114 REPORT — 1859. 



On the Connexion of the Granite with the Stratified Rocks in Aberdeenshire. 



By T. F. Jamieson. 

 In many geological writings the granite and other igneous rocks are represented 

 as having heaved up the overlying strata — hereabouts, however, they seem more 

 frequently to have heaved them down ; or in other words the sedimentary rocks 

 dip towards, and apparently into or underneath the granite. Thus, on the south 

 border of the great outburst of red syenite at Peterhead, the gneiss or mica-slate is 

 seen along the coast dipping towards it, and the same is apparently the case with 

 some granitic masses to the west of Ellon. To appeal, however, to a grander 

 instance, take the vast igneous expanse of the Ben Macdui group, and along its 

 south border at Braemar the huge mountains of quartzy gneiss come up, almost 

 in horizontal regular strata, with, however, a slight southerly dip, until they cross 

 the valley of the Dee, when they fold over into the base of the great granitic mass 

 of Ben-a-Buird. In the Isle of Skye, also, the lias strata along the coast of Kilmuir 

 dip into the huge outburst of trap that forms all the centre of that part of the 

 island. The igneous rock in this case has apparently burst through a great rent of 

 the lias and overflowed it, the edges of the sedimentary strata sinking down into 

 the fused mass. With regard to the granite, the case perhaps somewhat differs. 

 This rock is of more recent origin than the gneiss, seeing that the latter is dis- 

 turbed, altered, and penetrated by it. The intense subterranean heat in approaching 

 the thick masses of these old beds from below must have gradually melted them ; 

 and their immense weight would press down the unmelted edges into the pasty 

 mass beneath — just as in heating a pot of lead the solid crust sinks down into the 

 liquid metal. The granite may be in some measure the gneiss fused and crystallized 

 under the pressure of the overlying masses of the stratified beds. 



On the Drift Beds and Boulders of the North of Scotland. 

 By T. F. Jamieson. 



Drift beds, deposited from water, and containing striated fragments of rock, had 

 been traced by the writer from the sea coast to the central regions of the Highlands ; 

 thinning out on the Perthshire hills near Killiekrankie at the height of 1500 feet, 

 and resting on a surface of rock polished and fun-owed as if by the passage of ice. 

 These ice-furrows were also found passing over the crest of a hill in the same 

 neighbourhood upwards of 2000 feet high. In the Braemar district similar beds 

 of drift were traced up all the higher glens to the slopes of the Ben Muickdhui 

 mountains, and to elevations exceeding 2000 feet, still preserving the aspect of an 

 aqueous deposit, but more gravelly in texture and containing fewer, and sometimes 

 none, of the striated or ice-furrowed stones. 



Transported boulders were found in the Braemar district on the top of the hill of 

 Morven, which attains a height of about 3000 feet, and on Ben Uarn More several 

 hundred feet higher, while many were found on the Perthshire hills at elevations 

 exceeding 2000 feet. 



Connecting these observations with others made by different geologists in various 

 parts of England, Wales, and Scotland, an opinion was expressed that the drift 

 must have extinguished the land-animals then existing in this country, and that 

 the introduction of the present flora and fauna dates from the close of that period. 

 The denudation of the drift, and the scouring out of the glens and passes, were 

 ascribed in a great measure to the offrushing action of the waters during move- 

 ments of upheaval, and it was maintained that at the close of these movements 

 this country must have stood higher than at present, and have been connected by 

 land with the Continent of Europe. The more extensive development of land-ice 

 and glaciers was considered to have preceded the marine drifts. 



On some Curious Results in the Water Supply afforded by a Spring at 

 Ashey Down, in the Ryde Water-works. By E. R. J. Knowles. 



The Rev. Dr. Longmuib exhibited a specimen of Fossil Fish sent by the Rev. Mr. 

 Paton of Fettercairn.. The basis wai carbonate of lime ; the black parts, sulphuret 

 of zinc ; and the yellow pyrites, which, in their younger days, they were accustomed 



