The Edinburgh journal of science. v. 1-10, July 1824-Apr. 1829; new ser., v. 1-6, July 1829-Apr. 1832 edinburghscience03edinuoft Year: Fossil Elk of'the Isle of' Man. 29 The skeleton of the large species of elk which is now in the Museum of the University of Edinburgh, was found at the farm of Balla Terson, in a basin of the shell variety of marl, about 100 yards by 50 in extent, and situated in a wet hol- low or morass, which is filled with aquatic plants, and sur- rounded on all sides by fields of dry and fertile soil. The superficial stratum is peat of excellent quality, light and fibrou
The Edinburgh journal of science. v. 1-10, July 1824-Apr. 1829; new ser., v. 1-6, July 1829-Apr. 1832 edinburghscience03edinuoft Year: Fossil Elk of'the Isle of' Man. 29 The skeleton of the large species of elk which is now in the Museum of the University of Edinburgh, was found at the farm of Balla Terson, in a basin of the shell variety of marl, about 100 yards by 50 in extent, and situated in a wet hol- low or morass, which is filled with aquatic plants, and sur- rounded on all sides by fields of dry and fertile soil. The superficial stratum is peat of excellent quality, light and fibrous, and containing a few trees of bog-timber. It is six feet thick in the middle parts of the morass, but passes out thin, into a black peaty turf towards the margin. Between it and the marl a layer of fine bluish white earthy sand is inter- posed, from two to three feet in thickness. The marl lies at a depth of from seven to ten feet at the middle parts of the pit, but, like the peat, becomes thin at the margin, and passes out wiien within a foot and a half of the black till which forms the surface crust. Nearlv one-half of this deposit has been worked during dry seasons, but I have never seen the pit completely drained of its water. According to the calculation of the workmen, the bed of marl in the middle parts of it is from eleven to fourteen feet thick, independent of the layers of turf and sand which I have noticed. A tranverse section of the deposit may therefore be delineated thus: Bot*cm of Lake. When the workmen penetrate at any time throuo-h tlie marl, the pit is suddenly inundated by water springing up from below, from the sand and gravel which form the subsoil. This marl is highly fibrous, and somewhat in its structure, and when dry, is as light, and nearly as white as chalk. The shells are delineated white upon a darker around, and are seen by separating the fibrous layers, but are 'seldom, if ever, found in their original state. I question much whether
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