larger scale r>n the shores of Greece, Karamania, 

 Sicily, and the West Indies. Abundance of sea 

 shells and other organic remains are found in it ; 

 and at Guadaloupe a human skeleton was dis- 

 covered in the beach, imbedded in amass of that 

 description. 



" Some springs of water are so highly loaded 

 with calcareous particles, that the sediment they 

 deposit soon hardens into stone ; and the stalac- 

 tites which I shewed you are formed in a similar 

 manner, in the caverns and fissures of all lime- 

 stone countries. Those were very small speci- 

 mens, but in some places, for instance in the cele- 

 brated grotto of Antiparos, one of the Greek 

 islands, they are found of enormous magnitude, 

 forming rows and clusters of columns, that reach 

 from the top to the bottom of that great cavern. 

 The water in slowly dripping through the rock be- 

 comes saturated with lime ; as the drops exude 

 from the crevices, or trickle down the stalactites 

 already formed, they are exposed to the air; the 

 watery part then evaporates, and the lime forms a 

 hard stony crust ; in some cases assuming the 

 shape of small crystals." 



When we reached home, my uncle obligingly 

 laid M. De Choiseul Gouffier's voyage on the 

 table for us ; and we all read with astonishment 

 his description of that wonderful cavern, which is 

 a thousand feet long, and full of these curious 

 productions. The stalagmites that grow up- 



