IxXViii PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



But besides these Magdeburg and Westeregeln sands, other ter- 

 tiary deposits occur in the North of Germany which belong to a 

 younger period. They occur along the shores of the Baltic, and 

 through the N.E. portions of Holland, and have been by some 

 identified with the crag of Antwerp. Their exact extent and super- 

 position to the Miocene beds does not appear to have been yet fully 

 made out. 



Turning our attention now to the more Eastern and Southern 

 parts of Germany, it may be observed that some of the tertiary de- 

 posits of the Vienna basin which have been long known for the 

 abundance of their fossil contents, are probably of an older age than 

 the Antwerp crags. My lamented predecessor in this chair alluded 

 last year to the valuable work by Dr. Homes, describing the fossil 

 mollusca of the Vienna basin. This is generally subdivided into 

 three groups, the Lower Tegel, the Upper Tegel, and the Leitha 

 Limestone ; and although no marked distinction or break can be 

 pointed out, the lower beds are generally described as Miocene, and 

 the upper as Pliocene. The difficulty of marking any separation has 

 led some German geologists to describe the whole under the new 

 name of ''Neogene." The fact, however, appears to be, that we have 

 here the undisturbed passage from the Miocene to the Pliocene 

 formation, thus filling up the gap between the Septaria clay of 

 Brandenburg and the Crag of Antwerp. 



Of late years the progress of geological inquiry, and perhaps also 

 the extension of railway cuttings, have pointed out many localities in 

 North and East Germany where tertiary deposits have been dis- 

 covered containing fossils which bear a remarkable identity with 

 those of Vienna. A short time ago Prince Schonaich Carolath com- 

 municated to Professor Beyrich the discovery of numerous tertiary 

 fossils in Upper Silesia, in the neighbourhood of Konigshiitte and 

 Gleiwitz, near the village of Mikultschiitz. Their appearance at once 

 suggested an identity with those of the Vienna basin. Prof. Reuss 

 of Prague has since published in the ' Journal of the Geological 

 Society of Germany*,' an account of a critical examination of the 

 specimens forwarded to him for that purpose. His attention was 

 principally directed to the Foraminifera, the Bryozoa, and Entomo- 

 straca, and the result has been to show a remarkable identity with 

 those of the Vienna basin. The spot where they have been found 

 is on the direct road from Breslau to Cracow, and about sixty miles 

 north of the Carpathian chain. After describing the species. Prof. 

 Reuss observes, that out of 139 species sent to him, there are only 

 thirteen which were not already known from the Vienna basin. The 

 Silesian fossils are referred to two principal localities, Miechowitz and 

 Mikultschiitz. With regard to the former. Prof. Reuss observes, that 

 " the calcareous marl of Miechowitz cannot well be paralleled with 

 any particular group of the Vienna basin, but may rather be looked 

 upon as representing the whole three groups together. At the same 

 time it must be observed, that the fossil remains rather seem to point 



* Vol. iii. p. 149. 



