SCALP A. GEOLOGY. 427 



There is a low tract on the south-eastern shore consist- 

 ing of limestone alternating with a sandstone and a shale ; 

 all so exactly resembling in their general characters those 

 of the eastern shore of Sky, that it is not necessary to 

 enter on a minute account of them. As far as the direction 

 of the strata can be ascertained, it is similar to that which 

 has already been found the prevailing one there, namely, 

 north-easterly ; and the dip, being to the westward, is also 

 the same both in quantity and tendency as in the beds 

 of the nearest part of that island; those namely which 

 appear on the shores of Broadford bay. 



The animal remains found in these strata differ in some 

 particulars from those which are most conspicuous at 

 Broadford, but whether those differences are more than 

 accidental I am not prepared to say. The absence of 

 any particular shell is no proof that it does not exist in 

 a given bed ; as it is notorious, that in the same beds 

 such shells are in some places altogether wanting, while 

 in others they form large accumulations. 



I have already noticed that the prevailing shells in the 

 limestone of Strath are gryphites and terebratulae : am- 

 monitse are more rare. But in Scalpa, a large pecten 

 is the most common, being in many places so abundant as 

 to form a considerable proportion of the mass. With this 

 are to be seen many shells, which however obscure and 

 difficult to name, are not found, as far as I know, in 

 the Broadford limestone. They bear a general resem- 

 blance to the genera cardium and mytilus of living shells, 

 but I procured none sufficiently perfect to admit of a 

 fair investigation. Long cylindrical substances, which are 

 neither belemnites nor madreporites, are also found, but 

 they are also too obscure to admit of description or of com- 

 parison with known fossils. Independently of these, are 

 seen other fragments of various shells, much too mutilated 

 to convey any idea of their original structure. 



It is obvious on examining the position of these beds, 

 and in comparing them with those of Pabba and with the 



