228 
BALACLAVA. 
eu Ar. the Monastery of St. George, it is formed of black 
' slate ; farther on, the other substances occur, 
according to the order and position already 
described. North of the coast, these veins are 
covered by calcareous matter, full of the remains 
of organized bodies. The extraneous fossils of 
the Crimea are exceedingly curious; many of 
them relate to animals now unknown. Among 
these may be mentioned the Lapis nummularius, 
very common here, but elsewhere extremely 
rare. It is found near to Grand Cairo, and 
at the base of the greater Pyramid in Egypt, 
and in some parts qf France'. 
Form of an r |'he streets of Balaclava perhaps resemble 
Ant tent * 1 
Greek the appearance they exhibited in antient times. 
The principal street is very like that of Pompeii, 
(1) Strabo noticed this fossil at the Pyramids of Egypt; and we 
afterwards found it there, exactly as by him described. He supposed it 
to have been formed of the lentils petrified , which were given as food to 
the workmen employed in building the Pyramids. Pallas has attempted 
to account for its origin, by an opinion entirely his own. “ I cannot on 
this occasion omit to express my opinion respecting a fossil, the origin of 
which has not hitherto been explored. As its external shells have no 
orifice whatever, and may easily be separated from each other ; w hile its 
internal cellular texture, consisting of annular divisions and thin lateral 
scales, has not die least resemblance to the abode of a testaceous animal, 
but rather to the inner structure of a cuttle-fish bone; I am induced to 
conjecture that the lenticular stones have originated in the shell or bone of 
a peculiar gregarious species of Doris, or Sepia, which formerly inhabited 
die deep, has in process of time liecn mixed with the calcareous mire de- 
posited by the sea, and thus at length become completely extinct ; so that 
we possess no account of its living state.’* Travels , vol . II. p. 21. 
