Organic remains are generally wanting, but the leaves and wood of coniferous
plants, and in one case a cone, have been found. Also in the purple marls of
Corncockle Muir near Dumfries, very distinct footprints of reptiles occur,
originally referred to the Trias, but shown by Mr. Binney in 1856 to be Permian.
No bones of the animals which they represent have yet been discovered.
ANGULAR BRECCIAS IN LOWER PERMIAN.
A striking feature in these beds is the occasional occurrence, especially at the
base of the formation, of angular and sometimes rounded fragments of
Carboniferous and older rocks of the adjoining districts being included in a
paste of red marl. Some of the angular masses are of huge size.
In the central and southern counties, where the Middle Permian or Magnesian
Limestone is wanting, it is difficult to separate the upper and lower
sandstones, and Mr. Hull is of opinion that the patches of this formation found
here and there in Worcestershire, Shropshire, and other counties may have been
deposited in a sea separated from the northern basin by a barrier of
Carboniferous rocks running east and west, and now concealed under the Triassic
strata of Cheshire.
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