192 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION. 
discovered in a calcined and petrified state. That 
magnificent range of the Andes, which passes through 
the narrow Isthmus of Darien, into the kingdom of 
Mexico; as well as the lofty sweep of the Apalachian 
Hills, offer similar indications. The low grounds 
which extend from the base of the latter, are varied 
with small risings, composed entirely of shells ; in- 
eredible numbers are also found, at the depth of 
fifty, or eighty feet, in the vast plains of Virginia and 
Carolina. 
Bivalves are frequently discovered on Mount St. 
Julian, in Valencia, bedded in gypsum, and sur- 
rounded by detached pieces of slate; while large 
masses of sea-shells start forth amid the sultry plains 
of Asia. 
The famous rock of Gibraltar is principally com- 
posed of lime-stone, traversed by fissures, or hol- 
lowed into caves, in which the osseous breccia is 
contained. Cuvier notices that the shells which it 
exhibits, are uniformly sea, or land species. The 
high hills of Spain are frequently composed of river 
and oceanic-shells, blended with other marine sub- 
stances, and layers of dark earth. Even the Ammo- 
nites, inhabitants of deep and tempestuous oceans, 
have been discovered in Alpine regions. Large beds 
of Oysters diversify the calcareous strata of Bergieres, 
in France. An assemblage of marine petrifactions 
