MINERALOGY OF THE ENVIRONS OF PARIS. 27 1 



8. It is nevertheless still ancient, with respect to us, since 

 nothing shows that such breccias are formed at the pre- 

 sent day ; and some of them, as those of Corsica, contain 

 also the remains of unknown animals. 9. The most essen- 

 tial character of this phenomenon consists more in the fa- 

 cility with which certain rocks have been split, than the 

 matters contained in the fissures. 10. This phenomenon 

 is very different from that exhibited by the caverns in 

 Germany, which contain the bones of carnivorous ani- 

 mals only, spread over the bottom, in an earthy tuff, part- 

 ly of an animal and partly of a mineral nature ; although 

 the rocks in which these caverns are situated do not ap- 

 pear to be very different from those which contain the 

 osseous brecciae. 



NOTE K (B.) 28. p. 103. 



Mineralogical Description of the Country around Paris. 



As the very short account of the mineralogy of the 

 country around Paris, in Note K (A), may not prove sa- 

 tisfactory to those who wish a more particular detail, we 

 here insert a description, which, with the assistance of the 

 plate, (Plate IV.) will, we trust, enable the reader to form 

 a distinct conception of all the important features of that 

 remarkable district.* 



The country in the environs of Paris is entirely com- 

 posed of newer floetz rocks, of which the oldest, or low- 

 est, is common chalk ; the uppermost, or newest, alluvial. 

 Interposed between these are nine different formation?, 

 principally of limestone, sandstone, and gypsum. The 

 whole series of formations, according to Cuvier and 



* The description is drawn up in conformity with the observations 

 of Cuvier and Brongniart, in their valuable 'work, entitled" Essaisirr 

 la Geographic Mineralogique des Environs de Paris." 4to. 1811. 



