Wern. Memoirs," vol. viii. 
 
142 ON THE OCCURRENCE OF MARINE SHELLS IN THE 
 
 his paper on the " Changes of Level in Sweden." l Both 
 species abound in the pleistocene beds, but neither of them is 
 found in the immediately adjoining sea. The shells lately 
 discovered in the till by Mr. Cleghorn, at Wick and at 
 Thurso, are precisely in the same state as those discovered by 
 me, namely, broken and water- worn. I may add that they 
 have the same Arctic character, for amongst them I observe 
 the Tellina proximo/ or calcarea, the Astarte borealis, Linn, 
 sp., and the Astarte Withami of iny catalogue, so named 
 because the shell was sent to me from Bridlington by the late 
 Mr. Witham of Lartington. 
 
 We may conclude, from the facts now brought before the 
 society, that the till, and the stratified beds which lie 
 immediately below and above it, all belong to the same 
 geological period to that which immediately preceded the 
 present, and which has been named by Prof. Edward Forbes 
 the glacial epoch. 
 
 I may add that Mr. Russell states that after passing 
 through the shelly bed of brick clay, he came again to the 
 till; thus proving indisputably, what has always been 
 suspected, that there has been more than one deposition of 
 the till or boulder clay. 
 
 Extract from a Letter of 3. C. MOORE, Esq., 
 Sec. G. S., to the AUTHOR. 
 
 " I have two facts to communicate, which have come within my 
 own observation in Wigtownshire, and which will interest you who 
 have paid so much attention to pleistocene geology. 
 
 u 1st. After diligently hunting the boulder clay, which usually is 
 found to contain only fragments of shell, and that sparingly, I 
 succeeded in finding one perfect valve of Astarte compressa, Mon- 
 tag. sp. The spot where I found it is on the west shore of Loch 
 Ryan, about two miles from Stranraer ; it was imbedded in the 
 1 " Philos. Trans." for 1835. 
 
STRATIFIED BEDS BELOW THE TILL. 143 
 
 genuine till, or brown sandy unstratified clay, with blocks of 
 transported rocks interspersed through it. 
 
 " 2d. Reposing on the till, patches of a distinct clay, containing 
 no gravel or boulders, occasionally occur in Wigtownshire. On 
 one of these is erected the Culhorn Tilework, within half-a-mile of 
 Stranraer; at this locality the clay contains Nucula oUonya, 
 Brown, which appears to have lived and died on the spot, as in 
 all the specimens the two valves, were united, and appear not to 
 have suffered the least abrasion. 
 
 " I send you these facts, as they may be of service to you in 
 speculating upon the origin of these beds. 
 
 " 2Qtk April, 1850." 
 
144 ON A SPLIT BOULDER IN 
 
 XII. 
 
 ON A SPLIT BOULDER 
 
 IN 
 
 THE ISLAND OF LITTLE CUMBRAE. 
 
 Read to the Geological Society, February 26, 1862. 
 
 SPLIT erratic blocks are of frequent occurrence in Switzerland. 
 The only explanation of this phenomenon which I have met 
 with is that of M. Charpentier, in his "Essai sur les Glaciers." 
 Speaking of the blocks, he says, "Quelques uns sont feridus, 
 mais la direction des fentes prouve jusques a 1' evidence que 
 les ruptures sont le resultat d'une chute et nullement d'un 
 choc horizontal," (p. 180.) M. Charpentier offers no conjec- 
 ture as to the height from whence the blocks could have 
 fallen; but where there is no superincumbent precipice of 
 rock near, it must have been one of ice. Indeed, I may say 
 that I obtained proof that such was the case; for upon exam- 
 ining the fragments which lay at the foot of the escarpment 
 of ice which terminates the Glacier of Grindelwald, I observed 
 one which, from the freshness of the fracture, I concluded 
 must have fallen very shortly before my visit, and obviously 
 from the surface of the glacier. 
 
 Such blocks occur occasionally in the basin of the Clyde, 
 in situations where there is no adjoining height from which 
 they could have fallen, a circumstance which I can only 
 account for by supposing the former existence in the same 
 localities of ice in the shape of glaciers, icebergs, or coast-ice. 
 I may add that some of the split boulders are also scratched, 
 exhibiting additional proofs of glacial action. 
 
THE ISLAND OP LITTLE CUMBRAE. 145 
 
 To one of these blocks I wish to call the attention of the 
 Society, on account of the peculiarity of the circumstances of 
 its present position. There is on the west coast of Scotland 
 a well-marked cliff and terrace, indicating an elevation of 
 about forty feet above the present sea-level ; and, from the 
 amount of solid rock which has been removed by the washing 
 action of the sea, we may form some conception of the pro- 
 digious lapse of time during which the sea-level was station- 
 ary at that height. 1 
 
 This is nowhere better seen than in the islands of Great 
 and Little Cumbrae. The larger island is composed of red 
 sandstone, traversed by trap-dykes ; the smaller one is com- 
 posed entirely of trap. The trap of the dykes, from its 
 greater hardness, has been worn away more slowly than the 
 sandstone; hence their projection from the sandstone cliff; 
 hence also the greater breadth of the terrace in Great 
 Cumbrae than in that of the trap of the smaller island. 
 
 The terrace in Little Cumbrae, formed by the wasting action 
 of the sea at right angles with the coast-line has been subse- 
 quently ground down and scratched by a force acting parallel 
 to it and the ancient cliff; and it is upon this that the block 
 in question must have fallen. It is composed of trap, appar- 
 ently the same as that of the island, but at such a distance 
 from any neighbouring height as to preclude the supposition 
 that it could have fallen from it. I see, therefore, no other 
 hypothesis by which we can account for its present position 
 than that of supposing that it must have fallen from an 
 escarpment of ice. 
 
 We have thus two independent glacial phenomena which 
 belong to a period subsequent to the formation of the forty- 
 feet terrace, showing that the. lengthened period of its for- 
 mation belongs to the glacial epoch. 
 
 1 See, for a view of the Cumbrae dykes, and also remarks on the prodi- 
 gious lapse of time indicated by the amount of the loss of rock removed by 
 the wasting action of the sea at a former level, pages 39 ; 40. 
 
 L 
 
146 SPLIT BOULDER IN ISLAND OF LITTLE CUMBRAE. 
 
 There is yet one circumstance connected with this locality 
 which requires to be noticed. The scratched surface of the 
 ancient terrace passes under the sea; and although it has 
 been exposed to its wasting action for a length of time equi- 
 valent in duration to that of the present sea-level, the strise 
 have not been obliterated. 
 
 Here we have in juxtaposition two distinct cases of the 
 effects of the wasting action of the sea. In the most ancient 
 of these, or that when the cliff and terrace were formed, we 
 have a removal of rock amounting to at least a hundred feet ; 
 in the second, or that of the present sea-level, the amount of 
 wearing away of the same rock cannot exceed a small fraction 
 of an inch. 
 
 I am convinced that no decided change of level has taken 
 place in the West of Scotland during the historic period ; but 
 small changes may : and it is no objection to such a supposi- 
 tion that they have not been observed and recorded ; such 
 changes of level either pass unobserved, or are ascribed to 
 the retiring or encroaching of the sea. We may suppose, 
 therefore, that in times comparatively recent a small move- 
 ment of elevation or depression of the land has taken place, 
 sufficient to have brought the rocks in question within this 
 wasting action of the sea. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 No. I. 
 
 HUGH E. STRICKLAND, Esq., to JAMES SMITH, Esq. 
 
 THE following letter was in reply to one in which I commu- 
 nicated to Mr. Strickland the conclusions I had arrived at re- 
 specting the climate of the newer pliocene period, contained in 
 my paper read to the Wernerian Society, No. III., page 28 ; and 
 in consequence of the regret expressed in it that it had not been 
 communicated to the Geological Society, I wrote the paper " On 
 the Climate of the British Islands during the newer Pliocene 
 Period," and sent it to the charge of Mr. (now Sir Charles) Lyell, 
 in order that it might be communicated to the Society. It would 
 appear that this paper contained some conclusions drawn from the 
 English fresh-water deposits, probably those mentioned in Mr. 
 Strickland's letter a circumstance which had escaped my memory ; 
 but I find in Mr. Lyell's reply the following judicious, and, to 
 myself, kind advice : 
 
 " I almost regret that you have mixed up your marine Scotch 
 and Irish newer pliocenes with the English lacustrine; for al- 
 though I grant that both belong to my newer pliocene period, 
 yet it remains to be seen whether the English formations, respect- 
 ing which I have been getting together much information, do not 
 indicate a decided difference, both as to age and climate. Your 
 work is more valuable, and the quantity of it will be more fairly 
 appreciated, when it is kept separate from what others have done ; 
 and as I agree with your conclusions in the main as to the change 
 of climate, I am sorry to see their favourable reception endangered 
 by being closely united with another body of evidence which may 
 
150 APPENDIX. 
 
 seem to be of a conflicting character, although, when properly 
 understood and explained, it is not so." 
 
 " CRACOMBE HOUSE, 
 "EVERSHAM, Feb. 18, 1839. 
 
 " DEAR SIR, I am much gratified to find from your letter 
 that your researches into British pliocene geology have produced 
 such interesting and important results. The raised beaches which 
 surround our shores, and the beds of gravel which cover the in- 
 terior of this island, are at last beginning to acquire their due 
 importance in the eyes of geologists, who have hitherto been too 
 rash in pronouncing that with regard to this branch of the subject 
 ' all is barren.' Any information I can give you is quite at your 
 service, the substance of my researches being given in Mr. Murchi- 
 son's work, and the details of them not being yet sufficiently 
 matured for publication. 
 
 "I have lately detected bones of mammalia and fresh- water 
 shells in gravel at several new localities along the course of the 
 Avon, but without making any additions to the list of extinct 
 species. I send you herewith specimens of Planorbis lateralis and 
 Paludina minutce, two of my nondescript species. The third, Unio 
 antiquior, I only have two perfect specimens of, and am therefore 
 only able to send you a sketch. (You are welcome to keep the 
 specimens of the two former species.) I will now transcribe the 
 specific characters of these three species, as they stand in a paper 
 read to the Geological Society three or four years ago, but not yet 
 published, except in their ' Proceedings.' 
 
 " Paludina minutce, Strickland. P. testa turrita, angusta, anfractibus quinque 
 rotundatis, apice abtuso, apertura ovata, statura minima. Shell slender, 
 smooth, the volutions moderately rounded. Aperture perfectly oval, not 
 interrupted by the body whorl. Outer lip sometimes thickened by an 
 external rib. Length, ^ inch ; diameter, ^ inch. Differs from Palu- 
 dina stagnorum of Turton, being but half the size, narrower in propor- 
 tion, with the sides more nearly parallel, and the apex rounded, whereas 
 that species tapers uniformly from the aperture to the apex. Closely 
 resembles Paludina gibba, Michand a species found in brackish estu- 
 aries in the south of France, and perhaps belonging to the genus Rissoa, 
 rather than to Paludina. 
 
APPENDIX. 151 
 
 " Planorbis lateralis, Strickland. P. tribus, raro quatuor anfractibus, rotun- 
 datis glabris, utraque facie aeque concava, apertura subrotunda. Volu- 
 tions uniformly rounded, not in the least flattened or carinated, smooth, 
 with numerous very fine lines of growth ; the volutions perfectly lateral ; 
 hence there is a considerable concavity on either side. Diameter, ^ 
 inch ; height, -^ inch. This species may possibly be the same as P. 
 Iceves, Alder a shell which I only know by name ; but it is certainly 
 distinct from any other recorded British species. 
 
 " Unio antiquior, Strickland. U. testa cordato-ovata, crassa, valvula dextra 
 unico, sinistra duobus dentibus crassis, brevibus, subtrigonis. Lamina 
 postica utruisque valvulse simplex. The posterior primary tooth of the 
 left valve is short, strong, and erect, its base being a nearly equilateral 
 triangle. The anterior primary tooth is rather narrower and smaller. 
 Between them is a deep triangular pit, receiving the tooth of the opposite 
 valve. The posterior or laminar tooth of the left valve (which is double 
 in the other British species) is single in this, the plate next the cartilage 
 being nearly obsolete. The anterior muscular impression is very deep 
 and corrugated. Length, If inch ; breadth, 2 inch. The outline of 
 this species bears a near resemblance to that of Cotherea chione. The 
 structure of the teeth resembles that of U. litloralis, Lam.; but the form 
 of the shells more oval, the front margin being rounded, instead of 
 straight, as in that species. 
 
