﻿Dr. Feistmantel — Bohemian Coal Fauna and Passage-Beds. 107 



Furthermore, the Coal-bearing group of both the basins contains 

 two portions, a lower and a higher one. 



The lower portion is truly Carboniferous, with a Carboniferous 

 Flora and Fauna (as far as known), and contains true Coal only. 



The upper portion contains in both districts, besides a thinner 

 Coal-seam, still another stratum of Coal, in the form of a very 

 bituminous Coal of schistose structure, which may be generally 

 denoted as " Gas-coal " or " Gas-shale." In both basins, this Gas-coal 

 contains animal-remains different from those in the lower portion ; 

 they are, on the contrary, such as we find generally in the Permian 

 strata. The Flora, however, which occurs partly in this Gas-coal, 

 but to a greater extent in the shale above, is ' almost throughout 

 Carboniferous. 



This stratum is therefore in both basins that of most importance, 

 as indicating the passage from the lower and truly Carboniferous beds, 

 to the undoubted Permian formation. 



11. — Consideration of each of the districts specially. 



Here only the objective facts are given as observed by my- 

 self and others, and as they really are seen ; from these it will be 

 apparent of what age these beds should be considered. 



1. The Coal-basin of Pilsen. 

 n. The Nukschan Gas-ooal. 



This is the great Coal-basin in S.W. Bohemia, extending gene- 

 rally from S.W. to N.E., beginning, as I mentioned, at Dobrzan and 

 Mautau, and-spreading as far as Plass to the N.E., including especially 

 the localities Lihn, Blattnitz, Wilkischen, Steinoujezd, Niirschan, 

 Pilsen, Tremoschna, Dobraken, etc.^ 



Here the Coal-seams overlie each other, as if? seen especially in 

 the interior of the basin, where first an upper Coal-seam must be 

 traversed to reach the lower one ; this is especially seen in the 

 shafts at the villages Niirschan and Steinoujezd, and further to- 

 wards the north at Tremoschna. 



In the shafts W. of Niirschan (as Steinoujezd, Lazarus, Humboldt), 

 the upper seam is reached at a depth of 60 to 115 metres from the 

 surface ; the seam itself is about 1 m. 6 dec. m. thick ; immediately 

 below it is the Niirschan Gas-coal, about 40 to 48 centimetres thick ; 

 then follows the Lower Coal-seam about 20 to 30 metres thick. 



In the immediate neighbourhood of Niirschan (station of the 

 Western-Bohemian Eailway), at the mines of Dr. Pankraz, the 

 upper seam is reached at a depth of 24 to 54 metres, and again im- 

 mediately below, without any intervening stratum, is the Niirschan 

 Gas-coal. This seam is therefore no doubt identical in all the 

 shafts mentioned in the neighbourhood of Niirschan. 



But the same Coal-seam with the Niirschan Gas-coal we find after- 

 wards more towards the north — about eight English miles North of 

 Pilsen at Tremoschna, where, in the two western shafts, " Barbara " 



' All these localities are well seen on tlie Geological Maps issued by tlie k. k. 

 Geologisclien Reichsanstalt. 



