MEMOIRS 
 
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 CONTENTS. 
 
 ^ On the Geology of the Lothians. By Robert James 
 Hay Cunningham, Esq. 
 
 €1 
 
 Introductory Remarks, 
 
 General Account of the Lothians, 
 
 4o Transition Rocks, 
 
 % 
 
 Secondary Rocks, 
 
 Junction of the Transition and Secondary, 
 Felspathic Rocks, 
 
 Augitic or Trap Rocks, 
 
 : Ignigenous Rocks, 
 
 Connexions of Neptunian and Plutonian Rocks, 
 
 
 Page 3 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 15 
 35 
 38 
 40 
 
 47 
 
 48 
 
 ■V 
 
 0 < 
 
 Topographical descriptions of Salisbury Craigs, Arthur’s 
 
 Seat, Calton Hill, Castle Rock, the Pentlands, &c. 
 
 5 
 
 &c. 
 
 Alluvial Rocks, 
 
 Physiognomy of the Lothians, 
 -Observations on the Geology of Fife, 
 
 
 51, 110 
 112 
 117 
 
 123 
 
 Sir James Hall’s experiments on rocks of the Lothians, 
 
 &c. 
 
 136 
 
 On the Junction of Greywacke and Sandstone with 
 Granite and Syenite, . . . .146 
 
 Explanation of Geological Map of Lothians and of 
 Plates, . . . . ' . 158 
 
 4 
 
IV 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 On the Natural and Economical History of the 
 Fishes of the River District of the Frith of 
 Forth. By Richard Parnell, M. D. 
 
 Description of the Frith of Forth, . . . 161 
 
 Osseous Fishes. 
 
 Order I. Acanthopterygii, . . . 167 
 
 II. Malacopterygii, . . . 266 
 
 III. Osteodermi, .... 394 
 
 IV. Gymnodontes, . . . .401 
 
 Cartilaginous Fishes. 
 
 Order I. Eleutheropomi, .... 403 
 
 II. Plagiostomi, .... 407 
 
 III. Cyclostomi, .... 442 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 * 
 
 History of the Society (continued from Vol. VI.) . 461 
 
ON THE 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS * 
 
 BY 
 
 ROBERT JAMES HAY CUNNINGHAM, Esq. M. W. S. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 In offering this essay to the consideration of the Wernerian 
 Natural History Society, the author considers that, for the 
 satisfaction of those to whose scrutiny it is submitted, he is 
 called upon to state some of the circumstances attending 
 its production. The necessary investigations were com¬ 
 menced in the beginning of the summer /-of the year 1834, 
 and continued with little interruption till the middle of July, 
 after which they were suspended till March 1835 ; and 
 since that period, up to this date, few weeks have elapsed 
 without more or less time being spent in examination. The 
 deficiencies of the essay, therefore, whatever these may be, 
 cannot be referred to its hasty formation; and if its short¬ 
 ness be considered as hardly agreeing with these state- 
 
 * The Wernerian Natural History Society’s Honorary Premium of 
 Twenty Sovereigns was adjudged to Mr Cunningham for this Essay. 
 
4 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 ments, the author begs leave to mention, that, though the 
 phenomena may have been few which he considered worthy 
 of minute description, this did not (if there was to be 
 an attempt at a geological map of the Lothians) in any 
 way lessen the labour. The country required to be tra¬ 
 versed in all directions in search of appearances worthy of 
 description, and if many excursions were made without the 
 author finding any thing to describe, or even a rock of 
 which a specimen was requisite, still there was the same ex¬ 
 penditure of time and labour as would have taken place if 
 these excursions had been fraught with interest. 
 
 As the Lothians have been traversed in all directions by 
 geologists, little novelty is to be expected in the following 
 pages; yet the author, by verifying and correcting from 
 actual examination all previous accounts, and by adding 
 his own observations, trusts that he will meet the wishes of 
 the Wernerian Natural History Society. From accom¬ 
 panying Professor Jameson in his excursions, he has derived 
 much information, and has endeavoured to conduct his re¬ 
 searches on the principles so ably taught by that experi¬ 
 enced and celebrated geologist. 
 
 The speculative parts of the essay, and the views in re¬ 
 gard to some points in the geology of the Lothians, bear 
 on printed statements, and on others which, although not 
 printed, are well known to the geologists of Edinburgh. 
 
 The maps accompanying this essay have been coloured, 
 as far as possible, in accordance with Professor Jameson's 
 paper “ On the colouring of Geological Maps,” which is 
 published in the first volume of the Wernerian Transac¬ 
 tions v*U the tints, however, have been made more intense, 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 5T 
 
 O 
 
 as the dark engraving of the maps would, in many cases, 
 have rendered the colours, if no deeper than those recom¬ 
 mended in that paper, hardly visible.* - The sections have 
 been formed on the same system of colouring, and when 
 other colours were required, those were selected which ap¬ 
 peared to harmonize best. In regard to the objects of these 
 sections it may be stated, that they were selected from 
 all those points where the connections of the rocks are 
 in any way interesting. The specimens which accom¬ 
 pany the memoir, were selected in the same manner: no 
 rock which the author considered interesting did he in¬ 
 tentionally pass. In regard to the paucity of the speci¬ 
 mens which have been collected in Linlithgowshire, it may 
 be remarked, that few rocks were found which had not been 
 already noticed in the counties of Haddington and Edin¬ 
 burgh, and, as specimens of these had been selected, the 
 fact of finding the same rocks in a different locality, ap¬ 
 peared to render their collection unnecessary. 
 
 There still remains to be noticed one circumstance attend¬ 
 ing this essay, and which may perhaps require explanation ; 
 and this is the fact of there being in it no attempt to give 
 details connected with the “ Coal Workings The reason 
 which the author had for not entering on this part of the 
 subject was, that he considered that such an investigation lay 
 more in the way of the professional coal-viewer, than of one 
 engaged in purely geological investigations. He did not, 
 therefore, attempt to draw up sections or ground-plans of 
 coal-workings, or to inquire into the quantities of known coal. 
 
 * The maps here referred to are those which were lodged with the es¬ 
 say. They were those published by Mr Thomson of Edinburgh. 
 
GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 0 
 
 That his non-attention to this department, however, has in 
 no way been the means of causing him to overlook ap¬ 
 pearances of interest, in a scientific sense, he is inclined 
 to believe, from the perfect similarity attending the rela¬ 
 tions of those various beds of coal which have actually fallen 
 under his notice. 
 
GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 
 
 7 
 
 THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 That portion of Scotland, which is bounded on the north 
 by a line drawn from the Firth of Forth to the Firth of 
 Clyde, is composed entirely of rocks of the Secondary and 
 Transition classes. The former of these is traversed by ig- 
 nigenous masses of the Felspar and Trap families, while the 
 latter, besides being connected with these rocks, is broken 
 through in several places by different granites and syenites. 
 As it very generally happens that the oldest rocks of a 
 country are those which attain the greatest altitude, while 
 the newer formations which skirt them, form, according to 
 
 ' 7 O 
 
 their relative ages, either the hilly or the low land ; so here, 
 the mountainous districts are composed of the older rocks, 
 viz. the grey wacke and transition slates (strata, which con¬ 
 stitute the more or less uninterrupted high land which ex¬ 
 tends from St Abb’s Head to Port Patrick in Wigtonshire), 
 while the plains and less elevated country, exhibit only rocks 
 referable to one of those groups which collectively form the 
 great series of secondary formations.* All the strata of 
 this class, which occur in the southern division of Scot¬ 
 land, are to be referred to the carboniferous group. In 
 several details these rocks will be found to differ from the 
 
 * The geognostical characters of the great high land mentioned in the 
 text were first made known by Professor Jameson, who, indeed, was the 
 first geologist who pointed out the occurrence of Transition rocks in Great 
 Britain. 
 
8 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 same as occurring in England ; these differences are, 
 however, only such as might be expected to be observ¬ 
 able in a deposit extending over a large area: one part 
 of a formation may be more fully developed in one si¬ 
 tuation than in another, or it may even be entirely awant- 
 ing. In regard to the mutual associations of the Augitic 
 and Felspathic masses, we may remark that, although no natu¬ 
 ral sections exhibit the relative ages of these rocks; still, from 
 the examination of other districts, which are partially com¬ 
 posed of both ; from the circumstance of the trap family be¬ 
 ing so generally distributed among the carboniferous strata, 
 and also from the eruptions of the trachytes (which may be 
 considered as the modern analogues of the ancient porphy¬ 
 ries and felspars), being, in general, anterior to those of rocks 
 having a basaltic character, it is highly probable that the 
 series of felspar masses, which is so generally associated with 
 the Transition deposits, is of a formation more ancient than 
 the basalts and greenstones. In the three counties the geo- 
 gnostical structure of which it is the subject of this paper to 
 describe, extensive districts of both Transition and Secondary 
 strata occur, and, as we have just stated, the higher grounds 
 are composed almost entirely of the older rocks. Before 
 entering upon a minute topographical description of these 
 two great classes, and also before we define their geogra¬ 
 phical distribution, we shall describe both in a general man¬ 
 ner ; and as in all geognostical descriptions, it appears to be 
 most natural to follow the ascending series, so here we shall 
 first notice the 
 
 TRANSITION ROCKS. 
 
 To classify, according to nature, the variousmineral masses 
 which constitute the crust of our globe, has been the endea¬ 
 vour of geologists, from that epoch in the history of the sci¬ 
 ence when it was first discovered, that, to arrive at the know- 
 
TRANSITION ROCKS. 
 
 0 
 
 ledge of the earth’s structure, wemust haverecourseto minute 
 investigation. Many have proposed arrangements of the 
 strata, which they, as the authors,have, of course, considered 
 less liable to objection than those for which they were substi¬ 
 tuting them. In all these arrangements, there has been no 
 one division of the stratified part of the earth, more uni¬ 
 versally considered false and unnatural, than that of the 
 (i Transition classT It has been said to have no natural ex¬ 
 istence, but to be the mere creation of minds fettered by pre¬ 
 conceived theories. As an objection to the term “ transition ", 
 some have urged that it is one derived from that theory, 
 which affirms, that the rocks of this epoch were formed, du¬ 
 ring the passage of the globe, from a state unfitted for the ex¬ 
 istence of organic beings, to one which wascalculated for their 
 preservation. If geologists have, in the course of their in¬ 
 vestigations, come to any certainty concerning the ancient 
 states of our globe, there is certainly no one doctrine sup¬ 
 ported by a greater number of facts, than that of progres- 
 » 
 
 sive development. Many remains have been adduced as 
 belonging to beings, which held a place in the zoological 
 scale, higher than was consistent with this theory. With 
 one exception, however, all these remains have been found, 
 on more accurate and better conducted examination, to be, 
 instead of dissentient facts, beautiful proofs of its truth. The 
 exception to which we refer* is as yet, perhaps, unexplained, 
 and by some is considered as a stumbling block which must 
 cause the fall of this theory. If, however, we remember that 
 all the other exceptions have been explained, and that the 
 “ Crocodiles' 1 teeth” of Burdiehouse, which Lyell considered 
 as indicative of the entire fallacy of this theory, have been 
 found by Professor Jameson, and afterwards by Agassiz, to 
 
 * The occurrence of didelphic remains in the slate of Stonesfield, a 
 member of the oolitic series. 
 
10 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTH1ANS. 
 
 belong to fishes; and that the supposed Trionyx of the old red 
 sandstone of Caithness is also found to be a fish ; we may ex¬ 
 pect that, on more extended investigations, the nature of the 
 Stonesfield remains will appear in no way at variance with 
 their geognostical position. As it seems most accordant with 
 the rules of philosophical induction, to consider that as the 
 best founded theory which is most generally applicable, so 
 one solitary apparent exception should be the more dili¬ 
 gently examined ; it ought to be viewed on every side and 
 in all its details, whether it may be reconcilable with the 
 theory against which it appears to militate, rather than be 
 eagerly laid hold of, as a weapon to subvert one derived 
 from apparently legitimate generalizations. To account 
 for the non-appearance of highly organized remains in old 
 rocks, it has been asserted that causes have existed adequate 
 to effect their complete obliteration. 44 Mechanical pressure, 
 derangements by subterraneous movements, the action of 
 chemical affinity,” have all been summoned up to account 
 for the disappearance of animal remains which have (if wemay 
 judge from evidence as strong as any attending a science, 
 the facts of which are in few instances open to experiment), 
 perhaps, never been in existence. How fickle in its actions 
 must have been that 44 lapidifying process”! which could pre¬ 
 serve, even to a delicate spine, a frail shell,and be too destruc¬ 
 tive to allow even the fragment of a bone of a bird or mammi- 
 ferous animal to be visible in our older secondary rocks! 
 It has been told us, that as the bottom of the existing ocean 
 has not been dredged 44 throughout an area co-extensive with 
 that occupied by the carboniferous rocks,” thus enabling 
 us to calculate the chances which will bring up the relic of 
 a mammifer; so the fact of the non-appearance of these re¬ 
 mains ought not to be considered as a proof of their non-ex- 
 
TRANSITION ROCKS. 
 
 ri 
 
 istence. But, as has been well remarked, “ Every island, 
 every continent, has formed part of an ancient bed of the 
 ocean, and this ancient bed is exposed to the examination 
 of thousands of observers in every degree of latitude not 
 covered by polar snows.” Further, on finding this state¬ 
 ment in a work which proposes a classification of tertiary 
 strata, however ancient, by merely acquiring a knowledge of 
 the extinct and existing species contained in each, are there 
 not marks of inconsistency P It is reckoned unsafe to judge 
 of the utter absence of highly organized animals, in very 
 old strata, by their not having as yet been found ; while the 
 fact of a tertiary system of strata containing a greater per¬ 
 centage of extinct shells than another, is considered as per¬ 
 fectly demonstrative of its greater age. We are not wishing 
 to inquire whether, in these instances, such a mode of exa¬ 
 mination will infallibly lead to a just conclusion or not; but 
 it appears to be drawn as an inference from appearances pre¬ 
 cisely similar to those, which have induced geologists to be- 
 lieveinaprogression of development. As an argument against 
 the doctrine of progressive development, it has been affirmed 
 that the corals and mollusca, which lived in the ancient seas, 
 were not of a more simple structure than those which at pre¬ 
 sent exist. Those, however, who advocated the opinion that, 
 from the oldest fossiliferous deposit to the formations of our 
 own epoch, there were proofs, from examining fossil bodies, 
 that the standard of organization was gradually, and not 
 instantaneously, raised, never, either directly or indirectly 
 pronounced, as their opinion, that this “ progressive de¬ 
 velopment” of organized beings was evinced by compar¬ 
 ing the members of any one genus, as they occurred in con¬ 
 secutive formations. It was never affirmed, as far as we 
 are aware, by any geologist, that, if a certain natural class 
 of organized fossil remains was observable in several forma- 
 
12 
 
 GEOLOGY OP THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 tions, (the relative ages of which were indicated by superpo¬ 
 sition) we must expect to find in the oldest of these forma¬ 
 tions or series of strata, individuals of this natural class 
 having a more simple structure than those imbedded in the 
 newest. But it was insisted, and is yet (though some ima¬ 
 gine that they see in the laws which now govern organized 
 bodies in all their relations, and in the globe itself, an almost 
 eternal and uniform system of legislation), that the earth’s 
 strata exhibit proofs from their contents, that certain epochs 
 have been characterized by the creation of the several main 
 links of the zoological chain. 
 
 The term “ Transition” has been discarded by a celebrated 
 geologist upon another ground; but unfortunately the rea¬ 
 son why the term was applied has been misunderstood. Mr 
 Phillips, in his “ Guide to Geology,” after saying, that some 
 geologists make a Transition class of rocks, affirms “ that 
 this is needless, for such passages are not thought necessary 
 to be marked in other instances.” When Werner named a 
 certain class of rocks “ Transition,” it was done, not from 
 discovering that they passed into the inferior or more crystal¬ 
 line rocks, but from the conclusions which he drew from find¬ 
 ing, that, in this series, for the first time, marks of animal 
 and vegetable life occurred ; and that these were remains of 
 beings which possessed a structure of the most simple na¬ 
 ture. He so named this series of rocks, not because it pass¬ 
 ed by mineral character, or alternation, into his “ Primitive 
 class ;” but because his examination of its contents, and 
 relations to associated rocks, made him draw the inference, 
 that it had been formed during the passage of the globe, 
 from a state in which vegetable and animal life existed not, 
 to one fitted for its preservation.* The term “ Transi- 
 
 * “ They are supposed to have been deposited during the passage or 
 transition of the earth from its chaotic to its habitable state.”— Jameson's 
 Geognosy, p. 14G. Edinburgh. 1808. 
 
TRANSITION ROCKS. 
 
 13 
 
 tion” was theoretical; but it is upheld by as many proofs as 
 any other acquired portion of geological knowledge. As 
 regards the objection to the term Transition, that it is un¬ 
 natural, inasmuch as the rocks of this class pass into the infe¬ 
 rior and more crystalline strata, and in the upper parts into 
 those of secondary formation, it may be asked—Where is the 
 series of rocks, which, however distinct and separate from 
 its associated formations it may appear to be in one coun¬ 
 try, has not been observed in other localities to alternate 
 with and pass into them ? If in all cases, however, these 
 appearances were considered hostile to forming arrange¬ 
 ments of the globe’s strata into great divisions, it is evi¬ 
 dent that no classification could be formed from the rela- 
 • tive superposition of strata, and that one from some other 
 system of phenomena would be necessary. Though these 
 transitions of strata into each other, however, are conspi¬ 
 cuous, there is still no reason why such transitions should 
 be considered as affording a reason that from 44 gisement” 
 strata should not be arranged. When viewed on the large 
 scale, that on which all geological appearances ought to 
 be viewed, the series which, from superposition, is to be 
 acknowledged as of one formation, is also, from its being 
 characterized by one or more classes of fossilized organic 
 bodies, and in many instances by a wonderful similarity 
 of mineral character, to be considered as the uninterrupted 
 production of a certain geological epoch. The mineral 
 characters of the transition rocks which occur in the 
 Lothians, are limited. The Grey wacke is, in general, a fine 
 aggregate of minute grains of quartz and Lydian-stone, im¬ 
 bedded in a base approaching to clay-slate, and containing 
 scales of mica very generally distributed through it. In 
 size, the components of the greywacke vary ; they occur of 
 all magnitudes, between that of the smallest sand and a fine 
 
14 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTIIIANS. 
 
 conglomerate; and, when very compact, its mechanical na¬ 
 ture is not very easily recognised. The Clay-slate, which is 
 frequently associated with the greywacke, into which it 
 passes, and with which it alternates, is of various shades of 
 ash, bluish and smoke grey. Its general aspect is earthy, 
 and it never assumes that crystalline appearance which emi¬ 
 nently characterizes that of an older formation, viz. the slate 
 associated with gneiss and mica-slate. In the strata of grey¬ 
 wacke there is also sometimes a striped appearance, identi¬ 
 cal with that exhibited by the coal formation shales, and, in 
 some districts, it contains numerous minute veins of mas¬ 
 sive quartz, and layers of red haematite. The uniform 
 sameness of the mineral characters of the Transition 
 rocks, in countries far removed from each other, is a proof 
 that the causes, from the actions of which they resulted, 
 were almost universal; a fact which is at complete vari¬ 
 ance with that system of geology, which sees only in the 
 various rocks of our continents the long-continued action of 
 existing causes. By the term “ universal,'” however, it is 
 not intended to be implied that at one period the earth 
 was covered completely by an envelope of greywacke strata. 
 Such an opinion, either in regard to it or any other forma¬ 
 tion, is contradicted by every appearance. But it is wished 
 to be only understood as intimating that, during the epoch of 
 the greywacke’s formation, it is probable that, when deposi¬ 
 tions of strata took place over the globe, they were in cir¬ 
 cumstances which allowed only the deposition of a grey¬ 
 wacke. The idea which supposes, that, if a deposition of 
 strata took place, that deposition must in all parts be simi¬ 
 lar, because there existed a series of causes over the whole 
 globe, which if called into action produced the same effects, 
 is quite different from that which assumes that these causes 
 acted at one given period over the whole globe. If all 
 
TRANSITION ROCKS. I 5 
 
 the deposits at present forming below the waters of the 
 ocean, could be looked upon in one wide extended plain, it 
 would be found that their mineral characters are so differ¬ 
 ent in different places, that little similarity could be traced 
 amongst them. That deposit which resulted from the ero¬ 
 sion of a granitic district, would present the characters of 
 various red sandstones; that which was produced by the 
 comminution of quartz rock, would approach in character 
 to a white sandstone ; while the formations which were 
 formed from the disintegration of secondary or tertiary dis¬ 
 tricts, would consist of various alternations of sands, ^ravels 
 
 7 7 o 
 
 and clays. In all these supposed cases there is nothing si¬ 
 milar to that uniformity of mineral character which is con¬ 
 spicuous in older formations ; a fact which indicates that the 
 causes effecting these formations were very general, and that 
 similar circumstances existed over an immense portion, if 
 not over all the globe at one period. 
 
 SECONDARY ROCKS. 
 
 Having now noticed generally the transition rocks of the 
 Lothians, we shall next describe that series of Secondary 
 strata which forms almost the whole of the counties of Edin¬ 
 burgh, Haddington, and Linlithgow. The Secondary series 
 of the Lothians is not composed of one and the same rock, 
 but is, on the contrary, an example of a compound forma¬ 
 tion, inasmuch as it is an assemblage of red and white sand¬ 
 stones, variously coloured shales, and limestone, all of which 
 are so associated with each other, that their synchronism of 
 deposition is conspicuously evident. The white sandstone 
 group of the Lothians has, as we have before stated, al¬ 
 ways been considered as belonging to the Independent Coal 
 Formation. This series differs in several respects from the 
 coal-measures of England. It would certainly indicate a 
 
16 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 state of things entirely different from the present, if a for¬ 
 mation, whose relative position in the crust of the globe 
 was in one country correctly ascertained, exhibited in 
 every other a strictly uniform sameness in its mineralogi- 
 cal and fossilogical characters. If contemporaneous for¬ 
 mations were identical in all their details, the determina¬ 
 tion of strata would be conducted in a manner far different 
 from what it is. Instead of traversing extensive districts, 
 examining the relations of an unknown rock to others whose 
 natures were apparent, and from superposition and other 
 characters ascertaining geological equivalents, the mere view 
 of a characteristic specimen would be sufficient ; and from 
 geology being one of the most intellectual of Sciences, one 
 which requires minute investigation, it would deserve hardly 
 to be considered as an Art. 
 
 Authors, in describing that series of rocks which lies,in the 
 regular succession, below the magnesian limestone, and above 
 the transition formations, divide it into the Old Red Sand¬ 
 stone, Mountain Limestone, and Coal Formation, drawing 
 lines of demarcation between all these deposits. Though, 
 from observing, in some countries, that the position of one 
 or all of these deposits is so unconformable, that it is only 
 to be accounted for by the state of repose which existed 
 during their several depositions, having been interrupted 
 by disturbing causes, still there is no reason to conclude 
 that this unconformability is to be observed in all countries. 
 This is to assume, that igneous actions in the early ages of 
 the world, differed entirely from those which now operate, 
 and also that the upraisures of contemporaneous strata were 
 themselves contemporaneous. A deposit which is completely 
 separated from that which succeeds it in one country, may 
 in another make a transition into it by numerous alterna¬ 
 tions; and thus we have a proof that breaks in the sequence 
 
SECONDARY ROCKS.—GENERAL RELATIONS. 17 
 
 of strata, are, if viewed with the extent of the globe, only 
 local. In the Lothians the divisions of old red sandstone, 
 and mountain limestone, are unnatural; for strata which, 
 in one locality, might, from their relations to others, be 
 considered as the old red sandstone, are, in another, found 
 to occupy a position which renders this impossible. If these 
 sandstones are found both above and below the mountain 
 limestone, and are frequently seen to alternate with it on 
 the large and small scale, it is evident that they form one 
 deposit ; that the causes which produced them were not 
 interrupted by paroxysms of violence. In the Lothians 
 and in Fife, there are many points which evince that the old 
 red sandstone, mountain limestone, and coal formation, can¬ 
 not, as developed in these districts, naturally be separated. 
 
 Professor Jameson, in his Mineralogical Account of Dum- 
 fries-shire, p. 165, enumerates several localities in the Lo¬ 
 thians and in Germany, where red sandstone is found in¬ 
 timately connected with the white sandstone series. In re¬ 
 gard to the occurrence of red and brown sandstone, the 
 Professor states, “ 1st, In lower Silesia, nearly the whole of 
 the coal-field is composed of reddish-brown and cochineal 
 coloured sandstone, with which great beds of coal alternate. 
 2dly, In the coal-field of Mid-Lothian we have the follow¬ 
 ing instances of similar coloured sandstone occurring in the 
 coal formation : a. In Dry den Water, near Loanhead, there 
 are several beds of reddish-brown coloured sandstone, ac¬ 
 companied by similar coloured ironstone in the coal for¬ 
 mation. b. Near Mr Cameron’s paper-mills, on the banks 
 of the Esk, there are thick beds of reddish-coloured sand¬ 
 stone, that evidently belong to the coal formation, and the 
 same rock continues in the direction of the river, forming 
 the picturesque cliffs of Hawthornden and Roslin, and ex¬ 
 tends even to Auchindinny Bridge, c. Immediately behind 
 themanse of Collinton there is a beautiful section of the 
 
 V OL. Vlf. 
 
 B 
 
18 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTH IANS . 
 
 coal-field. The strata are semicircular and have their con¬ 
 vexities uppermost, or form what is called a saddle ; they 
 are of a reddish-brown colour, and alternate with layers of 
 greyish-black coloured slate-clay, and reddish-brown colour¬ 
 ed clay-ironstone. On each extremity of the saddle rest 
 the more common rocks, viz. grey-coloured sandstone, glo¬ 
 bular clay-ironstone, &c. d. The rock on which Craigmillar 
 Castle is situated, belongs to the coal formation of Mid-Lo¬ 
 thian. It is composed of horizontal beds of greyish and red¬ 
 dish-coloured sandstone, that alternate with their beds of 
 reddish-coloured slate-clay and limestone conglomerate, e. 
 The hill of Salisbury Crags belongs to the coal formation, 
 and in it we observe repeated alternations of reddish-coloured 
 sandstone, clay-ironstone, slate-clay, and limestone conglo¬ 
 merate.'” 
 
 In Fife, the coast between Dysart and Wemyss exhibits 
 four alternations of the red with the white sandstone; and 
 in the course of the Bevelaw Burn, a small stream which 
 runs for a few miles at the base of the Pentland range, 
 the white sandstone underlies the red. In other quarters 
 this arrangement is completely reversed ; as on the coast of 
 East Lothian, between the Cove and Dunglass Burn, where 
 the white coal-sandstone overlies the red. By following the 
 courses of the Dunglass, Bilsdean, and Thornton burns, 
 the transitions of the white sandstone series into the red, are 
 most satisfactorily displayed; the strata, as they recede 
 from the sea, gradually assuming a red colour, till, at last, 
 they pass into the red sandstone. In that part of the Esk 
 river which runs past Arniston and Kirkhill, there are nu¬ 
 merous alternations of the red with the white sandstone. 
 Much also of the country intervening between Drummore- 
 mill and Hawthornden, through which the Esk flows, is 
 formed of the same red sandstone : its relations, however, to 
 the white sandstone, are evident, and exhibit nothing fitted 
 
SECONDARY ROCKS—GENERAL RELATIONS. 19 
 
 to justify the misconceptions of some who have examined it.* 
 The mountain limestone, which, if it preserved that position 
 which it is generally found to occupy in other districts, 
 would be a formation separating the white from the red sand¬ 
 stone series, occurs in the Lothians connected with both. 
 While making these statements indicating that the causes 
 which produced the Secondary formations of the Lothians 
 were uninterrupted during the deposition of the series, and 
 that this circumstance accounts for the various alternations 
 of its members, we may remark, that there has been a source 
 of error in the belief, that in all instances three distinct de¬ 
 posits,! viz., the Old Red Sandstone, the Mountain Lime- 
 
 * Dr Hibbert, in his paper “ On the Limestone of Burdiehouse,” publish¬ 
 ed in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, vol. xiii., 
 page 137, affirms, that, by ignigenous action, <c there has been an emer¬ 
 gence of beds even inferior to the carboniferous group,” and cites the 
 Pentlands and the coast of North Berwick as localities. The strata ex¬ 
 posed there, however, are all of the same general nature as the red sand¬ 
 stones of other places, which, by their relations to the white sandstones, 
 so clearly indicate that both series constitute one contemporaneous 
 formation. The red sandstone of Hawthornden, exhibited also to Dr H. 
 some appearances which caused this observer to believe that it had 
 been deposited soon after the formation of the Transition rocks. In re¬ 
 gard to what these were we are ignorant; but if viewed in all its relations, 
 it will be found to form only one of those deposits of red sandstone, 
 which, with those of white sandstone, coal, and shale, form the second¬ 
 ary system of the Lothians, and geognostically represent the coal forma¬ 
 tion. 
 
 + As an instance of this we may mention the conclusions to which 
 Messrs Sedgwick and Murchison came, after examining the secondary 
 formations of the island of Arran. In that island two red sandstones oc¬ 
 cur, the one above, the other below, the strata of white sandstone con¬ 
 taining beds of coal, while the Mountain Limestone occurs interstratified 
 with both. After examining this district, these geologists were led to 
 consider that series of red sandstone strata, which was in the more im¬ 
 mediate vicinity of the old rocks, as the Scottish representative of the 
 old red sandstone of England : the assemblage of white sandstone was by 
 them described as the Coal formation ; while the red sandstone which lay 
 above it, was stated to be the equivalent of the new red sandstone of 
 England, differing from it, however, in this circumstance, that in Arran 
 it was conformable with the coal formation. By 
 
 B 2 
 
20 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 stone, and the Coal Formation, separate, without ever 
 blending into each other, the New Red Sandstone from the 
 Transition Rocks. It is this alone which has made some 
 declare that the series of red sandstone strata, which, in 
 some places, is found above the true Coal Deposits, be¬ 
 longs to the New Red Sandstone. To determine the age of 
 strata, they must be examined through their whole extent, 
 and their position in the globe's crust is only to be ascertain¬ 
 ed by studying all their various phenomena. Though the red 
 sandstone, white sandstone, and limestone, of the Lothians, 
 may not, from the circumstance of their being so intimately 
 connected, be considered exactly similar to the carboniferous 
 series of other districts, though, perhaps, they exhibit not 
 that invariableness of position which characterizes them 
 elsewhere, still, in the circumstance of the red sandstone and 
 conglomerate being most remarkably developed in those 
 parts of the country which are in the vicinity of the older 
 rocks, they exhibit an appearance similar to that observable 
 in other and more distant localities. The conglomerates of 
 the lower parts of the series are, from the size of the mass¬ 
 es which compose them, highly indicative of the great me¬ 
 chanical action which must have operated in their forma¬ 
 tion. 
 
 Though conchological contents characteristic of a forma¬ 
 tion, the position of which relatively to others is known, be 
 found in districts at a great distance from those in which the 
 
 By comparing this series of red and white sandstone with the same as 
 developed in the Lothians, or even in the adjoining coast of Ayrshire, 
 the identity of the two is easily made out, and that sandstone which was 
 by these gentlemen considered as the new red sandstone, becomes on¬ 
 ly a member of the great secondary series of the Lothians, no one of 
 which can be naturally separated from the others, if throughout the 
 whole extent of their distribution we examine their mode of arrangement 
 relatively to each other. This view of the sandstone of Arran was pro¬ 
 posed by Professor Jameson, in one of a series of memoirs on the geo¬ 
 logy of Arran, read to the Wernerian Society several years ago. 
 
SECONDARY ROCKS.—GENERAL RELATIONS. 
 
 21 
 
 deposit of an understood geological age occurs, still we are 
 not to consider that these far separated deposits must neces¬ 
 sarily be of the same age. That they may be, is possible, but 
 it is as probable that they may not, and their evidence is 
 never to be opposed to that affordedby superposition. 
 
 That the red conglomerates and sandstones of the Lo- 
 thians are not derived from the consolidation of sands and 
 rolled masses brought from a great distance, is apparent, 
 from the fact that no rock-fragments are found in them, 
 but such as occur in situ in their more immediate neigh¬ 
 bourhood. That vast deposit of red sandstone conglo¬ 
 merate which skirts continuously the Greywacke formation 
 of the Lammermuirs, from Redheugh in Berwickshire to 
 Heartside in Haddingtonshire, and which rises into moun¬ 
 tain masses in several parts, is entirely composed of variously 
 shaped rolled masses of greywacke and transition-slate. Be¬ 
 sides containing masses of the stratified or Neptunian rocks, 
 on which the conglomerates rest, they also, though rarely, 
 include rolled masses of members of the felspar series. 
 In the red sandstone hill of Chesters, near the village 
 of Spott in East Lothian, masses of felspar-porphyry 
 occur, and, in the conglomerates of Carlops and Hab- 
 bie’s How, fragments of compact felspar are abundant. 
 These appearances therefore indicate that all the mem¬ 
 bers of the felspar series of the Lothians are not newer 
 than the carboniferous formations; but prove, on the con¬ 
 trary, that by being subjected to aqueous attrition, they 
 have contributed to the formation of these strata. The 
 white sandstone series, which alternates with the red, and 
 has been entitled The Independent Coal Formation, is, like 
 the red sandstone, compound ; it is an assemblage of white 
 sandstones, slate-clay, bituminous shale, clay ironstone, and 
 coal. In the Red Sandstone series, the sandstone is in ge- 
 
22 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 neral of a bright red colour, and conglomerates are abun¬ 
 dant ; but, as the name implies, those of the white sand¬ 
 stone group are generally white, and conglomerates are com¬ 
 paratively rare. The shales accompanying the red sand¬ 
 stone strata, are of various shades of blue, green, yellow, 
 and red; while those associated with the white sandstone 
 are generally grey : bituminous shale also is very rare in 
 the former series, while in the latter it is largely deve¬ 
 loped. The abundant diffusion of coal beds in the white 
 sandstone series, is another characteristic feature of this 
 group, for when these do occur connected with red sand¬ 
 stone, they are, with few exceptions, situated in what may 
 be considered as a debateable ground between the two 
 classes of strata, and in those portions which partake of 
 characters of both. Another rock which we have men¬ 
 tioned as occurring in the Lothians, is the Mountain Lime¬ 
 stone. This, as we have previously stated, is not here, as 
 in those districts of England or Ireland where it occurs 
 a distinct and separate formation. It occurs in the red 
 sandstone series of the Lothians, forming, in some loca¬ 
 lities, considerable beds, but its comparative scarcity in it 
 is to be considered as a mark eminently distinguishing this 
 series from that of the white sandstone group. 
 
 Having now described the general relations of the various 
 secondary rocks of the Lothians to each other, we shall 
 enumerate their several mineralogical ranges of character. 
 The red sandstone, which we have mentioned as the fre¬ 
 quent occupant of the lowest part of the series, is in general 
 a fine aggregate of grains of quartz and felspar, held 
 together by a basis of ferruginous clay; scales of mica 
 are profusely distributed through it, and frequently, by 
 their great abundance, it assumes a slaty structure. A 
 coarse conglomerate forms a part of the red sandstone se- 
 
SECONDARY ROCKS.—MINERALOGICAL CHARACTERS. 23 
 
 ries. It is of two kinds ; one variety, as we have before 
 stated, being entirely formed of variously sized masses of 
 greywacke and its slates, and occurring in immediate connec¬ 
 tion with the transition ranges of the Lammermuirs ; while 
 another, which is met with only in different parts of the 
 Pentland district, and in the neighbourhood of Penny- 
 cuick, is composed of rounded masses of quartz-rock, grey¬ 
 wacke, flinty-slate, felspar, and common jasper, imbedded 
 in a base of similar fragments. At Danskin, in East Lo¬ 
 thian, and in the mountain valley of Glencorse, both con¬ 
 glomerates are well marked. The hills which occur on 
 both sides of Dunglass Burn, are composed of this rock, 
 which has resulted from the disintegration of the grey¬ 
 wacke, and the masses which form it are on such a co¬ 
 lossal scale, and held together so very loosely, that it might 
 be mistaken for a formation of very modern date. The red 
 sandstone forms extensive districts in Berwickshire, and 
 much of that part of East Lothian which ranges along the 
 northern front of the Lammermuirs. As that of several 
 other parts of Scotland, the red sandstone of the Lothians 
 is eminently characterized by containing in many places nu¬ 
 merous circular yellowish-green markings, in the centre of 
 which there is frequently a black coloured spot. Though red 
 is the predominating colour of the red sandstone series, still, 
 associated with it, there are other sandstones of various shades 
 of brown and grey. Variegated sandstones are abundant, 
 brown or red markings occurring in a field of white sand¬ 
 stone ; as examples of these, the sandstones of Salisbury 
 Crags and Dunbar are conspicuous. Interstratified with 
 the shales of the red sandstone series, clay-ironstone some¬ 
 times occurs; it is, however, perfectly different in its charac¬ 
 ters from those clay-ironstones which are so abundantly in¬ 
 terstratified with the white sandstones and shales of the white 
 
24 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 sandstone group; it is in general of a brick-red colour, and 
 contains a considerable proportion of calcareous matter. 
 Unlike the clay-ironstone of the coal formation, that of the 
 red sandstone series never exhibits an internal structure, and 
 is characterized completely by the circumstance of its 
 never containing, as the former frequently does, an organic 
 nucleus. 
 
 The white sandstone of the great carboniferous group is 
 composed of minute grains of quartz, held together by a 
 ground of argillaceous or calcareous matter: mica is often 
 present, and, as in the red sandstone, frequently produces 
 a schistose arrangement. Felspar, which is very generally 
 distributed through the red sandstone in grains, is in the 
 white far more sparingly disseminated. Bituminous mat¬ 
 ter occurs in great abundance in the coal sandstones, and 
 frequently is so equally distributed as to cause them to 
 assume a black colour; whereas in the other sandstones, 
 it forms only small layers, which are arranged in posi¬ 
 tions parallel to the planes of stratification. By containing 
 large rock fragments, this sandstone sometimes becomes 
 conglomerated; these conglomerates are, however, seldom 
 so coarse as those associated with the red sandstones. 
 The fragments are jasper, quartz, Lydian stone, compact 
 felspar, and flinty-slate, imbedded in an aggregate of smaller 
 masses. At Liberton Brae, a conglomerate associated 
 with the coal sandstone contains fragments of red sandstone, 
 varying in size from the smallest dimensions to the bulk of 
 a man's head. 
 
