104 M. DE HoFF on some basaltic 



is here from three to four times thicker in its upper part than 

 at the Blauekuppe ; it ia the same manner traverses almost 

 vertically the horizontal beds of sandstone. It is here also 

 seen to become thicker as it descends, and in the westeru 

 part of tlie quarry a considerable mass of basalt is seen alto- 

 gether beneath the sandstone, the beds of which surround it 

 in a singular manner, following all the sinuosities of the upper 

 surface of the basalt, an effect that could only arise in codt 

 sequence of the softening of the sandstone beds, occasioned 

 by the heat of the basaltic mass in fusion. 



The nature of the sandstone is also altered in the neigh-r 

 bouihood of the basalt ; it becomes very divisible, earthy, of 

 a brown colour, full of dendrites, and offers all the characr 

 ters of that of the Blauekuppe. The basaltic mass is com-? 

 posed in part of basalt, containing zeolites, chalcedony, 

 olivine, calcareous spar, and oxidalated iron, and in part of 

 variolite, and basaltic hornstone (hornstein basaltique) ; hol- 

 low nodules are met with in it, of which the crust is formed 

 of oxidulated iron, and the interior lined by calcareous spar 

 in dodecahedral crystals. 



The Steinsburg, near Suhl, is a mountain formed of nearly 

 horizontal beds of variegated sandstone (bunter sandstein.) 

 A basaltic ridge appears on the summit 20 metres [^about 66 

 feet] thick. 'J'hls ridge appears on the surface, for a length 

 of about 120 metres [393 feet], in a direction from S.W. 

 to N. E. On the slope of the hill is a quarry in the sand- 

 stone. A society of geological amateurs united in order to 

 have a gallery pierced from the quarry to the basaltic mass, 

 at about 20 metres [about 66 feet] from the surface, and 

 at eight metres [about 26 feet] in vertical depth, the basalt 

 was met with still cutting and traversing all the sandstone 

 beds, as it descends. The basalt is separated from the sand- 

 stone by a species of vertical crust of sandstone about two 

 centimetres [nearly 1 in.] thick, afterwards by a bed of soft 

 clay, of a blackish grey colour, three centimetres [a little 

 more than 1 in.] thick, in which are fragments of sandstone, 

 and which also contains tables (fables) of basalt; the basalt 

 is afterwards found in tables disposed parallel to the side 