 " Phenomena exactly analogous to those which I have observed 
 in the valley of the Avon also occur in the valley of the Thames. 
 You will find several papers relating to them in ' Loudon's Maga- 
 zine of Natural History,' and its continuation by Charlesworth. 
 The principal results are to be found in a paper by a Mr. Morris 
 in the number for October last, vol. ii., new series, page 539. It 
 appears that out of thirty -nine species of land and fresh- water 
 shells (found along with extinct mammalia in these deposits), three 
 species are extinct or unknown in Britain, viz., a Cyrena, a Palu- 
 dina or Paft?ata(?), and an Unio. The shell which Mr. Morris 
 calls a Valvata seems to me, from his description and figure, to be 
 hardly distinguishable from the recent Paludina similis, Turton 
 (Paludina acuta, Fleming, Turbo Leachii, Shephard). Mr. 
 Morris's Unio seems scarcely to differ from U. littoralis. Lam.; at 
 least, it is much more like it than my U. antiquior is. Be this as 
 it may, the gravel beds of the Thames valley indicate the same 
 change in the distribution of molluscous species since their deposi- 
 
152 APPENDIX. 
 
 tion which is proved in the analogous formations in the valley of 
 the Avon. 
 
 " 1 have some specimens of the Cyrena mentioned by Mr. 
 Morris, which agree with the figures in the ' Magazine of Natural 
 History,' and were obtained from Stutton in Suffolk, in company 
 with elephants' bones and thirty-five existing species of land and 
 fresh- water shells. I need not tell you that Cyrena is a genus 
 unknown in Britain at present. 
 
 " To pass from the subject of fresh- water pliocene deposits to 
 marine, I have only to say that marine shells continue to be occa- 
 sionally found in the gravel pits at the localities near Worcester, 
 mentioned in Mr. Murchison's work. I have not, however, yet 
 heard of any additions to the list of species which he has given, 
 I was much vexed at Mr. Murchison losing the Oliva, as it was a 
 beautiful specimen, retaining the colour and gloss, and had the 
 further merit of having been dug out from below twelve feet of 
 gravel in the presence of Messrs. Allies and Peake, two gentlemen 
 of Worcester ; whereas the greater part of the remaining 
 shells from that locality rest on the testimony of the 
 workmen. I have several times watched the men throwing 
 out the gravel for hours at a time, but the shells are so 
 rare that I never found but one myself, which was an 
 Anomia ephippium. The Oliva in question was of mode- 
 rate size, and probably a recent species, but I had no 
 opportunity of comparing it. As far as I recollect, it was about 
 the size and shape of the annexed figure. 
 
 " The most abundant species in the gravel beds near Worcester 
 is the Turritella terebra. 
 
 " I shall look with much interest to the publication of your paper 
 on these subjects, though I cannot help regretting that a memoir 
 of so much importance should not be published in the * Geological 
 Transactions' of London, where it would attract a greater share of 
 attention among English geologists. 
 
 " I should feel greatly obliged if you could spare me one or two 
 duplicate specimens of any of the fossil species you mention, which 
 do not now exist in the British seas. I am not aware whether 
 you are forming a general collection of fossils and of recent shells ; 
 but if so, I have by me a good many duplicates which are at your 
 
APPENDIX. 153 
 
 service, especially Lias fossils from this neighbourhood, and recent 
 land and sea shells from the South of Europe. 
 
 " If you ever visit this part of England, I shall have great 
 pleasure in showing you my own collection, or anything else that 
 may interest you, and shall be happy to give you any further 
 information which you may desire. I am, dear Sir, very faithfully 
 yours, 
 
 " HUGH E. STRICKLAND." 
 
 NOTE. The Oliva was probably a straggler, borne across the ocean en- 
 tangled in sea-weed or driftwood. The late Dr. Landsborough found one 
 on the shore at Cumbrae. 
 
 No. II. 
 
 NOTE TO ACCOUNT OF MADEIRA. 
 
 (July, 1862.) 
 
 SINCE the above was written, Mr. Vernon Harcourt, in his inter- 
 esting u Sketch of Madeira," gives a short notice of the geology of 
 the island, from the observations of his father. In one respect they 
 are of great importance, for they afford evidence to show that 
 the marine beds upon which the volcanic matter rests belong 
 to the miocene tertiary; thus adding a new link to the proofs 
 of the existence of a mighty ocean which during that period 
 must have extended from the Caribbean Islands to Greece, 
 and from the Hebrides, Switzerland, and Vienna to Malta and 
 Algeria. 
 
 The author controverts the conclusions I have arrived at with 
 regard to the circumstances under which volcanic eruptions have 
 taken place. I hold them to have been subaerial, he, that they 
 were submarine. 
 
 Where we have organic remains belonging to a deposit, we have 
 evidence as to the conditions under which they were formed. If 
 marine, we conclude that the volcanic action has been submarine, 
 
154 APPENDIX. 
 
 if terrestrial, that it has been subaerial. Now, it is admitted that 
 there are no marine beds in Madeira newer than the fundamental 
 tertiary formation ; but it is said that there are no remains of plants, 
 animals, or soil. This is at best but negative evidence, and only 
 proves that the observer has not discovered any organic remains. 
 I, however, found in the soil, burnt to the consistence and colour 
 of brick, the charred stems of plants. The so-called coal or 
 lignite of St. George, the late Professor Johnson concluded to 
 be altered peat. The fossil leaf beds discovered by Sir Charles 
 Lyell at the same locality, described by Sir Charles Bunbury 
 ("Journal Geol. Soc.," 1859, p. 179), confirm Professor Johnson's 
 conclusion as to the modern date of the deposits, by the great 
 proportion of existing species, and so far as to climate, that 
 there was nothing to show that it was more tropical than at 
 present. In the paper on the newer pliocene period I have offered 
 reasons for supposing that the climate of Sicily was colder than at 
 present (see p. 73), reasons which have been strengthened by sub- 
 sequent discovery. Thus the Sicilian fossil, Trochus millegranus, 
 which Phillippi says is entirely extinct, has been found living on the 
 northern shores of Britain ; but if the period of lower temperature 
 extended to Sicily, it probably would to Madeira. 
 
 Irrespective of the evidence of terrestrial organic remains, I con- 
 sider that many of the volcanic products of Madeira are of such a 
 nature as to have rendered it impossible that they could have been 
 deposited under the sea. Such are the beds composed of the finest 
 pumices, or what may be termed volcanic froth, and scoria3 which 
 might be thrown up on land together, and fall on the ground without 
 regard to their gravity ; but under water they would be immediately 
 separated, as we find in fact that they are ; for when thrown into 
 water an immediate separation takes place. The small island 
 (Tlhco Baixo) near Porto Santo, which furnishes the limekilns 
 of Funchal, exhibits submarine volcanic action ; but nothing can be 
 more unlike the volcanic phenomena of Madeira, or of those of 
 craters of elevation, to which this author ascribes those here re- 
 corded, than the beds of limestone and fossils, which are interstrati- 
 fied with beds of basalt, without any sensible dip with the horizon, 
 which a section of this island presents. The phenomenon of 
 volcanic bombs, described at page 87, would of itself be sufficient to 
 
APPENDIX. 155 
 
 prove subaerial action. I add a figure of one, from a sketch in my 
 note book, from a sketch made on the spot (west side of Praza 
 Formosa). 
 
 No. III. 
 
 ACCOUNT OF THE DEBACLE IN THE VALLEY 
 DE BAGNE IN 1818. 
 
 By JOHN BUCHANAN, Esq. of Ardoch. 
 
 IN the Note at page 22 I mentioned the effects of the debacle in 
 the valley of Bagne, which I witnessed immediately after it hap- 
 pened, as illustrating the phenomena of the tumultuary action of 
 water. I have since revisited the locality, and found, as a matter 
 of course, that, in the interval of twenty-six years the so-called 
 diluvium has been obliterated by the plough, but very striking 
 proofs of the power of water to move great masses of rock. Where 
 the valley of the Bagne joins that of the Drance, a mass of granite, 
 twenty-five feet in one of its linear dimensions, had been brought 
 down to the junction of the valleys, where the expanding space 
 diminished the force capable of moving such a mass, but still 
 carried forward fragments too great for removal, which still remain, 
 half buried in the soil, to attest the force of the debacle. 
 
 My friend, Mr. Buchanan, actually witnessed the debacle, and has 
 kindly furnished me with the following account of it. 
 
 "For some years previous to 1818 large masses of ice continued 
 to fall from the Glacier de Getroz into the valley of the Drance 
 (de Bagne). This valley debouches upon Martigny, and is of very 
 unequal breadth; in some places very narrow, in others about 
 
156 APPENDIX. 
 
 one-third of a mile wide. The fall between Martigny and where 
 the glacier overhangs the valley is in some places pretty con- 
 siderable, in other places not so. 
 
 "Being in that part of the country along with a friend (Mr. 
 Daubuz), we were told that a complete barrier existed below the 
 glacier, which, I think, is about fifteen miles up the valley from 
 Martigny, caused by the long-continued falling of masses of ice 
 into the bed of the river, and which had caused a lake to be formed 
 immediately above it. A certain quantity of water, however, per- 
 colated through the barrier, so that the bed of the stream was by 
 no means dry. 
 
 "This state of matters caused great disquietude among the inha- 
 bitants of the valley, who feared that the immense pressure of water 
 above might some day occasion a disruption of the barrier, and 
 which event afterwards took place. 
 
 u I must now mention that the barrier was many yards in length, 
 and several feet higher than the surface of the lake. The opinion 
 of some of the most eminent engineers was taken upon the subject, 
 and the result was that they came to the resolution of cutting a 
 tunnel between the surface of the barrier and the surface of the 
 lake ; so that, when the lake rose to the opening of the tunnel, it 
 would gradually empty itself through the aperture, and thus 
 prevent the catastrophe which was apprehended. 
 
 "Accordingly this work was commenced in April, 1818, and 
 about the 13th of June the water reached the opening of the tunnel, 
 and commenced to flow through. 
 
 " Mr. Daubuz and I arrived at Martigny on the 14th of June, 
 from Chamouni, having crossed 'La tete noire.' We had a 
 guide, David Coutet, and a mule for each person. Having heard 
 of what was to be seen below the Glacier de Getroz, we started 
 from Martigny on the 15th, and proceeded up the valley for the 
 purpose of visiting the lake. We slept at a village some miles 
 below the barrier, and on the morning of the 16th of June pro- 
 ceeded to the spot. 
 
 " When walking over the surface of the barrier, above where 
 the water was rushing through, we several times heard loud noises 
 resembling thunder, which, doubtless, was the detaching of large 
 masses of ice, caused by the action of the water passing through 
 
APPENDIX. 157 
 
 the tunnel, and which ultimately, a few hours afterwards, was the 
 cause of the calamity, by the whole giving way at once, and the 
 lake, unrestrained, sweeping everything before it. 
 
 " When viewing the lake and the barrier we were joined by a 
 Mr. Thos. Athorpe and a Swiss gentleman, a friend of his, with a 
 guide ; all, like ourselves, mounted on mules, so that we were now 
 a party of six. 
 
 " We were proceeding on our return to Martigny, and when 
 near the village of St. Branchier, at about five o'clock in the after- 
 noon, we were overtaken by the torrent. Fortunately for us, 
 that part of the valley was so narrow that there was only space for 
 the bed of the river and the road. About a hundred yards higher 
 up, and which we had just two minutes before passed through, it 
 was a little wider, and there was a small field where several people 
 were employed in agricultural work, all of whom, we understand, 
 were swept away. 
 
 "The natural current at the place we were was rather strong. 
 The first indication we got of danger was a sort of sound which I 
 really cannot describe ; and, in turning round, I saw, at about fifty 
 yards' distance, a moving mass (for water could scarcely be seen) 
 of all sorts of materials chalets, roofs of houses, great quantities 
 of trees, &c., moving at a fearful rate, and sweeping everything 
 before it. Our mules instinctively galloped away from the danger 
 along the road, and I had some difficulty in stopping mine so as to 
 throw myself off, and scramble up the hill, as the only means of 
 escape. This even was a work of some difficulty, as it was a 
 dense brushwood, and besides being steep (which, however, was 
 greatly in our favour) there was a great deal of loose shingle, so 
 that for three steps we went up we came one down. 
 
