660 MEMOIR OF REV. JOHN FLEMING, D.D. 
position; and that as basalt was only a mechanical one, the forms were due to 
shrinkage, not crystallization. Among many examples in proof of his views on 
this subject, he adduced the Rock and Spindle near St Andrews, in a paper pub- 
lished in the second volume of the “ Wernerian Society’s Transactions,’ of which 
he says,—‘ This rock is about 40 feet in height. Towards the base, there is a 
spherical concretion of basalt, in the form of five or six-sided lengthened pyra- 
mids meeting at the apex, giving to the mass a stellate appearance. The mass is 
likewise divided into concentric layers. The basalt contains crystals of augite 
with olivine, and glassy felspar. This concretion of basalt is surrounded with the 
tufa into which it gradually passes; and must have been completely enveloped 
by it previous to its partial wasting away by the action of the sea and atmo- 
sphere. It may be mentioned in this place, that the regular basaltic columns at 
Elie are a portion of a spherical concretion contained in trap tuff. Here the con- 
cretion is only about ten feet in diameter, at Elie it is several hundred feet. In 
other parts of the tuff, small masses of amygdaloid and basalt occur, leading 
directly to the conclusion, that the bed is partly mechanical and partly a chemical 
deposit; since these rocks imperceptibly pass into one another. If the regular 
forms of basalt induced Dr Huron to conclude that they furnished proofs of the 
action of a central heat, he would have found considerable difficulty in applying 
his heat to those enclosed masses of basalt without fusing the bed of tufa which 
surrounds them. He who has the boldness to build a theory of the earth without 
a knowledge of the natural history of rocks, will daily meet with facts to puzzle 
and mortify him.” During the winter 1811 and 1812, while a new manse was 
building for him at Flisk, he was necessitated to take up his abode at Cupar for 
a season, and when residing there he gave a short course of lectures on Chemistry 
and Natural History. He also at this period contributed the article Conchology to 
Brewster’s Encyclopedia. On the 15th of March 1813, he married MELVILLE, 
second daughter of ANDREW CuristTIE, Esq., banker in Cupar-Fife. The fruit of 
this marriage was two sons; ALEXANDER, who died in his thirteenth year, and 
ANDREW, now a medical officer in the Indian Service, and author of a valuable 
report on the “ Geological Structure and Mineral Wealth of the Salt Range in the 
Punjab.” This service he undertook at the instance of the Indian Government, who 
appointed him chief of the survey. He has also contributed largely to our know- 
ledge of the Fossil Fauna of India. To Mrs FLEemine’s sympathy with her hus- 
band’s pursuits, and to her artistic pencil, which was ever ready to illustrate the 
objects of his research, he has gratefully alluded in his ‘ Philosophy of Zoology.” 
From the plates in this work, but a meagre idea can be formed of the genius and 
devotion displayed by Mrs FLemine in aiding her husband while engaged on his 
« History of British Animals.” It was necessary for him to consult, during the 
progress of this work, a scarce book, the “ Zoologia Danica’ of MULLER, so rare in 
Britain that he knew of butasingle copy. This he borrowed, along with Miiller’s 
