﻿50 PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [Dec, 4, 



To the west of this point the direction of this line of dark shales 

 and anthracite becomes obscured. Jt is probable, however, that after 

 traversing the moorlands to pass under the red sandstone of the 

 lower portion of the vale of the Nith, it is this same band which re- 

 appears in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, near Shawhead, in the 

 parish of Kirkpatrick Irongrey ; then, following the course of the 

 range of hills which runs through the north-western part of that 

 parish, reappears again at Larghill, in the parish of Urr, at which 

 place also a horizontal shaft has been driven into it in search of coal. 

 From hence it continues westward, and is found exposed in a brook- 

 course near Largnairn, in the parish of Kirkpatrick Durham, and 

 here also coal has been sought for in it. It reappears afterwards at 

 a place called Coal Heugh, near the river Tarff, in the parish of 

 Tongueland, about ten miles E.S.E. from the last-mentioned locality. 



Third Band. — Returning again to the borders of Selkirkshire to 

 trace another band, we meetwith the anthracite beds and the graptolitic 

 shales about four miles south of Dobbs Linn, near Wind Fell. They 

 occur along the course of a brook called Selcoth Burn, which runs into 

 the Moffat Water from the eastward. About two miles east of the 

 junction of these streams is a spot called Craigmichean Scarrs, and 

 here we have the anthracite developed to a much greater extent than 

 at any other locality. Commencing at the lower part of the burn, grey- 

 wacke sandstone, intercalated with shales and dipping N.N.W. at an 

 angle of about 73°, continues for about a mile to where a small rivulet 

 enters from the north. Here the character of the deposits changes 

 entirely, and the anthracite and shales, with and without Graptolites, 

 occur. The hills formed by the anthracitic strata in this neighbour- 

 hood present a wide difference, both in contour and vegetation, from 

 the greywacke hills surrounding them. They are very barren, and 

 are somewhat conical in form, having pointed summits, and their 

 sides are covered with the debris of the broken and decomposed 

 shales, through which are thrust pyramidal and boss-shaped masses 

 of anthracite. Hence the wild and desolate scenery of Craigmichean 

 Scarrs. The springs which issue from the lower parts of the hills 

 are strongly impregnated with hydrous peroxide of iron, and have a 

 yellow colour. The pisiform concretions of iron-pyrites were found 

 here in a fragment of one of the shales, and Graptolites are also to be 

 met with, but they are far from common ; it might be, however, that 

 the beds containing them in the greatest abundance are covered up 

 by the de'bris of the shale. The anthracite is here much contorted ; 

 it is also harder than usual, and is traversed in all directions by 

 small veins of quartz. We also find the anthracite in the Bell Craig 

 Burn, about four miles E.S.E. from Craigmichean Scarrs. The 

 lower portion of this burn, which joins the river Annan from the 

 north-east, in the parish of Kirkpatrick-Juxta, is occupied by the 

 red sandstone ; but about half a mile above the Bell Craig Linns the 

 anthracite, with its accompanying shales, is seen. The course of the 

 brook cuts these beds obliquely, and affords good sections of the 

 strata. The lower parts consist of the contorted anthracite, which is 

 overlaid by more regularly bedded shales, abounding in Graptolites, 



