1850.] HARKNESS — NEW RED SANDSTONE, DUMFRIESSHIRE. 393 



that bear the marks of footsteps. These impressions have a general 

 resemblance to those of Corncockle Muir, near Lochmaben, figured 

 in the twenty-sixth plate of 'Buckland's Bridgewater Treatise.' 



From Locherbrigs the sandstone runs northward for about two 

 miles, then taking an easterly direction occupies the southern portion 

 of the parish of Kirkmichael, and crossing the river Kinnel extends 

 itself into the parish of Lochmaben. 



It is in the north part of this parish that the quarry of Corncockle 

 Muir, the first locality in Great Britain which afforded fossil footsteps, 

 occurs. Although, strictly speaking, this district is not included in 

 the Vale of the Nith, yet it is occupied by a portion of the same new 

 red sandstone which is found in the neighbourhood of Dumfries, and 

 may therefore be considered along with it. Here the dip of the 

 strata is about 34° due west ; and the beds vary in thickness from 

 about a foot to four feet. The faces of the beds are in general sepa- 

 rated from each other by very thin layers of clay, and when this is 

 removed they have, in some instances, the same burnished aspect as 

 the faces of the flags of the neighbourhood of Dumfries. It is on 

 these fine faces and on the intervening fine red clay that we meet 

 with the footsteps which have rendered this quarry so remarkable. 

 The general character of the impressions is similar to those which 

 Locherbrigs, Craigs, and Green Mill afford. They are, however, 

 usually larger and more abundant, and do not appear to be confined 

 to any particular bed. 



Another quarry is wrought at Templand Village, about half a mile 

 south from Corncockle. The dip is about 30° west. No clay-part- 

 ings are met with between the beds, nor do any impressions occur. 



At Ross, in the parish of Kirkmichael, the sandstone has a south- 

 westerly dip at an angle of about 30°. In the adjoining parish of 

 Kirkmahoe, at Quarrel Wood, the dip is about 20° W.S.W., and the 

 beds vary in thickness from one and a half to four feet. 



The sandstone has also been wrought at Milliganton in Dunscore, 

 on the western side of the river Nith. Here the rock is thick-bedded, 

 and approaches in its nature the higher beds of the Craigs quarry. 



In a quarry at the eastern extremity of the property of Nether- 

 wood, the lower beds have a regular dip towards the south-west at a 

 small angle ; these beds are solid and of considerable thickness, and 

 sometimes appear to be cherty, but have the same uniform red colour 

 which prevails amongst the sandstones of this district. In the north- 

 west corner of the quarry are some beds overlying those above de- 

 scribed ; these are in a great measure false-bedded, and are of less 

 thickness than the underlying strata. At their upper portions they 

 undergo great change in composition, in some cases being mixed 

 with coarse conglomerate. Some of the beds have their lower parts 

 composed almost entirely of this conglomerate, which gradually passes 

 upwards into common sandstone. 



' Other beds furnish instances of a structure the reverse of this, viz. 

 where the upper part is conglomerate and the lower fine-grained. 

 It also sometimes happens that in one or two of the beds of conglo- 

 merate which compose the entire thickness of a stratum, the conglo- 



