Royal Physical Society. 429 



III. On the Discovery of Beekite and Oolitic Quartz at Durness, 

 Sutheiland. By Charles William Peach, Esq., Wick. (Speci- 

 mens were exhibited.) 



At your meeting on the 25th April 1855, a paper of mine 

 was read on " The Discovery of Fossils in the Limestones of 

 Durness," an abstract of which is given at page 23 of your 

 Proceedings for 1854-55. The "fossils then exhibited were 

 few and obscure ; from being the first ever found there, they 

 caused surprise, and were considered not sufficiently numerous 

 or satisfactory to pronounce decidedly on as to the age of the 

 rocks, &c. Since this discovery others have visited that lo- 

 cality. I also was there in June last for a few hours on duty, 

 and having a very short time to spare, I got hold of more 

 fossils. In consequence of conflicting opinions, I resolved to 

 devote some time to try, if possible, to settle this vexatious 

 question. At present it is not my intention to enter into the 

 particulars of that visit. 1 commenced at Inchnadamph in 

 Assynt, and so on to Durness, Loch Eriboll, Tongue, &c. It 

 will be sufficient to say in this paper, that at Durness I found 

 splendid fossils, consisting of Maclurea, Ophileta, Onoceras, 

 and Orthoceras, with minute Gasteropods, Annelides, &c, 

 thus adding greatly to the list of genera and species, and, as 

 well, new and wider localities. I met with other things which, 

 connected with the fossils, are so satisfactory to Sir Roderick 

 Murchison, that he has pronounced these West Highland 

 rocks to be Lower Silurian. 



I now proceed to notice the minerals named at the head of 

 this paper: — 



First, The Beekite. This was first discovered by the late 

 Dr Beeke, Dean of Bristol, and named after him. He met 

 with it in the Triassic conglomerates, on the shore of Torbay, 

 between Torquay and Goodrington Sand, Paignton, Devon, 

 where hitherto, until the summer of 1857, it had only been 

 found. It incrusts the calcareous stones in these conglome- 

 rates, and always on the organisms contained in them, in 

 tubercles, from the size of pins' heads to that of a pea. These 

 are generally surrounded by one or more rings, and by a 



