of the Alps, Carpathians and Apennines, 211 



of crystalline rock, whether eruptive or purely metamorphic, the 

 deviations from such conformity are very numerous, particularly 

 where the strata wrap round the ends of each separate crystaUine 

 mass ; in illustration of which a geological map of the Canton of 

 Glarus, by M. Escher, was appealed to. Seeing that the forms of 

 the anticlinal and synclinal folds exhibited in his sections coincided 

 with the illustrations of the Appalachian mountains and other chains 

 recently produced by Prof. H. Rogers, the author — without offering 

 any opinion on the theory of that able geologist — pointed out that 

 in the Alps, as in the United States, the long and slightly inclined 

 slopes of each anticlinal face the great centre of disturbance, whilst 

 the short and steep sides of the same dip away from the chain. In 

 reference to the very frequent phaenomenon of the younger strata 

 (including the molasse) dipping under the older, particularly along 

 the line of great longitudinal faults. Prof. Rogers presented diagrams 

 explanatory of such overlaps in accordance with his theory. 



Carpathians. — A brief sketch, the result of a survey in 1843, is 

 then given of the northern flanks of the Carpathian mountains. Indi- 

 cating the general succession northwards from the Tatra chain, the 

 author points out how a mass of nummulitic limestone, overlying 

 secondary rocks, dips under shale and sandstone like the flysch of the 

 Alps, such deposits representing, as in those mountains, the eocene 

 of geologists. An outer ridge (Zafflary and Rugosnik) of Oxfordian 

 Jura and chiefly Lower Neocomian according to Zeuschner and Key- 

 serling, rises abruptly through these superior deposits, and between 

 it and Cracow are undulating hills, much broken up and dislocated, 

 consisting of sandstones, shale, &c., in parts of which Prof. Zeusch- 

 ner has discovered many secondary greensand or Neocomian fossils. 

 These sandstones have a wide range, extending into Moravia, and 

 doubtless constitute a large portion of what has been termed Car- 

 pathian grit. But the author observes that in tracts like this, where 

 the cretaceous system assumes an arenaceous and earthy form, and 

 particularly in those districts where the nummulitic limestones no 

 longer exist, it is exceedingly difficult to draw any clearly defined 

 line of separation between sandstones of secondary and tertiary age. 

 He therefore believes that under the name of " Gres des Carpathes " 

 rocks both of eocene and cretaceous age have hitherto been con- 

 founded, and that arguments concerning the age of any given portion 

 of these sandstones in a country so constituted and so full of dislo- 

 cations are valueless without the test of organic remains. 



The Apennines. — A general view of the structure of Italy is then 

 offered ; and whilst on the authority of General della Marmora the 

 existence of Silurian rocks in Sardinia is cited, it is shown that 

 the lowest fossiliferous deposits of the Peninsula are liasso-jurassic, 

 followed by limestones, often of red colours, of Oxfordian age (am- 

 monitico -rosso). These constitute a number of parallel ridges of 

 various altitudes, overlaid by or forming troughs with younger accu- 

 mulations, and thus forming numerous backbones, of which the 

 Apuan Alps and their crystalline marbles, the hills of La Spezia 

 and Pisa, are the most prominent examples in the North. 



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