Till-: MKX'KNK SKI! IKS 581 



In many pla-e.> the Hrlis limestone i> directly nverlam liy marls 

 with M.lanin f:'m-lt,n\ luit mi <i.ru"via liill iicur Mardogne tliere is 

 a saiidMoue containing tin- remain.- of plants which seem to be an 

 Ai[iiita!iinn assemblage. 



llitr.liii.iliitn. Tliis is represented \>\ marls and sands containing 

 plant remains and a few shells such as Melania Escheri, Melanopsis 

 callosa, Cyrena and Unio. Above these beds are basaltic lava flows 

 and thick l>ed- of volcanic ash." The sands of Givreul near Moulins, 

 which contain bones of Dinotherium, also talong to this stage. 



Helvetian. No beds of this age have yet been recognised. 



Tortonian. The deposits referable to this stage are also scanty, 

 but l>eds of coarse sand and clay near Aurillac have yielded remains 

 of Dinotherium giganteum, Hipparion gracile, and Machairodus 

 rnltr/dens. In the Cantal also are extensive deposits of shaly clays 

 and lignites associated witli volcanic ash and V>asaltic lavas which 

 contain the same Mammalian fauna and plant-remains analogous 

 It) those of CEninghen mentioned hereafter. 8 



4. Switzerland 



Aquitanian. The only deposits in the northern plain which 

 an ]>e attributed to this stage (as now restricted) are the gypsiferous 

 beds near Lausanne which overlie those containing Helix Ramondi, 

 and in which are found other species of Helix with Planorbis, 

 Neritina, Potamides, and Cyrena, and bones of Anthracotherium. 

 Part of the " red molasse " is probably of the same aga 



Ilnrdigalian. Near Lausanne the above are succeeded by the 

 "jjrey molasse," a set of sandstones and marls no less than 1000 

 feet i hick, mainly of freshwater origin and containing the remains 

 of a flora in which palms (Sabal, Phcenicites, and Flabellaria) are 

 associated with figs, laurels, acacias, maples, cinnamon, and some 

 Proteacece. 



Helvetian. East of Lausanne the highest freshwater beds appear 

 to pass into estuarine deposits with Ostrea crassissima and Potamides 

 lignitarum, and these are covered by the shelly marine molasse 

 which is more fully developed in Freiborg and Berne. In St. Gall 

 and Ap]>en/ell there are beds of an intermediate character consi-tiiii,' 

 of red marly sands with bands of conglomerate, the sands containing 

 Cardita Jouanneti, Panopcea Menardi, Pectunculus pilosus, Conus 

 ventricosus, etc. To this stage also belong a great part of the 

 conglomerates of the Nagelfluh, which contain pebbles of various 

 rocks not now occurring in the Swiss Alps. 



Tortonian. The CEniughen Beds, consisting mainly of shaly 

 limestones, occur on the northern border of the Like of Constain-e, 

 and have yielded an enormous numl>er of plants, insects, fish, and 



