CANTON OF ZUKJCH. 117 



At Klgg (two Swiss miles cast of Winterthur) the teeth and 

 bones of mammals are found in the lignites, and the blue marls 

 overlying them contain many leaves lying densely packed to- 

 gether. Probably the water had poured down on the moss in 

 the autumn, and had carried down with it the fallen leaves of 

 the forest, which soon became imbedded in a deposit of mud. 

 .Most of the leaves were furnished by a fig-tree (Ficus tiliafoHa) ; 

 there are also numerous twigs of a conifer (Glyptoftrobus curo- 

 IKCHS), and less frequently the remains of a large-fruited maple 

 (Acer otopterix] and of some beautiful ferns are met with. The 

 fig-tree occurs also at Herdern and (Eningen, so that it was 

 probably diffused over the whole region. In the fig-tree forests 

 lived the ape which has been already referred to ; here also dwelt 

 great mastodons and rhinoceroses, some peculiar species of pigs, 

 deer, and equine Anchitheria ; on the shores of the lake the 

 little beaver (Chalicomys minutus) built its ingenious dwelling; 

 whilst the otter concealed itself in holes of the ground, and the 

 calling-hare (Lagomys ceningensis) made its nest among the 

 stones. 



AVliile the lignites of Elgg announce a slow and quiet forma- 

 tion of peat, the sandstones of Veltheim (twenty minutes' walk 

 north of Winterthur) indicate a place where a brook probably 

 flowed into the lake. They contain a good deal of rolled gravel 

 and rounded fragments of marl ; and in these beds are found 

 teeth of large Mammalia (Mastodon angustidens, Rhinoceros in- 

 cisivus, and Hycancelurus Sulzeri), which were swept together by 

 the waters ; and the remains of large tortoises are also found, 

 which lived at the mouth of the river. This sandstone-formation 

 may be traced as far as Irchel, and in many places contains the 

 leaves of plants (especially willows, poplars, and camphor- trees) 

 which were carried down into the shallow water. 



The neighbourhood of Zurich probably at this time formed 

 the bottom of a shallow lake, upon which here and there dwelt 

 Charas, crustaceans, and aquatic Mollusca. Their remains are 

 met with near Schwammendingcn and at Faletschen. The en- 

 tire absence of leaves of trees in the Zurich Miocene seems to 

 show that no forests then clothed the dry land of that neigh- 

 bourhood. The bones and teeth of a mastodon and of a rhino- 

 ceros found near the Weid and in the tunnel of Wipkingen 



