Li. Suess— Origin of the Alps. 447 
older than the Molasse of Lucerne, so that they can have had 
no influence in the dynamic changes in which it has been 
involved; moreover, with the exception of one or two unim- 
portant cases, no example can be shown in which eruptive rocks 
have been the cause of change of position in the older sedimen- 
tary strata. Another argument against this view is found in the 
irregular, shattered condition of the central masses as contrasted 
with the even trend in the folds of the outer-lying mountain 
chains. A glance, for instance, at the position of the crystal- 
line rocks of the Finsteraarhorn, overlying the younger strata, 
shows that the folding-over must have originated, not in the 
eruption or expansion of isolated central masses, but in some 
Snel horizontal movement of the mountain-system as a 
ole. 
In the general consideration of this subject it is to be explained 
that the term Alpine System is intended to include all the 
constant predominance of certain trends or lines of directions. 
he western and northern limits of this extended region are 
formed by the older elevations of the Iles d’Hiéres, the eastern 
edge of the Central-Plateau of France, the southern extremities 
of the Vosges Mountains and the Black Forest, with the south- 
ern border of Bohemia. Within this limit, the Alps are devel- 
ip with wonderful regularity, stretching in great curves from 
the end of one of these older mountain points to the next; and 
against them the rocks have been pressed up and shoved on in 
parallel lines, as against immovable barriers. An example of this 
action is furnished by the island of gneiss and rothliegendes at 
Déle, which forms the southeastern continuation of the osges 
ountains, where the dependence of the folds and fractures in 
the Jura on the distribution of the older rocks can be most clearly 
Seen. The whole Jura Mountains have been here pressed up into 
many parallel bands, while on the other side of the obstruction 
he Jurassic deposits cover a wide area without showing any 
trace of this tremendous horizontal movement. This same 
principle is true of the Alps to the east, but it is to be noticed 
that in the Juras the rocks in the northern border are continued 
immediately beyond the limits of the mountains, while in the 
eastern Alps the rocks, which on the northern side tower over 
the airy have as a rule no distinct continuation on the other 
Side of it. 
