Direction of Ice-flow, E. 5° N.-Locality.-On granite at Newton of Park, Kinsteary, 2 miles S.S.E. of Nairn. Height about 150 feet.

Direction of Ice-flow, E. 9°-12° S.-Locality.-On granite 200 yards south of Park, and about 2 miles S.S.E. of Nairn. Height 266 feet.

Direction of Ice-flow, E. 13°-17° S.-Locality.-On granite, about 400 yards south of Park and over 2 miles S.S.E. of Nairn. Height about 230 feet. (The last three instances are east of the limits of the striæ map.)

ON LOW GROUNDS IN THE NAIRN VALLEY.

Direction of Ice-flow, E. 30°-33° N.-Locality.-On basic igneous rock at Mains of Daltullich, 43 miles E.S.E. of Inverness. Height 600 feet. Direction of Ice-flow, N. 20° E.-Locality.-On gneissmile northeast of Craggie Inn. Height 650 feet.

Direction of Ice-flow, E. 36° N.-Locality.-On gneiss south of river, 600 yards S.S.W. of Daviot Bridge. Height about 550 feet.

Direction of Ice-flow, E. 22° N-Locality.-On gneiss north of river, about 100 yards north of Faillie Bridge. Height about 150 feet.

Direction of Ice-flow, N. 7° E.-Locality. On gneiss near south side of river, nearly opposite Beachan farm, or 700 yards north-west of the Free Church of Daviot. Height about 600 feet. (Not on map, being near the next observation.)

Direction of Ice-flow, N. 3° E.-Locality.-On gneiss, 300 yards S.W. by W. of the Free Church of Daviot. Height about 650 feet.

Direction of Ice-flow, N. 39° E.-Locality.-On gneiss, west end of Creagan-an-Tuirc, close to Brinmore farmhouses. Height 720 feet.

ON HIGH LEVELS IN THE NAIRN VALLEY.

Direction of Ice-flow, N.E.-Locality.-On granite 1 mile N.N.W. of Beinn Bhuidhe Mhor. Height about 1,200 feet.

Direction of Ice-flow, N.-Locality.-On granitic gneiss on south shoulder of Beinn-a-Bheurlaich, nearly 2 miles south-east of Faillie Bridge. Height about 1,230 feet.

Direction of Ice-flow, N. 10° E.-Locality.-On gneiss at south of Creagan-Bad-Each, 12 mile S. 14° E. from Faillie Bridge. Height about 1,050 feet.

Direction of Ice-flow, N. 20° W.-Locality.-On gneiss on top of Meall. Mōr above Inverarnie, 1,100 yards east of Daviot Free Church at Farr. Height about 1,200 feet.

Direction of Ice-flow, N. 20° W.-Locality.-On gneiss near top of Creag-a-Chlachain, about mile north of the outlet of Loch Dantel

chaig. Height about 1,100 feet.

From the foregoing evidence it will be seen that on the high grounds between Moy Hall and Faillie in Upper Strathnairn the striæ point on an average due north; a fact ascribable to the ice moving seawards from the elevated range between the Nairn and the Findhorn; while further to the south-west, near Inverarnie and Loch Duntelchaig, the direction is N. 20° W. Near the river course from Croachy to Craggie the trend of the ice-markings is more or less parallel with the course of the valley, or on an average N. 32° E. In the neighbourhood of Essich, near Loch Ness, the trend varies from E. 13°–32° N. In the tract between Loch Ness and Cawdor Castle striæ are not easily found owing to the more or

less continuous covering of superficial deposits; but in Hillhead Quarry, near Dalcross station, the direction is N.E.; and further on, at Kinsteary, south of Nairn, from E. 5° N. to E. 17° S. (see list of stria).

Proceeding northwards to the Black Isle the striated surfaces between Beauly Firth and Munlochy Bay clearly prove that the trend of the iceflow varied from E. 12°-30° N. Near Avoch the direction of the icemarkings is E. 3° N.; while near Ethie, about three miles south of Cromarty, it is E. 25° Ń.

So far as the striæ are concerned the evidence points to the conclusion that the land ice that passed over Clava did not previously traverse the Beauly or Moray Firths. It would appear that the ice which glaciated that portion of the Nairn Valley came from the Great Glen, and from the mountains to the S.E. of the loch towards the sources of the Findhorn, and at some stage of the Ice-age may have traversed part of the bed of Loch Ness in its onward march.

3

Transport of Boulders.-In the reports of the Boulder Committee of the Royal Society, Edinburgh, it is stated that boulders of the wellknown foliated granite of Dirriemore, west of Ben Wyvis, are 'scattered abundantly all over the Black Isle.' They have been carried across, not only the ridge of the Black Isle, but what is now the Moray Firth, to beyond Elgin, and they may be seen on the coast between Burghead and Lossiemouth.' ' They have been found near the Enzie post-office, but none so large as those dug out during the excavations for the Buckie Harbour. The fine-grained pinkish granite of Abriachan on the west side of Loch Ness occurs in the gravel of Tomnahurich near the town of Inverness, and eastwards of this point, on beyond Nairn and Forres, it is found less in large boulders, though it occurs in considerable masses, than as forming part of the gravel deposits which are so marked a feature on the south shores of the Moray Firth.' It is further stated that boulders of the 'liver-coloured conglomerate,' which occurs in situ between Inverfarigaig and Loch Duntelchaig, are distributed over the country between Loch Ness and Lossiemouth.' Cumberland's Stone on Culloden Moor, the boulders named Tomriach on the bank of the Nairn, near Cantraydoun, and Clach-na-Cailliche, near the top of the Hill of Urchany, south of Nairn, are stated to have been derived from this area, the general distribution of these conglomerate boulders being to the N.E. of Caisteal-an-Duin-Riabhaich, near the junction of the Stratherrick and Dores roads, onwards to Elgin. The grey granite of Stratherrick is found in blocks of different sizes, some of them large, all over the country east towards Elgin, intermingled with the conglomerate just mentioned.' 'It is also found in blocks scattered on the very top of the ridge of conglomerate between Loch Ceò-Glas and Loch Ness.' It is further recorded that boulders of the gneiss of Stratherrick and the Monadhliath Mountains are found in Strathnairn, near the Free Church of Farr, Farr House, near Flichity, and again further down the valley below Daviot, not far from the mansion of Nairnside.