 The slates which accompany the white coal formation 
 sandstone are of two kinds,—Argillaceous Shale or Slate- 
 Clay, and Bituminous Shale; neither of these, however, 
 possess a wide range of mineralogical character. The former 
 is in general of a grey colour, while the latter is most 
 
SECONDARY ROCKS.- MINERALOGICAL CHARACTERS! 25 
 
 frequently of a black, or blackish-brown, containing oc¬ 
 casionally minute scales of mica. The colour of these two 
 slates is not uniformly sufficiently indicative of their distinct 
 natures, and as it is highly necessary, in an economical point of 
 view, that they should be easily recognised, we may remark, 
 that in the streak we have a character which at once de¬ 
 cides them. The slate-clay has a streak without lustre 
 and of a grey colour, while that of the bituminous shale 
 has a resinous lustre and a brown colour. The bitumi¬ 
 nous shale frequently makes a transition into coal; exam¬ 
 ples of which are to be observed on the shore below Kirk- 
 aldy and Dysart. 
 
 Clay-Ironstone, the next member of this series, is possessed 
 of several characters which render its examination a subject 
 of considerable interest. The clay-ironstone has in ge¬ 
 neral a blackish-grey colour, with a conchoidal fracture 
 and no lustre; it occurs in two positions, either as strata of 
 inconsiderable thickness, alternating with the several mem¬ 
 bers of the coal formation, or in rows of spheroidal lenticular 
 masses, imbedded in shales, and arranged in lines parallel 
 to the direction of the strata. On fracturing the lenticu¬ 
 lar concretions of ironstone in a direction parallel to that 
 of the strata containing them, there is generally to be ob¬ 
 served an internal structure; this structure consisting of a 
 series of veins of calcareous spar, diverging from a central 
 point with more or less regularity, which series is crossed 
 by another arranged round the centre of the clay-iron¬ 
 stone. The veins which produce this structure are ge¬ 
 nerally composed of calcareous spar, which is associated, 
 in some instances, with quartz and elastic mineral pitch; they 
 all decrease in size from the centre to, the circumference, 
 being at their origin often sufficiently wide to allow of the 
 crystallization of the spar in its usual forms. That these 
 
26 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 veins are of a contemporaneons formation with the clay- 
 ironstone in which they are contained, is an opinion adopt¬ 
 ed by Dr Hutton and also by Professor Jameson, the one 
 Reasoning on Plutonian, the other on Neptunian, principles. 
 Ichthyolitic coprolites are abundantly distributed through¬ 
 out the lenticular masses of clay-ironstone, and specimens 
 may easily be procured bearing more or less perfect intesti¬ 
 nal impressions. In the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, 
 vol. xxxii. p. 165, analyses of two of these interesting organic 
 relics, by Dr W. Gregory and Mr R. Walker, are published. 
 The results of these analyses we may here subjoin. 
 
 1. Analysis of a Coprolite found in Clay-ironstone, 
 Wardie. 
 
 Organic matter, \ 
 
 Sulphuret of Iron, L 
 
 . . . 4.134 
 
 Siliceous matter, ) 
 
 Carbonate of Lime, 
 
 . . . 61.000 
 
 Carbonate of Magnesia, 
 
 . . . 13.568 
 
 Oxide of Iron with a little Alumina, 6.400 
 
 Phosphate of Lime, 
 
 . . . 9.576 
 
 Fluoride of Calcium, l 
 Oxide of Manganese, j 
 
 . . a trace 
 
 Water and loss, . . . 
 
 
 
 100.000 
 
 2. Analysis of a Coprolite found in Clay-ironstone, Fife- 
 
 shire. 
 
 \ 
 
 Matter insoluble in Muriatic Acid 
 and chiefly organic, 
 
 Carbonate of Lime, 
 
 Carbonate of Magnesia, 
 
 Phosphate of Lime, 
 
 Water,. 
 
 Phosphate of Magnesia^ 
 
 Oxide of Iron, 
 
 Oxide of Manganese, . 
 
 Fluoric Acid, 
 
 3.380 
 
 24.255 
 
 2.888 
 
 63.596 
 
 3.328 
 
 trace. 
 
 97.447 
 
 Besides containing coprolites, the clay-ironstone of the 
 
SECONDARY ROCKS.—MINERALOGICAL CHARACTERS. 27 
 
 Lothians, in many instances, envelopes beautifully pre¬ 
 served fishes, while at other times it contains only teeth and 
 scales. Remains of plants, as in all the other members of 
 the coal series, occur in considerable abundance in the clay- 
 ironstone, and on a favourable fracture, they in many in¬ 
 stances exhibit, in the most perfect manner, numerous and 
 well preserved relics of the flora which existed at that ear¬ 
 ly period when the coal-beds were deposited. In regard 
 to the position of the organic bodies in the ironstone con¬ 
 cretions we may remark, that they are invariably disposed 
 parallel to the longest diameter of the mass, an arrange¬ 
 ment whicli agrees completely with a deposition from a state 
 of mechanical suspension in water. We have before noticed 
 that the nodules of clay-ironstone are arranged in layers pa¬ 
 rallel to the direction of the strata in which they occur, and 
 as the shape of these masses is a sufficient indication that 
 they could not have been so disposed in any strata but such 
 as were originally formed in a horizontal position, we have, 
 when these lenticular concretions occur in vertical or highly 
 inclined strata, an evident proof that these strata have been 
 altered. The clay-ironstone, which occurs at Wardie, near 
 Newhaven, has lately been analyzed by Dr W. Gregory of 
 Edinburgh (Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, vol. xxxv. 
 p. 17J). Two of the specimens which were examined by 
 this chemist were found to have the following composition 
 
 parts:— 
 
 1. Matter insoluble in acid sand, . 
 
 • 
 
 196 
 
 Peroxide of Iron, 
 
 • 
 
 125 
 
 Alumina, 
 
 • 
 
 35 
 
 Lime (a trace). 
 
 Moisture and Loss, 
 
 • 
 
 44 = 100 
 
 2. Insoluble matter, 
 
 • 
 
 388 
 
 Peroxide of Iron, 
 
 • 
 
 564 
 
 Alumina, 
 
 • 
 
 25 
 
 Lime (a trace). 
 
 Moisture and Loss, 
 
 • 
 
 33 = 100 
 
28 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 The limestone which is associated with the red and white 
 sandstone formations of the Lothians, exhibits, throughout 
 its whole extent, a very limited range of characters. It is 
 usually of a grey colour, of different degrees of intensi¬ 
 ty ; its fracture is more or less conchoidal, with an earthy 
 aspect. In some quarters, as at Salton, Linton, and Sun- 
 nyside, the same limestone occurs of a reddish-brown co¬ 
 lour. In several localities, as at Bathgate in Mid-Lo¬ 
 thian, the limestone is associated with hornstone; this mi¬ 
 neral forming in it numerous contemporaneous imbedded 
 masses, containing in some places silicified madrepores. 
 At Linton, jasper occurs similarly connected with the lime- 
 tone as the hornstone. The mountain limestone, in those 
 quarters where it is extensively worked, exhibits frequently 
 several alternations of a compact rock, with one having a 
 more or less perfect slaty structure, and containing a larger 
 quantity of argillaceous matter. It is in this imperfect 
 limestone that vegetable and animal remains are found in 
 the greatest abundance, and in certain districts it is charac¬ 
 terized by particular fossil bodies. At the Rhodes Quarry, 
 near North Berwick, the limestone becomes highly fetid. 
 This is the only point where such an appearance is to be 
 observed on a large scale, though, in several localities, as 
 at Salton, the same may be observed in one or more parts 
 of a stratum. 
 
 In their organic contents the secondary strata of the Lo¬ 
 thians are in some respects remarkably interesting, and the 
 shortness of our remarks connected with them is not to be con¬ 
 sidered as indicating that these interesting bodies ought not 
 to receive much attention from naturalists. Their structures, 
 when viewed comparatively with living races, have unfolded 
 many highly valuable portions of knowledge in regard to the 
 ancient temperatures of our globe, its waters, and the circum- 
 
SECONDARY ROCKS.-ORGANIC REMAINS: 
 
 29 
 
 stances under which its strata were deposited. The arriv¬ 
 ing at the conclusions, however, to which the study of or¬ 
 ganized fossils leads, presupposes a complete knowledge of 
 all the kingdoms of existing nature,—an acquirement which 
 never has been, and probably never will be, centred in one 
 observer. As a knowledge of the natural history of the or¬ 
 ganic world cannot be obtained but by the exertions of 
 men devoting their energies exclusively to its several grand 
 divisions; so to these the geologist must refer, for details 
 connected with the structure and other relations, of the ani¬ 
 mal and vegetable relics which he discovers in his investi¬ 
 gations. The immediate duty of the geologist, in regard 
 to fossil remains, is, to examine their relations to the several 
 strata of the formation in which thev occur, and the connec- 
 tion of that formation with others; while it is the department 
 of the zoologist and botanist, and the most difficult, arduous, 
 and philosophic part of their studies, to discover the nature of 
 these remains, and, from the present conditions of similar liv¬ 
 ing beings, to speculate on the state of the world as con¬ 
 nected with temperature, and the distribution of land and 
 water in those epochs when the fossil species enjoyed life. 
 To acquire a knowledge of the ancient world, there must be 
 a division of labour : the examination cannot be conducted 
 by one; but, in this great work, there is required the com¬ 
 bined efforts of a Werner, a Cuvier, a Brongniart, and an 
 Agassiz. In this state of things, our remarks will be on this 
 subject sufficiently brief. 
 
 Throughout all the various members of the white sand¬ 
 stone series of the Lothians, the remains of vegetables occur, 
 and it is there only that they are to be met with. In the red 
 sandstone series there is, in the circumstance of layers of bi¬ 
 tuminous matter, occurring in the sandstone, an indication 
 that these strata had been formed, after the creation of ve¬ 
 getables, and we have never found any more marked proofs 
 
30 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 of their existence. In the Transition rocks there is only one 
 locality in which organic relics have been discovered ; we 
 refer to the contents of a limestone connected with this 
 series which occurs at the Crook Inn, in Peebles-shire. The 
 fact that well marked vegetable remains are not to be ob¬ 
 served in strata older than the white sandstone series, or 
 in any of the alternating groups of red sandstone, is well 
 exemplified in that part of the coast which extends from 
 Redheugh in Berwickshire to Aberlady in East-Lothian. 
 On examining this portion of the country, we pass over in 
 succession examples of each of those stratified deposits 
 which occur in the southern division of Scotland. After 
 leaving the Transition rocks and the red sandstone which 
 rest upon them, we, near the Cove, meet with the carboni¬ 
 ferous strata, and the mountain limestone, and then, for the 
 first time, observe fossil vegetable remains. Near Dunbar, the 
 white sandstone is succeeded by a group of red sandstone 
 strata, which is as destitute of any fossil relics as that 
 which rests immediately on the older rocks. Near Goo- 
 lan, the coal strata again appear, and, with them, vegetable 
 fossils. From the non-occurrence of fossil vegetables in 
 the red sandstone, however, the conclusion can never be 
 drawn that these sandstones are of a formation anterior 
 to the creation of plants. It is, however, indicated, that 
 there were, in the formation of the red sandstones, causes 
 which did not allow the deposition of vegetables. The 
 rocks from which they are derived may not have been 
 covered with a vegetation so luxuriant as those, which, on 
 decomposition, formed the white sandstone, or their depo¬ 
 sition may have been attended with unknown actions, ade¬ 
 quate for the destruction of such remains. Throughout 
 the Lothian district the vegetable features of the strata ob¬ 
 serve the same general appearance, and are indiscrimi¬ 
 nately scattered through the several strata of the white 
 
SECONDARY ROCKS.—ORGANIC REMAINS. 
 
 31 
 
 sandstone series. The plants which do occur, though, 
 perhaps, some may be unknown in other coal-fields, present, 
 however, a general similarity to those of similar districts. 
 The Sphenopterides , the Lepidostrobi , Sigillarice , Stigma- 
 ria, Lepidodendra, and Lepidopliyllites , abound in numerous 
 localities, often in a state of the greatest preservation, and 
 in others there have been found trunks of gigantic members 
 of the Pine tribe. The remains of this class, found in the 
 sandstone of Craigleith, are well known, and their structures 
 have been completely unfolded by Mr William Nicol, as 
 stated in a memoir in the Edinburgh New Philosophical 
 Journal,* the result of which is, that all belong to coniferce , 
 a series of vegetable bodies which that observer has found 
 to form, without any intermixture with dicotyledons or mo¬ 
 nocotyledons, all the great vegetable stems of the Indepen¬ 
 dent Coal Formation. Concerning the states in which 
 these fossils are found, it may be remarked that they are 
 more or less bituminated, some portions even being changed 
 into coal ; and that Professor Jameson, in his lectures, 
 states it as his opinion that the vegetable matter in these 
 fossils occurs sometimes but slightly changed, so that the 
 earthy matter may be removed by chemical agency, leaving 
 the wood but little changed as to structure and composition. 
 
 The fossils detected in sandstone, are most frequently 
 found in the state of sandstone, and the whole of the vegetable 
 structure having been removed, nothing remains to in¬ 
 dicate their nature but the external form. The causes which 
 have effected these changes are unknown, and the discovery 
 of them would in all probability explain phenomena at pre¬ 
 sent but imperfectly understood. If an organized body 
 imbedded in a rock of chemical origin is found to be 
 of the same composition as the stratum in which it oc- 
 
 * Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, vols. xxiv. p. 361; xxviii 
 p. 155; xxx. pp. 137-310 ; xxxii. p. 338. 
 
32 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 curs, the explanation is difficult ; but when a plant is 
 found in a rock of mechanical formation, and completely 
 changed into that rock, the difficulty is increased; and, in¬ 
 deed, in our present state of knowledge, concerning the 
 causes which effect the fossilization of organic bodies, it is, 
 perhaps, inexplicable. In other instances, however, the fos¬ 
 silized trunks which are found in the sandstone, are of 
 a composition entirely different from the sandstone, and 
 are changed, though more or less perfectininternal structure, 
 into a stony mass, all the characters of which indicate that 
 its solution has been entirely chemical. In the generality 
 of cases, there has been a conversion into imperfect limestone, 
 which ishiglily impregnated with carbonaceous matter; while 
 in others, there has been a change into a mass chiefly of a sili¬ 
 ceous nature. In all, the ligneous structure exhibits numerous 
 marks of derangement; it is twisted, compressed, and other¬ 
 wise variously altered. In their animal relics, the strata of 
 the Lothians exhibit considerable variety, and have lately 
 afforded in their ichthyolitic remains much valuable know¬ 
 ledge. Like limestones having the same geognostical position 
 in other districts, those of the Lothians are distinguished by 
 the same characteristic fossils; they abound in Producti, 
 and contain Orthoceratites , Nautilites , Euomphali , and 
 various species of Corallines , of which there are in some 
 places, as at Wardlaw in Linlithgowshire, and on the coast 
 near Aberlady, considerable beds entirely formed, one spe¬ 
 cies either constituting the whole bed, or two entering into 
 its composition. In the circumstance of the shells being 
 almost entirely confined to the limestone, there is an indica¬ 
 tion, that its formation is due to them, and their being pre¬ 
 served always entire, and not affording any marks of sub¬ 
 jection to attrition, prove that they lived and died in the 
 places where they are found: their absence, however, in the 
 sandstone, can never be considered at variance with the mine- 
 
SECONDARY ROCKS. 
 
 33 
 
 ral proofs, which are so convincing, that both the limestones 
 and sandstones have been formed under the same general 
 circumstances. Concerning the remains of fishes which oc¬ 
 cur in the carboniferous limestones nothing need be said, 
 as all that is known about them at present is contained in 
 the great work of Agassiz ; the result of whose examination 
 is, that they exhibit no features which in any way justify 
 the opinion, which was so hastily formed concerning them, 
 that they belong to genera inhabiting bodies of fresh water. 
 
 In the Lothians, as in other countries, the examination of 
 the position of strata affords data for drawing conclusions 
 concerning the age of the mountain-chain which forms a 
 part of them. The period at which a mountain-chain has 
 been upraised, is fixed between the completion of the depo¬ 
 sition of its newest upraised strata, and the commencement of 
 the formation of those which are resting unconformably. That 
 this mode of determining the ages of mountains, is at once na¬ 
 tural and free from leading the observer into error, is evident, 
 by considering those laws which regulate the deposition of 
 sedimentary matters. Conclusive, however, though this mode 
 of ascertaining the age of mountain-chains may at first sight 
 appear, still it is by no means safe in every case to consider 
 that their upraisure is contemporaneous with the production 
 of the unhorizontal position of certain strata, which form the 
 low country on either side of them. Under fitting circum¬ 
 stances, strata may be deposited at all angles under 40 degrees; 
 and when the cause which produced the deposition of the 
 strata at such angles becomes progressively, as we depart 
 from the axis of the chain, more fitted for their deposition at 
 smaller angles, the difficulty of fixing the age of the group 
 becomes greater, and recourse must be had to other phe¬ 
 nomena exhibited by the rocks of the chain. If such be 
 the arrangement, the fact of the angles nearer the central 
 
 % 
 
 VOL. VII. 
 
 C 
 
34 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 part of the chain, decreasing as the ratio of the distance 
 from the axis increases, might lead us to infer, that the vio¬ 
 lence of the upraising agents decreased from the central part 
 of the chain to the exterior. 
 
 By what means then, since in these circumstances the 
 age of mountain chains cannot, with certainty, be ascer¬ 
 tained, are we to fix the date of their upraisure ? To 
 this question there appears to be a satisfactory answer. 
 If, after having examined a wide extent of country, a se¬ 
 ries of strata, inclined at angles at which they might have 
 been deposited, is found reposing upon another, which is 
 in the greatest possible confusion, being vertical and con¬ 
 torted, there is almost as little reason to believe that the 
 inclined position of the former, has in any way been influ¬ 
 enced by causes operating on the upraisure and flexure of 
 the latter, as there would be if they were horizontally 
 arranged. When the examination of a mountain-chain, 
 however, shews formations anticlinally tilted up, and no 
 one more conspicuous for ils alterations than another, the 
 only conclusion to be arrived at is, that all have been 
 upraised at one and the same time. On examining the 
 Lammermuir range, for the purpose of determining the 
 age of the chain, the result to which we arrive is, that 
 the much disturbed rocks of the transition class have been 
 upraised prior to the deposition of the slightly inclined 
 secondary formations. In every natural or artificial sec¬ 
 tion, where the transition rocks occur, they are either in¬ 
 clined at high angles, or are vertical and contorted in the 
 most fantastic manner. The secondary formations, which 
 form the low land, and which in many places occur in con¬ 
 tact with them, are, however, never so disturbed; but, on 
 the contrary, are elevated at angles consistent with the 
 supposition that they are in their unaltered state. It is 
 
JUNCTIONS OF TRANSITION AND SECONDARY STRATA. 35 
 
 probable, then, that the elevation of the range took place 
 after the deposition of the transition rocks, but before that 
 of any of the members of the secondary series. On the 
 coast of Berwickshire, at Danskin, and at the farm of 
 Newlands, this arrangement is conspicuous. At Wood- 
 cot, in the neighbourhood of Fala, the red sandstone is al¬ 
 most in a horizontal position, though, within a very short 
 distance, in a glen running down from the hill of Pockbie, 
 the greywacke is arranged in vertical and highly inclined 
 positions. At Kidlaw, a village near Newton Hall, the 
 mountain limestone approaches very near to the almost 
 vertical greywacke of the Lammermuirs; but here there is 
 the same tendency to a horizontal position ; it is inclined at 
 a small angle, and could not have been altered by any force 
 acting upon the greywacke. At Dean Mill, near Fala, the 
 same appearances present themselves ; the undisturbed red 
 sandstone approaching the transition rocks. On the coast 
 of Berwickshire, between Lin Head, and Red Heugh, there 
 is a series of most satisfactory junctions of the red sandstone 
 with the greywacke; all of which allow us only to infer, 
 that these secondary formations have been deposited on the 
 previously upturned transition rocks. The junctional ap¬ 
 pearances exhibited in East Lothian are interesting in the 
 history of Geological Science. From examining them, Hut¬ 
 ton, Hall, and Playfair formed those opinions which are 
 now invariably held in regard to such phenomena. 
 
 As we have before stated, a very coarse conglomerate 
 in general rests on the greywacke strata. In its posi¬ 
 tion, this conglomerate is precisely similar to that which 
 • \ 
 conglomerate deposits in general hold, and its formation 
 
 is perfectly well explained, by the aqueous disturbances 
 which would accompany the violent and certainly sud¬ 
 den upraisures of the old stratified rocks on which it 
 
 c 2 
 
36 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 rests. Causes of no greater intensity than those now in ac¬ 
 tion, appear, though continued through as long a series of 
 ages as the most confirmed Huttonian could desire,' per¬ 
 fectly inadequate to produce such effects ; but, on the con¬ 
 trary, in the fact of mountain chains being invariably more 
 or less flanked with conglomerates, formed of the component 
 rocks of these chains, and constituting mountain masses, 
 and extensive tracts of country, there is reason to believe, 
 that the actions at present existing, whether aqueous or ig¬ 
 neous, though similar in nature, in their magnitude differ 
 completely from those which existed in the primeval ages 
 of the world. All the phenomena exhibited by the rocky 
 masses of the globe, if viewed without any desire to explain 
 them by a favourite theory, testify, that existing causes be¬ 
 come progressively less adequate to explain geological ap¬ 
 pearances, as we examine from the newest to the oldest 
 known formations. 
 
 The first locality which we have to notice as exhibit¬ 
 ing a junction of the transition rocks with the sandstone, 
 is in the bed of the Heriot Water, a stream which runs 
 past the old tower of Colbrandspath. The transition 
 rocks are inclined at great angles, and at the point where 
 the junction is visible, they dip S. S.E. at 40°; and on these 
 the slightly inclined sandstone conglomerate rests. (Plate 
 I., Fig. 1.) A little to the south of the Pease Burn, the 
 grey wacke and red sandstone may, in the sea-cliffs, often be 
 found in immediate connection, the former, dipping to the 
 N.E. at 20°, and resting on the contorted, and in some in¬ 
 stances vertical transition rocks, which range E. N.E. and 
 W. S.W. (Plate I., Fig. 2. and Plate II., Fig. 1.) 
 
 At Red Heugh there is a most interesting display of the 
 several relations of the two classes of rocks. On looking 
 down from the cliffs, the junctional phenomena are exhibited 
 
JUNCTIONS OF TRANSITION AND SECONDARY STRATA. 37 
 
 in the most satisfactory manner. The action of the sea has 
 partially abraded the conglomerate and sandstone, exposing 
 the inferior rocks of grey wacke, which are either vertical, or 
 inclined to the S. and S. W. at great angles, while the 
 red sandstone rests upon them, and dips to the N. E. 
 at about 15° or 20°. (Plate II., Fig. 2.) Throughout 
 all those parts of Berwickshire, where we have opportu¬ 
 nities of examining the relations of these formations to each 
 other, the arrangement is identical with that of the Lo- 
 thians. In Mid-Lothian, strata of white sandstone, with 
 its associated limestones, form all that part of the country 
 which skirts the base of the transition range of the Moor- 
 foot and Huntlycot hills; but their position indicates as lit¬ 
 tle alteration from the upraisure of the mountains, as the 
 red sandstone series does in East Lothian. In the Glad- 
 house water, the sandstone is almost horizontal, and con¬ 
 tinues so to the very base of the highly inclined greywacke 
 strata. There are, however, no sections, as in East Lothian, 
 where the two series are found in immediate contact. 
 
 Before finishing this part of the subject, we may notice a 
 statement which Mr Milne, in his paper descriptive of the 
 Geology of Berwickshire, has made in regard to these red 
 sandstone and grey wacke strata. This observer states, that, 
 in some instances, both classes of rocks have been, at one 
 and the same time, disturbed by faults. No one of these 
 cited examples will, however, if strictly examined, be found 
 to exhibit appearances which allow us to form this opinion. 
 True it is that the red sandstone varies often in its height 
 
 O 
 
 within short spaces : thus it may surmount a high sea cliff 
 of vertical greywacke, and also form the rocks at the sea 
 level, but in these instances there is every reason to believe 
 that the intermediary portions have been removed by ab- 
 
38 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 rading agents. Every thing connected with the relations 
 of the two rocks testifies, that the red sandstone has been 
 quietly deposited on a most irregular surface, one presenting 
 numerous asperities and corresponding depressions. 
 
 Having noticed the relations of the different stratified mas¬ 
 ses to each other, and their mineralogical characters, we shall 
 next, in the same way, describe those unstratified or ignige- 
 nous formations, which are so generally associated with 
 them. The rocks of this great natural family may be di¬ 
 vided under two heads, the Felspathic and the Augitic. 
 
 FELSPATHIC ROCKS, INCLUDING PORPHYRY AND CLINKSTONE. 
 
 Of this class of unstratified rocks it may be affirmed, that, 
 as a mass, it may be considered as composed entirely of 
 felspar in different states of crystallization, and associated 
 with various structures. Other minerals sometimes enter 
 into its composition, but these, if viewed on the large 
 scale, are to be considered only as of occasional occurrence. 
 The states in which the felspar presents itself, are all those 
 between that of a compact and an earthy mode of ar¬ 
 rangement, and when these exhibit a determinately ag¬ 
 gregated structure, they are porphyritic, amygdaloidal, or 
 both. Of the structures which cannot be shewn in hand 
 specimens, but are on a more or less colossal scale, the ta¬ 
 bular concretionary mode of disposition is the only one ex¬ 
 hibited by the felspar series of the Lothians, and of this in 
 the Bass and Traprain Law there are fine examples. These 
 tabular concretions, if examined in their relations to each 
 other, never present appearances which can in any way 
 justify the confusion of the tabular with the stratified struc¬ 
 ture. In the tabular structure, there is no perfect uni¬ 
 formity of direction, but within a limited extent the con¬ 
 cretions dip to all points, passing into an amorphous rock ; 
 
FELSPATHIC ROCKS. 
 
 39 
 
 the lines which bound them also, never contain any matter 
 differing from the tabular masses. In the stratified structure 
 there is nothing precisely similar to this, and little that is 
 analogous. True stratified masses preserve a general line 
 of direction through a great extent, and if this is changed 
 or obliterated, it may be referred to the action of disturb¬ 
 ing agents. The lines of stratification are also generally 
 produced, by the rock becoming less compact in its struc¬ 
 ture, or by the presence of a minute layer of argillaceous 
 matter; the bounding lines of tabular concretions are, how¬ 
 ever, only lines of division. Of the felspar class there are 
 three rocks, which may be considered as the most marked 
 individuals of this series. 
 
 Compact Felspar, which is one of these, occurs of va¬ 
 rious shades of white, red, and grey, and by acquiring crys¬ 
 tals of felspar, it becomes Compact Felspar Porphyry. This 
 rock occurs in great abundance in the different felspar dis¬ 
 tricts, and forms hills both in the Garleton and Pentland 
 ranges. In size, the imbedded crystals of felspar vary from 
 the smallest size to near an inch, and are sometimes accom¬ 
 panied with particles of quartz and scales of mica. Clay- 
 stone, which is another member of this extensive class, is of 
 the same general colours as compact felspar ; in some in¬ 
 stances, the various shades of colour producing a veined or 
 mottled aspect; and as compact felspar, it occurs porphyritic. 
 Of this rock theLothians afford many examples; it is met with 
 abundantly both in the Pentland and Garleton Hills. The 
 only other rock which presents characters sufficiently well 
 defined to justify its being considered as a marked variety of 
 felspar, is Clinkstone. This rock occurs of various shades 
 of bluish, yellowish, and greenish grey, and is often highly 
 impregnated with iron; the presence of which causes 
 it to assume various modes of marking. It has frequent- 
 
40 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 ly a foliated structure and a glimmering lustre; very ge¬ 
 nerally there is associated with clinkstone an approxima¬ 
 tion to a schistose arrangement. In this case, however, 
 the same appearances which indicate that the causes of the 
 tabular form are in no respect similar to those which pro¬ 
 duced the stratified, evince that the internal structure of 
 clinkstone differs completely from that of rocks which have 
 not resulted from a state of fusion ; it is the consequence of 
 a species of crystallization probably superinduced during 
 the consolidation of the rock. Clinkstone also occurs por- 
 phyritic. 
 
 AUGITIC ROCKS, OR TRAP ROCKS. 
 
 The Trap or Augitic Rocks, which form the next great 
 division of the unstratified or plutonic masses, are, it may 
 be generally stated, composed of the two simple minerals— 
 Augite and Felspar—all the varieties of the series being 
 produced by differences, either in the state of their crys¬ 
 tallization, or relative proportions. Though, in a minera- 
 logical point of view, the members of the trap series fre¬ 
 quently differ widely from each other, still the frequent tran¬ 
 sitions of the one into the other, are at once sufficiently 
 indicative that the formation of all has been the,effect of 
 the same general causes, differences of structure or com¬ 
 position having been produced by slight diversities in at¬ 
 tending circumstances. As in the felspathic series, so in 
 the trap family, there are a few rocks which have the same 
 general characters, and which may be considered as rocks 
 which, by passing into each other, form all the varieties of 
 this family. Of all the compounds of Augite and Fel¬ 
 spar which occur in the Lothians, forming rock masses, 
 Greenstone appears to be the most generally distributed. 
 Its component minerals vary in size and colour, change 
 in colour, however, being produced generally by the aspect 
 
AUGITIC ROCKS. 
 
 41 
 
 of the felspar ; this, however, is far from universal, for the 
 ferruginous matter which colours much of the greenstone 
 of East Lothian, is equably distributed throughout the 
 augite and felspar. In size, the components of the green¬ 
 stone vary from that minuteness which causes the rock to 
 become basaltic, to the large granular, when it becomes 
 Syenitic Greenstone. Besides appearing as syenitic and com¬ 
 pact, greenstone occurs under several other aspects. Not un- 
 frequently it assumes the porphyritic structure, the basis be- 
 inga very minute and small granular compound of augite and 
 felspar; while the crystals which produce the structure are of 
 compact, glassy, or common felspar. By containing minerals, 
 which fill or line cavities, greenstone becomes amygdaloi- 
 dal; this structure appears, however, generally to attend 
 those greenstones which are not highly crystallized, but 
 whose components approach to an earthy state. When 
 structure on the great scale is observable in the greenstone of 
 the Lothians, it is of two kinds, the globular and columnar. 
 Of the former there are many examples, and the globular 
 concretions vary in diameter from one or two inches to se¬ 
 veral feet. The perfect columnar mode of arrangement is 
 of less frequent occurrence, for, though there is, in many 
 places, a disposition to be columnar, there are but few points 
 where this arrangement is perfect; when, however, the co¬ 
 lumns are well formed, they vary in length, thickness, num¬ 
 ber of their sides, and position. 
 
 Basalt, which is another conspicuous member of the 
 trap series, forms considerable masses in the Lothians ; it is 
 generally of a grey or black colour; and, as in green¬ 
 stone, mere ocular inspection is sufficient to prove that 
 it is a fine aggregate of crystalline masses of Augite and 
 Felspar. Olivine abounds in some basalts, forming mi¬ 
 nute grains ; and magnetic iron ore is also very generally 
 
42 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 distributed through it. The occurrence of magnetic iron- 
 ore in basalt, forms a well-marked character of this rock, 
 while the very general distribution of iron-pyrites through 
 greenstone, appears to characterize it. By assuming crys¬ 
 tals of basaltic hornblende and glassy felspar, the basalts 
 of some districts frequently acquire an almost porphyritic 
 structure. Though the vitreous state is that in which 
 felspar most generally occurs in basalt, still in others 
 common felspar appears. At Garry Point, in East Lo- 
 thian^ where a finely columnar basalt occurs, the contain¬ 
 ed crystals are of common felspar. Amygdaloidal cavities 
 abound in some basalts in such quantities, that the rock 
 assumes the perfect amygdaloidal structure. The ba¬ 
 salt of the Lothians is very generally associated with the 
 columnar arrangement, and, as in greenstone, the columns 
 vary in position and number of their sides. The hill of 
 Arthur’s Seat, thelimestone quarry of the Hill-house, in Lin¬ 
 lithgowshire, and other points, exhibit beautiful groups of 
 these columns. 
 
 Considered as a group, the augitic rocks of the Lothians 
 are remarkable, when compared with some of the other 
 great formations of the same class which occur in Scotland, 
 in the circumstance of the zeolitic minerals occurring very 
 rarely in them, and then only in comparatively small quanti¬ 
 ties. Intimately connected with the unstratified rocks of the 
 Lothians, Trap-tufa occurs; it is composed of rounded and 
 angular masses of limestone, sandstone, slate, and trap, in¬ 
 closed in a basis of trap, in different states of compactness. 
 In size, the imbedded masses vary from the smallest magni¬ 
 tude to many yards. It never contains fragments of any rock 
 which occurs in situ at a great*distance ; but, on the con¬ 
 trary, all are in the more immediate neighbourhood of the 
 tufaceous deposit. Much of the country round North 
 
AUGITIC ROCKS. 
 
 43 
 
 Berwick is composed of trap-tufa, the masses being formed 
 of previously existing stratified and unstratified rocks im¬ 
 bedded in a green wacke. At Dunbar a trap-tufa occurs, 
 differing from the former in the circumstance of its being 
 highly impregnated with oxide of iron, which imparts to 
 it a bright brick-red colour. In structure, if it were not 
 for its mineral characters, trap-tufa frequently could not 
 be distinguished from true Neptunian formations, inasmuch 
 as it is distinctly stratified, and also assumes a slaty arrange¬ 
 ment. In its mode of connexion with the stratified masses, 
 trap-tufa exhibits characters perfectly distinct from those 
 which attend either the greenstones or basalts. It never 
 forms veins crossing strata, and consequently can never, 
 like them, be found as masses alternating in the same way 
 with strata, for these alternations are in every instance only 
 veins, which, instead of crossing the strata at angles, have 
 been injected between them from a central point of eruption, 
 and from a column of more or less fluid igneous matter, 
 which, to find egress, must have broken through the strata 
 at an angle. 
 
 The comparison of the modern volcanic tufas with those 
 which are associated with the various trap-rocks, affords 
 one of the many proofs that the origin of both is the same, 
 modifying circumstances producing those differences which 
 cause both classes of rocks to be naturally separated. In 
 the volcanic tufa, there is the same stratified structure as 
 occurs in that of the trap family, and the series of alterna¬ 
 tions of volcanic tufa with volcanic basalts and lavas is 
 analogous to that of the trap-tufas with basalt, porphy¬ 
 ry, and greenstone. The circumstance of the tufas having 
 a stratified arrangement, and never occurring in the form 
 of veins, intimates that the manner of their formation was 
 intimately connected with the action of water,—that their 
 
44 
 
 GEOL OGY OF THE LOTH IANS. 
 
 origin was Neptunio-Plutonic. If we suppose the existence 
 of a sea sufficiently deep to allow of the eruption of igneous 
 matter, without their assuming a vesicular structure, and 
 that, by the decomposition of older trap rocks, there was 
 produced a series of more or less regular strata, accidents 
 may be found fitted for the formation of the trap-tufas and 
 their alternations with basaltic and greenstone masses. As 
 the comparatively modern tufas of Aitna are traversed by 
 veins of basaltic lava, so the more ancient tufa of the car¬ 
 boniferous epoch is traversed by greenstone and basalt,— 
 the posterior formation of which is evinced by their pro¬ 
 ducing changes, more or less similar to those which they 
 effect upon rocks of aqueous formation. 
 
 The structure of the trap-rocks is never vesicular, and 
 all their relations to associated masses are such as indicate 
 that their formation and the changes which they have 
 produced, were effected under a compression sufficient for 
 a perfect crystallization of the rocks from a fluid state. 
 Through all the districts in which they occur, there is, 
 in the arrangements of the trap-rocks, nothing partaking 
 of that aspect which characterizes the volcanic cone— 
 no hills formed of consolidated igneous matters arranged 
 concentrically. There are, however, many analogous ap¬ 
 pearances ; for the marks of fracture, upraisure, and all the 
 indications of altered states of the Neptunian formations, be¬ 
 come gradually less apparent as the strata recede from the 
 masses which are to be considered as the disturbing agents. 
 In regard to the question, Whether have the unstratified 
 rocks of the Lothians been the product of one eruption, or 
 have they been sent from below at different periods ? no 
 very satisfactory answer can be given, the want of sections 
 exposing their mode of connection, rendering this impracti¬ 
 cable. From the circumstance of finding, however, in a few 
 
AUGITIC KOCKS. 
 
 45 
 
 localities ignigenous masses, traversed by veins of the same 
 nature, it may be at once affirmed that two eruptions of 
 trap are indicated; but this seems to be the full extent of 
 our knowledge. If our opinion in regard to the elevation 
 of the greywacke systems of the Lammermuir and Moor- 
 foot hills be correct, it is rendered highly probable that the 
 unstratified rocks associated with these transition forma¬ 
 tions have been erupted before the deposition of the carbo¬ 
 niferous group, or the protrusion of the Plutonic rocks as¬ 
 sociated with them ; and that their upburst, perhaps, in some 
 respects, may have been the cause of the upraisure of the 
 previously undisturbed greywacke and transition slates. 
 Though this may have been the case, however, it does not 
 follow that the actions of the igneous rocks associated with 
 the secondary strata, were confined to them: on the con¬ 
 trary, they may have sent erupted masses into the older 
 rocks; so that, though amongst the one series of strata, 
 rocks of a formation posterior to them, perhaps, only occur ; 
 in the transition series two classes of Plutonic rocks, each 
 of different relative ages, may be found. 
 
 We have now arrived at a part of the subject which is re¬ 
 plete with interest. We are to describe those changes which 
 igneous matters, erupted in former ages of the world, have 
 effected on the rocks through which they issued, and be¬ 
 tween and over which they have flowed. When we consi¬ 
 der that we now live in a land where the shock of the earth¬ 
 quake, and the impetuosity and desolation attending a lava 
 stream, are neither felt nor dreaded, it is highly interesting 
 to find, by geological examination, that the country in which 
 we dwell with such repose was, at one time, ravaged by sub¬ 
 terraneous action,—that its strata have been traversed by 
 streams of liquid mineral matters,—that it has had its* 
 “ phasis” of disturbance. 
 
