io8 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



origin of the mosses, it is not quite clear under what cir- 

 cumstances they were deposited in the bed in which they 

 now lie. I am indebted to Messrs. Maufe and Wright, of 

 the Geological Survey, by whom the specimens were 

 obtained, for the following notes on the present situation 

 and conditions of the plant bed. 



" The plant-bed is exposed on the right bank of the 

 river Lochy a mile and a half north of Fort William and 

 1000 yards west of the Lochy Suspension Bridge. It lies 

 just at high-water mark, being covered by one to two feet 

 of water at high spring tides. It contains prostrate tree- 

 trunks up to one foot in diameter, and is overlain by coarse 

 stratified gravel and sand up to 15 feet in thickness. This 

 gravel and sand belongs to the so-called ' 2 5 foot raised 

 beach' of Scotland. It reaches in this country its greatest 

 development and altitude, but is traceable at lower levels 

 into northern England and Ireland. In the latter country 

 it has been proved to be throughout of Neolithic age, im- 

 plements of an early Neolithic type having been obtained at 

 considerable depths in its gravels. In many localities, both 

 in Scotland and Ireland, implements of a later type, but 

 still Neolithic, occur on its surface in such situations as to 

 show that the elevation which brought the beach into its 

 present position was, in part at least, accomplished during 

 Neolithic times." 



The presence of prostrate tree-trunks confirms the con- 

 clusion to which the moss remains point, as to a woodland 

 origin. On the other hand, the remains of Phanerogams, 

 with which the mosses were associated, fail to confirm this 

 conclusion in a rather noticeable way. Mr. Clement Reid 

 has kindly sent me particulars as to the plant remains ; he 

 writes : " I am sorry to say that they do not throw much 

 light on climatic conditions they are common meadow 

 plants of wide range and are mostly badly preserved." And 

 in a later letter he adds : "I do not quite know what to say 

 as to the Fort William seeds. They are curiously badly 

 preserved much more so than the mosses. Perhaps the 

 mosses grew on the spot, whilst the seeds came from a 

 distance." The plants determined by Mr. Reid for the 

 most part indicate a slow-flowing stream through meadow- 



