OF SEVERAL PARTS OF WESTERN ASIA. 389 



Rios, are hills of argillaceous slate, containing much limestone, 

 which make an excellent soil for wheat. Towards the lake of 

 Nice, there are hills of porphyritic trap with some columnar 

 formations." 



Messrs. Hebard, Van Lennep, and Schneider, all agree, that 

 the principal body of Olympus is gneiss, with occasional beds 

 of crystalline limestone. The specimens which they have sent, 

 fully sustain this opinion. Nos. 271 to 278 are distinct gneiss : 

 No. 279 is gneiss passing into hornblende slate, and Nos. 280 to 

 284 are hornblende slate. Nos. 285 to 288 are varieties of mica 

 slate from near the base of the mountain. The limpid quartz^ 

 No. 289, and the quartz rock, No. 290, are from the same place. 

 The massive garnet. No. 291, is from near the summit of the 

 mountain, where it is said to be very abundant. The limestone 

 associated with the above rocks is usually white and granular, 

 as shown in Nos. 156, 157, 158, and 246. The latter is from the 

 summit, and resembles dolomite. But on analysis I find the fol- 

 lowing to be its composition. 



Earthy residuum, 0.67 



Carbonate of lime, 99.33 



100. 



This limestone is highly fetid, a fact which I have noticed 

 often in some of the highly crystalline limestones associated with 

 gneiss in this country. No. 243 is columnar calcareous spar, 

 obtained by Mr. Hebard from the top of Olympus. 



Towards the foot of Olympus is a deep ravine in the compact 

 limestone, where extensive tufaceous deposits have taken place, 

 and large quantities of stalactites, stalagmites, and especially crys- 

 tals of calcareous spar, are seen lining the mural faces of the 

 rock and the numerous small caverns existing there. Nos. 239, 

 242, and 641, are examples of the stalactites, and No. 240 is a 

 singular and unusual form of stalagmitic deposit, which I have 

 sometimes seen going on in water at the bottom of a limestone 

 cavern. Nos. 230 to 238, and 239, 240, are examples of the va- 

 rieties of crystallized calcareous spar from this spot. The crystals, 

 so far as my specimens show, all assume the form of extremely 



