198 
HUDLESTON: GEOLOGY OF PALESTINE. 
is known in beds of later date than the Corallian,* but the presence 
of the Ammonites named, of Baculites, and especially of Hippurites, 
leaves no doubt as to the age of these beds. 
Amongst the conchifera there are several specimens of Phola- 
domya. A small but very handsome species is one from the upper 
chalk of Judaea, figured in the plate. There can be no doubt that it 
has a tertiary aspect, and reminds one in its deeply chiselled 
ornaments, of a species figured by Sowerby from the Eocene, I 
think, of the Isle of Wight. This is probably from Marsaba or Nebi 
Musa, where there is a well-marked fossiliferous horizon. The most 
numerous of all the Cretaceous fossils are oysters ; these undergo 
division into several species. The exogyroid forms are related to 
Exogyra columba. The one figured in the accompanying plate is 
pretty common, and has been identified by Lartet as the oyster of 
Lisbon ( Ost Olisiponensis ), described by Sharpe from the Cretace- 
ous beds of Portugal. Sea urchins, especially Ilemiasters, are also 
plentiful. 
It remains for me to say a few words about the bituminous 
deposits of Nebi Musa, which underlie the fossiliferous horizon 
already mentioned. There is an abundance of bituminous matter in 
many parts of the Cretaceous series of Palestine, the Lebanon, &c., 
but this particular place is well-known and often visited, and the 
black bituminous limestone which it yields is worked up into rosaries 
and other ornaments by the folks at Bethlehem and Jerusalem. It 
is known by the name of Dead Sea stone, as the idea of asphalt has 
always been associated with that lake. The bed of Nebi Musa, how- 
ever, is a couple of thousand feet above the level of the Dead Sea, 
and several miles away from it. The liihestone, according to Hitch- 
cocks report, contains 25 p.c. of bitumen, and would be valuable as 
an article for producing asphalt. It is worthy of remark, that just 
below the chief deposit of bitumen, is a bed full of fish remains. 
Now, organic matter is the source of all bitumen, which is nothing 
more than a partially oxidized hydrocarbon with certain impurities ; 
* Mr. Walter Keeping, curator of the York Museum, has lately described 
and figured a very peculiar Nerincea from the Lower Greensand of Upware. If 
this is not a remanie fossil, it brings the genus down to a much later horizon 
in our English beds than previously recognized. 
