Structure of the Eastern Alps. 343 



hasmatite : and subordinate to the system are eleven beds, varying in thick- 

 ness from five to seven feet each, so impregnated with these granular ores, as 

 to yield on smelting not less than forty per cew^ of iron. Their prevailino- 

 colour is rusty brown, occasionally shaded with green ; but here and there 

 they become almost black, from the prevalence of the protoxide over the earthy 

 hydrate and brown haematite. Innumerable fossils are diffused through them; 

 and nature has in some parts of the beds so adjusted the proportions of shelly 

 and ferruginous matter, that the ore is smelted with no other preparation than 

 that of breaking up the masses, and throwing aside such gritty portions as are 

 too siliceous. They are worked by long, open, horizontal drifts, following the 

 beds in the Kressenberg for the space of 4000 feet; and as their in- 

 clination is not less than 70°, they might at first sight be mistaken for true 

 mineral veins. Following their range from west to east, they are found again 

 in the adjoining hill called Prieberg, where they have been also worked, 

 though not to the same extent. 



By referring to the accompanying plate*, it will be seen that in the pro- 

 longation of the section towards the north, the inclination of the strata gra- 

 dually diminishes; and in various quarries of yellow sand and nummulite- 

 calc-grit, beyond the village of Neukirchen, the angle of dip is not more 

 than 43°. The elevation of the Kressenberg ridge is four or five hundred 

 feet above the neighbouring northern plains : the ridges north of Neu- 

 kirchen not only diminish in elevation, but are so covered with transported 

 materials (among which are enormous boulders of primary rocks from the 

 central chain), that we were prevented from following the section in that 

 direction. 



So far we have confined ourselves to a description of the position and struc- 

 ture of the successive beds. We now inquire in what part of the geological 

 series we are to place the great Kressenberg group ? In attempting to answer 

 this question, we would in the first place observe, that all the component 

 strata of the group are probably presented in an inverted order. We were 

 induced to make this supposition, from a comparison of the successive beds 

 with those of other sections, as well as from the position of the beds them- 

 selves. In a country less violently broken up, this might seem a bold hypo- 

 thesis ; and whether it be true or false is a matter of little moment, as the 

 Kressenberg beds unquestionably form but one group. 



Notwithstanding the enormous dislocations of the chain, we have stated that 

 the beds often preserve their parallelism and their strike, through regions of 

 considerable extent ; thus the nummulitic series on the banks of the Traun, in 

 its range towards the east, strikes the Kressenberg hills. We also stated that 



* Plate XXXVI fig. 7. 



