212 of petfifactlojir in Fife. Feb. ^,- 



and lower parts had been penetrated by the calca«. 

 reous matter ; in some parts we see snails arrested 

 in their sluggilK walk, and locked up in the stony- 

 concrete. At the bottom of the declivity, where the 

 rock has been abrupt, there are caves formed, four 

 or five feet wide at bottom, and gradually lefsening 

 to the top, the water having continued to run in the 

 slope of the hill ; and there it afsumes a stalactitU 

 tal form, resembling branches of trees, icicles, and o- 

 ther curious lliapes. 



Some parts of this stratum are very compact, and 

 capable of receiving a finepolifti, and are composed of 

 different layers of a variety of colours, from a light 

 afli colour to a dark brown, and are exactly similar to 

 a stalactite brought from Gibraltar, wrought up in- 

 to-to3's of different kinds. Other parts of it, when 

 first examined, are quite soft, and may be cut with a 

 knife, but all of it, upon exposure to the air, becomes 

 very hard, and when struck sounds like metal. 



Sir Robert Sibbald, in his history of Fife, takes 

 notice of this natural curios-ity ; but since his time it 

 appears to have escaped the observation of natu- 

 ralists. The study of natural history has beeii long 

 a favourite pursuit among people of the first fortune, 

 rank, and ability on the continent ; and within these 

 few years, a taste for it seems to be gaining ground 

 liere. The museum of the college, under the cure of 

 the present learned profefsor, is emerging from obs'.a- 

 rity ; and it is to be hoped, will, in time, contain a 

 complete collection of specimens of all the objects of 

 natural history in this country. A private collection 

 has been formed on a very extensive scale, by a dis- 



