THE GEOLOGICAL TOURIST IN EUROPE. 219 



innumerable caves. So far as caves are concerned, tlie forma- 

 tion in Kentucky surpasses it, but its veins of lead and fluor-spar 

 — blue John as it is called — are peculiar to it. 



Farther south, near Bedford, the oolites and Oxford clay are 

 well exposed, beds not much developed in our Eastern States, 

 and not far off, near Cambridge, the chalk comes in. The Cam- 

 bridge greensand, formerly worked for phosphates, is nearly 

 worked out, I believe, but hosts of the charming little ammon- 

 ites, brachiopods, and crabs that the workings yielded, are stored 

 in the museum, awaiting exchange. In the museum, too, you 

 may learn where the chalk is best to be seen, and whether any 

 recent excursion has probably cleaned the workmen out of all 

 their good sea-urchins. They say that from Cambridge to the 

 Ural Mountains no land rises above two hundred feet, and cer- 

 tainly off toward the fen-land which man has redeemed from 

 the sea it looks plausible. What a change in the geography and 

 politics of Europe a submergence of two hundred feet would 

 cause ! 



Back once more in London, other excursions invite us (see 2, 

 and the reports of excursions of the various Geological Societies 

 and meetings of the British Association) to the Isle of Wight, or 

 to the Lizard, which is, naturally enough, serpentine. But be- 

 tween so many it is easier to skip them all than make a choice. 

 Let us follow the track of the Geologists' Association to Belgium 

 (14). Reaching Brussels, we find in the Musde Royale near the 

 picture-gallery a magnificent collection, unique in its iguano- 

 dons, and finely arranged to illustrate geological excursions. 

 Notice, for example, the section along the Meuse, with illustra- 

 tive specimens. 



In the suburbs of Brussels the work of the builder is contin- 

 ally opening and closing sections in the tertiary sands, but some- 

 where surely one can see the gres fistuleux of the Bruxellien, 

 whose curious columns of sandstone, consolidated around anne- 

 lid tubes, stand up amid the yet unconsolidated sand. Various 

 nummulite zones occur, but not recent information as to where 

 to pick up these coins of Nature's realm is valueless (compare, 

 however, 14). Shark's and skate's teeth also occur, and occa- 

 sional crabs. Very close to Calevoet Station I picked up a chunk 

 of half -consolidated sand fairly bristling with teeth. The pam- 

 phlet (14) covers the ground so well that I need not dwell on 

 Belgian geology, except to call attention to the agricultural geo- 

 logical soil map (15). Nor does Holland call for particular re- 

 mark, except that one should not fail to run down to Katwyk- 

 am-Zee from Leyden, or Scheveningen from the Hague to see 

 the mighty dune-bulwarks that protect the land from the storms 

 of the North Sea. 



