GOPPERT ON THE COAL BEDS ON THE RHINE. 17 



the best way to become a petrifaction. Even the more frequent oc- 

 currence of cetacea in certain parts of the molasse formation is ex- 

 plained by the fact that at present there are particular parts of the 

 sea-shore where cetacea are very frequently stranded ; Ostend is 

 such a locality. There whale-like animals are often thrown on shore ; 

 among others the monster which after going the tour of Europe as a 

 curiosity, is now found at St. Petersburg. 



[J. N.] 



Results of an Examination of the Coal Beds on the Rhine. 

 By Professor Goppert. 



[From Uebersicht der Arbeiten unci Veranderiingen der Schlesischen Gesellschaft 

 fiir vaterliiudische Kultur im Jahre 1847, p. 68.] 



It might well be supposed that the peculiar structure of the stone- 

 coal observed in the Silesian mines would also appear in other ancient 

 coal deposits. This view was fully confirmed when in the autumn 

 of 1846 I had an opportunity of examining the coal strata in the 

 district of Saarbriick, near Aix la Chapelle, some of those at Liege, 

 and in Westphalia. 1 everywhere found, exactly as in Silesia, though 

 not in such perfection as in the Nikolai mines in Upper Silesia, that 

 the coal contained plants visible with the naked eye, Stigmarise, 

 Lepidodendra (especially Lepidofoyos laricinus), and Sigillarise ; and 

 in the pit at Norheim near Kreuznach, for the first time even a fern 

 {Cyatheites arborescens, mihi), together with so many Calamites be- 

 longing to the Calamites decor atus^ that I thought myself almost 

 entitled to term it a Calamite-coal. 



These facts give that completeness to the circle of our observations 

 which was much to be desired : representatives of all the families of 

 plants observed in the coal formation have now been found in the 

 coal itself From Norheim I proceeded towards St. Wendel, visit- 

 ing in the vicinity, the so-called Zettow mines at Matzweiler and 

 Urexweiler, and then the Mareschweiler pits and the carboniferous 

 sandstone and limestone quarries of the district between St. Wendel 

 and Ottweiler. The flora of the limestone quarries, together with 

 the limestone itself, exhibits a remarkable similarity to the Silesian 

 and Bohemian deposits which appear in the red sandstone between 

 Wiinschelburg in Silesia and Braunau in Bohemia. The coal of 

 these various mines was pretty uniform in character. It contained a 

 vast quantity of minute fragments of the fibrous coal {Araucarites 

 mihi) running through the seams in every direction, and much pyrites, 

 so that it usually appears very loose, and after a few months even 

 crumbles down. 



From Ottweiler I went to Neuenkirchen, the vicinity of which oc- 

 cupied me for a long time ; — the Konigsgrube, the red ironstone 

 (hsematite) beds of the Fuchsgrube, the vast quantities of clay iron- 

 stone collected at the foundries, in particular the Lebach ore contain- 

 ing fishes, and also, though the fact was at one lime doidited, plants; — 

 the exceedingly interesting Welleswciler mine with its upright stems, 



VOL. v. — part II. c 



