MR MILNE ON THE GEOLOGY OF ROXBURGHSHIRE. 439 



In September or October 1840, 1 had the good fortune to discover in these 

 red rocks, at two places pretty far apart, bones and scales of fossil fish, that 

 kind which has been found in such abundance at Clashbennie in Perthshire. The 

 place where I first found them (in company with the Rev. Mr Aitken of Minto) 

 is at the head of Wauchope Burn, on the east side Windburgh Hill. The next 

 place was at Plewlands, in the parish of St BoswelTs. Those found at the former 

 place I submitted to the inspection of AGASSIZ, who pronounced them to belong 

 to the species Holoptichius nobilissimus, and considered them clearly to indicate 

 that the rocks containing them belonged to the Old Red Sandstone formation. 

 I discovered scales of the same fish also on the banks of the Jed, about a mile to 

 the east of Southdean manse, and traces of them in Sunlaws quarry, on the 

 Tweed, opposite to Roxburgh. 



Since this discovery in 1840, more remains of Holoptichius have been dis- 

 covered, and in rather an interesting situation. They occur about f mile to the 

 north of Jedburgh, at the place called Tudhope, where, as already noticed, a 

 quarry of white sandstone was formerly worked. No scales have yet been found 

 in the quarry itself. They were observed in one of the stones of which a dyke 

 in the immediate neighbourhood was built, but the stones of which were taken 

 from this quarry. This discovery of Holoptichius in rocks, apparently not near 

 the bottom of the series, but among their highest members, and in a rock which 

 has not the prevailing red colour, furnishes strong additional evidence, in confir- 

 mation of the opinion, that the whole of these rocks in the vale of the Jed, of the 

 Ale, and of the Teviot, belong to the old red sandstone formation. 



There have been also sent to me, by Mr OLIVER of Langraw, a few specimens 

 of fish-scales, found by him in the Wauchope Burn, in the course of last year. 

 Some of these scales are of a much smaller size than any which I had fallen in 

 with, and the markings on them are quite different from those on the larger scales. 



I observe that Mr DUFF, in his Sketch of the Geology of Moray, mentions 

 (page 29) that, besides the large scales of the Holoptichius, which abound in the 

 red sandstones there, " smaller scales often occur : but they have not as yet re- 

 ceived much attention." Both the larger and smaller scales figured by Mr DUFF, 

 correspond in size and markings with those which occur in Roxburghshire. 



It is proper to add here, that small portions of lead (sulphuret of galena) have 

 been found near Abbotrule, in a mottled red and white sandstone, which is among 

 the lowest of the old red sandstone formation. I do not know whether the metal 

 occurs in veins or in concretions, having searched the place for it unsuccessfully. 

 But Mr Oliver of Langraw has lately sent to me some small nodules which are 

 apparently in their natural form. He states that they are found in the channel 

 of the burn, which cuts through the sandstone in question, and which, from its 

 friable character, easily decomposes. It will be observed, that this locality is not 

 far from the trap of Bonchester Hill, and a basaltic dyke, to be afterwards parti- 

 cularly noticed. 



