AMONG THE VOLCANOS AND GLACIERS OF AUVERGNE. 11 
La Seme. The best way of reaching it is to drive or take 
a Mont Dore diligence to Fontfredde , a most interesting little 
valley, where a current of recent lava from the Puy Noir flowed, 
where now runs a stream, and rolled for ten miles down the 
valley of Theix to Julliat, near La Eoche Blanche, and Le 
Crest. Crossing the stream at Fontfredde we walk over de- 
composing granite, and find ourselves on a great sheet of old 
basalt nearly two miles broad and ten in length, exhibiting all 
the characteristics of those wider basaltic platforms which we 
see in the Mont Dore country, in the Cantal, and in the Ardeche. 
The highest point, the Tete de la Serre, is nearly 3,500 ft. above- 
the sea, and that accurate observer Mr. Scrope gives all the par- 
ticulars of its characteristic features, the origin of its lava cur- 
rent in the granite, the flow of the lava down an inclined 
plane, the scoriae on which the basalt rests, the denudation 
round the mass of granite on which stands the insulated basalt 
and castle of Montredon, and the proofs of four distinct steps 
in the process of excavation and denudation since the outflow of 
the lava of La Serre from the granite. Our advice is to trace 
this lava current from its source among scoriae, masses of 
granite and volcanic bombs, to Chadrat, where it overflows fresh- 
water beds of oolitic structure, and from thence to the pic- 
turesque village of Le Crest which alone is worth a visit. 
Freshwater Beds and their Fossils . — Before visiting Au- 
vergne I advise every lover of geology to give a day or two to 
the examination of the wonderful collection of the remains of 
fossil mammalia from the old freshwater beds of the Limagne, 
in the museums of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. Nearly one 
hundred species of different quadrupeds have been found in the old 
lacustrine silts of Auvergne and Velay. Among them are great 
herbivora, such as mastodons, rhinoceros, tapirs, and deer, which 
ranged on the plains and pastured in the forests ; and with these 
were great beavers, which lived in the rivers and lakes. There 
were beasts of prey allied to the tiger, hyaena, bear, and wild 
dog ; and with these were associated large crocodiles and tor- 
toises, snakes and frogs. Several extinct species of birds have 
been determined, allied to our swans, ducks, gulls, and swallows, 
and even the eggs of some of the water birds have been fossilized 
and preserved. These animals belong to miocene times, and 
should not be confounded with the eocene animals of Gannat, or 
the pliocene fauna of Mont Perrier near Issoire. 
A fine section of the freshwater beds with their protect- 
ing cappings of ancient basalt is displayed in the well-known 
hill of Gergovia within a six-mile walk of Clermont. Gergovia 
is famous in history as the stronghold of the Arverni, who, 
under their brave chief Yercingetorix, defended it so gallantly 
against Julius Caesar and his Boman legions. We visited Ger- 