 " As mentioned before, there were six of a party, including the 
 two guides. The mules which the guides rode had the luggage of 
 each party strapped behind the saddles ; and so close was the flood 
 upon us, that, in looking behind, just as I had got clear of my mule, 
 and had ascended the hill two or three steps, I saw, at the distance 
 of five yards from where I was, these two baggage mules swept 
 away. The weight prevented the animals scrambling up the hill, 
 which all the others did of their own accord. 
 
 " After ascending to a considerable height, and coining to an 
 
158 APPENDIX. 
 
 opening, I looked below and saw the torrent, with all the debris 
 carried along with it, rushing down the valley with such force that 
 large trees (pines) were swept away like twigs, falling toward*, not 
 in the direction of the stream ; that is to say, that the impetus was 
 so great that the ground was cut away from beneath their roots, 
 so that they were not solely borne down by the force of the current. 
 As far as my memory serves me, the gush was over in less than half 
 an hour, when the whole of the devastation within our view (which, 
 however, was not to any extent) was exposed. 
 
 " When it was evident that the torrent was subsiding, our guide, 
 David Coutet (who was near me), and I began to look about for 
 our companions through the brushwood, and in a short time 
 Messrs. Athorpe and Daubuz, the two guides, and myself, with 
 three of our mules, were assembled. The Swiss gentleman and 
 three mules were missing ; two of the mules I myself saw carried 
 away, the other mule was that on which the Swiss was mounted. 
 
 " Mr. Athorpe's guide declared that he liad seen this gentleman 
 arid his mule both carried away by the torrent. 
 
 " When it was sufficiently apparent that all danger was over, and 
 that the stream of water was only the usual flow of the river, we 
 began to consider what we were to do. What had been the road, 
 and for many yards above it, was quite impassable. 
 
 " Coutet said that he knew a village, about three miles distant, 
 towards Martigny, which, he thought, stood so high that it must 
 have escaped ; to that place he could pilot us ; but, as the brush- 
 wood was so thick, it was impossible to take our mules along with 
 us. The mules we therefore tied to trees, and we all proceeded 
 to the village, where we arrived about 7 o'clock P.M., the lowest 
 house in the village being only two or three feet above the highest 
 point the flood had reached. We were there received in the kindest 
 manner by two Catholic priests, who gave us, for the night, the 
 best accommodation they had to offer, and sent a party of the vil- 
 lagers, with axes, &c., along with our guides, to make a passage 
 for, and bring back our mules. 
 
 "About 11 o'clock P.M., when waiting for the return of our 
 guides, the door of our apartment opened, and the Swiss gentle- 
 man entered the room, to the great joy of all and the inexpressible 
 delight of his friend, Mr. Athorpe, whose state of mental agony bad 
 
APPENDIX. 159 
 
 previously known no bounds for his loss, and whose meeting with 
 him was of the most affecting description. 
 
 " How he was saved he could not tell. His mule, from which he 
 did not appear, for some time at least, to have dismounted, had 
 carried him to a certain extent above the reach of danger ; but his 
 account was so confused, it is impossible to recount it. His mule 
 was also saved. 
 
 " The brushwood was so thick, that although we could not have 
 been many yards distant from him when we were l collecting our 
 forces,' yet we neither saw nor heard him, and he was found wan- 
 dering about by the villagers who accompanied our guides in search 
 of our mules. 
 
 " Having remained at the priests' house all night we proceeded 
 towards Martigny, but all communications were cut off from that 
 place, the bridges being carried away. We, however, got country 
 conveyances, which carried us to the end of the lake of Geneva, 
 from whence we proceeded to Geneva in a day or two thereafter, 
 when I gave an account' of what had taken place to the authorities, 
 and which, I think, was afterwards published. 
 
 J. B. 
 
 " December 14, 1861." 
 
1 60 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. IV. 
 ANCIENT CANOES FOUND AT GLASGOW. 
 
 By JOHN BUCHANAN, Esq., 
 Corresponding Member of the Society of Scottish Antiquities. 
 
 THOUSANDS of years ago our native land was peopled by a wild and 
 fierce race, whose very existence is made known to us chiefly by 
 the few works of their rude hands which Time, that irresistible 
 destroyer, has chosen to spare, for modern study and reflection. 
 When these wild men roamed in unchecked freedom, tatooed and 
 painted, similar to those of the American prairies, or the volcanic 
 islands of the vast Pacific, History had not yet included them in her 
 ample volume. They remained utterly unknown to the civilized 
 nations of antiquity till the commercial enterprise of Tyre dis- 
 covered the southern coasts of Britain, probably before the days of 
 Samuel, the Hebrew sage ; but the wreck of Tyrian and Cartha- 
 ginian greatness has left very little to enable us to pierce the gloom 
 which enshrouds that mysterious epoch of our insular annals. It 
 remained for the classic pens of the Roman historians to chronicle, 
 from the lips of the officers engaged in the British campaigns, on 
 their return to Italy, such descriptions of the country and the 
 people as they considered worthy of preservation. But even this 
 source of information is imperfect, for comparatively few of the 
 Roman authors who treat of Britain and its affairs have come 
 down to us from the wreck of the empire. The loss is now irrepar- 
 able, and all we can do is to supplement, as far as possible, from 
 the aboriginal remains yet lingering amongst us, and diligently 
 record such memorials of the long-vanished people as come to our 
 knowledge from time to time. 
 
 Of the various works of art on which the primeval inhabitants 
 exercised their ingenuity, probably none are more interesting than 
 their boats. In these we see the first rude efforts of savage 
 man to adventure on the deep, and to float himself on his native 
 waters. Our noble Clyde appears to have been, from immemorial 
 
APPENDIX. 161 
 
 time, a favourite locality for the construction of vessels ; and the 
 deep alluvial strata skirting the river of Glasgow has at various 
 periods yielded up the wrecks of canoes which these unknown 
 savages had launched. No less than seventeen have been discovered 
 within the last eighty years, at various places on the plain of 
 Glasgow ; some under the very streets of the city. The greater 
 number, however, were found very recently ; and the writer of this 
 sketch having had favourable opportunities of examining these 
 when newly discovered, through the courtesy of the late Mr. David 
 Bremner, civil engineer on the river Clyde, took notes of their 
 appearance, and, thinking that a connected record of the whole of 
 this ancient little Glasgow fleet may not be undesirable, especially 
 as only a few specimens have been preserved from destruction, he 
 has drawn up the following list and observations. 
 
 The first known discovery of Glasgow canoes took place in 1780, 
 while workmen were digging the foundation of St. Enoch's Church. 
 At the depth of about twenty-five feet below the surface of what was 
 then known as St. Enoch's Croft, a canoe was found. It was lying 
 in a horizontal position, on its keel. A curious relic lay within it, 
 near the prow. This was a stone hatchet, or celt, in fine preser- 
 vation, and still extant. It is shaped like an almond, and measures 
 b\ inches in length, 3| inches broad at the thickest part, and formed 
 of greenstone beautifully polished. The broad end has an edge, 
 still sharp, though notched in one or two places by the rough usage 
 of the wild people, and marks of abrasion appear across the centre, 
 where the hatchet had been fastened, probably into a cleft piece of 
 wood, as a handle. 1 
 
 The second canoe was brought to light in 1781, while excavating 
 the foundation of the Tontine, at the Cross. 
 
 The third, about 1824, in Stockwell, near the mouth of Jackson 
 Street, during the formation of a common sewer. 
 
 A fourth was revealed as high up as the Drygate, on the slope 
 behind the new prison. The precise year of this discovery is uncer- 
 tain, but I have the fact from a person who saw the boat dug out. 2 
 
 1 This interesting memorial of unknown time is now in the possession of 
 Charles Wilsone Browne, Esq. of Wemyss, Renfrewshire. 
 
 2 In a case of this kind it is right to preserve my authority for this canoe. 
 The late Dr. John Campbell, Kent Street, Glasgow, informed me that having 
 
162 APPENDIX. 
 
 The fifth was discovered in the summer of 1825, while cutting a 
 sewer in London Street, near the site of the old Trades' Land. 
 This canoe was in a vertical position, with the prow uppermost, as 
 if it .had sank in a storm. A number of marine shells were inside, 
 some of which are yet preserved. l 
 
 Unfortunately, no proper particulars of the dimensions or appear- 
 ance of these five ancient vessels have been preserved, although 
 the fact of their discovery is well authenticated. 2 All were de- 
 stroyed. 
 
 But a better acquaintance with the wild men's boats was obtained 
 twenty years later. During the extensive operations for widening 
 the Clyde immediately below the Broomielaw, under the auspices 
 of the River Trustees, commencing about 1846, large portions of 
 the river banks were cut away, and no less than twelve additional 
 canoes were brought to light. The whole of these came under my 
 notice. With only one exception, all were formed of single oak trees, 
 scooped out, some of great size. Several were even more primitive 
 than the rest, both in shape and execution : two, in particular, had 
 evidently been hollowed out partly by the action of fire. 
 
 The order and localities of discovery stand thus: Five were 
 found on -the lands of Springfield, south side of the Clyde, opposite 
 the lower portion of the Broomielaw; five at Clydehaugh, imme- 
 diately to the west of Springfield, and in both cases the boats lay 
 in groups near each other; the eleventh of the series was turned 
 up on the north side of the river, a short way west of the Point- 
 occasion to visit a patient at the time pretty frequently, in the vicinity, his 
 attention was drawn to the locality, and he saw the canoe dug out. He was 
 very much interested by its appearance, and took particular notice of it. He 
 told me the canoe was very rudely formed of a single tree, and although much 
 decayed, the outline was quite distinct. J. B. 
 
 1 It was the same Dr. Campbell who was possessed of a few of the shells 
 found in the London Street canoe, alluded to above. These he showed to me, 
 and I distinctly recollect recognizing both whelks and mussels. I fear that all 
 trace of these is lost since the Doctor's death, for there was nothing about 
 them attractive to any one except a lover of the antique. I much regret that 
 I did not get a specimen. 
 
 2 Vide the " Pre-Historic Annals of Scotland," by Dr. Wilson, Edinburgh, 
 1851, pp. 34-37, and authorities there cited. 
 
APPENDIX. 163 
 
 House, where the Kelvin joins the Clyde; and the twelfth and last, 
 on the property of Bankton, next Clydehaugh. 
 
 The average depth beneath the surface of the ground at which 
 the whole were found was about nineteen vertical feet, and all lay 
 at a distance of more than 100 yards back from the original edge 
 of the Clyde, chiefly in a thick bed of finely laminated sand. 
 
 The following is a more particular description of each : 
 
 I. SPRINGFIELD GROUP. 
 
 As already stated, this collection consisted of Jive canoes. 
 
 1. The first was discovered in the autumn of 1847, and is still 
 extant. It is rather more than 11 feet long by 27 inches in breadth, 
 and of the depth of 15 inches. The fore part is in good preser- 
 vation, but towards the opposite extremity the sides and stern have 
 crumbled away. Enough remains, however, to give a good idea of 
 its original outline. There is a horizontal groove across the bottom 
 of the boat, close to the stern, the precise use of which was not 
 certain till the next and more perfect specimen revealed it. On 
 an application by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland to the 
 Clyde Trustees, this first member of the Springfield group was 
 gifted to that learned body, and it now occupies a conspicuous po- 
 sition in the Society's Hall, Edinburgh. A very correct drawing of 
 the canoe was made before it left ''Glasgow, by the late Mr. Robert 
 Stuart, and appears at page 49 of his curious volume, published 
 the year after, titled, "Views and Notices of Glasgow in Former 
 Times." 
 
 2. In October, 1848, a much larger and more perfect specimen 
 was discovered. It lay about 400 yards farther up the river bank 
 than, but nearly in a line with, the resting-place of the first. This 
 second boat was lying flat on its bottom, at the depth of about 
 twenty feet from the surface of the ground. When I saw it first it 
 was nearly entire, but it is to be regretted that rough usage since 
 has injured it a good deal. This canoe measured 19 feet 4 inches 
 in length by 3 feet 6 inches wide at the stern, and in the centre 
 2 feet 9| inches ; depth, 30 inches. The prow was rather neatly 
 formed, with a small cutwater. There was an oblong hole near the 
 bow, through which to run a thong for securing the vessel. There 
 
164 APPENDIX. 
 
 had been a small outrigger, the holes for receiving the fastening- 
 pins being visible, and I observed a small portion adhering. About 
 the centre were small rests, inside the gunwale, for the ends of a 
 cross seat. These rests had been left as an integral part of the 
 boat's side when the natives were scooping out the interior. An- 
 other set of rests occurred at the stern, as if for a broader seat 
 there, probably like that of the modern cobble. The stern itself 
 was very perfect, and afforded a most satisfactory example of the 
 manner these ancient vessels were closed in. It consisted of a thin 
 board, placed vertically in a horizontal groove across the bottom, 
 and fixed in vertical grooves down each side. This board was 
 about eight inches from the extremity of the canoe, thus leaving a 
 small piece of the sawn tree projecting behind. There were no 
 rollocks, so that the canoe had probably been propelled by broad 
 paddles like those of the islanders in the Pacific. I have preserved 
 an accurate drawing of this excellent specimen, taken while the 
 canoe lay on the river side, the day after the discovery. The single 
 oak tree out of which this ancient vessel was fashioned must have 
 been a very large one, and the portion selected free from branches, 
 no knots indicating these being visible. 
 
