in the neighbourhood of St Andreivs. 299 



tunities for the study of this particular class of geological phe- 

 nomena, and that it might be worth while to direct local 

 attention to these geognostic features, as many young persons, 

 and others who had not given much attention to geology, 

 might thus be enabled, at the cost of little more trouble than 

 that of a forenoon's walk, to study what is certainly one of the 

 most curious and wonderful results of geological research and 

 speculation which have been laid before the public for some 

 years. 



The particular superficial feature which first arrested my 

 attention in this neighbourhood, was the platform on which 

 the town stands, with its smooth continuation westwards to 

 Lawpark, and north-westwards to Strathtyrum. The uniform 

 linearity of this piece of country is such as might strike the 

 most careless eye. I also observed that, to the south of the 

 Kinness Burn, there was a continuation of this platform on 

 exactly the same level — a vale of from an eighth to a quar- 

 ter of a mile intervening. It was not long after, that I 

 found a narrow stripe of the same platform extending be- 

 yond Strathtyrum, towards the Guard Bridge, and traced, 

 what appeared, its continuation in Leuchars parish, north of 

 the Eden. I also could plainly trace, on the ascent towards 

 Scooniehill, a second or higher platform, less extensive in all 

 respects, but equally linear and level. Finally, I have found 

 fainter traces of a third, and even of a fourth platform, the 

 last being the narrow stripe on which Mount Melville House 

 and Feddinch Mains are situated. 



To speak particularly of the fii'st plateau. Itmay be described 

 as a slope ofvery slight inclination, rising from the verge of the 

 sea between St Nicholas and the Butts, towards Lawpark, and 

 extending westwards to the site of Bloomhill and Kincaple. 

 The town of St Andrews is situated on the part nearest the 

 sea. But for the deep and wide intersection formed by the 

 Kinness Burn, and a few similar but smaller intersections, it 

 would have been a still more remarkable tract of linearly sur- 

 faced ground. The soil, I am told, is generally of a sandy 

 character, such as might be expected on a tract like Leith 

 Sands, or the West Sands of St Andrews, if these beaches 

 were to be raised above the sea-level, and transformed into 



