Reports & Proceedings — Edinburgh Geological Society. 93 



in those regions of the globe which are now occupied by some of the 

 drylands of Britain, Eastern North America, Peru, Bolivia, Yictoria, 

 and New Zealand. Thus it greatly strengthens the inference that 

 in Arenig-Llandeilo times there was open-sea communication 

 admitting of the circulation of sea currents along some as yet un- 

 determined line or lines, connectingthe above-mentioned regions, which 

 must have extended across the Equator and apparently throughout 

 a length nearly equal to that of half the circumference of the globe. 



II. — Edinburgh Geological Society. 

 December 20, 1916. — Dr. Flett, F.R.S., President, in the Chair. 



The following papers were read : — 



1. " Igneous Intrusive Phenomena at Upper "Whitfield, near 

 Macbiehill; and at Ravelrig and Kaimes Hill Quarries, Balerno." 

 By T. Cuthbert Day, E.C.S. 



The intrusive nature of the "Upper Whitfield basalt was established 

 by the discovery of upper and lower contacts with the sedimentary 

 deposits. Details of a xenolithic structure in the igneous rock at the 

 point of contact were given, and a peculiar marmorized dolomite 

 associated with chert was described. Mention was also made of 

 a case of metasomatism in basalt through the action of a deposit of 

 dolomitized calcite. 



A description was given of a peculiar tachylite in connexion with 

 the intrusive olivine dolerite at Ravelrig and Kaimes Hill quarries, 

 Balerno. 



2. " On a Section in a Bore-hole in the Calciferous Sandstones, 

 Upper Old Red Sandstones, and Lower Old Red Sandstone Lavas in 

 the Grange District, Edinburgh." By D. Tait, H.M. Geological 

 Survey. 



Mr. Tait said that the geological horizon of the beds in the upper 

 part of the bore are on the boundary between the Carboniferous and 

 the Old lied Sandstone formations, but, as no fossils had been found 

 in the bore, no sharp line could be drawn at their point of junction; 

 possibly they form passage beds between them, since there were 

 present, interbedded with each other, beds typical of both formations. 



At" a depth of 284 feet a fault breccia was passed through. This 

 probably indicates a fault, with a downthrow to the south-west, but 

 its importance is not known. From 389 to 397 feet cornstone bands 

 and nodules were found, interbedded with red marly clay. At 

 399 feet the bore passed through the unconformity between the Upper 

 Old Red Sandstone and the Lower Old Red Sandstone. The Lower 

 Old Red Sandstone rocks are lavas of Blackford Hill Quarry type 

 and a bed, 47 feet thick, of volcanic agglomerate. The total depth 

 of the bore from the surface was 475 ft. 6 in. 



III. — The Geological Society of Glasgow. 

 At a meeting of the Geological Society of Glasgow held on 

 December 14, 1916, Mr. H. R. J". Conacher read a paper on "Oil- 

 shales and Torbanites". The rocks of these types which occur in 



