218 PEOCEEBINGS OP THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [Jan. 25, 



the exposure perfectly, appears from the original published account, 

 as well as from statements made to Mr. Landsborough and myself 

 by persons who had some of the shells in their possession, or had 

 seen them with their friends. 



Such is the evidence on which I propose to remove the fossils from 

 the Boulder-clay and place them in the beds beneath. There is the 

 concurrent testimony of five witnesses, examined independently and 

 without the manifestation of any bias or preconceived view, which, 

 while to some extent dishonest in me, would have been to them 

 unintelligible. There is the agreement of this testimony with the 

 account in a weekly newspaper, pubhshed a fortnight after, and the 

 consistency of both with the sections of the beds laid open by the 

 excavation. On these grounds I do not hesitate to place all the fossils 

 below the Boulder- clay. But the precise age of the deposit cannot 

 be fixed in the absence of shells of known species*. The abundance 

 of Mammoth-remains suggests a correspondence with the Cromer 

 forest-bed of the Norfolk coast, the chief repository of the remains 

 of this species, though they occur also rarely in beds above the 

 Boulder-clay. It is not meant, however, that our deposit is not a 

 member of the Glacial series, for the Boulder-clay merely marks the 

 climax reached by refrigerating causes which had long operated. 

 It is only intended in the meantime to indicate an analogy : the facts 

 do not warrant an attempt at classification. Another analogy with 

 the Enghsh series is presented by the estuarine character of the Kil- 

 maurs deposit. The beds of sand, sandy gravel, and clay underneath 

 the Till have all the characters of such a deposit, or one formed 

 near a river-mouth on the sea-shore. This opinion, formed on the 

 first inspection of the section, was afterwards confirmed by chemical 

 examination of the sand, in which a small quantity of common salt 

 was detected. The Woodhill quarry is 90 feet above the level of the 

 sea, and five miles distant from it in a direct line. 



* Shells of several genera were undoubtedly found with the Elephant-remains 

 on both occasions ; but no certain knowledge is now to be obtained regarding the 

 species. The Earl of Eglinton very kindly informs me that those which were 

 placed in the collection at Eglinton Castle are not now to be found. A Kil- 

 marnock lady, now resident in Grlasgow, who had an early fondness for Con- 

 chology, assures me that several shells obtained from the proprietor of the 

 Woodhill quarry were at one time in her possession ; they were given away, 

 however, on her leaving the neighbourhood many years ago, and afterwards 

 lost. Having a knowledge of shells, the lady was able to describe them in such 

 a way that I have no doubt there were several bivalves, a large Fecten or Cyprina, 

 a Mactra or My a, and a few univalves, probably Natica, Litorina, and Turrifella. 

 The Rev. D. Landsborough, of Kilmarnock, has taken much trouble in instituting 

 a most persevering search among the scattered members of the various families 

 whom he knew to be in any way connected with the discovery, but, I regret to 

 say, without success. 



