IXX PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



neighbourlioocl of Gottingen and its organic contents," has also 

 published some plates of the Foraminifera found in that formation. 

 I am indebted to Mr. R. Jones for the observation, that, although 

 the general fades of these German Lias forms as compared with the 

 Foraminifera of the English Lias is very similar, the specific identities 

 are but few. Out of fifty species from the liminster series, he can 

 only find seven which can with certainty be considered as identical 

 with any of the thirty-three species from the Gottingen Lias. 



An interesting memoir by Prof. Reuss appears in the seventh 

 volume of the 'Denkschriften der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissen- 

 schaften' of Vienna, '' On the characteristic features of the Cretaceous 

 Formations in the Eastern Alps, particularly in the Valley of Gosau 

 and on the Wolfgang Lake." Li the first place the author shows 

 that the whole of the Gosau beds belong to the Upper Cretaceous 

 period ; — they belong neither to the Lower Greensand, where they 

 have been placed by some writers, nor to the Flysch or Eocene, to 

 which others have been disposed to refer them. He points out a 

 remarkable connexion between the beds of conglomerate and the 

 Hippurite limestone : wherever these latter occur in abundance, and as 

 it were in their natural position, the conglomerates form the bottom 

 bed, and the Hippurite banks appear to have settled themselves on 

 the solid conglomerate and gravel beds. These Hippurite and Coral 

 limestones form such an important member of the Gosau formation, 

 that the author goes into great detail respecting them, pointing out 

 the errors respecting their relative positions committed by former 

 geologists. The Hippurite limestone alternates with the more marly 

 beds at various levels throughout the whole formation ; but the beds 

 with Actceonella and NerincBa also occur throughout the same portion 

 of the deposit, sometimes lying below, sometimes alternating with 

 the Hippurite limestone. Another remarkable feature of the Gosau 

 beds is the almost entire want of coal, whereas it occurs abundantly 

 in other parts of the Cretaceous deposit. 



In concluding these general remarks, the author observes that the 

 Gosau beds, which belong without exception to the Cretaceous forma- 

 tion, represent one connected inseparable whole, and form a system 

 of marly-conglomerate, limestone, and sandstone beds, irregularly 

 alternating with each other, and which it is impossible to subdivide 

 into separate independent formations. The study of the fossil remains 

 contained in it shows that such a separation cannot be justified on 

 palseontological any more than on geognostic grounds. This, how- 

 ever, only refers to the lower fossiliferous beds ; the upper portion 

 contains no organic remains, but the petrographical characters oppose 

 the possibility of their being referred to a different system. 



The next question raised by the author is with which of the various 

 cretaceous beds of other countries the Gosau beds should be com- 

 pared. An accurate knowledge of the fossils is necessary to answer 

 this question. The author is of opinion that it is more correct to 

 refer them to the Chalk above the Gault^— the upper chalk, but in 

 comparing the Gosau fossils with those of other districts, the author 

 only takes such as are common to other Chalk formations. The whole 



