THE OLIGOCENE SERIES "'> 



and of large isolated blocks of granite and gneiss which appear to 

 have come from Bohemia. 



In Provence the Eocene is represented only l>y freshwater and 

 tiTiv.-trial deposits, but south of it the Nuiumulitic Sea passed 

 westward through the north of Spain and into Aquitaine. The 

 Provencal deposits may be tabulated as follows, and are specially 

 interesting from the mammalian remains which occur in them : 



Bartonian. Freshwater clays, sands, and conglomerates. 



Lutetian. Limestones and marls with Planorbis pseudo- ammonia, 

 Limncea aquensis, and Bulimus Hopei, with bones of Lophiodon 

 Pachynolophus, Paloplotherium, and Hyracotherium. 



Yprtsian. Sands and mottled clays (freshwater). 



Sparnacian. Limestone witli Physa Draparnaudi and Limncea obliqua. 



Tkanetian. Limestone with Physa prisca and Melania. 



Montian. Limestones with Physa moniensis. 



In the Southern Alps, Vicentin and Venetian districts, there is 

 a more varied and complete series, and the succession according to von 

 Hauer, but slightly modified by more recent researches, is as follows : 



Ba. 



Lu. 



Fine-grained sandstone or "macigno." 

 Limestone with Cerithium diaboli. 

 Volcanic tuffs of Ronca. 



Linn-stones with Num. complanatus and N. perforatus. 

 Limestones with Alvcolina, and fish beds of Bolca. 

 Limestones with Num. ataicus and Lithothamnium. 

 /Limestones with flints. Brachiopods, and Nummulites. 



k 



y . I Cosina Beds with Melania and Chara and leaves of Dryandra and 

 "I Sanksia. 

 \Miliolina limestone, with Cerithium and Anomia. 



The letters to the brackets stand for Liburnian, Lutetian, and 

 Bartonian, the Liburnian being apparently conformable to the 

 underlying Cretaceous strata, and consequently representing nearly 

 the whole of the Lower Eocene. 



In the Northern Apennines, according to Professor Sacco, 17 the 

 Eocene Series attains a thickness of 5500 feet. At the base is a 

 group which he classes as Suessonian (about 300 feet), succeeded by 

 a great thickness of sandy and marly beds with marine fossils 

 (Lutetian), surmounted by sandstones, shales, and shaly limestones 

 with few fossils (about 5000 feet). At the top are 300 feet of 

 grey marls with many fossils, including Num. striatus and Orbitoides 

 radians (Bartonian). 



II. THE OLIGOCENE SEEIES 

 A. NOMENCLATURE AND DIVISIONS 



The name Oligocene was proposed for this series by Professor 

 Beyrich in 1854, who showed that it contained an important 



