the Muschelkallc, Sfc. 329 



^ler as those of the plastic clay. Yet it sometimes happens 

 that we may be embarrassed in deciding whether a deposite 

 belongs to one or the other of these formations, especially 

 when the marls of the quadersandstein present the undula- 

 tions of the tertiary beds, when they are on the surface, or 

 when they are in the vicinity of true plastic clays. 



These argillaceous beds moreover sometimes contain 

 small masses of lignites, for vegetable remains are not fo- 

 reign to the quadersandstein, they are on the contrary very 

 characteristic of it, serving to distinguish it from the other 

 two more ancient secondary sandstones. 



These vegetable remains are wood and monocotyledonous 

 plants ; * the first are changed into sandstone or infiltrated 

 by sllex, or else they present varieties of mineral carbon and 

 lignite. These vegetable remains especially abound in cer- 

 tain beds, and give a peculiar aspect to these sandstones, as 

 is seen at Kipfendorf and Blumenroth in Coburg, and at 

 Vigy near Metz. Sometimes these sandstones have a grey 

 tint, or contain small strings of lignites, as near Quedlin- 

 burg and Pima. 



Beds of lignite are even worked in this sandstone, as for 

 example, in Coburg, to the E. of Spittelstein, and along the 

 western side of the oolite chain in the S.W. of Germany. 



These deposites of lignites are most abundant in West- 

 phalia, and they have been profitably worked in the Bucke- 

 burg. In this part of Germany, as we shall see below, the 

 quadersandstein is united with the lower marls of the oolite 

 formation ; we observe a great part of the space between 

 Osnabruck, Bielfeld, Vlotho, and Buckeburg, occupied by 

 alternations of marls and sandstones. These sandstones are 

 sometimes identical with those of the quadersandstein, as 

 for example, the coarse bed traversed by strings of fibrous 

 carbonate of lime, which is worked at the Porta Westpha- 

 lica (a defile of the Weser, near Minden) and the sand- 

 stone of Hall, in Bielfeld. 



* It will be observed that M, von Humboldt says thesg plants are 

 dicotyledons. (Trans.) 



