686 
Proceedings of the Royal Society 
There can be no doubt that both balls had come with the 
boulders, and had been deposited with them in the great bed of 
clay which covers the rocks in this district. This bed extends for 
fully half a mile on each side of the Water of Leith at its mouth, 
and reaches to a depth in some places of nearly 100 feet. 
The black ironstone concretions found in this boulder clay bed 
show marks of friction. There are strata of shale containing such 
concretions, two or three miles to the westward. These concretions, 
as well as the boulders of granite and quartz, clearly indicate 
transport on a large scale from the westward. 
The Convener learns from Mr Robertson, C.E., Albany Street, 
Edinburgh (who planned both the Albert Docks at Leith, exe- 
cuted some years ago, and the new docks now being constructed), 
that similar metallic balls were found in the Albert Docks excava- 
tions. But he has no specimens of them.* 
* Since the foregoing was written, the Convener has received from Mr Charles 
W. Peach, of 30 Haddington Place, Edinburgh, a letter regarding marcasite 
nodules, from which letter, with Mr Peach’s permission, the following 
extracts are made : — 
“In the Falkirk and Slamannan district a band of these nodules, known as 
‘ Speckled Ball Ironstones occurs. It occupies a horizon a few fathoms above 
that of the ‘ Slaty Band Ironstone ,’ the base of the Coal measures. 
“ The direction of the stride on the rocks and the carry of the boulders and 
boulder clay is towards the east, and varies from E. 10° N. to E. 15° N. 
“ Near Kilsyth, and about 2 miles to the west of that place, the tributaries 
of the Corrie burn cross an area of blue shales, with several courses of 
ironstone nodules. Some of these are of iron pyrites (marcasite), and aie 
known among the mining population as ‘ brassy balls. ’ They occupy a 
horizon between the Hosie and Hurlet limestones, near the base of the 
carboniferous limestone series. 
“The direction of the strice and carry of the boulders in this district is 
E. or E. 5° H. 
“Either of these sources could supply balls at Leith, as they are right in 
the direction of the ice-flow. 
“ As to concretionary balls in sandstone, — there is on the coast of East Lothian 
near Cockburnspath, to the north of Cove, a cliff of calciferous sandstone 
full of spheroidal concretions, which weather out on the wasting of the cliff by 
the sea, and being harder than the matrix, they lie piled up in great numbers 
at the base of the cliff. Many of them are of very large size. 
“Similar concretionary balls occur in sandstone rocks at Grange Quarry 
near Burntisland, from whence, no doubt, the ball found lately at Leith was 
carried. (Signed) “ C. W. Peach.” 
This information in regard to marcasite brassy balls, the Committee 
deems highly interesting. If the marcasite ball found in the boulder clay 
at Leith, was transported from any part of the district situated to the north 
