370 MISCELLANEA. 



first lifted up from the surface of the glacial sea during the upris- 

 ing of the land at the end of the last glacial jjeriod, which helped 

 to prepare a soil, by covering up the surface which they had 

 grown upon and inscribed during long years with concentric rings, 

 for the present flora of the temperate zone ; and instead of being, 

 as has been suggested, two or three thousand years old, they 

 may be of such remote antiquity as to be beyond the reach en- 

 tirely of our present method of computing time. 



For many years past I have sought for opportunities to exa- 

 mine for myself the curious markings on the surface of these 

 sandstone rocks on the lofty moors, which extend northwards 

 from Old Bewick to Ford Moss, and probably further in a north- 

 easterly and south-westerly direction. The first opportunity I 

 had was in the neighbourhood of \Yooler, in 1872, where, under 

 the accomplished guidance of Mr. James Hardy, I was led with- 

 out any trouble to examine the fine examples of the so-called 

 sculptured or incised stones which are found on the large flat- 

 tened exposed masses of sandstone spread over a portion of Weet- 

 wood Moor. The surfaces we first examined were very flat, and 

 liad to me the appearance of having been formerly glaciated, (sec 

 Incised Markings on Stone, PI. XVIII.,) and this opinion was 

 strongly supported when by stripping off the heather fi*om some 

 heather-covered rock close by we found the surface smoothed, 

 and striated with strong grooves and delicate scratches, proofs 

 not to be doubted of former glaciation. Such a surface exposed 

 to the action of the weather would soon lose the sharp markings, 

 and would in tlie situation named become soon covered with 

 lichens. It would, in fact, become like the general surface we 

 had examined close by, which was covered with supposed-sculp- 

 tured concentric cii'cles. It struck rae at the time that these 

 circular grooves with central cups were not artificial but natural, 

 and caused by vegetable growth assisted by natural weathering, 

 and that the curious concentric ring-like depressions were in 

 reality due only to tlie periodical growth of a large species of 

 lichen similar to many specimons still growing close by the place 

 we were examining. It etnick mc as remarkable that when the 

 markings were on a slope there was a straight furrow or gutter 



