138 PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [Jan. 8, 



at Spynie * and other points at which they are seen is such as en- 

 tirely to harmonize with and confirm this conclusion. 



"When, however, we seek for information as to the strata which re- 

 spectively underlie andsucceed this formation, we find that the greatest 

 differences of opinion prevail. Nowhere in Elginshire has the Cherty 

 Bock of Stotfield heen seen to be covered by any other beds ; indeed 

 it is the remarkable indestructibility of that stratum which, as 

 pointed out by Sir Roderick Murchison, ha6 led to the preservation 

 of the several ridges of sandstone, which rise like islands in the 

 midst of a sea of drift. Whenever it is well exposed, as at In- 

 verugie and Linksfield, the upper surface of the Cherty Rock of 

 Stotfield exhibits the most beautiful glacial polishing and stria- 

 tion. The fact that this rock is never found succeeded by any other 

 formation in the Elgin district has been very strongly insisted upon 

 by several authors, especially by Mr. Dufff and Professor Hark- 

 ness J. 



Similarly we seek in vain for any clear and undisputed section 

 showing the Reptiliferous Sandstone in overlying contact with any 

 other rock. 



As the several exposures of the various rocks in the Elgin district 

 are often miles distant from one another, and the inclination of the 

 beds considerable, views of the most diverse character have been 

 maintained by different geologists as to the relations of the different 

 rocks underlying the drifts in this district, even when they agree in 

 regard to the primary question of their age. In illustration of this 

 it is only necessary to point to the sections of Sir R. I. Murchison § 

 and Professor Harkness|| taken along the same line of country. 



The rocks which in the Elgin district are developed in the imme- 

 diate neighbourhood of the disputed formation are proved by the 

 most unquestionable evidence to belong to the Old-Red-Sandstone 

 system ; and from the general positions, relations, and dips of the 

 several patches of rock exposed, we shoidd be led to conclude that 

 the strata in question belonged, if the country were not a greatly 

 faulted one, to that system. 



In support of this view it has been pointed out that in the higher 

 division of the Old Red Sandstone there exist light-coloured arena- 

 ceous strata, not very dissimilar in character to the Reptiliferous 

 Sandstone ; while the Cherty Rock of Stotfield has been thought com- 

 parable to some of those concretionary limestones or cornstones 

 which are not unfrequently found in the Old Red. 



On the other hand it is a remarkable fact that, while in almost 

 every quarry opened in these higher beds of the Old Red Sandstone 

 remains, more or less numerous, have been found of the charac- 

 teristic fishes of that system, the Reptiliferous Sandstone, which has 



* See Captain Brickenden's Paper, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. vii. (1853) 

 p. 289. 



t Sketch of the Geology of Moray (1842), p. 24. 



\ Quart. Journ. Geol. Soe. vol. xx. (1864) pp. 433, 435, 436, &c. 



§ Ibid. vol. xv. (1859) pp. 424-428, figs. 1 and 2. 



\ Ibid. vol. xx. (1864) p. 431, fig. 1. 



