older Deposits of the North of Germany and Belgium. 299 



beds, dipping irregularly, but on the whole about S.W. at an angle of 30°. Most of the beds are subcry- 

 stalline and much jointed ; but some of them pass into a more compact state, and are much quarried for 

 ornamental marbles. They contain many specimens of Orthoceratites, among which are O. speciosus, 

 O. regularis, O. maximus, together with Clymenia undulata, Clymenia lata, Goniatites undulosus, <3fc. 



4. These beds are underlaid by earthy schists without fossils ; and by great masses of trap which break 

 out on the banks of the river on the side of Hof. 



5. On the N.W. of Hof is a great mass of marble, partly of a concretionary structure, and partly 

 brecciated, resembling the marbles of Plymouth and other places in South Devon, but without a trace 

 of fossils. 



6. In the hills further to the N.W. are beds of grauwacke, and of calcareous slate with courses of im- 

 pure limestone, &c., associated with great masses of trap. These beds contain many fossils, especially 

 corals, among which abounded the Favosites polymorpha, and other Devonian forms. From these facts 

 we think it obviously follows that the beds of the greater part of this section (extending eight or nine 

 miles in length, without taking into account its undefined southern extremity) are Devonian, and that 

 the whole series is overlaid by the mountain limestone. 



In a subsequent traverse by Hof and Naila to Gerolsgriin we found black flinty 

 slate, with carbonaceous laminae (kiesel schiefer) ; much splintery altered slate 

 associated with trap ; alum slate with iron stone (near Naila) ; grauwacke penetrated 

 with quartz veins, associated with trap, and almost passing into a quartz rock ; 

 soft earthy slate with dark-coloured calcareous bands, &c. We mention these 

 pheenomena in the order in which they occurred ; but the dips were continually 

 changing, and we found no fossils ; and out of such materials we do not pretend 

 to put together any consistent section. 



Near Gerolsgriin the beds are more free from the influence of trap ; and in some 

 fine quarries of sandstone, flagstone, and grauwacke slate, we found fossil shells 

 {Delthyris, &c.) and some impressions of small plants. At Langenau, not far from 

 this place, is a bed of marble ; and a little to the north of it, is a bed of impure 

 coal, which they have attempted to work. Of this we saw specimens : but we did 

 not visit the spot, as the works were filled with water. As phsenomena like those 

 just noticed occur in the Rhenish provinces both above and below the great 

 Westphalian limestone, we do not pretend to determine the exact place of the 

 series of beds in the neighbourhood of Gerolsgriin. 



Gerolsgriin to Prusseck. 



From Gerolsgriin we made our last traverse to the S.W. as far as Prusseck, 

 visiting the celebrated quarries near Elbersreute by the way. The early part of 

 this traverse was through forests and over rounded hills, that ga-ve no good sec- 

 tions ; but we marked on the road side much kiesel schiefer, much arenaceous 

 flagstone and red shale (like the " red drab" of Pembroke and Devonshire), and 

 one fine mass of black limestone. Respecting the age of this series of rocks we 



