1887-88.] An Ancient Lake-deposit in Queens Park. 137 



lakes must have opened their blue eyes to the sky, aud given 

 in these early times lightness and beauty to the otherwise 

 shaggy landscape." We may now add to this enumeration 

 the lake at Holyrood, the site of which has in part been now 

 opened up and spread out before us. 



After having completed the investigations and collected the 

 facts for this paper, it was discovered that another of our 

 members had some time before been at the same work. In 

 February last, Mr John Henderson read a paper before the 

 Geological Society " On Sections exposed in making a Drain 

 through the Queen's Park at Holyrood." In this paper the 

 earlier portion of the cutting, from its commencement at Sj)ring 

 Gardens, is described, as well as part of the excavation south- 

 wards, where the lake-deposit more particularly to be dealt 

 with here was entered upon. In the cutting near the garden 

 wall of the Palace " several thin beds of black shale were 

 exposed, containing entomostraca and fragments of fish re- 

 mains." These fossils have been identified with known 

 carboniferous species, and any of our members who feel 

 interested in the subject may refer to Mr Henderson's paper, 

 published in the ' Transactions ' of the Geological Society, 

 where full information on this point will be obtained. It is 

 now proposed to confine attention to the cutting near the road- 

 way forming the entrance to the Park at Holyrood, through 

 the shell-marl deposit in a south-westerly direction, till the 

 cutting met the old drain from the foot of Arthur Street. In 

 describing this cutting, reference is made to the accompanying 

 diagram (fig. 3), partly founded on measurements and the results 

 of borings kindly furnished by J. Massie, Esq., of the Burgh 

 Engineers' Office. 



The present section, then, extending from the road- 

 way to a distance of about 200 yards, exposed, first, a 

 layer of forced material and natural soil from 3 feet to 1 feet 

 in thickness; next a yellowish clay, from 1 foot to 4i feet 

 thick ; then came the peat, varying in thickness from 1 foot 

 to 14 1 feet ; and underneath this was the marl, from 5 feet to 

 9 feet thick. On reaching the marl, which was excavated in 

 some parts to a depth of 2 feet, borings were made in six 

 different places in order to secure a solid foundation for the 

 heavy mass of material forming the drain. These borings 



