NOTES AND QUERIES. 
255 
lands and lofty mountains, is picturesquely situated at the head of the Murray 
Firth, on the banks of the river Ness, which there, in conj\inction with tlie river 
Beauly, runs into the Firth. The waters of Loch Ness, from wliich the river 
takes its rise, are remarkalilo for never having been frozen in the most severe 
winters : tlic reason assigned being the largeness of the body of water in that 
lake, having an extent of twcnty-l'our miles in length, a mile and ujiwards in 
width, and in many parts being more than eighty fathoms deep. The groat depth is, 
without <loul)t, the sole cause ; as there is nothing peculiar in the water itself, 
which, it is well known, when taken from the river, congeals as soon as any other 
water. Ai)out two miles from the mouth of the river, in an estuary of the sea, 
and part of the Murray Firth, a large boulder-stone, of three or ibur tons weight, 
was imbedded in the sand of a clear beach, extending from the shore, at low 
water, for nearly a cpiarter of a mile. This boiilder-stone was considered the 
" IMarch-stonc," or western boundary of the property of Culloden, and was within 
two miles of the field of the memorable liattle of Prince Charles. In the spring 
of 1817, a severe frost occurred, which lasted some days; and on that occasion 
this estuary was covered with ice, which, during the several tides, attained suf- 
ficient thickness to fairly raise the Culloden " March-stone" from its bed in the 
sand ; when, a sudden thaw setting in, with a strong south-easterly wind, the stone 
was floated, at high tide, fi-om its resting-place, and carried upwards of two 
Imndred yards, leaving, in its progress seawards, a deep marking in the sand, to- 
wards the north-west This event took place in the morning, and a very large 
concourse of the inhabitants of Inverness went to see the stone in its now jiosition, 
and to observe the original site, and the track of the stone's passage over the sand 
made dm-ing its transit. An event of this sort, in former times, would probably 
have been attributed to the nocturnal labours of the fairies. It a])pears to me to 
be a fact (juite worthy of being recorded as a geological phenomenon. — JouN 
Jameson, Arlington Square." 
Geot.ogt or AsiiBT-DE-LA-Zorcu. — '•' Could you kindly inform me, through 
the medium of your excellent magazine, the Geologist, if I can find any fossils 
near Ashliy-de-la-Zouch. If there are any what are the characteristic species ? 
and where should I be likely to find them ? — M. S." — Ashby-de-la-Zouch, we need 
scarcely say, is on the coal-measures. On this district, in 183 1, Mr. Edward 
Maunnatt \\Tote his interesting book, entitled " Collection of Geological Facts and 
Practical Observations on the Asliby Coal-field, in the Parish of Asliby-dc-la-Zouch 
and the Neighbouring District," 4to. This book is illustrated by a map, sections, 
and by numerous plates of the fossil remains of jilants found in the coal-shales of 
the neighbourhood. Shells should also be searched for in these shales, and minute 
ontromostraca, such as Cyprides, &.C., are to be found. The ?.Iillstone-gi-it, coming 
out beneath the coal to the north-east of Ashby, may also be examined for fossil 
plants. The red sandstones and marls surrounduig this coal-field ap]iear to be 
unfossiliferons. Tlie Syenites protruding through the schists of Movmt Sorrel 
alibrd many interesting geological lessons, as maybe found in Mr. Jukes' " Geology 
of Charnwood Forest," printed in the appendix of Potter's " History and An- 
tiquities of Charnwood Forest," 4to., 1812. At the end of the second volume of 
Mantell's "Medals of Creation," a sketch is given of a geological trip to this part 
of Leicestershire. The geological features of the Charnwood district are laid down 
in sheet No. G3 of the National Geological Survey map. 
Geologt of HuDDEnsFiELD. — " Siu, — Will you have the kindness to tell me the 
nearest localities to this place for the following : — Old Red Sandstone, and Old 
I'ed Conglomerate; Glacial or Northern Di-ift ; and what Fossils are to be found 
in it — i.e., in the place refen-ed to; Oolite ; Granite; and Tra])-rocks. I shoidd also 
he very glad of a description of the I?i-own-coal of Germany, spoken of by Lyell ; i.e., 
what is the tl ickness of the seam, whether it is lignite only, oris partly bituminous,? 
&<". — V(mrs &c.,S.II.,IIuddersfield." — Thcnearestpoint of Old llcd Sandstone occurs 
near Bridgnorth, on the Severn ; Old Red Conglomerate exists beneath the great 
limestone of Yorkshire, in Uiblesdale. "We cannot, from personal experience, jioiiit to 
any good section near lluddcrsiicld of the Boulder-drift, which over-runs the North 
