194) Scientific Intelligence. — Geology. 



standing the great and incessant labour employed for the pur- 

 pose of clearing away the snow, yet in one of these instances- five 

 years elapsed ere it was entirely removed. 



GEOLOGY. 



6. Hoffmann'' s Discovery in regard to Carrara Marble. — 

 According to the late investigations of Hoffmann, the famed 

 marble of Carrara belongs to the Jura limestone formation, and 

 even corresponds to the upper part of that deposit which affords 

 at Solenhof and Pappenheim the well known lithographic stone» 

 The limestone is observed rising from under the quader sand- 

 stone, at first but little changed, and in this state abounding in 

 petrifactions the same as those that occur in the Jura hmestone. 

 With increased inclination of the strata, they become more gra- 

 nular, and often alternate with large masses of dolomite : at 

 length, in an immense wall, which, in a length of six German 

 miles, scarcely sinks to a lower level than 4000 feet above the 

 sea, the limestone becomes throughout granular, and loses every 

 appearance of a common Jura limestone. But, in descending 

 towards Carrara, the Jura petrifactions appear again in the 

 deeper beds, below MisegHa, in a road which leads to the mar- 

 ble quarries, and thus, according to Hoffmann, shewing that 

 the beds of granular Mmestone or marble have been formed 

 out of compact limestone, through subterranean agency The 

 marble rests on clay-slate, which reposes on a mica-slate, sup- 

 ported by gneiss. Hoffman endeavours to shew that the mica- 

 slate and gneiss have been formed from the clay-slate, through 

 the agency of subterranean heat. 



7. Fish-bones and Scales in the Coal Formation. — Many 

 years ago, we pointed out to our pupils the bones and scales of 

 fishes in the shale of the coal formation, in the neighbourhood 

 of Edinburgh. Very lately my friend Mr Trevelyan has dis- 

 covered some specimens of nearly whole fossil fish, at Wardie, 

 near to Leith. 



8. Specific Gravity of some British Rocks. — Compact hyper- 

 stbene rock. Isle of Skye, 3.051. Trap vein in red sandstone, 

 Isle of Lamlash, Arran, 3.0 J 4. Rock of the pillars of FingaPs 

 Cave, 2.957. Anamesite or greenstone from Tobermory, in 

 Isle of Mull, 2.905. Summit of Arthur Seat^ with traces of 



