TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 651 



planted wood, forms a strong contrast with the mountainous 

 districts of the middle and northern divisions of Scotland, in 

 which peaked and serrated and ridgy mountains, with precipices 

 and corries, rugged and winding valleys, slopes covered with 

 debris, and patched with heath and bracken, brown or limpid 

 streams fringed with birch and alder, rivers and lakes with ca- 

 taracts and islands, dark forests of pines and thickets of briars, 

 still give interest to the ancient land of the Gael. 



The object of this paper was principally to show the pro- 

 priety of taking the geology, botany, and zoology of a district 

 in connexion with each other. 



Notice of the Limestone of Closeburn, in rejily to a Query of 

 the Geological Committee. By C. G. S. Menteath. 



The limestone quarry at Closeburn is situated in a small valley, 

 surrounded by hills of transition rocks and under thick beds of 

 the old sandstone formation. There are two beds of limestone 

 in this deposit, separated by beds of stone eighteen feet thick, 

 chiefly argillaceous, with some calcareous matter in their com- 

 position. The upper bed of limestone is 14 feet thick, and 

 from the analysis made of it by the late Dr. Murray, contains 40 

 per cent, of magnesia, 57 of carbonate of lime, and 3 of iron. 

 The lower bed of limestone is 18 feet thick, and contains 88 per 

 cent, of carbonate of lime, the remainder being clay and sand, 

 with a few grains of iron. The upper part of this bed consists 

 of hard compact limestone, of a reddish colour, 9 feet thick ; 

 then 4 feet of thin beds not more than 6 inches thick, between 

 which are interspersed thin layers of a kind of stone marl, con- 

 taining 10 per cent, of carbonate of lime, with impressions of 

 shells ; the remaining 5 feet consist of laminae of a more red 

 colour, and contain organic remains of Orthocerasy AmmoniteSy 

 and shells of the Producta of a larger size than are found in any 

 other quarry in Scotland. 



The limestone deposit at Closeburn is situated in one of the 

 small valleys of the mountain chain running across the island 

 from the German Ocean to the Irish Sea; no similar deposit of 

 limestone has as yet been recognised elsewhere in this chain of 

 hills. 



Notice of the Flints of Aberdeenshire. By Dr. Knight. 



Dr. Knight read a notice on the flints found in various parts 

 of Aberdeenshire, and more especially in the vicinity of Peter- 

 head. He particularized the fossils found in them, and exhibited 

 an interesting series of specimens. 



