PROCEEDINGS OP THE PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. 
237 
they do, and passing laterally into beds of grit and tuffaceous 
grit and sandstone—all betoken some such mode of formation. 
In many places it is obvious that the porphyrites flowed over 
the bed of the lake, for they have often caught up much of the 
sediment, which we now find involved in their lower portions in 
the form of baked and hardened sandstone, conglomerate, and 
mudstone, ©bscure plant-markings and vegetable debris seem to 
indicate that the slopes of the volcanic hills may now and then 
have supported a cryptogamic flora. The only relics of intrusive 
igneous rocksbelonging to the sameperiod are the irregular bosses 
and masses of diabase which occur in the neighbourhood of Kin- 
fauns. These are of the same general character as the rocks which 
occupy what appear to have been the deeper seated portions of 
the old volcanic foci, and which are well seen at Balgay Hill and 
elsewhere in the Dundee district. At Kinfauns the diabase 
seems to occur as Irregular dyke-like masses and irregular 
sheets ; but in all probability they belong to the later stages of 
the volcanic period. They were certainly not erupted at the 
surface, but are now exposed simply because the rocks which 
formerly covered them have been removed by denudation. 
Faults .—Very few faults or dislocations are noticeable in the 
hill. The best-marked are two which may be seen in the cliff 
above Lairwell. Neither, however, is of much importance. 
They are seen cutting across the bed of conglomerate already 
referred to. 
TERTIARY DYKE. 
In Corsiehill quarry a very good example is seen of a 
dyke, which, like the dykes of the same character in many 
other parts of Scotland, probably belongs to Tertiary times. 
It is a dark .blue crystalline basalt-rock—crypto-crystalline and 
fine grained at the sides, but more coarsely crystalline towards 
the centre: where also it is sparingly vesicular. Areas of small 
vesicles may also be seen in the rock near the sides of the dyke. 
The junction between it and the porphyrite is somewhat 
irregular, and is well worthy of study. The dyke varies a little 
in width, but 30 feet is perhaps a good average. It is jointed, 
as usuai, at right angles to the cooling planes. 
GLACIAL PHENOMENA. 
Kinnoull Hill has been overflowed by Ice. This is shown by 
the manner in which the rocks are bevelled off. Owing to the 
crumbling of the porphyrites, however, glacial striae have 
seldom been preserved. They may be seen at various places 
on or near the hill, as at Muirhall quarry, in the fields above 
Limepotts, at Deuchny quarry, at Corsiehill, &c. (It may be 
noted that they are very plentifully distributed all over the hill- 
slopes between the top of Monereiffe Hill, and the road leading 
to Hhynd.) The strise on Kinnoull Hill vary in direction with 
the form of the hill. At Muirhall, for example, they point 
S. 45 degs. E., while at Corsiehill they are deflected more to the 
east. The general direction of glaciation may be taken as from 
north-west to south-east. 
Boulder-clay, generally reddish in colour, occurs in patches 
here and there over the hill—the stones iu the clay consisting 
mostly of porphyrites; but commingled with these are fragments 
of the red and grey sandstones of Strathmore and some frag¬ 
ments of Highland rocks. 
Ill,— The Flowering Plants. 
By Mr James Coates. 
In taking a ramble of botanical discovery over Kinnoull 
Hill, I cannot promise any finds of a very remarkable 
nature. The locality under consideration is no Ben Lawers, 
or Sow of Athole, famed for its rare collection, or noted 
as a unique locality. Still, much may be found which will 
reward a diligent search, and even some specialities quite 
worthy of the few minutes’ attention I shall devote to 
them. 
Within the geographical limits prescribed for our 
paper, the phanerogams, or flowering plants, are repre¬ 
sented by about 350 species native to our island. Of 
these, however, about 40 have become naturalised, but 
are not indigenous to this locality, while a few, which 
are known to have existed formerly, have since become 
extinct. The comparatively large proportion of plants 
which have become naturalised, may be accounted for 
by the fact that from the nature and position of 
Kinnoull Hill, it is favourably situated for this process. 
In its immediate neighbourhood a populous centre has been 
situated for centuries, where the inhabitants, at least in the 
outskirts, must have constantly carried on the practice of 
cultivation. The hill stands at just such a distance from 
those suburban gardens that seeds could be conveniently 
carried by wind, or birds, or other agencies. These seeds, 
having once found a resting-place on the steep slopes or 
rock crevices, might easily escape disturbance, owing to the 
ground being difficult of access, and would thus become 
established so as to claim for themselves at last the natural 
possession of the soil. Thus it is that on and around the 
cliffs we shall find a considerable number of the more 
delicate of the naturalised plants, although many have also 
succeeded in establishing themselves in apparently less 
favourable situations. 
For convenience, I shall notice first the little group of 
forest trees, although such a classification, separating them 
from the other flowering plants, is altogether arbitrary. 
The wooding is chiefly csnfined to the northern slope of the 
hill, and to the ground which shelves steeply away from the 
base of the cliffs on the southern face until it meets the 
level plain. Of the trees composing these woods a large 
number, such as the spruces and larches, are mere 
introductions from other countries, and although they have 
now obtained a firm footing in Britain, they are not more 
entitled to be included, even among the naturalised flora of 
Kinnoull Hill, than are the laburnums, the scarlet gerani¬ 
ums, and other exotics which ornament the villa gardens 
on its slopes. Of others, again, which are true natives of 
