462 
THE GEOLOGIST. 
years or so that much attention has been devoted to the subject, and 
the paLi^ontohigieal riclics of some of its rocks liave been duly appre- 
ciated. It is, therefore, chiefly at the suggestion of my much esteemed 
friend Mr. John Young, of the llimterian Museiim of Glasgow, that 
I here attempt the publication of a special illustrated catalogue, or 
monogi-aph, of all the Scottish species of Brachiopoda that have been 
hitherto obtained from the strata of the Carboniferous period ; and 
this I have undertaken in the hope that by so doing it may stimulate 
and facilitate further researches, as well as prove of some assistance 
to those friends in Scotland to whom I am personally indebted for the 
gift and loan of the valuable series of specimens which will be made 
use of in the present memoir.* 
Almost all the great geological systems are represented in Scot- 
laud, although not generally so completely as may be seen in other 
countries. Many of our principal fossiliferous deposits are to be 
found in the Carboniferous system, and especially so as far as the 
Brachiopoda are concerned. It will, therefore, be a subject for pre- 
sent and future research to determine as nearly as possible the exact 
horizon or vertical distribution of the species, or, in other words, of 
their individual duration in time and space ; but prior to entering 
upon this and other palseontological questions which will form the 
main purport of the present communication, it will be desirable to 
preface the subject by a few lines upon the strata themselves, that the 
been recent and startling discoveries ? Does not the ricli and vai-icd collection 
of Scottish fossils, formed with so much skill and science by the lamented H. 
Miller, as well as that of Dr. Fleming, and many others, show how much palseon- 
tological wealth we already possess, and may stiU expect to discover. 
Unfortunately, but a small proportion of our species have been hitherto made 
known, and it is to be hoped and much desired that some day the palaeontology 
of Scotland will be separately and specially treated — an object the late Professor 
Edward Forbes had always in view, and which, had he lived, was his firm resolu- 
tion to have accomplished. 
* For some years past, I have been accumulating material and observations on 
Scottish Brachiopoda, on account of the monographs which are being published 
by the Palaoontoprraphical Society of London ; and, although my own field- 
researches in Scotland have been very limited in their extent, I may, perhaps, 
be permitted to mention that I devoted with but little intermission the larger 
portion of the years 1835 and 1836 towards assisting my late fi-iend Robert J. 
Hay Cunningham, while preparing his prize-essay " On the Geology of the 
Lothians," which counties were traversed by us in almost evejy direction. I 
have also had the advantage of being able to visit some portions of the Lanark- 
shire and Fifesliire coal-fields. 
It is to me a very pleasing duty to acknowledge the important, truly kind, and 
zealous assistance I have received from many of my countryman, while collecting 
material in connection with this paper, and I therefore beg to tender my warmest 
thanks to Sir R. Murchison, Mr. John Young, Mr. J. Annstrong, Mr. Page, Mr. 
J. P. Fraser, Mr. J. Thomson, Mr. A. Bryson, Mr. Rose, Mr. A. Cowan, Mr. J. 
Bennie, Dr. Slimon, Professor Nicol, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Rogers, as well as to the 
memory of the late Dr. Fleming and H. Miller. 
I have also had access to a very extensive and valuable collection of specimens 
derived fi-om the parish of Carluke, made many years ago by a local inquirer, to 
whom I am indebted for much kindness, as well as for the specimens I am able 
to figure, and the information I shall communicate on that iniijortant district. 
