The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1898-01-13
DISCOVERIES sooTtANe.
Specimens OF Cephalaspis Found Ii
ri 81 SsS.s o. CHI nj 1Salaanach. s.s-.sf5

a The district in and around Oban has
in recent years yielded antiquarian
and geological discoveries 81 peculiar
scientific yalueSand Importance. In the
course of excavation for building pur-
poses about two years ago large pre-
historic cave, containing collection OF
animal and human remains andsseseral]
specimens Of beautifully shaped inn
PIGMENTS of stone and bone, was dis
closed in central part of the town of
Oban, and more recently a fndsof con-
siderable interest, il Of lesser impor-
lance, was made at Gallanach, the adj
joining estate Of Pattens Macdougall.
It was only the other day that a
number of urns of baked clayswere un-
earthed on the borders of the burgh
boundary and that has now been fol-
lowed by a fresh discovery, andlonef
which is believed, to be most signifi-
cant of all, in a rocky cliff ON the hill
behind the town. In the month of June
last slight subsistence occurred in the
cliff, and the fallen rocks having come
under the notice of an officer of the geo
logical survey, who is. at present en-
gagged mapping the district, and who
came to the conclusion that they con-
tanned fossiliferous remains; they were
subjected to investigation by-a special
ist. The surfaces of the rocks bore
well-defned ripple marks and rain pits,
while worm pipes were as discernible
AS they are in the sand on the seashore
at the presenttday. No definite fossil
Storms were brought to light, with the
exception thata gray layer Of shale at
the base of the cliff yielded a few frag-
mentary specimens of cephalaspis.
A further examination of the rocks,
however, has now been begun, and the
results are already of the most salts
factory character. A large number Of
more perfect specimens of cephalaspis
have been produced, and, though none
of them are complete, they conclusiyely
mark the geological age of the rocks in
which they were embedded. SirArchi-
bald Geikie has always believed that
the purple shale and conglomerate
strata of western Argyleshire belongto
the lower old red sandstone age, and
while he regarded the somewhat in
definite forms discovered in June as
confirming this opinion, the more re-
cent specimens place itabeyond doubt.
So far the specimens embrace only the
heads of cephalaspis, but several Of
them are particularly well defined. In
one case the outlines of the head are
almost perfectly preserved, and the eyes
are distinct and prominent enough to
look uncanny. Cephalaspis is classified
as one of peculiar and extremely an
cient breed of palaeozoic fishes, limited
to the upper silurian and lower old red
| sandstone; it belongs to group of fos-
sill fishes which are among the very
earliest to appear in the geological rec
ord. Though confined to the lower old
red in Britain, cephalaspis survived up
into upper old red sandstone times in
Canada. The present discovery is not
only of outstanding Importance geo
logically as fixing the age of the old
red CUTLER of Oban, but it enables it to
be correlated with the same formation
in other parts of Scotland. With the
exception of some worm trails and
| pipes All quailAlte ulscoVeieu anu ue
scribed some years ago by the duke OF
Argyle, these older metamorphic rocks
Oh which the old red sandstone rests
have never till now yielded any fossils
and in the absence of these invaluable
aids the geologist is largely left in dark
ness. Hugh Miller has described the
Highlands rs a picture set in frame
Of old red sandstone. At Oban the
frame and picture can be seen in con-
tact.-Scotsman.