Davies—Phosphatic Deposits in Nassau- 



particular groups or subdivisions in England is in- 

 creased by the entire absence of fossils ; the only trace 

 of one, observed by myself, being an ill-preserved 

 fragment of coral in the red sandstone beds under the 

 limestone. 



The general appearance of the country is that of a 



large upland plain, with gentle undulations, out of 



which protrude, here and there, as the bone work of 



the country, great porphyritic masses, like the rocks 



Phosphatic Deposits of Nassau. 



Fig. 2. 



263 



4 4. ^ 



Section at Staffel Nassau shewing the dislocation of the Limestone prior to ^ 



the deposition of the Phosphate of Lime. tg 



Fig. 3. 3 



4 4- 



Section at Cubach Nassau illustrative of the rounding of the edges of the 

 Limestone prior to the deposition of the Phosphate of Lime. The larger black 

 spots are concretions of Manganese. 



1. Porphyritic and Basaltic rocks generally crowned with a castle. 



2. Shaly and Slaty beds (Schiverstein), much contorted and disturbed. 



3. Red Sandstone beds. 



4. Limestone Dolomite. 



5. Deposit of Phosphate of Lime (Phosphorite). 



6. Clay (Tohn). 



of Weilbmg, Merenberg, and Hof Beslich. This up- 

 land plain is also intersected by the valleys of the Lahn 

 and its tributaries ; but as you look across it from a 

 sufficiently elevated point, these valleys are scarcely 

 discernible, so sharply for the most part are they dis- 

 rupted in the older rocks, or worn in the newer de- 

 posits. This smoothness of appearance is greatly 

 helped by the way in which the inequalities in the 

 older rocks are filled up by the deposit of Phosphorite 

 and clay ; but when we probe through this exterior pad- 

 ding, the inequalities in the surface of the rock become 



