Edinburgh Geological Society. 229 



laren as Greywacke. Eeference was made to Maclaren's " Geology 

 of Fife and the LotWans," in which the author shows that these 

 rocks differ little in lithological character throughout the Esk and 

 Lynn Water sections. Messrs. Henderson and Brown held that the 

 whole of the vertical beds in the North Esk and Lynn Water sec- 

 tions formed one unbroken series. From the fact that they had 

 found Ludlow fossils in the strata at the base of the supposed " Old 

 Eed" beds, and none of them exclusively passage-bed forms, they 

 were of opinion that all the vertical beds seen in the Pentland Hills 

 belong to the Silurian formation. 



2. " The Fifeshire Gold Diggings of 1852 and their Lessons," By 

 W. Lauder Lindsay, M.D., F.E.S.E. — Dr. Lindsay first gave an 

 accoimt of the various gold-manias in Scotland, etc., particularly that 

 of West Lomond Hill, which lasted a month (in May, 1852), and 

 was visited by probably 6000 gold-seekers. Here the substance 

 obtained was iron pyrites from the Carboniferous limestone. The 

 author considers such mistakes cannot again occur, so many persons 

 having visited true gold-producing quartz-reefs and auriferous drifts 

 in Australia and elsewhere. He had satisfied himself that Suther- 

 landshire was a true auriferous region. 



3. " Preliminary Eeport on the Sutherlandshire Gold." By 

 the same author. Dr. Lindsay having carefully compared the 

 character of a sample of gold found at Kildonan, Sutherlandshire, 

 obtained through Mr. P.G.Wilson, of Inverness, with samples from New 

 Zealand, Nova Scotia, Leadhills, Scotland, concludes that the Kil- 

 donan gold is of high average quality. The amount in which it 

 occurs has not yet been satisfactorily proved. Specimens of the 

 Kildonan gold were exhibited, G, A. P. 



II. The eighth meeting took place on the 18th March — George 

 Lyon, Esq., in the chair. The following papers were read; — 1. 

 " Notes on the Geology of Derwentwater, in Cumberland." By 

 Henry Alleyne Nicholson, D.Sc, M.B., F.G.S. 



The author commenced by pointing out that the hills on the western 

 side of the lake were very different in external features from those of 

 the eastern side ; the former being pointed and comparatively smooth, 

 whilst the latter were extremely irregular, rough, and broken. The 

 cause of this difference had remained unnoticed until the author (in 

 November 1868), found that the western side of the lake was formed 

 almost entirely of the Skiddaw Slates, which extended up to the 

 mouth of Borrowdale ; whereas the eastern side was composed of the 

 igneous series of the Green Slates and Porphyries. The proper line 

 of junction between the Skiddaw Slates and Green Slates was at Kes- 

 wick, this line was continued for a short distance on the western side 

 of the lake, the Skiddaw Slates being then repeated by a great E.N.E. 

 and W.S.W. fault. (See Geol. Mag., Vol. VI., p. 105), On the 

 eastern side of the lake, however, this did not occur, and the trap of 

 the Castle Head, near Keswick, was conformably succeeded by a 

 mass of breccia corresponding to the great slate band at the mouth of 

 Borrowdale. There was thus a difference of more than two miles 



