1823.] the principal Mountain Cltains of Europe. 217 



Magdeburg throughout the south of Hanover. (See the works 



of Freisleben.) ' < • . ,' 



The zone of these rocks surrounding the I hurmgerwald conti- 

 nues to skirt the prolongation of the same great mountain band 

 through Saxony, where it assumes the name of the erzegebirge, 

 through Silesia, where it changes its appellation for that of the 

 riesengebirge. It occurs on both sides this chain, extending on 

 the south into the great basin of Bohemia, and covering the coal 

 formation of that country and the adjoining parts of Silesia. 

 This district has been fully described by Von Raumer,* and in 

 part also by VonBuch in his account of Glatz. 



(H.) Hungary. 

 These formations appear to skirt in like manner both sides of 

 the Carpathian chain, which is still only a continuation of this 

 same great primitive band traversing central Europe. The 

 most extensive salt mines which have ever been worked are to be 

 found in the northern sandstone zone at Wieiictzkat on the south 

 of Cracow, and salt is also worked along the inner zone in 

 several valleys descending to the west from the chain where it 

 trends round Transvlvania. The primitive ridge of the Carpa- 

 thians, turning eastwards on the south of the Danube near its 

 mouth, assumes the name of Mount Balkan, and proceeds to the 

 coast of the Euxine, which cuts it off; but the transition rocks 

 on the south of the peninsula of the Crimea, appear to form a 

 portion of its northern exterior chain, and the Caucasus to form 

 its prolongation; both these ranges are skirted by conglomerates, 

 probably of this formation. 



(I.) Russia. 



The sand of this formation, containing gypsum, appears to be 

 very abundant in the north and east of European Russia. Mr. 

 Strano-ways has recently laid much important information on 

 the mmeralogical relations of this vast empire before the Geolo- 

 gical Society, in which all the particulars hitherto collected are 

 given. It will here suffice to observe, that if a line be drawn 

 from Ri°-a north of Moscow to the banks of the river Oural, this 

 ibrmatio°n will be found plentifully distributed on the north and 

 east of it, especially along the Volga and its branches on the 

 north-east of Moscow: it appears indeed to extend to, and 



* Mr. Fichtel says, that on the north this zone extends from Wielictzka into Molda- 

 via, in which interval he enumerates 58 places where salt is worked or salt springs 

 found, and on the south from Eperics, 400 or 500 miles eastwards through Transylva- 

 nia, affording 159 localities of salt. -' — .* ...... .... 



+ M Ueudant fancies the salt of the Wielictzka mines to be derived by infiltration 

 from a superior sandstone which he assigns to the tertiary aera, because it contains lig- 

 nites. This hypothesis is highly improbable ; lignites are by no means confined to the 

 tertiary deposits. Mr. Buckland, who has visited the spot, felt convinced that the salt 

 ...ines were in genuine red marl, and, I believe, observed, in the same vicmity, green 

 sand overlying that formation. This is probably tbt lignite sandstone of M. Ueudant. 



