(U MISCELLANEA, 



II. Upheaval of a Chain of Hills in Modern Times. 



[The following interesting notice is translated from the second volume of M. 

 Tschudi's work on Peru, now in course of publication. It presents an instance of 

 elevation of a kind of which examples appear to be very rare, but an almost paral- 

 lel case is quoted by Mr. Darwin (Journal, 2nd ed. p. 359), to whom the Editor is 

 indebted for pointing out the passage here translated.] 



Two leagues from Lima the road which up to that point has run in 

 a north or north-westerly direction suddenly turns towards the north- 

 east, and follows the course of the river Chillon as far as Cavallero. 

 From this point there is a steep and continued ascent in the same 

 direction (north-east) as far as Llanya, but at a considerable distance 

 from the river, which takes a wide turn to the north. From Caval- 

 lero the road proceeds for a distance of about eight miles through a 

 district entirely barren, and along the dried-up bed of a river (thence 

 called Rio seco, dry river). All this time there is a steady ascent, 

 the last half league being tolerably steep, until we reach the crest 

 of a chain of hills which extends directly across the valley. The 

 ground is covered with boulders and blocks of porphyritic rock, just 

 as in the river-bed of the Rimac. As soon as we reach the crest of 

 the hilly chain, there is seen, on the other side, a valley resembling 

 the dried bed of a lake, along whose middle may be traced a fur- 

 row — the prolongation of the bed of the stream broken through by 

 the elevation of the hills. After going up this valley and following 

 for nearly three leagues the bed of the 'dry river' as far as the vil- 

 lage Alcocoto, we again find ourselves on the banks of the river 

 Chillon. — Peru, v. J. J. v. Tschudi, 2 Bd. s. 8. 



III. On Marine Infusoria in Volcanic Tuff. 



It has been a matter of considerable interest to those who are pur- 

 suing microscopic investigations, that in the various examples of 

 volcanic rock, such as pumice, ash, tufa and other materials, in which 

 infusorial animalcules have been determined, the species thus met 

 with have hitherto all been referable to freshwater groups. 



In the case of some examples of volcanic ash procured by Mr. 

 Darwin, and recently examined by Prof. Ehrenberg, several species 

 of marine types have however been met with. The specimens ex- 

 amined were from Patagonia. — Berlin Academy, ^ Bericht,' 1845, 

 p. 143. 



