396 Proceedings of the British Association. 



though the reappeai*ance of such remains in an inferior position 

 at Burdiehouse is a circumstance not easily to be accounted for. 

 The author remarked that the flat seams contain the most valu- 

 able coals in the district ; but that they occur only partially in the 

 Mid- Lothian coal-field, and they ai*e not to be found to the south- 

 ward or westward of the road from Edinburgh to Dalkeith, as they 

 are said to have been thrown ofi^ by a dyke near Sheriff-hall, be- 

 yond which some of the edge-seams appear to have been brought 

 up and flattened : — and these are worked as flat seams at the Dal- 

 housie, Polton, and Eldon collieries. There seem to be sufficient 

 reasons to warrant the supposition that the coal district of the oppo- 

 site coast of Fife was originally connected with that on this side of 

 the Firth. At the same time, with the knowledge we possess re- 

 specting the two districts, it would be difficult to prove their exact 

 correspondence either by their lines of bearing or by the quality of 

 the coals. But it is not improbable that disturbing causes may have 

 operated to produce derangements and dislocations in those parts of 

 the coal formation now beneath the water, even to a greater extent 

 than in those on the shores of the Firth. From the reports of Mr 

 Landale and Mr Bald, it appears that the number of coal-beds is 

 nearly the same in the two coal-districts, and that the total thick- 

 ness of the coal in them is also nearly alike. 



In the Fifeshire District. Edinburgh District 



29 beds of coal. 20* beds, and probably 29. 



119 feet. 109 feet. 



The two seams of coal, the workings of which have lately been 

 resumed, on the estate of Captain Boswell at Wardie, have appa- 

 rently been thrown out of their natural position by some disturb- 

 ance. 



The nodules of ironstone, of which there is a great abundance in 

 the bituminous shale of Wardie, are very remarkable ; for there is 

 scarcely one to be found that does not contain an organic nucleus, 

 either a coprolite or some portion of a fossil fish. Similar nodules 

 have been found on the opposite coast, and on Inchkeith. 



A notice by Mr Menteath on the Closeburn limestone was read, 

 in which an account was given of the geological, mineralogical, and 

 chemical characters of that deposit. 



Professor Sedgwick spoke of the services rendered to our know- 

 ledge of the geology of the north of Scotland, by the late Mr Mac- 

 culloch junior, and expressed the hope that the results of his inves- 



