Sketch of a Classification of the European Rocks. 33 



^ 



ue. Saurians would appear to have been abundant in some places. 

 The prevailing fossil characteristic seems tlie extraordinary quantity 

 of ammonites nod belenniiles, (he remains of which are so numerous 

 in this group. It is remarkable tliat tlic nautilus should have been 

 continued down to the present time, and that the other camerated 

 shells which swarmed at this epoch should not have been found. 

 The belemnites do not appear to occur beneath the lias, at least as yet 

 we have no well authenticated instance of sucli occurrence. 



Group 6. {Red Sandstone) contains the variegated marls {Mames 

 irisecsj Keujyer) the Muschelkalk, the New Red Sandstone {Grcs 

 Bigarrc Bunier Sandstein), the Zechstciuj and the Exeter Red 

 Conglomerate {Rothe Todic Liegendc). The whole is considered 

 as a mass of conglomerates, sandstones, and marls, generally of a red 

 color, but most frequently variegated in the upper parts. The lime- 

 stones may be considered subordinate. Somedmes only one occurs, 

 sometimes the other, and sometimes both are wanting. There seems 

 no good reason for supposing that other limestones may not be devel- 

 oped in this group in other parts of the world. When the muschel- 

 kalk is very compact wth broken stems of the Uly encrinitej^ one of 

 its characterisdc fossils, it might easily be mistaken for some of die 

 varieties of the carboniferous limestone. In some places the new 

 red sandstone contains an abundance of vegetable remains, at others 

 none can be detected in it. The saurians first appear in the ascend- 

 ing series, at least in any abundance, in this group. As I have be- 

 fore observed, the lower part of this group generally rests uncon- 

 formably on tlie inferior rocks, and seems to have resulted from a 

 very general upheaving and fracture of tlie pre-existing strata, ac- 

 companied by the intrusion of trap rocks. 



Group 7. {Carboniferous) Coal-measures and carboniferous lime- 

 stone- The former would appear in the greater number of instances 

 to be naturally divided from the group above it, but die latter would 

 seem more allied to that beneatli : there is however so much con- 

 nection in this country between the coal-measures and the carbonif- 

 erous limestone, that it would appear convenient for the present to 

 keep them together. Judging from Europe, the coal-measures pre- 

 sent us with the largest mass of fossil vegetables. 



Corals w^ere common, but they occur in as great abundance, if 

 not more plentifully now ; though the recent species, generally 



*Encrinites moniliformis. JMiller^ 



Vol. XVIIL— No. 1. 5 



