Geology.] 
NATURAL HISTORY. 
587 
V. The recent calcareous breccia, of which a detailed de- 
scription will be found in the subjoined list of specimens, 
(p. 618-622.), is one of the most remarkable productions of 
New Holland: It was found, during the expedition of Com- 
modore Baudin, to exist throughout a space of no less than 
twenty-five degrees of latitude, and an equal extent of longi- 
tude, on the southern, west, and north-west coasts*; and from 
Mr. Brown’s specimens it appears to occur also on the shores 
of the Gulf of Carpentaria. The full account which M. Peron 
has given of this formation, sufficiently shows its resem- 
blance to the very recent lime-stone, full of marine shells, 
which abounds on the shores of the Mediterranean, the 
West India Islands, and in several other parts of the world : 
And it is a point of the greatest interest in geology, to de- 
termine, whether any distinct line can really be drawn, be- 
tween those concretions, unquestionably of modern forma- 
tion, which occur immediately upon the shore ; and other 
calcareous accumulations, very nearly resembling them, if 
not identical, both in the fossils they contain, and in the 
characters of tjie cementing substances, that are found in 
several countries, at considerable heights above the sea. 
Dr. Buckland has described a breccia of modern for- 
mation, which occurs upon the shore at Madagascar, and 
consists of a firmly- compacted cream-coloured stone, com- 
posed of granular fragments of shells, agglutinated by a 
calcareous cement f. The stone of Guadaloupe, containing 
the human skeletons, is likewise of the same nature; and its 
very recent production cannot be doubted, since it contains 
fragments of stone axes, and of pottery]:. — The cemented 
* Voyage ii. p. 168, 169 — 216, &c. 
t Geol. Trans, vol. v. p. 479. 
X Linnean Trans, xii. p. 53 — 57. 
