1844.] Note on Osseous Breccia and Deposit, fyc. 61 1 



From the circumstance of there being no apparent existing cause suf- 

 ficient to account for the presence of layers of earth, mud, and breccia 

 under a crust of stalagmite, to the depth of 1 8 feet and more, (for I did 

 not succeed in getting to the solid rock in two caves at this depth,) and 

 the surface of which is in one of the caves 8 feet above the present 

 highest water level of the land in the vicinity, I am inclined to refer the 

 deposit to the tertiary period, probably the plecocine division, in which are 

 classed the osseous breccias of the Mediterranean, the cave deposits of 

 Kirkdale, Sicily, and Australia. 



It is highly probable, that a more extensive search into the deposits of 

 the caves of Billa Soorgum, than my avocations would permit, might 

 lead to far more interesting results than are now before the Society ; and 

 slight as the clue now afforded may be, it should not be altogether neg- 

 lected by observers in other parts of India, who may happen to be in the 

 neighbourhood of caves and rock fissures, particularly in those caves in 

 which the floors are covered by stalagmite. 



I embrace this opportunity of calling the attention of observers, who 

 may have the opportunity, to the splendid discoveries made by the pre- 

 sent talented Secretary of the Geological Society, Mr. E. Forbes, in dredg- 

 ing the bed of the iEgean. Similiar researches in the vastly more prolific 

 bed of the Indian Seas would amply reward their labours. 



List of Specimens. 



No. 1. Osseous breccia. 



2. Red marl or mud imbedding fragments of bones. 



3. Irregular cylindrical bodies. 



4. More like the dung of animals than any specimen of 



stalactite ; they are found in the mud and loam mix- 

 ed with the bones. 



5. Fragments of bones and tusks, and small bones in an 



integral state found in red mud and loam, 18 feet 

 below surface. 



6. Stalactite, 7 stalagmite, 8 grey as in like layer. 



4 o 



