Specimens of vegetable organisms are very common in some of the flagstones of Orkney, resembling, in some instances, the Lycopodiaceæ, or club-mosses, so abundant in the carboniferous strata: and branching fucoid plants, of which portions have been found from two to three feet in length, and of nearly the same diameter of stem throughout. But in tracing the COURSE of CREATION in this department of her works, the most important fact to relate is, the discovery of a coniferous lignite, imbedded in the old red sandstone of Cromarty. This interesting relic was obtained from these beds, several years ago, by Mr. Miller; and, though still of that remote age an instantia solitaria of its kind, like the foot-print of Robinson Crusoe, it is the sure token of a race that inhabited the island, and harbinger of a luxuriant flora then waving along the shores of the boundless waters. These northern localities, on the mainland, as well as in the islands, are also remarkable for their shell-beds in this deposit, while very few of such organisms have yet been detected in any of the Scottish rocks of the system to the south of the Grampians. The relics are confined to one species of shell, resembling in general appearance the form of the Cyclas, and are found in various quarries in the district. What a revolution in letters, knowledge, and civilization since the days of the Romans! This, their Ultima Thule! and a science in the very rocks of which they never even dreamed. Proud they were of their fabled origin from the twin boys suckled by the wolves. Here are the spoils of ages long anterior to their myths of remotest genealogy—families of creatures that had fulfilled their destiny—buried in the sand, and upheaved into lofty mountains, while the Seven Hills of their proud city slept beneath the waves. We now proceed to trace the order of the formation southward of the Grampian chain.