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Oh the Minerals of Berwickshire. By the Rev. J, C. Atkinson. 



I suppose few people accustomed to the collection of minera- 

 logical specimens, though not necessarily very deeply versed in 

 the science of mineralogy, would expect, when walking along the 

 roads of Hutton and its vicinity, with their wayside heaps of 

 greenstone " metal," and by the sections of the sandstone rocks 

 afforded by the Whitadder and smaller streams, to meet with any 

 very great variety of minerals ; and after having, for between 

 two and three years, scrutinized, tolerably closely, the said rocks 

 and roads, and the river bed besides, I am obliged to say that the 

 variety is not great, although quite sufficiently so to excite interest, 

 and reward labour and search. 



Without further preface, I will simply detail what I have met 

 with, and will trust to your forbearance, as well for the meagre- 

 ness of the communication, as the dryness of the subject. 



And first, I Avill ask you to accompany me to the Whitadder. 

 In the bed of the stream, and in the accumulation of rolled stones 

 of various dimensions which are met with every here and there 

 along its course, many members of the family Quartz maybe found. 

 Common quartz is, of course, abundant ; crystals of the same sub- 

 stance, for the most part acicular, and both yellow and colourless, 

 from ^ to 1 inch in length, are contained in many among these 

 rolled blocks. Milk quartz also I have met with, but not often, 

 and specimens of a substance which closely resembled fibrous 

 quartz. Calcedony, both colourless or white and red, jasper, 

 chert, hornstone, and moss agate, may be found with little trouble. 

 The specimens of the last named pebble, though generally coarse, 

 are often of 3 or 4 inches in diameter. Some of them are very 

 beautiful. I have one which I picked up as I was wading through 

 the stream, which is of the usual colour and texture, and encloses 

 a broad red band of streaky red jasper. 



There ! we are now on an accumulation of rolled masses of rock 

 of various sizes, brought down centuries since, probably, and con- 

 sisting almost entirely of granite, greenstone, basalt, and grey- 

 wacke, with sandstone in abundance, in close proximity to the 

 present bed of the stream. If we break that soft, porous, cellular- 

 looking stone, we shall find in its cavities something or other to 