40 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 In contemplating these interesting relations of rocks, the 
 mind cannot but be led to consider the great age of the 
 world; for such eruptions took place long before the creation 
 of man, and, in all probability, long before that of those ani¬ 
 mals which stand high in the scale of being. He who is igno¬ 
 rant of Geology, and of the splendid results at which, by 
 the study of the mineral and fossil bodies of our globe, we 
 arrive, considers the days of creation which are enumerated 
 in the Mosaic record, as indicating the time which elapsed 
 from the period when God first called the world out of no¬ 
 thing, to that when, his work being completed, he shewed 
 the greatness of his power by calling Man into being. But 
 he who is acquainted with the legible characters engraven 
 on the rocks of our continents, and the various proofs which 
 allow us to believe that Omnipotence willed that, to bring 
 the world to a state fitted for Man, it should, before his 
 appearance, exist for a long series of ages, can, with retro¬ 
 spective soul, look to the existence of beings which enjoyed 
 life, long before the creation of his species ; he can contem¬ 
 plate the state of the world when the higher animals existed 
 not, and watch the hand of Deity in the progressive act 
 of creation. Happily for science, the days have gone by 
 when geological speculation was trammelled by the too lite¬ 
 ral interpretation of the first chapter of Genesis. The lay¬ 
 man who dares to discover that the world was not created in 
 six of our days, now fears not the brand of atheism, nor 
 is in danger of being considered one who doubts the divine 
 origin of the Scriptures, by any but those for whose opinion 
 he need little care. The churchman, skilled in the original 
 of the Pentateuch, tells him that there is no overstretching 
 of the language, though an undefined period of years be 
 considered as having elapsed between Ct The beginning,” in 
 which “ God created the heaven and the earth,” and the 
 
IGNIUENOUS ROCKS. 
 
 47 
 
 commencement of the first day of creation. Some, poisoned 
 by infidelity, and voluntarily blinded to a sense of the un- 
 philosophical nature of arguments which they considered 
 conclusive, have, that they might not see in this science in¬ 
 dubitable proofs of Deity, held it up to scorn; but we are 
 not aware that any have enlisted under the banners of 
 scepticism from finding that, after properly studying Na¬ 
 ture, it appeared at variance with Revelation, or that fi6 He 
 who made the world, and revealed its date to Moses, was 
 mistaken of its age.” 
 
 Before entering into a minute detail of the various 
 changes exhibited in different localities, which the stratified 
 rocks have undergone, by being in connexion with the un¬ 
 stratified, we shall notice the characters which rocks of both 
 classes when in contact are found to exhibit in a greater or 
 less degree. When in contact with Neptunian formations, 
 all the unstratified rocks of the Lothians exhibit more 
 or less a change of structure. If the rock is granular, 
 when at a distance from the stratified ; when in contact with 
 it, it is found small granular or compact, and apparently 
 homogeneous throughout. If, when at a distance from the 
 stratified rock, the unstratified rock is compact, as it ap¬ 
 proaches the former it becomes still more dense. Greenstone 
 passes into basalt, and compact felspar into one still more 
 compact. It is probable that the causes of all these changes 
 are to be found in differences in the rate of cooling, a cause 
 which, no doubt, has been productive of much of that end¬ 
 less variety which is observable in the Trap series. That 
 the planes of contact of the igneous rock with that of Nep¬ 
 tunian origin were the very places where such changes would 
 be produced, is to be supposed, if we recollect that, before 
 the appearance of these igneous rocks, they had been un¬ 
 disturbed, and all undergoing from various actions a pro- 
 
48 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTH IANS. 
 
 cess of consolidation. Besides these appearances being ob¬ 
 servable in igneous rocks, when in contact with such depo¬ 
 sitions, they are also conspicuous in some of those plutonic 
 masses which traverse others of the same origin. In this 
 situation, however, such appearances cannot always be ex¬ 
 pected ; the igneous mass, which traverses one of a more an¬ 
 cient formation, may have been sent up before the previ¬ 
 ously erupted mass had cooled down, and this is rendered 
 the more likely, when we remember, that if rocks are bad 
 conductors of heat, when not far from the surface, they 
 must be much more so, when deeply seated in the globe’s 
 crust. In addition to these changes in structure, there is 
 another which appears to be referable to the same cause: 
 very generally the traps associated with the coal strata be¬ 
 come, as they approach the strata, gradually more and more 
 felspathic, till at last they pass into a rock of compact fel¬ 
 spar or claystone. In some localities associated with the 
 strata which contain beds of trap, making such transitions, 
 there are similarly disposed masses of the claystone felspar. 
 In the former case the transition may be supposed to have 
 been effected by the more rapid cooling, and in the latter 
 the refrigeration may have been too quick to allow of the 
 existence of the mass as Greenstone. Some strata, when in 
 contact with these associated unstratified rocks, exhibit cha¬ 
 racters which, if the origin of the two classes of rocks were 
 not admitted to be perfectly distinct, might easily lead 
 the observer to consider both of contemporaneous origin. 
 Such appearances are, however, perfectly reconcilable with 
 the igneous formation of trap-rocks, and it would rather be 
 a matter of astonishment, if, in some cases, they were not 
 to be observed. By the very long continued action of heat, 
 it might be expected that both rocks would undergo a com¬ 
 mixture the one with the other, and that in certain places, 
 
CONNEXIONS OF NEPTUNIAN AND PLUTONIAN ROCKS. 40 
 
 the junction would be so complete that there would be no 
 line of distinct separation exhibited by the two masses in 
 contact. Such are the changes which plutonic rocks are 
 found to undergo when in contact with those of aqueous 
 origin. Neptunian Rocks are variously affected by those 
 of ignigenous formation, and very few instances can be ad¬ 
 duced, where the structure is not in some degree changed : 
 it may only be slightly altered ; but on minute examina¬ 
 tion changes are more or less apparent. 
 
 Of the three chief rocks, Sandstone, Shale, and Limestone, 
 the various alternations of which form the secondary series of 
 the Lothians, the states of change are innumerable. When 
 the sandstone, whether it be white or red, is in contact with 
 rocks of the trap series, it either acquires the characters of 
 hornstone, jasper, or granular quartz-rock ; and, of course, 
 between all these extremes, there are many different stages 
 of alteration. The changes which are produced upon the 
 various shales are also of great variety ; all are altered in a 
 greater or less degree, the extreme of the alteration being 
 observable in those cases where the shale assumes the cha¬ 
 racters of flinty-slate or Lydian stone. In the case of the 
 indurated shales, it very generally happens, that although 
 the hardness, fracture, and other external mineral characters 
 are changed, there still exist the remains of a schistose ar¬ 
 rangement, and when layers of the shale are of various 
 colours, the rock assumes much of the appearance of the 
 Striped Siberian Jasper. The characters which the lime¬ 
 stone assumes, when in contact with the unstratified rocks, 
 are in some places of the most interesting description ; it is 
 however, to be remarked, that this rock is less frequently 
 than any other member of the stratified series in connec¬ 
 tion with such masses; when, however, there is a change, 
 
 it is similar to that exhibited in other districts, the limestone 
 vol. vir. n 
 
50 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 loses its compact for a granular structure, and its grey co¬ 
 lour for one more or less white, these marks of alteration 
 becoming gradually less conspicuous as the distance from 
 the igneous mass increases. The various individuals which 
 comprise the trap series, evince, by two modes of position, 
 a formation posterior to that of the Neptunian strata, as 
 well as to those older igneous masses with which they may 
 happen to be connected. The first is that of the vein or dylce ; 
 the second is that of the overlying mass. In the vein, a body 
 of trap of varying magnitude crosses the strata at an angle, 
 or, originating in a mass which does, obtrudes itself be¬ 
 tween the strata parallel to their direction. In the Lothi- 
 ans the greater number of veins traverse the strata in this 
 conformable manner, and the reason of this may in all pro¬ 
 bability be found in the fact of the planes of stratification 
 being those which would afford the greatest facility of se¬ 
 paration. Trap, in the overlying position, forms the most 
 of the great trap deposits of the Lothians; when it occurs 
 as veinous masses it is seen in its progress through the stra¬ 
 ta ; but when as overlying it is to be considered as more or 
 less in the position which it assumed when, after rising 
 through the previously formed rocks, it flowed over their 
 surface. The changes in position which the various stratified 
 rocks exhibit are very great; and all are exactly such as 
 might be conceived to attend the violent expulsion of a 
 more or less fluid body from the interior. Fragments of 
 the disturbed rocks are enveloped in the erupted mass, and 
 vary in size from a few inches to many yards. Contor¬ 
 tion, a striking position of strata, and one which is most 
 indicative of their having been subjected to violent action, is 
 in the three Lothians frequently well exhibited. In consider¬ 
 ing in detail the relations of the unstratified rocks of the Lo¬ 
 thians to the stratified, we shall not endeavour to follow any 
 
ST LEONARD’S HILL. 
 
 51 
 
 natural arrangement, but, on the contrary, will describe 
 separately the geology of the counties of Edinburgh, Had¬ 
 dington, and Linlithgow. 
 
 Mid-Lothian, like the other counties, contains both class¬ 
 es of unstratified rocks, viz. the augitic and felspathic. The 
 former constitutes various hills, while in the Pentlands the 
 latter rises into mountain masses of greater or less height. 
 The principal trap formations of Mid-Lothian occur within 
 a circuit of nine miles round Edinburgh. Immediately to 
 the east of the city the hills of Salisbury Crags and Arthur’s 
 Seat rise to the heights of 550 and 8 %% feet above the level 
 of the Eirth of Forth. The splendid geological appear¬ 
 ances which these hills exhibit render an examination of 
 them interesting in the highest degree, and few points can 
 be mentioned which, within the same compass, present so 
 many beautiful and instructive illustrations of the Plutonic 
 origin of trap rocks. Salisbury Crags and St Leonard’s 
 Hill, which may almost be considered as constituting one 
 hill, are each formed of a mass of trap, surmounting and 
 rising through the slates and sandstone of the coal-forma¬ 
 tion. The igneous portions of these hills appear to have 
 been produced by the intrusion of masses of trap, parallel 
 to the strata, and forming lateral expansions from dykes 
 which cross these at angles. Both the classes of rock which 
 form these eminences dip to the east at an angle of about 
 30°. The trap rock of St Leonard’s Hill is a slightly por- 
 phyritic greenstone; but, as it approaches the sandstone 
 on which it rests, it changes its mineralogical characters 
 and passes into a red greenstone of a more compact struc¬ 
 ture, or into a brownish red ferruginous claystone-felspar: it 
 contains small imbedded masses of calcareous spar, and is 
 also traversed by veins of the same mineral, which are fre¬ 
 quently associated with radiated red haematite. Immediate- 
 
52 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 ly below the trap lies the sandstone, which, in the vicinity 
 of the greenstone, becomes quartzose, and also exhibits in 
 several places various undulations. In one place there is a 
 fine display of one of those veins, which are to be consi¬ 
 dered as forming the points of eruption. It is about 4 
 feet in breadth, and is vertical. (PI. III. Fig. 1.) From 
 this vein a lateral expansion takes its origin, running into 
 the strata parallel to their direction ; at its origin it is about 
 2 feet broad, and after running for 10 feet a slightly tortu¬ 
 ous course, it gradually thins out. On the principal vein 
 arriving at the surface of the sandstone it flows over it, and 
 forms the overlying trap-rock of St Leonard’s Hill, and 
 near this point the trap appears to have sunk down, and 
 filled a hollow in the previously formed sandstone. This 
 mass of trap is at its greatest breadth 4^ feet wide, and is 
 almost of a circular form. At its upper extremity the 
 mass which connects it with the overlaying trap is 
 feet broad, and at its lower extremity there issues from 
 it a small vein 5 inches long and 2 broad. This ridge 
 continues to run southwards for about half a mile, and then 
 appears to unite with the southern extremity of the trap of 
 Salisbury Crags, and at its termination the porphyritic 
 greenstone affords a very beautiful example of the columnar 
 arrangement. The columns vary in length, thickness, num¬ 
 ber of their sides, and position ; those of the upper portion 
 of the mass being inclined at a great angle, while those of 
 the lower part are horizontal. Veins of compact and cry¬ 
 stallized prehnite very generally occur between the sides 
 of the columns, and in thickness these vary from half an 
 inch to 3 inches. 
 
 The ridge of Salisbury Crags rises immediately above 
 St Leonard’s Hill, from which it is separated by a deep val¬ 
 ley. Quarrying operations, and the making of the Radi¬ 
 cal Walk which runs along the base of the mural precipice 
 
SALISBURY CRAGS. 
 
 53 
 
 of this hill, have exposed in the clearest manner the vari¬ 
 ous connexions of the trap with the stratified rocks. At 
 its southern extremity both rocks, the greenstone and sand¬ 
 stone, dip to the N. E. by E., in the more central parts of 
 the hill E., and at the northern end S. E. by E. and 
 E. S. E. At the southern extremity of the ridge there is a fine 
 example of the entanglement of masses of sandstone in the 
 greenstone ; these are changed in some places into granular 
 quartz and in others intohornstone, the masses are several feet 
 in length, but do not exceed a few inches in breadth. (PL III. 
 Fig. 2.) The greenstone, as it does through a considerable 
 portion of the hill, here rests upon an arenaceous limestone 
 of a brownish-red colour, a portion of which is broken 
 off and bent upwards amongst the greenstone. (PI. III. 
 Fig. 3.) On proceeding along the road in a northerly di¬ 
 rection another mass of sandstone, but on a much larger 
 scale, is enveloped in the greenstone : it is of a square form, 
 and is traversed by veins of Compact Greenstone. At this 
 point the sandstone and arenaceous limestone are contorted 
 in various ways ; and fractured in many places. (PI. IV.) 
 From the great disturbance manifested here, and also from 
 the absence of that sandstone which is found under the 
 trap, it is likely that this point has been one of the open¬ 
 ings through which the greenstone matters flowed, and that 
 through this fissure the mass of sandstone has been floated 
 upwards. For a considerable way the sandstone, which is 
 here of a red colour, is indurated, and in some places al¬ 
 most assumes the character of jasper, this induration 
 decreasing as we examine at a greater distance from the in¬ 
 durating cause. By still advancing to the north, near a nar¬ 
 row pass in the greenstone called the Cat Nick, (PI. V. 
 Fig. 1.), where there is a shift in the sandstone, a vein of 
 greenstone about four feet wide traverses both the sandstone 
 
54 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTH IANS. 
 
 and greenstone of the Crags (PL VI. Fig. 2,), it must con¬ 
 sequently be the product of an eruption posterior to that of 
 the Crags. It runs in an uninterrupted course through the 
 various rocks, and alters the sandstone both in position and 
 mineral structure. As it approaches the greenstone which 
 it traverses, this greenstone passes gradually into a more com¬ 
 pact variety, an appearance which is not of difficult ex¬ 
 planation, if we consider that, when in a fluid state, this 
 vein was in contact with previously consolidated rocks. 
 
 After leaving this point, there is a beautiful display of 
 the stratified rocks of the hill underlying the trap. These 
 strata are various alternations of argillaceous sandstone, 
 a brick-red calcareous clay-ironstone, and variously tinted 
 slate-clays, all of which are arranged in perfect parallelism. 
 These occur for a considerable way, till at last they are cut 
 off by a great vertical vein of greenstone. It does not traverse 
 as the other the overlying greenstone, but appears to have 
 been one of the openings through which the protrusion 
 of the trap has been effected. It is about twenty yards broad, 
 and, when next the several rocks, produces alterations, and 
 assumes at its planes of contact a compact structure. Near 
 the northern extremity of the Crags, a vein of a highly fel- 
 spathic uncrystalline greenstone issues from the principal 
 greenstone mass, and traverses the sandstone parallel to its 
 direction. It is about twenty feet long, and at its origin 
 two feet broad. At the northern extremity of the hill, the 
 greenstone sinks rapidly below the plain at the back of the 
 Palace of Holyrood, and is covered by an assemblage of 
 strata similar to those on which it lies. (Plate VI. Fig. 1.) 
 These strata, lying upon the greenstone, occur more or less 
 interruptedly throughout the whole extent of the hill, and 
 the same changes which the greenstone effects upon the 
 sandstone strata at the foot of the trap escarpment, are 
 
SALISBURY CRAGS. 
 
 55 
 
 ( 
 
 in the upper portions conspicuous. Besides the changes 
 which the stratified rocks exhibit from the agency of the 
 trap, the greenstone also evinces alterations as it approaches 
 the strata on which it rests and which surmount it: it gra¬ 
 dually acquires a compact structure, either passing into an 
 almost perfect basalt, or into a very compact ferruginous fel- 
 spathic greenstone. From the circumstance of finding the 
 characters of both rocks the same, whether at the top or bot¬ 
 tom of the greenstone mass, it is evident that the sandstone 
 and slate which lie above the greenstone, have not been 
 deposited upon it; but have been separated from the strata 
 which lie below the greenstone, by the subsequent intrusion 
 of the trap-rock. 
 
 The greenstone of Salisbury Crags is in general fine 
 granular, the felspar occurring of various shades of white, 
 and of brick and flesh red. Sometimes, though rarely, 
 Natrolite is associated with it, appearing to form masses 
 not of subsequent infiltration, but of an origin contem¬ 
 poraneous with the rock ; and very generally the compact 
 greenstone of Salisbury Crags is traversed by numerous 
 contemporaneous veins of greenstone. These veins vary in 
 the compactness of their structure, sometimes being more 
 perfectly crystallized than the containing rock, and at other 
 times almost homogeneous throughout. They run a tor¬ 
 tuous course through the greenstone, and are frequently of 
 great length, while the breadth is very inconsiderable,— 
 perhaps not exceeding two or three inches. In structure, 
 the greenstone of Salisbury Crags exhibits nothing remark¬ 
 able ; it in many places has a tendency to the columnar ar¬ 
 rangement, and very frequently assumes a globular mode 
 of distribution, the globular concretions varying in size. 
 In the rocks of Salisbury Crags several simple minerals are 
 to be met with. Calcareous spar occurs most frequently, 
 forming either veins or imbedded masses, and is occasionally 
 
50 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 associated with radiated haematite. Quartz occurs in drusy 
 cavities, being either common or amethystine, and is crystal¬ 
 lized in the usual six-sided pyramid. Prehnite, of various 
 shades of yellow and green, occurs in the same position, and 
 is arranged in botryoidal or imperfectly crystallized masses. 
 Cubicite or Analcime, is also generally associated with it. A 
 datholitic mineral (as mentioned by Professor Jameson), 
 to which the name of Humboldite has been given, was 
 also at one time found in the same situation. Iron-py¬ 
 rites is very generally distributed through the greenstone, 
 and on decomposition causes the rock to assume a brown¬ 
 ish-yellow colour. Sulphate of barytes and agaric mine¬ 
 ral occur associated with the sandstone ; the former con¬ 
 stituting minute veins, while the latter encrusts its exposed 
 surface. 
 
 Separated from Salisbury Crags, by the valley of the 
 Hunters’ Bog, the hill of Arthur’s Seat rises A Taken as 
 a whole, it appears to rest upon Salisbury Crags, and is, 
 therefore, consequently of newer formation. The various 
 details connected with it are perhaps not so satisfactory as 
 those of the former ; they are, however, in many respects 
 interesting. At the eastern extremity of the Hunter’s Bog, 
 sandstone occurs lying under a mass of porphyritic green¬ 
 stone, and both dip to the S. E. at 20°. This sandstone may 
 be traced, for a considerable way, lying under the porphyry, 
 in which numerous masses of the sandstone occur imbedded. 
 One of these masses is seventy feet long by two in breadth ; 
 several of a smaller size also occur completely enveloped in 
 the trap, one of which is visible for about twenty-five 
 feet. (Plate VI. Fig. 2.) When in contact with the ig- 
 
 * The first published account of the geognosy of this hill and of Salis¬ 
 bury Cragsappeared in Professor Jameson’s Mineralogy of Dumfriesshire ; 
 the description here given is nearly that which the Professor now deli¬ 
 vers to his pupils during his geological excursions. 
 
ARTHUR’S SEAT. 
 
 57 
 
 neons rock, the sandstone acquires all the characters of gra¬ 
 nular quartz and hornstone, and frequently assumes a green 
 colour from containing a portion of the augite, which enters 
 into the composition of the greenstone. Resting upon the 
 greenstone is an alternating series of tufa and basalt. The 
 tufa varies in its composition; it is either formed of variously 
 sized fragments of previously existing rocks, as greenstone, 
 sandstone, shale, and limestone, or is a fine aggregate of red 
 ferruginous trap sand. In the tufa, a little to the south of 
 Sampson’s Ribs, a mass of red sandstone is imbedded ; a 
 portion of which is visible for about eight feet, and has a 
 breadth of four. It is much changed, some portions acquir¬ 
 ing all the characters of jasper. Though the relations of this 
 tufa to the series of trap and sandstone, which we have just 
 mentioned, are not very evident, still it is highly probable 
 that it is of newer formation, and that it has been protruded 
 through them. 
 
 The summit of the hill is entirely formed of a greyish- 
 black compact basalt, containing in some places large crystals 
 of basaltic hornblende. On examining that portion of the hill 
 which forms one side of the Hunter’s Bog, this basalt is 
 found to traverse the tufa in the form of a great vein, and 
 to produce, at its planes of junction, changes similar to 
 those exhibited by aqueous formations, when in the same 
 situations. Near the summit of the hill, and from the western 
 side of the large vein, a smaller one takes its origin, and tra¬ 
 verses the tufa which it indurates. About half way down the 
 hill, the basalt divides into two distinct veins, being sepa¬ 
 rated from each other by the tufa. (Plate VII. Fig. 1.) 
 The basalt of these veins is arranged in irregular columns. 
 Owing to the thick covering of debris, the basalt of this 
 part of Arthur’s Seat cannot be traced to the base of the 
 hill; it is, however, probable that if it could be so examin¬ 
 ed, it would be found to rise directly through it, and also 
 
58 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 the sandstones and greenstones of Salisbury Crags. (Plate 
 VII. Fig. 2.) Imbedded in the tufa on the east side of the 
 principal basaltic vein, a mass of white sandstone occurs; 
 it is not, however, much altered in structure. Forming the 
 highest point of that part of the hill which rises above the 
 village of Duddingston, another basalt is to be observed; it is 
 arranged in perfect columns, which vary in the number of 
 their sides. The composition of this basalt differs from 
 that which forms the summit, in being less compact, and 
 containing large crystals of Labradorite Felspar, Basaltic 
 Hornblende, and numerous disseminated masses of Olivine. 
 Imbedded in the trap which forms the southern acclivity, 
 there occur several masses of calcareous sandstone of many 
 yards extent ; they are completely changed in character, 
 some portions becoming a conchoidal hornstone, while others 
 pass into chalcedonic quartz. 
 
 At the northern extremity of Duddingston Loch, there 
 is a mass of greenstone, identical in mineralogical cha¬ 
 racters with that of Salisbury Crags, and upon it reposes 
 a series of sandstone and slate strata, presenting all the cha¬ 
 racters of induration. On examining the points of contact 
 of these rocks, masses of the sandstone may be found par¬ 
 tially enveloped in the greenstone, and compressed into the 
 form of a vein ; similar appearances are also to be observed 
 in Salisbury Crags. On the side of the road which runs 
 through the ravine of Windy Gowl, fragments of moun¬ 
 tain limestone crop out, but their relations to the Plutonic 
 rock cannot be made out. Concerning the relations of the 
 trap of Arthur’s Seat to the sandstone of Duddingston, it 
 may be mentioned, that the want of sections prevents us 
 from acquiring information in regard to its intimate connec¬ 
 tions with the igneous rocks; as, however, at Niddry Mill, 
 a distance of two miles, the coal strata are found inclining 
 
CALTON HILL. 
 
 50 
 
 against it 50°, and as the same arrangement is to be observ¬ 
 ed at Joppa, a village near Portobello, it is evident that 
 the disturbing influences of Arthur's Seat have extended 
 over a considerable area. In the rocks of Arthur’s Seat 
 several minerals occur. Calcareous spar abounds, both 
 forming veins and lining cavities ; quartz occurs, either 
 common or amethystine, and is sometimes found penetrat¬ 
 ed with spiculae of titanium. Jasper is to be met with 
 in several places ; a vein of it occurs near the summit of 
 the hill traversing the basalt, and another is met with in a si¬ 
 milar position below the old chapel of St Anthony. All of 
 these veins appear to have been produced by infiltration 
 from above ; while chalcedony is frequently to be observed 
 as nodules imbedded in the basalt. 
 
 To the noith of Salisbury Crags, in the hill of the Cal¬ 
 ton,* there is another example of igneous rocks associated 
 with the coal formation ; the form of this hill approaches 
 to the round backed shape, and it rises to the height of 365 
 feet. At the new High School, forming the eminence of the 
 Miller’s Knowe, a greenstone occurs of a compact earthy 
 structure. This greenstone is, throughout its whole extent, 
 traversed by contemporaneous veins, which are frequently 
 so abundant, as in numerous places almost to exceed in quan¬ 
 tity the traversed rock. The minerals which form these 
 veins are calcareous spar and quartz, small crystals of which 
 associated with amethyst line the walls of minute drusy 
 cavities. On the northern side of the hill, and also at the 
 summit, a similar greenstone occurs, differing however in 
 this, that it wants the contemporaneous veins. The struc- 
 
 * The first geognostical account of the Calton Hill, with a section of 
 its structure, was given by Dr Bone in his “ Essai Geologique sur 
 l’Ecosse,’’ from the demonstrations and lectures of Professor Jameson. 
 The account here given is from the same source. 
 
60 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 ture of this greenstone in some places approaches to a glo¬ 
 bular mode of arrangement, which is rendered very conspi¬ 
 cuous by red haematite, forming a minute layer between the 
 concretions ; it is traversed also by a vein of compact green¬ 
 stone about six feet in breadth. Porphyry forms the prin¬ 
 cipal mass of the hill, having a base in general of a bluish- 
 grey claystone, while in others it assumes the characters of 
 an earthy greenstone, containing crystals of basaltic horn¬ 
 blende and flesh-red felspar. In many places the porphy- 
 ritic structure is associated with the amygdaloidal, thus 
 forming an amygdaloidal porphyry; the cavities in general 
 contain only calcareous spar ; but flesh-red cubicite has been 
 found in some places in the same position. Trap-tufa oc¬ 
 curs in the Calton Hill associated with the porphyry, and 
 at the back of the new High School it forms considerable 
 beds; the components of this tufa are in general in a state 
 of minute division, and are principally composed of an in¬ 
 durated wacke. In regard to the relations of the ignige- 
 nous mass of the Calton Hill to the stratified rocks, it may 
 be stated that it appears to have been protruded through 
 them, in a direction more or less parallel to that of the strata. 
 During the excavating operations which were carried on 
 for the foundation of the Waterloo Bridge, sandstone strata 
 were found underlying the trap of the hill, and dipping to 
 the east at a considerable angle. Resting upon the trap, 
 and also dipping east at angles, which decrease as the dis¬ 
 tance from the upraising agent increases, is that series of 
 sandstone, conglomerate, and shale strata, which commences 
 at the west end of Regent Terrace and terminates at the 
 sea. At the stairs which lead up from the Waterloo Bridge 
 to the hill, several strata of a red trap-tufa are found com¬ 
 pletely imbedded in the porphyry ; they dip like the sand¬ 
 stone upon which the Regent Terrace is built, to the east 
 
CALTON HILL. 
 
 01 
 
 at 20° and sink completely below the trap, near the new 
 High School. Immediately below the old Observatory, 
 and on the road which leads round Dugald Stewart’s mo¬ 
 nument, strata of trap-tufa are again found cropping out, be¬ 
 ing included between the porphyry which overlies the masses 
 of trap-tufa we have mentioned, and underlying those 
 Neptunian deposits which form the western acclivity of 
 the hill. The tufaceous strata may be traced more or 
 less interruptedly till they disappear under the porphyry 
 of Nelson’s monument. The changes which the masses 
 of trap-tufa exhibit when in contact with the porphyry 
 are very great, inasmuch as they are intensely indurated. 
 The porphyry also acquires, when next the tufa, an 
 aspect different from that which it exhibits when at a 
 distance from it; it becomes very compact, and frequent¬ 
 ly passes into compact felspar. On examining the points 
 of contact of these two rocks, there is frequently ex¬ 
 hibited an almost gradual transition of the one into the 
 other, so that it requires considerable attention in some in¬ 
 stances to discover where one rock terminates and where 
 the other begins. All these appearances may, however, be 
 easily explained, if we remember that as both rocks were 
 in all probability once in a fluid and highly heated state, 
 there may have been in some places a complete intermix¬ 
 ture of the one with the other. Several simple minerals 
 occur in the Calton Hill; jasper traverses the porphyry 
 in minute veins; sulphate of barytes occurs in the same 
 manner, and also masses of native copper. In the porphy¬ 
 ry immediately below the old Observatory, veins of calca¬ 
 reous spar are found; and associated with the calcareous 
 spar, glance-coal is to be met with, forming imbedded masses 
 of various sizes. The situation of this mineral is highly in¬ 
 teresting, and when the vegetable origin of coal is admitted, 
 its mineralogical characters and relations to the associated 
 
G2 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTH IANS. 
 
 rock are only to be explained by referring them to altering 
 agents of great power, agents of which the effects are visible 
 more or less in almost every stratified rock of any extent. 
 In intensely heated igneous matters rising through beds of 
 coal under a great compressing power, circumstances may 
 be found adequate to produce an alteration from the more 
 evident vegetable product to this highly crystalline mineral. 
 
 Many greenstones in the Lothians (Bathgate, Uphall) 
 contain coaly matter so disseminated through them, that it 
 is only by the bituminous odour which they give out when 
 struck that its presence can be recognised ; this case is si¬ 
 milar, and may be explained in the same way. The glance- 
 coal of the Calton Hill is interesting, as it is connected with 
 some views relative to the origin of veins. Veins of calcareous 
 spar are in many instances well explained by an infiltration 
 from above; here, however, such an origin is rendered 
 doubtful from the fact of such a mineral as glance-coal oc¬ 
 curring in them ; and we appear to have a more probable 
 explanation of some, as those of this locality, if we con¬ 
 sider them as being produced by changes altering enveloped 
 masses of limestone and coal. This explanation, however, 
 rests principally on the supposition that glance-coal is of a 
 vegetable nature. About a mile to the east of Edinburgh, 
 at Lochend, greenstone occurs overlying strata of sandstone, 
 and dipping to the east. Imbedded in this greenstone, there 
 are numerous fragments of slate-clay, all of which are com¬ 
 pletely changed in mineralogical character : veins of calca¬ 
 reous spar traverse the greenstone, in which occur minute 
 disseminated masses of sulphuret of lead. Near Kestalrig, 
 a village about half a mile to the east of Lochend, two 
 beds of greenstone occur' in the sandstone strata, both of 
 these also dipping to the east. The greenstone of Restal- 
 rig is in general fine granular, and sometimes passes into 
 
STOCKBRIDGE—BELL’S MILLS. 
 
 03 
 
 claystone. The sandstone, when in connection with the 
 greenstone, is much indurated, and contains grains of iron- 
 pyrites distributed through it. (Plate VII. Fig. 3.) In 
 Broughton Street, which runs across the northern acclivi¬ 
 ty upon which the city of Edinburgh is built, trap again 
 occurs associated with sandstone. 
 
 As the greenstone has been well exposed by quarrying 
 operations, its various modes of connexion with the strata 
 have been disclosed, and the result of all these observations 
 is, that it has been protruded through the strata in some 
 places parallel to their direction, and in others has crossed 
 them at various angles. From the upper surface of this 
 dyke of greenstone another takes its origin, running through 
 the sandstone to the distance of three feet and a half; at its 
 point of contact with the principal mass, its breadth is 
 about one foot, and thins out gradually as it recedes from it. 
 The sandstone on approaching the greenstone becomes indu¬ 
 rated, while the greenstone acquires a compact structure, and 
 is traversed in several places by veins of amethyst, common 
 quartz, and calcareous spar. Besides these veins others 
 have been observed in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, 
 but all are now completely covered. In Lothian Street 
 one of these veins occurs associated with the strata, dipping 
 to the east; and at the Custom-House in Albany Street and 
 Leith Walk, there were at one time interesting exposures 
 of trap-rocks and of the phenomena attending their relations 
 to the various sandstones and shales.'* 
 
 In the bed of the Water of Leith three other trap-dykes 
 occur, the first of these veins, on proceeding up the stream, 
 is to be observed a short way above Stockbridge ; one of its 
 
 * In the first volume of the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal these trap- 
 rocks are all minutely described by Professor Jameson. 
 
64 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTH IANS. 
 
 ends only is visible, the mean breadth being about three feet 
 and a half; it is vertical, and indurates the sandstone strata 
 which dip to the N. W. at 12°. At St George’s mineral 
 well a vein of compact greenstone crosses the strata of sand¬ 
 stone and bituminous shale. In its progress through the 
 strata it entangles portions of the shale, which become com¬ 
 pletely indurated, and from the minute veins which shoot 
 from out the central mass into the stratified rocks, the high 
 state of fluidity in which the greenstone has been erupted is 
 apparent. (PI. VIII. Fig. 1 and 2.) On the north bank of 
 the river a thin stratum of clay-ironstone is shifted for about 
 a foot, and the vein of greenstone entangles a wedge-shaped 
 mass of bituminous shale. Like the other veins which we 
 have mentioned, this greenstone, as it approaches the strata, 
 passes into a yellowish-white claystone, of which the small 
 veins which arise from the chief mass are entirely composed, 
 —a fact at once shewing that the causes allowing the forma¬ 
 tion of the felspar have only existed in those portions of the 
 trap which were in contact with the traversed rock, or in 
 those which were of small size (PI. VIII. Sec. 3.) Above 
 the village of Bell’s Mills another vein of greenstone is to be 
 found dipping with the strata to the N. by W. It is about 
 twelve feet in thickness, and approaches to the syenitic cha¬ 
 racter ; the slate which rests upon it is slightly indurated, 
 and when in contact with it the greenstone of the vein be¬ 
 comes compact. On the coast extending from Newhaven 
 to Queensferry, there is a fine section of the various rocks 
 of the coal-formation, and these, from their relations to ig¬ 
 neous masses, present several interesting appearances. 
 
 About half a mile to the west of Newhaven there is a dis¬ 
 tinct example of the mantle-shaped mode of stratification ; 
 it is on a small scale, and a central point may be found, 
 from which the strata dip to all points of the compass. 
 
CRAMOND—HOUND POINT. 
 
 65 
 
 The rocks which form this assemblage of strata are slate- 
 clay, bituminous shale, clay-iron stone, and sandstone. On 
 proceeding in the direction of Cramond, they dip to the S.E. 
 at 25°, against the mantle-shaped stratification, and in se¬ 
 veral places the sandstone and shale are invaded by masses 
 of compact felspar, of yellow and grey colours ; but in con¬ 
 sequence of their great disintegration, the exact relations 
 of the rocks to each other are not seen. The sandstone 
 and shale when in contact with the felspar are changed 
 both in mineral character and disposition ; the sandstone 
 becoming quartzose, and the slate approaching in some places 
 to Lydian-stone. Farther to the west the strata contain 
 four beds of trap ; one of these is entirely composed of fel¬ 
 spar, a rock into which the others, which are of greenstone, 
 pass, as they approach the stratified series. As usual, indu¬ 
 ration is conspicuous, and in one part a breccia is formed at 
 the planes of contact, being composed of variously sized frag¬ 
 ments of slate and felspar. Iron-pyrites is abundantly dis¬ 
 tributed through both the felspar and greenstone.* On fol¬ 
 lowing the shore, no other rocks are observable till within a 
 short distance of Cramond, where on the beach there are 
 three alternations of sandstone and greenstone, all of which 
 dip to the N.W. at 20°; when in contact the sandstone be¬ 
 comes indurated, and the greenstone passes into compact 
 felspar. On the western side of the river Almond which en¬ 
 ters the sea here, another bed of greenstone occurs : it dfps 
 to the north-west, and is succeeded by strata of sandstone 
 
 * The beautiful display of Plutonian and Neptunian rocks on this 
 part of the coast was, after its relations had been pointed out by Profes¬ 
 sor Jameson, visited by Von Buch, Boue', Mohs, Brochant, Beaumont, 
 and many other geological chiefs. There the rival theorists discussed 
 their geological systems. Unfortunately for the geologist, these rocks 
 have been lately nearly entirely removed, in preparing for the new 
 harbour in that quarter. 
 
 VOL. VII. 
 
GO 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 and shale, which continue as far as Long Green, where they 
 are associated with a great body of greenstone, which ap¬ 
 pears to hold the same relations to the strata as the others. 
 From this to Hound Point in Linlithgowshire, there are no 
 interesting phenomena exhibited by any of the rocks ; there, 
 however, two veins of greenstone occur, running parallel 
 with the strata, which dip to the west at ^6°. These veins 
 in their relations to the stratified rocks, afford exhibitions 
 at once of the violence of their eruptions and of their 
 changing influences, and few points in the Lothians ex¬ 
 hibit in a more marked manner the various and interest- 
 < • • • ' •/ ■» • 4 
 
 ing effects of trap rocks on stratified masses. The lowest 
 of the two dykes which are at this point associated with 
 the stratified deposits, rests upon sandstone, while the up¬ 
 permost reposes upon slate-clay. The trap, as it approaches 
 the sandstone, passes into clay stone felspar, and when in 
 contact with the slate becomes a very compact greenstone. 
 (PI. IX.) The greenstone of these veins is of the common 
 description, and in some places, like several other green¬ 
 stones associated with the coal strata, emits, on fracturing, 
 a strong bituminous smell. The sandstone on which the 
 lowest trap vein reposes, becomes completely changed as 
 it approaches the greenstone, passing either into granular 
 quartz or hornstone, while a portion of it is partially im¬ 
 bedded in the greenstone, the fissure produced by its se¬ 
 paration from the other parts of the stratum having been 
 filled up by the trap. About four feet above the junction 
 of the trap with the sandstone on which it rests, and en¬ 
 tirely included in it, a mass of sandstone maybe observed ; 
 it is visible for about twenty-four feet, and thins gradually 
 out, from a breadth of six inches to that of a mere thread. 
 The slate-clay, which overlies the uppermost bed of green¬ 
 stone, is in its position not remarkably altered ; the line of 
 junction is undulating, and in several places it is slightly 
 
CASTLE ROCK. 
 
