858 H. H. GODWIN-AUSTEN ON TERTIARY FORMATIONS 
The moraine débris has been deposited with the general slope of 
its layers northward towards the lake; great crushing of the 
Same was apparent, in consequence of its being impeded by the 
mass of porphyry; it had been forced up and over this gorge, 
and it contained some enormous blocks. The hill-slopes to the 
east are all of the same porphyritic rock, capped by moraine 
matter up to a considerable height. On reaching the new railway 
bridge and the top of the ascent, I emerged upon a plateau drain- 
ing and stretching southward, with long regular lines of parallel 
moraines rising from it and trending in the same direction. ‘Turn- 
ing to the right, the road descends towards Villa Luzzara, having 
on the right side a small ravine running down to the lake; south- 
west of the tower, and rising on the left side, is the scarp of the 
moraines. A short distance further, at apoint nearly duesouth-south- 
east of the tower (figs. 1 &2), I came ona low scarp (exposed in cutting 
the road) of well-stratified beds, horizontal from west to east, facing 
the road, consisting of blue-tinted micaceous sands with some 
purple-coloured beds. A very brief examination showed them to 
be fossiliferous and marine; and in one bed, about 4 feet thick, the 
fossils were well preserved but not numerous. I got out as many 
as I could, although the pouring rain prevented me from making as 
much use of the time as I could have wished; the number of species 
is therefore not great. From the level of the road I traced these beds 
up a little ravine to a height of about 65 feet above it, their 
upper surface being there distinctly worn off and rounded smooth 
by ice-action. At the top the beds appeared to dip slightly 
northwards; but this I am inclined to think was due probably to the 
pressure they have been subjected to, or to a slight slip, rather than 
to any displacement of level or contortion; for the lower beds close 
to the road did not appear to partake of this dip. Above, these 
deposits are capped by the moraines I have before alluded to, and 
marine talus from the same conceals them elsewhere to the right 
and left. 
Descending gradually towards the entrance-gate of the Villa 
Luzzara, and with a clear view to the north up the lake, the higher 
moraines are left behind, and nothing but glacial deposit is seen on 
the surface. This gateway is situated on the water-parting at the 
extreme southern end of the Lago d’Orta. The marine beds have here 
been removed, and if any occur below the transported material, they 
must be a far lower set of beds of this series. 
I found none below the road near the section, where a steep grass- 
field leads down into the ravine, and extends to the porphyritic 
scarp of the Buccione promontory. 
Standing on the higher level of these marine beds, here 1500 feet 
above the sea and 217 feet above the level of the lake (and it must 
be remembered that many feet of the upper beds have been swept 
away), I looked away northward over the lake, and my horizon cut 
the lofty spurs north of Cuzzago and Vogogna on the Toce river, at 
a level of 850 feet above the Lago Maggiore, into which it flows. It 
appeared to me that the marine beds had once had a far greater 
