found m Corncockle Midr, DumfT^Hi-ihite. 309 



diough this is contrary to the received opinion as to the for- 

 mation of sandstone. 



5thy The sand must have possessed, very considerable tena- 

 city, and have even been sometimes skinned over with a stiff 

 coat, for in one of the specimens preserved at Ruthwell, the 

 claws of the animal had evidently broken through the outer 

 coat at every step, and in two others, where the hind paws 

 have rested on the matter just displaced by the fore paws, 

 their pressure, instead of obliterating the appearance of super- 

 added matter, has merely caused an indentation of the part 

 rested on. 



6M, There are continuous strata of sandstone resting on 

 those in which the impressions are found, for the distance of 

 not less than a quarter of a mile, all of which must have been 

 deposited subsequently to the period in which the tracks were 

 left on the surface of the sand. 



^th. As far down as the quarry has yet been worked, which 

 is not less than forty-five feet perpendicularly from the top of 

 the rock, similar impressions have been found, and these 

 equally distinct and well-defined with such as are nearer the 

 surface. 



8^^, The impressions are not confined to a single stratum, 

 but have been found on many successive strata. Since the 

 foot-marks were first discovered, about forty yards of sand- 

 stone have been removed in a direction perpendicular to the 

 line of the strata, and throughout the whole of that extent, 

 impressions have, at frequently recurring intervals, been un- 

 covered, particularly in one part of the quarry, and still con- 

 tinue to be uncovered. 



Hence it must be inferred that the process, whatever it 

 may have been, by which the impressions were buried in the 

 sand, that of drifting by storms for instance, has not been oc- 

 casioned by any sudden or isolated convulsion of nature, but 

 has been carried on through many successive years or rather 

 ages. Nor has it been the result of tides on the shore of the 

 sea, which can scarcely be supposed to have flowed to the 

 height of between forty and fifty feet ; and even if they had 

 done so, would certainly have swept away or filled up any im- 