 67 
 
 bent up amongst the superincumbent trap. In its mineral 
 characters, the slate-clay exhibits marks of great alteration, 
 . and, from being a soft slate, becomes changed into a rock 
 having little of a schistose structure, and so compact as to 
 afford an uneven conchoidal fracture. From this to the 
 Queensferry, there is no other junction of the trap and 
 sandstone visible ; to the west of the Queensferry, however, 
 there are, on the shore, one or two dykes of trap associated 
 with a tufa, the components of which are angular and on a 
 small scale. 
 
 In the centre of the city of Edinburgh, the Castle Rock 
 rises to the height of 445 feet, forming an eminence which, 
 with the exception of its eastern side, presents on all quarters 
 a perfect mural ascent. The rock of the Castle is composed, 
 throughout its whole extent, of a basaltic clinkstone of a 
 greyish-black colour, which is in general arranged in more 
 or less perfect tabular concretions, and contains minute veins 
 of calcareous spar, sulphate of barytes, prehnite, and Wol- 
 lastonite. The forming of the New West Approach has dis¬ 
 played, in the clearest manner, the relations of the Plutonic 
 rock of the Castle to a series of sandstone and shale which 
 dips to the east at about 12°, and forms a gentle descent 
 to the Palace of Holyrood. In their position the strata ex¬ 
 hibit much disorder, being shifted and variously waved; 
 and all, when in contact with the trap, become indurated, 
 the sandstone passing into a quartzose variety, and the shale 
 assuming a more compact structure. Near the gate of the 
 Castle, several masses of the sandstone may be observed 
 completely enveloped in the trap, all of which exhibit in¬ 
 tense induration. Concerning the more immediate relations 
 of the Castle Rock to the strata which occur on its western 
 side, little can be ascertained, from the almost entire absence 
 of openings, either natural or artificial; it may be stated, 
 
 e 2 
 
68 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 however, that all dip to the N. W. Near Bread Street, the 
 sandstone is crossed vertically by a greenstone dyke about 
 six feet broad. 
 
 Immediately to the west of the city, the hill of Corstor- 
 phin rises with its wooded front, presenting a beautifully 
 undulating surface. This hill is formed by a mass of green¬ 
 stone reposing upon strata of sandstone, sandstone-flag, 
 bituminous shale, and clay-ironstone, which dip to the N.W- 
 at about 25°; from the encumbered state of the surface, 
 however, no opportunity is afforded for examining any 
 junctional appearances. The greenstone of Corstorphin is 
 syenitic, and in several places is found to contain minute 
 scales of pinchbeck-brown mica, and iron-pyrites, while 
 prehnite, calcareous spar, amethyst, and common quartz 
 are to be observed in drusy cavities. 
 
 On examining the position of the several rocks entering 
 into the composition of the hills of Arthur’s Seat, Salisbury 
 Crags, and the Calton, it will be found that all present a 
 uniform inclination to the W. or N. W.; and that a simi¬ 
 lar arrangement exists in the strata forming the bed of the 
 Firth of Forth, is evinced in the island of Inchkeith. 
 
 On proceeding along the coast of Fife, the strata which 
 at Pettycur and Kinghorn have an easterly dip, gradually 
 assume, as we approach Aberdour, a more northerly inclina¬ 
 tion, till at last they sink completely to the north ; and that 
 this position is also held by those in the adjacent parts of 
 the Firth, is indicated from an examination of the island of 
 Inchcolm. After leaving the strata with the northerly dip, 
 and advancing westward, the exposed rocks acquire pro¬ 
 gressively a westerly inclination. On the opposite coast of 
 Linlithgowshire, the same arrangement isvisiblenearQueens- 
 ferry, and in the series of sandstone, shale, and greenstone 
 which occurs between the river Almond and Newhaven. 
 
DIP OF THE STRATA NEAR EDINBURGH. 
 
 69 
 
 The rocks around Edinburgh, and in the adjoining parts 
 of Fifeshire, thus appear to exhibit a certain tendency to a 
 concentric disposition. When, however, the whole district 
 is examined, there is far from being visible that symme¬ 
 trical aspect which characterizes a locality where the vari¬ 
 ous mineral masses, whether aqueous or igneous, have been 
 tilted up around an axis; but, on the contrary, the nume¬ 
 rous instances which occur of strata, within the area of this 
 somewhat mantle-shaped stratification, dipping to points 
 in accordance with the supposition that an anticlinal ele¬ 
 vating force had operated, render it probable that the ap¬ 
 pearances indicative of such an action are merely acciden¬ 
 tal. The Castle rock is a point from which many of the 
 rocks dip, but if it had exerted an influence over so great 
 a space, the sandstone which in many places, as at the 
 Grange and Burntsfield, has a northerly dip, ought to 
 plunge to the south, .while many other strata, dipping to 
 N. W ., as those of Colinton, Slateford, and Craig-Lock- 
 hart, ought to sink to the S. W. 
 
 Concerning the mode by which these Plutonic and Neptu¬ 
 nian rocks have assumed their present position, it may be 
 difficult to conjecture; it must, however,either have been con¬ 
 temporaneous with the formation of the former class of rocks, 
 or subsequent to that of both. If it is affirmed that the ar¬ 
 rangement which the Plutonic rocks of this district exhibits is 
 original, it may be no easy matter to explain how trap could 
 be erupted, so as to overhang valleys without flowing into 
 them ; but, still, there certainly appears little reason to be¬ 
 lieve that the causes which have made the trap-rocks in the 
 neighbourhood of Edinburgh to assume their existing ap¬ 
 pearances, have been others than those which arranged the 
 alternations of trap-rock which constitute, in many districts, 
 mountain masses. When such beds are inclined, thev have 
 
70 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 as good a right to be considered as elevated after their for¬ 
 mation and consolidation, as the greenstone of Salisbury 
 Crags or Corstorphin; and their vertical fronts have an 
 aspect as like the effect of fracture as these. If all the 
 trap rocks which exhibit a vertical front had acquired this 
 form by being subjected to fractures, hardly one Plutonic 
 rock in the Lothians would be exempted—all would be con¬ 
 sidered as having been elevated after their eruption and 
 consolidation. The Dalmahoy Hills, the Bathgate Hills, 
 Blackford Hill, and the principal trap-rocks of Hadding¬ 
 tonshire must, then, all be imagined to have been disturbed 
 by igneous actions different from those which effected their 
 protrusion; for they present perpendicular faces, and are 
 frequently inclined at high angles. 
 
 As an instance of the pseudo-fractured appearance, we 
 may mention Binny Craig in West-Lothian. Here there is 
 the same gentle acclivity on one side-of the hill, and mural 
 face on the other, as is so well seen in Salisbury Crags; and 
 there is, in short, an appearance as like fracture; but the 
 circumstance of its resting upon horizontal strata is a suffi¬ 
 cient proof that it could not have been elevated after its 
 consolidation, for any upraising agent operating on it, must 
 also have acted on the sandstone and shale. When we 
 endeavour to shew, however, from such facts, that these 
 trap-rocks have not been tilted up after their eruption 
 amongst the strata, but that the inclined position is con¬ 
 temporaneous with their formation, it is not to be under¬ 
 stood that we imply the same concerning the period when 
 the Neptunian deposits were raised; for, on the contrary, 
 these evince that they were elevated by actions subsequent to 
 their deposition and solidification, and referable to the trap- 
 rocks with which they are connected. The one set of rocks 
 may be in an unaltered state, as far as their being moved 
 
FRACTURED APPEARANCE OF TRAP ROCKS. 71 
 
 en masse after their eruption is concerned, but the appear¬ 
 ances visible in the position of the latter, prove that they 
 are not. 
 
 Protruded, as the trap-rocks undubitably were, under great 
 superincumbent pressure, arising either from the presence 
 of an immense body of water or rock, it is evident that 
 they were not in a situation which could allow such a per¬ 
 fect motion of the particles on each other, as exists in a 
 stream of fluid rocky matter, erupted only under the pres¬ 
 sure of the atmosphere; and such a great compressing force 
 might allow the ejected igneous matters to be piled up, one 
 above the other, in that more or less bedded arrangement, 
 which characterizes a trap-hill. The structure of the trap- 
 rocks also appears favourable for their having mural preci¬ 
 pices ; for in beds which have a tendency to a prismatic mode 
 of aggregation, and are composed of concretions arranged at 
 right angles to the plane of the bed, there appears to exist 
 a* disposition, which of all others is best fitted for producing, 
 in length of time, a cliff with a vertical front. Immediately 
 after the formation and consolidation of a trap-rock erupted 
 under the pressure of the ocean, it would begin to be sub¬ 
 jected to the destroying action of water ; and if raised 
 above the ocean, and forming dry land, would be subjected 
 to both the mechanical and chemical decomposing influences 
 of air and water. By whatever agents, however, the de¬ 
 composition of the mass was effected, it would proceed 
 chiefly in the direction of the vertical concretions, so that 
 whether the rock presented a mural front originally or not, 
 it would, when acted on by the various agents productive 
 of decay, assume one in a greater or less degree. By this 
 uniform mode of disintegration going on through a long- 
 series of geological epochs, the original aspect of a trap 
 country might be modified to such a great extent, that there 
 might exist hardly any similarity between its former appear- 
 
72 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 ance and its present outline ; what then formed one moun¬ 
 tain, may now be broken down into several, and the once 
 perfect continuity of a bed of basalt or greenstone over 
 one mountain, may now only be inferred by finding it 
 forming mountain caps to portions of that mountain. * 
 
 In addition to the different points which we have describ¬ 
 ed, where the relations of the various rocks to each other 
 are observable, there are others; but few of these exhibit any 
 thing remarkable. In the bed of the river Almond, at the 
 Aqueduct Bridge, the slate and sandstone are associated with 
 a greenstone, which forms, for a considerable length, the en¬ 
 tire bed of the river; it is surmounted by an assemblage of 
 shale strata, and in all probability forms a great vein which 
 runs parallel with their direction. On the north side of the 
 bridge these strata are found under a second bed of trap, 
 which can be traced for several hundred yards : the slates, 
 when in contact with the greenstone, are slightly indurated, 
 and the trap as it approaches them, becomes gradually more 
 compact. A short way up the river a vein of trap about 
 four feet broad traverses the sandstone, and near this an¬ 
 other is to be seen running parallel with the strata, which 
 dip at about 30°, pursuing a determined course for many 
 yards; it cannot be traced throughout its whole extent, but 
 may be examined in the bed of the river, and also in seve¬ 
 ral parts of the cliffs. Near Almondell the strata present, 
 within a very short space, several examples of undulation, 
 and are traversed by a vein of greenstone, having a thick¬ 
 ness of three feet. In the limestone quarries of East Cal- 
 der there are several interesting phenomena attending the 
 relation of the limestone to the greenstone, which is of 
 
 * In the island of Rum there are several good examples of mountains 
 being formed by the decomposition of one. The large granular augitic 
 greenstone ridges of Haleval are only continuations of Aisgobhall, though 
 now both of these mountains are separated by a deep glen. 
 
 / 
 
EAST CALDER. 
 
 73 
 
 the usual description, and in some places assumes the 
 globularly concretionary structure. In the first quarry to 
 the east of East Calder, the mountain limestone dips S. E. 
 at 20°, under a mass of greenstone, which in the second 
 quarry is found in immediate contact with it. In the quarry 
 where the junction is exposed, the limestone abutts against 
 the greenstone at a small angle, dipping E. S.E. ; a position 
 which, at the eastern extremity of this opening, is completely 
 reversed, as the strata sink to the W. S.W. at 15°. The 
 limestone, which at a distance from the greenstone is of a 
 bluish or yellowish-grey colour, becomes, on approaching 
 it, white and beautifully crystalline, acquiring much of the 
 aspect of primitive marble. No exact line of boundary can 
 be drawn between the greenstone and the limestone ; on the 
 contrary, both rocks are so intimately blended, that this 
 locality might, if the true nature of them was not known 
 to be distinct, be considered as exhibiting appearances 
 only to be explained by awarding a synchronous and si¬ 
 milar origin to both. The greenstone may be observed 
 in all stages between a mass distinctly imbedded, to one in 
 which it is so perfectly diffused through the limestone, 
 as to impart to it a dark green colour : in accordance with 
 the received igneous formation of trap, such an appear¬ 
 ance may be explained, by supposing that circumstances 
 caused such a perfect fluidity of both rocks, that the inter¬ 
 mixture of the one with the other was the consequence. 
 Like all the other trap-rocks, this greenstone, in the neigh¬ 
 bourhood of the strata, becomes compact, and, as is often 
 the case with trap in contact with limestone, assumes much 
 of the serpentinous character. 
 
 Immediately to the south of East Calder, there is a con¬ 
 siderable district of trap, which rises at its eastern extre¬ 
 mity into the two marked eminences of the Dalmahoy 
 Crags ; it runs E. and W., forming the hilly range of 
 
74 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 Kirknewton and Lawhead, and appears to terminate at 
 the Linhouse water near Longhaugh- Mill. The hills of 
 Auchinown, Morton, and Corston, form a part of this trap 
 range. From Longhaugh Mill to Linhouse, the bed and 
 both sides of the stream exhibit one of those alternating 
 groups of variously coloured shales and red sandstone, 
 which so often occur, both on the large and small scale, as¬ 
 sociated with the white sandstone series of the Lothians. 
 A short distance to the eastward of the stream the strata are 
 cut off by the trap-rock, which constitute all the hills on that 
 side. Opposite Linhouse it sends out a great dyke of grey 
 compact basalt, which crosses the river; it cannot be traced 
 on the western side of the stream, but, judging from the 
 external aspect of the country, it is probable that it ter¬ 
 minates near this point. To the south of this trap-dyke, 
 nothing in any way interesting presents itself; but in the 
 course of the Linhouse water, there are numerous expo¬ 
 sures of the white sandstone and its concomitant shale 
 strata; which form, without any visible association with 
 Plutonic rocks, a wide extent of moor ground, bounded on 
 the south by the red sandstone hills which constitute the 
 western extremity of the Pentland range. The greenstone 
 of Dalmahoy rests upon white sandstone dipping west; but 
 as it is covered at the planes of contact, its aspect, if there 
 changed, cannot be seen. At the western extremity of this 
 trap range, at Longhaugh Mill, there is a very satisfactory 
 junction of the greenstone and sandstone, both of which 
 are much altered in mineralogical character; the strata 
 of sandstone become vertical or exhibit various undula¬ 
 tions, and are indurated into a granular quartz, while the 
 greenstone with which they are in contact passes into a very 
 compact greenstone or a felspar. At the southern extre¬ 
 mity of Auchinown Hill, and at the farm of Harper Rig, 
 a dyke of greenstone crosses the stream, running parallel 
 
ISLANDS IN THE FIRTH OF FORTH. 
 
 75 
 
 with the sandstone strata; and in the bed of the Gogar 
 burn at Wester Haggs, another dyke traverses the sand¬ 
 stone vertically, which abutts against it on both sides. At 
 Stoneyrig also, a similar dyke occurs; there are no junc¬ 
 tions visible, but the strata are fractured, contorted, and 
 inclined at high angles. 
 
 Having now described the relations of the trap-rocks which 
 occur in the more immediate vicinity of Edinburgh to the 
 various Neptunian strata, the present appears a convenient 
 place to introduce a description of the islands which rise 
 above the waters of the Firth of Forth, in as much as 
 there are circumstances which connect them with the seve¬ 
 ral rocky masses which we have just noticed. Of these 
 islands, two only, Inchkeith and Inehcolm, contain strati¬ 
 fied rocks, and both exhibit several interesting appear¬ 
 ances. The strata which occur in Inchkeith consist of 
 limestone, calcareous sandstone, slate-clay, and bitumi¬ 
 nous shale, all of which dip to the S. S.W.* The ig¬ 
 neous rocks of this island are amygdaloid, earthy green¬ 
 stone, basalt, and tufa, and at the lines of junction with 
 the stratified rocks there are produced all those changes 
 which so frequently occur; the slate becomes indurated, 
 the limestone crystalline, and the sandstone quartzose. In 
 several places, masses of the stratified rocks are carried up, 
 and completely enveloped in the trap ; these masses varying 
 from the smallest size to the magnitude of many yards. On 
 the eastern side of the island the columnar mode of arrange¬ 
 ment is well displayed in the greenstone. The tufa which 
 occurs in Inchkeith is formed by a base of earthy trap con¬ 
 taining variously sized masses of basalt, greenstone, sand- 
 
 * Vide pp. 216, 17, 18, 19, and 220 of Dr Neill’s translation of Dau- 
 buison’s Memoir on Basalt, for an interesting account of the geognosy of 
 the coast of Fyfe. 
 
76 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTIIIANS. 
 
 stone, and limestone; it appears to constitute the lowest rock 
 of the island, and is in general traversed by a multiplicity 
 of veins of calcareous spar, which is sometimes fibrous. The 
 other minerals which are met with in the rocks of Inchkeith 
 are common jasper, and Lydian-stone, the latter of which 
 forms contemporaneous imbedded masses and layers in the 
 limestone. Glassy felspar occurs in the basalt, which also 
 contains minute masses of steatite. 
 
 A little to the west of Inchkeith, Inchcolm rises. A consi¬ 
 derable portion of this island is composed of greenstone, ex¬ 
 hibiting either the earthy, syenitic, or common appearance, 
 and which, by the felspar being replaced by steatite, fre¬ 
 quently passes into an imperfect serpentine. On the south 
 side of the island, a variety of greenstone occurs contain¬ 
 ing numerous scales of pinchbeck-brown mica ; it is traversed 
 by a number of contemporaneous veins of greenstone, which 
 frequently passes into steatite; this mineral occurs also in 
 minute strings without exhibiting any such transition, and 
 in them sometimes there may be observed threads of ami¬ 
 anthus. On the south of the island, where a junction 
 of the trap and the sandstone is exposed, the latter dips to 
 the north at 52°; while the greenstone, as it approaches 
 the sandstone, passes into a compact yellowish-white clay- 
 stone, a vein of which occurs running parallel (Plate X., 
 Fig. 1.) with the strata. With the exception of a body 
 of sandstone, which is enveloped in the greenstone, the 
 western half of the island is entirely composed of trap, hav¬ 
 ing in some places a slightly columnar disposition. Farther 
 up the Firth, the islands of Cramond, Carcaig, Mickrey, 
 Mickrey Stone, and Inchgarvey occur: from being entirely 
 formed of trap, however, these exhibit nothing interest¬ 
 ing. The greenstone of Cramond Island and Mickrey is 
 syenitic, the felspar being white and of a light brick-red 
 colour. At the mouth of the Firth, a range of trap islands 
 
BASS ROCK-BRAID HILLS. 
 
 77 
 
 runs for a considerable way round the coast of East-Lothian, 
 of which Eyebroughy and the Bass Rock form the two ex¬ 
 tremities. The Bass Rock is composed of a very minute 
 greenstone, in which the felspar, which is compact and of a 
 reddish-brown colour, sometimes becomes so abundant, that 
 the rock almost passes into a compact felspar or a clinkstone. 
 Throughout its whole extent it exhibits more or less the 
 tabular structure, the concretions varying both in thickness 
 and mode of position. In several places, by the incessant 
 action of the waves upon the rock, caves have been produced, 
 one of which perforates it completely, and is accessible at 
 low water. 
 
 Having noticed the relations of the several detached mass¬ 
 es of trap to the strata, we shall now describe in the same 
 way those clinkstones, claystones, and compact felspars, 
 which form a considerable portion of the Pentlands. The 
 hill of Blackford, which forms the northern termination 
 of this range, is entirely composed of clinkstone of a dark 
 grey colour : it contains in some places crystals of felspar, 
 and is traversed by veins of agate. The claystones 
 and compact felspars of the Braid Hills are of various 
 shades of grey, yellow, and brown, and are all easily de¬ 
 composed by atmospherical agents. Concerning the more 
 minute relations of these ignigenous masses to the stratified 
 formations, the completely covered state of the country ren¬ 
 ders it impossible to determine; by examining, however, 
 the position of the strata in the few places where this can be 
 done, the result is, that all are found to abutt against the 
 unstratified rocks. In the Grange Quarry, which is situated 
 but a short distance from the clinkstone of Blackford, stra¬ 
 ta of red sandstone dip to the N. by E. at 40°; and a coarse 
 conglomerate, which is visible for a few yards at Liberton- 
 brae, sinks to the E. S.E. at about 35°, exhibiting, in many 
 
78 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 places, signs of disorder. Near the village of Blirdie-house, 
 and at Straiton Mill, the coal formation sandstone, and 
 a bed of the mountain limestone, plunge to the S. S.E. at 
 40° and 35°. To the west of the Braid Hills, and sepa¬ 
 rated from them by about half a mile of gently undulating 
 country, the hill of Craig-Lockhart rises, and on its east 
 side the red sandstone which occurs at the Grange, is to 
 be observed dipping W. at 35°. The rock which forms 
 the igneous portion of Craig-Lockhart, is, in some places, a 
 well-marked greenstone, exhibiting an imperfect columnar 
 structure; while in others it approaches to basalt, contain¬ 
 ing numerous small crystals of velvet-black basaltic horn¬ 
 blende, and a few large crystals of glassy-white felspar. 
 Within the space of a few feet, this rock passes into a 
 greenstone of an earthy aspect, which makes a transition in 
 some parts into a claystone, and in others into a wacke. 
 The claystone into which the greenstone passes is, in gene¬ 
 ral, of a greyish colour, and contains crystals of black horn¬ 
 blende, the crystalline form of which may often be exposed 
 on a favourable fracture; contemporaneous veins of felspar 
 traverse the rock in many places. In some parts of the 
 hill a fine greenstone is found, which contains large and 
 well-defined crystals of felspar, and resembles, in some de¬ 
 gree, the green porphyry of the ancients; while in other parts 
 a trap-tufa occurs, which is always distinctly stratified. On 
 the side of the Colinton road, the sandstone strata dip N. 
 W. at 30°, thus abutting against the trap of Craig-Lockhart. 
 
 The Pentland Hills,* as we have already said, rise im¬ 
 mediately to the south of the Braid Hills, forming nume¬ 
 rous rounded and conical summits, and attaining, in some 
 
 * Vide Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural History Society, vol. 2d, 
 for Professor Jameson’s outline of the Mineralogy of the Pentland Hills; 
 and Dr Charles Mackenzie on the compact felspar of the Pentlands in 
 vol. i. Wernerian Memoirs. 
 
THE PENTLANDS. 
 
 79 
 
 instances, to the heights of 1876 feet and 1856 feet. Mi- 
 neralogically, they may be separated into two series of 
 hills, viz. that composed of felspathic rocks, and that formed 
 of sandstone; the former class constitutes the eastern half 
 of the range, while the latter occurs chiefly in the western. 
 As in the Braid Hills, the ignigenous portion of the Pent- 
 lands is composed principally of various porphyries, clay- 
 stones, and compact felspars, all of which pass into one an¬ 
 other, and preserve in their several relations no definite 
 mode of grouping, inasmuch as the formation of all appears 
 to have been strictly contemporaneous. A greenish-grey 
 clinkstone occurs in several places, and in other parts a com¬ 
 pact felspar is to be met with, which varies in colour from 
 flesh to brownish-red, and by assuming crystals of felspar, 
 makes, in some places, a transition into porphyry. Clay- 
 stone of various colours forms many of the Pentland hills, 
 and exists in all stages between an easily friable rock, 
 and one of considerable solidity ; very generally, it is as¬ 
 sociated with the porphyritic structure, the felspar crystals 
 in some instances being of considerable size. Besides this 
 clay stone exhibiting the porphyritic arrangement, it be¬ 
 comes frequently amygdaloidal, and contains concretionary 
 masses of calcareous spar, amethyst, quartz, chalcedony, 
 agate, lithomarge, and green-earth. Of the claystone of 
 the Pentlands, one only may be noticed more particularly, 
 in as much as its characters might easily cause its true na¬ 
 ture to be mistaken ; it forms the whole of the hill of Kirk- 
 yetton, and occurs also in the Turnhouse hill. On exa¬ 
 mining this rock at first sight, it will appear as if composed 
 of fragments of compact felspar and claystone ; but, after 
 studying it minutely and in all its details, these fragments 
 will be discovered to be such in appearance only. The same 
 varieties of the compact felspar, which in some places might 
 be easily mistaken for fragments, are found in others to 
 
80 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTH IANS. 
 
 occur as veins, of an origin contemporaneous with the appa¬ 
 rently fragmentary rock ; and farther, the pseudo fragments 
 are all found, when the true fracture of the rock is obtained, 
 to pass gradually into the containing basis. 
 
 In the augitic series of the Lothians there are greenstones 
 which, from containing angular masses of greenstone, im¬ 
 bedded in a trap basis, might in some cases be confounded 
 with a true tufa. In many instances, however, there may 
 be observed a gradual transition of the apparently tuface- 
 ous rock into a perfectly well characterized greenstone; a 
 fact which at once appears to prove, that the fragmentary 
 aspect may, in some instances, be deceptive. It is almost 
 impossible to conceive circumstances adequate to produce the 
 passage of a true tufa—a rock which is of an evident mechan¬ 
 ical origin—into greenstone, which is a true aggregate of 
 more or less perfect crystals, and has resulted from the cool¬ 
 ing of a fused mass. It may be said, that the long action of 
 the greenstone upon the tufa, might make the semblance of 
 a transition. When trap-tufa, however, from a proximity to 
 such a mass, appears to have been altered, the appearances 
 are only of that description which, in some instances, at¬ 
 tend the junctions of true aqueous rocks with Plutonic 
 masses. Throughout the whole extent of the Pentland 
 range, there are but few localities where the connexions of 
 the igneous with the stratified rocks are well exposed. Near 
 the extremity of the valley of Glencorse., which runs in a 
 N. E. and S. W. direction through the Pentlands, and be¬ 
 side the ruins of an old chapel, sandstone occurs, dipping 
 S. at 15° or 20°, thus resting upon the porphyry which 
 forms the north side of the glen, and sinking under that 
 which composes the hills on the south. As to the appear¬ 
 ance exhibited at the junction of the sandstone with the por¬ 
 phyry nothing can be said : throughout its whole visible 
 extent, however, it is changed, in some places passing into 
 
THE PENTLANDS. 
 
 81 
 
 quartz-rock, and in others becoming a conchoidal hornstone. 
 At the western extremity of the valley, and on the south of 
 Black Hill, a natural section exhibits numerous alternating 
 strata, of a very fine granular brown sandstone and slate. 
 The mineral characters of the latter are in some places si¬ 
 milar to those of the slates associated with grey wacke: if, 
 however, its position, in regard to the rocks with which it 
 is connected, be observed, and its aspect compared with that 
 of slates whose place in the carboniferous group is more ap¬ 
 parent, its geological age becomes sufficiently evident. In 
 the course of the North Esk river, from its rise in the Dod- 
 rig to Carlops, there are many fine sections of this slate; 
 it is found alternating with the coarse sandstone conglome¬ 
 rate of the Pentlands, and in some places with the sandstone 
 of the coal series. At Habbie’s How the slate, which is 
 vertical and ranges S. W. and N. E., rests upon the com¬ 
 pact felspar of Black Hill, and throughout its whole extent 
 exhibits evident marks of having been at one time sub¬ 
 jected to energetic upraising actions. Conglomerate forms 
 the western extremity of the valley of Glencorse ; it dips to 
 the W. by S. at 15°, being thus in a position anything but 
 conformable with the slate. As we have already stated, how¬ 
 ever, that the synchronism of deposition of these two rocks 
 is well seen in other parts of the Pentlands, the causes of 
 this may in all probability be referred to the upburst of the 
 Plutonic rocks, with which both are so intimately connected. 
 On examining the conglomerate, as exposed by the cascade 
 of Habbie’s How, it is found traversed by minute veins of a 
 compact felspar, similar to that which is associated with the 
 slate; it is however more compact, and thus affords another 
 instance of that change of mineral character which the ignige- 
 nous rocks evince, when they traverse Neptunian strata in the 
 form of veins, or come in contact with them as overlying masses. 
 
 VOL. VII. 
 
 F 
 
82 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTH IANS. 
 
 Concerning the appearances which the conglomerate exhi¬ 
 bits, when near these veins, it may be remarked, that they 
 are the same as many which we have before described as 
 attending similar rocks in similar situations; it become- 
 intensely indurated, and has a more or less perfect conchoi- 
 dal surface. The felspar of Black Hill is found to contain 
 imbedded masses of this conglomerate many yards in extent, 
 and on its eastern side, near the farm of Craigentarrie, strata 
 of red sandstone are found in an almost vertical position ; 
 slate the same as that of Habbie’s How is also to be observed 
 in several places intimately connected with the compact fel¬ 
 spar. 
 
 Besides all these interesting relations of stratified to un¬ 
 stratified rocks, we have, in the formation of the valley 
 which separates the hill of felspar from the conglomerate 
 of Habbie’s How, a subject of considerable interest, and an 
 example of one of the many valleys which cannot be satis¬ 
 factorily explained by referring them to the long-continued 
 action of the streams which traverse them. In specula¬ 
 ting upon the origin of valleys, it is necessary to examine 
 whether these have been produced by actions aqueous or 
 igneous, and subsequent to the formation of the rocks which 
 they traverse, or whether they are to be considered as origi¬ 
 nal depressions. In regard to the valley of Glencorse, the 
 relations of the several rocks which we have just noticed, 
 render it evident that it is not an original depression, but 
 that subsequent actions, whether aqueous or igneous, have 
 produced the existing arrangements. That this valley 
 has been formed by the long-continued action of the insig¬ 
 nificant stream which at present runs through it, is, as we 
 have just remarked, highly improbable; on the contrary, 
 however, it and all other valleys, presenting the same cha¬ 
 racters, may be satisfactorily explained by considering them 
 as having originated in more or less limited lines of fracture. 
 
/ 
 
 RAVINES—GORGES. 83 
 
 In the three Lothians, we might cite innumerable examples 
 of gorges and ravines, which, though traversed by streams, 
 still, from the great disproportion which exists in their re¬ 
 lative magnitudes, have evidently been produced by agents 
 in no way connected with the water which flows through 
 them. To form these valleys by water, some geologists 
 may only demand a great lapse of time ; but others, from 
 considering their various appearances, and remembering ' 
 that, if a given cause is inadequate to produce a given ef¬ 
 fect, the endless operation of that cause avails nothing, will 
 only refer them to great and instantaneous convulsions. 
 
 The high vertical faces of the rocks, in every instance, 
 exhibit evident proofs of fracture, and present no appear¬ 
 ances which can reasonably be considered as produced 
 by the long-continued action of a stream. Though alte¬ 
 rations in the position of strata, are, in the generality of 
 cases, to be referred to the presence of unstratified rocks, 
 still many of the rents which we are noticing, seem, from 
 crossing strata which are in a horizontal position, and, in 
 many instances, far removed from igneous masses, to be re¬ 
 ferable to other Plutonic actions than those which have pro¬ 
 truded the augitic and felspathic series. On the nature of 
 these we have no intention to speculate at length. May 
 they not, however, be traced to the actions which raised the 
 countries we are noticing above the waters of an ancient 
 ocean ? As some localities where fissures appear to traverse 
 the strata, we may mention the Heriot, Dunglass, and Pease 
 burns, the glen of Pockbie near Soutra Hill, and nume¬ 
 rous points in the courses of the rivers Almond, Leith, 
 Gladhouse, and North Esk. 
 
 The slate which is seen in an upraised position at Hab- 
 bie’s How, is to be met with in other parts of the Pentlands : 
 near Bevelaw House, it occurs in vertical strata, ranging 
 
 j? Q 
 r *-v 
 
84 
 
 GEOLOGY OP THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 N. E. and S. W., and is traversed by two vertical dykes of 
 greenstone, the largest of which is about twenty feet wide; 
 but neither the greenstone nor the slate exhibit any mark¬ 
 ed signs of alteration. 
 
 Above the village of Currie, the hill of Warklaw rises 
 through the white sandstone series, which occurs abutting 
 against it in the bed of the Water of Leith; it is partly 
 composed of a common greenstone, and partly of a porphy- 
 ritic clinkstone, and on its south side, strata of red sandstone, 
 in some places highly calcareous, are found reposing. On 
 the banks of a rivulet which takes its rise at the foot of Har¬ 
 bour Hill and joins the Braidsburn here, the white sand¬ 
 stone is found dipping N. N.E., being cut through by a 
 dyke of trap which dips N. at 80°. All the rocks are indurat¬ 
 ed, the sandstone passing almost into granular quartz, and 
 the argillaceous shale becoming compact. The greenstone 
 which occurs here is of the usual description, and is arranged 
 in perfect globular concretions. On the other side of the 
 greenstone dyke, the strata dip to the S. S.W., resting upon 
 the red sandstone, which reclines against a rock of com¬ 
 pact felspar. After leaving Bevelaw Quarry, and proceed¬ 
 ing along the Pentland range, the igneous rocks are found 
 to be replaced by the red sandstone, which constitutes, with 
 the exception of one or two veinous masses of trap, all the 
 remaining Mid-Lothian portion of the Pentlands. In East 
 Cairn Hill, the sandstone rises to the height of 1802 feet, 
 forming a well-marked table-shaped mountain, and on its 
 south side, the strata of sandstone crop out, and dip to the 
 north at about 25°. Concerning the immediate agents which 
 have caused the red sandstone of this quarter to rise into 
 mountain masses, we cannot speak with certainty, inasmuch 
 as they are all completely concealed. In the porphyry 
 hills of the range, however, there exist causes quite suffi- 
 
CAIRN MUIR—CARLOPS. 
 
 85 
 
 cient for their upraisure, and the existence of these or si¬ 
 milar rocks, below the sandstone, may easily have pro¬ 
 duced the disturbances which the position of the various 
 slates and sandstones evinces they must have been subjected 
 to. The sandstone-conglomerate which occurs in the bed 
 of the Linton Water is, near the farm of Cairn Muir, tra¬ 
 versed by a large vein of greenstone, which is in some 
 places amygdaloidal; it cannot be traced throughout its 
 whole extent, but it runs a course parallel with the direction 
 of the strata, and gradually thins out. The conglomerate, 
 at its planes of junction with the greenstone, however, exhi¬ 
 bits no appearance of induration. (Plate X. Fig. 2.) 
 
 The only other trap-rock which occurs in the Pentlands, 
 and deserves to be noticed, is a greenstone associated with 
 the red sandstone of Carlops. This mass of trap forms the 
 central part of a valley running E. and W. for nearly a 
 mile; its sides are composed of red sandstone and con¬ 
 glomerate, having a position which, though not very sa¬ 
 tisfactorily displayed, appears to indicate that the strata 
 have been tilted up anticlinally. The trap which appears 
 to have been the agent in causing this arrangement does 
 not form an uninterrupted ridge, but, on the contrary, 
 has been broken up by subsequent actions, which have left 
 only portions expressive of its former complete continuity. 
 At the eastern extremity of this dyke of trap, the cutting 
 of a new road has exposed a vein of earthy greenstone, 
 which runs parallel with the strata of the white sandstone 
 series, and can only be considered as a lateral expansion of 
 the principal trap vein. The strata when in contact with 
 it are not altered, and both rocks dip S. S.W. at about 
 35°. At the village of Carlops, the eastern extremity of 
 this great trap-dyke is traversed by an infinity of veins 
 composed of quartz, in the different states of hornstone, 
 
86 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTH IANS. 
 
 jasper, chalcedony, and cachalong : they run a determined 
 course; and in breadth vary from the smallest size to two 
 feet. The fact of there being exhibited in the structure of 
 the larger of these veins evident marks of mechanical actions, 
 renders it probable that none are of an origin contempora¬ 
 neous with the trap. Many of the veins are composed of 
 an aggregate of fragments of white and black hornstone, 
 cemented together by a similar basis; all these fragments 
 are angular, and frequently they may be reunited to each 
 other in the imagination. As to the variety of the horn- 
 stone which constitutes these fragmentary masses, or forms 
 the base which contains them, there is no regularity ob¬ 
 served, for in some portions of a vein the masses are of 
 black hornstone, imbedded in a white hornstone ground, 
 while, in other parts angular fragments of white hornstone 
 are inclosed in a base of the black. To explain the mode 
 in which these veins have been formed in the existing state 
 of knowledge in regard to this subject is perhaps impossi¬ 
 ble ; an infiltration from above, however, of the minerals 
 which constitute them, is the most probable mode of their 
 formation, while a breaking up of the previously formed 
 veins and their reconsolidation, by a new infiltration of 
 quartzose matters, may have effected those appearances 
 which indicate mechanical actions. 
 
 Concerning the relations of the porphyry of the Pent- 
 lands to the strata which skirt their southern base, little 
 can be said, inasmuch as there are no natural or artifi¬ 
 cial openings sufficiently near the junction of the two rocks. 
 In the bed of North Esk river there is almost throughout 
 its whole course, a fine section of the various strata of the 
 coal formation, but in no part are they in any way connected 
 with rocks of ignigenous origin, though that they have 
 
GARLETON HILLS. 
 
 87 
 
 been acted upon by disturbing agents, their position ren¬ 
 ders sufficiently evident.* 
 
 Having now noticed, with considerable minuteness, the 
 various relations of the ignigenous rocks of Mid-Lothian, 
 to the associated stratified formations, we shall in the same 
 way describe similar phenomena which are exhibited in 
 Haddingtonshire.f A considerable portion of this county is 
 composed of igneous masses ; they form all that part which 
 which is included by a line, stretching from Whitberry Point 
 to Linton and Pople: the line of trap-rock here assumes a 
 westerly direction, running along the north back of the Tyne 
 as far as Haddington; and, making a ‘detour’ by Bangly, pass¬ 
 es near Ballencrief and Drem toll, till at last it terminates in 
 the sea, forming Goolan Point. Though this is the most ex¬ 
 tensive body of trap which occurs in East Lothian, still there 
 are others of a smaller size which exhibit many interesting 
 relations. As in Mid-Lothian the augitic or trap-rocks 
 are associated with those of the felspathic or porphyry series. 
 Rocks of the latter class constitute the Garleton Hills, a 
 range forming the high land which occurs above the town of 
 Haddington, and they enter also into the composition of 
 the eminences of North Berwick-Law and Traprain. The 
 
 * Near the town of West Linton, situated at the farther extremity of 
 the Pentlands, felspathic rocks again appear, rising through the red 
 sandstone. The hill of Mendic is entirely composed of a brown clay- 
 stone porphyry. In its characters, the white sandstone which occurs 
 around West Linton, exhibits some appearances differing from any of 
 the other white sandstones of the Lothians. It contains, as an ingredient, 
 a great abundance of yellowish-white claystone, and indeed, it is only 
 bv examining this rock in all its details that its true nature can be ascer¬ 
 tained; for, when the lines of stratification are imperfect, and no alterna¬ 
 tions with a more characteristic sandstone visible, it might easily be mis¬ 
 taken for one of those claystones, which in some parts of this district rise 
 through and occur between the sedimentary deposits. 
 
