XXXVI.—On the Occurrence of Pumice Pebbles in the Raised-beaches of Ayrshire

Abstract

About two years ago I began to find Pumice Pebbles in the 25-feet Raised-beach at Ardeer in the parish of Stevenston. A short time afterwards I got them from the Raised-beaches near the mouth of the Bann river in the North of Ireland. After my return home I thought of examining the 40-feet Raised-beach of Shewalton Moor, near Irvine, and found the pebbles there to be quite common. For more than twenty years I must have seen these pebbles scores of times, both at Shewalton and Ardeer, but always failed to “discover” them. So much for “eyes and no eyes.” I sent specimens of the pebbles to Professors Hull and Forster-Heddle; to the Jermyn Street Museum, London; to Mr. Goodchild of the Science and Art Museum, Edinburgh; to Mr. William Gray of Belfast; to Mr. James Bennie of the Geological Survey, Edinburgh; and I also shewed them to Mr. John Young, LL.D., F.G.S., of the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow. Professor Hull wrote—“I cannot say where they [the pumice pebbles] came from, but in a volcanic country such as Ayrshire it is quite conceivable that they might be derived from some lava-flow, either visible or concealed by drift. Their occurrence in the North of Ireland would be in accordance with the well-known trend of the glacial strise—W.-S.-W. Supposing the solid rock is in the South of Scotland, the pebbles may be derived either from drift pebbles or directly from the rock itself. I regret I cannot say anything more to the point This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract