FOURTH GEOLOGICAL EPOCH. 41 



FOURTH GEOLOGICAL EPOCH. 



(secondary Formation Continued.] 

 Sfdiferous Formation New Red Sandstone Po'ikilitic (variegated) group. 



22. The rich vegetation which adorned the surface of the earth 

 during the coal period, seems to have been entirely destroyed or 

 converted into coal, by the geological convulsion which separated 

 this epoch from the succeeding period ; this convulsion wus fol- 

 lowed by the formation of extensive deposits of more ancient rocks 

 and sandy matters, as well as by the effusion of different rocks of 

 igneous origin, such as porphyries. 



23. These deposits, which' are indicative of great movements 

 in the waters, constitute the formation designated by geologists under 

 the names of red conglomerate, new red sandstone, rothe-todte- 

 lievende,* &c. They frequently form layers six hundred feet in 

 thickness, and contain scarcely any remains of organized beings. 



24. This lower new red sandstone, or penine formation of the 

 French, is very abundant in Thuringia. It contains very few- 

 organic remains. Above this red sandstone we find, in some places, 

 bituminous schists, which are very remarkable, especially in Thu- 

 ringia, for the ores of copper they contain, which circumstance has 

 gained for them the name of kupfer-s chief er, that is, copper-slate. 

 They contain plants which appear to belong to the family of algae, 

 and a very small number of terrestrial plants, such as the co'nifers. 

 Higher in the series come the compact limestones, the zechstein 

 (mine-stone) of the Germans, separated into several layers by 

 marls ; then cellular and magnesian limestones, which are more 01 

 Ises friable, and again, compact limestone and argilla'ceous matter. 

 Such is the assemblage of strata in Thuringia, and in different 

 parts of Germany ; but in England the whole series is replaced by 

 the magnesian limestone. 



25. It was about this geological period that animals belonging 

 to the class of reptiles were created. In this formation we find 

 for the first time the remains of sau'rians, in the bituminous schist 

 and in the zechstein, and subsequently in the magnesian limestone 

 of England. These reptiles resemble the living genera of the 

 iguana and monitor. We also find fishes of the genera pal&o- 

 ni'scus (Jig. 56 from the Greek, palaios, ancient, and oniskos, 



* Rothe-lodie-liepende German : red, dead, lier ; so named because it is 

 of a red colour, underlies the metalliferous strata, and is dead, or worthless, 

 as far as any metallic produce is concerned. 



22. What became of the plants which flourished on the earth previous to 

 the time of the coal formation ? 



23. What formation is ne~t above the coal ? 



24. What are the characters of the lower new red sandstone ? What : 

 kupier-schiefer ? 



25. What animals seem to belong to this fourth geological epoch * 



2j * 



