1858,] MTJECHISON SANDSTONES OF ElOIN. 421 



With the exception of Mr. George Anderson of Inverness, who 

 made known to Professor Sedgwick and myself various geolo- 

 gical phenomena in the North, the next geological inquirer into 

 the structure of Morayshire was the late Dr. J. Malcolmson, a 

 native of that coimty and a medical officer of the East India Com- 

 pany's service, who, being on leave of absence in the years 1838 

 and 1839, prepared a most able sketch of the tract, including the 

 discovery of many remains of fishes. In this sketch, which was read 

 before the Geological Society, 5th June, 1839, Dr. Malcolmson fol- 

 lowed Professor Sedgwick and myself, after an interval of eleven 

 years, in grouping the yellow sandstones and cornstones of Elgin, 

 as we had done, with the Old Red Sandstone. But my lamented 

 friend did much more. He found many fossil fishes unknown to my 

 associate and myself in our rapid transit ; and his memoir was, as I 

 can testify, a most valuable record in showing not only the relative 

 position of the ichthyolites of the formation — and thus of use to 

 Agassiz in his description of them, — but also in proving the natural 

 connexion between the different members of the Old Eed series. 



Owing to the circumstances explained in the prefatory note at 

 p. 336, Dr. Malcolmson's memoir was not printed,- — an able abstract 

 of it, prepared by Mr. Lonsdale, having alone been published. The 

 Rev. G. Gordon*, who has had possession of a copy of this memoir, 

 gave to the world the chief parts of it, as well as extracts from 

 letters, in a late Number of the Edinburgh New Philosophical 

 Journal. 



In the autumn of 1840 I revisited the spots around Altyre and on 

 the Findhorn, which through the discoveries of Dr. Malcolmson and 

 Lady Gordon Gumming, and the publications of Agassiz, had then 

 come prominently into notice ; and, though I published no account 

 of my journey, it was then that I more than ever satisfied myseK 

 that the red sandstones and conglomerates and overlying yellow 

 sandstones and cornstones formed one natural series. I then found 

 that the same ichthyolites as those of Caithness had been detected 

 in a thin argillaceous zone which Professor Sedgwick and myself 

 had considered to be the equivalent of the Caithness Flags in the 

 tracts to the S.E. of Inverness. It was then also that I first saw 

 fossil fishes at the Findhorn and at Scat Craig, south of Elgin ; the 

 latter under the guidance of Mr. G. Gordon. 



Following Dr. Malcolmson, Mr. Patrick Duff, of Elgin, next pub- 

 lished his work entitled * Sketch of the Geology of Moray ' (1849), 

 as put together from twelve letters previously published in the ' Elgin 

 Courant,' illustrated by a geological map prepared by Mr. Martin, 

 of Elgin, who had even then discovered the Old Red fishes of Scat 

 Craig, to the south of Elgin. The author of this work describes in 

 succession the physical geography, and then the various deposits, in 

 descending order, of which either certain debris or small patches 



* In his able review of the proceedings in Morayshire, in which my friend the 

 Rev. G. Gordon has taken a much more active part than he himself mentions, 

 his chief object was to do justice to Dr. Malcolmson. (See Edinburgh New 

 Philosophical Journal, vol. ix. p. 14, January 1859.) 



