MODEEIf GEOLOGICAL CHANGES. 351 



down as new deposits. The most striking instances are fur- 

 nished by the Delta of the Nile, and the large rivers of the 

 American continent. 



In addition to these mechanical agencies, we have already 

 alluded to the fact, that vital action is employed in the con- 

 struction of new formations. The coral polype is ceaselessly 

 at work, rearing, first, its reefs, then its islands above the 

 surface of the deep, and, finally, by the union of these, pro- 

 ducing continents, which at a future period will rival those 

 already in existence. 



The limestone of Gruadaloupe, celebrated for the human 

 skeletons embedded in it, is a recent deposit, formed by the 

 following process: The coral reefs which surround the 

 island are abraded by the incessant action of the waves. 

 The detritus thus produced, is drifted to the shore in the 

 state of coralline sand or mud, where, by the action of the 

 atmosphere, or streams holding carbonate of lime in solution, 

 the mass becomes indurated, and forms a compact limestone. 

 It is evident that the rock was in a plastic state when 

 these skeletons were placed in it, and it is also ascertained 

 that the bones are not fossilised, but retain their animal 

 matter and phosphate of lime. There is not sufficient 

 evidence as to the mode in which they have been embedded, 

 whether they are the relics of a battle, or were deposited 

 as a mode of sepulture. Greneral Erneuf, mentions a mas- 

 sacre of the Gralibi tribe by the Garibs to have taken place, 

 130 years since, on this spot : but Dr. Moultrie, who pos- 

 sesses the skull belonging to the specimen in the British 

 Museum, declares it to be that of a Peruvian, or a race 

 possessing a similar form of skull. A skeleton, now in the 

 Museum of Natural History at Paris, was discovered in a 

 sitting position, which is known to be the usual interment 

 posture adopted by the aborigines of these regions. The 

 accompanying figure (253) represents the skeleton from 

 Gruadaloupe in the British Museum. 



