' 736 ANNUAL EEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 190'8. 



been done, be taken into consideration. If, on the other hand, we 

 look at Linne's arrangement of the strata terras from the point of 

 view of our present knowledge of them, it certainly appears very 

 defective and incomplete, as it only embraces the Cambrian and 

 Silurian strata, and hence only an inconsiderable part of the entire 

 succession. But the same remark may be made, and has also been 

 made, against Werner's arrangement, i. e., that even the latter was 

 too incomplete. * * * Linne's classification, which was founded 

 on the conditions in Sweden, could apply to no other than Swedish 

 sedimentary deposits. Werner, on his part, founded his classification 

 on the conditions obtaining in Erzgebirge and adjoining parts of 

 Saxony and Bohemia," and hence also within a relatively limited 

 region. 



The general conditions at the time of the establishment of Linne's, 

 as well as of Werner's, systems were consequently such that neither 

 could be complete. * * * Each [material structure] requires a 

 firm foundation, and it w^as Linne who laid the first foundation stone 

 of the science of stratigraphic geology, after whom first Bergman and 

 then Werner continued to build. And through the work of Werner, 

 to complete the parable, the structure reached such a height that it 

 commenced to attract general attention. 



Balsberg and other Strata or Skane Belonging to the Creta- 

 ceous Period — * * ''"' — Presentiment as to the Length or 

 Geological Time. 



During his journey in Skane, Linne had an opportunity to study 

 the local Mesozoic strata, partly those belonging to the Cretaceous 

 system and, in northwestern Skane, partly those belonging to the 

 Lias proper. In accounting for these it may perhaps be most con- 

 venient to * * * commence with the rock species now called 

 testaceous lime or shell stone. 



* * * Beneath all this was the mountain itself, which was a 

 loose rock of a pale j^ellowish lime. This limestone lay nearly hori- 

 zontally, with a horizontal cleavage, and for the most part it was 

 so friable that it could be pulverized between the fingers, although 

 farther down it was somewhat firmer than above. The species of 

 rock is rather rare in Sweden, with the exception of Skane, but more 

 common in Germany and Spain. Most of the walls in the city of 

 Cadiz are built of this rock species. AVhen this stone is examined 

 closely it is found that it consists entirely of shell gravel, mussels, 

 periwinkles, corals, or of such gravel as is thrown together in sub- 



" K. A. V. Zittel, " Geschichte der Geologie " unci " PaUiontologie bis Ende des 

 19. Jalirbuuderts," p. 90. Miiuchen uud Leipzig, 1899. 



