332 Mr. Weaver on the [May, 



comes in direct contact with the transition tract; so that in fact 

 there is no visible connexion between the carboniferous rocks of 

 Ihlefeld and Neustadt, and the old red sandstone which, pro- 

 ceeding from the Stollberg territory, ranges through Sangerhau- 

 sen and Mannsfeld, and thence to the Banks of the Saale. But 

 supposing a connexion to subsist between them (which is not 

 improbable), though concealed by the newer floetz formations ; 

 if we take into account the disposition of the rocks of Ihlefeld 

 and Neustadt, the range being north-west and south-east, and 

 the dip south-west, and conceive them to be prolonged in the 

 line of their south-eastern direction ; it becomes evident, that 

 they must be all in a position superior to the old red sandstone 

 of Sangerhausen and Mannsfeld, yet belong nevertheless to the 

 same series. On the other hand, the coal formation at Oppe- 

 rode appears, from the description of Freiesleben, to extend 

 eastward to Meisdorf, and, perhaps, as far as Endorf, if not 

 further, and to repose in that direction on the old red sandstone, 

 which in its progress to the westward gradually thins off. The 

 relative position of the Petersberge coal tract has been already 

 clearly explained. For its description, as well as that of Oppe- 

 rode, see the Annals of Philosophy, Aug. 1822, p. 87 — 89. 



Let us now admit my opponent's construction of Freiesleben, 

 in the tract extending from the Hartz to the Petersberge on the 

 Banks of the Saale, taken in a descending order, and see to what 

 it leads : 



1. The rothliegende is the new conglomerate. It is covered 

 by the weissliegende or calcareous conglomerate. 



N. B. From this it would appear as if the German series 

 possessed a supernumerary new conglomerate.* 



2. The rothliegende contains beds of porphyry, also beds of 

 limestone, also single beds of coal. 



N. B. Impressions of monocotyledonous plants, considered as 

 characteristic of the true coal formation, appear in this associa- 

 tion. 



3. The whole of these are in a position superior to the coal 

 formation, properly so called, which belongs to a different 

 series. 



4. The plan of Freiesleben's work does not extend to the coal 

 formation, properly so called. 



N. B. Yet the plan of Freiesleben's work does extend to the 

 transition tracts, upon which the rothliegende, in its lowest 

 position, is described as reposing, and into which it in a manner 

 graduates. Therefore, if we were to combine these two views, 

 the carboniferous series would seem to be excluded from the 

 geological succession altogether. Yet it is admitted that 



* The general character of the weissliegende is that of a calcareous conglomerate, but 

 it not unfrequently appears as a siliceous conglomerate. Hence, though sufficiently 

 distinguished by other charactert, it has been sometimes confounded with the rothlie- 

 gende. 



