On the Basaltes of Saxony. 63 



towards the north with an immense bed, no less extensive, 

 of free-stone. 



It is on the ridge of this chain thus constituted that the 

 basaltes is placed in the form of cones, domes, and plateaux. 

 It forms about twenty summits, sometimes insulated and 

 sometimes connected by their sides to the neighbouring 

 mountains. All these basaltic summits, however, taken 

 together, do not form the sixteenth part of the whole chain 

 crowned by them. 



C. Daubuisson describes separately about a dozen of 

 summits. 



1st, The Scheilenherg rises under the form of a very ir- 

 regular truncated cone. The body of the mountain con- 

 sists of gneiss, having above it micaceous and argillaceous 

 schist, covered by horizontal strata of gravel, fine sand, and 

 clay. The basaltic bed, which is about 250 yards in length, 

 and from 80 to 1 00 in thickness, rests upon the latter strata. 

 The basaltes is divided into vertical irregular prisms with 

 blunt angles. It is of moderate hardness ; contains a great 

 number of small crystals of amphibolite, and some grains 

 of peridot, or the olivin of Werner. Several galleries" have 

 been cut out under this bed. Fifteen years ago, M. Wer- 

 ner found here a stratum of wacke, on which the basaltes 

 was immediately placed ; and he asserts that these two rocks 

 formed a transition into each other by gradual shades. It 

 was on occasion of this discovery that the celebrated pro- 

 fessor of Freyberg published for the first time his ideas on 

 the origin of basaltes. 



2d, The Pochlberg is also a truncated cone, and the body 

 of the mountain consists of gneiss. It is covered in the 

 same manner towards the top with gravel, fine sand, and 

 clay, above which arises a large bed of basaltes. The latter 

 is 540 yards in length, and about 54 in thickness. It is 

 divided into irregular prisms, and in its nature differs very 

 little from the preceding. 



3d, The Baerenstein is also composed of gneiss, and co- 

 vered with a thin stratum which supports the mass of ba- 

 saltes. This mass is from 87 to 108 yards at least in thick- 

 ness. It is divided into large irregular pillars of considera- 

 ble length. The basaltes is of the same nature as the pre- 

 ceding. 



4th, The Heidelberg is to the top formed of gneiss, which 

 passes to the state of micaceous schist. But in one of the 

 Hanks there are two groups of prismatic basaltes a little 

 divergent. This basaltes is black, compact, contains some 

 grainj of olivin^ and in its cavities a kind of marly earth. 



5 th, 



