388 . The Nicol Memorial. 



On behalf of the subscribers, Dr. John Home, F.R.S., addressed 

 the Principal, Sir George Adam Smith, as follows : — 



Sir George, — We have met here to-day to do honour to 

 Professor James Nicol, who for more than a quarter of a century 

 was one of the teachers of Natural Science in this University, and 

 whose contributions to Scottish geology were of the highest value. 

 He was a remarkable example of the best traditions of Scottish 

 University life, for, in addition to the prime duty of instructing 

 students, he regarded the prosecution and encouragement of original 

 research as an essential feature of the work to be done by a scientific 

 department. 



This memorial is intended to be a permanent record of the value 

 of his contributions to the solution of the j)robleni of the geological 

 structure of the North- West Highlands. In the first half of last 

 century that region was visited by MaccuUoch, Murchison and 

 Sedgwick, Hay Cunningham and Hugh Miller, who had described 

 the picturesque mountains of red sandstone, overlain by quartzites 

 and limestones, in the west of the counties of Sutherland and Ross. 

 They recorded that these unaltered strata rest upon a platform 

 of crystalline gneiss and schist, and are succeeded eastwards by 

 metamorphic rocks that stretch across the Great Glen to the eastern 

 border of the Highlands. 



The discovery of fossils in the Durness limestones in the north 

 of Sutherland (in 1854:) by Mr. Charles Peach raised questions of 

 vital geological importance connected with the structure of that 

 region and the age of the crystalline schists associated with these 

 limestones. 



Nicol's field work in the North- West Highlands began in 1855, 

 not long after his appointment to the Professorship in this University. 

 His first examination of the ground was carried out in association 

 with his friend Sir Roderick Murchison, but all his subsequent 

 work was done by himself, for they differed as to the interpretation 

 of the structure. 



Adopting the determination of the fossils made by J. W. Salter, 

 the palaeontologist of the Geological Survey, Murchison referred the 

 quartzites and limestones to the Silurian system. He further con- 

 tended that as the fossiliferous limestones passed normally below 

 the crystalline schists to the east, therefore these schists themselves 

 must belong to the same system. Hence, with one bold sweep of 

 the brush, Murchison coloured as Silurian the extensive region 

 stretching from near Durness to Stonehaven, and from Fraserburgh 

 to the Mull of Kin tyre. This interpretation involved a radical 

 change in the geological map of Scotland. 



Nicol's interpretation was fundamentally different. With un- 

 tiring energy he continued his work in the field for several years 

 and issued a series of papers containing the results of his researches. 

 From time to time he modified his views, abandoning positions 

 which he found to be untenable, and stating the evidence for changing 



