52 FOSSIL ESTIIERLE. 



EstJieria minuta in France {Alsace). 



In the ' Jahrbuch fiir Mineral.' &c, 1832, p. 227, ¥. von Albert! says : — " A year ago 

 I was in Strasburg, and I saw in the museum there Lingula tenuissima, Posidonia 

 minuta, Goldf. {P. Keuperina, Voltz?), Avicula subcostata, Goldf., and Catamites arenaceus, 

 Brongn., from the Bunter Sandstone of the neighbourhood of Sulzbad. 1 



In the ' Mem. Soc. Hist. Nat. Strasbourg/ 1837, vol. ii (see also the ' Jahrb. f. Min.,' 

 1838, p. 340), Voltz mentions the occurrence of the following fossils in the Middle 

 Bunter Sandstone 2 of Soultz-les-Bains. Saurian remains {Odontosaurus Voltzii, Meyer, 

 &c), Crustaceans {Gebia? obscura, Mey., Gatathea audax, Mey.), Pecten discites, SchL, 

 Posidonia minuta, Bronn, P. Atbertii, 3 Voltz, Mija ventricosa, Schl., and abundant Plant- 

 remains. 4 



I have seen some French specimens of Estheria minuta, by the kindness of Professor 

 W. P. Schimper, and his friend M. Engelhard t, of Niederbronn. 



1. From Corcelles {Haute Sadne). From the Lettenkohle, " JEstheria Keuperiana, 

 Voltz," on the bed-planes of black laminated lignite ; the shell flattened, slightly wrinkled, 

 retaining its ridges and interspaces (best seen on some impressions), and changed 

 into a white siliceous (?) substance, with faint traces of structure. From MM. Engelhart 

 and Schimper. 



2. From Oberbronn {Bas-RMn). Brown dolomite, like that of Sinsheim and 

 Haigerloch, weathering ochreous ("Marnes dolomitiques du Muschelkalk, Letten- 

 kohlegruppe). Scattered casts (chiefly of the closed carapace) ; some bare, some with a 

 whitish film of shell. From Dr. W. P. Schimper. 



3. From Soutz-tes-Bains {Bas-B/iin). In greenish grey and yellowish-grey shale, 

 more or less micaceous. From Dr. W. P. Schimper, of Strasbourg. These Estheria, 

 occurring on the planes of bedding, and mostly crushed, appear in some instances to have 



with the casts and impressions of the other fossils). It is peculiar to the Lettenkohle-group according to 

 von Strombeck (p. 8G) ; but Bronn seems to give it a larger range ('Leth. Geog.' ii, p. 51). See also above, 

 p. 47. 



1 Soultz-les-Bains (also Soultz-a-Bains and Sulzbad),in France (Dep. du Bas-Rhin), about twelve miles 

 west of Strasbourg. For the geological features of this place and its vicinity, see A. Daubree's ' Description 

 Geologique et Mineralogique du Depaitement du Bas-Rbin,' 8vo, 1852, with map and sections. Hogard's 

 'Descript. Mineral, et Geol. des Regions Gran, et Aren. Syst. des Vosges,' 1837, treats of this locality, and 

 gives geological sketches and sections of the neighbourhood. Voltz also described the geology of tlie 

 Vosges in the 'Mem. Soc. Hist. Nat. Strasbourg,' 1837, vol. ii. 



2 The Upper Bunter Sandstone of Sulzbad is stated by Voltz to contain fossils of the Muschelkalk, 

 without Plant- remains. Voltz's Lower Bunter Sandstone is now known as the Vosges Sandstone (Gri-s de 

 Vosges), probably of Permian age. 



3 The particular distribution of these fossils in their strata can be better followed by a study of 

 M. Daubree's 'Descript. Geol. Bas-Rhin,' 1852, p. 116, &c. 



1 P. Albertii is described by Voltz, in a foot-note, at p. 7 of his memoir, as having the ventral 

 border sinuous, and being longer than the P. minuta, but quite as small. This appears, however, to have 

 been a variety, or a distorted individual. 



