The resemblance pointed out by M. Prevost,* of the specimens of recent breccia from New Holland, in the museum at the Jardin du Roi, to those of St. Hospice near Nice, is confirmed by the detail given by Mr. Allan in his sketch of the geology of that neighbourhood;** in which the perfect preservation of the shells, and their near approach to those of the adjoining sea at the present day, are particularly mentioned; and it is inferred that the date of the deposit which affords them, is anterior to that of the conglomerate containing the bones of extinct quadrupeds, likewise found in that country.  M. Brongniart also, who examined the place himself, mentions the recent accumulation which occurs at St. Hospice, about sixty feet above the present level of the sea, as containing marine shells in a scarcely fossil state (a peine fossiles) and he describes the mass in which they occur, as belonging to a formation still more recent than the upper marine beds of the environs of Paris.***

(Footnote.  Prevost manuscripts.  See hereafter.)

(**Footnote.  Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh volume 8 1818 page 427 etc.  See also the previous publications of M. Risso Journal des Mines tome 34 etc.)

(***Footnote.  Brongniart in Cuvier Ossemens Fossiles; 2nd Edit. volume 2 page 427.)

The geological period indicated by these facts, being probably more recent than the tertiary beds containing nummulites, and generally than the Paris and London strata, accords with the date which has hitherto been assigned to the crag beds of Suffolk, Essex, and Norfolk:* but later observations render doubtful the opinion generally received respecting the age of these remarkable deposits, and a full and satisfactory account of them is still a desideratum in the geology of England.  When, also, our imperfect acquaintance with the travertino of Italy, and other very modern limestones containing freshwater shells, is considered,** the continual deposition of which, at the present time, cannot be questioned (though probably the greater part of the masses which consist of them may belong to an era preceding the actual condition of the earth’s surface) it would seem that the whole subject of these newer calcareous formations requires elucidation:  and, if the inferences connected with them do not throw considerable doubt upon some opinions at present generally received, they show, at least, that a great deal more is to be learned respecting the operations and products of the most recent geological epochs, than is commonly supposed.

(Footnote.  Conybeare and Phillips Outlines etc. page 11, Geological Transactions 1 page 327 etc.  Taylor in Geological Transactions 2nd series Volume 2 page 371.  Mr. Taylor states the important fact that the remains of unknown animals are buried together with the shells in the crag of Suffolk; but does not mention the nature of these remains.  Since these pages have been at the press, Mr. Warburton, by whom the coast of Essex and Norfolk has been examined with great accuracy, has informed me that the fossil bones of the crag are the same with those of the diluvial gravel, including the remains of the elephant, rhinoceros, stag, etc.)