78 Trauf<actioii,t<. 



about tive miles from Motlat, on the right hand side of the valley 

 going up. The Graptolitic shales found there are not rich in 

 fossils ; neither are they in good preservation, scarcely repaying 

 the fatiguing climb over the hills. However, I believe there 

 are some good specimens to be got at Selcoth Burn, which runs 

 down from Carmichen Scaurs, and falls into the Moffat Water. 

 In addition to the most of the Cirkhill fossils which are got here, 

 some excellent sections are to be seen which would make the 

 gorge well worth a visit. On the left side of the hills, a little 

 past Polmoody farm, there are three deep scaurs, in which all 

 the upper Birkhill fossils are got in a fine state of preservation. 

 I have obtained some in relief from one of these scaurs. M. 

 lubiferus is abundant in the middle one ; also many other species, 

 all belonging to the upper beds, a few of which are now arranged 

 before you on the table. The next place we come to on the way 

 is the Gi'ey Mare's Tail. The rocks on this picturesque spot are 

 all of Silurian grit. About a mile further on we arrive at Birk- 

 hill Cottage, where we stand on an anticlinal axis, or water- 

 shed, Selkirkshire being on one side and Dumfriesshire on the 

 other — the Moffat water running the one way and the 

 Yarrow the reverse. These black anthracitic shales stretch 

 right across the country in a slanting direction from an 

 anticlinal axis at Birkhill to the Irish Sea on the one 

 shore, and to St. Abbe's Head on the other. If we now 

 retrace our steps along the road following one of the two 

 burns, the one which runs past the Cottage and joins that 

 issuing from Dobbs' Linn (uniting about the entrance to the 

 above place), thus forming the infant Moffat water, which runs in 

 a straight line down the valley to the south-west, and joins the 

 Annan a short distance from Moffat. The entrance into Dobbs' 

 Linn has rather a rugged, dark, and weird-like aspect, which 

 may be occasioned by the narrowness of the glen, the effect of 

 the dark shales, and the absence of vegetation. While we must 

 consider Dobbs' Linn to stand pre-eminent above all other parts 

 in the Moffat district — and I might add that nowhere else can it 

 be surpassed for the richness, profusion, and fine preservation of 

 its fossil remains — to the physical student it cannot be surpassed 

 for its fine rock sections, as well as its extensive range of the 

 Graptolitic family, in both genera and species. There are other 

 places in the district besides these named. The principal are 

 Hartfcll, Garpel Glen, Duffkinnel Water, Raehills, where some 