 In order that this remarkably perfect example of a Clyde canoe 
 might be retained in Glasgow, and carefully preserved as an object 
 of interest, instead of being removed, like the previous boat, to 
 the Antiquaries' Museum in Edinburgh, where it would have been 
 gladly welcomed, a memorial, signed by a number of Glasgow 
 gentlemen, was presented to the Biver Trustees, requesting that 
 the canoe might be gifted to the Trustees for the Hunterian Mu- 
 seum, Glasgow College. This request was at once acceded to, 
 and the curious relic of long-past ages delivered over to the Uni- 
 versity. 
 
 8. Very soon after the discovery of No. 2, a third canoe was 
 dug up within a few yards of it. This specimen had been a large 
 boat, but unfortunately was much injured by the workmen's tools, 
 which had split it up longitudinally. The fragment which I saw in 
 the court-yard of the River Trustees' premises, Robertson Street, 
 measured 9 feet 2 inches in length, by 3| feet in breadth, and 1 
 foot 6 inches deep. The oak was quite black, as hard as marble, 
 and very heavy. There were several circular indentations in the 
 
APPENDIX. 105 
 
 bottom of this canoe, as if to receive the ends of vertical spars, 
 probably for supports to transverse seats ; and there was one com- 
 plete perforation, of circular shape, in the bottom, stopped by a 
 plug, imbedded in very tenacious clay, intended to be withdrawn, 
 probably either to run off, while on shore, the water shipped, or 
 to sink the vessel among the reeds, so as to hide her from other 
 members of the tribe when the owner was absent, a practice still 
 followed on the banks of the Nile and other regions where the 
 rights of property are imperfectly understood. It has been said 
 that the plug was imbedded in clay. Now, one would have thought 
 that this plug would have been of oak, taken from the cuttings 
 when lopping off the branches from the fallen tree, or of some other 
 piece of wood; but, strange to say, it was not of wood at all, but 
 cork, a circumstance on which much curious discussion has arisen 
 among antiquaries, the nearest cork-growing country being Spain, 
 and it being difficult to conceive how savages at such a distance 
 could have got any article of foreign growth. Could they have 
 been visited by the ships of a civilized people ; and if so, who were 
 they? The canoe now under notice was larger, and of a more 
 rude description, than No. 1 or 2. Unlike these, it had no cut- 
 water, but the prow was a mere extension of the boat, slanting 
 onwards, like the snout of the modern cobble, and not turned up 
 vertically, as in the other instances. 
 
 4. The fourth canoe of this group was found on 7th September, 
 1849. The workmanship was the most rude of the whole. The 
 boat had been evidently hollowed out, in a great measure, by fire. 
 She was clumsily made ; had no stern, but bluff at both ends ; and 
 no marks of indentations for supports to seats. The bottom was 
 left very thick, that is to say, the action of fire had not burnt out 
 a deep enough interior. Two small oblong pieces of wood were 
 found alongside, with elongated holes drilled through, the use of 
 which is not very obvious. Could they have been intended for 
 outriggers, when the tiny vessel was far out from the shore, and 
 exposed to the dashing of the waves? The dimensions of this 
 canoe were 13 feet long, 2 feet broad, and 1 foot in depth. She 
 lay rather more than twenty feet below the surface of the ground. 
 Both Nos. 3 and 4 are now destroyed, but I have preserved a 
 drawing of the latter. 
 
166 APPENDIX. 
 
 5. The fifth and last of the Springfield group was found shortly 
 after. It is now in the Museum of the Andersonian University, 
 Glasgow, and measures 11 feet 10 inches in length; breadth at the 
 stern, 2 feet, at the centre 1 foot 10 inches, and at the bow 1 foot 
 8 inches. The gunwale or edges of the boat have crumbled a good 
 deal away, so that the original depth cannot be properly ascertained, 
 but, as she now stands, the remaining depth is about 7 inches. This 
 canoe has been very rudely constructed. The roughness of the 
 floor indicates the blunt and imperfect tools employed. She has 
 no cutwater ; no perforations or indentations ; the tree-roots have 
 merely been rounded, in a very primitive manner, at the one end ; 
 while the opposite extremity resembles the snout of a cobble. 
 There is no keel, but simply the original rim of the tree. 
 
 II.- THE POINT-HOUSE CANOE. 
 
 The single canoe appertaining to this locality was much injured. 
 The spot where she lay was on the north side of the Clyde, about 
 thirty yards inland from the old margin, and eighty yards west from 
 the mouth of the river Kelvin, at the Point-House, on the area 
 since occupied by the extensive ship-building yard of Messrs. Tod 
 & M'Gregor. The distance from Springfield is about 2,000 yards. 
 Mr. Bremmer informed me, in a note, that this boat "was im- 
 bedded in a seam of sand, close upon blue clay." A large slice of 
 the river-bank was cut away, and when the tide came over the 
 cut-down bank, the steam dredging machine was put to work, 
 which tore up the canoe from its ancient resting-place. She was 
 thus greatly damaged, but the outline quite easily traced. The 
 length was 12 feet, breadth 2 feet, depth 1 foot 10 inches at the 
 most perfect portion. About five feet of the sides next the prow, 
 and the prow itself, remained pretty entire. All the rest was gone 
 except a strip of the bottom. The stern had been an open one, 
 for the mark of the transverse groove to receive the usual vertical 
 board was quite perceptible. The discovery took place in Decem- 
 ber, 1851. I have preserved a drawing of the skeleton of this 
 canoe as it lay on the river side. 
 
APPENDIX. 167 
 
 III. THE CLYDEHAUGH GROUP. 
 
 This consisted of five canoes. 
 
 1. The first was discovered in February, 1852, and is preserved 
 in Stirling's Library, Glasgow. It is 12 feet long, 2 feet 5 inches 
 broad, and in depth 2 feet 6 inches. About mid-way between the 
 bow and stern there is a small rest for the end of a transverse seat. 
 This rest has just been left by the savage, as a projection, when 
 scooping out the boat, and forms an integral part of the gunwale. 
 The breadth of the seat has been 4^ inches. The mark of the end 
 of it, which had rested on the little projection, was quite distinct 
 when I first saw it, being newer like than the darker edge of the 
 boat. Close to this projection there is a small curve in the 
 gunwale, quite smooth, as if a good deal rubbed or used. This 
 seems to have been for the purpose of running a thong or fastening 
 through, to tie the boat sideways, probably to a steep bank or 
 shore, and the curve or indentation prevented the thong from 
 sliding. The stern was a close one ; that is to say, the rude 
 artificer has economized the tree, and dispensed with the movable 
 board by fashioning a permanent stern out of the root. The 
 broad or stern end is just formed of the tree-roots rounded. The 
 interior is well scooped out, and the outside of the' stern is sharply 
 and cleanly cut, indicating the presence of pretty sharp tools. 
 The bow has a snout-like appearance, without any cut-water, like 
 a fisherman's cobble. On the inside, near the bow, are three 
 remarkable protuberances, in line with and separated a few inches 
 from each other, the use of which is not very obvious. This canoe 
 lay more than 16 feet below the surface, and about 62 feet back 
 from the ancient lip of the river. 
 
 2. In May, 1852, the second canoe of this series was revealed, 
 'about fifty yards from Xo. 1, at the same depth, and nearly in line 
 with it. I saw the boat before it was lifted out of its ancient 
 resting-place, and afterwards on the river bank. When imbedded 
 it was lying on its side, the larboard being uppermost. The prow 
 pointed S.W., and slanted downwards in the gravel at an angle of 
 about 45 degrees, as if the canoe had gone down stem foremost, 
 and had stuck in that position. It lay on a bed of fine gravel, 
 much impregnated with iron, and overlaid with a thick mass of 
 
168 APPENDIX. 
 
 finely laminated sand. She was rather larger than the canoe in 
 Stirling's Library, but had the same snout-like prow, without a 
 cut-water. The dimensions were, length, 14 feet 10 inches ; 
 breadth, 2 feet ; depth, 14 inches. The stern had been an open 
 one, the horizontal groove remaining. On the starboard side, near 
 the stern, were three circular holes in line with each other, and 
 close to the gunwale. The first hole was 4 inches from the ex- 
 tremity of the stern. Hole No. 2 was 7 inches from No. 1, and 
 the space between Nos. 2 and 3 was 14 inches. Immediately 
 opposite the hole No. 3, there occurred another on the larboard 
 side. Then, in the floor of the boat, about the centre, was a 
 perforation. All these holes were about the same size, three-fourths 
 of an inch in diameter, circular, and cleanly cut. What had been 
 the use of those through the sides of the boat, and why should 
 there have been more on the one side than the other ? The gun- 
 wale was sorely failed, but what was left had no indications of 
 projections for transverse seats to rest on, as in the Stirling's 
 Library specimen. One remarkable circumstance connected with 
 this canoe is, that there was found under the stern a thin piece of 
 lead (now in my possession), 8 inches long by 5 inches broad, and 
 perforated with holes, evidently for large nails. Indeed, the marks 
 of the nail-heads are quite distinct. These holes are square, but 
 the lead had evidently not been affixed to any part of the canoe, 
 though the latter happened to rest on it. Where did this plate of 
 lead so perforated come from ? It evidently is riot the workman- 
 ship of savages. 
 
 The remaining three canoes of this series were discovered in 
 August, 1852, grouped close together, and within a few yards of 
 that last described. 
 
 3. The first of this sub-group was so much damaged as to render 
 any account of her difficult. But she had been a small vessel, with 
 the snout-like bow. 
 
 4. The second is the largest and finest of the whole fleet. She 
 is now most appropriately in the possession of William Euing, Esq., 
 secretary to the Association of Underwriters, Royal Exchange, 
 Glasgow. From her considerable size, this vessel could contain a 
 number of men ; and it is by no means improbable, had been a 
 war-canoe of the tribe. She is not at all crank, but broad and 
 
APPENDIX. 169 
 
 substantial, measuring 14 feet in length, 4 feet 1 inch broad, and 
 in depth 1 foot 11 inches. There are some curious details about 
 this canoe worth recording. She is hollowed out of what has been 
 a most magnificent oak, an imposing specimen of the ancient 
 monarchs of a primeval forest. This gigantic tree has been very 
 cleanly sawn through at the thickest part. Sharp tools must have 
 been employed, for the interior is very smoothly cut, and the whole 
 boat remarkably well executed. She has a well-shaped prow ; the 
 stern an open one, with the usual thin oaken board, inserted in the 
 vertical and horizontal grooves, to keep it steady. This board 
 remains perfect the only instance save one in the whole fleet. 
 But, from the considerable width of this great canoe at the stern, 
 the natives had probably not been able to get very readily a board 
 sufficiently broad to fill up the opening. The savage who fashioned 
 the boat has, however, overcome this difficulty in a very ingenious 
 manner. Two boards have been inserted, and at the centre, where 
 they meet, a vertical incision has been made in each edge, all the 
 way down, so as to form a sheath in which a thin slip of oak, about 
 an inch and a-half broad has been neatly introduced, and made 
 to draw out when necessary. In this way the seam in the stern, 
 caused by the meeting of the two boards, and through which 
 water would have percolated, has been made completely water-tight 
 by the vertical wooden tongue fitting closely over it. There has 
 been a seat across the middle of the canoe, the ends of which 
 rested on two small projections inside, left for the purpose on the 
 gunwale when scooping out the boat. The natives have rowed 
 this heavy boat, instead of merely paddling her, for two neat semi- 
 circular knobs or elevations, each resembling a large horse-shoe, 
 with the concave facing the bow, have been left uncut on the floor, 
 at a convenient distance from the seat, for the rowers to rest their 
 feet against as a resistance to the pull of the oar. Judging from 
 the distance between the seat and the foot-rest the rowers were 
 probably very tall men. Towards the bow a large circular aper- 
 ture occurs hi the bottom, which has been stopped by an oaken 
 plug as thick as a man's wrist, and nearly a foot long. This plug 
 was found sticking in the hole, and in order that it might not be 
 lost, it is perforated by a circular eye, to receive a thong for fasten- 
 ing it to the inside of the boat. This large aperture in the bottom 
 
170 APPENDIX. 
 
 was in all likelihood intended for the purpose of running off the 
 water shipped, or sinking the vessel in some hiding place, as before 
 indicated. On both sides of this fine canoe, near the stern, are 
 a number of the same well-cut, irregularly placed, circular holes, 
 alluded to in other specimens. A loose, flat piece of wood, about 
 three feet long, also perforated by these circular holes, and stopped 
 with wooden plugs, was found inside, but its use is doubtful. In 
 shape it is not unlike the human hand elongated, with the forearm, 
 and it has been much used, for at what may be called the wrist the 
 wood is much abraded, as if it had been chafed, probably on the 
 gunwale of the boat. Altogether this canoe is amongst the finest 
 specimens of the state of maritime art among our savage ancestors 
 probably ever found in Scotland. 
 
