328 Mr. Weaver on the [May, 



view, however, does not invalidate his general position ; namely, 

 that all the true coal tracts are comprehended in the older sand- 

 stone or rothetodtliegende series ; an arrangement in which all 

 German geologists have always concurred. This state of the 

 case is proved, not only by the synoptical table, but by the 

 words of the author's text, from which I subjoin the following 

 extracts : 



Vol. iv. p. 179. " It is quite certain that the bed of coal near 

 Opperode, in Anhalt, lies in the rothliegende, and I must affirm 

 the same of the coal near Wettin, both from my own observa- 

 tions, and from the accounts of others, that may safely be relied 

 on. But of these I need take no further notice in this place, as 

 I mean to describe them in distinct dissertations in the second 

 appendix to this volume." 



I have given the substance of these descriptions in the Annals 

 of Philosophy, Aug. 1822, p. 87—89, to which I beg leave to 

 refer the reader ; and in relation to which I will here only add 

 two other extracts. 



Vol. iv. p. 194. " The rothliegende extends from Hettst'adt 

 eastward beyond the river Saale ; " and " nearer toward Wettin 

 its outcrop is covered by the coal tract (n'aher nach Wettin zu, wird 

 sein ausgehendes von steinkohlengebirge bedeckt)." And p. 123, 

 where the same fact is related hi the following words : " I have 

 been assured that beds of oolitic limestone have been met with 

 in the rothliegende that lies below the Wettin coal seams" This 

 language, than which none can be more explicit, is quite consist- 

 ent with that of Lehman, who speaks of the rothliegende as 

 " la base sur laquelle sont appuyes les lits du charbon de terre," 

 and which 1 quoted upon a former occasion.* 



Again, vol. iv. p. 208. " The coal tracts (steinkohlengebirge) 

 situated near Beuthen, Pleiss, and Troppau, in Upper Silesia, 

 near Schweidnitz, in Lower Silesia, and in the south-western 

 and north-eastern portions of the county of Glatz, are likewise 

 ascribed by Von Buch, as well as by later writers, to the forma- 

 tion of the todtliegende. f The todtliegende, however, appears 

 in many parts of those countries in its usual form ; that is, desti- 

 tute of coal." The same fact is repeated, p. 190, 191, with the 

 addition, " Reuss likewise states, that considerable beds of coal 



birge (mit kieselconglomerat, schieferthon, unci brandschiefer), ah z-uiey, cinander zwar 

 ganz nahe stchcnde, abcr dennoch von cinander zu trennende formationcn, betrachtet; 

 daher ich auch immer noch einen unterschied zwischen dem weiterhin zu beschreibenden 

 (untergeordneten) vorkommen cinzelner steinkohlenjloctze im rothliegenden und zwischen 

 dem eigentlichen steinkohlengebirge annehme." 



* I avail myself of this opportunity to notice an oversight committed in transcribing 

 the account of the lower coal field near 'Wettin (not LobegUn, as stated by Mr. Cony, 

 beare), by having inserted " rotlie todtliegende," instead of " rothes thonartiges lie- 

 gendes," as the lowest bed (No. 16) observed in that coal field. The error, however, is 

 of no real importance, since the expression signifying an argillaceous bed of the rothlie- 

 gende, it amounts to the same thing, 

 t " Ton Buch. Mineralogical Description of Landeck." 



