152 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



points D and B is that the strata dip from D towards B, and 

 the river course is apparently nearly level; the coal, therefore, 

 gradually dips under it, till, at a short distance below B, the 

 channel will be altogether lost sight of in the main coal seam. 

 This is proved to be the case by the bore at A, where there are 

 25^ feet of undisturbed strata on the top of the coal ; of course 

 the reverse of this takes place towards the rise, as in that direc- 

 tion the channel cuts deeper and deeper into the strata. That it 

 continues at about the same depth and manner in that direction 

 is shewn by the water-worn pieces of trap which are abundantly 

 distributed, some having been washed from the district to the 

 rise, where the river crossed the position of the splint coal, about 

 12 fathoms below the main seam, and which is occupied by an 

 intrusive mass of trap. 



I exhibit sj)ecimens of these, taken from the channel in the 

 drifts, and from the outcrop of the bed of trap referred to, and some 

 of them seem to be identical, others apj)ear to be different, and of 

 an amygdaloidal structure ; I also show other specimens got in 

 the drifts, to indicate the composition of the bed, all water-worn, 

 and consisting of various kinds of rock, such as sandstone, quartz, 

 ironstone, etc. From the worn appearance of the harder stones, 

 some of which are of considerable size, and from the comparative 

 scarcity of large boulders of sandstone, shales, and the softer rocks, 

 and from the great quantities of fine sand which is often deposited 

 in circles, as if by eddies, the conclusion, I think, can be drawn, 

 that the stream at the bottom level of the channel, where cut by 

 the drifts, ran with considerable velocity, and that its existence 

 as a river must have been of long duration, from the depth, about 

 83 feet, which it had penetrated into the solid rock, which, in a 

 bore, at C on plan, is within 48 feet of the surface, although this 

 bore seems still to be within the confines of the river bed. 



During the formation of a deep cutting on the Cleland and 

 Midcalder Eailway, and in the adjoining coal workings, a similar 

 channel was met with, which there can be no doubt is a con- 

 tinuation of, or branch from the one described. The direction 

 in which the trap has been carried by the current shows that 

 the river flowed from east to west. This corresponds to the 

 contour of the present surface, which falls rapidly in that direc- 

 tion. At the points where it has been cat and bared on both 

 sides, the channel varies from IGO feet to 300 feet wide, so that 



