356 [Feb. 21, 



Eeturning now to the white limestone of Vido and the vicinity 

 of Corfu, it will be necessary first to consider whether the geo- 

 logical age of any part of it can be determined, and this is im- 

 portant, since, according to Dr, Davy, it belongs to the carboniferous 

 limestone, and a conglomerate associated with it represents the 

 old red sandstone, while, according to other accounts, the white 

 limestone is oolitic, and the conglomerate tertiary. 



The adjacent mainland with which these Corfu and Vido beds 

 must be associated contains secondary strata, considered to be 

 oolitic, and much resembling in mineral character the hardened 

 chalk of England and Ireland ; and Mr, Strickland, in describing 

 the Geology of Smyrna, mentions that the more compact beds of 

 yellowish limestone of that neighbourhood resemble the secondary 

 limestones of the Ionian Islands. The former, however, are known 

 by their fossils to be of lacustrine and tertiary origin. Mr. Strick- 

 land also, in alluding to the Geology of Zante, considers the lower 

 beds as Apennine limestone, and the upper ones as tertiary; and 

 the presence of Hippurites renders it probable that the former at 

 least is of the Cretaceous period. 



Restricting myself to the description of the limestone of Vido 

 and the opposite shore of Corfu, I may first observe, that the greater 

 portion, such as for example that of the citadel rock, the height of 

 Fort Neuf and of Fort Abraham, is very indistinctly bedded, and 

 vertical cleavage is visible on a large scale, more particularly at 

 the citadel. I have as yet in vain sought for fossils at either of 

 these localities, though the rock of Fort Abraham strongly re- 

 sembles that of Vido, which contains a considerable quantity of 

 them. Immediately below the citadel rock, forming its base, and 

 dipping under it, is the limestone of Cape Sidero, which is com- 

 posed of numerous and often minutely laminated beds, from half 

 an inch to several inches in thickness. These beds are associated 

 with layers and nodules of flint, and very often present a highly 

 curious and interesting character, being made up of angular frag- 

 ments of the limestone, with occasional flints, slightly displaced and 

 re-cemented together : and this brecciated structure is sometimes so 

 minute that it can only be detected by a lens, whilst in other cases 

 it is coarser, and then readily disintegrates. At Cape Sidero the 

 surface of the brecciated beds appears to me to have suffered 

 erosion prior to the deposition of the other rock, portions of which 

 are found in hollows on its surface. The same brecciated beds are 

 seen more to the south, and may therefore underlie the massive beds 

 of Monte Decca, just as they here do those of Cape Sidero. Similar 

 alternating and highly laminated beds of white limestone and flints 

 occur at the base of Fort Neuf, and again in Vido, at the base of 

 the Tower Hill. Up to this geological point, 1 have as yet found 

 no fossils, but in the massive limestone of Vido the case is dif- 

 ferent, and having fortunately noticed a fragment on the face of 

 one of our quarries, I directed the attention of the workmen to 

 the fact, and they were not long in discovering more. As the sur- 

 face of Vido is only gently tindulated, and there is no marked 



