814 MR FRANCIS J. LEWIS 



Fragments of birch bark lying in the lowest inch of peat are not uncommon, and in 

 two sections near the inner margin of the shelf, trunks and roots of oak were found, 

 penetrating the sand of the old beach. This seems to point to a forest having existed 

 here ; if that be so, the trees must have lived and died some time between the 

 emergence of the beach and the beginning of the formation of the 6| feet of peat. 

 Phragmites is occasionally met with about 6 inches above the base of the peat. The 

 evidence, although fragmentary, points to the fact that some time elapsed between the 

 emergence of the beach and the growth of the peat, which is formed of Eriophovum 

 vaginatum, Erica Tetralix, Sphagnum sps., Calluna vulgaris, and Scirpus csespitosus. 

 Although no definite stratification can be observed, Calluna is certainly much more 

 abundant in the uppermost 2 feet than in the lower layers. The evidence, then, tends 

 to show that tree growth went on after the emergence of the beach, and before the 

 growth of the peat ; after that, the vegetation shows moorland conditions, the peat 

 being of the same character as that found above the Upper Forest at higher altitudes. 



The 2 5 -feet Level. — This forms a narrow tongue about a quarter of a mile in width 

 running south from the 50-feet level to Salachan Point. 



The peat is of a uniform thickness of slightly less than 3 feet, and consists through- 

 out of Scirpus czespitosus, Calluna vulgaris, Erica Tetralix, Eriophovum vaginatum, 

 and Sphagnum sps. The basal layers are the same as the upper layers, and lack the 

 much-compressed character of the basal peat on the older beach. Below the 2 5 -feet 

 contour line the peat thins out to 2 or 3 inches in thickness. 



These two raised beaches are of interest, inasmuch as the peat on the 25-feet level 

 is clearly younger than that on the 50-feet ; it is less than half the thickness, lacks the 

 much-compressed character of the older peat, and does not contain the remains of 

 rooted oak and birch, which in places are found on the higher shelf. 



No trace of arctic plants occurs in either the 25-feet or 50-feet peat, and the evidence 

 tends to show that the 50-feet beach was exposed for some considerable time before 

 peat began to be formed. 



Corpach Moss, near Banavie, Ross-shire (one-inch Ordnance Survey, sheet 62). — 

 This is a moss about a square mile in extent situated at the mouth of the River Lochy. 

 The level of the moss lies at 25-30 feet above O.D., and the peat is of a uniform thick- 

 ness of 4|- feet. 



The peat has been much cut for fuel, and the numerous channels have had the effect 

 of drying the surface of the moss and changing it from Scirpus csespitosus and 

 Eriophovum vaginatum and E. polystachion moor — the remains of which are found a 

 foot below the surface — to almost pure Calluna. 



Like the 25-feet beach at Ardgour, no continuous stratification is visible, the peat 

 indicating uniform moorland conditions during its growth. The moss rests upon sand, 

 which is underlaid by shingle, and the relative thickness and position of these deposits 

 is shown in fig. 2. 



The branches of birch and oak found in the sand must have been drifted there a 



