TRANSACTIONS OP THE SECTIONS. 
71 
Bd with intervening long periods of vest, became slower and slower, and tbe dis- 
Minutnce of the elevation was of less deration. On the leeward const, along the 
(NdBliieh leads from Bridgetown to Speightstown, lines of rounded and angular 
amiof limestone, pieces of coral, &c., heaped upon each other, prove decidedly 
'Jit vs* formerly a shingle beach. Tlte author ww told that Iwlmn hatchets had 
t&UBfi among thew fragmeaU, which would fax the date of the last movement 
irais die historical peiiod. . . i • i.» 
Tbae are proofs that Barbados has been elevated gradually to its present height 
udiin ihe epoch of existing shells. Species of the genera Trochm, Lndna and 
JMmJiui, have been found near Sugar-hill, Chlmbarota and Mount W ilton. 
atbef these shells are merely found at that elevation, while those met Mth a 
bghl horn fifty to three hundred feet, possess in many instances still their lu» c, 
aids not differ from those in the adjacent aea. 
Tbefossil shells are frefiaently larger than the recent; and others, which at tlm 
piai when they were imbedded must have been abundant around the island, 
Kwwrery rare, or are only found further northward, among the Virgin Islands, 
he BakHDias, and the south-easteni coast of North America. ^ 
Swneofthe recent shells found in the foswl state have retained their pearly lustre 
ttiaionr in such a surprising degree, that one la templed to dishcllere that they 
tart httn lying buried for nges. This refers chiefly to specimens of Sirotnom 
Ma itriaia, Ci/prtsa dneruria, foe. The author found a fragment of a gigantic 
•leil one inch and a half thick, which apparently belonged to the genus TriOacna. 
f'nckiseda^efricofo. . . v -j i 
The coralline rocks harden frequently into a compact limestone with conchoidai 
fractorc, and translucent on the edges. This mass has occasionally tlie appeiw^ce 
^itnlification, chiefly near the road between the Chapel Estate and St. Philips 
porch, A certain kind of the coralline liiuestone is quarried for the purposes o 
»'il4ing,und altluiugh soft when token from the quarry, it becomes quite hard by 
“poiirrc to the air. Another kind, which is a coiiglomerute of minute pieces o 
'«ls, IS quite porous, and is used for drlp-stnnca. , 
Quite different in appearance, and in regard to its structure, is the " Scotl^d di- 
which resemhlc-i an alpine country in miniature. The various modincaiions 
J* ‘'mificutioD of these rocks is more or less inclined, and ciiungcs in some instates 
closely allied rocks of sandstone, from the horizontal to almost the verbcal. 1 he 
’“Kification b at other times wavv, and at Chalky Mount and Mount All it is greatly 
earthy marl, or aa it is called in tbe colony, the chalk, constitutes by far the 
P'lrt of the series. It occurs in masses, from a few inches 
, feet, as on the southern and western sides of Mount HiUahy. e 
of this mountuiij, which has a height of 1148 feet above the sea, con- 
of marl. 
«>uth-ea«ern declivity of Mount IlilUby, near Groves, bitumen lias been 
^'red, containing, according to the analysis of Mr. William Herapath, 
Uitumen, resolvable by heat into tar and gas. 
Coke, ... . . . oo'l» 
Ashes, ... ’ . 
Sulphur. ... . . none. 
^ mpeyosition of the rocks is here bitumen, bituminous sandstone, 
^<7^tonc mixed with ferruginous sand, and earthy marl. 1 an^ 
near Codrington College, near the E-.tate 
'The author ohserved a thin seam of bituminous coal 
ThVi" «ear Springfield, and another at Burnt Hill 
,^’wns near Springfield contain sometimes bituminous wood, ve^emblmg b 
B“fnt Hill, which rises near ConsePs Bay, U reported to have 
set on fire by a slave, and continued to burn for five blag^, 
«e found in large masses on the declivity, and near the beach at the foot of 
