260 Geological Gleanings. 



Maker, wilfully to misrepresent the smallest fact, or arrogantly to 

 oppose the most full discussions of his results. 



GEOLOGICAL GLEANINGS. 



1. Sir Edmund Head on the temple of Serapis at Pozzuoli, 

 The Geologist is only a sort of pre-adamite antiquarian ; but it is 

 not often that the researches of. the historical antiquary and 

 scholar throw light on his pursuits. The paper named above, and 

 published by the Society of Antiquaries is an exception. The 

 building to which it relates is of exceeding geological interest, as 

 showing in its erect columns perforated by lithodomous mullusks, 

 that the ground on which it stands has been dry land, then sub- 

 merged and again elevated since the erection of the temple. It 

 is a curious instance of the peculiarities of the civilization and 

 science of classical antiquity and the middle ages, that no distinct 

 record remains of the nature and date of these remarkable change* 

 of level. The little mussels that bored their burrows in the marble, 

 were the only geologists of those days. Sir Edmund endeavours 

 to supply this lack of testimony by pointing out a number of re- 

 ferences more or less direct to the edifice and its fortunes, which 

 have occurred to him in his reading. The following extract shows 

 the mode of treating the subject, and contains one of the most 

 curious results of the inquiry, namely, the possibility that part of 

 ■the deposits covering the floor of the old temple may be artificial. 



" At Pozzuoli a building of some sort occupied the centre of the 

 area. "Whether, as in Egypt, the image of the god was placed there, 

 or behind the four columns to which the ruin owes its modern 

 celebrity, may be uncertain. The lowness of situation must have 

 deprived our temple of subterranean passages, and the underground 

 arrangements so elaborately provided in the Egyptian model. 

 The possession, however, of a natural hot spring just behind the 

 temple must have made up for many disadvantages. No appen- 

 dage could be more appropriate for the temple of a god who 

 among his many attributes usurped those of JEsculapius. 



"This warm spring, however, suggests another curious question 

 with reference to a passage in Pausanias. After mentioning 

 several cases of fresh springs in the sea, and the hof springs in 

 •the channel of the Mseander, Pausanias proceeds as follows : — 



