330 Mr. Weaver on the [May, 



new conglomerate of England, can alone be considered as form- 

 ing the first member of the succeeding series ; namely, of the 

 gypseous and saliferous. The weissliegende, however, has, as 

 already remarked, been sometimes called rothliegende by some 

 German writers, and this misapplication of the term has thus 

 also led to a confusion in description, which really does not 

 exist in nature. And here, perhaps, Mr. Conybeare may find 

 one of the sources of the misconception into which he has 

 fallen. 



From all that has been stated, it is evident that Freiesleben 

 affords no support whatever to the position of my opponent ; 

 namely, that the rothetodtliegende is the equivalent of the cal- 

 careous or new conglomerate of England ; and that which is 

 attempted to be derived from the sections of Keferstein must, 

 for the same reasons, appear invalid. The order noticed there 

 in ascending is, it seems, 1. Coal formation; 2. Porphyry; 

 3. Rothliegende ; 4. Alpine, or lower limestone formation ; 

 5. New red sandstone.* 



Upon this section I have to observe, in the first place, that 

 the weissliegende or new conglomerate being by Freiesleben 

 included in the alpine or lower limestone formation, I presume 

 it is so included in No. 4 of this section ; and consequently that 

 the rothliegende No. 3 cannot be intended by Keferstein to be 

 its representative. And, in the second place, Freiesleben having 

 clearly shown the porphyry and coal to be comprehended in his 

 general rothliegende series, the term rothliegende applies to the 

 uppermost beds of the coal formation as well as to the lowest 

 bed of the carboniferous series.f To exhibit, therefore, the coal 

 formation, porphyry, and rothliegende, in the above order, as a 

 type of the general series, is manifestly an imperfect mode of 

 representing their mutual relations ; since the rothliegende (as 

 has been shown from Freiesleben) is found alternating with por- 

 phyry below the coal formation, and the coal formation itself 

 occurs also alternating v/ith porphyry. The fact appears to be 

 that in the section adverted to above, Nos. 5 and 4 (the latter of 

 which comprehends also the new conglomerate as the lowest 

 member) constitute together the saliferous and gypseous series ; 

 while Nos. 3, 2, and 1, belong to the carboniferous series, yet 

 displayed in a manner that, so far from being luminous, conveys 

 only an imperfect idea of the general subject. Of the two, the 

 series presented by Karsten, though by no means complete (and 

 from which the weissliegende must be excluded), is, as a general 

 type of the rothetodtliegende formation, superior to that of 

 Keferstein. Hasty generalizations and forced constructions, 

 instead of promoting, tend rather to retard the progress of 



* I quote from Mr. Conybeare, not having myself yet seen Keferstein 's memoirs. I 

 presume these memoirs are compiled rather from the recorded observations of others than 

 from original researches conducted by that author himself. 



*f See the preceding remarks and notes on this head. 



