1844.] 453 



Forbes on the Malta fossils*, that he has arrived at the same con- 

 clusion with respect to their age. 



Professor Agassiz, who examined my collection of Lisbon shells, 

 considered that they were of the same age as the Molasse of 

 Switzerland. 



The whole of these deposits, therefore, may be placed in the 

 Miocene or middle division of the tertiary system ; a formation of 

 prodigious extent, which appears to have comprehended the whole 

 of the southern portion of the Evu-opean continent, from the shores 

 of Portugal to the Morea, and from Switzerland and Vienna to 

 Malta and the Straits of Gibraltar. 



* Geol. Proceedings, vol. iv. p. 232. 



