Vol. 63.~] THE FLORA. OF THE INFERIOR OOLITE OF BRORA. 375 



25. The Flora of the Inferior Oolite of Brora (Sutherland). 

 By Marie C. Stopes, D.Sc, Ph.D., Lecturer in Manchester 

 University. (Communicated by Prof. J. W. Judd, C.B., F.R.S., 

 F.G.S. Bead June 19th, 1907.) 



[Plate XXVII.] 



The object of this paper is to place on record the discovery of a bed 

 containing plant-impressions in the Oolites of Brora in Sutherland r 

 which represent a flora bearing a strong likeness to that of the In- 

 ferior Oolites of the Yorkshire coast, and to give a short description 

 of the Scottish plants. 



In Prof. Judd's (73) 1 classic memoir on the Secondary rocks of 

 Scotland, the description given of the district round Brora in Suther- 

 land shows that it is the most favourable locality for studying the 

 Secondary formations of the country. Near the little town of Brora 

 the beds are well exposed, and are of economic importance on account 

 of the workable coal and building- stone which they supply. It is 

 not necessary to point out how little there is left in Scotland of the 

 rocks of Oolitic age. 



Notwithstanding its inaccessibility, the Brora district had been 

 referred to by geologists even before the time of Murchison, the 

 coal-pit having been first sunk in the Oolitic coal in 1598 by the 

 Countess of Sutherland. Repeated borings have been made since, 

 and the mine, although stopped down in the early part of the nine- 

 teenth century, is at present again in active work. This practically 

 unique case of an extensive coal-mine in the Oolites has attracted 1 , 

 the attention of geologists, yet remarkably little is to be found in 

 the literature about the fossil-plants of the coal-bearing beds. In 

 a paper by Hugh Miller (62) in his well-known book, some plant- 

 impressions are mentioned, but most of the specimens are from the 

 higher beds ; while, in the very important paper by Mr. Carruthers 

 (70), only the Cycadean flora of the Upper Oolite of the district (the 

 Kimeridgean of Helmsdale) is dealt with, no mention being made 

 of the plants of the Inferior Oolite, which may be supposed to have 

 formed the coal at Brora. 



The likeness of the fauna of the Brora beds to that of the beds 

 of similar age on the Yorkshire coast was early recognized, and 

 Murchison (27), p. 316, states that : 



' The several parts of this deposit have been brought into comparison with 

 certain portions of the English Oolitic Series, solely by the help of zoolo- 

 gical characters. This generalization is fully confirmed by the phenomena 

 presented on the Yorkshire coast. We have there a repetition of the pecu- 

 liarities of the Brora coal-field and some of the same fossil plants.' 



1 Numerals in parentheses after authors' names refer to the dates in the 

 Bibliographical List, p. 381. 



