Structure of the Eastern Alps. 351 



England, there is an entire solution of continuity ; their position is discordant, 

 and they have not perhaps a single fossil in common. But what right have 

 we to assume, that the forces by which this geological continuity was broken, 

 acted equally over the surface of the earth ? Agreeably to all analogy, ought 

 we not rather to look in distant regions for some intervening deposits to fill 

 up the chasm and interpolate between the calcaire grassier and the chalk ? 



3. In the neighbourhood of Maestricht, beds are found superior to the 

 chalk, distinct from it in mineral character, and with a suite of fossils, in which 

 are both secondary and tertiary species*. These beds are, therefore, inter- 

 mediate between the calcaire grassier and the chalk ; and, if we mistake not, 

 are on the same parallel with a part of the series described in the previous 

 sections. This analogy is so far important, that it entirely removes the im- 

 probability of finding an intermediate series between the secondary and 

 tertiary systems of the Eastern Alps. 



That the Maestricht beds are superior to the chalk is universally admitted ; 

 and if any one chooses to class them with the chalk, or consider them se- 

 condary, we wish to have no dispute with him, and only observe that he must 

 previously define his terms, as he uses them in a sense in which no one has 

 used them before. 



Our conclusions are g-reatly strengthened by other phenomena we are about 

 to notice : as, however, they occur in insulated positions, sometimes far within 

 the limits of the chain, we have reserved their description for a separate 

 chapter. 



Chap. III. 



On a Series of Overlj/ing Deposits ichich appear at various Elevatiotis within 

 the Chain, and connect the Secondary and Tertiary Systems of the Alps. 



After the details of the preceding chapter, which so clearly prove the great 

 internal dislocations of the chain, we might naturally look for the occurrence 

 of some of the newer groups within the limits of the older formations: and in 

 this position we sometimes find them among the serrated Alpine peaks, torn 

 from the beds of which they once were a continuous part, and lifted out of 

 the basin of the Danube several thousand feet above their natural elevation. 

 Of the insulated deposits in this extraordinary position, the valley of Gosau 

 offers perhaps the most instructive example : and we commence witli its 



* See the abstract of a paper by Dr. Fitton, Phil. Mag. and Annals of Philosophy, N. S. 

 Feb. 1830, p. 140. 



