64 



TRAVELS IN BRAZIL 



origin of this formation will, perhaps, be more 

 certainly shown, if by continued accurate investi- 

 gation it shall be proved to contain human bones, 

 as many persons have supposed*, which is not im- 

 possible, since the existence of objects of art, such, 

 for instance, as Germar mentions!, has been cer- 

 tified. But the larger masses of osseous breccia, 

 which Spallanzanit describes as heaped up in the 

 isle of Cerigo, so as to form a considerable moun- 

 tain, and the fossils of Vicentin, Verona, and of 

 Con cud in Arragon, which are, perhaps, not dis- 

 similar, merit, on that account, to be more accu- 

 rately investigated by naturalists. It is particu- 

 larly important in this extensive maritime formation 

 that those remains of bones belong to species of 

 animals of the herbivorous kind, which are still 

 extant, for the most part domesticated, or at least 

 frequently used ; whereas the cavern limestone in 

 the interior of the European continent contains only 

 those of bears and carnivorous animals enclosed in 

 a similar manner. 



The peculiarity of the mountain of Gibraltar 



* James's History of the Herculean Strait. London. 1773. 

 Donati, Storia del Mar Adriatico. Forlis, Saggio d'osservazioni 

 sopra le Isole di Cherso ed Osero. Venez. 1771. iv. p. 99. 



-|- Journey to Dalmatia and Ragusa. Lips. 1817. Where he 

 represents the whole formation of this osseous breccia under 

 the name of an alluvial mountain. Among the substances 

 found in the mass he mentions a piece of glass ; iron nails 

 have also been found in it. 



Observations on the isle of Cerigo. 



