or Macigno Formation in the South of Europe. 275 



Ammonites \ one in the pietra forte, with which the city of 

 Florence is paved, the other in the macigno of the environs of 

 Genoa. These discoveries are important, on account of the 

 rarity of animal remains in the formation which we are now 

 considering. Carbonaceous deposits are also found in the 

 macigno, such as the slipites of Pupiglio in the Pistojais, of 

 the valley of the Taro, in Lunigiana, &c.* 



I will now say a few words of the extent of this formation 

 in Italy. In the map of Sicily by M. Hoffmann, it is repre- 

 sented by the gre& apennin a fuco'ides, by the conglomerate 

 subordinate to the latter, and by the argillaceous schists. In 

 the country of Naples, on this side of the lighthouse, the forma- 

 tion of the macigno is very rare ; I have only observed it in 

 the mountains of Bovino in the Capitanate, with Fucoids quite 

 similar to those of the Tuscan macigno. I could not point 

 out the spots in the Papal states where this formation is 

 found, with the exception of the Apennines of Bologna, where 

 it is continuous with that of Florence. The macigno of Tus- 

 cany, of the Modenese and of Liguria is so classic, that I 

 shall content myself with merely naming it here. It is also 

 found, and very distinct, at the foot of the Alps of Lombardy, 

 especially in the environs of Gavirate, where it has been ex- 

 amined by the Geological Section of the meeting held at Milan. 

 This locality is very remarkable, not only for the great number 

 of Fucoids perfectly similar to those of the macigno of Florence 

 whicli it contains, but also for other species which remain to 

 be determined by some able algologist. 



2. Comparison of the Chalk Formation of Italy xoith that of 

 France and of England. 



In this part the author attempts to establish the fact, that 

 three deposits of nummulites are distinguishable in Italy : — 1st, 

 the tertiary ones of the Vicentin, if, however, they shall continue 

 to retain the place which they have hitherto occupied; 2nd, the 

 nummulites of the macigno; 3rd, those of the hippuritic forma- 

 tion. We may reason, a priori, that their species must be 

 different in these three positions ; but it is desirable that, for 

 the interests of science, some able palaeontologist should under- 

 take the task of classing them, in order that they may serve as 

 marks for the distinction of the deposits which contain themf. 



He ends by concluding, that the facts which he has related 

 tend to establish, — 



* An account of one of these deposits of lignite in Lunigiana, by Prof. 

 Mojon, will be found in Phil. Mag., First Series, vol. xvi. p. 324. Edit. 



t Tliis work is promised us by M. Leymerie, who, by its execution, will 

 without doubt render a great service to the geology of the south of Europe. 

 — (iNote by M. Pilla.) 



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