272 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. [Sess. 
The manner in which the stones lay on the sea-bed at the time of their 
capture is well worth consideration. Most of them have had only about 
one-third of their bulk embedded in the ooze, and many of them even less 
(text figs. 1 and 2). As has been already stated, this is shown by the 
coating of manganese and the presence of adherent organisms on the exposed 
surfaces. Not only is this the case, but many of the more elongated speci- 
mens are embedded on end (text fig. 3), and in the case of flat specimens, 
on edge (text fig. 4), although in general they are nearer the horizontal. 
From a consideration of these facts it is highly improbable that they could 
have been dropped on to the present surface of the ooze, which must be of 
I 
A B 
2 
A A 
0 12 3 4 5 6 INCHES 
o'"' 40 80 120 160 MM 
Fig. 2. — Explanation as in text tig. 1. 
considerable consistency to support them in such precarious positions as 
some of them had assumed (text fig. 5). 
A more feasible explanation is that they had dropped on to a flocculent 
ooze, into which they sank, being arranged in such a way as to offer the 
least resistance to friction, till they reached a layer of sufficient tenacity to 
prevent further sinking. At first they would be totally buried. Their 
presence at the surface is probably due to a current that is just strong 
enough not only to sweep away the falling pelagic organisms that mainly 
go to form the ooze, but also to denude some of the looser top deposit and 
partially to expose the stones. It might be argued that solution of the 
calcareous organisms would bring about the same effect ; but the ooze at 
the Station has already been shown to contain 35*83 per cent, of clay and 