 + Vide Dr Ogilvy on the Trap-Veins of East Lothians, Wernerian 
 Memoirs, vol. i. Also Professor Jameson on the Geognosy of the Lo¬ 
 thians, Wernerian Memoirs, vol. ii. 
 
88 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 mineral characters which these rocks exhibit are on a ge¬ 
 neral view similar to those which occur in the former 
 county; there are, however, some which merit a detailed 
 description. The porphyry of the Garleton Hills has in 
 general a basis of a largely foliated clinkstone, inclosing 
 crystals of felspar; it passes into clinkstone, and in other 
 parts into compact felspar; and associated with these porphy¬ 
 ry and clinkstone rocks, there occurs at the Abbey toll of 
 Haddington a felspar tufa, containing imbedded angular 
 fragments of porphyry and compact felspar. Much of the 
 country in the neighbourhood of Linton is composed of a 
 highly felspathic greenstone, which passes in many places 
 into claystone. The augite and felspar which form this 
 rock are, from being highly impregnated with iron, of a 
 brownish-red colour ; it is very small granular, exhibiting 
 in some places a tendency to a tabular arrangement; and in 
 the quarry of Pencraik, where the felspathic greenstone is 
 worked to a considerable extent for road material, it is tra¬ 
 versed by numerous veins of sulphate of barytes, associated 
 with calcareous spar and fibrous brown haematite. 
 
 In describing the relations of this great deposit of trap 
 and felspar rock, to the stratified formations, we shall com¬ 
 mence at the southern extremity, which rises above the vil¬ 
 lage of Garvald, forming Whitelaw Hill. At this point the 
 strata of red sandstone are found dipping at 10° to S.W. 
 byS., thus abutting against the igneous rocks,—a position, 
 however, which they are far from universally holding ; for, 
 in tracing the sandstone round the unstratified rocks, it is 
 found in many places to sink under them, or to be inclined 
 at a small angle. Such apparently unchanged positions of 
 the strata may, however, easily be reconciled with the in¬ 
 trusive origin of trap or felspathic rocks; if it be remem¬ 
 bered that much of this ignigenous mass may be in an over- 
 lying position, and occurring only as a great body, which, 
 
SUNN YSIDE—BALGONE. 
 
 89 
 
 after being erupted through the strata, has flowed over them. 
 Near Hollandside, and on the southern acclivity of Trap- 
 rain-Law, sandstone is exposed for a few yards, dipping to 
 the S. W. at about 20°, thus resting upon the porphyry, to 
 which a slight appearance of induration is probably to be 
 attributed. It sinks below a porphyritic basalt, which with 
 claystone forms one of the sides of the valley of Blakie’s 
 Haugh. The felspar porphyry of this hill is in many places 
 arranged in very distinct tabular concretions, which vary 
 both in magnitude and position. Of the southern part of 
 this extensive formation of trap, the only point which exhi¬ 
 bits in a very clear manner the protrusion of the trap, sub¬ 
 sequent to the formation of strata, is in the limestone quarries 
 of Sunny side. In one of these openings, the mountain lime¬ 
 stone, with its associated variously coloured slate-clay s, dip to 
 the north at 30°, lying under a ferruginous felspathic green¬ 
 stone, which is found rising through them in the form of a dyke 
 of about three feet in thickness; there are no appearances 
 of induration, but the slates exhibit several undulations. 
 (PI. X. Fig. 3.) The effects of the trap upon the limestone 
 cannot be observed, though that it does traverse it, the fact of 
 crossing strata which rest upon the limestone at once proves. 
 
 At Phantassie the same limestone appears, in the im¬ 
 mediate vicinity of trap; and tracing it eastward, it may be 
 examined at Balgone in the neighbourhood of the igni- 
 genous rocks. The limestone here is considerably indurat¬ 
 ed, and contains numerous small veins of calcareous spar, 
 in which drusy cavities occur, lined with minute groups 
 of quartz-crystals. In position, this limestone is very 
 much altered; it is fractured and contorted, and in many 
 places the lines of stratification are much obliterated. The 
 position of the white sandstone of this part of East Lo¬ 
 thian, as it is exposed in artificial openings, and in the 
 
90 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 bed of the Tyne, is more or less horizontal, an arrangement 
 of the strata, which, but for junctional phenomena visible 
 at other points in this district, might lead us to imagine that 
 they had not been acted on by ignigenous masses. 
 
 To trace the junctions of the two classes of rocks through 
 that part of the country which extends from Haddington 
 to the shores of the Firth of Forth, is, from the obstacles 
 which so often mar the progress of the geologist, impossible. 
 On examining, however, the shore which stretches from 
 Morrison’s Haven to Dunbar, numerous rock sections of 
 the most interesting nature may be observed. The strata 
 are traversed by intruding masses of trap, and these, it is 
 highly probable, are connected (though the encumbered 
 state of the surface prevents such connections from being 
 seen,) with that great East Lothian district of trap, the 
 boundaries of which we have just defined. On examining 
 the northern shore of East Lothian, the first mass of trap 
 which is observed occurs at Morrison’s Haven ; it is a green¬ 
 stone of the usual description, and rises directly through the 
 sandstone, which on one side rests upon it, and on the other 
 sinks below it; no junctions are, however, to be found. On 
 proceeding along the coast in the direction of Cockenzie, 
 the various strata of sandstone and slate evince much dis¬ 
 turbance, and preserve no general line of bearing, but, on 
 the contrary, dip at varying angles to various points of the 
 compass. At the harbour of Cockenzie a great mass of 
 large granular greenstone occurs ; it rises directly through 
 the strata which, on one side, dip to the E. S.E. at 30°, and 
 on the other to the S. Between this and the greenstone 
 which forms Goolan Point, other greenstones are found as¬ 
 sociated with the coal sandstones and slates; one of these at 
 Bogle Hill is rudely columnar, and throughout its whole 
 visible extent runs parallel with the strata, which, when in 
 
COAST NEAR NORTH BERWICK. 
 
 91 
 
 contact with it, become indurated, while the trap passes 
 into a yellowish-white claystone felspar. On passing Goolan 
 Point, strata of sandstone and mountain limestone crop out 
 at the shore : they dip under the greenstone and exhibit 
 many marks of a disturbed position. About two miles far¬ 
 ther to the east many other greenstones occur, but their 
 modes of connection with the strata are not exposed. Near 
 Red House a basalt rises through the sandstone : it is ar¬ 
 ranged in columns of the most symmetrical character, which, 
 in some places, are inclined at a small angle, while in others 
 they are variously bent or completely vertical. By assum¬ 
 ing crystals of felspar, the basalt acquires, in some places, a 
 slightly porphyritic character. From this to Weaklaw, a 
 point almost opposite the island of Fidra, there is nothing 
 which deserves minute detail; strata of sandstone, with alter¬ 
 nating limestone, are exposed on the shore, but their position 
 is so disturbed, and they are so covered with debris, that little 
 can be ascertained respecting them ; they alternate, however, 
 with various felspars, both compact and tufaceous. At Weak¬ 
 law the strata of the white sandstone series are replaced by 
 the red sandstone conglomerate in a horizontal position, and 
 exhibiting several gentle curvatures, which are probably to be 
 referred to thepresence of a body of earthy ferruginous green¬ 
 stone upon which the conglomerate reposes; but in regard to 
 induration, there is nothing very conspicuous, the conglome¬ 
 rate being highly compact throughout. Between this point 
 and North Berwick several other trap dykes occur, associat¬ 
 ed with the red sandstone ; none, however, are remarkable : 
 theyareall composedof greenstone, different varieties of which 
 occur in different parts of the same vein :—thus one part of a 
 vein may be composed of a greenstone of an earthy character, 
 and containing oxide of iron as a colouring matter, while other 
 
92 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 portions may consist of amygdaloid, or be rendered porphy- 
 ritic by containing numerous crystals of felspar. Veins of cal¬ 
 careous spar, associated with quartz, traverse the greenstone, 
 and both these minerals occur crystallized in drusy cavities. 
 Nearly opposite the Lamb island a few minute strata of fetid 
 limestone appear, but nothing in regard to their relations with 
 other rocks can be ascertained. At North Berwick a mass 
 of trap runs boldly into the sea, intruding more or less pa- 
 rallelly among the red sandstone strata, forming one side of 
 the harbour. The island of Craig Leithie lies immediately 
 opposite the trap of the harbour of North Berwick, indicat¬ 
 ing, as do all the other trap islands which skirt this coast, 
 a continuity with the trap-rocks occurring on the shore. 
 About a mile from North Berwick the hill of North Ber- 
 wick-Law rises, with its beautifully conical form, above a 
 comparatively level country ; in its geological structure, 
 however, it exhibits nothing interesting, and its relations 
 to any of the stratified rocks are in no place observable. A 
 brownish-red felspathic greenstone, associated with trap- 
 tufa, forms the lower part of the hill, while the summit is 
 composed of a clinkstone, which exhibits a slightly tabular 
 arrangement; its mode of connexion, however, with the 
 greenstone and the tufa is completely obscured. The series 
 of strata which sinks under the trap of North Berwick Har¬ 
 bour, is, after being visible for a short space, covered up 
 by a sandy beach, through which rocks of green trap-tufa 
 are afterwards found emerging. This tufa is in many 
 places distinctly stratified, and is composed of variously 
 sized fragments of red sandstone, limestone, and trap, ce¬ 
 mented together by a basis of comminuted trap. Veins of 
 greenstone, in one or two places, traverse the tufa, and some, 
 by effecting changes on it, produce those appearances, which 
 
WHITBERRY POINT. 
 
 93 
 
 at one period were considered as indicating a precisely si¬ 
 milar mode of formation.* 
 
 On examining the coast between Canty Bay and Sea 
 Cliff, several detached masses of red sandstone may be ob¬ 
 served underlying the tufaceous deposit, which, in some 
 places, forms mural cliffs of great thickness, and presents an 
 almost uniform horizontally of its beds. Near Scougal 
 the green trap-tufa is succeeded by one of a brick-red co¬ 
 lour, containing fragments of the same description as those 
 which occur in the green. After this an extensive sandy 
 beach covers up the subjacent rocks, and nothing can be 
 observed till we arrive at Whitberry Point* The trap- 
 rock which forms this headland has been described as ex¬ 
 hibiting appearances which were considered inconsistent 
 with a Plutonic origin, and, instead of being viewed as a 
 protrusion through the strata, its position was thought to 
 be more naturally explained, by precipitation from above; 
 that it had sunk down upon the previously formed strata 
 when they were in a soft state. If there existed no si¬ 
 militude between trap-rocks and productions of modern 
 igneous formation,—if there were no changes effected on 
 the strata by the trap of Whitberry, such a deposition 
 from above might appear a legitimate inference; but in 
 the present case it has been deduced from the observation 
 of one class of facts only. (Plate X. Fig. 4.) On the 
 northern side of the trap of Whitberry Point, which ranges 
 E. N.E. and W. S.W., strata of red sandstone and va- 
 
 * A rock near St Andrew’s, which is known by the name of the Rock 
 and Spindle, affords a fine example of a basaltic vein traversing trap-tufa; 
 when near the basalt, the tufa becomes indurated and the basalt more 
 compact than when at a distance from it. Vide Memoirs of Wernerian 
 Natural History Society, vol. ii. for a Memoir on the Mineralogy of the 
 Neighbourhood of St Andrew’s, in Fife, by Dr Fleming. 
 
04 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTH IANS. 
 
 riously coloured slates dip under the trap to the E. S.E. at 
 20° and 25 °; but on crossing the ridge of trap, the strata 
 completely change their position, and dip under it to the 
 N. N. W. at 45°. The appearances which the strata assume 
 when near the trap are of the most satisfactory nature; all 
 are indurated, the sandstone passing into granular quartz 
 and hornstone, while the slates assume those characters 
 which they usually exhibit, when acted upon by ignige- 
 nous rocks. The trap of Whitberry varies in different parts; 
 it is however principally composed of a rock of very large 
 granular greenstone, arranged in beautifully regular tabu¬ 
 lar concretions, and associated with a ferruginous basaltic 
 greenstone, exhibiting also in many places the tabular 
 structure. When next the stratified rocks, the Plutonic 
 masses become more compact, losing their crystalline struc¬ 
 ture for a more or less earthy state of aggregation. Inter¬ 
 posed between the sandstone strata and the greenstone a 
 trap-tufa in some places occurs, consisting of a basis of red 
 wackaceous trap, in which are imbedded angular-shaped 
 masses of red sandstone, limestone, and slate, identical with 
 those which are in contact with the greenstone.* 
 
 We have now described the various relations of the prin¬ 
 cipal mass of the unstratified rocks of East Lothian to its 
 attending strata, and shall now finish this part of the sub¬ 
 ject by noticing other, but less extensive, examples of igni- 
 genous formations. 
 
 On leaving Whitberry Point, and proceeding in the di¬ 
 rection of Dunbar, a vast extent of flat sandy beach com¬ 
 pletely hides, as far as Eelhaven, all the subjacent rocks; 
 at the confluence, however, of the Belton water and the sea, 
 
 * Dr Macknight, in the 2d volume of the Transactions of the Werne¬ 
 rian Natural History Society, has described this point under the name 
 of “ Ravensheugh .” 
 
WILKIE HAUGH. 
 
 95 
 
 strata of sandstone, shale, and red calcareous ironstone, si¬ 
 milar to those exposed at Whitberry Point, again appear, 
 dipping S. S.E. at a small angle. At Wilkie Haugh a 
 great mass of greenstone rises through the strata and tra¬ 
 verses them in veins, which, in some instances, run a dis¬ 
 tinct course for several hundred yards. On examining these 
 veins numerous masses of the various stratified rocks which 
 they traverse are found completely enveloped, all of which 
 are intensely indurated. Forming a mass imbedded in this 
 greenstone, a body of trap-tufa, several yards in extent, is 
 to be observed ; it is composed of angular fragments of 
 sandstone, slate, trap, and felspar porphyry, which are held 
 together by a basis of red trap. The greenstone of this 
 point is of the usual description, but as it approaches the 
 sandstone it becomes highly charged with iron, which causes 
 it to assume a reddish-brown colour. Cavities lined with 
 crystals of amethyst and quartz occur in the trap ; it is 
 also traversed by numerous minute veins of calcareous spar, 
 and in one place by two of sulphate of barytes, which vary 
 from one to four inches in breadth. Proceeding along the 
 shore in the direction of Dunbar, slightly inclined strata of 
 sandstone, ironstone, and shale are exposed for a considerable 
 way, lying under a deposit of a red trap-tufa of great thick¬ 
 ness, which forms the sea-cliffs till within a short distance 
 of the Castle. The tufa which occurs in such abundance 
 in this part of the coast is composed of fragments of various 
 trap-rocks, of sandstone, limestone, ironstone, and shale, 
 all of which vary in size from the smallest magnitude to 
 one or two feet, and are imbedded in a base of red wacka- 
 ceous clay, which, in some instances, without containing the 
 usual fragments, occurs for a considerable extent, and, 
 throughout, exhibits a more or less stratified arrangement. 
 The tufa is in some places traversed by veins of greenstone, 
 but these afford no remarkable appearances. 
 
00 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 A short distance from the coast, the hill of Knockinghair 
 rises ; it is composed of a highly ferruginous compact trap, 
 and exhibits a structure which might at first be considered 
 brecciated. On examination, however, this fragmentary ap¬ 
 pearance will be found to be only an instance of that original 
 concretionary structure, which, in many instances, may with 
 little difficulty be confounded with a rock of a true frag¬ 
 mentary nature. Numerous large and well defined cry¬ 
 stals of basaltic hornblende are frequently to be found in 
 the trap of Knockinghair. 
 
 Between the termination of the tufa, which forms the cliffs 
 to the west of Dunbar, and the trap on which the castle is 
 built, the shore is formed of sandstone, which dips to the 
 E. S.E. at a small angle. At this point a mass of trap, 
 which is known by the name of the Doo Rock, rises through 
 the sandstone strata; it is in some places a basaltic or amyg- 
 daloidal greenstone, while in others it partakes of the tufa- 
 ceous character. The strata with which this rock is in con¬ 
 nection in some instances abutt against it, and in others sink 
 below it. In several places great masses of the sandstone 
 are enveloped in the trap, all of which are changed in their 
 mineralogical characters, becoming either conchoidal horn- 
 stone or granular quartz-rock, and frequently acquiring a 
 green colour, from an intimate commixture with the augite 
 of the trap. At a short distance from this rock the trap of 
 the Castle rises vertically through the strata of sandstone ; 
 the western part of this mass is composed of a red felspathose 
 porphyritic greenstone, and, at the junction of the sandstone 
 with the trap, and for the distance of several yards, the 
 strata become intensely indurated, almost passing into jasper, 
 and losing, to a considerable extent, the distinctness of the 
 lines of stratification so apparent in other places. After rising 
 through the sandstone the trap flows over it, and joins an¬ 
 other mass of trap; the strata are slightly bent up by these 
 
DUNBAR HARBOUR. 
 
 97 
 
 Plutonic rocks, and large portions are enveloped in them 
 and indurated to a great extent. The trap deposit on 
 which the Castle of Dunbar is built differs in different parts 
 —in some places being composed of varieties of red basaltic 
 greenstone, and in others of tufa; and in one place, where 
 the sea has formed an arch, masses of indurated sandstone 
 of many yards extent are entangled in the trap rock. Con¬ 
 cerning the relations of the greenstone of the rock of Dun¬ 
 bar Castle to the tufa, we may state that, though in some 
 places it appears of a newer formation, still a complete exa¬ 
 mination allows only the conclusion to be drawn, that the 
 rocks of this point have been the result of igneous actions, 
 which were not discontinued till all these masses were ela¬ 
 borated.* 
 
 Between this and Dunbar Harbour, sandstone strata oc¬ 
 cur arranged in the most irregular manner, dipping to va¬ 
 rious points, and in some places sinking under the trap of 
 the Castle ; they are here also broken through by another 
 intrusive mass of greenstone, but their immediate modes of 
 connection cannot be made out. At the harbour tufa oc¬ 
 curs of the same description as that which we have already 
 noticed, and is traversed by a rock which may be described 
 as a very fine granular ferruginous felspathic greenstone, 
 which, in some places, becomes porphyritic from containing 
 minute crystals of felspar. The structure of this rock is 
 beautifully prismatic, the columnar concretions being, in 
 some instances, fifteen feet in length : they vary in the num¬ 
 ber of their sides; figures of three, five, and six sides are, 
 
 * The interesting geological phenomena which the castle rock of Dun¬ 
 bar exhibits can only be perfectly examined from a boat, and observers 
 who desire to investigate this locality in detail, will find a correct guide 
 in a map lately published by Mr J. Mason, Land-surveyor, Belhaven, 
 and entitled “ Plan of Dunbar Castle and Bay Rocks.’’ 
 
 VOL. VII. 
 
 G 
 
08 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 however, the most usual forms, and on decomposition, these 
 columns appear to consist of globular concretions, regularly 
 superimposed on each other. On examining this columnar 
 rock at right angles to the axis of the prism, the globules 
 exhibit an alternating series of layers of a very ferruginous 
 trap, with others having a less quantity of iron disseminat¬ 
 ed through them, and separating the columns: there very 
 srenerallv occur veins of iron flint. 
 
 O 
 
 The late Dr M‘Culloch, in his System of Geology, vol. i. 
 p. 172, describes this rock as a sandstone rendered colum¬ 
 nar by a slow refrigeration from a state of igneous fusion. 
 In a theoretical point of view, this is an error of much im¬ 
 portance, as it is awarding a changing power to igneous ac¬ 
 tion, of greater magnitude than, in this instance, nature war¬ 
 rants us to do. The situation of this rock, erroneously des¬ 
 cribed as columnar sandstone, is one which is the reverse of 
 harmonizing with a metamorphosis on so gigantic a scale as 
 exists in the altering of a stratified sandstone into one per¬ 
 fectly columnar. It is interposed between beds of trap.tufa, 
 a rock which does not, in the generality of cases, appear to 
 have been in so highly-heated a state as to change, to a 
 great extent, the original structure of strata. In regard 
 to its chemical composition, we may mention, that this is as 
 incongruous with its being an altered sandstone, as are its mi- 
 neralogical characters, all of which are too plain to allow it 
 to be a subject on which two opinions can with propriety 
 be held.* The only other trap rock which occurs on this 
 shore appears about a mile to the south of Dunbar ; it is 
 composed of greenstone, either compact or amygdaloidal,and 
 is many yards broad. It contains numerous veins of calca- 
 
 * A rock having the same mineral characters as that of Dunbar, but 
 amorphous, occurs at Usan, a fishing village near Montrose. It is asso¬ 
 ciated with clay stone amygdaloid. 
 
STOTANCLEUGH. 
 
 99 
 
 reous par, and also, though very rarely, minute imbedded 
 masses of amianthus. The strata of red sandstone, which are 
 exposed on the shore between Dunbar and this point, dip in 
 general at about 20° to the E. S.E.; but as they approach 
 this dyke of trap they gradually pass into the white sand¬ 
 stone series, and progressively assume higher angles, till at 
 last there is a complete reversion of position, and they dip to 
 N. W. at 50° reposing on the greenstone. (PL XI. Sec. 2.) 
 In the interior of the county of East Lothian, there are se¬ 
 veral other points where ignigenous rocks have intruded 
 among the sandstone strata; few of these, however, exhibit 
 any appearances which require a detailed description. By 
 following a mountain rivulet, which rises in the Hill of 
 Wightman, and joins Stonecleugh Water, near Stotancleugh, 
 five dykes of ferruginous red greenstone cross vertically the 
 conglomerate, which is inclined to the N. E. at 10°; these 
 veins are all parallel the one with the other, and stand up in 
 the form of walls, the strata in which they occur having 
 been partially removed by the action of the atmosphere. In 
 regard to the appearances which the conglomerate puts on, 
 when in contact with the trap, they are not of a marked na¬ 
 ture, induration being only recognizable in the fact of small 
 portions of the conglomerate still adhering to the sides of the 
 trap veins. (PI. XII. Fig. 1.) If we consider, however, 
 the coarseness of this conglomerate, and that it is held to¬ 
 gether so imperfectly, as to be liker shingle on a sea-beach 
 than a rock of such antiquity, the want of induration may 
 not be wondered at. In no place can there be a more con¬ 
 clusive evidence that the origin of greenstone and these stra¬ 
 tified rocks is perfectly distinct; for, in this instance, a rock, 
 bearing on its front all the characters which might be ex¬ 
 pected to occur, in a mass at one period in a state adequate 
 for the crystalline arrangement of its components, rises 
 
 g 2 
 
100 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 through another, which, if it is not of as mechanical an 
 origin as the most modern detritus, could not, if it were 
 so, present any other suite of characters. Another point, 
 where we have found a greenstone connected with the sand¬ 
 stone conglomerate, is on the side of the road, near the farm 
 of the Brunt; there is, however, nothing in its relations 
 different from those we have just mentioned. At Oldham- 
 stocks also, a great dyke traverses the sandstone, appearing 
 on both sides of the Stonecleugh burn, and also in its bed ; 
 no junctions of this rock with the sandstone are visible, and 
 throughout its whole extent it presents only the characters 
 of a basaltic greenstone. 
 
 Concerning the relations of the transition rocks to the 
 unstratified masses, there are few points in the Lothians 
 where we have noticed any thing interesting, and the com¬ 
 parative rarity of such rocks in this group is, in some de¬ 
 gree, remarkable. The disturbed position of the second¬ 
 ary strata is, in general, referable to the presence of augitic 
 or porphyry rocks: the numerous flexures, however, which 
 are visible in the transition series, can, with few excep¬ 
 tions, be traced to visible masses of an eruptive nature. 
 To explain this appearance is, in the existing state of our 
 knowledge concerning the causes productive of mountain 
 chains, a subject of no little difficulty; but it is not un¬ 
 likely that the great high land of the south of Scotland 
 has, as other chains, been elevated by actions of a more 
 general nature (as far as the mass of the globe is con¬ 
 cerned) than those which effect the protrusion of igneous 
 rocks. It has been proposed to explain the marks of 
 violence which are visible throughout mountain chains, 
 by the influence of innumerable earthquakes acting along 
 a given line, during a period of great duration. A geo- 
 
FASSNEY WATER. 
 
 101 
 
 logist, however, who, without any preconceived notions 
 or blind adherence to any theory, examines the structure of 
 such chains as the transition range of the Lammermuirs will, 
 when he finds strata extending through immense tracts of 
 country fractured, and exhibiting flexures of great extent, 
 observe little which be can consider similar to the effects of 
 modern earthquakes. In the disturbances visible in moun¬ 
 tain chains, we can only discover proofs of energetic actions 
 which had not been subject to innumerable interruptions, 
 but were, on the contrary, of comparatively short duration. 
 
 Forming a considerable part of the bed of the Fassney 
 water, and also extending for a short distance down the 
 Whitadder, after the confluence of the two streams, an 
 unstratified rock occurs, exhibiting rather interesting cha¬ 
 racters. It is a highly crystalline aggregate of variously 
 sized concretions of felspar and hornblende ; black mica 
 in some places occurs, but is to be considered more as an 
 accidental mineral than a true constituent of the rock. 
 The felspar which enters into the composition of this rock 
 is in general of a flesh-red colour; at other times, how- 
 ever, it is white or grey, and then the rock can only be 
 considered as an ordinary greenstone. The structure of 
 this syenitic greenstone is in general tabular, but in some 
 places it exhibits a globular arrangement; the decompos¬ 
 ing influence of the atmosphere removing a softer and more 
 easily disintegrated rock, in which are imbedded concre¬ 
 tionary masses of a more compact and lasting variety. In 
 several places, this syenitic greenstone makes a transition into 
 compact felspar, and at the Keelstone pool it is traversed by 
 a broad and apparently contemporaneous vein of brownish- 
 red felspar. Veins of sulphate of barytes, associated with the 
 green carbonate of copper and prismatic copper-glance, occur 
 
102 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 also in one or two places, but never of a size sufficient to be 
 of importance in an economical point of view. Concerning 
 the relations of this crystalline rock to the greywacke series, 
 it is to be regretted, that the entire absence of sections at 
 those points where the two rocks come into junction, prevents 
 any change, either in mineralogical structure or position, 
 from being observed ; in one place only, the greywacke is 
 found in the neighbourhood of the syenitic greenstone rock, 
 and then, there is no greater appearance of alteration than 
 is exhibited in other parts where no plutonic rocks are visi¬ 
 ble. It must, however, be stated that the strata abut against 
 the ignigenous mass at about 75°, but in no instance is the 
 syenitic rock found to alternate with the greywacke. The 
 same covered state of this country, which renders the exact 
 relations of these two rocks to each other impossible to be 
 seen, causes also the topographical boundaries of both to be 
 obscure. After minute examination, however, the crystalline 
 rock of Fassney may be stated to be bounded by a line run¬ 
 ning along the lower part of the acclivity of Priestlaw Hill 
 to Painshiel; it then runs along the foot of Dod Hill, to 
 nearly opposite the old castle of Gamelshiel, when it bends 
 with a circular direction to Mill-know ; stretches along the 
 foot of Spartleton Hill, and joins the southern line of its 
 boundary at about half a mile to the west of Snailscleugh; 
 and thus appears to form the lowest rock or basis of the 
 Hills of Priestlaw, Spartleton, and Painshiel.* After the 
 greenstone rock has disappeared in this stream, near the farm 
 
 * In Berwickshire a syenitic greenstone, similar to that of Fassney 
 Water, forms the hill of Cockburn Law, and like it, is connected with 
 the greywacke strata. The modes of its association here, however, are 
 better exposed than in the Fassney, and in several places it may be found 
 traversing the transition strata. The Syenitic Greenstone of Fassney 
 
FA ISSN E Y WATER. 
 
 103 
 
 of Painshiel, rocks of grey wacke are exposed, being arrang¬ 
 ed in more or less vertical strata. The greywacke varies in 
 mineralosdcal character from a rock of which the com- 
 
 O 
 
 pounds are distinct, to one homogeneous throughout; to 
 determine the true nature of which, if all its relations 
 were not distinctly seen, would be attended with no little 
 difficulty. It has a very dark blackish-brown or bluish- 
 grey colour, a conchoidal fracture, a slight translucency 
 on the edges, and on being struck, emits a highly so¬ 
 norous sound. Associated with these grey wacke strata, 
 near Bull's Leap, felspar occurs, containing a few acicu- 
 lar crystals of augite : it is conformable to the strata which 
 are vertical, but its more immediate relations are not ob¬ 
 servable. Farther up the stream, and near the j unction of 
 the Kilpallet Burn with the Fassney, two dykes of felspar, 
 in some places slightly porphyritic, cross the strata. (PI. 
 XII. Fig. 2.) On the eastern side of the first of these 
 veins the strata dip to the north at about 80°, and on the 
 western side, to the south, at the same angle. At the junc¬ 
 tion of these rocks, there are appearances the very reverse 
 of induration, inasmuch as both the greywacke and the fel¬ 
 spar are completely disintegrated. On advancing up the 
 stream other two dykes present themselves, running parallel 
 with the vertical strata ; the first of these is a porphyry with 
 a base of compact felspar, containing crystals of felspar, 
 
 Water is described, by Professor Playfair in his “ Illustrations of the 
 Huttonian Theory,” as a “ true granite.’’ If, however, the term “granite” 
 is meant to express a definite mineral aggregate, and is not applied in 
 that vague and general manner in which it has become unfortunately 
 fashionable to use it; the natural class to which the rock of Fassnev be¬ 
 longs may easily be discovered. By pay ing little attention to the various 
 marked characters and connexions of the true granites and syenites, the 
 nature of many unstratified rocks has been misunderstood, and to the 
 same inattention we may refer many of those inferences which have, in 
 no inconsiderable degree, affected theoretical geology. 
 
104 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 along with minute masses of quartz ; it is only visible in situ 
 in the bed of the stream, but as numerous blocks are strew¬ 
 ed over the surface of the adjacent hill, it is probable that 
 this vein is related to the strata, both as a dyke which runs 
 parallel to their direction, and also as an overlying mass. 
 Near this, a rock of felspar containing crystals of augite 
 appears, but there are no opportunities afforded for deter¬ 
 mining its relations. Felspar, both compact and porphy- 
 ritic, occurs in many of the hills in this quarter, but its 
 modes of connexion with the greywacke are in no instance 
 ascertainable. In the hills of Redstone Rig and Newland, 
 felspar rocks are met with, and at Kidlaw, a farm near the 
 House of Newton, there are exposed two dykes of felspar, 
 which traverse vertically the greywacke slate; and on proceed¬ 
 ing up a stream, which runs from the hill of Middlemuir, 
 the same strata are associated with a vesicular felspar, which 
 is quarried and used for lining kilns, but nothing can be 
 discovered in regard to the modes of its connexion with the 
 strata. In the bed of a stream which runs past the farm of 
 Newlands, a compact felspar is associated with the transi¬ 
 tion slate, on which horizontal strata of red sandstone con¬ 
 glomerate rest, a circumstance of importance, as it renders 
 it highly probable that the eruption of the unstratified rocks 
 connected with the greywacke has been anterior to the depo¬ 
 sition of the secondary strata of this district. Near Fala, 
 in a ravine which leads down from the hill of Pockbie, se¬ 
 veral veins of porphyry occur, associated with the vertical 
 strata of greywacke. The basis of this porphyry is of a 
 yellowish-red compact felspar, and contains numerous acicu- 
 lar crystals of a light green hornblende ; its associations with 
 the strata are, however, in no instance interesting. 
 
 Concerning the relations of the unstratified rocks of West 
 Lothian to the several strata with which they are connected, 
 
TRAP ROCKS OF WEST LOTHIAN. 
 
 105 
 
 little appears worthy of a detailed description, and as the 
 country is covered to a great extent with peat and allu¬ 
 vial matter, and is traversed by comparatively few large 
 streams, satisfactory junctions of the igneous with the aque¬ 
 ous rocks are of unfrequent occurrence. In regard to the 
 relative distribution of these rocks the greatest disorder 
 exists, small deposits of the coal series appearing in many 
 places completely isolated and enveloped in the ignigenous 
 formations. The position of the strata is also of the most 
 irregular description, since in one part they are found dip¬ 
 ping to one point, and in another are disposed in the reverse, 
 or lying in an apparently unaltered and horizontal state; 
 in general, however, the angle of their inclination is, with 
 few exceptions, far from high ; a circumstance which can 
 perhaps only be explained by supposing the greater part 
 of the augitic rocks of this district, as a series of sheets of 
 trap overlying the surfaces of the strata and at a distance 
 from the eruptive openings. In regard to the points which 
 may have been those of greatest disturbance, there are no 
 certain indications. The hills which range from Bathgate 
 to Borrowstownness, the Riccarton Hills, and the trap depo¬ 
 sits of Corstorphin, Craigiehall Hill, and Mons, may, how¬ 
 ever, be considered with some probability as the more im¬ 
 mediate centres of the trap eruptions. In describing the 
 modes of connection of the trap of West Lothian with the 
 strata, we will notice first the Bathgate Hills, and conclude 
 with a detail of any remarkable phenomena observable at 
 other points. 
 
 At the most southern part of this range of trap hills 
 near the village of Kirkton, the quarrying of the limestone 
 which forms a considerable portion of this district, has 
 exposed several interesting phenomena in regard to its re¬ 
 lations to the trap rocks. The general inclination of the 
 
106 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 limestone is to the N.W. In the old quarry of Kirkton, 
 the surface rock is a greenstone which, in some places, par¬ 
 takes of the characters of basalt, and frequently evinces a 
 tendency to the columnar arrangement; it rests in its course 
 on different rocks in different parts of the quarry, in one 
 part being directly superimposed on a fine slaty tufa, com¬ 
 posed of a minute aggregation of wacke and trap sand, while 
 in another it is in immediate connection with a thin bed of 
 mountain-limestone which gradually wedges out at both ex¬ 
 tremities.* Below these thin strata of limestone, a thick bed 
 of slaty green tufa occurs, resting through the whole extent 
 of the quarry on the principal limestone stratum. (Plate 
 XII. Fig. 3.) In regard to changes in mineral character, 
 neither the tufa nor the limestone exhibit any thing marked ; 
 they are as compact at a distance from the greenstone, as 
 when in immediate contact with it ; they present however, 
 numerous flexures, and in one or two places shifts have 
 taken place in the limestone. Near the old quarry of 
 Kirkton, and almost on the same line, another opening 
 has been made, and there the same general arrangement is 
 visible; the limestone, with its concomitant strata of slate- 
 clay and ironstone, is surmounted by the same trap and 
 green tufa, the latter of which is connected with the lime- 
 stone in the most irregular manner. The mineral cha¬ 
 racters of this limestone differ in some degree from the 
 other; it abounds in contemporaneous imbedded masses of 
 hornstone, and alternates with strata composed of siliceous, 
 
 * To those who are inclined to consider the limestone of Kirkton as of 
 fresh-water origin, from the statement of Dr Hibbert in the 13th volume 
 of the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, u that a decidedly 
 fresh-water limestone is there exposed, which is characterized by the ab¬ 
 sence of all marine shells, coral, &c.we may mention, that the fact of 
 its being so characterized is incorrect, inasmuch as we have found in it 
 specimens of the Productus. 
 
IvIRKTON. 
 
 107 
 
 argillaceous, and calcareous layers, which exhibit, in regard 
 to each other, a perfect parallelism. In position all the rocks 
 afford evident marks of disturbance, they are waved and 
 contorted in the most fantastic manner, these wavings va¬ 
 rying from an extent which may be recognizable in a small 
 specimen to an undulation of many yards. The limestone 
 contains the usual plants of the coal series, and also fossi¬ 
 lized wood.* On crossing the country from Kirkton, in the 
 direction of Bathgate, the strata which are exposed in these 
 quarries appear to be cut off by a mass of greenstone, against 
 which, the limestone of Peter's Hill abuts, at an angle of 
 30°, apparently underlying a deposit of trap, which rises 
 immediately above the town of Bathgate. 
 
 In the limestone of Peter's Hill, hornstone is abundant, 
 forming contemporaneous masses; madrepores also abound, 
 
 * Having forwarded a specimen of the wood from this locality to Mr 
 Nicol of Edinburgh, he very kindly offered to examine it, and after doing 
 so, sent me the following description of its internal structure:— 
 
 “ Dear Sir, — I have examined the specimen of fossil wood you disco¬ 
 vered in the carboniferous limestone of Bathgate, and shall now give you 
 the result. 
 
 “ Externally the specimen is of a bluish-grey colour; when recently 
 broken the fracture is greyish-black, but on being polished the bluish- 
 grey colour returns. It is penetrated with veins of quartz and calcare¬ 
 ous spar, and its hardness is such as to give fire, though faintly, when 
 struck wdth steel. On inspecting the cross fracture, the ligneous struc¬ 
 ture, even without being polished, may be distinctly seen. When cut 
 transversely into a thin slice the reticulated texture appears in the 
 most perfect state of preservation, and more closely resembles that of the 
 recent Araucaria than any other fossil I have hitherto met with. To 
 see, however, the structure to advantage, it is necessary that the slice be 
 moistened w r ith water, for when dry its opacity is such as to render the 
 structure very obscure. The longitudinal section parallel to a radius 
 displays with great distinctness the araucarian polygonal discs arranged 
 in single, double, triple, and quadruple rows, but, as in the cross section, 
 to see these in perfection the slice must be penetrated with water, for 
 when dry, even in the thinnest possible slice, the opacity is so great that 
 scarcely a trace of them can any where be seen_Yours, &c. 
 
