186 



THE WONDERS OF GEOLOGY. 



Lect. II. 



(Lign. 31) is from Gibraltar, and contains two teeth, and 

 fragments of bone, of a ruminant. The breccia in which the 

 teeth are imbedded is now a compact limestone ; it is of a 



Lign. 31. — Teeth of a ruminant in osseous breccia, from Gibraltar. 



dull red colour, mottled with white, and susceptible of a good 

 polish. This osseous breccia occurs on the northern shores 

 of the Mediterranean ; in the rock of Gibraltar ; at Cette, 

 Nice, and Antibes ; in Dalmatia, and in the isles of Cerigo, 

 Corsica, &c. ; and in Sicily, Sardinia, and many parts of 

 Germany. Each of these localities presents highly interest- 

 ing examples of the objects of our present inquiry. 



43. The rock of Gibralter. — As the rock of Gibral- 

 tar, so well known from its historical and political impor- 

 tance, affords a good illustration of the phenomena under 

 review, I shall, for the sake of brevity, confine my obser- 

 vations to that celebrated spot. Gibraltar is situated on 

 the Spanish side of the Mediterranean, being united to the 

 main land by a narrow isthmus, which is a mere bank of 

 consolidated sand, about three-fourths of a mile broad, and 

 only eight or ten feet above the level of the sea. The rock 

 stands on the western extremity of the area in which the osse- 

 ous breccia occurs, and its greatest altitude is about 1,350 



