388 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



be used. It occurs in the bottom of the valley of the Annan 

 and some of its tributaries, in strata nearly horizontal, rising 

 slightly towards the surrounding high ground. It may be 

 traced at the base of Hartfell, extending from the Corehead 

 Burn to within about a hundred yards from the Meikleholm- 

 side Bridge, where the greywacke rocks come down into the 

 bed of the river, and make an evident break in the sandstone. 

 It appears again further south on the - roadside about three- 

 fourths of a mile beyond Moffat. Probably this section, and 

 the appearance of the same strata in the bed of the Well Burn, 

 were the foundation for Professor Jameson's statement, that 

 the Gallows Hill (he evidently by mistake writes Chapel Hill) 

 was formed of this sandstone. The same deposit occurs on 

 the west side of the Annan, opposite Moffat, in the Horse 

 Linn, and in Langshaw Plantation. It is found also in the 

 Frenchland Burn, at Beld Craig, Wamphray Water, Raehills 

 Glen, &c. 



This sandstone has hitherto yielded no traces of fossils in 

 the district. It is evidently related to the red sandstone of 

 the lower part of the valley, which contains the tracks of 

 reptiles so beautifully figured by Sir William Jardine ; and 

 is thus most probably of Permian age. It has been deposited 

 since the valley assumed its present conformation, though 

 some changes have taken place since its deposition, as is evi- 

 dent from the inclined position the beds occupy in the Horse 

 Linn, and in the localities where the junction is seen between 

 them and the Silurian strata. Probably these last changes 

 were contemporaneous with the intrusion of the trap-dyke, 

 which we shall presently notice, and were the result of the 

 causes which produced it. 



The Permian sandstone was referred to the Carboniferous 

 series by Professor Jameson, Dr Singer, and others. Hence 

 arose the notion that coal existed in the district. Dr Singer, 

 in his " Agriculture of Dumfriesshire," 1812, at considerable 

 length and with great ability, examines the merits of the case, 

 and concludes that as coal has been found under red sand- 

 stone, the Coal-measures may be hid by these strata in this 

 district. He therefore recommended boring, and he regrets 

 that au attempt made near Nethermills was stopped before 



