that if prolonged would cut the same substance in the
hillocks. Based upon a soft white sandstone, a bed of clay formed the
lowest part of the cliff; upon this bed of clay, a bed of chalk reposed;
this chalk was superseded by a thick bed of saponaceous earth, whilst the
summit of the cliff was composed of a bright red sand. Semi-opal and
hydrate of silex were found in the chalk, and some beautiful specimens of
brown menelite were collected from the upper stratum of the cliff.

A little below this singular place, the country again declines, when a
tertiary fossil formation shows itself, which, rising gradually as an
inclined plain, ultimately attains an elevation of 300 feet. This
formation continues to the very coast, since large masses of the rock were
observed in the channel of communication between the lake and the ocean;
and the hills to the left of the channel were based upon it. This great
bank cannot, therefore, average less than from seventy to ninety miles in
width. At its commencement, it strikingly resembled skulls piled one
on the other, as well in colour as appearance. This effect had been
produced by the constant rippling of water against the rock. The softer
parts had been washed away, and the shells (a bed of Turritella) alone
remained.

Plate 1, Figures 1, 2, and 3, represent the selenite formation.

Plate 2, represents a mass of the rock containing numerous kinds of
shells, of which the following are the most conspicuous:

Cardium
Pectunculus
Corbula
Arca
Conus, and
Others unknown.

* * *

The following is a list of the fossils collected from various parts of
this formation, from which it is evident that a closer examination would
lead to the discovery of numberless species.

TUNICATA.

PLATE III.

FIG.1 Eschara celleporacea.
2 ------- piriformis.
3 ------- UNNAMED.

FIG.4 Cellepora echinata.
5 --------- escharoides?
6 Retepora disticha.
7 -------- vibicata.
8 Glauconome rhombifera.
All Tertiary in Westphalia and England.

RADIATA

9 Scutella.
10 Spatangus Hoffmanni--Goldfuss.
Tertiary, in Westphalia.
11 Echinus.

CONCHIFERA--BIVALVED SHELLS.

Corbula gallica--Paris basin--Tertiary.
Tellina?
Corbis lamellosa--Tertiary--Paris.
Lucina.
Venus (Cytherea) laevigata--ibid.
----- ---------- obliqua --ibid.
Venus
Cardium?--fragments.
12 Nucula--such