106 



PROCEEDLNGS, 



ETC. 



POSTPONED PAPERS. 



On a Tertiary Deposit near Lixouri, in the island of Cepha- 

 LONiA. By W. J. Hamilton, Esq., M.P., F.G.S., and H. E. 

 Strickland, Esq., M.A., F.G.S. 



[Read May 3, 1837.] 



[NoTF. — This paper was read to the Society so long ago as in the year 1837, 

 before Mr. Hamilton's return to England (Proc. Geol. Soc. vol. ii. p. 545), but its 

 publication has been delayed till the present time, in consequence of ray having 

 sent a selection of the fossils referred to in it for the examination of M. Deshayes, 

 at a time when that eminent naturalist was absent in Algeria. After his return 

 the specimens were mislaid, and I only received them from Paris a short time ago. 

 M. Deshayes has kindly favoured me with his notes upon these fossils, and they 

 have also been examined by Prof. E. Forbes, whose specific determinations are 

 annexed to those of M. Deshayes. — H. E. Strickland, Jan. 1847.] 



The tertiary deposit here described occupies a considerable portion 

 of the peninsula of Lixouri, on the western side of the Gulf of Ar- 

 gostoli. It forms a series of ridges, extending for two or three miles to 

 the north and south of the village of Lixouri, and running parallel to 

 the strike of the secondary rocks of the island of Cephalonia, as well 

 as of the whole of the Ionian isles, which conform in their directions 

 to the great mountain systems of the Apennines and of Dalmatia. 

 The beds slope gradually to the eastward, and present a succession 

 of steep escarpments towards the west. The width of this tertiary 

 zone may be about four miles from the sea on the east to the moun- 

 tainous ridge of secondary rocks against which they rest on the west. 

 The beds are all perfectly conformable, dipping a few degrees to 

 the north of east by compass, at an angle of from 45° to 55°. Their 

 aggregate thickness may be estimated at about 900 feet. They are 

 remarkable for the great number and variety of fossils which they 

 contain, some of the beds being almost wholly composed of shells, 

 in the most perfect state of preservation, many of which belong to 

 species now existing in the Mediterranean. A large proportion of 

 these shells are identical with species figured by Brocchi from the 

 Subapennine beds, indicating that this deposit must be referred to 

 the Pliocene epoch. This locality is also interesting from the great 

 thickness of the beds, and the variety of material of which they con- 



