708 J. W. JTTDD ON THE SECONDARY ROCKS OP SCOTLAND. 



in character to the equivalent strata in Broadford Bay, Skye. In 

 these beds I found the following fossils, which are tolerably abun- 

 dant : — Ammonites BrooJcii, Quenst. (non Sow.) ; A. semicostatus, Y. 

 & B. ; A. falcaries, Quenst. ; A. Sauzeanus, d'Orb. ; Belemnites acutus, 

 Mill. ; and the abnormal form of Gryphcea arcuata, Lam., which is 

 characteristic of this horizon in the Lower-Lias series. 



In the district of Morvern the Lower-Lias strata are especially 

 well developed, and are remarkable alike for the abundance of their 

 fossils and the striking agreement in character with the equivalent 

 beds in England. 



• Nowhere, indeed, can the Lower Lias of the "Western Highlands 

 be studied to greater advantage than on the shores of " green Loch 

 Aline," which opens on the eastern side of the Sound of Mull. On 

 the western side of the Loch, a few hundred yards above the village, 

 the floors of Lower-Lias limestone form reefs on the shore which 

 are uncovered at low water ; and from these the fossils, beautifully 

 weathered out, can be collected in the greatest abundance and per- 

 fection. The beds have a gentle dip to the south, and are seen to 

 be covered unconformably by the strata of Upper-Greensand age, 

 which are so well exhibited here. Further up the Loch, and on the 

 same side of it, there are two old quarries where the stone has been 

 worked for lime-burning ; and at various points in the wooded cliff 

 and along the shelving shore exposed at low-water the same beds 

 can be traced. 



Crossing to the opposite or eastern side of the Loch we find, be- 

 sides numerous small exposures, a magnificent section, probably not 

 less than 70 or 80 feet in depth, showing admirably the alternating 

 floors of Lower-Lias limestone and shale crowded with fossils. This 

 is certainly one of the finest and most interesting sections of the 

 Lias in the Western Highlands ; the number and beauty of pre- 

 servation of the organic remains are surprising, and are sufficiently 

 remarkable, indeed, to arrest the attention even of an observer 

 accustomed to the most admirable and fossiliferous exposures of 

 the English Lias. 



Near Ardtornish Point, outside Loch Aline, at the part of the 

 shore below the famous Castle which stretches furthest to the 

 southwards, beds of limestone, crowded with the typical forms of 

 Gryphcea arcuata, Lam., and Lima gigantea, Sow., are seen in the 

 reefs exposed at low water. Here I collected several very large 

 specimens of Ammonites BucJclandi, Sow. Still further to the east, 

 where the grand basaltic cliffs of Ardtornish commence, theBucJdandi- 

 beds, crowded with the same characteristic fossils, are again exposed 

 on the shore near the keeper's lodge ; and a ruined lime-kiln close 

 by indicates that the beds were once burnt for lime at this point. 



Inland, around the shores of Loch Arienas (L. Conich), the Lias 

 strata are nowhere exposed except in the remarkable outlier of 

 Beinn-y-Hattan. Over a great part of this area there is an uncon- 

 formable overlap of the Upper-Greensand and overlying Cretaceous 

 strata, the Lias strata having been removed by denudation before 

 the deposition of the Cretaceous rocks. The section at Beinn-y- 



