196 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION. 
of Modena, spring from beds composed of gravel and 
marine shells ; the latter, though more than sixty feet 
in depth, occupy a line of country one hundred and 
thirty feet, above the level of the Mediterranean. 
Descending from these elevated regions, we trace 
the same diluvial deposits in the plains, and valleys, 
of our own, and other countries. 
France offers a rich mine to the geologist. Its 
metropolis is situated in the midst of an extensive 
plain, which for horizontal or secondary stratification, 
is one of the most remarkable with which we are 
acquainted. Great masses of rock, containing 
thousands of marine exuviz, alternate regularly 
with others, in which the shells of fresh-water fish 
are similarly imbedded. The bones of land animals, 
of which not only the species, but even the genera, 
are entirely unknown, occupy extensive districts ; 
while other bones, belonging to large animals, to 
which we find nothing analogous excepting in remote 
and exotic regions, are scattered near the surface : 
characters of a mighty torrent are also discoverable 
from the south-east, impressed on the forms of the 
hills, and in the directions of the principal ridges. 
The fossil remains which diversify the south of 
England, very nearly resemble those of the lower 
marine formation in the basin of Paris; a similarity 
of no small importance, as it leads to the probable 