 “ Wm. Nicol.” 
 
108 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTH IANS. 
 
 and the productus is of very frequent occurrence. At 
 Galla Braes, the limestone is penetrated by a large mass of 
 earthy greenstone running parallel with the strata. Though 
 the covered state of the quarry completely obscures the 
 exact relations of these rocks; still, from the fact of the 
 greenstone appearing only on one side of the quarry, it is 
 probable that, if circumstances allowed a complete exami¬ 
 nation, it would be found to wedge out. From near Galla 
 Braes to Mount Eerie, there is a very long and deep open¬ 
 ing, exposing strata of clay, ironstone, sandstone, and lime¬ 
 stone, dipping under a thick overlying mass of greenstone, 
 and abutting against some trap cliffs, which occur at a few 
 hundred yards distance. At the eastern extremity of this 
 quarry, working operations have exposed the direct junction 
 of the trap with the slate-clay, but there is no mark of al¬ 
 teration in position or structure; the slate-clay however 
 assumes, to the distance of two feet from the trap, a yellow¬ 
 ish-brown colour. On the side of the road leading from 
 Mount Eerie to Bathgate, felspathose greenstone occurs in¬ 
 timately associated with fine granular slaty tufa, and con¬ 
 tains imbedded masses of elastic mineral pitch. A short 
 distance to the north of Mount Eerie, in the north and south 
 Silver-Mine quarries, the strata of slate, ironstone, and lime¬ 
 stone, are well exposed, but exhibit no junction with the 
 trap rocks which cover them, and against which they abut. 
 The limestone of these two quarries is of a dark bluish- 
 grey colour ; while that of Kirkton, Galla Braes, and Mount 
 Eerie, is yellowish-grey, and passes into a black flint, which 
 generally contains well preserved madrepores. Between 
 the Silver Mine and Wardlaw, there are no openings 
 which afford junctions of the stratified rocks with the 
 greenstone ; there, however, the trap is found connected 
 with the limestone, botli as a vein and also as an overlying 
 
HILL-HOUSE-WINCHBURGH. 
 
 109 
 
 mass; when in the latter mode of position it, in every in¬ 
 stance, rests upon slate-clay, which is indurated to a consi¬ 
 derable extent, but concerning the appearances which the 
 limestone exhibits when in contact with the traversing mass 
 of trap, the encumbered state of the surface prevents any 
 determination. The only other quarry where the stratified 
 rocks are well exposed, as regards their relations to the 
 trap, is at Hill-house ; the strata consist of slate-clay, sand¬ 
 stone, and limestone, and dip N. W. under the trap at 40°. 
 None of the Neptunian rocks, however, when in contact 
 with the Plutonic mass, afford altered appearances. The 
 trap which reposes upon this series of strata is a beautifully 
 columnar basalt, and becomes in some places porphyritic, 
 from containing crystals of glassy felspar. The columns are 
 regularly formed, and are arranged,in general, at right angles 
 to the plane of the bed. In the neighbourhood of Linlith¬ 
 gow, the limestone is quarried at several openings, but can 
 in no place be examined at its junction with the several 
 trap rocks, which are invariably found overlying it. At 
 the village of Winchburgh, there is a mass of trap which, 
 in two places, is found in immediate contact with the strata; 
 it is in general a greenstone of the common character, 
 but in some places becomes syenitic; and is frequently 
 globularly arranged, the concretions varying in size. Near 
 the bridge which crosses the Canal, two dykes of green¬ 
 stone occur, traversing the strata parallelly, and dipping 
 to the north at about 25°, being separated from each other 
 by several layers of slate-clay, which are indurated to a 
 considerable extent, and assume the characters of a slate 
 which is found in a similar situation at Lochend, near 
 Edinburgh. At the line of junction with the trap, the 
 strata exhibit wavings and other indications of violence, 
 and are crossed by an infinity of rents or joints at right 
 
no 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 angles to the plane of the bed. On these dykes there re¬ 
 poses an extensive series of sandstone, slate, and ironstone, 
 but there are no opportunities afforded for examining the 
 connexions of the strata with the hanging side of the up¬ 
 permost vein. (Plate XIII. Fig. 1.) The other opening 
 where the Winchburgh trap rock is seen in contact with the 
 sandstone, is in a field on the side of the road at Muiryhall 
 (Plate XIII., Fig. 2.) ; it is highly satisfactory, and the 
 quarrying operations have exposed the several relations of 
 the rock in a manner sufficiently distinct. A mass of green¬ 
 stone rises through the sandstone, and, on arriving at the 
 surface, flows over it, forming an overlying body of variable 
 thickness, and issuing from this mass, a minute vein runs 
 a short course between the strata of sandstone, and de¬ 
 creases in thickness as the distance from the vein in which 
 it originates increases. The characters which the several 
 stratified rocks assume when next the unstratified, are here 
 well displayed, but are precisely similar to those which 
 may be remarked in almost every locality in the Lothians, 
 where the two classes of rocks are found in contact or 
 near connexion. The sandstone, as it approaches the green¬ 
 stone, gradually assumes a compact structure, till at last 
 it acquires such a degree of induration as to present the 
 appearance of a granular quartz ; while the greenstone, 
 as it approaches the sandstone, becomes felspathose. By 
 following the Ecclesmachen burn from Niddry Castle, stra¬ 
 ta of sandstone are seen cropping out in several places, ap¬ 
 pearing to constitute the bottom of the valley, while the 
 sides are composed of greenstones which rise into the emi¬ 
 nences of Tar Hill, Craig, &c. At the village of Eccles¬ 
 machen, several inconsiderable strata of limestone are to be 
 noticed in the bed of the stream, but though trap is in their 
 immediate neighbourhood, there arc no junctions exposed. 
 
BINNY CRAIG—WEST CRAIG. 
 
 Ill 
 
 To the west of the house of East Binny, the picturesque 
 rock of Binny Craig rises, presenting on this side a gentle 
 acclivity, while its western side forms an almost mural 
 front. It is connected with strata of slate clay, but exhibits 
 no remarkable appearances. Near the inn of West Craigs 
 several interesting phenomena were once exposed at the 
 junction of greenstone with a bed of coal, which was com¬ 
 pletely changed into glance-coal ;* at present however, the 
 quarry where this appearance was observable is completely 
 covered up, so that not even a specimen of the coal can be 
 found to indicate its existence. 
 
 At Magdalenes, where the Union Canal crosses the road 
 near Linlithgow, an earthy tufaceous greenstone occurs, 
 containing numerous imbedded nodules of splendent glance- 
 coal ; it is frequently associated with calcareous spar, and 
 in some instances, when the coal is less highly crystallized, 
 a ligneous structure may be detected. 
 
 In addition to the points in Linlithgow which we have 
 detailed, there does not appear another worthy of minute 
 investigation^ 
 
 We shall now notice the matters which form an envelope 
 of varying thickness to those ignigenous and aqueous mssses, 
 the mutual relations of which we have just detailed. In 
 
 * This glance-coal was particularly examined and described to the 
 Wernerian Society by Professor Jameson many years ago. 
 
 •j- The chemical composition of the rocks of the Lothians has been very 
 partially examined ; details connected with this department of science are, 
 however, highly interesting, and when rock masses have become more ge¬ 
 nerally analysed, results will, in all probability, be obtained which will bear 
 on some of the more speculative parts of geology. The mineralogical 
 and structural changes which the several stratified and unstratified rocks 
 exhibit when in contact, are now investigated and generally understood, 
 but to such junctions chemical analysis has, with few exceptions, been 
 applied. We quote the following analysis of rocks of the coal formation 
 from the 29th volume of the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. 
 The rocks were selected by Professor Jameson, and the analysis entrusted 
 
112 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 describing these deposits, geologists have, very generally, 
 classed them under two heads, viz. Alluvium and Diluvi¬ 
 um, and in this order we shall very shortly examine the se¬ 
 veral loosely aggregated masses which are met with in the 
 Lothians. 
 
 The alluvial rocks which occur in this district may con¬ 
 veniently be considered as of three kinds, viz. those result¬ 
 ing from vegetable decomposition, and thus forming the 
 modern analogue of coal, “ peat those derived from the 
 
 by him to Dr Wm. Gregory who had them conducted under his own im¬ 
 mediate superintendence by two of his pupils, viz. Mr John Drysdale, 
 who analyzed Nos. 1, 2,3, 4, and 5, and Mr J. Walker, who analyzed Nos. 
 6, 7, and 8. 
 
 1. Basaltic rock of Largo Law, in 
 Fifeshire. 
 
 Silica, . 
 
 45.2 
 
 Alumina, 
 
 14.4 
 
 Protoxide of Iron, 
 
 14.0 
 
 Lime, 
 
 12.7 
 
 Magnesia, 
 
 6.55 
 
 Soda, . 
 
 5.22 
 
 Water, 
 
 2.4 
 
 100.47 
 
 Edin. New Phil. Jour. xxix. 
 
 p. 388. 
 
 3. Felspar rock, Wardie, near 
 
 Newhaven. 
 
 Silica, . 
 
 37.20 
 
 Alumina, 
 
 9.75 
 
 Iron, 
 
 20.00 
 
 Lime, 
 
 8.57 
 
 Magnesia, 
 
 3.78 
 
 Carbonic acid and | 
 Water, j 
 
 20.80 
 
 Edin. New Phil. Jour. xxix. 
 
 100.10 
 
 p. 195. 
 
 2. Compact felspar from the Pent- 
 lands. 
 
 Silica, 
 
 73.5 
 
 Alumina, with a ) 
 
 
 trace of Iron, $ 
 
 11.23 
 
 Carbonate of Lime, 
 
 2.5 
 
 Potash, 
 
 3.55 
 
 Soda, 
 
 3.8 
 
 Water, 
 
 4.6 
 
 
 99.20 
 
 Edin. New Phil. Jour. xxix. p. 195. 
 
 4. Greenstone from Wardie, near 
 Newhaven. 
 
 Silica, 
 
 Alumina, 
 
 Protoxide of Iron, 
 
 Lime, . 
 
 Magnesia, 
 
 Water and Carbo¬ 
 nic acid, 
 
 99.52 
 
 Edin. New Phil. Jour. xxix. p. 195. 
 
 44.00 
 
 11.4 
 22.32 
 
 8.8 
 
 2.5 
 
 10.5 
 
SOILS. 
 
 113 
 
 decomposition of the subjacent rocks, and thus forming va¬ 
 rious kinds of Soils or Earths, and, finally, those pro- 
 
 5. Slate-clay from Wardie, New- 
 
 6. Unaltered slate 
 
 -clay from 
 
 haven. 
 
 
 Lochend. 
 
 
 Silica, . 
 
 60.00 
 
 Silica, 
 
 58.22 
 
 Alumina, 
 
 17-60 
 
 Alumina, 
 
 17.50 
 
 Oxide of Iron, 
 
 15.21 
 
 Protoxide of Iron, 
 
 10.53 
 
 Lime, . 
 
 2.36 
 
 Lime, . 
 
 trace 
 
 Loss bv Heat, 
 
 4.41 
 
 Magnesia, 
 
 4.62 
 
 
 
 Soda, 
 
 2.02 
 
 
 99.58 
 
 Watei, 
 
 6.70 
 
 
 
 
 99.59 
 
 Edin. New Phil. Jour. 
 
 xxix. p. 195. 
 
 Edin. New Phil. Jour, xxix.p. 387- 
 
 7. Altered slate-clay from Loch- 
 
 8. Altered slate-clay 
 
 from Sal is- 
 
 end. 
 
 
 bury Crags. 
 
 
 Silica, . 
 
 53.25 
 
 Silica, 
 
 66.100 
 
 Alumina, 
 
 1756 
 
 Alumina, 
 
 19.5 
 
 Oxide of Iron, 
 
 8.64 
 
 Oxide of Iron, 
 
 trace 
 
 Lime, 
 
 6.62 
 
 Lime, . 
 
 6.4 
 
 Magnesia, 
 
 2.70 
 
 Soda, . 
 
 4.45 
 
 Soda, 
 
 7-85 
 
 AVater and Car-) 
 
 
 Water, 
 
 2.23 
 
 bonic acid, / 
 
 3.3 
 
 
 98.85 
 
 
 99.65 
 
 Edin. New Phil. Jour. xxix. p. 387- Edin. New Phil. Jour. xxix. p. 387- 
 
 To the above we now add the early analysis of the late Dr Kennedy of 
 Edinburgh :— 
 
 Analysis of the “ Whin” (Green- Analysis of the u Whin’’ (Porphy- 
 stone) of Salisbury Crags by lto- ry) of the Calton Hill by the same, 
 
 bert Kennedy, M.D., F.R.S. 
 
 , F.A.S. 
 
 vol. v. p. 92. 
 
 
 Edin., Trans, of the Royal Soc. of 
 
 
 
 Edin, vol. v. p. 90. 
 
 
 
 
 Silex, . 
 
 96 
 
 Silex, . 
 
 50 
 
 Argil, . 
 
 19 
 
 Argil, . 
 
 18.50. 
 
 Oxide of Iron, 
 
 17 
 
 Oxide of Iron, 
 
 16.75. 
 
 Lime, 
 
 8 
 
 Carbonate of Lime, 
 
 3 
 
 Moistures and. other j 
 volcanic matters, J 
 
 4 
 
 Moisture and other ) 
 volcanic matters, ) 
 
 5 
 
 Soda about, 
 
 3.5 
 
 Soda about 
 
 4 
 
 Muriatic acid about, 
 
 1 
 
 Muriatic Acid about 
 
 1 
 
 98.5 
 
 
 98.25 
 
 Sp. gr. 2.802. 
 
 
 Sp. gr. 2.663, 
 
 
 VOI. VII. 
 
 
 II 
 
 
114 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 duced by chemical actions. The peat which occurs in the 
 Lothians exhibits nothing remarkable; its modes of posi¬ 
 tion and other aspects being the same as those which cha¬ 
 racterize it in other districts. The untransported soils or 
 earths are interesting, both in an economical and chemical 
 point of view ; and that their study is of great importance, 
 even in a geological sense, is well exemplified in the Lo¬ 
 thians, since in many parts it is, in a considerable degree, 
 by reference to their characters that the nature of the sub¬ 
 jacent rocks can be ascertained. The soil originating from 
 the decomposition of the greywacke country has its charac¬ 
 ters ; that derived from rocks of mountain limestone and 
 sandstone has also each its peculiar and marked appearance, 
 while that produced from the disintegration of the trap 
 series has its own distinct aspect. Though, however, all 
 these rock-formations produce a peculiar soil, still he who 
 from experience has been able to form a conjecture as to 
 the nature of the inferior rocks, by observing the soil which 
 covers them, will find himself unable to impart the know¬ 
 ledge he is in possession of. Of the alluvial transported 
 class of soils there are many varieties ; all the valleys 
 through which the rivers and streams flow being covered to a 
 greater or less extent with rolled fragments and sands, de¬ 
 rived from the decomposition of the rocks which they run 
 over in their progress ; those portions of the country also 
 which form the coasts are to a greater or less extent covered 
 by an alluvium, which is generally to be considered as result¬ 
 ing from the more or less direct action of the waves on those 
 rocks which come under their influences. The banks of the 
 Tyne, of the Esk, and of the Almond, afford deep sections 
 of gravels, sands, and clays ; and all the coasts, especially 
 where they are level and not surrounded by mural cliffs, 
 present wide extents of marine sands of unknown depth, 
 portions of which, travelling by prevailing winds, encroach 
 
DISTRIBUTION OF BOULDERS. 
 
 115 
 
 on the land and form sandy soils or links. Alluvium pro¬ 
 duced by chemical agents is, in the Lothians, comparatively 
 rare, and that which does occur is, in every instance, a de¬ 
 position from water charged with calcareous matter. 
 
 On the shore of East Lothian, near Thornton Loch, 
 there is a considerable mass of calcareous tufa and sinter, 
 incrusting the white sandstone. Near Tan tallon Castle 
 there is another example of a similar deposition, coat- 
 ing the rocks of trap tufa; and, in several places through¬ 
 out the Lothians, the sands and gravels which occur on the 
 banks of the rivers and sea-beaches are more or less conso¬ 
 lidated by calcareous and ferruginous matter. The animal 
 and vegetable remains which are found in the alluvium be¬ 
 long all to existing species; bones and antlers of the stag 
 are frequently found, and several years ago an almost per¬ 
 fect skeleton was discovered on Sir A. Hepburn’s estate of 
 Smeaton, in Haddingtonshire. In regard to the vegetables 
 imbedded in alluvium, we may state that trunks of trees, 
 many of which are of great size, are to be found in every 
 peat moss of any extent. 
 
 Of the deposits of the second class—the diluvium—there 
 exists in the Lothians several examples, but the study of 
 these does not allow us to draw many inferences in regard 
 to the circumstances which effected their distribution. In 
 this district little extent of country can be passed without 
 numerous rolled masses of rocks occurring, which are not 
 found in situ , but in distant localities ; or, if the fixed rocks 
 from which these are derived are met with in the neighbour¬ 
 hood, there appear at least to be no causes in action capable 
 of reproducing such a distribution. On the coasts of Lin¬ 
 lithgowshire and Mid-Lothian, in the valleys of the Pent- 
 lands and on their acclivities, on the flanks of the Lam- 
 mermuir and Moorfoot range, we may easily detect rolled 
 
116 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTH IANS. 
 
 fragments of granite, syenite, greenstone, porphyry, mica- 
 slate, gneiss, quartz-rock, and varieties of grey wacke, which 
 are met with only in the central districts of Scotland, while 
 an examination of them shews, that they decrease both in 
 magnitude and frequency of occurrence as we advance south¬ 
 wards, a fact indicating that the aqueous currents (for to 
 such only can they be referred) diminished in intensity 
 as they were removed from the more central parts of the 
 island. Scattered around Edinburgh, numerous masses of 
 trap-rocks are met with, which appear to be derived from 
 no great distance. 
 
 Near Ratho, there are diluvial clays in which rolled frag¬ 
 ments of greenstones, identical with those which occur in 
 situ , in the neighbouring hills, are abundant. Superimposed 
 on the limestone of Bathgate, and skirting the flanks of the 
 hills, which range onward to Linlithgow, diluvial deposits 
 of great thickness appear; none of these, however, as far 
 as we have observed, contain masses of the primary rocks; 
 indeed, it is probable that these clays have not been pro¬ 
 duced by the same current which distributed the numerous 
 boulders of old rocks over the Lotliians. 
 
 Of the diluvial class of clays and sands, the country 
 around Edinburgh exhibits several interesting examples. A 
 formation of sand and clay containing imbedded fragments 
 of older rocks covers up the country around Newhaven and 
 Leith, and extends as far as Joppa, in some places forming 
 high mural cliffs. In East Lothian, a very thick deposit 
 of diluvium may be observed, covering the rocky strata be¬ 
 tween the Dunglass and Bilsdean Burns, and consisting 
 entirely of rolled fragments of the various rocks of the dis¬ 
 trict, arranged in a more or less stratified manner : and 
 near the Siccar Point, lofty sandstone cliff’s are surmounted 
 by a diluvial conglomerate, formed of rolled masses of the 
 
PHYSIOGNOMY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 117 
 
 same description, compactly held together by a basis of 
 calcareous sinter. 
 
 In several places around the coast of the Lothians, sands, 
 a considerable number of feet above the level of the Firth 
 of Forth, have been found, containing shells of species at 
 present existing, and the position of these has been explained 
 by supposing that there has, in this district, been, within a 
 very modern epoch, an elevation of the land. That some 
 of these deposits of existing shells are in situations relative 
 to the sea, which its present level and other circumstances 
 seem inadequate to place them in, we may at once affirm; 
 but there certainly seems to be no reason why such appear¬ 
 ances should be referred to a rising of the land, rather than 
 to a local recession of the sea; and if we consider the estu¬ 
 arial character of the firth, perhaps the latter may be most 
 likely. 
 
 In all countries composed of several distinct rock-forma¬ 
 tions, it is invariably found, that each one exhibits on the 
 great scale a certain range of characters ;—the hills have a 
 peculiar form, the cliffs a certain style of fracture, the valleys 
 a particular mode of grouping with other characteristic fea¬ 
 tures. In the transition or grey wacke range, which forms the 
 southern highland of this district, there is, in the outline of 
 the mountains, an appearance perfectly distinct from that 
 presented by any other elevated country in the Lothians. 
 When viewed from a distance, the hills have a gently undu¬ 
 lating contour; all are more or less round backed, and are ge¬ 
 nerally covered to the summit with vegetable soil; while, in 
 some instances, by the disintegration of the strata, they are 
 strewed with an infinity of masses of grey wacke and slate, af¬ 
 fording a barren and uninteresting surface of light grey rocks. 
 The valleys in the transition country are in general of limited 
 
118 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 dimensions, and are almost universally traversed by a stream, 
 the magnitude of which depends on the angle which the 
 valley forms. If a stream is on the side of a mountain, it is 
 in general narrow, and cuts through a valley which increases 
 in breadth as it approaches the one, into which other moun¬ 
 tain streams discharge themselves. In regard to their 
 physiognomy, the secondary rocks of the Lothians present 
 appearances distinct from those of the greywacke group. 
 The red sandstone, which is the oldest member of the 
 secondary system of the Lothians, rises, at the western ex¬ 
 tremity of the Pentlands, and in the eastern part of the Lam- 
 mermuirs, into mountain masses, of a table-shaped or round- 
 backed form, and has, with the exception of some of the por¬ 
 phyry hills, an elevation next to that of the transition strata. 
 In the conglomerate districts, the valleys through which 
 rivers flow are almost entirely destitute of soil, and present 
 a more or less extensive deposit of the rolled blocks which 
 enter into their composition. The country formed of the 
 white sandstone series, when viewed generally, affords a 
 considerable contrast to that of the red; when it is not 
 visibly affected by the ignigenous masses, with which it is 
 so generally connected, its surface is that of a very gently 
 undulating line, the depressions being trivial. At the west¬ 
 ern part of the Lothian coal-series, this comparatively level 
 position is reversed, inasmuch as the white sandstone rises 
 there, in the hills of Leaven Seat, Woodmuir Height, and 
 Muldrondrum, to the heights of 1164? and 1106 feet. 
 
 The two great classes of unstratified masses which occur 
 in the Lothians, exhibit, in a marked manner, the aspect 
 which characterises them in other districts. The hills 
 formed of the porphyry or felspathic class, differ from the 
 other mountainous parts of the Lothians, in the fact of the 
 
DISTRIBUTION OF THE ROCKS OF THE LOTHIANS. 110 
 
 eminences which are composed of this series approaching 
 more or less to the conical shape; there are felspar moun¬ 
 tains, however, having the round-backed form, but gene¬ 
 rally, it may be stated that they present an outline more 
 or less acute. The trap series also affords those well 
 marked characters of form, which have from their almost 
 universal occurrence, awarded this descriptive title to the 
 group. Large extended and more or less parallel ridges of 
 dark-grey rock, having a face in general approaching to 
 vertical, often perfectly or rudely columnar, and separated 
 from each other by a slope covered with debris or vegetable 
 soil, constitute the general aspect of a trap hill. In the trap 
 valleys, also, there is a system of characteristic forms : they 
 are most frequently of inconsiderable dimensions, and ap¬ 
 pear, in the generality of cases, to present no indica¬ 
 tions of any formation but one synchronous with that of 
 the trap deposit in which they form depressions. They 
 are almost always irregular in their levels, and not sufficient¬ 
 ly extensive to be traversed by any bodies of water, which 
 in size deserve to be raised to a higher rank than that of 
 streams or rivulets, and it is from this circumstance that 
 the lower parts of the trap valleys are frequently more or 
 less in a marshy state. 
 
 Concerning the topographical distribution of the several 
 formations which constitute the Lothians, the highly covered 
 state of the country prevents us from being able to assign 
 to each minute lines of boundary. The bounding line of 
 the transition strata with the secondary deposits which skirt 
 them, is somewhat irregular 2 it may be stated, however, that 
 in Haddingtonshire, no rocks of this group occur to the 
 east of a line running almost north and south through 
 Crichness, Kist Hill, Uod, Watchlaw, and East Heartside ; 
 a little to the north of this, the line assumes, at the farm of 
 
120 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 Pathhead, a westerly direction, and runs thus as far as 
 Duchrie Uod, a hill near Presmennan. From the Dod hill 
 of Duchrie, the greywacke country is then bounded by a 
 line running N. E. and S. W. near Stoney Path, Castle 
 Moffat, Ryestubble, and Danskin. After leaving Danskin, 
 the boundary line assumes an east and westerly direction, 
 passing near Quarryford Mill, Bog Hall, Cairny Haugh, and 
 Newton Hall, when it turns to the S. W. running through 
 Stob Shiels, Blegbie, Keith Hill, Pockbie, and Soutra 
 Mains. In Mid-Lothian there is hardly any irregularity 
 in the direction of the line which separates the transition 
 from the secondary rocks ; indeed, it maybe said to stretch 
 with little variation directly W. S., the hills of Cakemuir, 
 Fala Hill, Ruther Law, Wullmuir, Turtichen, Huntly, and 
 Mausely, forming a well defined boundary. In regard to 
 the distribution of the secondary formations, they form, 
 with the exception of numerous detached masses of trap 
 rock, and the felspathic range of the Pentlands, the whole 
 of the three Lothians, unoccupied by the transition series. 
 In East Lothian a formation of red sandstone and variously 
 coloured shales, forms a great extent of undulating country ; 
 this deposit, however, exhibits no exact line of boundary, 
 as it passes always by an insepsible gradation into the re¬ 
 gular coal-formation. We may, however, affirm that by 
 drawing a line from Cockburnspath through Thornton and 
 Oxwellmains to Broxburn, we indicate, in a sufficiently 
 exact manner, the district in which the transition of the one 
 series of sandstone into the other takes place. Dunbar, the 
 course of the Tyne from its confluence with the sea to 
 Preston Kirk, Sunnyside, Pople, and Whitelaw Hill, may 
 be stated as chief points, between which and the transition 
 strata no other rocks but those of the red sandstone scries 
 
 occur. 
 
DISTRIBUTION OF THE ROCKS OF THE LOTHIANS. 121 
 
 The northern boundary of the red sandstone formation 
 in East Lothian, after this, becomes more obscure, from the 
 circumstance of a transition taking place into the white 
 sandstone series: the line of gradation appears to run S. W. 
 near Salton, Keith village, and Costerton, till at last in 
 Mid-Lothian it is terminated by a very ill defined boundary, 
 running more or less south from Crichton Dean to the 
 base of the greywacke hills. On the sea coast, extending 
 from Whitberry Point to Weaklaw, several minute masses 
 of red sandstone appear, all of which are generally associated 
 with rocks of igneous formation. 
 
 In Edinburghshire and Lanarkshire, red sandstone forms 
 a considerable portion of the western division of the Pentland 
 range. As in East Lothian, the northern boundary cannot 
 be recognised, but the most natural line of distinction ap¬ 
 pears to be that, where the transition of the one formation 
 into the other has been completed; and this line seems to 
 run more or less in the neighbourhood of Wark Hill, Har- 
 law, Upper Buteland, Harper Rig, Easter Cairns, Wester 
 Colzium, and Crosswood. The westerly part of the red 
 sandstone may be said to be bounded by the felspar rocks 
 of Black Hill, West Kip Hill, and Spittal Hill, while on 
 the south it runs parallel with the new line of road from 
 Nine Mile Burn to West Linton. Mountain limestone oc¬ 
 curs in numerous points in the Lothians, forming bands which 
 cross the country in different directions, and of these the 
 most extensive is that which in Mid-Lothian skirts the base 
 of the Moorfoot range. The most western point in Edin¬ 
 burghshire where this formation is exposed, is in the Hie^ 
 flat quarry near Howgate; to the west of this, however, it 
 is worked extensively at Rutherford and the Bents in Peebles¬ 
 shire. Crossing the country in a north-easterly direction, 
 mountain limestone forms much of high ground, running 
 
122 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTH IA NS. 
 
 from Arniston to the neighbourhood of Tranent, and may 
 be examined in numerous openings with facility. 
 
 At Crichton Dean, near the village of Fala, limestone 
 is extensively worked ; the same belt also crops out at the 
 village of Salton and at the farm of Jerusalem, and several 
 miles to the south a similar rock is quarried at Kidlaw, a 
 point on the immediate confines of the greywacke strata. 
 At Sunnyside a farm near Traprainlaw, a considerable de¬ 
 posit of limestone appears connected with the red sandstone 
 series, and associated with trap rocks. Limestone again 
 occurs near Balgone, forming, in all likelihood, a portion 
 of that fetid limestone deposit which is worked at Rhodes, 
 nearNorth Berwick. Interstratified with thewhite sandstone 
 which forms the coast of East Lothian from Broxburn to 
 the Cove shore, there occur several strata of mountain lime¬ 
 stone : the points where it is best seen are at Laurie’s 
 Den, Barness Point, and a little to the south of St Dennis’ 
 Chapel. To the north of the calcareous formation w r hich 
 we have described as forming a considerable extent of 
 country, and skirting the base of the Moorfoot Hills, lime¬ 
 stone has been extensively worked at the village of Burdie 
 House, and can be traced to the neighbourhood of Gilmer- 
 ton, where it disappears under the white sandstone. Near 
 Tranent limestone is met with in one or two places; and it 
 crops out also at several points on the shore between Aber- 
 lady and Red House. 
 
 In Linlithgowshire, though the great abundance of trap 
 rocks, and the covered state of the surface, render the 
 tracing of strata a matter of no small difficulty, and in many 
 cases one of impossibility, still one band of limestone is 
 found crossing the country in a N. N. E. and S. S. W. di¬ 
 rection, in a well marked manner. The most southern 
 point in the county where this limestone is visible is at 
 
GENERAL STRUCTURE OF FIFE. 
 
 123 
 
 Blackburn, and around Bathgate it is completely exposed 
 by the extensive workings of Kirkton, Petershill, Galla 
 Braes, North and South Silver Mines, Wardlaw, and Hill 
 House. In the neighbourhood of Linlithgow the limestone 
 appears again at Bowden and Carruthers, and terminates 
 in the sea near Borrowstownness. Near Dechmont Law, at 
 Kirkliston, Newton, and Port Edgar, quarrying operations 
 have exposed several other limestones, all of which are pro¬ 
 bably more or less connected. Concerning the distribution 
 of the white sandstone series, little need be said, since, if we ex¬ 
 cept the various ignigenous masses, it forms all that portion 
 of the Lothians which is not occupied by the three forma¬ 
 tions, the boundaries of which we have endeavoured to as¬ 
 sign. In regard to the localities of the igneous rocks of the 
 Lothians, nothing here requires to be noticed, as these have 
 been already detailed with sufficient minuteness, when con¬ 
 sidering their associations with the Neptunian strata. 
 
 We have given a more or less particular relation of the 
 geognostical structure of the three Lothians, and shall now, 
 by a short description, connect it with those parts of the 
 county of Fife, which form the northern coast of the Firth 
 of Forth. 
 
 The strata which are met with in Fifeshire may be 
 referred to three series, viz. the red sandstone, the moun¬ 
 tain limestone, and the white or carboniferous sandstone; 
 all of which, however, in their modes of relative association, 
 are precisely similar to the secondary stratified system of 
 the Lothians. The lowest member of the stratified series 
 of Fife is, as in the counties of Haddington and Edinburgh, 
 the red sandstone; it passes insensibly into the white sand¬ 
 stone, with which it alternates both on the large and 
 small scale. The mountain limestone is, it is needless to 
 state, not a formation situated between the red and white 
 
124 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 sandstone systems, but, on the contrary, exists only as 
 a subordinate alternating rock. Partial examination of 
 this system may lead some into error, as a similar mode 
 of investigating the structure of the Lothians and other 
 districts has done; but thorough scrutiny will convince, 
 that the sandstones and limestones of Fife constitute a 
 group which cannot be geologically subdivided. The 
 origin of all its members has been strictly contempora¬ 
 neous, and the causes which have produced these strata, 
 have, from their commencement to their termination, been 
 of the same general nature.* As points where the connec¬ 
 tion of the red with the white sandstone can be well ob¬ 
 served, we may notice, the sea-coast extending between Dy- 
 sart and Wemyss, and that which stretches from Crail to 
 Fifeness; the course of the river Eden, also, and the coun¬ 
 try in its immediate neighbourhood, exhibit, in a clear 
 manner, the relations of the two series to each other. The 
 ignigenous masses which rise through the stratified rocks 
 of Fife, are of the same general description as those which 
 occur in the Lothians, inasmuch as they consist of various 
 porphyries, greenstones, basalts, and tufas, and the changes 
 which these have produced on the Neptunian rocks with 
 which they are associated, are in numerous places of a high¬ 
 ly interesting nature. 
 
 * In their organic contents, the rocks of Fifeshire are highly import¬ 
 ant, and deserve, as those of the Lothians, diligent and minute exami¬ 
 nation. The coal mines of this quarter also afford to the geologist much 
 that is interesting in the economical department of the science. These sub¬ 
 jects at present we do not intend to investigate, but on a future occasion we 
 hope to lay before the Wernerian Natural History Society, a somewhat 
 detailed account of the mines in the coal-field of Fife and the Lothians, 
 and also a more or less perfect list of the vegetable and animal relics 
 found in the several strata of these districts. 
 
INVERKEITH1NG—ST DAVID’S. 
 
 125 
 
 We shall now describe the geological phenomena which 
 are to be observed on that part of the coast of Fifeshire 
 which lies immediately opposite to the county of Edin¬ 
 burgh. It is one of the interesting tracts annually visited 
 and explained to his pupils by Professor Jameson. 
 
 The North Queensferry is situated on a promontory com¬ 
 posed almost entirely of greenstone, the felspar of which 
 sometimes becomes of a brick-red colour, and occurs in a 
 quantity sufficient to produce the syenitic aspect. In struc¬ 
 ture, it very generally exhibits the globular concretionary 
 arrangement; the concretions varying in size from an inch in 
 diameter, to an irregularly formed mass of several feet in 
 length and breadth, On the road between the North Ferry 
 and Inverkeithing there are several fine displays of this struc¬ 
 ture, and the atmospherical agents having acted on the soft¬ 
 er and more easily decomposed base of greenstone, cause 
 the globular masses to stand out in strong relief. Contem¬ 
 poraneous veins of greenstone traverse in considerable num¬ 
 bers indiscriminately the globular concretions and the bases 
 in which they are imbedded. Veins of calcareous spar also 
 occur: these, however, never cross the globular concretions 
 of greenstone. In regard to the connexion of this body of 
 trap with the sandstone, there are no intimate relations ex¬ 
 hibited ; near the toll-house between Inverkeithing and the 
 Ferry, sandstone strata, dipping N. N.W. at 20°, are visi¬ 
 ble in a small bay which is entirely surrounded by trap. 
 On proceeding along the shore from Inverkeithing to St 
 David’s, a junction of the greenstone with the slate-clay and 
 bituminous shale has been exposed in searching for coal; 
 no induration is, however, evinced, but, on the contrary, 
 the strata appear to have a greater tendency to decompo¬ 
 sition when near the trap than in those parts farther re¬ 
 moved from it. 
 
12G 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIAN S. 
 
 Near the point which constitutes the eastern boundary of 
 Inverkeithing bay, a tufa occurs which forms mural sea-cliffs 
 for a considerable way, and in some parts differs in character 
 from those tufas which are so frequently met with associated 
 with the trap rocks of the Lothians. It is composed very 
 generally of a yellowish-white clay stone felspar, in which 
 variously shaped and sized masses of felspar, greenstone, 
 bituminous shale, and sandstone, are imbedded, and passes 
 into a tufa, of which the basis is an earthy greenstone, con¬ 
 taining greenstone fragments which are sometimes amygda- 
 loidal. Throughout the whole extent of this tufa there are 
 indications of a more or less perfectly bedded structure, the 
 separations into strata being produced by a change in the 
 size of the imbedded fragments. The connexion of the 
 sandstone with the tufa is in two places exposed : at one of 
 these, which is near St David’s, it exhibits numerous marks 
 of derangement; and a series of strata, consisting of alter¬ 
 nations of blackish and white slaty sandstone, which is 
 shifted in one place for several inches, is thrust up amongst 
 a completely compact white sandstone. 
 
 The other point where the junction of the two rocks is 
 visible, is at the eastern extremity of the tufaceous mass ; 
 there, a vertical stratum of sandstone, several yardsin height, 
 by about three feet in breadth, is completely enveloped in it, 
 standing out from the strata of tufa which, on both sides of 
 it, have a westerly inclination. In regard to position and 
 structure, there are appearances in both which indicate, 
 that in the tufa there had been a cause adequate for dis¬ 
 placement, and also for producing a change in mineral struc¬ 
 ture; for masses of the sandstone are bent amongst the 
 tufa, and, as sandstones in contact with the more crystalline 
 trap aggregates, become intensely indurated, and make 
 the usual transition into quartz rock. 
 
 From this junction of the sandstone with the tufa to 
 
ABERDOUR. 
 
 127 
 
 Downing Point, there occurs only an uninteresting simi¬ 
 larity of trap; it rests upon a thin series of strata of sand¬ 
 stone, but their more intimate relations are, as is generally 
 the case in this part of the coast, much obscured by a thick 
 covering of debris and vegetable soil;—the sandstone abuts, 
 however, against the trap of the Point. On the shore op¬ 
 posite the House of Dunibristle, the strata change their 
 W. N.W. dip, for one to the E. S.E., and continue to 
 plunge in this direction as far as the old church of Dal- 
 gety, where, after lying for a short distance in an undula- 
 tory horizontal position, they are again found to sink to the 
 W. N. W., inclosing a parallel vein of greenstone, and abut¬ 
 ting against the trap hill of Braefoot. On the east side of 
 Braefoot strata of white sandstone are met with, having the 
 same inclination, and continue to form the shore as far as 
 Aberdour, a little to the west of which two dykes of trap 
 occur, one of which appears to have risen through the stra¬ 
 ta and tilted them up on both sides. 
 
