940 CARLOS SAPPER 



Dollfus and E. de Montserrat, to indicate a system of red are- 

 naceous and slaty conglomerates which is beneath the Carbonif- 

 erous limestones. I showed that the upper strata of this system 

 in the neighboring Republic of Guatemala contain Carboniferous 

 fossils, and although it is impossible to determine with exact- 

 ness the age of the lower beds, probably they are Carboniferous 

 or Devonian. The extent of the Santa Rosa beds is very con- 

 siderable, since near Porvenir, in San Francisco Motozintla, 

 there are important mountain chains formed almost exclusively 

 of these beds. 



These beds, like the Carboniferous limestones, are found 

 only in the southeastern part of Chiapas. I was unable to 

 ascertain exactly how far west they extend, but I think that 

 they terminate at their contact with the granite rocks which 

 form the nucleus of the Sierra Madre. 



3. Carbo7iiferous limestone. — The limestones and dolomites of 

 the Carboniferous terranes have a moderate extension in the 

 state of Chiapas, as is shown on the geological map. Their age 

 is roughly ascertained by various fossils which I have found in 

 the vicinity of La Nueva, Las Tres Cruces, and Palo Amarillo, 

 which have not yet been determined (specifically) . 



I have also found Carboniferous fossils, as brachiopods, 

 corals, and crinoids, near San Vicente, in the department of 

 Comitan, in calcareous rocks, cemented together with silicon, 

 probably in Tertiary times. At nearly all the points which I 

 know the Carboniferous limestones lie conformably upon the 

 Santa Rosa beds. In the vicinity of Chicomucelo and Palo 

 Amarillo beds of limestone were seen intercalated between the 

 slates and flagstones of the above-mentioned beds. In the 

 preliminary report of 1894 and in the " Grundzuge der physical- 

 ischen Geographic von Guatemala" (Gotha, 1894), I have given 

 the list of the Carboniferous fossils which up to the present date 

 have been found in the Republic of Guatemala. 



4. Strata of Todos Saiitos. — A system of sandy and slaty con- 

 glomerates of a red or reddish color, which I have termed for 

 reasons before given the "strata of Todos Santos," are found 



