Mr. Tate on the Beriviclshire Mountain Limestone Fauna. 149 



Fauna of the Mountain Limestone Formation on the Berwickshire coast, 

 tvith a preliminary notice of the succession of the strata on the Eastern 

 Borders. Bj Geo. Tate, F.G.S 



Living plants and animals, observed within the district of the 

 Club, have been carefull}^ noticed in its Transactions ; few, how- 

 ever, of the extinct organisms have been recorded. An attempt 

 was made to fill tip a blank, by the Monograph on the Fossil 

 Plants, which was published in the ''Natural History of the 

 Eastern Borders ;" and lists have been given in our Transactions 

 of animal remains found on the Farne, at Beadnell, and at Howick. 

 But as an excuse, why so little has been accomplished in this de- 

 partment of natural history, it should be recollected, that the 

 scientific study of fossils is but of recent origin, and that the 

 collection and accurate determination of them demand much time 

 and labour. Materials, however, have been gradually accumu- 

 lating to illustrate the Palaeontology of the district, ancl it may be 

 hoped, that, at no very distant period, an ample catalogue of our 

 fossils may be completed. Meantime as ^^ Ars longa est, sed vita 

 hrevis,^^ I purpose giving, as opportunity offers and as far as I am 

 able, lists of the extinct organisms which may be observed in locali- 

 ties visited time after time by the Club ; but these lists will be 

 far from exhausting the subject, for many fossils are found in an 

 imperfect state, and do not possess the characters requisite for 

 correct determination, while many more will remain, for years to 

 come, locked uj) in their rocky cabinets. 



As preliminary to these lists, a brief and general sketch of the 

 succession and range of the strata in the border counties of Ber- 

 wickshire and Northiimberland will be of some use. 



The formations belong to the Palaeozoic Era, and in ascending 

 order are — 



I. — The Cambrian of Sedgwick or Lower Silurian of 

 Murchison. 

 n. — The Devonian or Old Eed Sandstone. 

 III. — The Carboniferotis. 

 TV. — The Permian or Magnesian Limestone. 



I. — The Cambrian or Lower Silurian xoc\q form the Lammer- 

 muir hills, the axis of Berwickshire ; and range across the county 

 in a west-south-west direction from Siccar Point and Bu.rnmouth, 

 in a belt having an average width of about ten miles. The rock 

 is generally Grej^wacke and Greywacke slate. This formation is 

 prolonged into Selkirkshire and Poxburghshire, and thence into 

 the western part of Northumberland, where it is seen on the 

 flanks of the Porphyry of the Cheviot on the Coquet above Philip, 

 and again in a similar position at Whitelee on the Peed near 

 to Carter Fell. The only undoubted organic remain discovered 

 in this formation in our district is a Graptolite, which was found 

 by Mr. Wm. Stevenson, on the Dye Water ; he has also noticed 

 some curious markings on slabs, for which he thinks it is difficult 

 to account without supposing the influence of organic agency."^' It 



* Proceedings of the Geolog-ical Society, Yol. IV., p. 29. 

 Kk 



