on the Harlz. 267 



"to south-east : thus the general direction of the beds is 

 perpendicular to that in which the group is elongated. — 

 The Brocken is situated a little to the west of the line 

 which would form the small axis of this kind of ellipse, and 

 to the N.N.W. of the centre. Around the Brocken, the 

 whole of the rocks regarded as primitive fill nearly a trian- 

 gular space, which would have the northern limit of the 

 Hartz for abase, from iheusineoi Ockerhiitte (half a league 

 to the E. of Goslar) to the town of Wernigerode, and whose 

 summit would be placed a little to the S. of the town of 

 Andreasberg. The same rocks and granite reappear in 

 many places, on the S.E. of this triangular space, in the 

 midst of formations recognised as transition ; but throughout 

 the west and north-west portions, no trace of these pre- 

 sumed primitive rocks is discovered, except it is on the pro- 

 longation of the Bruchberg branch on the west of Andreas- 

 berg, a little beyond the triangle. Now, from the general 

 dip to the S.E. this western part is precisely that whose beds 

 appear to dip beneath all the others, and in many points 

 they seem to dip beneath the granitic rocks which are situ- 

 ated beyond them. I am aware of the errors we expose our- 

 selves to when we wish to conclude a superposition solely 

 from observations of this nature, and when no point of direct 

 superposition has been proved; but it must be confessed 

 that this general dip towards the S.E. observed throughout 

 the eastern part of the Hartz, is one of the facts brought 

 forward to support the antiquity of the crystalline rocks, 

 relatively to the greywacke of this part of the group ; and 

 it is at least very remarkable, that on the western limit of 

 these primitive rocks, we should no where observe the grey- 

 wacke with a western dip, whilst in many places, on the 

 contrary, it shews an opposite dip. In the eastern part, 

 the granite occurs in many places in the midst of the 

 recognised transition rocks, and there has no where been 

 noticed in the beds of the latter, that variety of dip which 

 would denote their mantling round the dift'erent granitic 

 nuclei ; the dip remains almost constantly the same.* 



* M. Germar expresses an opinion in Iiis memoir, that the schistose 



