Mr. A. Geikie on the Central Valley of Scotland, 493 



Cyathocrinus ramosus, and Terebratula elongata. The breccias and 

 sandstone beneath, previously recognize'd as Permian, are here re- 

 ferred to the Rothliegende ; and the sandstones above are regarded 

 as belonging to the Trias. Detailed descriptions of the sandstones 

 and breccias in the country between Great Ormside and Penrith 

 were then given, and the gypseous character of the clays at Long 

 Martin and Townsend noticed. In the section across the vale of 

 the Eden from the west of Penrith to Hartside Fell, the Permian 

 breccias, sandstone, and flags are nearly 5000 feet thick, but the 

 clay series is poorly represented. North of Penrith the flagstones 

 bear foot-marks (at Brownrigg) like those of Corncockle Muir. 

 Mr. Harkness next described several sections of these Permian 

 rocks in the western Westmoreland ; and traced them to the other 

 side of the Solway Firth, in Dumfriesshire (as described in former 

 papers). Some remarks on the relations of the Permian beds of 

 Cumberland and Westmoreland with those of St. Bee's Head, near 

 Whitehaven, and those of Annandale and Nithdale, concluded the 

 paper. 



2. " On the Date of the Last Elevation of the Central Valley of 

 Scotland." By Archibald Geikie, F.R.S.E., F.G.S. 



After alluding to the position and nature of the raised beach 

 which, at the height of from 20 to 30 feet above the present high- 

 water-mark, fringes the coast-line of Scotland, the author proceeded 

 to describe the works of art which had been found in it. From their 

 occurrence in beds of elevated silt and sand, containing layers of 

 marine shells, it was evident that* the change of level had been 

 effected since the commencement of the human period. The cha- 

 racter of the remains likewise proved that the elevation could not be 

 assigned to so ancient a time as the Stone Period of the archaeologist. 

 The canoes which had from time to time been exhumed from the 

 upraised deposits of the Clyde at Glasgow clearly showed that, at 

 the time when at least the more finished of them were in use, the 

 natives of this part of Scotland were acquainted with the use of 

 bronze, if not of iron. The remains found in the corresponding beds 

 of the Forth estuary likewise indicated that there had been an up- 

 heaval long after the earlier races had settled in the country, and that 

 the movement was subsequent to the employment of iron. From 

 the Firth of Tay similar evidence was adduced to indicate an up- 

 heaval possibly as recent as the time of the Roman occupation. The 

 author then cited several antiquaries who from a consideration of 

 the present position of the Roman remains in Scotland had inferred 

 a considerable change in the aspect of the coast-line since the 

 earlier centuries of the Christian era. He pointed out also several 

 circumstances in relation to these Roman relics, which tended to 

 show a change of level, and he referred to the discovery of Roman 

 pottery in a point of the raised beach at Leith. The conclusion to 

 which the evidence led him was that since the first century of our 

 era the central parts of Scotland, from the Clyde to the Forth and 

 the Tay, had risen to a height of from 20 to 25 feet above their pre- 

 sent level. 



