from the Coal Measures of Torbane-hilL 
47 
You mentioned at one time that you had observed the presence, in some 
of those coal specimens, of fossil plants ? — Certainly. 
Could you see them with the naked eye ? — Yes, in those specimens of 
the Torbanehill. 
Have you seen them in coal in the same way ? — Yes, but I consider 
them extraneous or isolated examples. 
Cross-examined by Mr. Neaves. — Is the structure of coal uniform in 
general? — It is so lar uniform that the various transverse sections are 
uniform, and so are longitudinal. 
Equally visible in all places of the coal ? — Yes, in all places, except, as 1 
have stated before, where you have mineral that is foreign to the coal. 
What mineral matter do you allude to? — The chemists must decide 
that. 
You only speak to appearances ? — Yes. 
And the same formation in all ? — Yes ; the plants differ ; I believe there 
are two kinds of plants or tissue that essentially form coal. 
But they present the same appearance?— Yes, but those plants are not 
traceable in the same specimens of coal. That in the neighbourhood of 
Glasgow may be different from the coal found in the neighbourhood of 
Edinburgh. 
Can you distinguish the one plant from the other ? — Yes, in the longi- 
tudinal section. 
And you never found any portion of any coal without exhibiting the 
same permanent structure ? — Certainly not. 
Where did you get that specimen you showed us of the two coals 
together? — That was taken by Mr. Bowerbank from the mine two or 
three days ago, and the drawing was taken from a magnified representation 
of one of the sections. 
Lord President. — Let us take down what those specimens are if they 
are to go in, but I thought they were to be taken away by the witness. 
Dean of Faculty. — No. 25 represents that yellow matter of which the 
witness spoke ; No. 26 is the drawing of that highly-magnified section ; 
Nos. 28 and 29 are the specimen and the drawing ; and No. 27 is the 
appearance presented by the two different sections of coal itself, the one 
longitudinal and the other transverse. 
Witness, — There is one thing I would wish to state, this — I came here 
to speak the truth, and it may be testimony for or against my evidence, 
when I say that all that which may be supposed like vegetable structure 
in the Torbanehill mineral disappears when the structure is thin. 
Dean of Faculty. — When you speak of that which appears as vegetable 
structure, you mean those isolated fossil plants? — Yes. I would also 
allude to the fact that a book was published in this city twenty years ago, 
by Mr. Witham, of specimens made by Mr. Nicol ; and this was the first 
representation of this vegetable structure. 
Dr. James Adams. — Examined hy Mr. Macfarlane. 
You practise as a medical man in Glasgow ? — I do. 
Have you devoted a good deal of time and study to observations by the 
microscope ? — I have. 
For a considerable time back ? — For many years. 
Have you subjected to examination by the microscope various minerals ? 
— I have. 
Extensively ? — Extensively. 
Varieties of Scotch coal? — Yes, a great many. 
Most of the known varieties ? — Most of the known varieties, 
Have you examined the Torbanehill mineral ? — I have. 
