THE GEOLOGICAL TOURIST IN EUROPE. 227 



caused by tlie mimerous dialects. The Austrian geologists are 

 fully abreast with the times. 



But, turning from Vienna northwest, we come into Bohemia, 

 the scene of Barrande's great labors. Its mineral springs (38), 

 of which Carlsbad, whence the twinned orthoclase, is the most 

 famous, and Marienbad the best tasting ; its coal-basin, its pho- 

 nolites (that of Neuhof shows the nepheline to the naked eye), 

 and basalts and porphyries, are all noteworthy (35). The rocks 

 near Marienbad have been recently described by H. B. Patton. 

 In this region, too, is a place that should stir the soul of every 

 American, Joachimsthal, the birthplace of the dollar, i. e., thaler. 

 The silver-mines are still carried on in a picayune sort of way, 

 largely for fancy ores, uranium, etc. ; but by their gradual ex- 

 haustion the population is being driven into the manufacture of 

 Bohemian lace and kid gloves. Bohemian garnets are too well 

 known to need mention. 



Passing north, we will follow the valley of the Elbe, which 

 has cut its way through the massive Quader sandstone, leaving 

 it in plateaus or isolated towers, affording the finest specimen of 

 canon scenery known to me in Europe. The way is lined with 

 quarries, for the cream-colored sandstone is extensively used 

 for building in Dresden and elsewhere, and takes the place of 

 the Bunt or new red sandstone in the region of the Rhine. Not 

 far from Dresden, in Plauen, are large quarries in the rock that 

 is the German type of syenite, and is supposed to have no quartz. 



Thence we may go on to Leipsic, the seat of the famous uni- 

 versity and of the Saxon survey (3 and 29). Zirkel and Credner 

 are located here. The black pyroxenic quartz porphyry of Klein- 

 steinberg, close by, has attracted much attention. We are now 

 on the edge of the great plain of North Germany, with nothing 

 but sands washed by glacial drift from Scandinavia to the north 

 of us, except where the Harz (the kingdom of Prof. Lossen) rises 

 like an island (30*). On the way is Stassfurt, whose mines are a 

 chemical storehouse for the world. 



There are, of course, other points of great interest in Ger- 

 many — Freiberg, in Saxony, the star of whose mining - school 

 has passed the zenith. Those who make a pilgrimage to Bai- 

 reuth are among fossiliferous beds (Allersdorff), and not far 

 from the Fichtelgebirge. The Solenhofen lithographic stone 

 and its fossils are unique, but geologic attention has not been 

 recently concentrated on Wiirtemberg (26 and 27). We have not 

 yet visited Norway, Russia, Spain, or France. Through the latter 

 country Meunier will guide us (31*, 32, 6). In Paris we must part 

 company, after, I hope, a pleasant tour. Don't fail to visit the 

 Sorbonne and the Jardin des Plantes. All the lectures are pub- 

 lic, and the Jardin des Plantes has also fine general collections. 