 At Aberdour, on the western side of the harbour, a 
 greenstone cliff* exhibits phenomena of a most satisfactory 
 nature in regard to its connexion with Neptunian rocks. 
 (Plate XIV.) The lowest visible rock on which the trap 
 rests is a white sandstone, which is exposed only for a few 
 feet, and is separated from another stratum of sandstone by 
 a mass of greenstone about two feet in breadth; this se¬ 
 cond mass presents in one part a slight flexure, and, as all 
 the other masses included in this cliff of trap, gradually thins 
 out at its western extremity. Above these tAvo included 
 portions of sandstone another one occurs, and also three 
 imbedded fragments of shale; they vary in breadth from 
 half a foot to the most delicate thread, and are completely 
 changed in character; the sandstone becoming quartzose, 
 and the shales assuming a compact structure. On the other 
 side of the harbour the same arrangement is visible; the 
 
128 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 sandstone again appears underneath the greenstone, and at 
 the junction, and for a considerable distance from it, com¬ 
 pletely changes it into a characteristic hornstone. The 
 greenstone which overlies these sandstone strata runs boldly 
 into the sea, presenting vertical cliffs. On their eastern 
 side the sandstone strata are again met with dipping to the 
 N. N.E. at about 18°, almost throughout their whole extent 
 altered, and presenting characters little differing from those 
 exhibited by the quartz rocks of primitive districts. The 
 strata between this point and Burntisland afford nothing 
 deserving detail; as sandstone, which dips in general to the 
 north, forms, with the exception of one or two greenstone 
 masses, the whole of the exposed rocks on the shore. On 
 advancing into the interior of the country, there is a con¬ 
 tinuation of the same general system of rocks as is visible 
 on the shore. The Bin Hill rises immediately to the north 
 of Burntisland, and exposes at its base, and for a consider¬ 
 able way up its acclivity, strata of white sandstone and 
 limestone. The rock which forms the principal mass of the 
 Bin Hill, is a coarse and easily disintegrated tufa, composed 
 of variously sized masses of trap rocks, limestone, shale, 
 and sandstone, imbedded in a base of earthy trap, and is 
 traversed in one part by a dyke of basalt, containing nume¬ 
 rous crystals of glassy felspar, and exhibiting an imperfectly 
 columnar structure. Natrolite is found in the tufa in the 
 form of imbedded amygdaloidal concretions. On the east 
 side of the Bin Hill the same series of strata appears which 
 is seen on the west, all dipping to the E. N.E. Basalt 
 occurs, forming a vein running parallel with these, but 
 the covered strata of the country prevents its relation to the 
 sandstone or tufa from being made out. On advancing 
 along the shore in the direction of Pettycur, no rocks are 
 observed for a considerable way, the coast being entirely 
 
WHINNY BRAE. 
 
 129 
 
 formed of a flat sandy beach. Near Whinny-hall, however, 
 and a short distance from the shore, a range of greenstone 
 cliffs exhibits some interesting appearances ;—the trap rises 
 through the slate and sandstone strata, and from the lower 
 side of an overlying portion, a mass of greenstone issues. 
 All the strata, when in contact with the plutonic lock, are 
 highly indurated, the slates acquiring the compactness of 
 jasper and Lydian stone, and the sandstone passing into gra¬ 
 nular quartz-rock. Masses also of the slate are entangled 
 in the greenstone, some of which are so changed as almost 
 to put on the appearance of striped Siberian jasper. In 
 their position these slates evince much disturbance, and are 
 convoluted to a considerable distance from the greenstone. 
 (Plate XV., Fig. 1.) Near this, the extensive opening of 
 Whinny Brae quarry has exposed some interesting pheno¬ 
 mena. The strata are alternations of sandstone, limestone, 
 slate-clay, bituminous shale, and clay-ironstone, with an in¬ 
 cluded parallel vein of clay stone, all of which sink to the 
 E. N.E. at an angle of 25°. In their course the rocks exhi¬ 
 bit two gentle undulations, and are shifted in one place to 
 a considerable extent. Near the eastern extremity of the 
 claystone, the mean breadth of which does not appear to 
 be more than three feet, a vein of about a foot in breadth 
 issues from its under surface; it crosses the shale strata 
 at an angle of about 70°, and is probably connected with a 
 lower mass of felspar, which the quarrying operations have 
 exposed. In regard to the effects of this claystone on the 
 strata, they are completely demonstrative of its violent pro¬ 
 trusion and former highly heated state. Masses of the 
 shale are imbedded in it in innumerable places, and it is 
 traversed near the junction by an infinity of small felspar 
 veins. In some places the slate appears to have been frac¬ 
 tured into minute fragments, which have been subsequently 
 
 VOL. vn. 
 
 l 
 
IbO 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTH IANS. 
 
 agglutinated by the infusion of the felspar ; and in other 
 parts masses of the shale are bent up amongst the felspar, 
 and made to assume the form of a vein ; the structure is 
 also completely changed, inasmuch as the perfectly fissile 
 slate-clay assumes a hardness which, in some parts, is little 
 inferior to that of Lydian stone. (Plate XV. Fig 2.) 
 
 Alexander’s Craig, which forms a high trap range nearthis, 
 is composed of irregular alternations of tufa and amygdaloid, 
 surmounted by a range of an imperfectly prismatic basalt, 
 which reposes on thin strata of slate-clay, ironstone, and 
 sandstone ; in one part it is in immediate contact with a bed 
 of coal, a portion of which is entangled in the basalt and 
 completely charred. Veins of fibrous calcareous spar abound, 
 traversing both the tufa and the strata. From Alexander’s 
 Craig to Pettvcur, the rocks are entirely composed of amyg¬ 
 daloid with tufa, in which numerous variously sized masses 
 of slate are imbedded. Calcareous spar occurs in great 
 quantities, forming large veins and amygdaloidal masses in 
 the greenstone, and is in some places associated with groups 
 of amethyst and quartz crystals. On the shore at Petty- 
 cur, the amygdaloid reposes immediately on much indu¬ 
 rated strata of mountain limestone; and, at one point, both 
 rocks have been shifted for several feet. Superimposed 
 on the amygdaloid which lies on the limestone, there rests a 
 thin series of ironstone and shale strata, above which amyg¬ 
 daloid again occurs. Immediately below the inn of Petty- 
 cur, there begins an alternating series of sandstone, lime¬ 
 stone, shale, basalt, amygdaloid, greenstone, tufa, andwacke; 
 all these rocks dip to the east, and continue with little inter¬ 
 ruption till within a short distance of Kirkaldy. Though 
 the alternations of the neptunian and plutonic rocks are so 
 numerous, still there are only a few places where their con¬ 
 nections exhibit any tiling interesting, and with a detail of 
 
TYRIE. 
 
 131 
 
 two of the most conspicuous of these we shall conclude this 
 short account of the southern coast of Fife. The first ob¬ 
 ject of interest to be observed in proceeding along the coast, 
 is at a short distance to the east of the village of Kinghorn, 
 where a stratum of white sandstone is completely envelop¬ 
 ed in the greenstone. It varies in breadth in different 
 places, and in those parts which are thinnest becomes com¬ 
 pletely changed into quartz rock, while in the others there 
 is a gradual transition made from a quartz rock at the junc¬ 
 tion with the trap, to a sandstone, forming the more central 
 parts of the stratum. It exhibits a slightly undulating 
 position, and splits easily into irregularly-shaped masses, in 
 a direction more or less at right angles to the plane of the 
 bed. The other point where interesting phenomena are 
 displayed is at Tyrie Bleachfield, a point almost at the ex¬ 
 tremity of this series of rocks. Here a mass of greenstone, 
 presenting the ordinary character, occurs, and having the 
 same N. E. dip as the other rocks of the coast; it rests in 
 one part on thin strata of black slaty sandstone, and in 
 another on a white sandstone. Lying immediately below 
 the white sandstone, and in contact with it, a vein of clay- 
 stone-felspar appears, identical with that of Whinny Brae 
 quarry ; it traverses strata of black slaty sandstone and 
 shale, and finally is seen to thin out between them and a 
 stratum of white sandstone, inferior to that upon which 
 the overlying greenstone mass rests. In its course, this 
 vein of felspar gives off minute veins, and is also shifted in 
 two places, a proof in addition to that which the Whinny 
 Brae quarry exhibits, that disturbing influences had ope¬ 
 rated after the eruption and consolidation of these igneous 
 rocks. Below the lowest series of black slaty sandstone 
 and shale strata, a bed of limestone occurs, resting on one 
 
 i 2 
 
132 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTH IANS. 
 
 of coal, and the group of sandstone strata which forms the 
 lowest of the rocks visible in this section. (Plate XVI.) 
 
 From this point to Kirkaldy, a flat sandy beach complete¬ 
 ly covers the subjacent rocks; to the east of the town, 
 however, the sandstone-slate and shale again appear, and 
 continue onwards for a long way. 
 
 In the more central parts of Fife, there are numerous 
 points where the relations of the trap-rocks to the neptu- 
 nian strata are interesting, and we shall conclude with a no¬ 
 tice of the geological appearances exhibited in the Lomond 
 hills. The Lomond hills consist of three eminences, Easter, 
 Wester, and Mid Lomond, the two first rising to the 
 heights of 1466 and 1721 feet. When viewed from a dis¬ 
 tance, these hills might, from their external appearance, be 
 considered as entirely composed of trap-rocks; on examin¬ 
 ing them, however, it is found that a very considerable por¬ 
 tion consists of the coal sandstone, and on the north side of 
 the Wester and Mid Lomonds, a section, extending from 
 the foot almost to the summit of the hills, exposes their 
 structure in the most satisfactory manner. Red sandstone 
 dipping S. W. at 8°, is the lowest rock visible, and forms 
 the most of that comparatively level country which skirts 
 their northern base, being succeeded by the coal series of 
 white sandstone, slate-clay, and clay-ironstone, which is sur¬ 
 mounted by the great overlying trap deposit of the hills. 
 Wester Lomond rises immediately above Loch Leven, and 
 presents a front of more or less regularly columnar trap. 
 In several places the quarrying of the sandstone, for the 
 purpose of building, has exposed immediate junctions of the 
 two classes of rocks ; but in no instance do the strata afford 
 appearances of induration: near their contact with the green¬ 
 stone, however, they in some places occur in positions which 
 can only be considered as disturbed. 
 
WESTER LOMOND. 
 
 133 
 
 On crossing the trap ridge of Wester Lomond, horizon¬ 
 tal strata of mountain limestone are found resting upon it. 
 Quarrying operations have not as yet exposed the green¬ 
 stone on which this limestone reposes, but its aspect through¬ 
 out its whole visible extent is a sufficient proof that it has been 
 influenced in no inconsiderable degree by the agency of the 
 trap. The smooth conchoidal fracture, the earthy appear¬ 
 ance, and uncrystalline arrangement, of the mountain lime¬ 
 stone have all been removed, and a rock produced which 
 in many places, is perfectly crystalline in its structure, and 
 of various shades of grey and white. The usual corals and 
 madrepores occur in this limestone, and, in their states of 
 preservation, vary from one, which in the rock when little 
 altered, is almost perfect, to that more or less obliterated 
 appearance which they present when found in the complete¬ 
 ly altered limestone. 
 
 The trap forming the range of Wester Lomond, is a 
 greenstone which varies from large to small granular ; it is 
 in general arranged in concretions having a tendency to the 
 prismatic form ; but, in some places, it displays, in the most 
 marked manner, the globular appearance. Mid-Lomond, 
 as we have before stated, is, in its lower part, composed of 
 sandstone strata, and in the upper of trap. Induration is, 
 however, in no instance to be observed. On the side of the 
 valley which separates this hill from Wester Lomond the 
 trap may be found alternating several times with the sand¬ 
 stone ; the state of the surface, however, prevents us from 
 examining the appearances exhibited at the junction of the 
 two classes of rock. The trap-rock which forms the lower 
 parts of Mid-Lomond, is an ordinary greenstone with some¬ 
 what of a prismatic structure ; the summit, however, and 
 a considerable part of the southern acclivity, is entirely 
 composed of a well characterized greyish-black basalt, which 
 
134 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 is in one or two places arranged in an irregularly tabular 
 manner. The structure of Easter Lomond is precisely si¬ 
 milar to that of the two hills we have just described, and 
 in no place are there any appearances which render a de¬ 
 tailed description necessary. Throughout the whole extent 
 of this highly picturesque and beautiful range of trap hills, 
 no point can be fixed on as one through which the igneous 
 matters which alternate with and cover the sandstones have 
 been erupted : the almost perfect horizontality of the strata 
 is, however, a sufficient indication that these trap-rocks are 
 to be considered more or less as portions of plutonic streams, 
 which, on being erupted, have flowed over horizontal sur¬ 
 faces. Separating the hills of Wester and Mid Lomond, 
 there is a ravine which is interesting, inasmuch as it has 
 evidently been produced by a great rent running through 
 the parallel and horizontal beds of aqueous and igneous 
 rocks, which form these hills: no one,however, when viewing 
 them, and observing the perfect agreement of the beds of the 
 one hill with those of the other, can ever consider this ravine 
 as original, nor can any one, with any degree of propriety, 
 refer it to the action of the rivulet. When describing the 
 trap-rocks in the vicinity of Edinburgh, we have remarked 
 that they, as well as the strata on which they repose, fre¬ 
 quently present abrupt and broken fronts : of this the 
 Lomond hills on their northern side exhibit an excellent 
 example; and the horizontality of the beds renders it pro¬ 
 bable that this aspect has been produced contemporaneous¬ 
 ly with the protrusion of the ignigenous masses. 
 
 We have now described at considerable length the geo- 
 logy of the Lothians, having endeavoured to notice every lo¬ 
 cality which in our investigations appeared worthy of detail, 
 and every rock which afforded to us any thing interesting. 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 135 
 
 eitherin regard to its mineral characters or mode of connexion 
 with others. Notwithstanding that an observer spends much 
 time in investigating a given tract, and pursues his labour 
 with much alacrity and diligence, still when he has completed 
 his survey, though he has travelled through the country in 
 every direction, having climbed its mountains and perambu¬ 
 lated its valleys, coasts, and streams, some points, perhaps, 
 even of considerable interest, may have been passed over by 
 him unobserved. Aware of this, however, we sincerely hope, 
 that though geologists, in examining the district which we 
 have been considering, may find appearances which we have 
 not described, they will not, when comparing our descrip¬ 
 tions with phenomena in the field, discover that in any 
 instance we have misunderstood what we saw. Through¬ 
 out the whole of this paper, we have endeavoured to state, 
 in the most concise manner, what we considered requisite 
 to notice, doing this from a conviction, that in writing upon 
 natural appearances, a multiplication of words is to be par¬ 
 ticularly guarded against. In conclusion we may only re¬ 
 mark, that if we have endeavoured to advocate doctrines 
 considered as erroneous by some observers of celebrity, and 
 have differed from others in descriptive details, we have in 
 the one case done so from no love of disputation, and in 
 the other, from only finding in the district which we have 
 examined appearances which seemed to us capable of being 
 only seen in one way. 
 
136 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTH IANS. 
 
 * 
 
 APPENDIX I. 
 
 SIR JAMES HALL’S EXPERIMENTS. 
 
 When describing the relations of the trap-rocks of the 
 Lothians to the Neptunian strata, we have casually remarked, 
 that it was from an examination of them that Dr Hutton 
 first formed those theoretical opinions concerning their mode 
 of formation, which are now universally adopted by the 
 cultivators of geological science. From Salisbury Crags, 
 Arthur Seat, and numerous other points in the district of 
 the Lothians, that ingenious philosopher and acute observer 
 drew conclusions in regard to the past history of the world 
 which, even on their first proposal, were adopted by many, 
 and zealously defended by not a few. In the present ad¬ 
 vanced state of geology, it may appear to some that the 
 several phenomena which Dr Hutton first pointed out in 
 regard to the trap-rocks, and the appearances which the in¬ 
 dividuals of the stratified systems exhibited, when near them, 
 were of so clear a nature, that they could be explained only 
 in one way ; but it must be remembered that the plutonic 
 origin which he awarded to the trap-rocks, and the changed 
 state in which he said certain strata existed, were as yet to 
 be considered as theoretical, and could not be proved by di¬ 
 rect experiment. Compression under water or solid strata 
 had been stated to be a cause sufficient for the production 
 of a crystalline structure in masses cooling down from an 
 original state of igneous fusion, but the chemist had not as 
 yet demonstrated this by making a homogeneous vitreous 
 mass acquire a granular arrangement. 
 
APPENDIX_HALL’S EXPERIMENTS. 
 
 137 
 
 If Hutton, however, proposed the theory of the unstra¬ 
 tified rocks, it was left for Sir James Hall to establish its 
 truth, by a series of original experiments which will make 
 his name ever be respected by the scientific world, and ever 
 have a prominent place in the page of geological history. To 
 this distinguished examiner, the crystalline structure of 
 granite, porphyry, and trap, appeared at first to contradict 
 the hypothesis of Dr Hutton; but the experiments which he 
 made with such success, convinced him that the effects of 
 compression were of a gigantic character, and that dif¬ 
 ferences in it might account for the dissimilarity of aspect 
 which exists between a trap or a Plutonic rock, and a lava 
 or a Volcanic rock As the experiments of Sir James Hall 
 on “ Whinstone” (Trans, of Royal Society of Edin. v. 5.) 
 were made on several well known rocks in the neighbour¬ 
 hood of Edinburgh, which we have already described, we 
 shall briefly extract, from his paper in the Transactions of 
 the Royal Society, a few particulars in regard to this inte¬ 
 resting subject. 
 
 The first trap-rock which was examined was the green¬ 
 stone of Bell’s Mills, a point which, in its proper place, we 
 have already noticed. A black-lead crucible filled with 
 fragments of this stone was introduced into the reverberat¬ 
 ing furnace of an iron foundry ; having remained there a 
 quarter of an hour, the greenstone became completely fused 
 and was agitated with a violent ebullition, and on being 
 removed from the furnace and allowed to cool rapidly, was 
 found to have lost its crystalline arrangement, and to have 
 assumed a vitreous aspect. It was thus found that fused 
 greenstone when quickly cooled has not a granular structure. 
 
 In subsequent experiments, Sir James Hall endeavoured, 
 by slow and gradual cooling, to cause the trap to assume its 
 original characters. The first attempts which were made 
 
138 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 to effect this object were only partially successful; the pro¬ 
 duct of the slow refrigeration was not in a vitreous state, 
 but still it had not the crystalline appearance of the whin- 
 stone ; sometimes it had a liver-like appearance, and at 
 others was a dull vitreous mass, containing innumerable little 
 spheroids and having a dull earthy fracture; at last, how¬ 
 ever, Sir James succeeded completely in the object which 
 he had in view. A crucible, containing melted greenstone, 
 was removed from the reverberatory, placed in a large open 
 fire, and surrounded with burning coals. The fire 44 after 
 being maintained for several hours was allowed to go out, 
 and the crucible when cold was broken, and was found to 
 contain a substance differing in all respects from glass, and 
 in texture completely resembling whinstone. Its fracture 
 was rough, stony, and crystalline; and a number of shin¬ 
 ing facettes were interspersed through the whole mass. The 
 crystallization was still more apparent in cavities produced 
 by air bubbles, the internal surface of which was lined with 
 distinct crystals. 1 '’—P. 48. The fragments of greenstone, 
 however, which had been thus artificially crystallized had 
 not been previously reduced to the state of glass, and 
 therefore the experiment might be liable to rejection as 
 inconclusive by those who advocated Neptunian principles. 
 To obviate this, however, Sir James Hall determined, on 
 the suggestion of Dr Hope, the Professor of Chemistry, to 
 44 reduce the stone first to glass, and to perform the crystal¬ 
 lization after the second fusion. 11 
 
 We shall now notice the results which were obtained. 
 The greenstone of Bell's Mills was fused and quickly cooled 
 into a black glass, as in former experiments; 44 a crucible, 
 filled with fragments of this glass, being then exposed to a 
 heat, which from previous trials was judged to be more 
 than sufficient to reduce its contents to fusion, the fire was 
 
APPENDIX.—HALL’S EXPERIMENTS. 
 
 130 
 
 very gradually lowered till all was cold.”—P. 49- On the 
 crucible being examined, Sir James was in no small degree 
 surprised to find that 44 the fragments had never been in 
 complete fusion, since they still, in a great measure, retained 
 their original shape/ 1 
 
 In another experiment the trap-glass was completely 
 fused, the temperature of the fire was reduced to about 28° 
 of Wedgwood’s pyrometer, and allowed to remain so for 
 six hours. 44 The result was a perfectly solid mass, crystal¬ 
 lized to a certain depth from the outside, though still 
 vitreous in the hearta similar mass of glass, however, 
 being experimented on in the same manner, but being sub¬ 
 jected to the heat for twelve hours, was on its consolidation 
 44 entirely crystalline and stony throughout.” 
 
 On investigating the fusibility of the glass obtained by 
 melting the greenstone of Bell’s Mills, from experiment it 
 occurred to Sir James Hall, that the fact of the trap-glass 
 not thoroughly fusing on a former occasion, was to be ex¬ 
 plained by supposing that, on the first application of heat, 
 it had partially softened, and then had crystallized so as to 
 become again rigid, and that in the crystallizing process, 44 it 
 had acquired such infusibility as to yield to no heat under 
 30 °” 
 
 We shall quote from Sir James Hall’s paper the experi¬ 
 ment by which he confirmed this conjecture. 44 A piece of the 
 same glass (the trap-glass), placed in a cup of clay, was in¬ 
 troduced into a muffle, heated to 21°. In one minute it 
 became quite soft, so as to yield readily to the pressure of 
 an iron rod. After a second minute had elapsed, the frag¬ 
 ment, being touched by the rod, was found to be quite hard, 
 though the temperature had remained stationary. The 
 substance, thus hardened, had undergone a change through¬ 
 out ; it had lost the vitreous character ; when broken, it 
 
140 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTH IANS. 
 
 exhibited a fracture like that of porcelain, with little lustre^ 
 and its colour was changed from black to dark brown. Being 
 exposed to heat, it was found to be fusible only at 31°; that 
 is, it was less fusible than the glass by 13° or 14°. 
 
 “ Numerous and varied experiments have since proved, in 
 the clearest manner, that, in any temperature, from 21° to 
 28° inclusive, the glass of this whin passes from a soft, or 
 liquid state, to a solid one, in consequence of crystallization ; 
 which is differently performed at different points of this 
 range. In the lower points, as at 23, it is rapid and imper¬ 
 fect ; in higher points, slower and more complete, every in¬ 
 termediate temperature affording an intermediate result. 
 I likewise found, that crystallization takes place, not only 
 when the heat is stationary, but likewise when rising or 
 sinking, provided its progress through the range just men¬ 
 tioned is not too rapid. Thus, if the heat of the substance, 
 after fusion, exceeds one minute in passing from 21° to 23°, 
 or from 23° to 21°, the mass will infallibly crystallize, and 
 lose its vitreous character. These facts enabled me to account 
 for the production of the substance resembling the liver of 
 an animal, which I obtained in my first attempts to crystal¬ 
 lize the melted stone. Not being then aware of the tem¬ 
 perature proper for complete crystallization, I had allowed 
 it to be passed over rapidly by the descending heat, and I 
 had begun the slow cooling in those lower points, at which 
 the formation of this intermediate substance takes place. 
 
 “ By the same means I was enabled to explain the unex¬ 
 pected result, which I obtained in endeavouring to convert 
 the glass of this stone into crystallite.* The fire applied 
 to the crucible, containing fragments of the glass, had been 
 
 * The crystallized substance, obtained from the slow cooling of trap- 
 glass, was denominated crystallite by Sir James Hall. 
 
 5 
 
APPENDIX-HALL’S EXPERIMENTS. 
 
 141 
 
 raised very slowly, which 1 know to have been the case 
 by some circumstances of the experiment. The glass had 
 softened by the first application of heat, but had crystal¬ 
 lized again as the heat gradually rose; so that the sub¬ 
 stance consolidated, while still so viscid as to retain the 
 original shape of the fragments ; at the same time it acquired 
 such infusibility as to resist the application of higher de¬ 
 grees of heat during the rest of the process.” (Trans, of 
 Royal Soc. of Edin. vol. v. p. 5.) Besides the greenstone of 
 Bell’s Mills, Sir James Hall fused and recrystallized several 
 other of the trap-rocks around Edinburgh. We shall note 
 his observations in regard to these. 
 
 Whin (Basaltic Clinkstone) of the rock of Edinburgh Castle. 
 
 “ The pure glass which this whin yielded, by rapid cool¬ 
 ing after a moderate heat, was crystallized in three experi¬ 
 ments, and produced masses greatly resembling the original. 
 In one of these, formed on a large scale in the glass-house, 
 the resemblance is so strong, both as to colour and texture, 
 that it would be difficult, or perhaps impossible, to distin¬ 
 guish them, but for a few minute air-bubbles visible in the 
 artificial crystallite. The glass is less fusible than that re¬ 
 sulting from the greenstone of Bell’s Mills, and seems not 
 to possess the property of producing the liver crystallite.” 
 —p. 58. 
 
 Whin of the basaltic columns on Arthur's Seat , near Edinburgh . 
 
 (Basalt of the summit.) 
 
 “ In the temperature of 100° or upwards, the whole was 
 changed to pure black glass; but in a more moderate heat 
 (about 60°), the felspar remained unchanged, while the horn- 
 
 t 
 
 blende disappeared and formed a glass along with the ba¬ 
 sis of the stone. Both kinds of glass yielded highly cha- 
 
142 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 racterized crystallites, that last mentioned having its felspars 
 entire, produced a substance like porphyry, in which the 
 white felspars were imbedded in a black crystalline basis. 
 The crystals formed in this basis are so complete in one 
 example, that they are seen projecting into the cavities and 
 standing erect on the external surface so as to make it 
 sparkle all over. These black crystals seem to be horn¬ 
 blende of new formation. We have found by some late 
 experiments that they are considerably more refractory than 
 the crystallite in which they lie, and are equally infusible 
 with some species of natural hornblende.”—P. 53. 
 
 Whin (Basalt) from the neighbourhood af Duddingston Loch. 
 
 4C Its glass yields a fine grained crystallite, like to that 
 of the greenstone of Bell’s Mills.’*—P. 54. 
 
 Whin (Greenstone) of Salisbury Crags. 
 
 “ Its glass yielded a highly facetted crystallite, approach¬ 
 ing to the structure of the unfused basalt of Duddingston 
 Loch.”—P. 54. 
 
 Whin (Syenitic Greenstone) from the rolled masses in the bed of 
 
 the Water of Leith. 
 
 k< In fusion and crystallization it resembled the other 
 whins.”—P. 55. 
 
 Whin (Basalt) of the basaltic columns of Stajfa. 
 
 “ It yielded a perfect and very hard glass, which, in a 
 regulated heat, produced a uniform stony crystallite, greatly 
 resembling the original.”—P. 55. 
 
 Having performed the experiments on whinstone, the 
 unerupted lava of the philosopher whose opinions he had 
 adopted, Sir James Hall engaged in a series of experiments 
 
APPENDIX-HALL’S EXPERIMENTS. 
 
 143 
 
 on mineral masses, the evident volcanic origin of which 
 was admitted by all. From his original paper we shall ex¬ 
 tract the results to which this examination led. 
 
 Lava of Catania (Basaltic Lava). 
 
 “ After strong heat, the whole was reduced by rapid 
 cooling, to pure black glass; but, when the heat applied 
 was moderate, the felspars remained unchanged. Being 
 maintained, after a second fusion, in a temperature of 28° 
 (Wedgwood) both these glasses yielded strong and crys¬ 
 tallized substances somewhat less fusible than the original, 
 and, when exposed to a temperature of 22°, they crystallized 
 rapidly like most of the whins (trap-rocks) into the liver 
 crystallite. This last property is common to all the lavas.” 
 —P. 60 . 
 
 Lava of Sta. Venere. 
 
 “ The pure black glass formed from this lava yielded, in 
 the regulated heat, the most highly crystallized mass we 
 have obtained from any lava or whin.”—P. 61. 
 
 Lava of La Motta di Catania. 
 
 “ Its glass yielded a dark grey crystallite of uniform tex¬ 
 ture.”—P. 62. 
 
 Lava of Torre del Grecco. 
 
 It was found to be less fusible than any of the others, 
 yet its glass crystallized in a lower temperature.”—P. 63. 
 
 Lava of Vesuvius , eruption 1785. 
 
 Sir James Hall, after examining with care a lava stream 
 which flowed from Vesuvius, found that it completely re¬ 
 sembled the glass obtained from the rapid cooling of an ar- 
 
144 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS- 
 
 tificially fused mass of lava. “ Besides all other properties,'’ 
 he remarks, “ it possesses the fusibility of the glasses, since 
 it softens completely at 18, that is 14 or 15 degrees below 
 the softening point of any of the stony lavas. Being ex¬ 
 posed to the process of regulated cooling, it gave the same 
 result as all the other lava glasses. In the lower points it 
 yielded a liver crystallite infusible under 30, and in the 
 higher a stony substance like a common lava or whin, 
 and fusible only at 35.*” 
 
 We here extract from Sir James Hall's paper the Table of 
 the fusibilities of the traps and lavas which he examined, 
 and from it “ it may be observed that the original whins 
 soften in a range from 38 to 55, the glasses from 15 to 24, 
 and the artificial crystallite from 32 to 45.” 
 
 
 Original 
 
 Glass 
 
 Crystallite 
 
 Substances. 
 
 softened. 
 
 soltened. 
 
 softened. 
 
 Whin (Greenstone) of Bell’s Mills 1 
 Quarry, 
 
 Whin (Basaltic Clinkstone) of 
 
 L 
 
 40 
 
 45 
 
 15 
 
 22 
 
 32 
 
 35 
 
 Castle Rock, 
 
 i 
 
 Whin of basaltic column, Arthur’s 
 Seat, • • • • 
 
 
 55 
 
 18 
 
 35 
 
 Whin (Basalt) near Duddingston 
 Loch, • • • • 
 
 
 53 
 
 24 
 
 38 
 
 Whin (Greenstone) of Salisbury 1 
 
 55 
 
 24 
 
 38 
 
 Crags, . . . . ) 
 
 Whin (Syenitic Greenstone) Wa¬ 
 ter of Leith, , 
 
 Whin (Basalt) of StafFa, 
 
 
 35 
 
 16 
 
 37 
 
 
 38 
 
 144 
 
 35 
 
 ' Lava of Catania, .... 
 
 33 
 
 18 
 
 38 
 
 Lava of Sta Venere, Piedmont, . 
 
 32 
 
 18 
 
 36 
 
 Lava of La Motta, 
 
 36 
 
 18 
 
 36 
 
 Lava ? of Iceland, 
 
 35 
 
 15 
 
 45 
 
 Lava of Torre del Grecco, 
 
 40 
 
 18 
 
 28 
 
 Lava of Vesuvius, 1785, 
 
 18 
 
 18 
 
 35 
 
 The other discoveries of Sir James Hall we need not here 
 
 notice in detail. His experiments on limestone and coal are 
 
APPENDIX—HALL’S EXPERIMENTS. 
 
 145 
 
 known to both the chemist and the geologist, having to the 
 latter afforded explanations of appearances of no little com¬ 
 plexity, and to the interest excited by his investigations are, 
 in no small degree, to be traced many discoveries which have 
 been made by Continental philosophers. To the geologist and 
 chemist of the present day, the experiments of Hall tell that a 
 vastfield is open for investigation; and examinations, philoso¬ 
 phically conducted on the grand principles which he chalked 
 out, would, it may with certainty be stated, either corroborate 
 the truth of certain, as yet, theoretical points in geology, 
 or display their falsity. By furnace experiments knowledge 
 could be gained, in all probability, on much which is now 
 the “ Terra Incognita ” of geology. How is dolmitization 
 effected ? Are the granites, the porphyries, the trap-rocks, 
 trachytes, and lavas to be considered only as links in a con¬ 
 nected chain of igneous elaborations, of which the one ex¬ 
 tremity is granite and the other lava, the differences in 
 mineral structure and composition being effected by diffe¬ 
 rences in compression, and in the rocks with which they 
 have come in contact ? Do the various stratified deposits 
 contribute to the formation of igneous rocks ; and can 
 sandstones, shales, and conglomerates be made to assume 
 characters indicative that the formations of gneiss, mica- 
 slate, hornblende rock, and the several strata denominated 
 Primitive, are only to be considered as mechanical deposits, 
 which have been completely altered ? All these are ques¬ 
 tions which it is of the highest importance to solve, and so¬ 
 lutions appear only to be got in experimenting on mineral 
 masses, at very high temperatures, and under great com¬ 
 pression. 
 
 VOL. VII. 
 
 K 
 
140 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 APPENDIX II. 
 
 ON THE JUNCTIONS OF GREYWACKE AND SANDSTONE 
 WITH GRANITE AND SYENITE. 
 
 In our memoir on the Geology of the Lothians, we have 
 observed that the Transition strata are in few instances con¬ 
 nected with the ignigenous rocks, and that even when such 
 relations are observable, they are seldom of an interesting 
 description. Other portions, however, of the great transi¬ 
 tion high land of the south of Scotland are related, in an 
 interesting manner, with plutonic masses. Trap and por¬ 
 phyry rocks in several places occur associated with the 
 strata, but a detail of the appearances exhibited by these is 
 here inadmissible; we shall, however, shortly notice a few 
 points where they are found connected with true granite 
 and syenite. 
 
 The granitic rocks which rise through the greywacke 
 strata form three distinct and isolated groups, viz. that of 
 Criffel, Loch Ken, and Loch Doon. 
 
 I. Criffel District * 
 
 The first of these, near the village of New Abbey, rises 
 through the greywacke and attains in the hill of Criffel 
 to the height of 1830 feet. The granitic rocks of this 
 district do not consist entirely of true granite; on the con¬ 
 trary, they vary much, some of the mountains being formed 
 of granite, while others are composed of a characteristic 
 syenite. None of these rocks, however, in their relations 
 to each other, indicate a difference in age, but bear impressed 
 upon them characters which prove a perfect synchronism 
 
 * Vide Professor Jameson’s Memoir on the Geognosy of Criffel, Kirk- 
 bean, and the Needle’s Eye in Galloway, in the 4th volume of the Me¬ 
 moirs of the Wernerian Society. 
 
CRIFFEL DISTRICT. 
 
 147 
 
 of formation. The felspar which enters into the composi¬ 
 tion of the granite and syenite varies in colour from white 
 to grey and light brick-red, while the quartz is invariably 
 of the usual grey colour ; the mica is in general brown, and 
 occurs only in minute scales. In several places, the granite 
 assumes a porphyritic aspect, the crystals which produce this 
 arrangement being invariably of felspar ; but on the large 
 scale there is no example of determinate structure,—that 
 tabular appearance which is so often to be observed in ex¬ 
 tensive granite districts never occurring here. The syenite 
 which is associated with the true granite is, like it, small gra¬ 
 nular, and from the hornblende varying in quantity, the 
 rock assumes various aspects. Sphene occurs in minute 
 crystals, and may be observed in the syenitic cliffs about 
 two miles to the north of New Abbey. Contempora¬ 
 neous veins occur in the granite and syenite, and appear 
 to have been produced during a state of the rock capable 
 of allowing the free motion of its constituent minerals ; some 
 of these veins are composed of quartz, while others consist 
 of a granite of a smaller grain than that which they traverse. 
 They run courses more or less tortuous, pass more or less 
 into the bounding walls, and when well exposed may be 
 found thinning completely out at both extremities. On 
 examining any considerable tract of this country, numerous 
 concretionary masses are to be observed in the syenite. 
 They vary from a small size to one or two feet, being either 
 of angular or ovoidal shapes, and in general are com¬ 
 posed principally of hornblende; frequently all the con¬ 
 stituents of the syenite, however, enter into the composi¬ 
 tion of these masses, and sometimes they become porphy¬ 
 ritic by containing crystals of felspar. In regard to the 
 appearance of the concretions at the planes of contact 
 with the rock in which they occur, it may be remarked 
 
 k 2 
 
148 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 that they vary from a perfect distinct boundary line to one 
 of the most indefinite character, one in which the minerals 
 of the rock containing the concretions occur interlaminated 
 with those of the concretion. 
 
 We shall now detail the relations of the granite to the 
 greywacke, which are observable at two points. The 
 NeedleVEye, a perforated rock which occurs near the 
 mouth of the South wick water, is a point where both rocks 
 may be found in immediate connection, and the first ap¬ 
 pearance, which is most striking, is the intimate blending of 
 the one with the other. The whole scene in this respect is 
 one of the greatest confusion, and certainly if the igneous 
 origin of granite were not supported by appearances more 
 indicative of a plutonic formation than those observable 
 here, its synchronism with the greywacke, and perfect simi¬ 
 larity of formation, would be based on no insecure founda¬ 
 tion. 
 
 To describe all the minute modes of junction of the grey¬ 
 wacke and the granite at this point would, if the nature of 
 the ground did not render it impossible, be an unnecessary 
 labour; we shall, however, give a detailed account of their 
 junction taken as a whole. When considered as a mass the 
 granite of this point appears to be chiefly distributed through 
 the greywacke in the form of veins, which occur of all mag¬ 
 nitudes, and run courses which in some instances are al¬ 
 most straight, while in others they are highly tortuous. On 
 examining the immediate planes of junction of the granite 
 with the greywacke, these will be found to vary much 
 in appearance, sometimes both rocks having a decided 
 and well marked boundary, while at other times they make 
 a gradual transition into each other. Throughout the same 
 vein both of these appearances may sometimes be observed ; 
 one part, in some instances, affording a distinct separation. 
 
CRIFFEL DISTRICT. 
 
 149 
 
 while in another there is so complete an intermixture, that 
 it is almost impossible to tell where the one rock begins, and 
 where the other ends. The size of the veins bears no rela¬ 
 tion to the degree of intermixture of them with the grey- 
 wacke; on the contrary, a very large vein may pass into 
 the rock, or it may not, or a small vein, in size perhaps not 
 exceeding three or four lines, may be completely commingled 
 with the greywacke which it traverses, or may have a de¬ 
 terminate outline. 
 
 In its mineralogical structure, the rock which forms the 
 veins frequently differs from that which constitutes the larger 
 masses. The several components, the quartz, felspar, and 
 mica, or the felspar, quartz, and hornblende, become inti¬ 
 mately and obscurely intermixed with one another; and in 
 many places the veins are composed of an intermixture of 
 quartz and felspar, which is sometimes so perfect that the 
 veins appear to be composed of a very compact felspar. 
 
