﻿154 
  ME. 
  A. 
  STEAHAN 
  ON 
  THE 
  EAISED 
  BEACHES 
  AND 
  [May 
  1897, 
  

  

  Torridon 
  Sandstone 
  were 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  similar 
  causes, 
  and 
  in 
  

   his 
  paper 
  in 
  the 
  ' 
  Geological 
  Magazine' 
  for 
  1880, 
  ( 
  On 
  Pre-Camhrian 
  

   Volcanoes 
  and 
  Glaciers,' 
  he 
  gave 
  the 
  facts 
  then 
  known. 
  He 
  

   congratulated 
  the 
  Author 
  on 
  the 
  admirable 
  manner 
  in 
  which 
  he 
  

   had 
  worked 
  out 
  the 
  evidence 
  now 
  produced 
  from 
  the 
  Yaranger 
  

   Fiord, 
  and 
  on 
  his 
  being 
  able 
  to 
  show 
  so 
  conclusively 
  that 
  the 
  

   views 
  put 
  forward 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Reusch 
  were 
  substantially 
  correct. 
  

  

  Sir 
  Aechibald 
  Geikie 
  congratulated 
  the 
  Author 
  on 
  having 
  been 
  

   more 
  successful 
  in 
  his 
  Arctic 
  expedition 
  than 
  his 
  companions 
  

   the 
  astronomers. 
  Of 
  the 
  various 
  possible 
  interpretations 
  of 
  the 
  

   phenomena 
  described, 
  that 
  adopted 
  in 
  the 
  paper 
  seemed 
  to 
  him 
  

   the 
  most 
  probable. 
  At 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  it 
  was 
  not 
  without 
  its 
  

   difficulties. 
  One 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  obvious 
  of 
  these 
  was 
  presented 
  by 
  the 
  

   striated 
  pavement 
  of 
  quartzite 
  below 
  the 
  boulder-bed. 
  According 
  

   to 
  the 
  Author's 
  observations 
  there 
  appeared 
  to 
  be 
  no 
  break 
  in 
  the 
  

   stratification, 
  the 
  dark 
  boulder-bearing 
  deposit 
  being 
  merely 
  a 
  

   local 
  interruption 
  of 
  one 
  continuous 
  sequence 
  of 
  sedimentation. 
  

   But 
  it 
  was 
  clear 
  that 
  the 
  striated 
  quartzite 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  in- 
  

   durated, 
  possibly 
  even 
  as 
  hard 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  now, 
  before 
  it 
  could 
  receive 
  

   and 
  retain 
  the 
  strise. 
  How 
  could 
  this 
  induration 
  take 
  place 
  under 
  

   water 
  in 
  a 
  continuous 
  series 
  of 
  deposits 
  of 
  loose 
  siliceous 
  sand 
  ? 
  

  

  The 
  objection 
  seemed 
  serious, 
  but 
  it 
  might 
  not 
  prove 
  to 
  be 
  

   insuperable. 
  It 
  was 
  conceivable 
  that, 
  in 
  spite 
  of 
  the 
  apparent 
  

   conformability 
  in 
  the 
  sections 
  examined 
  by 
  the 
  Author, 
  there 
  might 
  

   really 
  be 
  a 
  break 
  of 
  some 
  magnitude 
  represented 
  by 
  the 
  boulder-bed, 
  

   though 
  in 
  that 
  case 
  there 
  would 
  be 
  the 
  objection 
  that 
  it 
  seems 
  unlikely, 
  

   after 
  this 
  prolonged 
  interval, 
  that 
  sediment 
  of 
  precisely 
  the 
  same 
  

   character 
  should 
  be 
  laid 
  down 
  with 
  perfect 
  conformability 
  on 
  the 
  

   previously 
  striated 
  bed 
  of 
  quartzite. 
  If, 
  however, 
  no 
  such 
  chrono- 
  

   logical 
  or 
  stratigraphical 
  break 
  could 
  be 
  detected, 
  there 
  remained 
  the 
  

   possibility 
  that 
  the 
  striated 
  quartzite 
  acquired 
  its 
  induration 
  under 
  

   water 
  and 
  while 
  the 
  immediately 
  overlying 
  sediments 
  were 
  being 
  

   deposited. 
  

  

  A 
  number 
  of 
  instances 
  were 
  now 
  known 
  where 
  silica 
  seems 
  to 
  

   have 
  been 
  deposited, 
  on 
  the 
  whole, 
  contemporaneously 
  with 
  the 
  

   sediment. 
  The 
  Gannister 
  seams 
  of 
  the 
  Carboniferous 
  system 
  might 
  

   be 
  quoted, 
  but 
  still 
  more 
  remarkable 
  was 
  the 
  evidence 
  that 
  the 
  

   radiolarian 
  cherts 
  of 
  the 
  Arenig 
  Series 
  in 
  the 
  South 
  of 
  Scotland 
  had 
  

   become 
  solid 
  stone 
  on 
  the 
  sea-bottom, 
  and 
  had 
  been 
  broken 
  up 
  

   by 
  volcanic 
  explosions 
  into 
  angular 
  fragments 
  which 
  were 
  found 
  in 
  

   the 
  immediately 
  overlying 
  tuffs. 
  

  

  With 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  age 
  of 
  the 
  Gaisa 
  Series, 
  the 
  speaker 
  was 
  

   inclined 
  to 
  adopt 
  the 
  view 
  of 
  Dr. 
  Eeusch, 
  who 
  compared 
  this 
  series 
  

   with 
  the 
  sparagmite 
  of 
  Central 
  and 
  Southern 
  Norway. 
  He 
  himself 
  

   had 
  seen 
  the 
  sparagmite 
  in 
  situ, 
  and 
  had 
  been 
  much 
  struck 
  with 
  

   its 
  general 
  resemblance, 
  both 
  in 
  scenery 
  and 
  in 
  lithology, 
  with 
  the 
  

   Torridonian 
  rocks 
  of 
  N.W. 
  Scotland. 
  It 
  was, 
  like 
  those 
  rocks, 
  

   older 
  than 
  the 
  Cambrian 
  system. 
  An 
  interesting 
  parallel 
  might 
  be 
  

   drawn 
  between 
  the 
  Sutherland 
  sections 
  and 
  those 
  of 
  Norway. 
  The 
  

   Lewisian 
  Gneiss 
  was 
  found 
  to 
  pass 
  in 
  rounded 
  domes 
  and 
  hummocks 
  

   beneath 
  the 
  Torridon 
  Sandstone. 
  These 
  forms 
  so 
  exactly 
  resembled 
  

  

  