the Muschelkalk, 8fc. 3S7 



we even see these marly and arenaceous alternations united 

 to the muschelkalk by alternating with two or three beds of 

 a grey compact limestone, identical with some muschelkalks, 

 but without any organic remains. A similar alternation is 

 seen at the foot of the Bierberg, near Lude, to the south of 

 Pyrmont ; the limestone is there accompanied by small 

 portions of marl highly impregnated with yellow hydrate of 

 iron. It naturally happens that the quadersandstein occa- 

 sionally rests on the new red sandstone ; this occurs for ex- 

 ample, near Opferbaum, between Scheveinfort and Wurtz- 

 burg, where it appears to rest immediately on the gypsum 

 of the new red sandstone marls. The same thing happens 

 on the north of the Hartz, and particularly along the western 

 side of the oolite chain of northern Bavaria, where we pass 

 immediately from the new red sandstone to the quadersand- 

 stein, as for example, on the south of Nuruberg. Yet it is 

 much more easy to distinguish them than it is to separate 

 the red sandstone from the new red sandstone deprived of 

 marls. 



. ..In Bohemia, where the quadersandstein often covers the 

 coal measures or red sandstone, for example near Brandies, 

 &c. in the Erzgebirge (Gruntenburg, Nieder, Scliona) and 

 on the banks of the Elbe, on the limits of Austria and 

 Saxony, where it rests on gneiss, it cannot be confounded 

 with any other formation. 



The quadersandstein may be described as a generally fine 

 sandstone,* composed of small rounded grains of quartz, 

 and occasionally mixed with scales of silvery mica, which 

 are sometimes distributed in parallel and interrupted lami- 

 nae. The cement of this sandstone is argillaceous or argillo- 

 ferruginous ; it is generally more slightly aggregated than 

 other sandstones, and this sandstone also much resembles 

 modern alluvions ; yet, in many cases, it has been hardened, 

 like the tertiary sandstones, by a calcareous cement, or more 

 rarely by silex. 



In the first case, this rock surprisingly resembles the 



* See the exact descriptions given by M. Haussman, Novddeutsche 

 Beitrage, &c. p. 68. and Dribuiger Taschenbucb, 1816. 



