PROCEEDINGS-PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE, lxxiii 
the nineteenth century) by a poor specimen of tawdry Gothic, the 
foundations only remaining of the old work. 
The scanty ruins of the once noble Abbey were next carefully 
examined, attention being called to the beautiful remains of the 
pulpit or lectern in the south wall of the old refectory, and to the 
vaulting of the old gatehouse. These comprise almost all that is left 
of an Abbey which at one time boasted it could lodge three sovereigns 
and their retinues at once. 
The Palace, so closely associated with events of Scottish history, 
and the birthplace, among others, of Charles I., was also visited. 
Favoured by magnificent weather, the excursion was greatly enjoyed. 
2. On Thursday, 23rd May (the Queen’s Birthday), the Members 
of the Scottish Natural History Society were our companions in a 
joint excursion to Burntisland, and Mr. J. G. Goodchild, F.G.S., 
Edinburgh, acted as Geological Guide. As Mr. Goodchild had, 
during last winter, given a course of lectures on Volcanic Geology, 
his demonstrations were of particular interest to the Members present. 
The party numbered in all about 60. The following are the notes 
which Mr. Goodchild has supplied :— 
After leaving Burntisland, the route at first lay westward for about 
a mile to the railway cutting south-west of Colinswell. On the way, 
attention was called to the silted-up estuary, which, when the land 
stood at a lower level, separated Burntisland from the mainland. 
Some raised beaches of much higher antiquity were also noted. 
Arrived at the railway cutting, the party devoted considerable 
attention to the occurrence of a sheet of the rare form of ultra-basic 
eruptive rock known as Picrite, which at this point is seen to be 
intrusive amidst some Sandstones and Shales of Lower Carboniferous 
age, which are on, or about, the horizon of the Hailes Sandstones of 
the Lothians. The Picrite consists of a holocrystalline granitic com¬ 
pound of olivine, augite, biotite, and iserine (a mineral allied to 
magnetite). As iron ores form a considerable proportion of the con¬ 
stituent minerals of the rock, its predominant colour is dark—almost 
black—where the iron is in the form of iserine, but where the eruptive 
rock has come into contact with strata containing much carbonaceous 
matter, a reduction of the oxygen percentage has taken place, and 
the iron ore is reduced from the black condition to a lower oxide, in 
which the colour is very much more feeble. As a consequence, the 
Picrite, where it adjoins the Carbonaceous Shales, is cream-coloured 
instead of dark-grey-green, as it usually is elsewhere. 
From this cutting the party ascended the hill to the north, 
passing over the edges of a considerable thickness of strata higher in 
the series until a quarry was reached, in which the well-known 
Burdiehouse Limestone was seen. After lunching here, a move was 
made to Grange Quarry, where the Burdiehouse Limestone and its 
associated sandstones and shales are being wrought at the present 
time. From the shales seen in this quarry the party collected several 
species of fossils. Amongst these were noted specimens of Sigillaria; 
Lepidodendron veltheimianum , and other species allied therewith; 
Lepidostrobus , the “cone” or “fruit” of the Lepidodendrons; leaves 
