On the so-called Raised Sea-Beach Bed at Leith. 429 
deposit in the section consists of a bed of sandy clay, three or 
four feet thick, superimposed upon stratified beds of sand and 
gravel, and can be traced by its small columnar structure, 
due to shrinkage in drying and exposure, so characteristic of 
clays, as also by its light brown colour, onwards to the northern 
extremity of the section. This bed gradually blends with a 
dark unstratified mass of old humus, which, at the north end 
of the pit, is overlaid by a tongue of shot sand, with patches 
of humus intermixed, presenting an appearance of two beds 
that are represented in Mr Geikie's diagram as beds 5 and 6. 
Bed No. 7, which Mr Geikie says is the highest in the 
section, and consists of stratified sand and shingle, full of 
littoral shells, and some balani still attached," is not seen in 
the sand-pit section ; and the only representative that has been 
observed is a narrow strip of marine shingle and sand, mixed 
with humus, laid down at the bottom of the garden. The 
whole of this locality is overspread with artificial deposits. A 
diagram, prepared by Mr Sharbau, assistant marine sur- 
veyor, gives a correct representation of the phenomena observed 
in this sand-pit section. The lowest bed consists of sand and 
coarse shingle, and contains abundance of worn marine shells, 
the balani adhering to the interior of the oyster valves. This 
bed is four or five feet above the sea level, and its character 
and contents are identical with a ripple-zone deposit. The 
overlying stratum is composed of marine sand, and varies in 
thickness. In this sand-pit it is five or six feet, whilst in an 
adjoining one, a few yards to the eastward, and now filled up, 
it was eleven feet thick, and contained abundance of worn 
marine shells and comminuted fragments. It is continuous 
with the bed of marine sand, in great part blown, on which the 
town of Leith is built, and is connected to the shore sand. 
This bed is frequently exposed in foundations for buildings 
and cuttings for drainage, and when passed through is found 
to rest on the boulder clay. The deposit of sand and gravel 
which overlies this bed in the sand-pit section is destitute of 
marine remains, and appears to be of fluviatile origin. It is 
remarkably irregular, and rises at the south end of the sand- 
pit into a protuberance six feet thick. The bed of marine 
sand disappears in the direction of the river, and the gravel 
