XXXVII. Notes on a Fossiliferous Post-pliocene Bed at Gourock

Abstract

About three years ago, while the houses now built between the Gourock Toll and Fort Matilda were in course of erection, a cutting for a drain was made through the field which lies between the Gourock Road and the river. During the cutting the workmen passed through a post-pliocene bed containing shells. These were of the species common in the Arctic beds of the Clyde valley; the most notable, however, being Astarte borealis, Chemnitz, fine specimens of which were common. A few months ago excavations were made behind the Gourock toll-house, just at the point where the high and low roads meet, to obtain sand for building purposes, and, as in the former instance, the shell-bed was well exposed, I was able to collect a considerable number of specimens. Proceeding downwards, the following are the details of the section:— The organic remains, a list of which is appended, were chiefly found in the lower 3 feet of the sand, the upper 6 feet being comparatively barren. A water-worn flint was found in the gravel overlying the shelly sand. No organisms were detected in the lower laminated clay, though it was carefully searched. It is curious to note that algæ and mosses similar to those recently described to the Society by Mr. David Robertson, F.L.S., F.G.S., as occurring in the Garvel Park clay, were common and well preserved. Those specimens of Cyprina Islandica in which the valves were found in close approximation had a white fibrous substance between the hinge teeth, This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract