io8 The Influence of Volcanic Action [Sess. 



Vs[,—THE INFLUENCE OF VOLCANIC ACTION ON 

 THE SCENERY OF SCOTLAND. 



By Mr JAMES KITCHIE, M.A., B.Sc. 

 {Communicated Dec. 23^ 1908.) 



In these days the idea of the gradual development of things 

 has become so much a part of the naturalist's mental outfit 

 that, unconsciously, it tinges his whole outlook. Things are 

 scarcely what they seem, they are infinitely more significant. 

 The full-grown bird signifies not only the climax of the indi- 

 vidual story of a developing egg and growing chick, but in it is 

 discerned a stage in the history of a long series of experiments 

 whereby Nature has been slowly evolving a mechanism efficient 

 for flight. Everywhere in life there is evolution or develop- 

 ment. Nothing stands still. The world is not a state, it is 

 a stage. 



Full of such notions, the naturalist looks with fresh eyes 

 upon the face of earth. Here, too, all is transition; land 

 surfaces change not less certainly, though less noticeably, than 

 living things themselves. Valleys are seen to be literally the 

 furrows of age carved on the weather-beaten face of earth 

 by long periods of exposure to nature's destroying agents. 

 The " everlasting " hills lose their immortality (though not 

 a whit of their grandeur, as some would tell us), and gain a 

 history instead. So a land surface, a country's scenery indeed, 

 is undergoing constant change; it is steadily developing; it 

 has behind it a story, the discovery of which adds romance 

 to the naturalist's view. Confining ourselves to a single 

 theme in this complicated history, we shall trace briefly 

 the influence of volcanic action on the development of the 

 scenery of Scotland. 



It is scarcely credible that, for its size, Scotland exhibits a 

 more extensive record of the long - continued activity of 

 volcanoes than any other country in the world. Such is the 

 case, nevertheless. And yet we look as vainly for great 

 crater- topped mountains as we look for cinder clouds and 

 lava streams. And this because our country is an old one. 