 5. The last of the Clydehaugh group is specially worthy of 
 notice. It was 10 feet long, 3 feet 2 inches broad, and 1 foot 
 deep; fashioned from a single oak tree, sharp at both ends, and 
 well scooped out. No mark of seats. While in use this little 
 canoe had met with an accident, which drove a hole through one 
 of the sides, near the bottom. One would have thought that as 
 both wood and labour in these days were cheap, the damaged boat 
 would have been at once thrown aside, another tree cut down from 
 the forest, and a new canoe formed. But these ancient wild men 
 of the woods were thrifty : they patched up the hole in the boat ; 
 and this they managed very neatly. A piece of wood about a foot 
 square was fitted over the aperture, and fastened at each of the 
 four corners by wooden pegs, making an uncommonly good job ; 
 and, with the aid of puddled clay, rendering the canoe quite water- 
 tight. Shall we say that in this curious piece of thrift is to be seen 
 a germ of that canny, careful turn, which has distinguished Sawney 
 in after ages ? At all events, the lesson is old enough, and credit- 
 able to the dimly known bear and wolf hunter of ancient Caledonia. 
 The sides of this small canoe were perforated by a number of holes 
 similar to those in the large one. The only other peculiarity about 
 her was, that at the bow there was a slanting, angular indentation, 
 more than a foot long, and about two inches broad, intended to 
 receive some longish, four-cornered object, unknown to us, resting 
 diagonally in the groove. This boat, although in good preservation 
 when found, has, I fear, been since destroyed. 
 
APPENDIX. 171 
 
 IV. THE BANKTON CANOE. 
 
 This last canoe of the little fleet was discovered in May, 1853, 
 on the property of Bankton, near Mr. Thomson's new ship-build- 
 ing yard. She differed in several respects from all the rest, and 
 showed a decided advance in native skill. A huge oak had been 
 cut longitudinally into a mere strip, as the back-bone of the boat, 
 from which a long keel was formed underneath, by being simply 
 left out, while the back-bone was pared away, so that the keel 
 appeared a mere longitudinal projection from the lower plane of 
 the sawn strip. Strong transverse ribs were inserted for the 
 skeleton of the boat. These were clothed outside with deals about 
 eight inches broad, and they overlapped each other precisely as in 
 modern yawls. In other words, she was what is called " clinker- 
 built." The stern was formed of a thick, triangular- shaped piece 
 of oak, fitted in exactly like those of our day. Again, the prow 
 had a neat cut-water, rising about a foot above the gunwale, and 
 giving it rather an imposing effect, not unlike on a very small 
 scale the beak of an antique galley. The length of this curious 
 vessel was 18 feet; width at the waist, 5 feet; and at the stern, 3| 
 feet. The deals were fastened to the ribs, partly by singularly- 
 shaped oaken pins, and partly by what, I think, must have been 
 nails of some kind of metal. The perforations where the nails had 
 been were uniformly square, and the marks of their broad heads, 
 driven home by smart blows deeply into the wood, were very 
 perceptible. None of the nails themselves were, however, to be 
 seen ; but several of the oaken pins were left, one of which is in 
 my possession. They were round, thicker than a man's thumb, 
 and ingeniously formed. The pin, after being rounded, had been 
 sliced in two, and a triangular-shaped tongue inserted, the base of 
 the triangle ranging with the top of the pin, so that, when driven 
 smartly home, the pin would hold firmly. There were no marks of 
 rollocks. On the whole, this boat, though not so bulky as the 
 supposed war-canoe already described, must have had rather an 
 imposing appearance. When this Bankton canoe was discovered 
 she was lying keel uppermost, with her prow pointing straight up 
 the river. She had probably been capsized in a storm. When 
 lifted from her long concealment in the heart of the finely lam- 
 
172 APPENDIX. 
 
 inated sand, which, century after century, had accumulated over 
 her, the old fastenings gave way, and she fell to pieces in the work- 
 men's hands. The back-bone, ribs, and boards of oak remained, 
 though thus separated, quite hard and firm. The present descrip- 
 tion was sketched before she lost her form. Her resting-place 
 was about 250 feet back from the ancient river-margin, as laid 
 down in the oldest maps of Clyde more than half a-century ago. 
 
 It is worth remarking -that no fragments of paddles or oars were 
 found with any of these antique boats. 
 
 Such is a connected list of the seventeen Glasgow canoes ; and 
 in reflecting upon these curious vessels, two questions naturally arise 
 1st, What was their probable era? and, 2d, Who were the 
 people that constructed them ? 
 
 Both points are attended with difficulties, and can be brought 
 within the range only of conjecture. 
 
 I. With regard to the canoe era, we must contemplate a very 
 remote antiquity. There are good grounds for believing that it 
 stretches back far behind the dawn of British history. It is now 
 eighteen centuries since the first Roman invasion under Julius 
 Csesar, with which our insular history properly begins ; yet that 
 event, ancient though it be, is probably only recent when compared 
 with the age of these long-buried canoes. What, then, shall be said 
 of them ? Are they as old as the epoch of the early Greek States ? 
 Had the Pyramids been built when the canoes floated on the 
 unknown waters of this part of Scotland ? Or does their era reach 
 still further back, to the dim mythological ages of mysterious 
 Hindoostan, that venerable parent of Egyptian civilization ? We 
 cannot tell. History and tradition are alike silent, and data entirely 
 awanting for such chronological comparison. We must therefore 
 turn to the canoes themselves, and endeavour to gauge their age 
 from internal evidence. 
 
 Now. there are two important features to be attended to in this 
 view of the inquiry, which, taken singly or in combination, prove 
 great antiquity. The first is the peculiar localities at which the 
 canoes were found ; the second is the character of the workmanship. 
 
 With regard to the localities, and assuming, on what seems 
 reasonable grounds, that the whole groups of canoes are cotempo- 
 raneous, we have seen that some were found at very high levels, 
 
APPENDIX. 173 
 
 namely, as fur up at least as the Cross. That is far above river 
 action. They could not, therefore, have been drifted to or sank 
 in their resting-places by the mere stream of the Clyde. How, 
 then,- did they come there ? Geology that marvellous exponent 
 of the past here unfolds a strange and eerie tale ; and it is curious 
 to find geological science and archaeology as it were in hand-grips. 
 The former lifts the veil; it tells the changes which have taken 
 place on the locality of what is now Glasgow, since the canoes were 
 paddled on waters then covering what in our day are the streets of 
 a great city, and plainly reveals the lapse of enormous intervening 
 time. 
 
 A most interesting exposition of this subject is given by Mr. 
 Robert Chambers, in his volume titled, " Ancient Sea-Margins, as 
 Memorials of Changes in the relative Level of Sea and Land." 
 His general theory, supported by striking proofs, is, that there was 
 a time, after the rock-formations of this globe were completed, 
 when our island (not to speak of other portions of the earth) was 
 submerged at least 1,700 feet; that from this great depth it emerged 
 either by the elevation of the land or the recession of the waters ; 
 that pauses of greater or less duration in the process of emergence 
 took place, which caused the formation of successive terraces or 
 sea-beaches, until the present configuration of the country was 
 presented. Several of these ancient beaches are pointed out by 
 Mr. Chambers among the streets of Glasgow. At a comparatively 
 recent geological period very many of the present valleys in 
 Britain were filled with water. This was particularly the case 
 where Glasgow now is. The whole valley between the Campsie 
 Hills on the north, and those of Cathkin and Gleniffer on the 
 south, and stretching a long way up the country, was an estuary, 
 into which the river Clyde, then much shortened, poured its 
 waters ; and what is now the area of Glasgow was then the bottom 
 of a shallow sea. The various elevations now known as Gilmore- 
 hill, Garnet Hill, Garngad Hill, &c., were probably islets in this 
 ancient frith. 
 
 Alluding to this district, Mr. Chambers states [page 201] 
 " At Glasgow the river has ceased to be an estuary, though aiFected 
 by the tides for three miles higher, namely, to llutherglen. Around, 
 and also within the city, I have found several of the ancient beaches. 
 
174 APPENDIX. 
 
 In Glasgow Green the same two haughs which occupy so much of 
 the Leven Vale are distinctly seen, one of them about 11, and the 
 other 26 feet, above the ordinary level of the sea. The Trongate 
 and adjacent districts of the city are built on the second, which 
 also extends over a large space on the opposite side of the river. 
 At Partick, to the west of the city, this beach is also clearly 
 marked, being there about 26 feet high." 
 
 Only a portion of the Glasgow canoes had been discovered when 
 Mr. Chambers wrote his instructive volume in 1848. Referring to 
 these, he states [page 206] "The situation of the boats found 
 under the Trongate and Trades' Land (places within a pistol-shot 
 of each other) is 21 or 22 feet above high- water in the river. It 
 forms part of that extensive plain which rises from the river's 
 brink to the height of about 26 feet above tide-mark, forming 
 the site of the Trongate and Argyll Street, and the numerous 
 streets to the north and south of that line. This plain is composed 
 of sand, as appears whenever the foundation of an old house is dug 
 up. Mr. John Craig, an able practical geologist at Glasgow, 
 says, in a communication to one of my correspondents, 'The 
 deposit immediately underlying the Trongate and London Street is 
 a bed of sand, with traces of lamination. This rests on laminated 
 clays, the same as occur at the brickworks at Annfield, east end of 
 the Gallowgate, and on the other side of the river. These clays 
 abound, in several places, in recent marine shells. They are 
 deposited on the boulder till.' 
 
 "If the sand-bed at the Trongate be the same with that at 
 Springfield, the boats lying in it and the subjacent clay obviously 
 belong to an earlier period than that discovered in the latter 
 situation. 1 The question arises, Are the deposits such as the river, 
 while pursuing its present level, could have laid down? The 
 situation, be it remembered, is a quarter of a mile from the river ; 
 its superficies is 21 feet above tide-mark, while Mr. Robert 
 Stevenson has determined the greatest recorded river-floods as 
 only 15. The laminated sands do not, moreover, appear such a 
 deposit as a river-flood would bring to the spot, even if it could 
 reach it. It therefore appears that we scarcely have an alternative 
 
 1 Only one of the Springfield canoes, viz., that in the Antiquarian Society's 
 Hall, Edinburgh, had been found when Mr. Chambers wrote. 
 
APPENDIX. 17-5 
 
 to the supposition, that when these vessels foundered [those at 
 the Cross], and were deposited where, in modern times, they have 
 been found, the Frith of Clyde was a sea several miles wide at 
 Glasgow, covering the site of the lower districts of the city, and 
 receiving the waters of the river not lower than Botliwell Bridge. 
 We must suppose this to have been a time when already a people, 
 instructed to some degree in the arts of life, occupied that part of 
 the island. Taken in connection with the whales' bones and per- 
 forated deers* horns of the Carse of Stirling, the boat and other 
 relics said to have been found near Falkirk, the human skull at 
 Grangemouth, and the various particulars already cited with respect 
 to the Carse of Gowrie, these Glasgow canoes are objects of much 
 greater interest than any one seems yet to have thought of 
 attaching to them." 
 
