898 NATURAL HISTORY. 



earth in a state of fusion, resembling great masses of 

 melted porcelain, glass, or metals, became solid bj cool- 

 ing, but -without being stratified. These are called mas- 

 sive or unstratified rocks.* The several formations are 

 divided into the following classes and orders : 



distributed through these several classes, and he has likewise made a 

 division of those unstratified rocks that exist below the stratified ones 

 into Primary Plutonic, Secondary Plutonic, Tertiary Plutonic, and 

 Recent Plutonic, reckoning in a descending order. Lyell's " Principles 

 of Geology," VoL 2, p. 504. Rozet, in 1835, divided all rocks into 

 two great series, viz., Stratified and Unstratified rocks. His first 

 scries he divides into six geognostic epochs, the first embracing allu- 

 vium, the second diluvium, the third the tertiary strata, the fourth 

 the subjacent rocks as deep as the coal measures, the fifth the remain- 

 ing fossiliferous rocks, and the sixth the non-fossiliferous stratified 

 rocks. " Traite Elementaire de Geologic," par H. ROZET. As our 

 book is from the German, and intended for the use of American read- 

 ers, we beg leave to make the following observation on the geology 

 of that country. The south-western and eastern borders of Ger- 

 many consist of lofty mountains of primitive rocks, which occur also 

 in several places more central, as in the Hartz Mountains. Second- 

 ary rocks occur in many places, though relatively less abundant than 

 in Great Britain. Yet nearly all the fossiliferous rocks of Great 

 Britain are found in Germany, and in the same relative position. A 

 part of the extensive plains of North Germany is composed of ter- 

 tiary rocks, covered with diluvial detritus from Scandinavia. As many 

 as four other tertiary basins occur in Germany. Indeed, nearly every 

 stratified rock that has been found in any part of the world exists in 

 Germany. It is also rich in ores and mineral substances of every 

 kind, and it is the most remarkable country in Europe for the extent 

 of its mining operations and for the scientific skill with which they 

 are conducted. HITCHCOCK'S GEOLOGY. Tr. 



* As the various formations constituting the common portion of the 

 globe differ so widely in their nature, in their constitution and mode 

 of arrangement, some produced in the midst of the waters, " by the 

 deposit of solid materials held in suspension or in solution by this 

 liquid, and others by the action of heat on earthy materials suscep- 

 tible of bein^ melted and of being afterwards hardened by cooling," 



