144 Rev. W. D. Conybcare on a Geological Map of [Feb. 



Quicksilver occurs both in the porphyritic conglomerate, and 

 in the coal sandstone. 



" The red sandstone (by this term, Keferstein always denotes 

 therothetodteliegende as distinguished from the bunte sandstein), 

 lies in several places on these formations." 



(G.) Coal near the Vosges. 



Coal occurs on the west side of the Vosges, but I am not 

 acquainted with any particular description of this tract. 



(H.) Coal of the Alps. 



Traces of the coal formation are rare in this mountain range ; 

 but such have been observed in some parts of it. 



M. de la Beche thus notices one remarkable instance of this 

 kind : 



" The Col de Balme, which closes the valley of Chamouny to 

 the north-east, and separates Savoy from Switzerland, has long 

 been known for the superb view which it commands of the valley 

 of Chamouny, with the Mont Blanc range in one direction, and 

 the mountains of the Valais on the other. The iron cross on the 

 highest part of the Col, or passage, is, according to M. de Saus- 

 sure, 7086 French feet (7558-^- English feet) above the level of 

 the sea. The Col is composed of beds of clayslate, of limestone, 

 and of a few thin beds of sandstone. The rocks of the Col de 

 Balme have been called primitive by M. Ebel, in his Bau der 

 Erde en dem Alpen-Gebirge, but were with more justice named 

 secondary by M. de Saussure. The beds which compose them 

 seem to be a continuation of limestones, which are remarked in 

 patches in the valley of Chamouny, and which probably once 

 occupied the whole length of the valley. 



" While crossing the Col de Balme, in the autumn of 1819, I 

 picked up two portions of the thin beds of sandstone above- 

 mentioned, which I found to contain vegetable impressions pre- 

 cisely similar to what have been termed coal plants, because 

 they are usually found in coal formations. But I tried in vain to 

 find these fossil plants in situ, many parts of the Col being too 

 precipitous to allow of my approaching them." 



From further conversation on the subject with M. de la Beche, 

 I am persuaded that this spot presents a trough of nearly vertical 

 beds belonging to the true coal formation squeezed in, as it were, 

 between the primitive ridges. 



Keferstein notices traces of coal associated with porphyry on 

 the south side of the Alps near Botso. Humboldt also notices 

 these coal deposits : they are on the banks of the Adige between 

 Sais and St. Peter. 



(I.) Coal of Osnabruck. 

 Pursuing the line of Northern Germany, a tract containing 