 In a very able paper read at the recent meeting of the British 
 Association in Glasgow by an eminent geologist, Mr. James 
 Bryce, jun., M.A., F.G.S., titled, "Geological Notices of the 
 Environs of Glasgow," the following deductions are also drawn 
 from the aspect of the Clyde valley and the canoe discoveries : 
 " The conclusion is forced upon us by these facts, that the entire 
 area was at a remote time covered by an estuary, connected with 
 the sea by a narrow strait near Erskine, where the hills on either 
 side press close upon the stream, whose limits reached inland 
 almost as far as Johnstone and Paisley, narrowed upward by the 
 projecting Ibrox and Pollokshields ridges, but again widening out 
 so as to wash the base of the Cathkin and Cathcart Hills, and 
 sweeping round north-east in a wide bay, so as to cover the space 
 now occupied by the Glasgow Green and suburbs of Bridgeton. 
 The river then entered about Bothwell or Eutherglen, and the 
 northern shore was formed by the lower slopes of the hills already 
 alluded to, and their continuations north-west by Partick, Jordan- 
 hill, and Yoker, to the vicinity of Erskine." " How remote, then,'' 
 he adds, "must be the time when the quiet waters of the estuary 
 laved the hill-sides, now covered by busy thoroughfares; and a 
 race, whose other memorials are lost, navigated in these rude 
 canoes the broader waters of the river, whose narrowed stream 
 now floats the largest ships, and brings to our doors the choicest 
 products of the globe." 
 
176 APPENDIX. 
 
 Although it may appear at first sight a purely fanciful idea that 
 a sea at one time heaved its white- crested waves over what is now 
 the area of Glasgow, after man had arrived in this island, and that 
 what was once the bottom of that ancient sea-arm has since been 
 converted into dry land, and now sustains a great city, yet proofs 
 of this can be produced. Without dwelling on the circumstance 
 of marine shells having been found within the foundered boat at 
 the Cross, as verified to me by an eye-witness on the fact of a 
 canoe having been dug up in 1830, as far up the country as Castle- 
 milk, beyond Rutherglen, 1 on elevated ground, a long way back 
 from the Clyde or on the still more remarkable discovery lately, 
 near Erskine, of part of the bones of a whale which had been about 
 forty feet long, 2 yet if we pass out of the Clyde region altogether, 
 into the twin valley of the Forth, the evidence of the existence of 
 this ancient sea, which filled both, and at the same levels, is irre- 
 sistible. Thus, the skeletons of three whales were found on the 
 Blairdrummond estate; the first in 1819, on a spot twenty-five 
 feet above the full tide of the Forth, and a mile back from that 
 river; the second soon after, near the same place; and the third 
 in 1824, seven miles farther inland, covered with a thick bed of 
 moss. Professor Owen mentions that one of these whales lay no 
 less than forty feet above the present level of the sea. These 
 monsters of the deep must have existed while man lived on the 
 shores of the Forth, for, in two of the instances, rude harpoons, 
 formed of deers 1 Jiorns, lay alongside the skeleton, and had probably 
 inflicted the death-wound; while various canoes, closely resembling 
 those of the Clyde, have been found in the Carse of Falkirk, and 
 other places in the valley of the Forth, at depths of about fifteen feet, 
 covered by successive strata of clay, shells, muss, and gravel. One 
 of the harpoons, and the bones of one of the whales, are preserved 
 in the Museum of Natural History in Edinburgh. 3 
 
 The great physical change of water-level, shown by these writers, 
 recent though it be in the innumerable ages grasped by geological 
 science, is yet very remote when compared with our times. It is 
 sixteen centuries since the Roman Wall of Antoninus Pius was 
 
 1 " New Statistical Account of Scotland," vol. vi., p. 601. 
 
 2 Vide "Glasgow Herald," 18th May, 1855. 
 
 8 "Pre-historic Annals of Scotland," pp. 33, 34. 
 
APPENDIX. 177 
 
 constructed across the narrow isthmus between Clyde and Forth, 
 and, as has been well remarked by an eminent authority (Mr. 
 Smith of Jordanhill), the water-level of the Clyde was the same 
 then as it is now, inasmuch as the line of that fortification has 
 evidently been laid down with due reference to the then river surface 
 at both ends ; a state of things quite incompatible with the presence 
 of water so much above the line of the Wall at the brink of Clyde 
 as the Cross of Glasgow. This fact carries us back at once sixteen 
 hundred years ; yet the canoes floated long before that ; but how 
 much further back in the mists of time their epoch lies, it is impos- 
 sible to say. The hoary, pre -historic centuries are sealed with 
 Oblivion's mysterious signet, and may not be unrolled. A very 
 great antiquity must nevertheless be plainly conceded. 
 
 Then in regard to the workmanship of the canoes, it was of the 
 most primitive kind, proving that they were fashioned by savages 
 having little acquaintance with the use of metals, and pointing to a 
 very early state of society in this country. With only one excep- 
 tion, all v/ere formed merely of single oak trees, scooped out, some 
 better executed than others, according, probably, to superior handi- 
 ness on the part of the savage, and an improvement on his tools. 
 So rudely constructed were some, as we have seen in the description, 
 that the tree roots had not even been cut off, but merely rounded 
 in a rough way, and fire employed to burn out the intsrior, as if 
 the tools were not adequate to form a proper stern or scoop out 
 the boat. Nay, it would seem in these cases of mere root sterns 
 and scorched interiors, as if the wild man's hatchet was too imper- 
 fect to enable him to fell the gigantic monarch of the primeval 
 forest, but that he was probably obliged either to appropriate an 
 oak already prostrated by the ancient winter blasts, or to upset a 
 tree by sapping its roots. Afterwards he clumsily hacked these 
 and the heart of the trunk into the semblance of a boat, but he 
 could not, apparently, shape a proper prow, and therefore made a 
 mere snout to his canoe. 
 
 The material and shape of these imperfect implements have been 
 revealed to us. It is proved by the St. Enoch Square canoe that 
 the tools of its wild owner were of stone, his hatchet, found in it, 
 being still extant. As other canoe specimens, however, were 
 cleaner cut, sharper implements were perhaps employed, and the 
 
 H 
 
178 APPENDIX. 
 
 probability is, that these were of iron rudely manufactured. But 
 these metal tools would not become common for a very long time, 
 so that while some of the Clyde savages might possess such improved 
 implements, and thus shape their canoes better, others, less fortu- 
 nate no doubt, continued to use the ancient stone hatchets, and 
 made a clumsier canoe in proportion. In other words, the differ- 
 ence of workmanship would seem to indicate that the canoe-men 
 lived in the transition age, between what antiquaries designate the 
 stone and the iron periods, both of which lie far in the darkness 
 of the past, beyond our reach. 
 
 So much for the canoe era; and we shall not probably greatly 
 err if we assign to it an antiquity of several thousand years. 
 
 II. With reference to the remaining question Who the people 
 were that constructed these Clyde canoes? it is obvious, that since 
 we know so little regarding the precise era of the vessels them- 
 selves, we cannot be possessed of much more information regarding 
 their primitive owners. Did they belong to the family of the 
 Celtae, so extensively spread over the west of Europe at the dawn 
 of British history? or to a still earlier race, which first of all 
 paddled over to Albion's white cliffs ? How strange to fancy a 
 time when this island was a wilderness the home only of the bear, 
 the wolf, the beaver, and other wild beasts, before the continental 
 savages durst venture across the intervening stormy sea in their 
 frail canoes, similar in all probability to those found so deeply 
 buried in the dried-up basin of Clyde's ancient frith ! Yet there 
 was such a period ; and from the evidence formerly cited, it would 
 appear that these unknown people had arrived in Britain before 
 the last shift in the relative level of the sea and land took place in 
 our insular valleys. 
 
 This subject has been discussed by Dr. Wilson, lately of Edin- 
 burgh, now Professor of History in the British College of Toronto 
 (my valued friend), with great learning and ability. The past has 
 been made to yield up its dead. The remains of the dwellings, 
 utensils, ornaments, weapons, and other works of art of the long- 
 vanished people have been summoned before, interrogated, and 
 commented upon, by this indefatigable antiquary. Nay, the very 
 tumuli where the wild men laid their dead have been opened, and 
 the contents carefully examined. The half-mouldered bones and 
 
APPENDIX. 179 
 
 skulls, which, strange to say, remained undissolved throughout so 
 many centuries, have been subjected to the tests of ethnological 
 science, and some very curious results obtained. l Catalogues and 
 drawings of these osseous remains have been made, and may be 
 seen in Dr. Wilson's admirable volume. 2 
 
 As Cuvier and other anatomists recovered the type and probable 
 habits of extinct animals from mere osseous fragments found in the 
 tertiary beds of Paris, London, and other localities, so has Dr. 
 Wilson endeavoured, by means of the ethnological evidence afforded 
 by the human crania found in the Scottish tumuli, and the re- 
 mains of the rude works of the lost people's horny hands, to bring 
 back from oblivion's dark recesses such characteristics as may 
 enable us to form some idea of what these early insular inhabitants 
 were. 
 
 It would appear that a race existed in this island prior to, and 
 probably of an inferior grade than, that commonly known as the 
 Celtic. The difference of race is chiefly marked by the peculiar 
 
 1 About the middle of last century a learned English gentleman, Mr. 
 Bryan Faussett, excavated upwards of 500 tumuli, chiefly in Kent. A very 
 curious collection of antiques was made from the contents of these ancient 
 abodes of the dead. The interesting MSS. of Mr. Faussett, recording par- 
 ticulars of his discoveries, have never been printed; but lately these curious 
 papers have been committed to the editorship of one of the most distinguished 
 antiquaries of the present day, Mr. C. Roach Smith, of London, whose many 
 years' study and practical investigation of Celtic antiquities, both in Britain 
 and on the Continent, eminently fit him for this task, and are just now pass- 
 ing through the press. The collection itself, as well as the MSS. thanks to 
 the munificence of Mr. Meyer, of Liverpool have been rescued from the risk 
 of dispersion and eventual loss. The executors of Dr. Faussett, a descendant 
 of the original owner, offered the whole for sale to the trustees for the British 
 Museum, who, after keeping the matter hung up, and detaining the MSS. for 
 about eight months, at last declined to purchase these truly national remains. 
 With great public spirit Mr. Meyer came forward, purchased the whole at 
 his own expense, and has most generously placed the collection, which is 
 perfectly unique, in the Liverpool public museum, which he has been chiefly 
 instrumental in forming. One man such as Mr. Meyer does more real good, 
 in a case like this, than the whole British Museum Trustees as at present 
 constituted. 
 
 2 Vide " The Pre-Historic Annals of Scotland," Edinburgh, 1851. 
 
180 APPENDIX. 
 
 configuration of the skull. In that of the supposed earliest inhab- 
 itants, the crania are remarkable for an elongated form, or what 
 Dr. Wilson terms "boat-shaped," with a very small frontal develop- 
 ment, indicating, perhaps, less intellectual energy than the suc- 
 ceeding, and apparently displacing, broad-headed Celta. The 
 difference between the two sets of skulls, as shown in the plates, 
 is certainly very remarkable, and seems to warrant the ingenious 
 hypothesis of a distinction in race. 
 
 The extreme rudeness of the remains of art point to the same 
 conclusion. Thus, the dwellings of the early people were under- 
 ground, and composed of unhewn stones, slanting inwards, and 
 covered over by larger blocks the entrance being between two 
 slabs resting against each other at the top like the letter A. These 
 dismal abodes have been discovered in great numbers, and are 
 popularly called weems. They were evidently a very slight advance 
 beyond the mere natural caves, probably originally occupied by 
 these British savages. Another set of dwellings, supposed to have 
 been used during the short summers of Scotland's then ungenial 
 clime, consisted of mere semicircular pits, cut out on the slope of 
 the hills, and roofed over with sods and branches. Specimens of 
 the winter-houses, or weems, were to be seen till recently in our 
 own district, at Cartland Craigs, near Stonebyres, on the Clyde ; 
 and one very interesting example of the pit-houses was revealed 
 in 1808, on the farm of Overlee, near Busby, in the vicinity of 
 Glasgow. The following particulars regarding these were com- 
 municated to the writer of this sketch by the parish minister of 
 Cathcart, who had his information from an eye-witness : 
 
 While the farmer was removing soil to get at freestone for build- 
 ing a new steading, he came on a cluster of subterranean aboriginal 
 huts. They were forty in number, and ranged round the face of 
 the hill on which the farm-house of Overlee now stands. These 
 huts were of the most primitive kind. They were mere semicircular 
 pits, cut out of the hill-side, with a passage to the door, also dug 
 out of the slope, on a level with the floor, as indicated by the 
 different colour of the soil. Each consisted of one small apartment, 
 about twelve feet square, five feet high, and faced with stone. The 
 floors were neatly paved with thin flagstones, found in the neigh- 
 bourhood. In the centre of each was a hole for a fireplace, in 
 
APPENDIX. 181 
 
 which ashes were still visible. Near the fireplace were small piles 
 of water- worn stones, two or three inches in diameter, probably for 
 cooking food, by placing heated stones round it, as is yet done by 
 some of the islanders in the Pacific. Twelve hand-querns of stone, 
 for grinding grain, were found in the houses. At a short distance 
 a grave was discovered, lined with stone and containing rude 
 urns filled with ashes, thus indicating that the inhabitants of this 
 primitive cluster, near what is now Glasgow, burned their dead. 
 Unfortunately, the whole of these curious pit-houses were ruthlessly 
 destroyed. 
 
