198 Scientific Intelligence. — Geology. 



the notice is worthy of attention. — " A platform, nearly above 

 the level of the water, surrounds the isle^ and renders it very 

 easy of access. It is, however, not prudent to approach on the 

 ENE. and S W., on account of some detached portions of earth, 

 over which the sea has begun to beat, at less than half a cable's 

 length from the shore. The isle is free from shoals on every 

 side ; there is, however, on the NE. a bank which extends for a 

 mile out ; but after sounding repeatedly on those parts of the 

 bank where the yellowish colour of the water appeared more 

 prominent, we found a bottom at fifty fathoms ; therefore the 

 isle may with safety be closely surveyed. Before the rising of 

 this volcanic hill, this bank did not exist. It appears, then, that 

 the volcano, before it made its explosion at the surface of the 

 water, had raised up the earthy crust under which it roared, 

 and has left behind it the long train of land which it had driven 

 up. On coming to the level of the sea, it has vomited a prodi- 

 gious quantity of calcined matter, and it is thus that the new 

 isle has arisen." — Now, should this statement turn out correct, 

 it will go far to decide a much controverted point between Hum- 

 boldt, Von Buch, Daubeny, and others, on one side, and Nec- 

 ker, Scrope, &c., on the other, since it is evident that this is a 

 case of a crater of elevation, the existence of which the latter 

 geologists entirely deny. Not that the converse of this would 

 follow; for Dr Daubeny, for one, has never questioned that 

 there is also such things as craters of eruption, of which kind 

 this may be an example. D. 



6. Fossil Forest discovered at Rome. — An interesting dis- 

 covery has been made by a pedestrian tourist (a physician) in 

 the immediate vicinity of Rome, namely, that of a fossil under- 

 ground forest, above forty feet in thickness, and extending for 

 several miles. The petrific matter is a calc-sinter, and from the 

 layers of ligneous debris being freely intermixed with volcanic 

 dust, the discoverer of this interesting circumstance thinks there 

 can be little doubt but that this colossal phenomenon was occa- 

 sioned by an earthquake, of which the memory is lost. The 

 description of it is thus given in a letter : — " Facing the north- 

 ern extremity of the Pincian Hill, on the left of the new road 

 near the Porta del Popolo, I was struck with the peculiar ap- 

 pearance of the ground, and, oh approaching it, I was surprised 



