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_ ENVIRONS OF NICE. 437 
fusion, sometimes leaning laterally against the first limestone, 
sometimes presenting its edges towards it, and very often sin- 
gularly contorted. 
With regard to its composition, it varies considerably. In 
colour it passes from a bluish to a brownish grey ; it is some- 
times very tough under the hammer; very hard and close- 
grained when it breaks in scopiformly angular fragments ; 
faintly translucent on the edges, with somewhat of a splintery. 
fracture. Again, it occurs of a dull earthy texture, breaking 
into rough irregular masses, and affording a strong argil- 
laceous smell. In the compact variety, flint very often occurs, 
dispersed irregularly through the mass, not preserving a line, 
as it does in the first limestone, nor formed in the same dis- 
tinct nodules, but in masses, which appear to be chemically 
combined with the limestone. It occasionally contains a pro- 
fusion of organic remains. This is particularly the case on the 
peninsula of St Hospice, where in one place the rock appears 
to be formed of a very minute variety of nautilus, mixed 
with small numelites ; different ostrea, the pecten, and gry- 
phite, are also found in it, with fragments of the shell of 
the echinus. It sometimes happens that the blue marly clay 
which accompanies the second limestone, presents itself. in 
very thick but always conformable beds; and as nothing grows 
upon it in high and exposed situations, it gives a very de- 
solate appearance to the country, which, in some places, much 
resembles the mining districts of Cornwall, from. the heaps 
of naked rubbish thrown down by decomposition. This clay 
does not contain many shells. In a few instances, I observed 
them sparingly distributed, and not in the perfect state I found 
them elsewhere. There were among them both bivalves and 
univalves; of the last, one of the Trochus genus was peculiar, 
from being flattened. 
The 
