229 



a considerable portion of the formation. In the Bleiberg country 

 specimens of Gryphaea incurva have been found in the calcareous sy- 

 stem overlying the red sandstone ; and the beautifully iridescent Am- 

 monites have, by some geologists, been identified with the fossils of 

 the lias. On the whole, the authors are led to conclude, that in the 

 Bleiberg sections grauwacke with transition fossils, new red sand- 

 stone, and lias, are exhibited in regular succession. 



On the north side of the axis the evidence is by no means so clear. 

 The lower Alpine limestone is said on that side to contain a few Am- 

 monites and Belemnites ; and from the analogy of the Bleiberg sec- 

 tion the authors conclude that its inferior portion is probably of the 

 age of the lias. From its enormous development it is supposed to 

 ascend into the oolitic series 3 but they possess no means of defining 

 its superior limits. 



5. Limestone with subordinate saliferous marls, 8fc. fyc. — For a de- 

 tailed account of this subdivision the authors refer to the published 

 works of M. de Lill. It is obviously superimposed on the older 

 Alpine limestone, and must not therefore be confounded with the in- 

 ferior gypseous mails ; it is not continuous, but appears in the form 

 of enormous lenticular masses of gypseous and saliferous marls, and 

 of sandstone often brecciated, &c. &c. These are associated with, and 

 encased in, great masses and contorted beds of Alpine limestone. 

 The several deposits, commencing at Halle and ranging through 

 Berchtolsgaden, Hallein, Ischel, Hallstadt, and Aussee, though not 

 strictly continuous, are supposed to be nearly on the same parallel. 

 Several detailed sections are given in confirmation of the ideas of the 

 authors, who in this part of the series appear to be in perfect agree- 

 ment with the statements in the most recent works of Dr. Boue. 

 There are great difficulties in ascertaining the upper and lower limits 

 of this group, and also in determining its exact epoch. It contains 

 some Orthoceratites, especially in the beds of limestone below the 

 saliferous marls ; but the greatest number of the fossils, Ammonites, 

 Belemnites, Pentacrinites, with various bivalves and univalves, &c. &c, 

 appear on the whole to conform to the types of the oolitic series, — 

 a conclusion which is in accordance with the position of the deposit 

 among the secondary formations of the Alps. 



6. Younger Alpine limestone. — Under this designation are included 

 all the secondary formations of the Alps, which are superior to the 

 system containing the saliferous marls. The authors do not pretend 

 to define correctly the lower limits of this great subdivision, but they 

 place it somewhere in the upper portion of the oolitic series. The 

 highest beds forming the outskirts both of the Italian and German 

 Alps, they identify with the green-sand and the chalk. In the neigh- 

 bourhood of Trieste, and on the eastern shores of the Adriatic, this 

 upper system consists of micaceous shale and sandstone, with very 

 rare traces of fossils, alternating with beds of Alpine limestone full 

 of Nummulites. 



The authors then describe the upper Alpine limestone in Austrian 

 and Bavarian Alps. They point out its extraordinary contortions ; 

 the masses of dolomite into which it sometimes passes 5 its subordi- 



