300 



Dr. John T. Plummer on the 



ways found this samaroid of the size represented in the prece- 

 ding figure.* 



The only siliceous fossil of this formation in my cabinet, is the 

 Tubipora catenulata. The greatest thickness of the cliff lime- 

 stone in this vicinity does not exceed thirty feet. 



Diluvium. — Upon the last mentioned formation Fi g- 12 > 

 repose alternating layers of yellowish clay, sand, 

 and gravel, covered by a rich soil, and underlaid 

 very generally by a bluish marly clay of a sulphu- 

 rous or some similar offensive smell. I have al- 

 ready stated in the early part of this article, that 

 the diluvium varies greatly in depth ; and I may 

 add here that the thickness of the clay immedi- 

 ately below the soil, as far as numerous excava- 

 tions for wells and cellars expose it, is about 

 six feet, so that the soil has a substantial sub- 

 stratum. 



Remains in the diluvium. — While excavating 

 a passage for a road through a hill, the workmen 

 exhumed two horns from the gravel, a number of 

 feet below the soil and clay. From the curvature 

 of these horns, their similarity in size, and their 

 being found together, a reasonable inference arises 

 that they were a pair belonging to the same ani- 

 mal. They are so nearly decomposed that they 

 scarcely bear the most delicate handling. They 

 are ten inches long, an inch and a half in diame- 

 ter at the base, solid, gently tapering towards the 

 summit, and slightly furrowed longitudinally. See 

 figure 12. 



In a similar situation was discovered a piece of 

 ivory, six inches long and three fourths of an inch 

 in diameter. A hole passes through its entire 

 length, and a spiral groove performs just one revolution round 

 it, in running from one end of the ivory to the other, giv- 



* Samaroid. — I suppose the rigid critic will be offended at this mongrel word, 

 (samera and eidos.) But many authorized English words have been formed by a 

 combination of the Latin and Greek. 



