between Archmology and Geology, 245 



In it the skeleton is in a bent position ; and part of the 

 lower jaw with teeth, together with a considerable portion 

 of the upper and lower extremities of the left side, are 

 preserved. 



These fossil remains were extracted from a sloping bank 

 of limestone, that extends from the base of the steep cliffs 

 of the island to the sea- shore, and is almost wholly sub- 

 merged at high tides, as shown in the annexed diagram. 



This limestone is composed of consolidated sand, and the 

 detritus of shells and cotals of species that inhabit the 

 neighbouring sea. Land-shells, fragments of pottery, stone 

 arrow heads, carved wooden ornaments, and detached human 



bones, are occa- 

 sionally found 

 therein. The rock 

 is therefore iden- 

 tical in its origin 

 and composition 

 with the calcare- 

 ous and arenace- 



A. Ancient Rocks. b. Modern Limestone in which ^^^ limeStOnCS 



now forming on 

 the sea- shores of many countries. As, for example, on the 

 northern coast of Cornwall, where extensive tracts of drifted 

 sand have been converted into sandstone by the slow infiltra- 

 tion of water, charged with calcareous and ferruginous mat- 

 ter.* In intertropical climes, where the waters of the sea 

 are often turbid with the detritus of shells and corals, the 

 sand- drift, thrown up on the strand, undergoes a rapid trans- 

 mutation of this nature. Along the shores of the Bermudas, 

 limestone is produced by this process of sufficient hardness 

 and durability for the construction of buildings, ere the in- 

 closed shells have lost their colour and polish. t 



In the Isle of Ascension, which is frequented by turtles 

 for the purpose of depositing their eggs in the loose sand, to 

 be hatched by the heat of the sun, so rapidly does this lapidi- 

 fication take place, that groups of eggs are often found in 



* Wonders of Geology, vol. i., p. 93. t I^id., p. 84. 



PLAN OF THE CLIFF AT GOADALOUPE. 



jnt Rocks. B. Modern Limestone i 



the human skeletons were imbedded. 



