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XIII. Analysis of Coprolites and other Organic Remains imbedded in the Limestone of Burdiehouse near Edinburgh

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 January 2013

Arthur Connell Esq.
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Extract

It is not my intention to enter into any detailed description of the external characters of the several interesting organic remains which are found imbedded in the limestone of Burdiehouse, that being a task which belongs to their distinguished discoverer Dr Hibbert.

As little do I mean to describe the geological relations of the limestone bed, that being equally the province of Dr Hibbert. It will be sufficient to state generally, that it forms one of the lowest members of the carboniferous group, being inferior in position even to the Encrinal mountain limestone of its immediate vicinity; and that besides its numerous animal remains, some of which will be mentioned in the sequel, it contains throughout its entire mass numerous impressions of land and fresh-water tropical plants.

Type
Research Article
Information
Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , 1835 , pp. 283 - 296
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1835

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References

page 284 note * Lehrbuch, iv. 445.

page 284 note † In my first search for fluoric acid I merely employed the blowpipe test of fused salt of phosphorus and Brazil wood paper, with the delicacy of which, the alkaline reaction of the coprolites interfered. In the mean time, Dr Gregory and Mr Walker found fluoric acid, in the usual way, in a coprolite examined by them; and I have since found that, with due precaution, it may be detected even by the blowpipe test.

page 287 note * With reference to an analysis lately published by Dr Gregory and Mr Walker, (Edin. New Phil. Jour., Jan. 1835,) of a coprolite described as embedded in a rolled mass of clay-iron from Burdiehouse, it is necessary to observe, that this coprolite appears to have been extremely impure, containing only 10 per cent, of phosphate of lime, and much foreign matter, such as sulphuret of iron, and large quantities of carbonates of lime and magnesia. It is essential, therefore, to draw a marked line of distinction between coprolites in ironstone or shale, and those' directly embedded in the limestone of Burdiehouse, to which last alone my analyses refer. I have seen coprolites from the shale of Burdiehouse, but I have never happened to see any from that locality, either in ironstone or in rolled masses.

page 291 note * Berzelius, , Lehrb. iv. 628Google Scholar.

page 293 note * In examining, however, the insoluble siliceous matter of the scales by the blowpipe, it appears not to be a quite pure hydrated silica, but probably to contain a small quantity of lime.

page 293 note † Berzelius, , Lehrb. iv. 448Google Scholar.

page 296 note * Indeed, in the way in which these experiments were made, which was by heating portions of the substances under examination in glass tubes, and observing the effect on turmeric paper, it is difficult to notice a proper ammoniacal reaction from the coal; whilst with the substances from Burdiehouse, particularly the limestone and coprolites, the alkaline reaction is observed with great readiness. In all such experiments it is easy to distinguish the permanent browning effect which the bituminous vapour exerts on the paper at a high temperature, from the true ammoniacal discoloration.