 In some of the weems and pit-houses small groups of pretty 
 oyster- shells have been found, perforated with small holes, as if 
 they had been strung ^together and formed an ornamental neck- 
 lace shall we say for the lady-savage of that distant epoch ? In 
 others were discovered bodkins and skewers, made of horn, prob- 
 ably to hold together the folds of the wild beasts' skins forming 
 the savages' winter covering ; the bones of oxen, neatly notched, 
 as if for ornament ; bowls made of stone, the hollow having been 
 drilled out by the circular action of another stone, sharper and 
 harder, aided by the grit of sand (one of which is now before me) ; 
 arrow-heads and lances formed of flint or bone, some of the former 
 of which I happen to possess; nay, swords have been found, 
 fashioned from the bone of a large fish ! Heavy oaken war-clubs, 
 too, must not be omitted from this curious catalogue. 
 
 What a primitive state of society, and what a curious glimpse 
 of the people, does not all this reveal ! If it be said, however, 
 that such a rude people could hardly be supposed capable of con- 
 structing canoes similar to these found at Glasgow, it may be 
 replied, that the very earliest settlers in Britain must, as a matter 
 of course, have come over from the Continent in vessels of some 
 kind, thus indicating a knowledge of the art of floating themselves 
 on the deep during a voyage of, to them, considerable length ; and 
 certainly several of the antique boats discovered here were suffi- 
 ciently primitive in appearance to warrant an ownership among 
 the very rudest tribes. 
 
 But if it be thought more reasonable that the Clyde canoe- men 
 should occupy a place within a later epoch, still they must stand 
 back very far in the ranks of time. If they belonged to the later 
 
182 APPENDIX. 
 
 race of the Celtae, we are enabled to gain reflected glimpses of 
 them from the description by the Roman writers, of the aspect 
 of the people found in this country by the Imperial Legions ; for 
 although many centuries no doubt elapsed between the time when 
 these antique boats were wrecked, and the Roman advent in 
 Britain, the probability is that the appearance, habits, &c., of the 
 tribes encountered by the troops of Rome in battle differed little 
 from those of long prior ages. In a rude state of society changes 
 would be very slow and gradual, and the Roman picture may 
 therefore, in its main features, really represent the aspect both 
 of the country and the people during much older times. Thus 
 Herodian, a native of Lower Egypt, settled in Rome, who flourished 
 about the middle of the third century, writes, "Many parts of 
 the country are fenny, by the frequent inundations of the sea. The 
 natives swim through these fens, or run through them, up to the 
 waist in mud; for the greatest part of their bodies being naked, 
 they regard not the dirt ! They wear iron about their bellies and 
 necks, esteeming this as fine and rich an ornament as others do 
 gold. They make on their bodies the figures of divers animals, 
 and use no clothing, that these may be exposed to view. They are 
 a very bloody and warlike people, using a little shield, or target, 
 and spear. Their sword hangs on their naked bodies. They know 
 not the use of a breastplate and helmet, and imagine these would 
 be an impediment to them in passing the fens. The air is always 
 thick with the vapours that ascend from these marshes." "It was 
 easy for these barbarians to escape and hide themselves in the 
 woods and fens, being well acquainted with the country, whereas 
 the Romans laboured under the opposite disadvantages." 
 
 Another author, Xiphiline, in his abridgment of some of the 
 now lost books of an author who wrote the " Chronicles of Rome," 
 and flourished about the year 200, takes up the same subject. 
 He says, "The two most considerable bodies of the people in the 
 northern part of the island, and to which almost all the rest relate, 
 are the Caledonians and the Maetae. The latter dwell near the 
 great wall that separates the island into two parts " [that is, the 
 country between the two Roman barriers of Hadrian and Anto- 
 ninus] ; " the others live beyond them. Both inhabit upon barren, 
 uncultivated mountains, or in desert, marshy plains, where they 
 
APPENDIX. 183 
 
 have neither walls, nor towns, nor manured lands, but feed on the 
 milk of their flocks, what they get by hunting, and some wild 
 fruits. They never eat fish, though they have great plenty of 
 them. They have no houses, but tents, where they live naked. 
 The exercise to which they are most addicted is robbing. They 
 have great agility of body, and tread very surely. The arms they 
 make use of are, a buckler, a poignard, and a short lance, at the 
 lower end of which is a piece of brass in the form of an apple ; 
 with this their custom is to make a noise to frighten their enemies. 
 They are accustomed to fatigue, to bear hunger, cold, and all 
 manner of hardships. They run into the morasses up to the neck, 
 and live there several days without eating. When they are in the 
 woods they live upon roots and leaves. They make a certain food 
 that so admirably supports the spirits, that when they have taken 
 the quantity of a bean they feel no more hunger or thirst." [How 
 much this resembles the pemmican of the American Indians at the 
 present day !] " We are masters of little more than half the 
 island." 
 
 Speaking of the difficulties the Roman troops had to encounter 
 in such a country, and with such a fierce people, during Severus' 
 memorable campaign, the same writer goes on to state, "Severus 
 having undertaken to reduce the whole island under his subjec- 
 tion, entered into Caledonia, where he had endless fatigues to 
 sustain, forests to cut down, mountains to level, morasses to dry 
 up, and bridges to build. He had no battle to fight, and saw no 
 enemies in a body. Instead of appearing they exposed their flocks 
 of sheep and oxen, with a design to surprise our soldiers that 
 should straggle from the army for the sake of plunder. The 
 waters, too, extremely incommoded our troops, insomuch that 
 some of the soldiers being able to march no farther, begged of 
 their companions to kill them, that they might not fall alive into 
 the enemy's hands." 
 
 This picture is not very dissimilar to that which might be drawn 
 of the late CafFre war with Macomo and Sandilli. 
 
 But, what is not a little curious, the Romans have left behind 
 them a pictorial representation of the ancient people found by their 
 legions in the immediate vicinity of Glasgow. In the Roman 
 Room of the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow College, a piece of 
 
184 APPENDIX. 
 
 sculpture is preserved, having on it a Latin inscription, and the 
 figures of three natives, seated on the ground as prisoners, with 
 their arms tied behind their backs, and guarded by a cavalry 
 soldier, armed with shield and spear, ready to pursue should an 
 attempt be made at escape, while the Roman eagle appears above 
 all. These wild men of the north are naked ; one of them wears a 
 strange-looking cap or bonnet, and all have beards. The expression 
 of their faces is very grim and determined. This sculptured slab is 
 very interesting, being probably the oldest picture of our rude 
 forefathers now extant. It was discovered in the Roman Fort of 
 Castlehill, on the Wall of Antoninus, near New Kilpatrick, and a 
 copy of it appears in the late Robert Stuart's volume, " Caledonia 
 Romana," second edition, plate 9th, fig. 1. On these figures Stuart 
 remarks (p. 307), "Hunted from their retreats, made prisoners, 
 stripped, and bound, they languish in captivity, at the mercy of the 
 invader, who is here seen lording it over them ; on the one hand 
 with victory in his train, while, as if to generalize the subject 
 somewhat more, the imperial eagle triumphs upon the other, 
 above what we must now more than ever understand to be the 
 prostrate emblem of their rocky, sea-girt land, a fabulous hybrid of 
 the goat and seal." 
 
 The early natives adored the sun, moon, and starry host. In- 
 deed, sun-worship, under various forms and allegories, was the 
 religion of a very large portion of the ancient world, both savage 
 and civilized; and to this day traces of it linger in many of our 
 usages, such as dancing round the May-pole in England, the 
 mysterious rites of Halloween in the north, &c. ; while the remains 
 of the Druidical or sun circles, within which the celestial orbs 
 were worshipped, are to be met with all over the country. One of 
 these existed till very lately on the heights of Cathkin, facing 
 Glasgow. 
 
 A very interesting and well-preserved memorial of the remote 
 pagan people of the canoe period is to be seen only a few miles 
 off. It is a monument to their dead, showing that even in these 
 far-distant times the wild men were not insensible to affection for 
 the departed of their tribe. On Craigmaddie Muir stands the 
 Cromlech, or Sepulchral-Trilith, popularly called "The Auld 
 Wives' Lift," and invested with some curious traditions and 
 
APPENDIX. 185 
 
 customs. It consists of three huge stones, two of which support 
 the third. The uppermost is an enormous block of basalt, measur- 
 ing rather more than 18 feet in length, by 11 feet in breadth, and 
 7 in depth. A. small triangular space occurs between the stones, 
 and through this tradition recommends all visitors to pass, desirous 
 not to be childless, and to be safe from the pranks of the Evil 
 One. This fine specimen of the Cromlech strictly belongs to the 
 epoch already alluded to as "the Stone Period," and is in all 
 probability coeval with the Glasgow canoes. 
 
 Such are some of the principal circumstances caught from time 
 regarding these long-lost wild men's boats and their pagan owners, 
 affording many curious points of contrast with men and things in 
 the same locality at the present day. 
 
 Since the preceding pages were written, an eighteenth canoe has 
 been found. The discovery took place at Erskine Ferry, ten miles 
 below Glasgow, in the autumn of 1854. The finder was Gilbert 
 Taylor, the tacksman of the ferry. His attention had been attracted, 
 during unusually low-water, to a strange-looking piece of wood 
 sticking up in the bed of the river ; and curiosity having induced 
 him to examine it more particularly, he found it to be a sunken 
 boat. With some difficulty it was raised and taken on shore, when 
 it proved to be a canoe. Like those already mentioned, it had 
 been scooped out of a single oak. This is the largest of all the 
 Clyde canoes that I have seen. It measures 29 feet in length ; the 
 breadth at the stern about 5 feet, tapering gradually to the bow, 
 with the natural slope of the tree ; the depth at the stern is 3 feet 
 4 inches, and in the centre about 26 inches. The stern had been 
 an open one, with the favourite vertical board in grooves. There 
 had also been at least four seats for the rowers, indentations cut 
 out of the solid wood remaining to indicate where the ends of 
 these cross-seats had rested. These occur at regular intervals of 
 2 feet 7 inches from each other, and had been about 4 inches 
 broad. Judging from appearances, the rowers must have been tall 
 men. This had probably been a war-canoe, and is referable to the 
 transition period between stone and iron. It still lies in the 
 ferryman's premises at Erskine. A more particular account of this 
 Erskine canoe appeared in the " Glasgow Herald " of 31st July, 
 1854. 
 
186 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. V. 
 NOTE ON EARTHQUAKE WAVES. 
 
 WE have, in the recorded accounts of the disturbances in the sur- 
 face of the sea, which appears to be the invariable concomitants of 
 earthquakes, a vera causa quite sufficient to account for the origin of 
 the till. Sir Woodbine Parish's paper " On the Effects of Earth- 
 quake Waves on the Coasts of the Pacific," 1 contains a valuable 
 mass of evidence on this subject; but as the accounts of the parti- 
 cular instances are necessarily much abridged, I think it right to 
 subjoin, to what I have already stated on the subject, one or two 
 extracts from works, all of them of the greatest rarity. The first 
 which I shall refer to is entitled, " A True and Particular Relation 
 of the dreadful Earthquake which happened at Lima, the Capital 
 of Peru, and the Neighbourhood of Callao, on the 28th Oct., 1746^ 
 Published by command of the Viceroy." 8vo, London, 1748. 
 
