174 



PEOCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [Jan. 11, 



laminated clay, which probably has been a deep-water deposit, and 

 seems to have been heaved up and its surface water- worn before 

 the deposition of the next bed, or that containing the shells ; and 

 thirdly, above aU, we have the beach-hke gravel. The top of the 

 section is not more than 25 feet above the present reach of the tide. 



Yis. 4, — Section at Kilchattan Brkk-worTc, in Bute. 



1. Sandstone-rock. 



2. Boulder-earth. 



3. Fine laminated clay. 



4. Shell-bed. 



5. Stratified gravel and shingle. 



In 1860 I examined several of these clays of the west coast ; 

 they occur in a great number of places along the shores of Argyle- 

 shire, and, coming from the comparatively barren district of the 

 east coast, I was dehghted with the abundance and fine preservation 

 of the fossils ; for in Aberdeenshire and on the east coast generally 

 the shells are usually much broken, or, if found entire, they are so 

 decayed as to be with difficulty obtained in a state fit for exami- 

 nation. 



Many of the localities on the west coast have been explored and 

 described by Mr. Smith of Jordan Hill, Hugh MiUer, Mr. Geikie of 

 the Geological Survey, the Rev. Mr. M'Bride, Mr. Crosskey of Glas- 

 gow, and probably others. The localities, however, where shells 

 occur are so numerous that doubtless much remains to be done*. 

 One of the most remarkable circumstances connected with them is 

 that they are, as I have already mentioned, for the most part con- 

 fined to very low levels, and to the immediate vicinity of the coast. 

 I have observed them on the shores of Upper Loch Fjne, and in my 

 paper " On the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy"t have described an in- 

 stance near Fort William, which was also explored about the same, 

 time by Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys, who gave an excellent account of the 

 fossil contents in the British Association Reports for 1862. This 

 shell-bed near Fort William I believe to represent one of the last 

 stages of the submergence. In the south of Arran, however, the 

 Rev. R. B. Watson has discovered these shell-beds at much higher 

 levels. 



It wiU be seen from the list given in the Appendix, No. 1, that of 

 fifty-four species enumerated from the east side of Scotland, all, 

 according to Mr. Jeffreys, are now found living in the Arctic seas, 

 none are extinct, thirty-two are still living on the, coasts of Britain, 



* The Rev. Mr. Crosstey, who has made large collections of the fossUs, and 

 has an intimate knowledge of the glacial beds, wiU, I hope, soon favour us with 

 a paper on the subject. 



t Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xix. p. 235. 



