ENVIRONS OF NICE. 431 



stone of Derbyshire, and was accompanied with vast quantities 

 of chert or flint, disposed in continuous lines, nearly horizon- 

 tal, and parallel with the strata. In using the terms Jirst and 

 second, I involve no theory, although, perhaps, I would not 

 have been far from the truth, had I adopted the more scienti- 

 fic language of Transition and Flcetz. 



The first limestone, then, occurs in beds, distinctly stratified, 

 inclined more or less to the east or north-east, being very un- 

 favourable to vegetation, where the situations are exposed: the 

 hills are often so destitute of covering, that the lines of the 

 strata may be traced from the base on one side to that on the 

 other, as distinctly as the ridges in a fresh-ploughed field. 



This limestone is sometimes of a very compact texture, with 

 an even large conchoidal fracture, generally smooth, but occa- 

 sionally approaching to splintery : it breaks in sharp-edged 

 fragments, faintly translucent, and somewhat scopiform : its 

 colour is a pale brown or drab, and it presents no trace of 

 crystallisation. It is in all likelihood from this variety the name 

 of Compact Limestone was derived. In some of the strata, 

 however, a gradual transition from the compact to the crystal- 

 line may be traced ; and as the crystallisation becomes more 

 perfect, the colouring matter disappears, so that we have it 

 sometimes as white as the statuary marble of Carrara. Its tex- 

 ture also changes as the crystallisation proceeds : it first be- 

 comes splintery, and then passes on to a rough uneven frac- 

 ture, consequently differing very much from the saccharine 

 structure of the statuary marbles. In the little hollows which 

 occasionally occur in this variety, we find the calcareous rhomb 

 in groups of crystals very regularly formed ; and where the 

 crystallisation appears to have been pushed a little farther, the 

 mass has become extremely friable, with a gritty feel, and 

 seems to be entirely formed of rhombs. These strata have 



sometimes, 



