106 



calcareous marls (or strata immediately below the same) of the 

 gyjjsum quarries of the Ligurian, belonging to the Upper Eocene 

 formation. It is, as Mr. Scudder observes, rather extraordinary 

 that the Upper Miocene beds of ffiningen which, if we except 

 the amber, have furnished almost more insects than all the other 

 formations of the world together, and which are more recent than 

 any of those in which butterflies have been found, have yielded 

 the remains of only one species of Lepidoptcra, and none what- 

 ever of butterflies. 



The most recent investigations of the geological sti'ata of 

 this district and their fossil insects have been made by 

 M. Oustalet, who, in 1874, published the result of his investiga- 

 tions in the second part of his " Recherches sur les Tnsectes 

 fossiles des Terrains Tertiares de la France." In this most 

 important work (a copy of which I have had the honour of 

 i-eceiving from the Author) M. Oustalet has expressed his in- 

 tention of doing for the insects of Provence what Dr. Heer has 

 done for those of (Eningen. Some idea of the magnitude of 

 the labours which ]\I. Oustalet has undertaken may be formed 

 from the fact that although the work above mentioned contains 

 some 347 pages, exclusive of 6 plates, the Coleoptera only are 

 included in it. Of the insects of this order upwards of 80 

 species referable to 13 families are described and figured. 



The Carabidcc are represented by 11 species, the Staphijlinidie 

 by 19 species, the CurcuUonidce by 33 s]^edes, and the Chri/somelid(e 

 l>y 7 species. 



AVith the exception of the learned Zurich Professor, no 

 other Paleontologist has produced any works on this branch of 

 science of greater importance than M. Oustalet. 



Middle Eocene. 



To this period Sir Charles Lyell refers the marls and lime- 

 stones of Monte Bolca, near Verona, in Italy. Associated with 

 these marls and limestones are beds containing lignite and shale, 

 which have been described by Professor Unger and Signor 



