226 Geological Society : — Anniversary of 1839. 



similar, when their identity is properly traced, with which we 

 have been familiar in our home circuit. Yet the investigations 

 of Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Strickland appear to show, that we 

 may recognize, even in Asia Minor, the great formations, occupy- 

 ing the lowest and highest positions of the series, which are well 

 marked by fossils, namely, the Silurian and Tertiary forma- 

 tions ; and also an intermediate formation corresponding in gen- 

 eral with the Secondary rocks of the north, but not as yet re- 

 duced to any parallelism with them in the order of its members. 

 Besides these sedimentary rocks, in this as in most other coun- 

 tries, there are found vast collections of igneous rocks of various 

 kinds, which interrupt and modify, and may mask and over- 

 whelm, the fossiliferous strata. A paper has been communicated 

 to us by Mr. Hamilton, "On a part of Asia Minor," namely, the 

 country extending from the foot of Hassan Dagh, to the great 

 salt lake of Toozla, and thence eastwards to Csesarea and Mount 

 Argseus, and thus occupying a part of the ancient Cappadocia. 



It appears that in this district the igneous rocks occupy a large 

 portion of the surface, and the sedimentary strata which are as- 

 sociated with these are not easily identified with those which 

 occur in countries already examined. The district examined by 

 Mr. Hamilton contains a limestone belonging to the vast calcare- 

 ous lacustrine formation of the central part of Asia Minor, and 

 beneath this, a system of highly inclined beds of red sandstone, 

 conglomerates, and marls, which are perhaps connected with the 

 saliferous deposits of Pontus and Galatia ; but which could not 

 be satisfactorily compared with the beds of the south of Europe, 

 for want of the occurrence of organic remains. In only one in- 

 stance did Mr. Hamilton observe the trace of organic bodies in 

 the sandstone ; these were impressions resembling fucoids, and 

 similar to those found in the Alpine limestone near Trieste. Mr. 

 Hamilton ascended to the summit of Mount Argaeus, which had 

 not previously been reached by any traveller, which rises ab- 

 ruptly from the alluvial plain of Csesarea to the height of 13,000 

 feet. 



We have another contribution to the geology of the countries 

 exterior to the Alps and Pyrenees in Mr. Sharpe's memoir on the 

 geology of Portugal, He has exammed with great care the 

 neighborhood of Lisbon, and has traced the superposition of the 

 strata, naming the most conspicuous of them from the places in 



