Ch. XXVI.] 



OLD RED SANDSTONE. 



525 



Fig. 587. 



(see figs. 585 and 586). The stems of the latter have, in some speci- 

 mens, broad bases of attachment, and may therefore have been tree- 

 ferns. 



In the same strata shells having the form of the genus Anodon, and 

 which probably belonged to freshwater testacea, occur. Some geolo- 

 gists, it is true, still doubt whether these beds ought not rather to be 

 classed as the lowest beds of the carboniferous series, together with 

 the yellow sandstone of Sir R. Griffiths (see p. 466) ; but the asso- 

 ciated ichthyolites and the distinct specific character of the plants, 

 strongly favor the opinion above expressed. 



B. — We come next to the middle division of the " Old Red," as 

 exhibited south of the Grampians, and consisting of — 1st, red shale 

 and sandstone, with some cornstone, 

 occupyiug the Valley of Strathmore, 

 in its course from Stonehaven to the 

 Firth of Clyde ; and, 2dly, of a con- 

 glomerate, seen both at the foot of 

 the Grampians, and on the flanks of 

 the Sidlaw Hills, as shown in the 

 section at p. 48, Nos. 1, 2, and 3. 

 In the uppermost part of the di- 

 vision No. 1, or in the beds which, 

 in Fife, underlie the yellow sand- 

 stone, the scales of a large ganoid 

 fish, of the genus HoloptycMus, were 

 first observed by Dr. Fleming at 

 Clashbinnie, near Perth, and an en- 

 tire specimen, more than 2 feet in 



length, was afterwards found by Mr. Noble. Some of these scales 

 (see fig. 58*7) measured 3 inches in length and 2-J in breadth. 



*K 



Scale of HoloptycMus nobilissimus, 

 Agass. Clashbinnie. Nat. size. 



HoloptycMus. As restored by Professor Huxley. 

 For tootb of this genus, see p. 505, fig. 556. 

 a. The fringed pectoral fins. c. Anal fin. 



o. The fringed ventral fins. d, e. Dorsal fins. 



C (Table, p. 524). — The third or lowest division south of the 



