[ 304 ] 



a,reat diflance from this fpot*, which ftands at the foot of the 

 Alps of the country of Trent. Thefe fifli then poffibly may 

 have been forced or drifted into fome rccefs adjoining their pre- 

 fent.fi tuation, into which the newly erupted volcano fuddenly 

 poured an immenfe quantity of calcined calcareous matter, and 

 thus gave rife to the feveral confequences that I have already 

 dcfcribed. 



It now only remains to trace the inferences that arife from 

 the confideration of the general Circumflances and fituation of 

 the maffes that form the fifli-quarries of Monte Bolca : Thefe, 

 I have obfervcd, lie in detached bulks, fet in different fpots 

 of the fide of this hill ; but the foil of Bolca is wholly argilla- 

 ceous, its native ftone refembling our bafalte of the county of 

 Antrim ; and as far as I could fee, or learn from the inhabitants, 

 befide the quarries in queftion, it does not contain any calcareous 

 matter whatfoever. Now thefe, though near each other, lie at 

 fomewhat different heights, and different inclinations of their 

 lamina to the horizon, as well as to the furface of the hill, and 

 coincide with neither of thefe diredions ; from whence alone it 

 feems evident that they could not have been formed in the 

 places where they are now found ; add to this their flag or 



laminar 



* P. Pini, in his memoir above quoted, p. 242, fays, that with the fi(h of 

 Bolca are often found impreffions of fprigs and leaves of various trees. How far 

 this may be well founded I cannot pretend to fay, not having myfelf feen at Bolca, 

 or in the colle£tions at Verona, impreffions of any other than marine vegetables. 

 He does not fay either, t/iat he had /ten fuch impreffions. Soc. Ital. di Verona, 

 torn. 5. 



