10 On certain Newer Deposits in Sicily, 



wards the western side of the valley, they are concealed by dilu- 

 vium, and I could not therefore observe their relation with the 

 dolomite ridge. 



A few words will suffice in regard to the mineralogical cha- 

 racters of these rocks. The dolomite has a light grey or white 

 colour, contains a number of small irregular cavities, some of 

 which are lined with crystals. I observed a cave on one part of 

 the hill, which I had not time to examine. The limestone of 

 the eastern ridge, which I suppose to belong to a newer forma- 

 tion than the dolomite, has a grey colour, is compact, divided 

 generally into strata not exceeding two or three feet in thickness, 

 and containing, in some places, thin beds or veins of si black 

 silex, not unlike flint. The tertiary rocks consist of a coarse 

 limestone, and of a calcareous conglomerate, containing small 

 rounded fragments of lime and silex, both of which contain casts 

 of shells, and resemble some of the beds in the neighbourhood 

 of Palermo. 



I observed no tertiary rocks beyond the Cape delle Mandre, 

 the limestone of which, associated with light grey-coloured marls, 

 continues along the coast to the east. The strata are generally 

 much inclined or bent. They consist there of numerous beds of 

 a soft marl, interstratiiied with thin beds of limestone, some of 

 which contain nummulites, the only organic remains which I 

 could find. They rise to a considerable height at some distance 

 from the shore, and in the valley of the river Termini, having 

 been cut down by the stream, or by diluvial action, they stand 

 out in bold high cliffs. The country all around Termini is 

 composed of this formation, with the exception of the hill on 

 which the castle stands, which I could not examine, but which, 

 as seen from a distance, would appear to be composed of mag- 

 nesiferous limestone or dolomite. Immediately to the east of 

 Termini, the marls are associated with some thick beds of a sili- 

 ceous sandstone, and they continue with the same characters as 

 far as the Fiume Grande. They are easily recognised along 

 the coast, even at a distance, by their rounded outlines, and fer- 

 tile soik, which are strongly contrasted with the bold, rugged, 

 sterile aspect presented by the dolomite hills, which rise to great 

 heights immediately behind them. To the east of the Fiume 

 Grande, these grey marls and limestones are succeeded by a white 



