KIRKTON. 107 



argillaceous, and calcareous layers, which exhibit, in regard 

 to each other, a perfect parallelism. In position all the rocks 

 afford evident marks of disturbance, they are waved and 

 contorted in the most fantastic manner, these wavings va- 

 rying from an extent which may be recognizable in a small 

 specimen to an undulation of many yards. The limestone 

 contains the usual plants of the coal series, and also fossi- 

 lized wood.* On crossing the country from Kirkton, in the 

 direction of Bathgate, the strata which are exposed in these 

 quarries appear to be cut off by a mass of greenstone, against 

 which, the limestone of Peter's Hill abuts, at an angle of 

 30°, apparently underlying a deposit of trap, which rises 

 immediately above the town of Bathgate. 



In the limestone of Peter's Hill, hornstone is abundant, 

 forming contemporaneous masses ; madrepores also abound, 



* Having forwarded a specimen of the wood from this locality to Mr 

 Nicol of Edinburgh, he very kindly offered to examine it, and after doing 

 so, sent me the following description of its internal structure : 



" Dear Sir, — I have examined the specimen of fossil wood you disco- 

 vered in the carboniferous limestone of Bathgate, and shall now give you 

 the result. 



" Externally the specimen is of a bluish-grey colour ; when recently 

 broken the fracture is greyish-black, but on being polished the bluish- 

 grey colour returns. It is penetrated with veins of quartz and calcare- 

 ous spar, and its hardness is such as to give fire, though faintly, when 

 struck with steel. On inspecting the cross fracture, the ligneous struc- 

 ture, even without being polished, may be distinctly seen. When cut 

 transversely into a thin slice the reticulated texture appears in the 

 most perfect state of preservation, and more closely resembles that of the 

 recent Araucaria than any other fossil I have hitherto met with. To 

 see, however, the structure to advantage, it is necessary that the slice be 

 moistened with water, for when dry its opacity is such as to render the 

 structure very obscure. The longitudinal section parallel to a radius 

 displays with great distinctness the araucarian polygonal discs arranged 

 in single, double, triple, and quadruple rows, but, as in the cross section, 

 to see these in perfection the slice must be penetrated with water, for 

 when dry, even in the thinnest possible slice, the opacity is so great that 

 scarcely a trace of them can any where be seen — Yours, &c. 



"Wm. Nicol." 



