34 



to the system from the prevailing colour in certain 

 localities. For example, Red is quite applicable and very 

 descriptive of the formation in Elginshire, especially in the 

 vicinity of Fochabers ; while in Caithness, on the opposite 

 side of the Firth, it would have no bearing whatever, the 

 colour there being bluish black or grey. Yet, by the 

 fossils which the Caithness flags contain, we know for 

 certain that they were deposited at the same time as the 

 Moray sandstones, and under the same circumstances.? A 

 glance at a geological map of Scotland will show the distri- 

 bution of the system in the districts referred to. The Old 

 Red forms the coast line all round by Inverness, Ross, 

 Cromarty, and Sutherland to Caithness, with the exception 

 of a strip on the Sutherland coast running between Gol- 

 spie and the Ord. This borne in mind will go to support a 

 theory which we have formed of the area of the Old Red sea 

 in the North, and which has been partially suggested by 

 the publication of a remarkably able paper by Messrs. B. 

 N. Peach and J. Home of the Geological Survey, entitled, 

 " The Old Red Volcanic Rocks of Shetland." A perusal 

 of it, and taken in connection with the Old Red formation 

 on the north-eastern seaboard, or, more correctly, on the 

 coasts of Moray and Banff, suggested the theory. The 

 Old Red Sandstone extends along the greater part of the 

 lowlands of Moray, and is only lost in crossing the Spey at 

 Orton. Farther down that river, at Fochabers, it crosses 

 the stream and creeps on to Tynet, a section of which 

 has been so rich in fossiliferous remains. Pursuing the 

 coast eastwards to Cullen, solitary masses of Old Red 

 conglomerate are seen standing rugged and shattered 

 where the retreating waves left them. Still following the 

 coast the formation again appears at Gamrie, where it has 

 yielded numerous fossils. Taking, then, the coast as a base 

 line, and following the formation inland, we find that from 





