412 NATURAL HISTORY. 



The rocks of this order are of various degrees of solidity, 

 all equally showing strong evidences of their sedimentary 

 origin, yet some exhibit evidences of having been sub- 

 jected to a more powerful chemical action than others, 

 and consequently are more crystalline in their structure. 

 We will commence a description of this formation with 



The (Kupfer-shiefer) Copper-slate and Zeckstem 

 (mine-stone) formations, which consist of calcareous mat- 

 ter, mingled with sandstone. It is usual to find a stra- 

 tum of bituminous Shale lying directly under the 

 Bunter Sandstone (new red), upon which is superposed 

 an argillaceous structure of gray or blue-black Anthra- 

 conite or fetid limestone, known as Graywacke. Higher 

 up in this series come the compact limestones, the (zech- 

 stein) mine stone, separated by many layers of black, 

 resinous schistose, friable marl, mingled with copper and 

 iron ores, amid which salt springs arise. Directly suc- 

 ceeding these calcareous strata, we find 



The Rothe-liegende also called Todt-liegende (Germ.) 

 red, dead lier, so named because it is of a red color, 

 underlies the metalliferous strata, and is dead or worth- 

 less, as containing no metallic produce.* These deposits 



* The Plutonic formations have received this name because they 

 appear to be the product of the action of fire, are generally of a 

 dense crystalline structure, and ordinarily form immense masses ; they 

 are not arranged in regularly superposed beds, nor do they contain 

 the remains of organized bodies. Some of them are formed by the 

 action of volcanoes, and others are very analogous to the latter ; they 

 contain not only minerals peculiar to volcanic ejections, but also mat- 

 ters produced by our laboratories and furnaces. They seem to have 

 formed the primitive crust of the globe, for \ve find them beneath 

 the Neptunian formations, but they are also sometimes spread over 

 the surface of the latter, or betwixt the different beds or strata, of 

 which they are composed. RCSCHEX. DAXA. Tr. 



