706 Proceedings of the Royal Society 
Others again are of an oblong shape, and this is particularly the case 
with whinstone and greywacke boulders. The difference in this 
respect is probably mainly due to a difference in the natural struc- 
ture of the parent rocks. 
A point of some importance occurs in regard to oblong-shaped 
boulders. 
The direction of their longer axis , in the great majority of cases, 
is stated to coincide with the direction in which they have come 
from the parent rock, when the situation of that rock has been 
ascertained. Thus, in Auchterarder parish, there is a boulder 10 
feet long by 6 broad, the longer axis of which points north-west. In 
Auchtergaven parish there is a granite boulder 10 feet long by 8 
broad, the longer axis of which points due north. In Menmuir 
parish, Forfarshire, there are two large granite boulders, the one 
14 by 9, and the other 13 by 9, the longer axis of which points 
north-west. In each of these cases the reporters seem satisfied of 
the situation of the parent rock, and in each case the longer axis of 
the boulder points towards it. 
It appears, also, that where there are natural striations or ruts on 
the boulders, these almost always run in a direction parallel with 
the longer axis ; and that when there are striae crossing these, the 
number of such oblique striae are comparatively few. 
6. Notice in the reports is taken of the remarkable positions occu- 
pied by some boulders. 
Thus, the Ardentinny report refers to a large boulder called 
u 'Glachan XJdalain ,” or the nicely balanced stone,* so-called, as the 
reporter states, because “ it stands on the very edge of a precipice, 
and must have been gently deposited there.” In the same parish 
there is another boulder, called “ The Giant's Putting Stone. It is 
pear shaped, and rests on its small end. It looks,” says the re- 
porter, “ as if a push would roll it over.” 
In Menmuir parish (Forfarshire), two boulders are reported, each 
from 30 to 40 tons in weight, and perched on or near the top of a 
hill, having come there, as the reporter thinks, from a parent rock 
15 miles distant, with several valleys intervening. 
Cases of the same kind are reported from islands. 
On Iona, near the top of the highest hill in the island, which is 
* Another translator represents this word to mean “ of the swivel.” 
