192 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 



Tlie bed is surmounted by bituminous shale, with which very thin 

 layers of limestone occasionally alternate. The colour of the lime- 

 stone is grey, brown, and sometimdS purple ; its fracture conchoi- 

 dal, but often slaty, from the intervention of thin striae of vegetable 

 or bituminous matter ; its texture hard and compact ; its aspect dull, 

 and it is not crystalline like the limestone of neighbouring quarries* 

 It is tolerably pure, shewing little foreign matter except what is bitu- 

 minous J and this is often disposed between the layers of the lime- 

 stone where its- structure its slaty. But its most remarkable charac- 

 ter is the nature of the organic remains contained in it. There are, 

 in the first place, plants belonging to the- oldest vegetation of the 

 globe ; among which the Sphenopteris affinis, SpJie?iopteris hijida, 

 Lepidoslrohus variabilis of Mr Lindley, and various kinds of the Le- 

 pidodendron seem to be ascertained. The species are numerous and 

 distinct, so as to afford the most beautiful specimens that can be con- 

 ceived, and a rich store of observation in fossil botany. But, second- 

 ly, the animal remains are even more interesting. One fragment of 

 a fish, which, when entire, must have measured more than a foot in 

 length, seems closely allied to the fresh- water genera of the family of 

 Cyprinida;. Innumerable minute animals referable to the fresh- 

 water Entomostraca are also to be seen ; one -of these is probably a 

 Cypris, and indications have been found of minute Couchif'era, and 

 of coprolites (indicative of large animals) in great abuildance. 



The inference appears to the author irresistible, that the Burdie- 

 house limestone is of fresh-water origin. The neighbouring moun- 

 tain limestone abounds in corallines, encrinites, and shells, all evi- 

 dently marine. These are in vain sought for in the limestone of 

 Burdiehouse ; which, on the other hand, presents the remains of Fish 

 apparently inhabiting fresh-water, and of Ferns, Lycopodiaceous 

 plants, and such aquatic vegetables as flourish most among fresh- 

 water lakes and marshes. This limestone, then, is^ the memorial of 

 some inland fresh- water lake or tank, within the waters of which it 

 was elaborated. 



Additional Particulars relative to the Saurian Remains found in the 

 Burdiehouse Limestone. Communicaled in a Letter to Professor 

 Jameson by Dr Hibbert. 



Dear Sir, — In compliance with your wish, I shall furnish you 

 with a general notice of such other discoveries as have taken place 

 in the Quarry of Burdiehouse since my researches commenced. 



