488 



tool, excepting a few holes that had evidently been made to assist in 

 raising it. The situation of the skeleton in the block was so super- 

 ficial, that it had probably been discovered by the projection of a part 

 of the left fore-arm. Nevertheless, the operation of laying the whole 

 open to view, with all the care that was requisite for its preservation, 

 was attended with very considerable difficulty, on account of the ex- 

 cessive hardness of the stone adjacent to the bones, and the compa- 

 rative softness of the bones themselves. 



Unfortunately the skull is wanting ; and the author, with much 

 reason, regrets the loss of this characteristic part, which by its form 

 might have thrown some light on the period when it was deposited, 

 or at least as to the nation to whom the individual belonged. The 

 vertebrae of the neck are also lost along with the head ; the thorax 

 bears marks of violent compression. The seven ribs of the left side 

 are complete, but dislocated. Those of the right side are all broken ; 

 and their extremities are found on the left side of the spine. Such 

 parts of the arms and legs as remain, are found in their natural po- 

 sition; but many are entirely wanting, and most are broken, or 

 otherwise imperfect. 



The bones are thought to have acquired a degree of hardness since 

 their first exposure, though still far inferior to that of the surrounding 

 stone. A small portion of one of the bones examined by Sir Hum- 

 phry Davy was found to contain a part of its animal matter, and the 

 whole of its phosphate of lime. The rock in which they are imbedded 

 consists of a calcareous sand, firmly agglutinated. Some of the grains 

 appear to be portions of compact limestone ; others are particles of 

 zoophytes ; some white, others yellowish ; and many which are red 

 in various degrees appear to be fragments of Millepora miniacea. Some 

 shells are also found, but in no great number ; one of them much re- 

 sembles Helix acuta of Martin ; and another is a Turbo, the species 

 of which is not yet determined. The only bony substance observed 

 beside the skeleton itself, has a concentric laminated structure, and 

 appears to be part of a tusk, but from what animal cannot be ascer- 

 tained. There are also here and there a few specks of a black sub- 

 stance that has the properties of charcoal. 



By the workmen employed in exposing the skeleton, the stone is 

 thought to be harder than statuary marble, by the degree of impres- 

 sion made by their saw or chisel. Its formation appears to be similar 

 to that of common sandstone, only that the grains of which it is com- 

 posed are calcareous, and have in some parts become confluent, par- 

 ticularly in the parts adjacent to the bones, and in these parts Dr. 

 Thomson has found traces of phosphoric acid. From all the circum- 

 stances, it is pretty evident that the injury which the bones have 

 sustained has occurred subsequently to their deposition, and before 

 the sand in which they lie had concreted into the present stony sub- 

 stance. 



With respect to the period at which this may have happened, the 

 author thinks it impossible to pronounce with decision. It may be 

 of very recent formation, but there is nothing which necessarily im- 



