776 
SIE  CHAELES  LYELL  O'N”  THE  STEHCTrEE  OF  LAVAS 
boiiring  hill  of  Cardillo,  which  is  900  feet  high,  is  capped  by  old  alluvium  or  conglo- 
merate, having  there  a thickness  of  60  feet.  The  height  of  such  modem  (and  probably 
post-pliocene)  formations,  at  the  distance  of  about  twenty-five  English  miles  from  the 
centre  of  Etna  (or  axis  of  Mongibello),  has  an  important  bearing  on  the  theory  of 
Elevation  Craters,  for  some  geologists  have  wished  to  connect  the  upheaval  of  the  marine 
tertiary  clays  skirting  the  base  of  Etna,  with  movements  supposed  to  have  given  rise  to 
the  cone  itself  and  to  the  high  inclination  of  the  volcanic  rocks ; whereas  the  upheaval 
in  question  evidently  extended  to  the  plains  of  the  Simeto  in  a southern,  and,  as  we 
have  seen  before,  to  Taormina  in  a northern  direction,  and  was  rather  of  the  natm*e  of 
those  movements  by  which  great  continents  have  been  raised  above  the  level  of  the  sea. ]a 
Leaf-bearing  tuffs  of  Fasano  near  Catania. 
It  is  probable  that  a portion  of  Etna  which  is  of  subaerial  origin  is  coeval  with  the 
upraised  alluvial  and  estuarine  formations  last  mentioned,  and  that  a still  larger  portion 
of  the  mountain  is  of  posterior  date.  We  find  immediately  north  of  Catania  the  marine 
tertiary  clays  and  sands  of  Cefali,  of  the  Newer  Pliocene  period  (250  French  feet  above 
the  sea),  covered  with  alluvium  resembling  that  of  the  Simeto,  and  at  Fasano,  at  a 
height  of  more  than  600  feet,  the  same  clays  are  overlaid  by  tufis  of  sub  aerial  origin. 
Imbedded  in  these  tuffs  are  found  not  only  boulders  of  basalt,  but  well-rolled  pebbles  of 
sandstone  and  grit,  identical  with  those  of  Misterhianco  and  other  localities  in  the  basin 
of  the  Simeto.  The  tuffs  of  Fasano,  which  are  of  considerable  thickness,  contain  in 
abundance,  as  do  the  same  beds  at  Licatia  not  far  distant,  the  leaves  of  teiTestrial  plants, 
some  of  which  I collected  myself  on  the  spot,  and  others  were  liberally  presented  to  me 
by  Signor  Geavixa  and  Professor  Tornabene.  As  these  fossils  are  the  only  ones  yet 
obtained  from  the  subaerial  deposits  of  Etna,  I was  very  desirous  of  haATiig  them 
carefully  determined  by  a botanist  of  high  authority,  and  accordingly  submitted  them 
to  Professor  Heer  of  Zurich,  who  has  had  the  kindness  to  give  me  both  di-awings  and 
descriptions  of  them,  which  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix,  p.  782,  and  in  Plate  LI. 
It  appears  from  his  examination  of  the  best-preserved  specimens,  that  three  of  the 
fossils  may  be  identified  with  three  living  species,  all  indigenous  to  Sicily;  namely, 
1st,  the  Laurus  nohilis,  or  Sweet  Bay ; 2ndly,  Myrtus  communis,  or  Common  Mp-tle ; 
and  3rdly,  Pistacia  lentiscus,  or  Mastic  Tree.  To  fix  the  age  of  these  tufis  relatively  to 
the  mass  of  Etna,  would  be  difficult,  because  they  have  been  carried  up  gradually  above 
their  original  level  at  the  same  time  that  the  cone  has  been  growing  in  size  and  height, 
and  encroaching  with  its  lavas  on  the  area  previously  occupied  by  tufis,  and  by  the 
underlying  tertiary  clays.  But  I presume  that  these  plants  of  Fasano  flourished  after 
the  marine  sands  and  clays  of  Camaliu  were  formed,  and  during  or  immediately  after 
the  period  of  the  upraised  alluvium  or  conglomerate  of  Misterhianco.  They  may  there- 
fore have  been  contemporaneous  with  the  eruptions  of  La  Motta  and  Paterno. 
At  Fasano  these  plant-bearmg  tufis  are  very  regular  in  theii’  stratification,  and  dip  at 
an  angle  of  11°  towards  the  north-west,  or  directly  towards  the  cone  of  Etna,  an  inch- 
