T. Davidson — Notes on Continental Geology. 305 



therein is not yet quite fixed ; as for the Gosau beds representing 

 this formation in the northern zone, they seem to include, in my 

 opinion, all the strata indicated in the table upwards, from the zone 

 of Inoceramus Brongniarti, and Am. Woollgari, and possibly the zone 

 of Inoceramus labiatus also, while the Cenomanian stage does not 

 seem to be represented at all. This view differs somewhat from any 

 of those hitherto issued, principally from that of Prof. Zittel, 

 who regards the Gosau formation as representing only the " Etage 

 Provencien " of M. Coquand, but the Stratigraphical and Palaeonto- 

 logical researches I shall publish by-and-bye, induce me to dis- 

 tinguish a series of strata lithologically and palaeontologically 

 different. In the southern zone of our Calcareous Alps in Tyrol 

 and Venetia, the development of the Upper Cretaceous formation is 

 more simple and uniform, principally so in the Western portions of 

 this country, to which I have necessarily confined my researches. 

 The so-called "Scaglia" there overlying the Neocomian limestone, 

 called " Biancone," is the only representative of the Upper Cre- 

 taceous series in this region, while, farther eastward, it acquires 

 a greater thickness and a more varied development by the inter- 

 calation of beds very rich in Budista. The Scaglia of Southern 

 Tyrol consists of alternating beds of Grey and Eed Chalk-marl and 

 Calcareous marl, containing but few fossils. Besides which, these 

 fossils seem to be the same throughout the whole thickness of the 

 series, so that it is scarcely possible to make any palseontological 

 distinction within it. The fossils are generally in so bad a state 

 of preservation, and the number of species as yet known is so small, 

 that it is rather difficult to form, or obtain a precise opinion on the 

 age of the Scaglia ; yet the general character of its fauna, consisting 

 of Echinoidea, Budista, and Inocerami, bears a close resemblance to 

 that of the "Oberer Planer" in North-western Germany, i.e., with 

 the zones of Inoceramus labiatus, Inoc. Brongniarti, Micraster hrevi- 

 porus, and Micraster cor-testudinarium. 



" I must add some further remarks on the accompanying table. The 

 first column contains a general classification in which all the strata 

 developed in the different regions indicated in the following 

 columns may easily be arranged. The second and third columns 

 are intended to give an idea of my views concerning the parallelism 

 of the principal divisions made by M. Triger in the Department de 

 la Sarthe, with the general classification, and also with that of 

 M. Hebert for the Paris Basin. You will find that in this I agree 

 in most points with M. Hebert, and it would be too long to point 

 out and discuss here the slight differences existing between our 

 views. As for the fourth column, the series there enumerated, and 

 their relative horizon as compared with those of the foregoing 

 column, have been discussed in several publications. ^ For the 



^ Ueber die Parallelen zu d. Oberer Planer NorddeutseUands und den Gleich- 

 alserigen Bildnngen im Seine-Becken (Neues Jahrb. fiir Min. 1866, p. 309). Krit 

 Studien iiber Kreide Brachiopodeu (Paloeontographica, xiii. 6). Ueber die Brachio- 

 poden Norddeutscher Cenomanbildnngen (Geogn. Pal. Beitrage, i. 3). Ueber die 

 Galeriten Schichten der Nordd. Ki'eide (Sitzber. Akad. d. Wiss., "Wien, Ivii. 1). 



VOL. VI.— NO. LXI. 20 



