"NEOLITHIC 1 ' MOSS REMAINS FROM FORT WILLIAM 103 



SOME "NEOLITHIC" MOSS REMAINS FROM 



FORT WILLIAM. 



By H. N. DIXON, M.A., F.L.S. 



A SMALL quantity of material of moss remains was sent to 

 me last spring by Mr. Clement Reid for identification, 

 obtained by Messrs. Maufe and Wright of the Geological 

 Survey, and labelled as from sandy peat under the 2 5 -foot 

 raised beach at Fort William. Although the bulk was not 

 large only the contents of a large pill-box the material 

 had been carefully washed out, and practically consisted 

 entirely of fragments of mosses ; and the condition of pre- 

 servation was such that they were unusually for the age 

 of the deposit capable of determination. It will be 

 convenient to give first a list of all the species identified, 

 before commenting upon the whole association. 



Sphagnum fimbriatum, Wils., or S. Girgensohnii, Russ. A single 

 well preserved branch-leaf of one of these species, which are, I 

 believe, quite indistinguishable from one another by the branch- 

 leaves alone. 



Andreaa Rothii, W. and M. A single fragment, consisting of a 

 densely branched stem, with the leaves quite well preserved. 



Dichodontium pellucidum, B. and S. Several fragments. 



Blindia acuta, var. trichodes, Braithw. A fragment of a stem with 

 a few leaves. The enlarged angular cells have been practically 

 all eroded or destroyed, leaving only the alar spaces, which are 

 perhaps not quite so large as one would expect in this species ; 

 the form and areolation of the remainder of the leaves is, how- 

 ever, quite in agreement with the plant to which I have referred 

 it, a plant so characteristic that there can be little doubt as to 

 its determination. Mr. W. E. Nicholson, to whom I submitted 

 it, quite concurs. 



Dicranum Bonjeani^ De Not. A considerable number of char- 

 acteristic fragments. 



D. Scottianum, Turn. One or two scraps with the leaves well 

 preserved. The areolation in this species, taken in connection 

 with the entire leaves, is distinct, and its identification seems 

 quite beyond question. The leaf of -D. Scottianum shows in 

 the upper part a layer of short subquadrate cells covering the 



