164 



THE GEOLOGIST. 



the same moment observe the smoke from one steamer entering the 

 Frith of Clyde, and from another below Grangemouth, in the 

 Forth." The view engraved by Dr. "Wilson is from the south-east ; 

 and, according to his measurement, the weight of the large sandstone, 

 not basalt, capstone is 96 tons ; being 46 tons more than a different 

 result of the measuring, which makes the weight 50 tons. The two 

 fragments of sandstone on which this large piece rests are prismatic 

 in shape, lying side by side, forming a triangular opening, which 

 enables any one to creep through. The sketch of the stones as 

 seen from the south-west, gives the reader an idea of the size of this 

 space. In the appendix, No. 4, to Mr. Smith's recently published 

 • Researches in Newer Pliocene Geology,' Mr. Buchanan considers 

 the Lifts " a very interesting and well-preserved memorial of the 

 remote pagan people of the canoe period," and, like Nilsson, states 

 that " the uppermost is an enormous block of basalt." 

 /j^g^gj This mistake causes one to imagine that the stones 

 / jsT/ i have not been properly examined by the said ariti- 

 ^T^—^ r..-. ~-- quaries. The Lifts are covered with the marks made 

 Fig. 2— End view by visitors and Others. Their position according to 

 of the " Lifts." -j^e compass may be useful, and is consequently here 

 ^ s.e • given, as taken from the capstone. 

 X I / The science of geology enables the unprejudiced 

 , observer to declare with boldness, and to prove be- 

 SAV yond doubt, that the Auld Wives' Lifts were never 



placed where they now are by demons, angels, 

 ^ n.vv ^ witches, or mortals, of any age. Although, to quote 

 Jig. 3.— The bear- Kent's well-known lines, — 



h'gs of the " Lifts '' « There 's a pleasure on the heath 

 V\ here Druids old have been, 

 "Where mantles grey have rustled by 

 And swept the nettles green," 



yet science compels us to give to water and ice the honour of causing 

 the three stones to remain where they now are. They are erratics. 

 This fact, for the evidence is almost demonstrative, is asserted by one 

 who has made frequent visits to the stones, and 

 a careful examination of the strata in their 

 neighbourhood. The former are angular ; " the 

 erratic blocks," Agassiz asserts, " in Switzerland 

 Fig. 4. — Sandstone block, are always angular ;" the latter is composed of 

 S.E. of the " Lifts." sandstone and conglomerate or pudding-stone. 

 The sandstone is both polished and grooved, frequently cut and ex- 

 cavated by some force, doubtless ice. The ice appears to have been 

 aided by a current, which, sweeping along, made the sandstone yield. 

 This ice current appears to have cut the sandstone fragment lying on 

 the margin of the bog to the south-east of the Lifts. 



The stones have been floated to their present position by ice, at a 

 time when the laud was depressed by some earthquake movement. 



\\ e have," says Mr. Smith, of Jordanhill, in his most interesting 

 * Researches,' " in the superficial beds in the basin of the Clyde, 



