126 ERA OF THE TERTIARY FORMATION— MAMMALIA ABUNDANT. The chalk-beds are the highest which extend over a considerable space; but in hollows of these beds, comparatively limited in extent, there have been formed series of strata—clays, limestones, marls, alternating—to which the name of the Tertiary Formation has been applied. London and Paris alike rest on basins of this formation, and another such basin extends from near Winchester, under Southampton, and re-appears in the Isle of Wight. A stripe of it extends along the east coast of North America, from Massachusetts to Florida. It is also found in Sicily and Italy, insensibly blended with formations still in progress. Though comparatively a local formation, it is not of the less importance as a record of the condition of the
