﻿34 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 78 



Dr. Bassler to other regions celebrated in German stratigraphy, par- 

 ticularly the potash areas around Stassfurt, the drift region around 

 Dessau and other regions to the north, and finally to the Island of Rii- 

 gen on the Baltic. During these explorations, a short time was spent in 

 the Berlin Basin where under the guidance of Dr. Kurt Hucke, of 

 Templin, Germany, a good idea of the geology was obtained. This 

 area and that to the north belongs to the Baltic Plain, a fiat region 

 covered with glacial deposits (fig. 38) in which the underground 

 stratigraphy is made out with difficulty. However, the pebbles in 

 these drift deposits afl:'ord such good clues to the geological struc- 

 ture, from their contained fossils, that a new phase of research has 

 been developed by Dr. Hucke and his associates and a special society 

 for this study has been formed. Dcr Zeitschrift filr Gcschichcfor- 

 schung, the journal of this society, of which Dr. Hucke is President, 

 contains discussions of drift problems which are quite new to the 

 American investigator. 



The classic Island of Riigen, ofif the north coast of Germany, with 

 its chalk clififs of Cretaceous age, was then visited, and although 

 most beautiful from a scenic standpoint, it proved at first very disap- 

 pointing paleontologically. Hundreds of species of Cretaceous micro- 

 fossils have been described from this area and it was believed that 

 the specimens would surely occur in great abundance. However, 

 as shown in figure 39, the clififs are almost inaccessible and only the 

 chalk blocks which have fallen to the beach are available for material. 

 Upon breaking up these blocks, few fossils were found. The dis- 

 appointment was lessened by the fact that the shore is composed 

 of undecomposed boulders of various igneous rocks, limestones, 

 sandstones and other types deposited here as drift material during 

 glacial and subsequent times. All the various formations to the 

 north are represented and some of the formations are evidently from 

 outcrops at the bottom of the Baltic Sea for they never have been 

 found in place on the land. The latter formations, curiously enough, 

 were particularly rich in microfossils. The disappointment over the 

 few fossils in the chalk bed was dissipated entirely when the " Kreide- 

 schlemmerei " or chalk washing establishments at the town of Sas- 

 snitz on Riigen were located. It happens that an important industry 

 has been developed around the use of chalk for various whitening 

 purposes, but the chalk must be pure and free from fossils and flint 

 fragments. To accomplish this, the chalk is passed through the 

 washers and all the fine and coarse debris is sieved out and thrown 

 aside leaving the water with its dissolved material to settle. The 



