MESOZOIC AND KAINOZOIC GEOLOGY IN 



EUROPE. 



IT would be vain to attempt, within the space of a single 

 article, to give even the barest outline of the present 

 state of stratigraphical geology or of any considerable sec- 

 tion of that science. All that can be done here is to 

 chronicle the advances which are made from time to time 

 in its various branches. Fortunately, however, for the pur- 

 pose in view, the progress of our knowledge of the great 

 geological systems is not uniform. Sometimes there appear 

 almost simultaneously a number of important observations 

 on the rocks of one system while another perhaps is ap- 

 parently neglected ; and at other times the cases may be 

 reversed. Thus within the last few months several valuable 

 papers have been published on Miocene geology ; but few 

 have appeared which refer to the Trias. Hence the pre- 

 sent article will to a certain extent afford a summary of the 

 state of Miocene geology in Central Europe ; while it may 

 be hoped that some future article will perforin the same 

 service for the Trias. It is only in this piecemeal fashion 

 that we can expect to sketch the present state of strati- 

 graphical geology and at the same time to keep pace with 

 its progress. 



Considered by itself, the geology of a single area is of 

 little interest except to those who have worked or lived in 

 that area ; and it is only when we attempt to compare the 

 local geology with that of other parts of the world, that its 

 full value can be weighed and determined. In England 

 perhaps we were somewhat slower to perceive this than our 

 colleagues abroad ; and it was natural that this should be 

 so. For the science of stratigraphical geology took its rise 

 in England, and it was here that nearly all the greater geo- 

 logical divisions were first recognised and described. It 

 was necessary, therefore, for foreign geologists to compare 

 their rocks with ours ; but it did not seem so clear to 

 us that ours must also be compared with theirs. Moreover, 



