hij&Mcies o f1 which are often fe^^irjij^reffions and protuberances
o f ioffil marine bodies. Rut die lenticular marble prevails,
though not always of equal hardnefs; there are fome veins of
foft calcareous ftone, obedient to the chiffel; concreted clay,
and mafles o f ftalagmitic fpar, known by our fculptors under the
name of flowered alabafter. Flints of various colours and figures
are often feen bedded in this marble, as well as fcattered on the
Ichiftous earth, that, here and there, divides the veins o f ftone ;
and frequently are furrounded by aggregates o f petrified marine
bodies. I did not find, either in this ifland, or in any part of
Dalmatia, where flint ftones are ohfervable ip marble, a verification
o f the fa d afierted by M. de Reaumur, who, treating o f
their origin, in the memoirs o f the academy, fays, that flint
ftones, for the moil part, affed a kind o f rotundity. On the
Contrary, in the ifland o f Bua. they are, for the moft part, irregularly
angular, in large pieces, with an even furface, vifibly
interrupting the continuity o f ther marble. They feem, as it
were, to have fallen From a1 higher place by fome accident, and,
iy^thfliit. fuffering_‘flu}tation);iJtq bavq been buried by their own
weight in. the marine mud, and afterwards, In the courfe of
years; bedame hardened into marble under water, then remaining
dry through the fpdee o f other ages, it underwent all thofe
|eiyolflti(>n8.. vt'Ji’ere'py:, continued ftrata are torn afunder, moun-
dividcd,..;.^p4 their parts carried away, triturated into
gravel and fand,- whicih/ipartlSimt Iaft remaining infulated, by the
introduition o f remote teas, the waves o f which, daihing impe-
tuouflyagainft.me^ flew lflapSs, difcompofe their bafes, and corrode,
by little and little, the long labours of more ancient waters.*
The
* This paragraph -appearing rather complicated and obfture, the author was
defired to feparate his ideas, and to give a brief explanation of them, which could
.be
The flints o f Bua, and generally thofe o f the whole province,
that are found buried in marble Hills*, bear evident marks of having
been feparated from a continued mafs, in fo much that I
c am
i Hftiiio. erii oi zuoou^ho. t to l«
be inferted by way of annotation. He very,readily conppfietj, and^tfye-franftation
v j h G , , . . r . / . oD b u o i i b v i o z i a i i ' t - - r £
o f his arifvver is as follows.
IpW- SB PliU Lp
The angular figure ijf ibejflinks envddpeftM tbedbrat# of i e ¿ft 3 rid# £ ifo jtkt ;^n d
their .lodgement in.matter^a|a^e^y d y f e r , e t i G j i a j t y i j i e nSf? ? ft
that they muft have fallen frpm mountains ^higher t h a n - y t 3 ^ ^ t :aS
th e y a re fo u n d b u r ie d in c a lc a r e o u s f t r a t a , c o m p o f e d m am fe f t lV o f m a r i h e 'T a j t -
mehtsan'd-mud/^itTS a tiiim
H e f s , - and cani'eqtiervtly lu f r iX f e d fS ^ a ^ e r ^ L & t l f c & e Ttiin ebOf i f all j e l t h r e l f l i k t i s if e© in
h i g h e r h i l l s , T h ^ f e f^at a>btft) gt h e.^tpu7j{§ © f - j I ¥ aM
an d .o th e r s h a v e b e e n d e o p Ik e d taboyp th ejn s p ^ ^ <na v f i o / j f Hffjft P^y
trifled. The fda, forfaking, by -little and little, its^ former nt-uation, fert ury,
who can tell what vatf tracts bfYancl^ ^amefng which Was th? c6i/riiry ciiflW ca^fed
D a lm - a t i a , ;i-a s wellThoTibtkiiienij-'a^jrtheinle^i^ouJ§rtgi iflhfodifijy^ih^ttfgh \k .iSixo^^O
be fuppofed, th at/ij ffvp 1
c o r r e f p o 11 d e n c e o f , p a r f t l , e l l i . f n ? , ^ l . d j I d j i i . d i 9 a ^ i q ^ i j k a n j f - f t ^ ^ j f c ^ n p i b l | b e t w e e n
t h e f t r a t a o f ' t h e i f l a n d s ' - a n d t h o i e * o f . t h e a d j a c e n t c o n t i n e n t , f e e m s t o p j o . v e ,
t h a t , i n a n c i e r i t ^ t i f n e i / i i i e w h ? i e ; f o r m e d o n l y • o n e ' c o h V i n u d d ' f t i i f r » ^ T l r e H v a i t e f c s
o f t h e m o u n t a i n t o F r e n t s ^ e g r h H f t r g ^ b y ^ e g f o d ^ k o i e - d W i f b f y f c o l l P w S ,
f o r m e d , f r o m - t h e . . f o l f d a c ^ n t u f e i f i i i © k ^ B r a m j O r p r o i g p ^ q i ? ^ s n r d ^ h tU * , d i v i d e d
in various wa-ys,: accprd^g to th^djre^o^o^^hq^^q^r^, wh^^>j^] ffl-iffjf
knows, who travels with philosophicalTefte^ion^among ^e m^ntains^arq fub-
je£t to eventual,5 as \velY as permanent changes j T>yr$hefe‘ torrents the greitrhaues
being undermined ;and ftiiSv^rt^^ay'd b§enjriduWd tb i a f t e r W a f d a
rolled and ihattered,! aadac 3jaiticonrokleft,i and:« red peek td dnft^ ba£i
K >to . plqaiai fo noifbcboiiu
T h e ftate of mountains, and of valleys >vateied by rivers, .and torrents, does
not perfift, perhaps,Teyond a certain period determined by nature,‘ afid nitnerto-
unknown to us, as it relates to the return of the waters*of md^a^o the^4 nc1'eht
feats • who knows by what road ? By the ftraits o f Gibralter perhaps ? Th e dif-
tant fea advanced towards thofe ft ratifications, anciently formed by accidental j
waters,