236 Mr. E. Forbes^ Botanical Excursion to 



strict. This bed, which varies from 10 to 50 feet in thickness, covers 

 indiscriminately and without interruption the plains, valleys, hills, 

 and even the gentle slopes of the mountains. It consists principally 

 of clay containing subordinate strata of gravel and quartz pebbles, 

 and is frequently ferruginous to such a degree, that the particles of 

 iron are converted into pistholitic iron ore resembling that which 

 fills the fissures of the Jura. 



The soil which fills the caverns has undergone some modifications, 

 arising from its introduction and sojourn in them; 1st, it contains 

 angulose or rounded fragments of limestone ; 2nd, it is hardened by 

 the particles of lime deposited in its interior by the waters charged 

 with this substance filtrating through the fissures of the rock ; 3rd, 

 it is impregnated with saltpetre, and is on this account explored by 

 the inhabitants of the country. 



It is in this soil that the fossil bones are found ; they are deposited 

 pell-mell, are fragile, very white in their fracture, and adhere 

 strongly to the tongue. Frequently they are petrified, more often 

 converted into calcareous spar. In general they are broken or mu- 

 tilated, and, lastly, they frequently bear the impressions of teeth, 

 leaving no doubt that the animals to which they belonged had been 

 dragged into these caverns by ferocious animals then inhabiting 

 them. The larger ones have been introduced by various carnivo- 

 rous Mammifera and the smaller ones by a diurnal bird. 



At the present day not a single ferocious animal of the Mammi- 

 fera sojourns in these caverns, and none accumulate masses of bones 

 comparable to those we find in the diluvial deposits. At the utmost, 

 we find in the modern excavations bones of small animals scattered 

 at the surface, which had served as prey to a nocturnal bird, the 

 Terror (Effraie) of Brazil, Strix perlata, Licht. 



[We shall give the list of the fossils in one of our next numbers. 

 — Edit.] 



XXVIII. — Notices of a Botanical Excursion to the Mountains 

 of Ternova in Carniola. By Edward Forbes, M.W.S. ; 

 For. Sec. B.S., &c. 

 In the chain of the Julian Alps, nearly opposite Goritzia, is a 

 district called the Forest of Ternova, reserved by the Austrian 

 government for the use of its navy, on account of the fine tim- 

 ber therein found. It consists of a group of well-wooded 

 mountains, of from 4000 to 5000 feet above the level of the sea. 

 The highest summits are bare and rocky, but the general form 

 of the hills is round-backed. They rise from an elevated plain. 



