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Account of the Slip and Breaking up of a vast Mass of Strata, 

 on the Banks of the Whitadder in Berwickshire. In a Let- 

 ter from David Milne, Esq. A.M. &c. to Professor Jame- 

 son. 



My Dear Sir, 



A. PHENOMENON occurrcd in this neighbourhood, a lew days 

 since, of which perhaps the following short account may not be 

 unacceptable to you. Having yourself visited a part of the 

 banks of the river Whitadder, you are probably aware that 

 they consist entirely of the new red sandstone, with its marl and 

 gypsum. From the peculiar nature of this formation, as well 

 as the very prevailing abundance of clay, the soil is in general 

 extremely friable, and readily crumbles to pieces by the united 

 action of the weather and the river. The strata rise towards 

 the north ; and as the course of the Whitadder is from west to 

 east, its banks, from this circumstance, are, on the south side, 

 generally very steep, often perpendicular : while on the north 

 side, they slope towards its edge with 'a much less precipitous 

 and more regular descent. It is owing to the same geological 

 conformation of the strata, that, with hardly any exception, all 

 the rivulets, which flow into the Whitadder, are to be found on 

 the north side, as the rains which fall upon the land on the op- 

 posite banks, taking their direction from the inclination of the 

 strata, have rather a tendency to retire from the river. These 

 rivulets have, in many places, worn away the friable soil com- 

 posing the banks, to such an extent, that deep and narrow ra- 

 vines have been formed, and consequently long and lofty ridges, 

 consisting entirely of marl strata. Opposite to a small mill, 

 situated on the south bank of the Whitadder, called Hutton 

 Mill, there was one of these ridges which owes its origin to the 

 cause just mentioned, one side of it being watered by a little 

 brook usually dry in the summer, and the other side partly run- 

 ning along the edge of the river Whitadder. 



This ridge rose to a height of about 120 feet alx)ve the level 

 of the river ; its length at the top may have been about 60 feet, 

 and at the base 300 feet. Upon Tuesday last, 22d July, at 



's2 



