932 PROFESSOR J. PRESTWICK ON THE EYIDENCES OP A SUBMERGENCE 
Ossiferous Fissures. 
The South Coast of France .—The ossiferous fissures of France present phenomena 
of great interest. These fissures, which are more common there than in England, show 
the close connection between their contents and those of the rubble-drift forming the 
“ head ” over the Raised Beaches. The local character and condition of the detritus 
are alike, and the same organic remains are common to both—the only exception being 
that the land shells found in the “ head ” have not been recorded in the Devonshire 
fissures. This deficiency is supplied by the breccia in France, where these fissures 
are on a much larger scale, and present conditions pointing more definitely to a 
widespread and deep submergence (see Map). 
Such fissures are especially common on the Mediterranean coast. They were 
described by Cuvier early in the century, but chiefly from the palaeontological point 
of view,* and afterwards with a few additions by M. Marcel de Serres.I A more 
complete account of the bone caves and ossiferous fissures was afterwards given by 
Desnoyers.J Since then some important additions have been made of similar fissures 
inland. 
The position of the ossiferous fissures of Plymouth offers no salient features. The 
hills on which they are situated are of small elevation, without any commanding 
points. At Catsdown and Oreston the limestone rocks rise to the height of 100 to 
150 feet, and although they cannot be called isolated, yet they are sufiiciently high 
above the surrounding valleys to render difficult the retreat of animals seeking refuge 
there from the rising waters. The position of the fissures on the Mediterranean coast 
is in marked contrast. They there occur on detached and isolated hills rising high 
above the surrounding plain, and from which no retreat would be possible in case of 
submergence. 
At Nice, the Mont du Chateau rises 132 feet, and Mont Boron 436 feet, above the 
sea, and little less above the plains around. At Antibes the rock is 200 to 250 feet, 
and at Villefranche 450 feet high. But the most remarkable hill is that of Cette, 
which rises to the height of 355 feet, and bears in its physical features a strong 
resemblance to the Rock of Gibraltar, projecting like it into the sea, and separated 
from the mainland by a long and narrow tract of sands. 
Some of the fissures are vertical, others are inclined at various angles, and they 
are very irregular in size. They are filled, as at Plymouth, with angular fragments 
of the local limestone, in a matrix of red earth or clay forming a breccia, wdiich is in 
some places loose, whilst in others it forms a hard rock with a calcareous cement. 
Though there are no such well-marked Raised Beaches as those on the Devonshire 
coast, they are not altogether wanting. De la Beche mentions that the bottom of 
* ‘ RecFerclies sur les Ossemens Fossiles,’ vol. 4, cliap. 4, 1823. 
t ‘ Essai sur les Cavernes a Ossements,’ 3rd edit., cliap. 2, 1838. 
t 0. D’Orbigny’s ‘ Dictionuaire d’Histoire Naturelle,’ vol. 6, p. 343, 1849. 
