204 Mr. R. Walker on Clays, containing Fossils, 



parts of the coast was gradually rising during the deposition of 

 these shell-clays. Whatever may have been the agents engaged 

 in laying down this deposit, whether it has partly resulted from 

 the effect of the waves beating upon exposed banks of boulder- 

 clay, or from the mud borne from the land by glaciers or coast- 

 ice (as suggested by Geikie* to account for the formation of the 

 shell-clays of the west coast), or (what at first sight might per- 

 haps appear equally probable) from the quantity of mud and 

 sand carried down by the Kinness Burn — in either case, the 

 three latter forces all indicate a very different condition of climate 

 from what now prevails in these latitudes : the quantity of water 

 in the burn is now so small ; and besides it drains such a limited 

 district that, under the present conditions, its volume could never 

 have be3n much greater than it is at present. Unless we suppose 

 (as indeed seems probable) that, during the close of the glacial 

 period, it was flooded every summer by the melting of the snow 

 and ice that had collected throughout the preceding winters, 

 it would be difficult to conceive how this small stream could 

 have acted any part in the matter — much less to suppose that, 

 in its present volume, it could have eroded and transported suf- 

 ficient material to form the accumulation in its present extent, 

 irrespective of what may have been washed away at a later pe- 

 riod. This will be more apparent when it is stated that some 

 years ago a pit was sunk into this deposit to the depth of 

 14 or 15 feet, and the stratum afterwards bored to the depth 

 of 60 feet additional, in search of water, without finding any. 

 This pit was about 40 yards south of the place that yielded 

 the present organic remains, and about 20 feet above the sea. 

 The contractor assures me that during these operations the 

 clay was found to be of a bluish-grey colour, as far as pierced ; 

 from which it may be inferred that the bottom of the stratum 

 was not then reached. 



From the thickness of this clay, it is evident that a consider- 

 able portion of it must be many feet below the sea-level. It 

 would likewise appear to have been deposited in a hollow scooped 

 out of the boulder-clay. The latter can be seen a little further 

 down the stream, extending apparently from beneath the blue 

 clay to the " east sands," where it is occasionally swept bare by 

 the waves from high- water mark to a considerable distance sea- 

 ward. When thus exposed, the irregular appearance of its sur- 

 face, and the numerous rolled stones of many sorts and sizes 

 projecting out of the mass, show clearly the unmistakeable 

 characteristics of the boulder-clay. It may be remarked that 

 this is the only place where the boulder- clay can be seen in the 

 immediate neighbourhood. A few years since, it was well ex- 

 * The Glacial Drift of Scotland. 



