﻿OF 
  THE 
  ABEEDEEXSHIEE 
  COAST. 
  167 
  

  

  natum, 
  Dentalium 
  entails, 
  Turritella 
  communis, 
  Trophon 
  clathratus, 
  

   Littorina 
  limata, 
  and 
  Panopcea 
  norvegica. 
  

  

  One 
  or 
  two 
  instances 
  have 
  occurred 
  of 
  the 
  remains 
  of 
  a 
  small 
  fish. 
  

   Thus 
  in 
  1870, 
  at 
  the 
  Tipperty 
  pit 
  near 
  Ellon, 
  the 
  skeleton 
  of 
  one 
  

   was 
  got 
  about 
  12 
  or 
  15 
  feet 
  below 
  the 
  surface 
  ; 
  this 
  I 
  saw. 
  The 
  

   length 
  of 
  it 
  was 
  41 
  inches, 
  of 
  which 
  the 
  head-like 
  portion 
  measured 
  

   2 
  inches. 
  And 
  at 
  the 
  pit 
  at 
  Torry 
  farm, 
  near 
  Aberdeen, 
  some 
  

   vertebrae 
  of 
  a 
  small 
  fish 
  were 
  got 
  in 
  1859, 
  deep 
  down 
  in 
  the 
  bed 
  of 
  

   Eed 
  Clay. 
  There 
  have 
  also 
  been 
  some 
  instances 
  of 
  bird-skeletons. 
  

  

  Many 
  years 
  ago 
  the 
  skeleton 
  of 
  a 
  bird 
  was 
  got 
  in 
  the 
  Invernettie 
  

   clay, 
  near 
  Peterhead, 
  at 
  the 
  depth 
  of 
  about 
  30 
  feet 
  beneath 
  the 
  surface. 
  

   Mr. 
  Yule, 
  who 
  had 
  it 
  in 
  his 
  possession 
  for 
  some 
  time, 
  told 
  me 
  it 
  was 
  

   almost 
  complete 
  and 
  seemed 
  to 
  have 
  belonged 
  to 
  a 
  bird 
  of 
  large 
  

   size. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  Seaton 
  clay-pit 
  the 
  skeleton 
  of 
  what 
  seems 
  undoubtedly 
  to 
  

   have 
  been 
  an 
  Eider 
  Duck 
  was 
  got. 
  It 
  is 
  now 
  in 
  the 
  Museum 
  at 
  

   Marischal 
  College, 
  and 
  bears 
  the 
  following 
  label, 
  " 
  Bones 
  of 
  Eider 
  

   Duck, 
  Somateria 
  mollissima*, 
  from 
  Seaton 
  brickwork, 
  17 
  feet 
  deep.. 
  

   Donor, 
  Alex. 
  Nicol, 
  Esq. 
  Feb. 
  1875." 
  It 
  includes 
  the 
  upper 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  

   skull 
  with 
  the 
  upper 
  mandible, 
  bones 
  of 
  the 
  leg 
  and 
  foot 
  and 
  a 
  large 
  

   part 
  of 
  the 
  rest 
  of 
  the 
  skeleton. 
  Another 
  bird-skeleton 
  was 
  got 
  in 
  

   the 
  same 
  pit 
  before, 
  but 
  not 
  preserved. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  Clayhills 
  pit 
  at 
  Aberdeen 
  the 
  imperfect 
  skeleton 
  of 
  what 
  is 
  

   thought 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  a 
  duck 
  was 
  got 
  a 
  good 
  many 
  years 
  ago, 
  30 
  feet 
  

   beneath 
  the 
  surface 
  in 
  the 
  Eed 
  Clay, 
  and 
  is 
  also 
  in 
  Marischal 
  College 
  

   Museum. 
  

  

  Some 
  imperfect 
  remains 
  of 
  Starfishes 
  (Ophiura) 
  were 
  also 
  got 
  at 
  

   the 
  same 
  place, 
  according 
  to 
  Prof. 
  jSTicolf. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  Eed 
  Clay 
  at 
  Auchmaccy 
  brickwork, 
  part 
  of 
  a 
  Seal's 
  skull'was 
  

   got 
  in 
  March 
  1858, 
  and 
  was 
  for 
  some 
  time 
  in 
  my 
  possession. 
  

  

  Such 
  is 
  the 
  meagro 
  list 
  of 
  what 
  has 
  been 
  found 
  in 
  this 
  red 
  clay 
  of 
  

   the 
  Aberdeenshire 
  coast. 
  For 
  a 
  marine 
  deposit 
  the 
  scantiness 
  of 
  

   fossils 
  is 
  surprising; 
  for 
  the 
  greater 
  part 
  of 
  it 
  seems 
  absolutely 
  

   barren. 
  So 
  much 
  is 
  this 
  the 
  case 
  that 
  the 
  late 
  Dr. 
  Fleming 
  J, 
  who 
  

   knew 
  it 
  well, 
  thought 
  it 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  accumulated 
  in 
  the 
  water 
  

   of 
  some 
  immense 
  lake 
  into 
  which 
  the 
  sea 
  had 
  made 
  only 
  a 
  temporary 
  

   irruption. 
  The 
  organic 
  remains, 
  however, 
  such 
  as 
  they 
  are, 
  imply 
  

   that 
  the 
  water 
  was 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  sea 
  ; 
  but 
  their 
  extreme 
  scantiness 
  

   seems 
  to 
  point 
  to 
  a 
  sea 
  in 
  which 
  marine 
  life 
  was 
  far 
  from 
  abun- 
  

   dant. 
  

  

  * 
  Prof. 
  Turner 
  of 
  Edinburgh, 
  in 
  his 
  account 
  of 
  remains 
  of 
  Seals 
  got 
  in 
  the 
  

   clay-beds 
  of 
  Scotland 
  (Proc. 
  of 
  Roy. 
  Soc. 
  of 
  Edin. 
  1869-70, 
  p. 
  105), 
  mentions 
  

   that 
  Dr. 
  Page 
  informed 
  him 
  that 
  nearly 
  perfect 
  skeletons 
  of 
  the 
  Surf 
  and 
  Eider 
  

   Ducks 
  had 
  been 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  Shatheden 
  clay. 
  Prof. 
  Turner 
  refers 
  the 
  Seal 
  

   skeletons 
  he 
  examined 
  to 
  the 
  Arctic 
  sp. 
  Pagomys 
  foetidus. 
  The 
  skull 
  -fragment 
  I 
  

   got 
  from 
  the 
  Auchmacoy 
  clay 
  may 
  possibly 
  have 
  belonged 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  species. 
  

   I 
  sent 
  it 
  to 
  Prof. 
  Owen 
  ; 
  but 
  the 
  great 
  anatomist 
  was 
  probably 
  too 
  busy 
  at 
  the 
  

   time, 
  and 
  I 
  heard 
  nothing 
  of 
  it. 
  

  

  t 
  Brit. 
  Assoc. 
  Report 
  for 
  1859. 
  

  

  | 
  Lithology 
  of 
  Edinburgh, 
  p. 
  80. 
  

  

  Q. 
  J. 
  G. 
  S. 
  No. 
  150. 
  k 
  

  

  