384 Professor Sedgwick and Mr. Murchison on the 



To enumerate mere mineralogical facts like these would be to little 

 ])urpose ; but it is important to remark^ that all along- the western limits of 

 the Styrian basin, the primary and tertiary systems are separated from each 

 other by only one secondary formation. It is well seen in the hills above 

 Eibeswaldj and in a succession of broken eminences on the eastern flank of 

 the Schwanberg Alp ; where it is clad with forests and intersected by deep 

 ravines and gorges, in which the torrents have sometimes cut their way down 

 to the primary strata. It is chiefly composed of sand and sandstone, generally 

 soft and micaceous, and of a grey, greenish grey, or brown colour. Sub- 

 ordinate to it are beds of indurated shale, and of hard sandstone, occasionally 

 so coarse as almost to pass into a conglomerate form. We obtained no fossils 

 from this formation ; and, having other objects in view, our attention was 

 little directed to it : but we have no doubt that it is a prolongation of the 

 system of fucoid grits and green sand, of which we have already sketched the 

 range, from the north flank of the Eastern Alps into Styria. 



The beds of the preceding group are all highly inclined, and are generally 

 separated from the nearly horizontal beds of the tertiary system by a longi- 

 tudinal valley of denudation ; once probably occupied by incoherent sandy 

 and argillaceous strata, which have been since washed away. Notwith- 

 standing the minute scale of the accompanying sections, we hope that one of 

 them will give a correct notion of the position of this group between the 

 primary and tertiary systems of Styria*. 



The tertiary deposits, within the region of which we have traced the 

 boundary, though generally almost horizontal, and perhaps in no instance 

 very highly inclined, have a prevailing easterly dip ; so that in traversing 

 them from west to east we commence with the oldest and end with the 

 youngest strata. They may be conveniently divided into three principal 

 groups : the lowest of which occupies nearly the whole of the finely broken 

 region extending from the neighbourhood of Eibeswald, and the eastern 

 skirts of the Schwanberg Alp to the banks of the Mur. The component 

 strata of this group have yielded to the elements, and been so carved and 

 worn down by torrents as to rival in their miniature outline the serrated peaks 

 of the higher Alps. On this account, the wine-hills and woodlands by the 

 sides of the deep ravines, through which the Sulm and other tributary streams 

 !ind an escape into the Mur, present a succession of objects of endless com- 

 j)lication and beauty ; and if such a remark might be permitted in this place, 

 we would add, that the loveliness of the country is reflected in the moral 

 aspect of the inhabitants. 



* Plate XXXVI. Fig. 16. 



