312 
THE GEOLOGIST. 
wlicrc tlio ]iii;'lior strata reposing on tlie quart z-rocks arc seen, flaggy gneiss 
occurs, tiio rejjresouf ativcs of the rocks termed niica-slatc on tlie south ; but 
wliich, from tiie abundance of chlorite eontjiincd iu them, have a greater aliinity 
to the chlorite slates of the south--ncst of tlie Grampians than to true mica- 
slates. The arrangement and lithologieal nature of the rocks in this portion 
of Ireland bear great resemblance to the higher members of the quartz-rocks 
with their succeeding flaggy gneiss of the west of Sutherland, as described by- 
Sir lloderick Murcluson, and induce tlic conclusion that iu the former area the 
equivalents of the latter occur. 
ON TWO NEW OSSIFEROUS CAVES DISCOVERED IN SICILY IN 1859. 
By Bakon Anca de Mangalviti. 
Since the fourteeth century caves contaiuing fossil bones have been known 
in Sicily ; but these were regarded up to the sixteenth century as belonging to 
giants, the supposed first inhabitants of the island. The caves which have 
hitherto been explored are six, to which are now to be added two others dis- 
covered by the author in 1857. The locality of one of these caves is Mon- 
dello, at the northern extremity of Mount Gallo, to the west of the city of 
Palermo. It bears the name of Grotta Perciata, because it is hollowed out 
from both sides. The exposure of the cavern is towards the north-east ; its 
length twenty-four metres ; its breadth tliirty metres ; its elevation above the 
sea forty-nine metres ; and its distance in a straight line from the shore one 
hundred and sixty-seven metres. The mountain is of Hippiorite limestone, 
like the other mountains which encircle the basiu of Palermo. It was known 
that the cave contained fossil terrestrial and marine shells, but it was not sus- 
pected that it contained also fossil bones until the author found them after 
very careful search. He found also, mixed with the bones and shells, flints and 
agate having the form of weapons, a})parently of human workmanship. 
The animals to which the fossil remains belong are the following : — 
Mammalia. — One or two sjiccies of deer ; hog (probably Sus scrofa) \ a soli- 
ped pachyderm (probably an ass). 
Birds. — A species undetermined. 
Maiiine Shells. — Patella ferniginea or Lamarkii, P. vidgata, Monodonta 
frac/arioides, Miirex brandaris, Fusws ? 
Land Shells. — Helix aspersa, 11. MazzulUi, II. vermiculata, Buliimis 
decollatus. 
The second and most interesting cave exists iu the north part of Sicily, near 
the village of Aeque Dolce, and exactly at the foot of Mount San Pratello. 
It is known under the name of the " Grotte San Teodoro." Its entrance is 
exposed to the north-east, and its ehivation above the sea-level is sixty-five 
metres ; its distance from the sliore one thousand forty-one metres. The rock 
of which Mount San Fratello is composed is also Hipjmrite limestone, but at 
the base of the hill, not much more than ninety-seven metres from the shore, 
and ten metres above the sea, is seen a limestone which the author suspects to 
belong to the Post-jiliocene formation. The cave penetrates into the interior 
of the mountain to a depth of seventy metres. Its width at the entrance is 
fifteen metres, but it enlarges to nineteen metres in the middle. The roof is 
high and sloping, but without any appearance of " climmeys" or openings pass- 
ing outwards to the exterior of the mountain. The floor of the cavern, from 
a wall at the entrance to the extremity, rises 10.90 metres. This height in a 
great measure arises from fragments of rock fallen from the roof, which have 
accumulated from forty-four metres to the end of the cave. 
