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upper tertiary beds last mentioned, and containing shells of species 

 now existing in the Mediterranean. Its character varies in different 

 situations, according to the nature of the rocks of which it is com- 

 posed. It may be studied as well on the north coast as in the valleys 

 to the south of the central chain, especially in that of the Limetus, 

 between Palermo and Catania, and to the south of Syracuse. Its 

 position, as well as fragments of tertiary rocks contained in it, prove 

 it to be posterior to these ; its sea shells attest its marine origin ; and 

 the perforations by Lithodomi prove it to have been covered by the 

 waves prior to its elevation. 



7. Of the same age with the preceding conglomerate is the Bone- 

 breccia. Three bone-caves are enumerated by the author as situated 

 in the immediate neighbourhood of Palermo. One of them, the Grotta 

 de San Ciro, about two miles south-east of the town, is situated near 

 the base of the magnesiferous limestone mountain of Grifoni, close upon 

 the plain of Palermo ; while the other two are in the mountain of 

 Beliemi, about four miles to the west of the town, at a considerable 

 elevation, being more than 300 feet above the level of the sea, and 100 

 feet higher than the cave at San Ciro. 



The breccia at San Ciro is not confined to the cave itself, but forms 

 a great part of the external talus, where it rests immediately on the 

 upper tertiary beds, and has a thickness of about 20 feet. The breccia 

 consists of numerous fragments of bones, with some rolled pieces and 

 blocks of limestone cemented together by a little lime or day ; and 

 it has some appearance of stratification, indicative of a deposit from 

 water. The bones have been pronounced by Baron Cuvier to have 

 been those of the Elephant, Hippopotamus, and Deer, with a few of 

 a carnivorous animal of the genus Canis. 



The author infers from a careful personal examination, that this 

 breccia was deposited bv water, and that subsequently to its formation 

 and prior to its elevation, it remained long under the waves. This 

 conclusion he believes to be justified by the appearance exhibited by 

 the sides of the cave, which in some parts are smooth and polished as 

 if long worn by water, and at others are perforated by Lithodomi. 

 In this opinion he considers himself fully borne out by a bone-breccia 

 lately discovered near the bay of Syracuse, about 70 feet above the 

 level of the sea, and deposited in caves worn in the tertiary rocks. 

 This breccia is of the same age as that at San Ciro, contains the 

 bones of similar extinct quadrupeds, is intermixed with sea-shells, and 

 has not only been worn by water since its formation, but its substance 

 has been perforated by Lithodomi. From all these circumstances, 

 considered in conjunction with the extent of the pi - eceding newest 

 tertiary deposits, the author considers it certain that the extinct qua- 

 drupeds, the bones of which are contained in the breccia, must have 

 lived at a period long posterior to that in which the Mediterranean 

 began to be inhabited by its present species of Mollusca, Radiata, 

 and Zoophytes, and before the last convulsion which raised a great 

 part of Sicily above the level of the sea. 



The caves at Beliemi were not so minutely examined by the author 



