64!6 Geology of BermcJcsJiire, 



seat of the late Lord Karnes. At Hassington Mains, where 

 is its western termination, the contents are composed of large 

 water-worn masses ofgreywacke; but towards the east they 

 consist of fine gravel or sand. Similar ridges, upon a smaller 

 scale, may be observed in various parts of the county ; espe- 

 cially upon Dod Water, where they constitute hillocks, and 

 assume a very artificial aspect. In cutting small eminences 

 on public roads, a section is often made of what the workmen 

 call a sandbank, which is a small ridge analogous to those 

 described, and derived, in all probability, from a similar origin. 

 The Merse derives its name from its former marshy and 

 boggy condition ; which shows, independently of the remains 

 which we now meet with, that it was subjected to the inun- 

 dations of water. We might suppose that the whole district 

 was one immense loch, or inland sea*; and the ridges which 

 are now so conspicuous, were produced by the alternate sub- 

 sidence and swelling of the waters, as we observe in shallow 

 seas. But the facts, that the contents of these ridges are 

 greywacke, and that the stones scattered over the fields for 

 many miles northwards from the Tweed, consist of the same 

 materials, prove most powerfully, or at least afford a very 

 strong presumption, that an aqueous current setting in from 

 the Lammermoors was the agent which produced these ap- 

 pearances. From whence this current was derived, and if it 

 afforded a supply for the loss occasioned by evaporation, are 

 different questions, upon which it is not necessary for us to 

 enter. It is obvious^ however, that, when the supply of the 

 current diminished, occasional violent torrents would wash 

 down the smaller particles which had been disrupted and 

 loosened by the action of the water ; and when the velocity of 

 the stream ceased, the matter borne along with it would be 

 deposited in the form of a ridge. The figure of the Greenlaw 

 Kaims, which presents a hollow towards the hills, favours this 

 idea ; and that the breadth of the current had not been great 

 is likewise probable, from the nature of the angle which ap- 

 pears to have been produced by the centre of the mass of 

 water. 



* The quantity of common salt which exists in solution in the wells and 

 rivers of the Merse, would go to prove that this district had at no very 

 distant period been subjected to inundations from the sea. The imperial 

 gallon of the well water at Eccles Manse contains : — 

 Specific gravity, 1.000792 



Sulphate of lime - - 57.75 

 Common salt - - 29.752 



87.502 



