Titlepage   i

Notice iii   iii

Dedication to Roderick Impey Murchison  vii   vii  viii

Author's Preface  ix   ix  x  xi  xii

Contents xiii  xiii  xiv  xv  xvi  xvii  xviii  xix  xx

Explanations of the Sections and Plates  xxi  xxi  xxii  xxiii  xxiv

CHAPTER I.  001  002  003  004  005  006  007  008  009  010  011  012  013  014

The Working-man's true Policy. -- His only Mode of acquiring Power. -- The Exercise of the Faculties essential to Enjoyment. -- No necessary Connection between Labor and Unhappiness. -- Narrative.  --  Scenes in a Quarry.  -- The two dead Birds.  --  Landscape.  --  Ripple Markings on a Sandstone Slab.  -- Boulder Stones.  --  Inferences derived from their water -- worn Appearance.  -- Sea-coast Section.  -- My first discovered Fossil.  --  Lias Deposit on the Shores of the Moray Frith.  --  Belemnite.  --  Result of the Experience of half a Lifetime of Toil. -- Advantages of a Wandering Profession in Connection with the Geology of a Country.  --  Geological Opportunities of the Stone-Mason. -- Design of the present Work.

CHAPTER  II, 015  016  017  018  019  020  021  022  023  024  025  026  027  028  029  030  031  032  033  034

The Old Red Sandstone. -- Till very lately its Existence as a distinct Formation disputed. -- Still little known. -- Its great importance in the Geological Scale. -- Illustration. -- The North of Scotland girdled by an immense Belt of Old Red Sandstone. -- Line of the Girdle along the Coast. -- Marks of vast Denudation.--Its Extent partially indicated by Hills on the western Coast of Ross-shire.  --  The System of great Depth in the North of Scotland. -- Difficulties in the Way of estimating the Thickness of Deposits.  -- Peculiar Formation of Hill.  --  Illustrated by Ben Nevis. --  Caution to the Geological Critic.  -- Lower Old Red Sandstone immensely developed in Caithness.  -- Sketch of the Geology of that County.  -- Its strange Group of Fossils. -- their present Place of Sepulture.  --  Their ancient Habitat.  --  Agassiz. -- Amazing Progress of Fossil Ichthyology during the last few Years. -- Its Nomenclature. -- Learned Names repel unlearned Readers. -- Not a great deal in them.

CHAPTER  III. 035  036  037  038  039  040  041  042  043  044  045  046  047  048  049  050  051  052  053  054

Lamarck's Theory of Progression illustrated.  --  Class of Facts which give Color to it. -- The Credulity of Unbelief. -- M. Maillet and his Fish-birds.  --  Gradation not Progress. --  Geological Argument. -- The Present incomplete without the Pest.  --  Intermediate Links of Creation.  -- Organisms of the Lower Old Red Sandstone. -- The Pterichthya. -- Its first Discovery. --  Mr. Murchison's Decision regarding it.  --  Confirmed by that of Agassiz.  --  Description.  -- The several Varieties of the Fossil yet discovered. -- Evidence of violent Death in the Attitudes in which they are found. -- The Coccosteus of the Lower Old Red. -- Description. -- Gradations from Crustacea to Fishes. -- Habits of the Coccosteus. --  Scarcely any Conception too extravagant for Nature to realize.

CHAPTER  IV. 055  056  057  058  059  060  061  062  063  064  065  066  067  068  069  070  071  072  073  074  075  076  077  078

The Elfin-fish of Gawin Douglas.  --  The Fish of the Old Red Sandstone scarcely less curious.  --  Place which they occupied indicated in the present Creation by a mere Gap.  -- Fish divided into two great Series, the Osseous and Cartilaginous. -- Their distinctive Peculiarities.  -- Geological Illustration of Dr. Johnson's shrewd Objection to the Theory of Soame Jenyns.  -- Proofs of the intermediate Character of the Ichthyolites of the Old Red Sandstone.  --  Appearances which first led the Writer to deem it intermediate. -- Confirmation by Agassiz. -- The Osteolepis.  -- Order to which this Ichthyolite belonged.  --  Description.  --  Dipterus.  --  Diplopterus. -- Cheirolepis.  --  Glyptolepis.

