of Edinburgh, Session 1866-67. 
107 
Monday , 4 th March 1867. 
Sir DAVID BREWSTER, President, in the Chair. 
The following Communications were read 
1. On the Arctic Shell Clay of Elie and Errol, viewed in 
connection with our other Glacial and more Recent De- 
posits. By the Rev. Thomas Brown, F.R.S.E. 
Referring to the papers formerly read before the Society in 1863 
and 1864, the author first noticed the Section at Errol, its strati- 
graphical position and fossils, more especially the skeleton of a seal 
which had been found in the clay. He then described more in 
detail the different deposits as they occur in the neighbourhood of 
Elie. Since the shore Section was described in 1863 two new Sec- 
tions had been examined, and the position of the different beds 
more fully ascertained. One was in the railway cutting extending 
from Elie Bridge to the Railway Station, in which, when first laid 
open, the series of deposits was remarkably well displayed. Begin- 
ning a little to the east of the station, the following beds were seen 
in the descending order : — 
1. Blown sand with intercalated beds of shell-bearing peat, one 
of which was six feet in thickness. This upper portion of the 
series is largely developed. 
2. A peculiar bed of peat destitute of shells, and apparently a 
continuation of that at the shore,-— the submerged forest. 
3. A portion of the high-level stratified gravels and sands of tbe 
district. 
At this point there is a break in the series. Tbe portion 
above is unconformable to that beneath. 
4. The arctic shell clay — a continuation of the same deposit 
seen on the shore about one-third of a mile distant. 
5. The boulder-clay in two stages, with large boulders enclosed. 
6. The basement bed of the boulder-clay full of shivers, and 
resting immediately on the rock. 
These different deposits are seen in regular succession from east 
to west. 