From the foregoing evidence it is inferred 'that the general direction of movement of these blocks has been eastwards, but chiefly from S.W. to N.E., parallel to the trend of the coast of the Moray Firth at this part."

VI. Report by Mr. DAVID ROBERTSON, F.G.S., F.L.S., Mem. Imp. Roy. Zool. Botan. Soc., Vienna.

The portion of shelly clay from Clava entrusted to me for examination was, with the exception of a small bagful, chiefly in one piece, taken at 2 feet from the top of the main section,' and in a box of broken pieces of stony clay from the bottom of the same section. I had also packages of clay, sand, and gravel from other parts of the deposit, as hereinafter mentioned.

1. The clay in the above-mentioned bag, being taken from different parts of the section, was considered to be a fair sample of the shelly clay. It consisted of

None of the stones was noticed to be striated; some-chiefly sandstones-were angular; the others were mostly water-worn and well polished. None was much larger than a gooseberry. There may have been a little more sand in this instance, as some of the finer portion may have passed off with the mud. Mica scales were plentiful.

The clay seemed to indicate deposition in still water, showing no traces of strong currents, and containing few stones, and those mostly small in size.

2. The shelly clay, 160 yards south-west of the 'main section,' consisted of

3. The sand in a tin box, taken from 2 to 3 feet above the shelly clay of the main section,' was in lumps requiring some force to break, and was still harder when dry. It consisted of

None of the stones exceeded the size of a pea.

The sand is very fine, mixed with a few small stones. No marine organisms were detected in it. On the whole, it had much the character of blown sand. It was much lighter in colour than the sand washed out of the shelly clay, and contained little or none of the dark mica prevalent in the latter.

4. The stony clay, being bottom part of the shelly clay, near west end of 'main section,' consisted of—

These stones were water-worn. No striation was noticed.

In this stony clay six Foraminifera and one Ostracod were obtained. Independently of the finding of Microzoa, I was doubtful whether this was part of the shelly clay, or had got mixed with it, or whether an error had occurred in some other way. To make sure of this point another portion was prepared, and here Foraminifera were still more

numerous, and a few Ostracoda were also found, leaving no doubt that they belonged to the deposit.

5. The gravel (in second tin box) taken from 2 feet below the shelly clay, at east end of the 'main section,' was prepared in the usual way, and lost little by washing. The stones were all well water-worn, with the exception of the sandstones, most of which appeared to have been subjected to little or no rolling. A few rootlets and two Foraminifera were obtained. Although every precaution had been taken to prevent admixture of the materials, still there are many ways in which this might occur, either in the field or during examination.

The sand from this part of the section is of a light yellowish colour, and consists chiefly of small well-rounded particles of quartz with some light grains of mica, derived apparently from the adjacent Old Red Sandstone. In these respects it closely resembles the sand which overlies the shelly clay, and differs in a marked degree from that contained in the shelly clay itself, which, as already mentioned, is dark or dark-grey in colour, and contains much black mica, apparently derived from the disintegration of gneissose rocks.

Remarks.

The deposit in all its aspects, taken in connection with its high level, is very puzzling. Although its Arctic character is well established, it differs much from any of the post-Tertiary clays that have come under my notice, particularly in respect of the small variety of fossil organic remains found in it, there being very few remains of echini, star-fishes, worm-tubes, crab-claws, or polyzoa, which are common in the postTertiary clays, both on the east and west coasts of Scotland.

The shells, with the exception of those that are young and friable, are fairly well preserved, and show no marks of. rubbing or polishing, so far as I could discover. They are chiefly of shallow-water species; some may have lived in from fifteen to twenty fathoms, but nearer the shore as well; and the great majority are undoubtedly of littoral species.

With regard to the physical characteristics of the deposit, the following points seem worthy of notice :-(1) The fineness of the sand overlying the shelly clay, and its freedom from stones or gravel; (2) the generally rounded and water-worn appearance of the stones in the clay, and the small proportion of sand accompanying them; and (3) the difference in appearance and composition between the sand in the shelly clay and that occurring both beneath and above it, and the fact of the different parts of the deposit-clay, sand, and overlying boulder claybeing so sharply defined from each other.

The question comes to be, Have the shells lived and died where they are found? After considering all the evidence that has come under my own observation I am strongly inclined to believe that they did live and die where they are found. If we suppose that a transportation of the deposit has been effected by ice action, it is difficult to see how the stones could be so free from striation, or the sand overlying the shelly clay so fine and so free from stones (those found in it being not much larger than a pea), or how the different strata of the shelly clay, the sand, and overlying boulder clay could be laid down so sharply defined, the one over the other, if crushed up to their present position by ice in any form.

DAVID ROBErtson.