from the debris of the sea animals. (In the "Proceedings of the Geological
Society" volume 2 page 446, I have given a brief account of the upraised
shells on the coast of Chile, and have there stated that the proofs of
elevation are not satisfactory above the height of 230 feet. I had at that
time unfortunately overlooked a separate page written during my second
visit to Valparaiso, describing the shells now in my possession from the
557 feet hill; I had not then unpacked my collections, and had not
reconsidered the obvious appearance of greater antiquity of the shells from
the greater heights, nor had I at that time discovered the marine origin of
the earth in which many of the shells are packed. Considering these facts,
I do not now feel a shadow of doubt that the shells, at the height of 1,300
feet, have been upraised by natural causes into their present position.)

With respect to the position in which the shells lie, I was repeatedly
struck here, at Concepcion, and at other places, with the frequency of
their occurrence on the summits and edges either of separate hills, or of
little flat headlands often terminating precipitously over the sea. The
several above-enumerated species of mollusca, which are found strewed on
the surface of the land from a few feet above the level of the sea up to
the height of 1,300 feet, all now live either on the beach, or at only a
few fathoms' depth: Mr. Edmondston, in a letter to Professor E. Forbes,
states that in dredging in the Bay of Valparaiso, he found the common
species of Concholepas, Fissurella, Trochus, Monoceros, Chitons, etc.,
living in abundance from the beach to a depth of seven fathoms; and dead
shells occurred only a few fathoms deeper. The common Turritella cingulata
was dredged up living at even from ten to fifteen fathoms; but this is a
species which I did not find here amongst the upraised shells. Considering
this fact of the species being all littoral or sub-littoral, considering
their occurrence at various heights, their vast numbers, and their
generally comminuted state, there can be little doubt that they were left