152 Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



very much, of course, mostly during the rains, and till the sun ga- 

 thers power in the hot weather ; and, in fact, what has been above 

 &o much insisted on, as to the two contrary aspects of the country 

 with respect to vegetation, may, by a conversion of terms, be equally 

 applied to the water on its surface. In the cold and dry weather it is 

 comparatively scanty; in the rains it is superabundant : and as the 

 rivers in this district are frequently found to change their situa- 

 tions, so, through a long course of time, it has resulted that hollow 

 beds, being deserted by their streams, become transformed into 

 what, during the rains, assume the appearance of extensive lakes, 

 but in dry weather degenerate into mere muddy swamps, overgrown 

 with a profusion of rank aquatic vegetations, particularly the gigan- 

 tic leaves of the lotus, and swarming with every tribe of loathsome 

 cold-blooded animals. Some of these lakes, during the height of 

 the rains, communicate with their original streams, and thus under- 

 go a temporary purification ; but others receive no fresh supply ex- 

 cept from the clouds, and of course their condition is by much the 

 worse. Some of the conversions of a river-bed into a lake have 

 occurred in the memory of the present inhabitants, or at least 

 within one descent from their ancestors. Tytler on the Climate of 

 Mullye, in Trans. Med. fy Phi/s. Soc. of Calcutta, vol. iv. - -Jame- 

 sons Journal, Jan. 1831. p. 177. 



ON THE OCCURRENCE OF CHALK-FLINTS IN BANFFSHIRE. BY 

 JAMES CHRISTIE, ESQ., SEC. TO THE BANFF INSTITUTION.* 



Some time ago I took the liberty of submitting for your inspec- 

 tion specimens of a quantity of flints found scattered and mixed 

 with the water-worn stones and shingle along the shore of Boyndie 

 Bayf , to the westward of Banff, and to state, that flints of a similar 

 description are occasionally found to the eastward as far as Peter- 

 head. I had not seen any organic remains in the flints of this part 

 of Scotland, to enable me to form an opinion as to their being of the 

 chalk- formation f . Since that time I have met with abundance of 

 flints on the hill or rising ground between Turiffand Delgaty Castle. 

 The surface of the ground there is irregular, rising occasionally into 

 hillocks, and sinking into hollows, filled with bogs and swamps. 

 These hillocks are composed of a conglomerate or pebbly mass, 



* At p. 381 of the last volume of this Journal, \ve noticed Mr. Christie's 

 discovery of Hints on the shore near Banff. Edit. Edinb. New Phil. Journ. 



f The flints sent me from Boyndie Bay are of the same description with 

 those found near Delgaty. They contain traces of zoophytic Organic re- 

 mains. Edit. Edinb. New Phil. Journ. 



\. Some years ago, while examining the geognosy of the vicinity of Peter- 

 head, our attention was directed to the chalk-flints found in that neighbour- 

 hood, by previous information. We traced them extending over several miles 

 of country, and frequently imbedded in a reddish clay, resting on the granite 

 of the district. These flints contain sponges, alcyonia, echini, and other fos- 

 sils of the chalkrflint, thus proving them to belong to the chalk formation, 

 which itself will probably be found in some of the hollows in this part of 

 Scotland. Edit. Edinb. Neiv Phil. Journ. 



having 



