CHAP. XXIII 
LITERATURE OF THE SUBJECT 
363 
Owing to the number and variety of the natural sections, the Carbon- 
iferous volcanic rocks of Scotland have been the subject ot numerous obser- 
vations and descriptions, from tlie early days of geology down to the present 
time. The mere enumeration of the titles of the various publications 
regarding them would make a long list. These rocks formed the subject of 
some of Hutton’s early observations, and furnished him with facts from 
which he established the igneous origin ol “ whinstoue. * They supplied 
Playfair with nximerous apt illustrations in support of Hutton s views, and 
he seems to have made himself thoroughly familiar with them." In the 
hands of Sir James Hall they became the groundwork of those remarkable 
experiments on the fusion of whinstone which may be said to have laid the 
foundation of e.xperimental geology.® In the controversies of the Neptunian 
and Plutonian schools these rocks were frequently appealed to by each side 
in confirmation of its dogmas. The appointment in 1804 of Jameson to the 
Chair of Natural History in the Edinburgh University gave increased 
impetus to the study of the igneous rocks of Scotland. Though he did not 
himself publish much regarding them, we know that he was constantly in 
the habit of conducting his class to the hills, ravines and quarries around 
Edinburgh, and that the views which lie taught were imbibed and extended, 
by his pupils.'* Among the early writers the names of Allan,'' Townson,® 
Lord Greenock, and Ami Bone,® deserve especial mention. 
The first broad general sketch of the Carboniferous igneous rocks of a large 
district of the country was that given by Hay Cunningliain in his valuable 
essay on the geology of the Lothians.® He separated them into two series, 
the Eelspathic, including “porphyry” and “clinkstone,” and the Augitic or Trap 
rocks. To these he added “ Trap-tufa,” which he considered to be identical 
in origin with modern volcanic tuff. It was the eruptive character of the 
igneous rocks on which he specially dwelt, showing by numerous sections 
the effects which the protrusion of the molten masses have had upon the 
surrounding rocks. He did not attempt to separate the intrusive from the 
interstratified sheets, nor to form a chronological arrangement of the whole. 
Still more important was the sketch given by Maclaren, in his classic 
Geology of Fife awl the LothiansF This author clearly recognized that 
many of tlie igneous rocks were thrown out contemporaneously with the 
strata among which they now lie. He constantly sought for analogies 
among modern volcanic phenomena, and presented the Carboniferous igneous 
rocks of the Lothians not as so many petrographical varieties, but as monu- 
^ Hutton's Theory of the Earth, vol. i. p. 155 et seq. 
Playfair's IllmlraUnns of Die HiMoiiian Theory, § 255 ct seq. 
•* Trans. Roy. Hoc. Edin. (1805), vol. v. p. 43. 
-• Mem. Wern. Soe. 11. 178, 618 ; ill. 25 ; Edin. Phil. Journ. 1. 138, 352 ; xv. 386. 
Trans. Roy. Hoc. Edin. (1811), vi. p. 405. 
Tracts and Observations in Mitiira.l Jlistory and Physiology, 8vo, Loud. 1799. 
7 'Trans. Roy. Roc. Edin. (1833), xiii. pp. 39, 107. 
8 Essai geoloyique sur I'Beussc. Parts ; no data, probably 1820. 
” Mern. Wcm. Roe. vii. p. 1. Publisbed separately, 1838. 
1" Small 8vo, Edin. 1838, first partly published as articles in the Scotsman newspaper. A 
second edition, which was little more than a reprint of the first, appeared in 1866. 
