MONOGRAPH OF DURA DEN. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



The yellow sandstone deposits of Dura Den have excited 

 considerable interest among geologists for many years, and 

 recently they have become still more worthy of notice. The 

 Foissons Fossiles of Agassi z contain descriptions of their 

 organic remains which have given celebrity to the locahty in 

 every quarter of the world. The autumn of last year intro- 

 duced them for the first time to the personal acquaintance of 

 the illustrious author of the Siluria. Sir Charles \jye\\ visited 

 Dura Den, in company with myself, in the summer of 1842 ; 

 and in the same year Dr. J. Malcolmson, on his return from 

 India, was attracted by the fame of their rich fossiliferous beds 

 to examine and note their relations to the Elgin and Morayshire 

 sandstones. Hugh Miller was an explorer in this fertile and 

 controversial field. Dr. Fleming had closely examined every 

 rock and quarry in the ravine and the vicinity for miles round. 

 As his " daily haunt and neighbourhood," my ever-active and 

 distinguished friend. Dr. George Buist of Bombay, made Dura 

 Den the scene of his constant explorations, while, by his excel- 

 lent text-books and otherwise, Mr. Page has contributed much 

 to elucidate and extend the knowledge of its interesting fossil 

 remains. 



My own descriptions and speculations are successively re- 

 corded in Fife Illustrated ; in the gold medal " Prize Essay," 



A 



