Proceedings of Societies. 177 



volume of the Transactions of the Society, by Lord Greenock, that Edin- 

 burgh may be considered as a valley of elevation, the trap rocks in the 

 neighbourhood dipping outwards as from a common centre. This opinion, 

 he stated, was true in reference to the rocks on the east and west sides of 

 the city, but not true as to those on the south and north, as at Blackford 

 and Burntisland. Dr Fleming then stated, that there were nine masses 

 of trap in the neighbourhood, included in the sandstones, all of them hav- 

 ing some peculiar structural characters, — viz., Calton Hill, Salisbury 

 Crags, Arthur's Seat, Lochend, Hawkhill, Blackford, Craiglockhart, 

 and Granton. At this part of the paper he made some remarks in the 

 so-called " outburst of trap" of Inchkeith, stating that the island con- 

 sisted of at least a dozen of beds of trap alternating regularly with ac- 

 knowledged sedimentary beds of sandstone, shale, and limestone, contain- 

 ing organic remains. 



The author then commenced his survey of the stratified traps of the 

 neighbourhood, by considering particularly the structural character of the 

 Calton, or as it was termed at an earlier period, the Caldton. This trap- 

 pean mass he considered as extending from Greensicle to Samson's Ribs, 

 including Heriot-Mount, St Leonard's, and the Echoing Rock. The 

 Calton Hill had been described by Townson, Faugas St Foord, Jameson, 

 Webster, Boue, Saussure, Cunningham, Milne, and Maclaren. 



Dr Fleming then illustrated his views of the sedimentary character of the 

 whole hill, by tracing on the Ordnance map, the coloured spaces occupied 

 hj the twelve beds of which the hill consists, assisted by a coloured sec- 

 tion. The peculiarities of each bed in regard to its structure and mine- 

 ral contents were pointed out; the author concluding by noticing the more 

 interesting of the simple minerals of the hill, especially the Sarcite of 

 Townson, first characterized from Calton specimens, and afterwards known 

 as Cubizite and Analcime, exhibiting a specimen which he had procured 

 from the hill when a student at the University. 



SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE, 



Chlorophyll in Green Infusoria. — Prince Salm Horstmar has found 

 that the green infusoria which form so abundantly on stagnant water, 

 when treated with alcohol, give an extract having all the optical properties 

 of a solution of chlorophyll. It gives the black-band in the red part of 

 the spectrum described by Stokes, as well as dispersion of a blood-red light. 

 The same result was obtained with an alcoholic extract of Spongia fluvia- 

 tilis. — Poggendorjfs Annalen, vol. xciii., p. 159. 



Noctiluca Miliaris exists in the Mersey in myriads. It is this species 

 chiefly which imparts a phosphorescent appearance to the water at night, as 

 may be proved at any time by taking some of the river water containing 

 them into a perfectly dark room, and splashing it about with any hard 

 body to irritate them. They may be seen as little hyaline-globules about 

 the size of a pin's head. Three or four years ago, in company with Mr 

 Price, we saw millions of them collected together at Hilbre Island, in a 

 little pool, when they tinged a portion of the water, about two yards in 

 circumference, with a deep pink colour. The individuals in this collection 

 were of a light pink hue under the microscope ; those from the river are 

 colourless. The men upon the ferry steamers state that the phospho- 

 VOL I. NO. I. — JAN. 1855. M 



