Dr. J. H. Parkinson — The Culm in South Germany. 273 



time studying, most kindly handed over to me its further examin- 

 ation ; consequently, in the Autumn of 1902, I devoted several 

 weeks to the study of the Culm rocks in the neighbourhood of 

 Konigsberg, and especially to the collection of fossil remains from 

 this particular bed. The general composition of the Culm in this 

 locality is similar to that elsewhere in Hessen, that is to say, 

 directly over the late Devonian diabase lies a thin zone of flinty slate, 

 accompanied here and there by small beds of limestone ; next 

 above occur the well-known greenish-grey Posidonia slates (as at 

 Herborn) ; and, still higher, darker slates, much resembling those 

 used for roofing — indeed, about half a mile east of Konigsberg 

 they have actually been quarried for this purpose. To these slates 

 belong the fossiliferous beds which form the subject of this article ; 

 above them are found the beds usually known as Culm Grauwacke. 



Passing at once to the occurrence of the slaty breccia, it should 

 be stated that the beds were recognised in this neighbourhood at 

 two or three distinct spots. At one they lay horizontally among 

 the roofing-slates already mentioned, several outcrops occurring on 

 the side of the roadway connecting Konigsberg with the village 

 of Frankenbach. Though I only succeeded in finding fragments 

 of organic remains here, this was by no means the case at the 

 second spot, where the breccia-bed occurs under conditions more 

 favourable for observation. Here, directly north of the township, 

 either it forms a small fold, the limbs of which incline gently west 

 and east, and are interrupted by a fault of inconsiderable extent, or, 

 as I am inclined to think more probably the case, we have to do 

 with the outcrops of two breccia-beds separated from each other 

 by grauwacke-slates. One is the more inclined to the latter opinion, 

 because the larger outcrop (about 7 yards long and 1^ feet thick) 

 is characterized by a deep brown coloration, due to the presence 

 of iron and manganese compounds, wholly lacking in the smaller, 

 which moreover possesses greater limestone content, less thickness 

 and greater hardness, in these respects resembling the beds already 

 referred to as occurring eastward of this spot; only in the former 

 of these outcrops do fossil remains occur at all abundantly. A third 

 but unfossiliferous bed of the rock was also observed at no great 

 distance. 



This slaty breccia is not, however, confined to the neighbourhood 

 of Konigsberg. Dr. Drevermann, assistant in the Geological 

 Institute at Marburg, first called my attention to its occurrence 

 near Battenberg on the Eder, about 30 miles north of Konigsberg, 

 and there I succeeded in locating five or six outcrops, with, however, 

 only few organic remains, and those in most fragmentary condition. 



1 had to rely, therefore, chiefly on the material collected at 

 Konigsberg, the examination of which was rendered additionally 

 difficult by the fact that the fossils occurred almost always as casts 

 and moulds, and in a most crushed and distorted state. Though 

 much of the material, therefore, was from a palaeontological standpoint 

 valueless, I was able to attain to the specific determination of the 

 following forms with tolerable certainty : — 



DECADE V. VOL. I. NO. YI. 18 



