94 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



when it appears in full in the " Philosophical Transactions." 

 Hopes of future material are, however, for the present very 

 low, as I hear that the working of the quarries at Cuttie's 

 Hillock has been abandoned, and that elsewhere in the 

 district builders are finding it more profitable to work the 

 sandstones of the Upper Old Red than of. the Reptiliferous 

 horizon. 



In naming one of his new genera after the late Rev. Dr. 

 Gordon, Mr. Newton has paid a fitting tribute to the worth 

 of that indefatigable minister of religion, and worker in 

 science, \vho has just passed away after a long life unselfishly 

 devoted to his professional calling and to the pursuit of 

 knowledge. Dr. Gordon's merits are fully set forth in 

 another part of the present number of this journal ; here, I 

 need only say that all, who are interested in the Elgin 

 Reptiles, know well the active part which he took in bringing 

 their remains to light, and in consigning these to the care of 

 experts for description and illustration. 



The specimens described in Mr. Newton's memoir are to 

 be found partly in the collection of the Geological Survey of 

 Scotland, partly in the Elgin Museum. The memoir itself 

 extends to 72 quarto pages, and is illustrated by 16 plates, the 

 execution of which by Mr. A. T. Hollick leaves nothing to 

 be desired. 



PAL^EOSPONDYLUS GUNNI, TRAQ., FROM THE 

 CAITHNESS FLAGSTONES. 



By R. H. TRAQUAIR, M.D., LL.D., F.R.S. 

 PLATE III. 



FROM an evolutionary point of view, it has often been thought 

 that the Marsipobranch fishes, now represented only by the 

 Lampreys (Petromyzontidae) and the Hags (Myxinidae), must 

 have existed abundantly in ancient geological times ; and 

 it is very probable that they did. But as their purely carti- 

 laginous skeletons are not readily conservable in a stony 

 matrix, and as Nature does not preserve anything for us in 



