26 Messrs. Jukes-Broume and Milne — 



discnssed tliem in a paper read before the Philosophical Society 

 of Glasgow ia 1849, and subsequently communicated to the 

 PhilosopMcal Magazine.^ In this he observes that most of 

 the remains are' casts, and he mentions the occurrence of several 

 species of Ammonites and Belemnites, as also of Cardium, Tertbralula, 

 Trochiis, Solarium, Cerithium, and Spatangus. 



Some of Mr. Ferguson's fossils were examined and named by 

 Mr. J. W. Salter in 1857,^ who gave a list of fourteen species, two 

 of them being Ammonites doubtfully referred to — Am. Selliguinus, 

 Brong., and Am. PaiUetianus, D'Orb. Four of the others he 

 describes as new species, and from the remaining six he comes 

 to the conclusion that the fauna is of Upper Greensand age. 



From 1857 to 18y6 no further light was thrown on the subject, 

 but in the latter year some of the fossils collected by Messrs. 

 Mitchell and Insch were submitted to Messrs. Sharman and Newton, 

 who made a careful examination of them, and communicated the 

 results to the Geological Magazine.^ They compared these fossils 

 ■with the specimens described by Salter, which are preserved in the 

 Museum of Practical Geology, and found the matrix to be the same. 

 They also state that though slight differences are noticeable in 

 different pieces of the rock, yet all the samples are " so similar 

 that one can scarcely question their having been originally derived 

 from the same bed." 



They found, however, that many of the fossils could not be 

 identified with any Upper Greensand species, but were Lower 

 Cretaceous forms, many of them identical with those occurring 

 in the SjDeeton Clay. They admitted, however, a few species which 

 occur in the Upper Cretaceous series only, and have not been found 

 in any British Lower Cretaceous deposit. Hence they conclude 

 " that the faunas which in the south mark the distinct horizons 

 of Lower Greensand, Gault, and Upper Greensand are here in 

 Aberdeenshire included in one bed of nearly uniform character 

 throughout." This conclusion certainly invested the Moreseat 

 fossils with still greater interest than they possessed before. 



A collection of the fossils was sent to me by the Eev. John Milne 

 in Septembei', 1896, but it was impossible for me to examine them 

 in time to report on them before the meeting of the British 

 Association in that year. I have since, however, given them careful 

 attention, and have received much assistance from Messrs. Sharman 

 and Newton, whose previous acquaintance with many of the species 

 has saved me much time and labour. 



It is not an easy task to identify these Moreseat fossils, for they 

 are all in the state of casts and impressions. In no case does 

 any actual shell or test remain, but the firmness of the rock has 

 in most cases prevented the enveloping matrix from being pressed 

 down on to the internal cast, so that the external cover generally 

 retains the shape and impression of the original shell, and a mould 



1 Phil. Mag., vol. xxxvii, p. 430 (1850). 



2 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xiii, 1857, p. 83. 



3 Geol. Mag., Dec. IV, Vol. Ill, 1896, p. 247. 



