William Stevenson. By Professor Duns. 293 



Among tlie other communications entrusted to me by Mr D. 

 E. Stevenson, are letters from the Duke of Argyll, Murchison, 

 Sedgwick, Owen, Nicol, and A. Geikie, which are all of value as 

 indicating what share his father had in connection with the rapid 

 progress of Scottish Geology in the course of the last forty years. 

 To give more specimens here would extend this notice beyond 

 reasonable length. Besides, they would require for a setting a 

 statement of the discoveries of contemporary workers which, 

 however suitable as a chapter of biography, would be out of 

 keeping with our present point of view. I content myself with 

 a list of Mr Stevenson's published papers : — " On the stratified 

 rocks of Berwickshire and their imbedded Eemains," {Geol. Soc. 

 Proc. 1843) " Two Lectures on the Geology of the neighbour- 

 hood of Dunse, delivered at the Mechanics' Institute," {Berwick 

 Advertiser, Dec. 1844) " On the Geology of Cockburnslaw and 

 the adjoining District," {Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin. 1849) "On a 

 gap in the Grauwacke formation of the Eastern Lammermuirs," 

 {Qeol. Soc. Janr. 1850) " Eemarks on certain traces of a forma- 

 tion of Primary Quartz rock which appears to have at one time 

 existed in the south of Scotland," {Roy. Rhys. Soc. Proc. 1850, 

 sl'&o Berwick. Nat. Club Proc. 1864) "Lecture on Geology at 

 Eyemouth," {Berwick Advertiser, Jan. 1851) "On Bedshiel 

 Kaimes and their relations to similar deposits eastward and 

 westward," {Berwick. Nat. Club Rtoc. 1864) " On the origin of 

 Granite," {Roy. Phys. Proc. 1864) The object of this paper was 

 to expound and illustrate the following Proposition : — " Granite 

 is the result of Molten Eelspar, of rocks adjacent to the place of 

 eruption." His illustrations are from Glencoe, Ben Nevis, 

 Morvern, Ben Cruachan, Arran, and Aberdeenshire. "Notes 

 on certain Spiral forms," {Do. Do.) The subject referred to 

 in these notes is the spiral appearance seen in the course of 

 streams a subject which has not yet been fully worked out. He 

 says " It will be observed that on the right bank of the stream the 

 spiral form is from left to right, or similar to that of the hands of 

 a watch, whilst on the left bank it is from right toleft,"(Do. p. 865.) 

 " Notes of plants from Old Eed Sandstone, Dunse," {Do. Do.) 

 " On evidence of Ice Action in Berwickshire," {Ber. Nat. Club 

 Proc. 1874). In 1876 Mr Stevenson forwarded to Mr E. Ether- 

 idge, Jun., of the Geol. Sur. Scot., fragments of fossils found by 

 him in Kimmerghame Quarry, saying at the same time that he 

 guessed them to be fragments of Eurypterus larger than E. 



