66 PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, [NoV. 18, 



the inclined strata represent the lacustrine deposits, consisting of 

 thick beds of a white compact limestone, not easily distinguished in 

 mineral character from some of the secondary limestones containing 

 Nummulites which occur in the southern part of Asia Minor. 



Section 1 . From Port Vathy to the ancient city of Samos. 



S. Acropolis. N. 



Ruins of /K^g^ Valley of Mitelinious. „^ ., ^, 



Samos. i??^^ Gravel. ,.?=^^^. Pt, Vathy. 



Lacustrine beds. Dip 25°, Lacustrine beds. Dip 20°. 



The lower deposits of this formation are the most compact and 

 thick-bedded ; but the upper portion of the series is more thinly 

 stratified than the former, and occasionally interstratified with white 

 and grey marls. The thickness of the whole deposit exceeds 1000 

 feet ; but as the formation upon which it reposes is nowhere visible, 

 its entire thickness is not seen. 



Fossils occur in several localities, but not in any great abundance 

 or in a very good state of preservation, the cast only of the shells 

 remaining. Vegetable impressions are more abundant, and appear 

 to have been made of plants which grew at the bottom of the lake. 

 A species of reed often occurs in clusters like a number of cylindrical 

 pipes, the cavities formed by the imbedded reeds not having been 

 filled by calcareous matter after their decomposition. They are 

 nearly always found in a vertical position. 



The localities at which T found these reeds are (1) the western 

 shore of Port Vathy ; (2) cliffs at the ruins of the ancient city of 

 Samos ; and (3) on the summit of the ridge about two miles north- 

 east of the large village of Mitelinious, where also, besides the casts 

 of the reeds, there are abundant impressions of stems with leaves 

 attached. 



The longest of these stems with attached leaves was 18 inches, 

 and the diameter of the reeds IJ inch. Both kinds of vegetable 

 remains are fossilized in a vertical position, as if imbedded in the 

 deposited sediment whilst growing at the bottom of the lake. The 

 strata in which they are found are exceedingly hard, owing to the 

 presence of silex. With these plants I found a single specimen of a 

 Planorbis, which seems to be Planorhis rotundatus^ very abundant 

 in the freshwater deposits in the Gulf of Smyrna. The other shells 

 are a Paludina and a Melania, both procured from the south face of 

 the hill upon which stands the Acropolis of the ancient city of 

 Samos. The Melania is also found on the hills bordering the west 

 shore of Port Vathy. From the promontory on the east side of the 

 ancient port I procured several specimens of Helix. They are asso- 

 ciated with casts of a Lymneus, identical with that found in the 

 lacustrine beds of the Gulf of Smyrna, and therefore identifying this 

 formation as a portion of the bed of the great eocene lake which 

 doubtless formerly extended over the area now occupied by the 

 i^gean Sea. 



I have now to notice another formation of a subsequent date, but 

 whose origin is uncertain, from the absence of fossils by which to iden- 



