of the Neighhourhood (f Edinburgh. 353 
but declines gradually towards the east, and is lost in the flat at 
Holyrood Palace. The southern rising ground has a steep ascent 
from the north, or from the line of the Cowgate, — attains its 
greatest height in the line of Heriot’s Hospital, — and declines 
gently towards the south when it reaches a lower level at the 
Powburn. To the west it is continuous with the adjacent flat 
country, and it declines gradually to the east, where it is bound- 
ed by St Leonard’s Hill, Salisbury Crags, g,nd Arthur Seat. The 
View qf Edinburgh from Lochend^ in Plate VI. Fig. 2. gives a 
good general idea of the form and arrangement of the hills that 
bound the north and south rising grounds to the east; and the flat 
between the Calton Hill and Salisbury Crags is the plain which 
bounds the central ridge on the east. The sections in Plate 
VIII, Fig. 3. drawn for me by Mr Adie, represent the general 
form, and also the elevations, of the central ridge and rising 
grounds on which the city is built. 
Having now described the form of the ground on which the 
city is built, we shall next give an account of its mineralogical 
structure, beginning with the north rising ground, or that on 
which the New Town is situated. 
Geognostical Description of the Rising Ground on which the 
New Town is situated. 
This hill is composed of rocks that belong to the coal forma- 
tion, and of various alluvial substances. 
These rocks are disposed in strata and beds in which the ge- 
neral dip is to the north, the direction east and west, and the 
angle of the dip from 20° to 30°. But, as we approach the west- 
ern extremity of the ground, the dip is to the W. of N., and on 
the eastern extremity to the E. of N. There are, however, 
many exceptions to this general arrangement ; for, in some places, 
in digging foundations for houses, the strata in spaces of a few 
hundred feet were observed dipping in all directions from a 
centre, thus affording examples of saddle-shaped stratification. 
Other varieties of stratification will be mentioned when describe 
ing the rocks in which they most frequently occur. The strata 
vary in thickness from a few inches to several yards ; and in the 
same stratum there are often great differences in the structure 
