196 PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



testably those of some perforating shell, and they reach as high as 

 ten feet above the present level of the sea. 



The structure of this pier is curious ; it appears to be formed by 

 fragments of stone and brick, connected by a strong cement, and con- 

 taining within it, near its end, three small piers of brick, from which 

 apparently the arches connecting it with the adjacent piers sprang. 



There are also in this pier long cylindrical holes, both vertical and 

 horizontal, about eight inches in diameter. Some of the piers seem 

 to be cased with brick. These remarks, almost accidentally noticed 

 and perhaps not strictly admissible in a geological memoir, are never- 

 theless added with the hope of inducing those who may have the 

 opportunity, to measure and examine one of the most interesting 

 records of ancient art. 



53. Another instance of alteration of level, although probably of 

 much more ancient date, occurs on the road from Naples to Pozzuoli, 

 near the island of Nisita. The road is cut through a point of rock 

 which projected into the sea. On the inland side a cliff rises, which 

 presents an appearance of a line of sea-level. On examination I 

 found a line containing many perforations, and I extracted from them 

 several casts and bits of shells. One of these is a cast of a species 

 of Lithophagus. After the death of the animal, some small Serpulae 

 appear to have attached themselves to the inside of its shell, and it 

 was then filled up with tuff. No vestige of the shell remained when 

 I extracted it, but the tufaceous cast is very perfect. 



54. In several of these perforations I found casts of a species of 

 Area ; they are small, and do not appear to have been those of the 

 Area NocB. In one of them I detected a portion of a shell of this 

 genus, which I extracted, and was fortunate enough to find a small 

 fragment which contained the hinge. 



Other indications of the former presence of sea-water are the 

 barnacles, which re-appear at intervals adhering to the tuff along 

 this line of perforations. 



Inferences from the above facts relative to the Geological History 

 of the Temple. 



55. Whether there existed a former temple on the spot occupied 

 by that whose ruins now remain, it is not necessary to discuss. 



The rich pavement mentioned (par. 43) as existing five feet below 

 that of the present temple has led to the presumption of a previous 

 building. Had that been the case, the subsidence of the ground on 

 which the old temple stood must have been observed, and would 

 probably have prevented the erection of that with which we are ac- 

 quainted on the same spot. If this pavement is the remains of a 

 more ancient bath, subsidence previous to the building of the present 

 temple need not necessarily be inferred. Upon this point facts are 

 wanting, and I shall make no conjectures. 



There is, a priori, considerable probability that a temple, to which 

 were attached a hot spring and baths, was originally built at, or nearly 

 at, the level of the sea, and such I shall presume to have been the 

 case. 



