430 Proceedings of the 



series of these tubercles and rings covers the organisms with 

 a chalcedonic crust. The small piece, No. 1, sent with this 

 will show the arrangement. It was kindly sent me from 

 Devonshire by Mr Pengelly, F.G.S., of Torquay, who has 

 made this mineral his particular study, and the subject of two 

 papers to the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall. Having 

 collected this mineral when residing in Devon, I felt, on find- 

 ing it at Durness, that it was a true Beekite. I however 

 thought it right to consult Mr Pengelly, and he fully confirms 

 my opinion. Specimen No. 2 is part of an Orthocerite, from 

 Durness, covered with Beekite, which shows the tubercles and 

 rings, it is from the hill near the manse, and, like the Torbay 

 Beekite, is found only on organisms in calcareous rock, and 

 thus far agrees with the Beekite of Torbay. Since I found 

 the Durness mineral, Mr Arthur Williams of Sidcot, in Somer- 

 setshire, has informed Mr Pengelly that he has met with 

 Beekite in the Carboniferous Limestone. It is thus interest- 

 ing to find that this hitherto rare mineral should be found in 

 new and wide localities, and in rocks so much older. 



The Oolitic Quartz I got above the cave of Smo, between Dur- 

 ness and Rispond. It is milk-white, occasionally in small balls 

 and globules, attached to each other without cementing matter 

 in the interstices, much like the roe of a small fish ; the inter- 

 stices gradually become filled and solid ; when a thin section 

 of this solid part is made and viewed under the microscope, 

 the roe-like grains may be seen, showing all the varieties of 

 the free ones. (See specimens Nos. 3 and 4.) This curious 

 mineral has a twofold interest attaching to it. First, it ex- 

 plains that which once greatly puzzled myself and others. 

 My valued friend, Mr Dick of Thurso, found a small oolitic 

 pebble near the base of the Old Red Sandstone at Dunnethead, 

 a portion of which he gave to me ; this I sent to a lapidary in 

 London to cut into slices for the microscope, and who, on re- 

 turning it, said, " that the only difference that he could see 

 between it and the Oolite of the secondary rocks was, that it 

 was the hardest Oolite he had ever cut." I send a specimen 

 marked No. 5. The small piece, No. 6, is from my native 

 village Wansford, Northamptonshire, and which I rubbed 

 down for examination and comparison. On finding the Dur- 