 The appearances which the greywacke exhibits when 
 in the neighbourhood of the granite and syenite, are ex¬ 
 pressive of indurating or altering causes: in every instance 
 it becomes compact, the slaty varieties passing into a spe¬ 
 cies of felspar, not unlike some clinkstones. In both the 
 granite and the greywacke, shifts may in some places be 
 observed; the sides of these shifts, however, are so inti¬ 
 mately connected as to render it highly probable that they 
 have taken place before the granite was in a perfectly con¬ 
 solidated state. In regard to the stratification of the grey¬ 
 wacke, it varies in regularity ; sometimes the rock being per¬ 
 fectly amorphous, while in other places it exhibits a more 
 or less bedded structure, the strata then dipping to the S. 
 S.E. at angles between 30° and 70°, and resting upon the 
 principal mass of granite and syenite. In one or two places 
 layers of quartz occur in the greywacke ; in every instance, 
 however, these are to be observed only near the granite ; fL 
 
150 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTH IANS. 
 
 brous amethyst is also to be found at some points. Near an 
 isolated rock called Lot’s Wife, a vein of felspar-porphyry 
 crosses the strata of greywacke, into which, at the planes 
 of contact, it is gradually found to pass. 
 
 Having described the appearances at the Needle’s Eye, 
 we shall next notice some other localities where the grey¬ 
 wacke is connected with granite. 
 
 On proceeding along the bank of the Ladyland burn, a 
 streamlet which crosses the road about a mile and a half to 
 the south of Kirkbean, the greywacke is found in various 
 altered positions, dipping at high angles, and in some places 
 also much contorted. In several parts veins of felspar 
 porphyry cross the strata, but junctions are in no place visi¬ 
 ble. In mineralogical character these porphyry veins pre¬ 
 sent a perfect similarity ; they are composed of a compact 
 light reddish-brown felspar with imbedded crystals of fel¬ 
 spar, being identical, in every respect, with other porphy¬ 
 ries associated with the same strata in other parts of this 
 great transition district. As an examination of the bed 
 of this burn appeared to afford a chance of again ob¬ 
 serving a junction of the syenite with the greywacke, we 
 traced it through its whole extent, but unfortunately the de¬ 
 sired contact was not visible. In the Kirkbean burn, how¬ 
 ever, almost at its source there is a distinct exhibition of 
 the junctional relations between the granite and the grey¬ 
 wacke. In the other parts of the bed of this stream there 
 is nothing interesting exposed: there are a few porphyry 
 and felspar veins, but beyond their presence little else can 
 be made out; they cross the strata and are frequently many 
 yards in breadth. As in the other points where the contact 
 of the granite and greywacke is exposed, the strata are here 
 found to abut against the unstratified rocks at high angles. 
 Some of the varieties are highly quartzose, and approach 
 almost to sandstone. Concerning the characters of the 
 
LOCH KEN DISTRICT. 
 
 151 
 
 greywacke when next the granite they are interesting and 
 completely different from those exhibited at the Needle’s 
 Eye, inasmuch as the slate invariably passes into a perfect 
 slaty aggregate of brown micaceous scales. In regard to 
 the positions of the two rocks to each other, they are rather 
 remarkable: there is the most perfect intermixture, the 
 one with the other; layers of granite, in many instances, not 
 more than two or three lines in breadth occurring completely 
 isolated in the strata, and without any visible connexion 
 with the main mass of the rock. The very reverse of this 
 is also, in many places to be observed, masses of the slate 
 altered into brown mica, occurring imbedded in the granite. 
 In their position these granitic masses enveloped in the slate 
 agree with the greywacke, conforming in every instance 
 with the contortions visible in it; a circumstance which very 
 frequently attends junctions of granite with stratified rocks. 
 At the planes of junction here there is never to be observed 
 a well marked boundary line; on the contrary, there is a 
 transition of both rocks into each other, of such a nature 
 that, if a theory concerning the origin of granite were to be 
 formed only from the phenomena of this point, it would in¬ 
 cline any one to consider both mineral masses as merely mo¬ 
 difications of each other, and the effect of one and the same 
 cause or system of causes. 
 
 II. Loch Ken District .* 
 
 Another group of granitic rocks is met with in the neigh¬ 
 bourhood of Loch Ken in Kirkcudbright : as several j unc¬ 
 tions, however, of these rocks with the greywacke have 
 been described in the Transactions of the Royal Society of 
 Edinburgh, we shall here only notice a few localities shortly. 
 
 * The geognosy of this district is described by Dr Grierson in a me¬ 
 moir and map laid before the Wernerian Society, and published in the 
 3d volume of the Annals of Philosophy, and also in a memoir in the 2d 
 volume of the Wernerian Memoirs, entitled “ Mineralogical Observations 
 on Galloway.” 
 
152 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 Proceeding from the village of New Galloway, down the 
 western bank of Loch Ken, the greywacke strata are found 
 ranging in a vertical position S. W. and N. E., a position 
 which they preserve very generally over this country. 
 
 About a quarter of a mile to the south of the ancient 
 castle of Kenmore we meet for the first time with the granite 
 of the Ken district. It is here a compound of brick-red 
 felspar, quartz, and mica, and for a considerable way the 
 loch is skirted by a narrow band of the transition rocks. 
 With the exception, however, of the junction of the Windy 
 Shoulder, which has been described in the volume we have 
 referred to, we only noticed one on the bank of the loch, and 
 this is not traceable for more than a foot or a foot and a 
 half. The greywacke, which, at a distance from the granite, 
 is perfectly characteristic and similar to that of other quar¬ 
 ters in the south of Scotland, acquires, on approaching it, 
 the aspect of an indurated felspathic sandstone, containing 
 a few very minute scales of mica ; at the junctional planes 
 it exhibits a tendency to pass into the granite, in a manner 
 evincing, however, no greater or more remarkable changes 
 than those which are often found attending junctions of 
 trap-rocks with sandstones and shales. 
 
 The other point where we had an opportunity of exami¬ 
 ning junctional relations, was at the east end of Loch Stroan, 
 and at this point the nature of the ground renders these more 
 apparent. Near that part of the loch, from which the Black 
 Water of Dee rushes, a vein of granite traverses the grey¬ 
 wacke : it is not found in union with the principal mass, 
 though its joining it near this is probable from the circum¬ 
 stance of the granite forming the bed of the loch here. The 
 visible length of this granite vein is thirty feet, being at its 
 greatest breadth one foot, from which it gradually diminishes 
 until at last it terminates in a mere thread. Very generally a 
 layer of massive quartz intervenes between thegranite and the 
 
LOCH DOON DISTRICT. 
 
 153 
 
 grey wacke, and traverses the latter in numerous veins. The 
 grey wacke is intimately connected with the granite at the 
 junction ; but there is no transition into any rock which 
 can with any degree of propriety be referred to the primitive 
 series of the Wernerian geognosy. The granite which occurs 
 here is a compound of a yellowish-white felspar with the ac¬ 
 companying minerals of quartz and mica. Another locality 
 which we examined for the purpose of noticing the altering ef¬ 
 fects of granite was at the old bridge of Dee, about half a mile 
 to the south of Clatteringshaws toll-bar. The greywacke 
 here is indurated, but it is still greywacke, and abuts at a 
 considerable angle against the granite which has upraised it. 
 
 III. Loch Doon District 
 
 The third granite group, which is associated with the strata 
 of the south of Scotland, is that of the district of Loch Doon; 
 and as connected with that metamorphic theory, which sup¬ 
 poses that the gneiss and mica-slate strata are only altered 
 sandstones and shales, the junctions exhibited in this quarter 
 are interesting. To trace the connections of granite with its 
 associated strata, and to examine the appearances observable 
 at their junctions, has long been an object of geological inves¬ 
 tigation. In the generality of cases, however, this examina¬ 
 tion can only be made in regard to the contact of granite 
 with rocks which, though stratified, are nevertheless a com¬ 
 plete crystalline aggregate, and bear impressed upon them 
 characters as completely indicative of a consolidation from a 
 state of fluidity as the unstratified granitic masses which oc¬ 
 cur among them. If we wish to discover, therefore, whether 
 such rocks have lost their original mechanical characters by 
 the action of the granite, it is evident that we must endea¬ 
 vour to find an indubitable mechanical rock so connected with 
 
 * Vide Dr Grierson’s Memoir on the “ Mineralogy of Galloway,” in 
 vol. ii. Mem. Wern. Soc., for his description of the granite and grey¬ 
 wacke junctions in this district. 
 
154 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 granite, that it is to be considered in circumstances which 
 are fitted for its undergoing a metamorphosis. It is not 
 enough to state that gneiss and mica-slate are metamorphic ; 
 but to prove that they are, it is necessary to find a mechani¬ 
 cal deposit becoming a gneiss or mica-slate. If an object 
 undergoes a metamorphosis, the fact of its having done so, 
 is only to be believed from the evidence of the senses in wit¬ 
 nessing the change, or from finding the original substance 
 in all states between a complete and an incipient alteration. 
 
 The junction of granite and greywacke at Loch Doon, 
 affords no support whatever to the doctrines to which we 
 have alluded, and certainly if such a theory is tenable, this 
 locality is one where we might expect to find appearances 
 in favour of it. On both sides of the loch, a junction of 
 the granite rocks with the greywacke is visible. On the 
 west side, however, these appearances are best exposed, and 
 we may remark that perhaps no part of Scotland exhibits, 
 in a more clear or marked manner, the connections of gra¬ 
 nite with stratified rocks. For many yards the junctions 
 of the two rocks are exposed in the most satisfactory man¬ 
 ner, veins of granite traversing the vertical greywacke strata 
 in all directions, and in some instances crossing them at 
 various angles with the planes of stratification, while in 
 others they run parallel with them. In breadth, the gra¬ 
 nite veins vary from six or seven feet to the smallest size, 
 and at their planes of contact with the greywacke, there is 
 in general an intimate commixture of both rocks, the 
 larger granite veins containing numerous variously sized im¬ 
 bedded angular fragments of the greywacke. The rocks 
 on the side of Loch Doon which exhibit the junction af¬ 
 ford every facility for examination, and from the action of 
 the water they are almost as smooth as if they had been po¬ 
 lished by art: the veins even of the smallest size may, 
 from their resisting the weather better than the greywacke, 
 
GRANITE AND SANDSTONE JUNCTION—ARRAN. 155 
 
 and standing out in strong relief, be investigated through¬ 
 out their most minute ramifications. As an interesting cir¬ 
 cumstance in regard to this junction, we may state, that 
 the granite does not disturb the direction of the strata in 
 any instance. Thus, although they are traversed in every 
 possible manner, still they preserve the same N. and S. di¬ 
 rection which they had when at a distance from the granite. 
 It is to be particularly noticed also, that the lines of direc¬ 
 tion, when visible in the imbedded masses, agree with those 
 of the strata. 
 
 At a distance from the granite, the greywacke of this 
 district, exhibits only the usual aspect, but when in contact 
 with it, it affords a different series of characters, and is then 
 generally composed of very minute crystalline grains of 
 white felspar and mica, with a slight intermixture of quartz. 
 It has a perfect granular structure, and exhibits nothing 
 which approaches either to gneiss or mica-slate, but, on the 
 contrary, is only to be considered as a greywacke which has 
 lost its mechanical aspect through the influenceof the granite 
 rocks which rise through it.* The granite of Loch Doon 
 is of two kinds, the one being a compound of red felspar, 
 quartz, and mica, the other of white felspar, quartz, and 
 mica ; hornblende frequently enters into its composition, pro¬ 
 ducing then a characteristic syenite. The only structure 
 observable is the tabular, but of this even there are no very 
 marked examples. 
 
 IV. Junction of Granite and Sandstone in Arran. 
 
 The details we have just given, it is needless to say, prove 
 that in Scotland there is a granite formation newer than the 
 transition strata. We shall, however, adduce an instance of 
 true mineralogical granite being also newer than the old 
 red conglomerate. 
 
 * Dr Grierson, in his “ Mineralogical Observations in Galloway 
 describes this altered greywacke as a compact gneiss. 
 
156 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 The junctional appearances of the granite and sandstone, 
 to which we refer, occur in the island of Arran, and are only 
 to be observed in a stream which enters the sea near the 
 village of Corry. At this point, when at a distance from 
 the granite, strata of slate-clay and red sandstone are found 
 dipping S. S.E. at 30°, the sandstone frequently passing in¬ 
 to conglomerate, and containing rolled masses of quartz- 
 rock. On advancing from the sea to the mountain, how¬ 
 ever, the rocks progressively assume a greater inclination, 
 till at last, near a mural escarpment of granite, they assume 
 a nearly vertical position ; the stratified arrangement of the 
 sandstone also, which is in general perfectly distinct, be¬ 
 comes then very much obliterated, and the red colour of 
 the strata entirely disappears. At the immediate junction 
 of the sandstone and granite, which is only visible for about 
 four feet, the former passes into a perfect granular quartz- 
 rock ; the granite also exhibits characters completely dif¬ 
 ferent from those which it has when at a distance from the 
 sandstone, and instead of being a distinct crystalline ag¬ 
 gregate of quartz, felspar, and mica, it becomes a rock 
 composed entirely of the two first, which are not arranged 
 in distinct granular concretions, but, on the contrary, are 
 blended intimately the one with the other. From the great 
 thickness of the series of clay and chlorite slates, which 
 in every part of Arran, with the exception of a short dis¬ 
 tance along the base of the hills which rise above Corry, 
 lies always between the granite and the secondary rocks, it 
 is vain to seek for junctions of the granite and the sand¬ 
 stone in other parts of the island. The one, however, which 
 we were fortunate enough to find, though of limited extent, 
 renders the fact that the granite has been protruded after 
 the deposition of the sandstone sufficiently evident. In a 
 paper published by Messrs Sedgwick and Murchison, in 
 the Transactions of the Geological Society of London, “On 
 
GRANITE AND SANDSTONE JUNCTION—ARRAN. 157 
 
 the Geological Relations of the Secondary Strata in the 
 Island of Arran,” it is stated “ that the granite could not 
 have been in a fluid state at the time of its elevation ; for, 
 had that been the case, it could never have risen into lofty 
 mountains, and mural precipices, overhanging the second¬ 
 ary strata, without ever flowing over their broken edges, or 
 penetrating their mass in the form of dykes.” These rea¬ 
 sons appear, however, in no way sufficient to prove that the 
 granite of Arran has been elevated in a solid state, after its 
 fluid protrusion through the primitive rocks with which it 
 is connected. In regard to its having, unless elevated in a 
 solid state, been unable to form mountains and mural pre¬ 
 cipices, we have a statement which may as well be applied to 
 all the granite and trap rocks of Scotland, as to the granite 
 of Arran, and indeed to almost every igneous rock which 
 does not occur in streams. Concerning the circumstances 
 which have allowed the granite and trap to assume their 
 existing forms, this is no place for a discussion; and be¬ 
 sides, they will suggest themselves on reflection to any geo¬ 
 logist. Data are awanting also to prove, either that the 
 granite does or does not penetrate the sandstone; and be¬ 
 sides, the sandstone is so related to the granite that it might 
 be older than it, and still not be traversed by veins; for, 
 as we have just stated, the granite is, with one exception, 
 always separated from the secondary rocks by a great for¬ 
 mation of slate, consequently it might easily happen, that 
 the plutonic rock might be newer than both, and still might 
 have not sent out veins of a length sufficient to invade the 
 secondary series. The nature of the ground, however, where 
 a solitary instance of the sandstone being in contact with 
 the granite may be observed, is such as to render it impos¬ 
 sible to affirm whether the sandstone is crossed by granite 
 dvkes or not. 
 
158 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 GEOLOGICAL MAP OF THE LOTHIANS. 
 
 In this map the several formations are laid down with an 
 accuracy as perfect as the nature of the ground allowed us 
 to do ; the dotted lines which separate the formations being 
 intended to express their limits in a general way. 
 
 In regard to the Red Sandstone deposits, we wish to state 
 that several others occur in the Lothians, in addition to 
 those which we have marked on the map; these, however, 
 from being on a small scale, and existing only as deposits 
 subordinate to the white sandstone series, we considered 
 it unnecessary to exhibit; in many instances, also, their 
 extent of distribution, when compared with the scale of 
 the map, rendered this impossible. Several trap-dykes 
 have, for the same reason, been excluded ; a few, however, 
 have been represented, though on a larger scale than that 
 of the map. 
 
 The limestone which occurs in the Lothians we have 
 only laid down on those parts where it is quarried or other¬ 
 wise exposed at thesurface. Without much chanceof mistake, 
 however, we might have connected many of these. When the 
 covered state of the country, however, prevented us from 
 being able to connect the limestones exposed by natural or 
 artificial means, we have coloured the intervening portions, 
 as the white sandstone series, from a knowledge that if lime¬ 
 stone did not form the uppermost rock continuously, it was 
 in almost every instance covered only by that group of 
 strata. 
 
 By straight lines we have indicated the direction of the 
 strata, and, by an arrow placed at right angles to these 
 lines, the point of the compass to which they dip. In se¬ 
 veral instances we might perhaps have drawn lines shew¬ 
 ing the outgoing of a stratum over a verv considerable 
 
EXPLANATION OF PLATES. 
 
 150 
 
 space : this, however, we refrained from doing, as the appa¬ 
 rent accuracy might in many instances have been found by 
 other observers to have no existence. Vertical strata are de¬ 
 noted by a line shewing the direction, and by this mark -f-. 
 
 Plate Explanatory of the colours used in the sections. 
 
 Plate I. Fig. 1.—Unconformable position of the red sandstone 
 and transition strata. Heriot Water, Berwickshire. 
 
 Fig. 2.—Section near Red Heugh exhibiting the same 
 appearances. 
 
 II. Fig. 1.—Sectional view of another junction of the tran¬ 
 sition and secondary rocks, near Red Heugh. 
 
 Fig. 2 . —Ground plan affording the same appearances. 
 Red Heugh. 
 
 III. Fig. 1.—Greenstone traversing and overlying sandstone. 
 
 St Leonard’s Hill. 
 
 Fig. 2.—Greenstone enveloping masses of sandstone and 
 overlying arenaceous limestone. Salisbury Crags. 
 (The masses of sandstone are.on a larger scale than 
 the rest of the section.) 
 
 Fig. 3 . —Greenstone overlying and fracturing arenaceous 
 limestone. Salisbury Crags. 
 
 IV. Section of the central part of Salisbury Crags. Here 
 
 the greenstone is found to have both contorted and 
 enveloped masses of the sandstone. Upraised strata 
 of sandstone are also found overlying it. 
 
 V. Fig 1.—Shift in sandstone. Cat Nick, Salisbury Crags. 
 
 Fig. 2.—Vein of greenstone traversing the greenstone 
 and sandstone of Salisbury Crags. This point is one 
 of the few in the Lothians where there are indications 
 that the trap-rocks of the district are the formation 
 of more than one epoch. 
 
 VI. Fig. 1.—Sectional view of the northern part of Salisbury 
 Crags. 
 
 Fig. 2 . —Greenstone porphyry overlying and enveloping 
 strata of white sandstone. Northern front of Arthur 
 Seat. 
 
 VII. Fig. 1.—Sectional view of Arthur Seat, partly ideal. 
 
 Fig. 2.—Section shewing the probable relations of the 
 basalt which forms the summit of Arthur Seat, to the 
 greenstone and sandstone of Salisbury Crags. 
 
 Fig. 3 . —Section from the Calton Hill to Leith. (The 
 greenstone rocks of Lochend and Restalrig are on a 
 larger scale than the rest of the section.) 
 
 VIII. Fig. 1. — Greenstone traversing shale. St George’s 
 Well, Water of Leith. 
 
 Fig. 2 . — Ground plan of greenstone vein traversing 
 shale. St George’s Well, Water of Leith. 
 
160 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE LOTH IANS. 
 
 Plate VIII. Fig. 3. —Greenstone traversing sandstone ; Bell’s Mills, 
 Water of Leith. (Sir J. Hall made the first of his 
 interesting experiments in regard to slow refrigeration 
 on specimens of this rock.) 
 
 IX. Greenstone enveloping masses of slate and sandstone. 
 Hound Point. 
 
 X. Fig. 1.—Felspar vein traversing sandstone and passing 
 into greenstone. Inch Colm. 
 
 Fig. 2.—Vein of greenstone traversing sandstone con¬ 
 glomerate. Cairn Muir. 
 
 Fig. 3. —Greenstone traversing and overlying red sand¬ 
 stone. Sunnyside Quarry. 
 
 Fig. 4.—Junction of greenstone and red sandstone. 
 Whitberry Point. 
 
 XI. Fig. 1.—Greenstone traversing aud enveloping masses 
 of red sandstone. Dunbar Castle. 
 
 Fig. 2. —Greenstone dyke traversing sandstone ; near 
 Broxmouth. 
 
 XII. Fig. 1.—Trap-veins traversing sandstone conglomerate. 
 Stotan Cleugh. 
 
 Fig. 2.—Felspar veins traversing greywacke. Fassney 
 Water. 
 
 Fig. 3. —Trap overlying strata of mountain limestone 
 and trap-tufa. Kirkton, Bathgate. 
 
 XIII. Fig. 1.—Greenstone traversing sandstone and enveloping 
 
 slate-clay. Winchburgh. 
 
 Fig. 2.—Greenstone traversing and overlying sandstone. 
 Winchburgh. 
 
 XIV. Greenstone cliff near the harbour of Aberdour, in which 
 
 are enveloped masses of sandstone and slate-clay. 
 
 XV. Fig. 1.—Greenstone traversing sandstone and shale, 
 
 near Alexander’s Crag. 
 
 Fig. 2.—Felspar vein traversing the coal series. Whinny 
 Hill. 
 
 XVI. Strata of sandstone and limestone traversed by a vein of 
 felsparand overlaid by greenstone. TyrienearKirkaldy. 
 
( 611 ) 
 
 INDICES. 
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 Alluvial rocks of the Lothians, 112 
 Agate in the clay-slate of the 
 Pentlands, . . . .79 
 
 Agaric mineral in the sandstone 
 of Salisbury Crags, . . 56 
 
 Agassiz on Sauroid fishes, . 478 
 
 Amethyst in the claystone of the 
 Pentlands, . • . -79 
 
 ——-—- in the greenstone near 
 Pettycur, . . . .130 
 
 •-- in the greenstone at Wil¬ 
 kie Haugh, near Dunbar, . 95 
 
 Amianthus in the greenstone of 
 Inchcolm, . . . .76 
 
 - in the greenstone near 
 
 Dunbar, . . . .99 
 
 Analcime in the rocks of Salis¬ 
 bury Crags, . . . .56 
 
 Aquila nigra, characters of, . 488 
 
 Arran, Island of, junction of 
 granite and sandstone in, . 155 
 Arthur Seat, geological notice of, 56 
 Augitic rocks, nature and cha¬ 
 racter of, . . . .40 
 
 Barytes, sulphate of. Its occur¬ 
 rence noticed in the sandstone 
 of Salisbury Crags, 56. In the 
 porphyry of Calton Hill, 61. 
 
 In felspathic greenstone near 
 Linton, 88. In the greenstone 
 of Wilkie’s Haugh. 95. And 
 in that of the Fassney Water, 101 
 Basalt, nature and character of, 41 
 -—-— chemical analysis of ba¬ 
 salt of Largo Law, Fifesliire, 112 
 Bass Rock, geological notice of 
 the, . . . . -77 
 
 Binny Craig, geological notice of, 111 
 
 Birds, Indian, remarks on some, 
 by Prof. Jameson, . . 489 
 
 -by Mr Wm. Jameson, 494 
 
 Blackford Hill, geological notice 
 
 of, . . . . ... 77 
 
 Boulders, distribution of, in the 
 Lothians, . . . .115 
 
 Braid Hill, geological notice of, 77 
 
 Cachalong in the trap-dyke at 
 
 Carlops,.86 
 
 Calder, East, geological notice of, 73 
 Calton Hill, geological notice of, 59 
 Carbonic acid, solidification of, 490 
 Cargaig, Island of, geological no¬ 
 tice of,.76 
 
 Castle Hill, Edinburgh, geologi¬ 
 cal notice of, . . . .67 
 
 Chalcedony in the claystone of 
 the Pentlands, 79. In the 
 trap-dyke at Carlops, . . 86 
 
 Chemical composition of rocks ; 
 its importance. 111. State¬ 
 ments regarding, . 112,113 
 
 Clay-ironstone, of the red sand¬ 
 stone series, . . . .23 
 
 Claystone of the felspathic series, 
 
 39. Of the Pentland Hills, 77- 
 Claystone porphyry, . . 39 
 
 Clinkstone of the felspathic se¬ 
 ries, 39. Of the Pentlands, . 77 
 
 Coal-formation, the constituent 
 parts of the, . . . .116 
 
 —--Old and New, . .476 
 
 -organic remains in, . 477 
 
 Copper, native, in porphyry of 
 Calton Hill, 61. Green car¬ 
 bonate of, near Keelstone Pool, 101 
 - prismatic copper-glance 
 
512 
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 in the greenstone in Fassney 
 Water, ..... 101 
 Corstorpliine Hill, geological no¬ 
 tice of, . . . . . 68 
 
 Craiglockliart Hill, geological 
 notice of, . . . -78 
 
 Cramond, geological notice of 
 neighbourhood of, 65. Of Cra¬ 
 mond Island, . . . .76 
 
 Criffel district, the junction of 
 greywacke and granite in the, 146 
 Cubicite in rocks of Salisbury 
 Crags, 56. Flesh-red cubicite 
 in the cavities of the porphyry 
 of Calton Hill, . . ‘ . 60 
 
 Cunningham, Hob. J. Hay, Esq. 
 Prize Essay on the Geology of 
 the Lothians, ... 3 
 
 Dalmahoy Crags, geological no¬ 
 tice of, . . . . -73 
 
 Development, progressive, of 
 strata, doctrine of, . • 9 
 
 Distribution, topographical, of 
 the rocks of the Lothians, . 119 
 
 Eurylaimus Dalhousise, descrip¬ 
 tion of, . . . . . 472 
 
 Felspar, slates of, 38. Compact 
 felspar, 39. Felspar porphyry, 
 
 39. Chemical analysis of dif¬ 
 ferent felspars, . . .112 
 
 Fifeshire, general statement of 
 geological structures of, . 123 
 Fishes in the river district of the 
 Frith of Forth; Dr Parnell’s 
 Prize Essay on the natural 
 history of, . . . .161 
 
 —- Dr Parnell’s arrange¬ 
 
 ment of those of the Forth 
 district, ..... 452 
 -fossil, remarks by Profes¬ 
 sor Jameson, . . . 488 
 
 Forth, river, short account of, by 
 Dr Parnell, . . . .164 
 
 Frith of Forth, general descrip¬ 
 tion of, by Dr Parnell, . .161 
 
 Geology of the Lothians, Mr 
 Cunningham’s Essay on, . 3 
 
 Green-earth, associated with the 
 claystone of the Pentlands, . 79 
 
 Greenstone, constitution of the, 
 of Salisbury Crags, 40. Sye- 
 nitic greenstone, . . .41 
 
 Greenstones, chemical composi¬ 
 tion of different, . . .112 
 
 Habbie’s How, Geological notice 
 , of, . . . „ . .81 
 
 Haematite, radiated, in rocks of 
 Salisbury Crags, 56. Red, in 
 trap-rocks of St Leonard’s 
 Hill, 51. Fibrous-brown in 
 greenstone near Linton, . 88 
 
 Hall, Sir James, account of his 
 experiments on trap-rocks, . 136 
 History of the Society from 1831 
 to 1838, . I . 461-508 
 
 Humboldtite, in rocks of Salis¬ 
 bury Crags, . . . .56 
 
 Ibis spinicollis, characters of, 485 
 Inchcolm, geological notice of, 76 
 Inchgarvey, geological notice of, 76 
 Inchkeith, geological notice of, 75 
 Inverkeithing, short geological 
 notice of neighbourhood of, . 125 
 Iron-flint veins, near Dunbar 
 harbour, . . . • . 98 
 
 Islands in Firth of Forth, short 
 geological notice of, . .75 
 
 Jasper, in the porphyry of the 
 Calton Hill, 61. In the rocks of 
 Inchkeith, 76. In trap-dyke 
 at Carlops, . . . .86 
 
 Junction, example of, of transi¬ 
 tion and secondary strata, . 33 
 
 -effects of, of Neptunian 
 
 and Plutonian rocks, . . 47 
 
 --— example of, of greywacke 
 
 and sandstone with granite 
 and syenite, . . . .146 
 
 - example of, of granite 
 
 and sandstone, in Arran, . 155 
 
 Kirkton, geological notice of, . 106 
 
 Lead, sulphuret of, in the green¬ 
 stone near Lochend, . . 62 
 
 Limestone, mountain, localities 
 of, in the Lothians, . .121 
 
 Litliomarge in the claystone of 
 the Pentlands. . . .79 
 
 Loch Doon, district of, geologi¬ 
 cal notice of, . . . .153 
 
 Loch Ken, district of, geological 
 notice of, . . . .151 
 
 Lomond Hills, geological notice 
 of,.132 
 
GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 513 
 
 Lophophones Nigelli, characters 
 of, ....... 484 
 
 Lothians, Mr Cunningham’s Es¬ 
 say on the geology of the, 3; 
 general description of, 3; tran¬ 
 sition rocks, 5 ; secondary, ] 5. 
 general relations; old red 
 sandstone, mountain lime- 
 stone and coal-formation, 16. 
 Mineralogical character of, red 
 sandstone, 22 ; white do. 24 ; 
 shales, slates, clay-ironstone, 
 
 25; organic remains, 28. Junc¬ 
 tion of transition and second¬ 
 ary strata, 34; felspatliic rocks, 
 porphyry and clinkstone, 38 ; 
 augitic or trap-rocks ; ignige- 
 nous rocks, 46; connection of 
 Neptunian and Plutonian 
 
 rocks, 49.- Mid-Lotliian. — 
 
 St Leonard’s Hill, 51 ; Salis¬ 
 bury Crags, 52 ; Arthur Seat, 
 
 56 ; Calton Hill, 59 ; Stock- 
 bridge, Bell’s Mills, 63 ; New- 
 haven, 64 ; Cramond, 65; the 
 Castle Hill, 67 ; Corstorpliine, 
 
 68 ; dip of strata near Edin¬ 
 burgh, 69 ; fractured appear¬ 
 ance of trap-rocks, 70 ; Calder, 
 
 73; Dalmahoy Crags, 74; 
 Islands in the Forth, 75; 
 Braid Hill, 77; Blackford, 
 Craiglockhart, Pentlands, 78; 
 Habbie’s How, 81; ravines, 
 gorges, 83; Warklaw Hill, 
 
 Cairn Muir, Cai'lops, 85.- 
 
 East-Lothian, 87 ; Ignigenous 
 and stratified rocks in Garle- 
 ton Hills, North Berwick Law, 
 Traprain, Whitelaw Hill, 88 ; 
 coast near North Berwick, 90; 
 Whitberry, 93; Wilkie Haugh, 
 Dunbar, 96 ; Fassney Water, 
 
 101.- West Lothian. —Un- 
 
 stratified and stratified rocks, 
 
 104. Trap-hills, Bathgate, 
 Kirkton, 106; Hillhouse, 
 Winchburn, 109; Binny Craig, 
 
 West Craig, 111. Alluvial 
 rocks, 112. Peat, 114. Boul¬ 
 ders, 115. Physiognomy of 
 the Lothians, 117- Topogra¬ 
 phical distribution of rocks, 
 
 119.- Fifeshire. — General 
 
 structure of, 123. Inverkeith- 
 ing, Aberdour, Bin Hill, Fy- 
 vie, the Lomonds, 132.—Ap- 
 VOL. VII. 
 
 pendix I. Sir J. Hall’s experi¬ 
 ments on trap-rocks, 136.— 
 
 II. J unction of greywacke and 
 sandstone, with granite and 
 syenite, 146. Criffel district. 
 Loch Ken district. Loch Boon 
 district, 153. Junction of gra¬ 
 nite and sandstone in Arran, 
 
 155. Geological Map of the 
 Lothians. Explanation of 
 Plates 1-16, . . . .159 
 
 Lydian stone or flinty slate, 49. 
 
 In rocks of Inchkeith, . .76 
 
 Madrepores in black flint of 
 limestone quarries near Bath¬ 
 gate, 108. In the Lomonds, 133 
 Magnetic iron-ore in the basalts, 41 
 Map, explanation of the geologi¬ 
 cal, of the Lothians, . .158 
 
 Mickery, geological notice of the 
 island of, . . . .76 
 
 Mineral pitch, elastic, in green¬ 
 stone and tufa near Mount 
 Eerie,.108 
 
 Natrolite in the greenstone of 
 Salisbury Crags, 55. In the 
 tufa of the Bin Hill, . .128 
 
 Newhaven, geological notice of 
 the neighbourhood of, . . 64 
 
 North Berwick Law, geological 
 notice of, . . . .87 
 
 Olivine, a constituent in basalt, 41 
 
 Ordnance Survey of Scotland, 
 petition for resumption of, 502 
 Organic remains in secondary 
 rocks,.28 
 
 Parnell, Dr Richard, his Prize 
 Essay on the natural history 
 of the fishes in the river dis¬ 
 trict of the Frith of Forth, . 161 
 
 -arrangement of the fishes 
 
 of the Frith of Forth, . . 452 
 
 Peat, the, of the Lothians, . 114 
 Pentland Hills, geological no¬ 
 tice of the, . . . .78 
 
 Physiognomy of the Lothians, . 117 
 Prehnite in rocks of Salisbury 
 Crags, 56. In Castle Rock, 
 Edinburgh, . . . .67 
 
 Premiums offered by the Society, 470 
 
 Ravines and gorges, origin of, . 83 
 
 Rubecula Tytleri, . . . 487 
 
 x k 
 
514 
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 Salisbury Crags, geological no¬ 
 tice of, .... 51 
 
 Sandstone, red, mineralogical 
 range of character, 22. Boun¬ 
 daries of, in the Lotliians, 120. 
 
 Of the Pentlands, . . 84 
 
 Sauroid fishes, notes on, . .478 
 
 Shells, beds of recent, in raised 
 beaches, . . . .473 
 
 Slate-clays, chemical analysis of 
 different, . . . .113 
 
 Soils in the Lothians, 112. Un¬ 
 transported soils, . . 114 
 
 St Leonard’s Hill, geological no¬ 
 tice of, . . .51 
 
 Tanagra nigricephala, . . 486 
 
 Tide-level observations recom¬ 
 mended, .... 499 
 Topographical distribution of the 
 rocks of the Lothians, . 119 
 
 Transition rocks, propriety of the 
 term, ..... 
 
 Trap-rocks, nature and character 
 of, 40. Of West Lothian, 
 
 -notice of Sir James Hall’s 
 
 experiments upon, 
 
 Trap-tufa, nature and character 
 of, 42. Altered appearance 
 of, ..... 
 
 Traprain Hill, geological notice 
 of, ..... 
 
 Tufas-trap, 42. Volcanic tufas. 
 
 Valleys, origin of, . 
 
 Warklaw Hill, geological notice 
 of, ..... 
 
 Wollastonite in veins, Castlehill, 
 Edinburgh, .... 
 
 12 
 
 105 
 
 136 
 
 80 
 
 87 
 
 43 
 
 82 
 
 84 
 
 67 
 
STRA T1FIED R O CKS. 
 
 Grey w ache* 
 
 Red San ds tone 
 
 White Sandstone 
 
 Mountain Limestone/ 
 Statev Clay and Bit. Shale 
 Arenaceous Limestone 
 Coal 
 
 UNS TRA TIFIED R O CKS. 
 
 Greenstone 
 
 Ras all 
 
 To7-phy ry Serves 
 
 Tra p Tufa 
 
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PLATE I. 
 
 Werro. Mem/. VoL. VII. 
 
 Tigl 
 
 Junction of Oreywacke anti lied Sandstone Her tit Water. 
 
 Dr-awn A etched try R.J.H. Civrmxnyharrv. 
 
PLATE n. 
 
 Wer.Mem Yol\JT. 
 
 Junction/ of Greywacke and Red/ Sandstone/ _ Near Ned Ueuyh . 
 
 Ground Flan of a Junction, of Greiiwacke and Red Sandstone-near Red Seugli. 
 
 Drawn & Etched t>v R.J.H. Cunnawtumv . 
 
PLATE TEL 
 
 Wem. Mem. YoL. YU. 
 
 Fi# Z 
 
 JraxctLon of Greenstone aruL Jlrerv(Lceou.s Lime stone/ SaLcsbzcry Craigs. 
 
 Tvg 3 
 
 JicnotioTb of Greenstone' aruL Arermoeoios Limestone/ SaFLsbxiiru Craigs. 
 
 Drawn & etched/ by R.J.ll Cztnrvmnbam,. 
 
» 
 
THem/. Mem VoL. VTL. 
 
 Sandstone- Salisbury Craigs. 
 
PLATE V. 
 
 Wem.Jfem. Vol. V71 
 
 Figl. 
 
 Dry l 
 
 Vein of' Greenstone traversing Greenstone. 
 Salisbury Crags. 
 
 Dra wn £• etcAed by D.d. //. CunnzngA/im. 
 
Wcrn.jlfcm* Vol. VI/. 
 
 Junction oj San dstone J Greenstone Jor/Jif/n/. Jrlhar SeaJ. 
 

fferrv. Mem Tot- UT. 
 
 \ 
 
 Se-ctzom from, the Lotto/v JffzM to Leith 
 
PLATE vm 
 
 Wem.Mtsnt.Vol VJl. 
 
 Ground plan of Greenstone vein traversing Shade. 
 Water <fLeith. 
 
 Dr a wn </'• etched tv RJ.ff. Cunningham . 
 
Tfcm. S/cm VoL. 777. 
 
 
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 Pra-wn S' etcheci b y It J. TL Cunnin^ihazru 
 
PLATE X. 
 
 Wem. Mare. Vol VU. 
 
 Jimctiori oj Greenstone and Red Sandstone.- Wkitberry Point. 
 
 Junction of Greenstone and Red Sandstone- Sunnyside/ Quarry. 
 
 Drawn, & ctcbud by R.J.E. Cunmruiiam. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Greenertone traverstny Sandstone,- near Broecm met?/ 
 
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 of Trap Tuffcu and M. Limestone. _ JfiiTton. Badipate. 
 
Worn. Man. Vo l 
 
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 Junction oG Greenstone and SandstoneWtnctiburqh. 
 
Sandstone and Slate enveloped in Greenstone _ Aberdour Harbour . 
 
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