 The object of the viceroy in publishing this account appears to 
 have been to allay the apprehensions of the inhabitants of Lima, by 
 reminding them of the great altitude of their city, and consequent 
 improbability of such waves reaching them. At page 177 we have 
 the following remarks : 
 
 " The consternation in which their minds were on account of 
 the disaster at Callao, made their fright get the better of their 
 reason, and so perplexed their thoughts that they could not call 
 to mind how high the city stands in respect of the sea ; for in the 
 great square the ground is elevated 170 yards above the surface of 
 the ocean, and still continues rising in the parts that lie to the east. 
 Had this reflection occurred to them, they might easily have been 
 convinced (notwithstanding what old records mention relating to seas 
 overflowing many leagues within land on occasion of other great 
 earthquakes) that the like could never have happened in parts 
 where the land lay so high as that of Lima." 
 
 The effects of the waves at Callao are thus described: 
 
 "Not the least sign of its former figure does now appear; on 
 
 1 " Proceedings Geol. Soc.," vol. ii., p, 214. 
 
APPENDIX. 1 87 
 
 the contrary, vast heaps of sand and gravel occupying the spot of 
 its former foundation. It is at present become a spacious strand 
 extending along that coast. Some few towers, indeed, and the 
 strength of its walls, for a time endured the whole force of the 
 earthquake, and resisted the violence of its shocks; but scarcely 
 had its poor inhabitants begun to recover from the horror of the 
 first fright, which the dreadful ruin and devastation had occasioned 
 (and how great that was is not to be known), when suddenly the 
 sea began to swell, and rose to such a prodigious degree, and 
 with so mighty a compression, that on falling from the height it 
 had attained (although Callao stood above it on an eminence, 
 which, however unperceivable, yet continues still increasing all the 
 way to Lima) it rushed furiously forward, and overflowed with so 
 vast a deluge of water its ancient bounds, that foundering the greater 
 part of the ships which were at anchor in the port, and elevating 
 the rest of them above the height of the walls and towers, drove 
 them on, and left them on dry ground far beyond the town. At 
 the same time, it tore up from the foundations everything that was 
 in it of houses and buildings, excepting only the two great gates, 
 and here and there some small fragments of the walls themselves, 
 which, as registers of the calamity, are still to be seen among the 
 ruins and the waters, a dreadful monument of what they were. 
 In this raging flood were drowned all the inhabitants of the place, 
 who at that time might amount to near 5,000 persons of all ages, 
 sexes, and conditions, according to the most exact calculation 
 that can be made. Such of them as could lay hold of any pieces of 
 timber which the general wreck afforded, floated about for a con- 
 siderable time, and kept themselves above the waves; but those 
 fragments which offered them assistance in their distress proved by 
 their multitude the greatest occasion of their destruction, inas- 
 much as, for want of room to move in, they were continually strik- 
 ing against each other, through the agitation of the waters, and 
 thus beat off those who had clung to them. By some of those who 
 were so happy as to save themselves, amounting at most to 200, 
 we have been informed that the waves in their retreat, encounter- 
 ing one another by means of the obstacles which the water met 
 with at its reflux, surrounded thus the whole town without leaving 
 any means for preservation, and that in the intervals when the 
 
188 APPENDIX. 
 
 violence of the inundation was a little abated by the retiring of the 
 sea, there were heard the most mournful cries, intermixed with the 
 warmest and most earnest exhortations of the ecclesiastics and 
 other religious, who were not forgetful of their ministry even in 
 time of so great distress. . . . 
 
 " Witnesses likewise of this account, and of the shrieks that were 
 heard, are those who, being on board the ships at the time when, 
 by the great elevation of the sea, they were carried quite over the 
 town, as hath been already observed, had the opportunity of escap- 
 ing unhurt. It will not be difficult to conceive the dismal con- 
 fusion and streights which those miserable people found them- 
 selves in, when we consider that they only preserved their lives 
 from each present impetuous attack of the sea, in order to prolong 
 the dreadful affliction which the apprehension of inevitably losing 
 them at the return of the next overwhelming wave must have 
 inevitably occasioned. 
 
 " There were twenty-three ships, great and small, at anchor in the 
 port at the time of the earthquake ; and of these, as hath been 
 mentioned before, some were stranded, being four in number, viz., 
 the San Firmin man-of-war, which was found in the low grounds 
 of the Upper Chacara, the part opposite the place where she rode 
 at anchor, and near her the Sant Antonio, belonging to Don 
 Thomas Costa, which was a new ship just arrived from G-uiaquil, 
 where she was built. The vessel of Don Adrian Corzi rested on 
 the spot where before stood the hospital of St. John of God ; and 
 the ship Succour, of Don Juan Baptista Baguixano, which had just 
 arrived that very evening with a cargo from Chili, was thrown up 
 toward the Cordon Mountains ; both one and the other of them at 
 great distances from the sea, and all the rest of them were foun- 
 dered," (page 146.) 
 
 Lionel Wafer, who made a voyage to the west coast of South 
 America in 1687, visited Santa, a town in lat. 8 40' S., about three 
 miles from the sea, says, " Here I went ashore, and so up to the 
 town. . . . On our way we crossed a small hill ; and in a 
 valley between the hill and the town we saw three small ships, of 
 about sixty or a hundred tons apiece, lodged there, and very ruin- 
 ous. It caused us admiration, and we were puzzled to think how 
 those ships could come there ; but proceeding towards the town, 
 
APPENDIX. 189 
 
 we saw an Indian, whom we called, and he at the first motion came 
 to us. We asked him several questions, and among the rest, how 
 those ships came there ? He told us that about nine years before 
 these three ships were riding in the bay, which is an open place 
 about five or six leagues from point to point, and that an earth- 
 quake came and carried the water out of sight, which stayed away 
 twenty-four hours, and then came in again, tumbling and rowling 
 with such violence that it carried these ships over the town which 
 stood on the hill which we came over, and lodged them there, and 
 that it destroyed the country for a considerable way along the 
 coast," 1 (page 210.) 
 
 I suspect that instead of twenty-four hours we should read 
 twenty-four minutes as that meant by the Indian, because in other 
 cases about twenty minutes is mentioned as the duration, of the 
 retiring wave, and the difference in the language of the parties 
 would easily account for such a mistake. Wafer himself afterwards 
 experienced the shock of an earthquake at sea, and learnt " that at 
 that very time (1687) there was an earthquake at Callao, which is 
 the road for Lima, and that the sea ebbed so far from the shore, 
 that on a sudden there was no water to be seen, and that after it 
 had been away a considerable time, it returned in rowling moun- 
 tains of water, which carried the ships in the road of Callao a 
 league up into the country, overflowed the city of Callao, though 
 it stood upon a hill, together with the fort, and drowned man and 
 beast for sixty leagues along shore, doing mischief even at Lima, 
 though six miles within land from the town of Callao," (page 213.) 
 
 This last-mentioned fact fully justifies the alarms of the inhab- 
 itants of Lima, which the viceroy was so anxious to remove. 
 
 In the earthquake which took place at Valparaiso in Nov., 1822, 
 Mr. Gumming, who was there at the time, states that although " he 
 did not go to the beach during the night, he was informed that the 
 sea had retired a considerable distance, and had returned with 
 great force." 2 On the same night, Mr. Greenough quotes the fol- 
 lowing passage from a Spanish-American paper, u He (Don 
 
 1 " A New Voyage and Description of the Isthmus of America, &c., with 
 Remarkable Occurrences in the South Sea. By Lionel Wafer." 8vo, 
 London, 1699. 
 
 2 "Proceedings Geol. Soc.," vol. ii., p. 213. 
 
1 90 APPENDIX. 
 
 Onofri Bunster) repaired to his boat, and with some difficulty got 
 aboard; this done, he made observations on the motion of the sea; 
 on sounding, the depth was thirteen fathoms ; he heaved the lead a 
 second time, and the depth was no more than eight fathoms." 1 
 
 It is quite unnecessary to multiply the recorded instances of such 
 disturbances on the surface of the sea ; I content myself with re- 
 ferring to the abstract of the paper of Sir Woodbine Parish. It is 
 quite obvious that the rushes of water over the sea bottom and land 
 must have produced the same unstratified, confused deposit, similar 
 to what we know to be the result of violent rushes of water from 
 other causes. With regard to the transported blocks, which are at 
 the same time distant from their parent rocks and angular, and 
 therefore not water-worn, we have in the phenomena of icebergs 
 and gl^iers a sufficient cause of explanation, and so also in the 
 angular fragments of moraines. Professor Nicol, in his paper u On 
 the Recent Formations in the Vicinity of Edinburgh," 2 has figured 
 portions of the till, containing truncated fragments of beds of strati- 
 fied sand, which he considers as produced during deposition." . . . 
 Otherwise, " a rush of water would have mixed up the sand and 
 clay in one confused mass." Now, in the first place, this is exactly 
 the character of the till ; the case in question, of the included frag- 
 ments, is exceptional, and when we remember that the till belongs 
 to the glacial epoch, we may suppose that fragments of frozen soil, 
 under certain circumstances, might have been preserved from the 
 violent action of the water ; but I can conceive no possible case in 
 which the fragments could have been formed simultaneously with 
 the till. 
 
 When we find that the phenomena of the till agrees with what 
 we know to be the effects of violent rushes of water, and when we 
 know of the occurrence of violent rushes of water on the west 
 coast of America, I feel satisfied that the conclusion, that the till 
 owes its origin to similar causes, is in accordance with the strictest 
 rules of inductive reasoning. There is ample proof that the waves 
 referred to are caused by submarine volcanic explosion, the first 
 effect of which is to produce a dome-shaped elevation of the sur- 
 
 1 " Proceedings, Geol. Soc.," vol. ii., p. 58. 
 
 2 " Geol. Soc. Journal," vol. v., 1849, p. 20. 
 
APPENDIX. 191 
 
 41 
 
 face. Sir James Hall, who experimented on the effects of sub- 
 aqueous explosions, states that "in every case a very ma'nifest 
 heave of the surface was produced at the moment of explosion." 1 
 Having witnessed the effects of the explosions in blowing up the 
 wreck of the Royal George, I can add my testimony to the effects 
 on the surface, and in the " Illustrated News " for 1852, at page 
 293, there is the representation of the effects of blowing up a vessel 
 sunk near Gravesend, where, from the shallowness of the water, 
 the effect of the explosion in raising its surface is very remarkable. 
 Such an elevation must have drawn the water from the shore ; and 
 when we read of waves of sixty feet in vertical height, 2 or of 
 eighty-four feet 3 above the sea-level, and remember that the ver- 
 tical height of these waves that is, from the valley between them 
 and their crest must be more than double, for each succeeding 
 wave must be smaller than that which preceded it, and as the re- 
 ceding wave is always first, we have here a horizontal space of 
 perhaps twelve miles in breadth, partly submarine and partly 
 subaerial, and upon this a roller, perhaps 200 feet of perpen- 
 dicular height, it is obvious that the whole space would be covered 
 with unstratified matter, resembling the effects of the rush caused 
 by the bursting of a reservoir or a dammed-up valley, such as 
 that of the Drance. 
 
 1 " Edin. Phil. Trans.," vol. vii., p. 156, pi. VI., f. 1. 
 
 2 " Phil. Trans.," vol. xxix., p. 424. 
 
 3 " Acosta," see note, p. 44. 
 
 BELL AND BAIN, PRINTERS, GLASGOW. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 17, line 12, for " Ardrie," read " Airdrie." 
 
 47, 12, for " pes-pelecani," read " pes-pelicani. 
 
 64, 14, for "termidus," read " tumidus." 
 
 - 64, 17,ybr " ziziphanus," read " zizyphinus." 
 
 155, 2, /or "Praza," recwf " Praya." 
 
Preparing for Publication, 
 SKETCHES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE FRITH OF CLYDE. 
 
 BY WILLIAM KEDDIE, ESQ., 
 
 Secretary of the Philosophical Society of Glasgow ; Lecturer on Natural Science. 
 Free Church College, Glasgow. 
 
 Recently Published, 
 
 |) 0r trait 
 
 OF 
 
 JAMES SMITH, ESQ. OF JORDANHILL, F.R.S., &c. 
 
 A large and fine Photograph by WHITE, size 6 4 by 8 inches. 
 PRICE, UNFRAMED, 7s. 6d. 
 
 The Publisher is prepared to offer a few sets of the more 
 characteristic species of 
 
 SHELLS FROM THE POST-TERTIARY DEPOSITS 
 
 THE FRITH OF CLYDE, 
 
 INCLDDINO 
 
 PANOP/EA NORVEQICA, 
 For One Guinea each Set, 
 
 The suite of specimens will be about Fifty in all, and comprise 
 about Twenty Species. 
 
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 JOHN GRAY, 99 HUTCHESON STREET. 
 
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