Note AN — Chapter VIII

There still exists some uncertainty regarding the order in which the upper beds occur. Mr. Duff, of Elgin, places the limestone band above the yellow sandstone; Messrs. Sedgwick and Murchison assign it an intermediate position between the red and yellow. The respective places of the gray and red sandstones are also disputed, and by very high authorities; Dr. Fleming holding that the gray sandstones overlie the red, (see Cheek's Edinburgh Journal for February, 1831,) and Mr. Lyell, that the red sandstones overlie the gray, (see Elements of Geology, first edit., pp. 99-100.) The order adopted above consorts best with the results of the writer's observations, which have, however, been restricted chiefly to the north country. He assigns to the limestone band the middle place assigned to it by Messrs. Sedgwick and Murchison, and to the gray sandstone the inferior position assigned to it by Mr. Lyell; aware, however, that the latter deposit has not only a coping, but also a basement, of red sandstone—the basement forming the upper member of the lower formation.