CHAPTER   V.  079  080  081  082  083  084  085  086  087  088  089  090  091  092  093  094

The Classifying Principle and its Uses.  --  Three Groups of Ichthyolites among the Organisms of the Lower Old Red Sandstone. -- Peculiarities of the Third Group. -- Its Varieties.  -- Description of the Cheiracanthus. -- Of two unnamed Fossils of the same Order. -- Microscopic Beauty of these ancient Fish.  --  Various Styles of Ornament which obtain among them. -- The Molluscs of the Formation. -- Remarkable chiefly for the Union of modern with ancient Forms which they exhibit.  --  Its Vegetables.  --  Importance and Interest of the Record which it furnishes.

CHAPTER   VI. 095  096  097  098  099  100  101  102  103  104  105  106  107  108

The Lines of the Geographer rarely right Lines.  --  These last, however, always worth looking at when they occur. --  Striking Instance in the Line of the Great Caledonian Valley.  --  Indicative of the Direction In which the Volcanic Agencies have operated.  -- Sections of the Old Red Sandstone furnished by the granitic Eminences of the Line. Illustration.  -- Lias of the Moray Frith.  --  Surmisings regarding Its original Extent.  --  These lead to an exploratory Ramble. -- Narrative. -- Phenomena exhibited in the Course of half an Hour's Walk  -- The little Bay. --  Its Strata and their Organisms.

CHAPTER   VII.  109  110  111  112  113  114  115  116  117  118  119  120  121  122  123  124

Further Discoveries of the Ichthyolite Beds. -- Found in one Locality under a Bed of Peat.  -- Discovered in another beneath an ancient Burying-ground.  -- In a third underlying the Lias Formation.  -- In a fourth overtopped by a stilll older Sandstone Deposit.  --  Difficulties in ascertaining the true Place of a newly-discovered Formation.  --  Caution against drawing too hasty Inferences from the mere Circumstance of Neighborhood.  -- The Writer receives his first asistance from without. --  Geological Appendix of the Messrs. Anderson, of Inverness. --  Further Assistance from the Resaarches of Agassiz. -- Suggestion.  -- Dr. John Malcolmson.  -- His extensive Discoveries in Moray.  -- He submits to Agassiz a Drawing of the Pterichthys.  --  Place of the Ichthyolites in the Scale at length determined -- Two distinct Platforms of Being in the Formation to which they belong.

CHAPTER   VIII.  125  126  127  128  129  130  131  132  133  134  135  136  137  138  139  140  141  142  143  144  145  146  147  148  149  150

Upper Formations of the Old Red Sandstone. -- Room enough for each and to spare.  --  Middle, or Cornstone Formation.The Cephalaspis its most characteristic Organism.  -- Description.  --  The Den of Balruddery richer in the Fossils of this middle Formation than any other Locality yet discovered. Various Contemporaries of the Cephalaspis.  --  Vegetable Impressions.  --  Gigantic Crustacean.  --  Seraphim. --  Ichthyodorulites.  --  Sketch of the Geology of Forfarshire.  -- Its older Deposits of the Cornstone Formation.  --  The Quarries of Carmylie. -- Their Vegetable and Animal Remains. -- TheUpper Formation.  --  Wide Extent of the Fauna and Flora of the earlier Formations.  -- Probable Cause.

CHAPTER   IX.  151  152  153  154  155  156  157  158  159  160  161  162  163  164  165  166  167  168  169  170  171  172

Fossils of the Upper Old Red Sandstone much more imperfectly preserved than those of the Lower.  -- The Causes obvious. --  Difference between the two Groups, which first strikes theObserver, a difference in size.  -- The Holoptychius a characteristic Ichthyolite of the Formation.  --  Description of its huge Scales. -- Of its Occipital Bones, Fins, Teeth, and general Appearance.  -- Contemporaries of the Holoptychius.  -- Sponge-like Bodies.  --  Plates resembling those of the Sturgeon.  --  Teeth of various forms, but all evidently the teeth of fishes.  --  Limestone Band and its probable Origin.  --  Fossils of the Yellow Sandstone.  -- the Pterichthys of Dura Den.  -- Member of a Family peculiarly characteristic of the System. -- No intervening Formation between the Old Red Sandstone and the Coal Measures. -- The Holoptychius contemporary for a time with the Megalichthys. -- The Columns of Tubal-Cain.

CHAPTER   X.  173  174  175  176  177  178  179  180  181  182  183  184  185  186  187  188  189

Speculations In the Old Red Sandstone, and their Character. -- George, first Earl of Cromarty.  -- His Sagacity as a Naturalist at fault in one instance. --  Sets himself to dig for Coal in the Lower Old Red Sandstone. -- Discovers a fine Artesian Well. -- Value of Geological Knowledge in an economic view.  -- Scarce a Secondary Formation in the Kingdom in which Coal has not been sought for.  -- Mineral, Springs of the Old Red Sandstone.  -- Strathpeffer. -- Its Peculiarities whence derived.  -- Chalybeate Springs of Easter Ross and the Black Isle -- Petrifying Springs. --  Building-Stone and Lime of the Old Red Sandstone. -- Its various Soils.

CHAPTER   XI. 190  191  192  193  194  195  196  197  198  199  200  201  202  203  204  205  206  207  208  209  210

Geological Physiognomy. -- Scenery of the Primary Formations; Gneiss, Mica Schist, Quartz Rock. -- Of the Secondary; the Chalk Formations, the Oolite, the New Red Sandstone, the Coal Measures. --  Scenery in the Neighborhood of Edinburgh.  -- Aspect of the Trap Rocks. -- The Disturbing and Denuding Agencies. -- Distinctive Features of the Old Red Sandstone. --  Of the Great Conglomerate. --  Of the Ichthyolite Beds.  -- The Burn of Eathie. -- The Upper Old Red Sandstones.  --  Scene in Moray.

CHAPTER   XII.  211  212  213  214  215  216  217  218  219  220  221  222  223  224  225

The two Aspects in which Matter can be viewed; Space and Time. -- Geological History of the Earlier Periods. -- The Cambrian System. -- Its Annelids.  -- The Silurian System. -- Its Corals, Encrinites, Molluscs, and Trilobites.  --  Its Fish.  --  These of a high Order, and called into Existence apparently by Myriads.  -- Opening Scene in the History of the Old Red Sandstone a Scene of Tempest.  --  Represented by the Great Conglomerate.  --  Red a prevailing Color among the Ancient Rocks contained in this Deposit.  --  Amazing Abundance of Animal Life. -- Exemplified by a Scene in the Herring Fishery.  -- Platform of Death. -- Probable Cause óf the Catastrophe which rendered it such.

CHAPTER   XIII.  226  227  228  229  230  231  232  233  234  235  236  237  238  239  240  241  242

Successors of the exterminated Tribes.  --  The Gap slowly filled. Proof that the Vegetation of a Formation may long survive its Animal Tribes.  --  Probable Cause. -- Immensely extended Period during which Fishes were the Master-existences of our Planet.  --  Extreme Folly of an Infidel Objection illustrated by the Fact.  --  Singular Analogy between the History of Fishes as Individuals and as a Class.  --  Chemistry of the Lower Formation.  --  Principles on which the Fish-enclosing Nodules were probably formed.  -- Chemical Effect of Animal Matter in discharging the Color from Red Sandstone.  --  Origin of the prevailing tint to which the System owes its Name.  --  Successive Modes in which a Metal may exist. --  The Restorations of the Geologist void of Color. -- Very different Appearance of the Ichthyolites of Cromarty and Moray.

CHAPTER   XIV.  243  244  245  246  247  248  249  250  251  252  253  254  255  256  257  258  259

The Cornstone Formation and its Organisms.  -- Dwarf Vegetation.  --  Cephalaspides. --  Huge Lobster. --  Habitats of the existing Crustacea.  --  No unapt representation of the Deposit of Balruddery, furnished by a land-locked Bay in the neighborhood of Cromarty.  -- Vast Space occupied by the Geological Formations.  -- Contrasted with the half-formed Deposits which represent the existing Creation.  --  Inference. -- The formation of the Holoptychius.  --  Probable origin of its Siliceous Limestone. -- Marked increase in the Bulk of the Existences of the System.  -- Conjectural Cause. -- The Coal Measures. -- The Limestone of Burdie House. --  Conclusion.

ICHTHYOLITES OF THE OLD RED SANDSTONE from Agassiz's Poissons  Fossiles.  261  262  263  264

NOTES 265  266  267  268  269