EXCURSION TO THE PYRENEES 29 



to give a short account of this excursion and then to discuss 

 briefly some points in connection with the explanations offered 

 by Lacroix of the phenomena observed. 



Leaving Paris on the morning of August 3d on our way south 

 to the rendezvous of the excursion at Ax-les-thermes, the great 

 Tertiary plain of northern France was first traversed. The 

 country as far as the eye can reach is quite flat and excellently 

 cultivated. The grain had just been cut and stacked, and the 

 country in appearance afforded a marked contrast to those por- 

 tions of the southeast of England underlain by rocks of the same 

 age, in the entire absence of the picturesque hedges and of stand- 

 ing timber. The train then gradually ascended the table land of 

 the Plateau Central, from which far to the east rose the volcanic 

 peaks of the Auvergne, and the country assumed a more rolling 

 character. Descending from this plateau on its southern side 

 over strata of Jurassic age, past Brive and Souillac, the landscape 

 underwent still another change, the country becoming in many 

 places rough and broken, with great exposures of bare rock on 

 either side, through which the train threaded its way in numerous 

 tunnels and rock cuttings, and as the night closed in reached the 

 old city of Montauban. Next morning, passing over the Tertiary 

 basin of southern France, through Toulouse and up the wide low 

 walled valley of the Ariege, Foix was reached, about which place 

 the valley narrowed and the foothills of the Pyrenees rose high 

 and abrupt on either side. Thence passing on by Tarascon the 

 train reached Ax-les-thermes, a picturesquely situated little town, 

 lying well within the Pyrenees, whose hot springs and baths 

 annually attract a large number of visitors, chiefly from other parts 

 of France. 



Here the members of the congress who were to take part in 

 the excursion, twenty-eight in number, coming from various parts 

 of Europe and America, were received by Professoi Lacroix. 

 Five of the party only claimed English as their native language; 

 Mr. Arnold Hague, Professor Wolff and Dr. Ries representing 

 the United States, while Mr. Kynaston, of the 'Geological Survey 

 of Scotland, represented the United Kingdom. 



