XVII. Geological Remarks on the Vicinity of Maestricht. 

 By the Rev. W. E. HONY, Fellow of Exeter Coll. Oxford. 



MEMBER OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 

 Read 16th December, 1814. 



J_ HE interest excited by the magnificent specimens which have 

 been discovered at different times in the neighbourhood of Maestricht, 

 induced me when in the Low Countries in the summer of the pre- 

 sent year, to go somewhat out of my way in order to visit so cele- 

 brated a spot. I am sorry that my stay there was necessarily so 

 short that I could take only a very hasty survey of that country. 

 I am induced however to lay before the Society a short sketch of 

 what I saw, because I believe that though so much has been written 

 and said on the subject of the fossils of Maestricht, but little is 

 known in England as to the relative situation of the strata contain- 

 ing them. The mountain of St. Pierre commences about a mile south 

 from the town of Maestricht, and extends in a direction towards 

 Liege for nearly three leagues. It is an insulated hill forming a 

 ridge, the sides of which are for the most part very steep. The 

 subterraneous quarries must have been worked from a very early 

 period, and are said to extend through its whole length. The hill 

 presents an almost perpendicular escarpment towards the Meuse, 

 and it is in walking on this side of it that the strata are seen to the 

 greatest advantage. 



