1856.] NICOL QUARTZITES, ETC, OF N.W. SCOTLAND 33 



more than a confused mass of carbonaceous markings, more like 

 fucoids than any higher forms. This, however, seems to have arisen 

 in part from the changes the rocks have undergone, as we occasion- 

 ally find straight, cylindrical fragments, like stems or branches of 

 trees, 2 to 4 inches in diameter and 12 to 14 inches long. Some of 

 these are marked with obscure scars, as of leaves or branches. 

 Round or oval markings, like those on the Stigmaria of the coal, 

 are also not uncommon, scattered irregularly over the surface of the 

 rock. On a few specimens they were arranged quincuucially, as on 

 the Stigmaria ; but, from the imperfect nature of the specimens, I 

 would not place much weight on this mere resemblance, though the 

 indications of a higher terrestrial vegetation at this period are of 

 much importance. 



In his ' Western Isles,' Dr. Macculloch mentions his discovery 

 ** in a porous or incompact granular quartz, alternating with the lime- 

 stone," on Loch EriboU, of " conical bodies not exceeding a quarter 

 of an inch in length, being evidently the fragments of Orthoceratites 

 or some analogous fossil, possibly entire shells *." These bodies 

 have subsequently been noticed by other observers; and in 1855 

 Sir R. Murchison and myself found them in considerable numbers. 

 The best-preserved specimens are, as Macculloch states, of a conical 

 form, about a quarter of an inch long, and on the cross fracture 

 show that they have been hollow at the broader end. Their minute 

 size, and the nature of the stone in which they are imbedded, and 

 from which they cannot be separated, render their character un- 

 certain. The want of septa, of which I can discern no trace, shows 

 that they were not Orthoceratites ; and if shells, I should regard them 

 rather as belonging to small Pteropod mollusca. 



By far the most distinct fossils, however, are those found in the 

 Durness limestone, for the discovery of which we are indebted to 

 Mr. Charles Peach. When I visited this place in company with 

 Sir R. Murchison, we found these fossils in considerable abundance, 

 both in the beds described by Mr. Peach, and in others at a lower 

 level. They are principally seen on the surface of the rock where 

 wasted by the sea or weather, but the hard refractory nature of the 

 stone renders it almost impossible to extract them in a state fit for 

 description. The results of a careful examination of these fossils 

 are thus stated by Sir R. Murchison. "It had been suggested that 

 the fossils in question, being of a whorled form, might prove to be 

 the ChjmenicB of the Devonian rocks ; but although, according to 

 Mr. Salter, one or two of them have a certain resemblance to that 

 genus, and some even to Goniatites, the evidence of their being 

 chambered shells is too obscure to decide the case. The principal 

 fossil is probably a Euomphalus : it resembles the Maclurea or 

 Raphistoma of the Lower Silurian rocks, except that the former, to 

 which it most approaches, has a sinistral and not a dextral curve. 

 Even should some of these whorled shells prove to be chambered, 

 there is nothing about them to gainsay their belonging to the Lituitei 



* Vol. ii. pp. 512,513. 

 VOL. XIII. PART I. D 



