1898] NOTES AND COMMENTS 301 



forms of Bacillaria, Ifhizopoda and Foraminifera of these different 

 localities and we find tlieni essentially the same in all. We have 

 also to compare the forms of Bacillaria, Rhizopoda and Foraminifera 

 of the soundings in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and we find 

 them the same. Can we not say that the strata are the same in 

 composition chemically and the same in organic forms?" 



" I think they are. And can we separate the Neocene from the 

 recent soundings in any respect ? I do not think so. . . . We 

 cannot distinguish Xeocene Bacillaria, Rhizopoda or Foraminifera 

 from recent which are living now. Although the strata in New 

 Zealand have been placed in the Cretaceous, and at Simbirsk in the 

 lower Eocene, we must expect to see them bearing like forms to the 

 recent, and which live more on the bottom of the ocean and are in 

 every inlet along the coast." Much of this has been said before, 

 but it will well bear repetition. 



A Tidal Crannog at Dumbarton 



Ax undoubted crannog of a remarkable type was found recently by 

 the well-known archaeologist, Mr W. A. Donnelly. It is the first 

 of such structures found in tidal waters. The discovery has been 

 inspected by Drs Anderson and Munro, and the latter after making 

 a thorough investigation of the site, declared that " it was the most 

 curious, puzzling, and interesting find of the kind he had met with 

 in all his long experience, and, so far as he knew, unique." Mr 

 H. J. Dukinfield Astley, who communicated this find to the 

 Athenaeum (Sept, 10), says that Mr Donnelly, with the help of the 

 Helensburgh Naturalist and Antiquarian Society, has thoroughly 

 investigated the spot with a rich reward. The crannog is 1000 

 yards east of the Castle Rock of Dumbarton, and about 2000 yards 

 from Dunglass Castle, below high-water mark, and about 50 yards 

 from the river at low tide ; when the tide is in it is submerged from 

 3-12 feet. The approach is from the north. The circuit of the 

 crannog is 184 feet. The piles in the outer circle are of oak, which 

 below the mud surface is still quite fresh ; the transverse beams 

 and pavements inside are of wood of the consistency of cheese — 

 these are of willow, alder, and oak ; the smaller branches are of fir, 

 birch, and hazel, with bracken, moss, and chips. The stones in the 

 outer circle and along the causeway leading to the dwelling-place 

 seem to be placed in a methodical order, most of the boulders being 

 about a lift for a man. The refuse-mound extends for about 12 

 feet outside for the greater part of the circuit, and in this the Hint 

 and bone implements have been chiefly discovered, while near the 

 crannog itself a canoe, 37 feet long and 40 inches beam, dry ends 

 of an oak tree, was also found. 



As regards its construction — of stones, wooden piles and pave- 



