| Show 13 rf 1 rfW Discoveries i I Of Antiquities 1 it 11r 1 In Scotland R i I I 1 t I The recent wonderful discoveries 01 I t I t objects of antiquity tire not all In Baby i 1 i onla about fie ruins of Nippur or tlu f rids of Assyria Scotland supplies her I t quote Th district adjoining the town 0 or Olnn has In late ypais yielded both I i 11 antiquarian and ecological discoveries t or particular scientific value and 1m I A parlance About 10 years ago In the I 4 course of excavation for building purl k I Pages pur-l an Immense Prehistoric cave con 1 4 1 tolnlnlJ 0 colleetlon or animal and bu k I I man remain and several specimens 01 1 1 L I jeuutlfully shaped Implements of stone P t t and hone wo uncovered In a central part of Oban and quite recently a find I II I I I or con Idernbl ° Interest If of lesser 1m I N portance was made at Gallanach Ihi A adjoining estate of a Mr Patten Mac I dougall 1 i 11 4 A short time after a number at urn I I of baked clay were unearthed on the To I i r I outskirts of tlio town and this event I was soon succeeded by a fresh discovery I eevcd to lie I the most significant I ol all In a rocky cliff on a lull In the vl 1 111 I cmny In Juno last a Slight ubldnc cia I I currcd In tile cliff and the fallen rocks 0 veto Immediately noticed by an otTlcci I i It or the ecological survey then engaged In mapping out the district who came to f the conclusion that they contained fog 0 f lIIrrou remains and had them tn 4 111 pccted by a specialist The nrficcs ot t ip I the rocks bore well deflmd ripple mark I I Ill sod rain pits while armhole pipes I I I I aero plainly discernible I ij L No definite fossil forms were bro ihl I i to light with the exeptlon that a tray I R I I layer of shale nt the bane of the cliff I I Yielded n few fragmentary specimens cl i t Aj i I cephalofpls Ill li tI A further examination of tho rocks It A I ill resulted most satisfactorily Many N more perfect Specimens of cephalaspli ji I have been produced and though oIOn K W drat I dr-at them ore complete hy one1et 11 nark the geological age of the locks In P r J which they were Imbedded I i I I X P Fir Archibald aelkle hni always be lloved that the purple shale and con 44 q Al ji glomrol strata of western Argyllshire 11 A 4 I I belong to the loner old red sandstone I 141 one and while he regarded the some I w hot Indefinite forma discovered In Jun as confirming this opinion the mate recent 1 1 Ii ItAk i re-cent specimens have fully satisfied him F 4 or the truth ot bin theory The sped Atli nens ore iJily the head of cephalispls t I 1 t e but several ot them are particularly well I defined In one case tho outlines of the I 1 I t head are almost perfectly preserved and A Ti T the eyes are dhtlnet and prominent N di h 1 enough to look uncanny 9 Cephalaspls Is I classified as one ot 1 I the peculiar and extremely ancient I I breed ot paleozoic fishes limited tC I the upper Silurian and the lower old red i i candstone It belongs to n group I of fossil b I fos-sil fishes which are among the very ear I Rest to appear In the geological < record I 1341 7e ji rec-ord Thourh confined to the lower old I I red In Britain cephalaspls survived Into I I Sit 5 In-to tho upper old red sandstone lime of Canada The present discovery Is l 1 I R I not only of Importance geologically ai I I fixing the age of the old red outlier ol Oban but It enables It to be correlated I i T i I 0 with tho same formation In other part I I i of Scotland With the exception ol lil I Home worm trolls and pipes In Quartz AD i i He discovered and described some years ago by the duke of Argyll them k 411 I older metamorphic rocks on which the I I r I r i X old red sandstone rests t have never I I 3 I till now yielded any fossils and In th < I absence of these Invaluable aids the 11 I i geologist Is I largely left In tho darkness I 1 if Ill A I I of doubt c The great Hugh Miller once described I I the highlands at a picture set In a i 11 rre or old rd oondtone At fy I Ir Ohan can be seen today both the pic I I t ture and the frame In actual contact 11 1 |
