INTRODUCTION. 7 



mountains were not, as Werner had supposed, the oldest 

 rocks, since they rested locally upon the gneiss and schist 

 series, and even upon the strata of the "transitional" 

 series. Similar observations had been made by these authors 

 in the Harz mountains, and corroborative reports began to 

 appear in other countries disproving the commonly accepted 

 dogma that all occurrences of granite must of necessity be of 

 the highest antiquity. 



In comparison with Middle and North Germany, geognostic 

 research was very backward in South and West Germany, not- 

 withstanding the fact that these areas are particularly rich in 

 fossils, and have in later times very materially assisted in de- 

 veloping our knowledge of past epochs. 



The first to examine the rocks of the Old Bavarian pro- 

 vinces was Mathias von Flurl (1756-1823). At the age of 

 twenty-four Flurl was elected Professor of Physics and Natural 

 History in the Industrial Academy at Munich; afterwards he 

 studied for a time under Werner. On his return to Bavaria, 

 he was advanced from one position to another, and from 

 the year 1800 occupied the post of Director of Mines. His 

 chief work, A Description of the Mountains of Bavaria and the 

 Upper Pfalz, was written in the form of letters. Pre-emi- 

 nence was given to matters concerning mines and metallurgy; at 

 the same time, he related in simple narrative style what he had 

 seen of any geological interest in the course of his travels, men- 

 tioned the localities where fossils occur, and noted the surface 

 distribution of different kinds of rock. But Flurl avoided all 

 reference to debatable points, such as the order of the succession 

 of rocks, the relative age of fossils, or the mode of origin of 

 the rocks. The work was accompanied by a small general map 

 of Bavaria, wherein a few of the leading varieties of rock were 

 distinguished granite, gneiss, schist, limestone, sandstone, 

 nagelflue, and alluvium. 



Flurl was thus the pioneer of geology in Old Bavaria, and 

 his work has a permanent value on account of its reliable and 

 varied information. On the other hand, it cannot be placed 

 on the same scientific platform as the more special contribu- 

 tions to geology made by his contemporaries in Northern 

 Germany. 



B. Austria- Hungary and the Alps. A foundation had been 

 constructed for the geological investigation of Austria-Hungary 



