374 DE. C. S. DIT EICHE PEELLEE ON FLUVIO-GLACIAL [Aug. 1 895, 



deposits now present conditions differing widely from those existing 

 in Heer's time. The deposits of Diirnten and Wetzikon were 

 exhausted many years ago, the workings being obliterated, and the 

 pits filled with water. On the other hand, the deposits of Uznach 

 (7, fig. 1, p. 369), and those of Moerschwil near St. Gall, are, to a 

 small extent, still worked, the succession of strata of the Uznach 

 deposit being shown in fig. 6, below. Here only the uppermost seam, 

 about 5g feet in thickness, is now worked, while at Moerschwil the 

 lignite-band does not now exceed 3 feet in depth, the strata being 

 as follows : — 



564 metres Sand and gravel 10 feet 



above sea-level. Moraine 20 „ 



Lignite 3 ,, 



Clay 3 „ 



Sand and gravel. 



The sand and moraine overlying the uppermost Uznach lignite- 

 deposit contain polished and striated boulders largely derived from 

 the Glarner Alps or Linth watershed, notably red sandstone or 

 Sernifite and green Tava- 



yanaz sandstone, whilst Fig. 6. 



the boulders of the un- TT 



derlying clay are in part LaW^rinh 



derived from the Grison n ' La * e Zuri Ck 



Alps or Rhine water- 5I2 metres above sea-i evei. 



shed, such as Puntaiglas 5 £"w~ 



granite and diorite. This 

 fact affords proof that 6oft.. 



the Uznach and Durnten ' \ &2» Y^%i°^S Mord{ne 



lignite - deposits were I °° t o c ^ > ^°^J= a °" 



formed after the second Cla -y &■ sand 6 ft. 

 glaciation, when a con- Lignite 6 a. 



nexion existed between aa -y &sandxo J- 



-Lignite 7 ft. - 



the Rhine and Linth ^^''m^^^m^mB^ 11 '"^^"^' 



river-systems, and part ^ l^BBQjm^ e^^ 



of the Ehine glacier y^^y^^T^y^ 



reinforced that of the ''^^ y^yy/" 



Linth, a8 Was pointed x Two lower lignite-bands exhausted 



out in the Geol. Mag. 



paper already quoted. According to Heer, the Uznach, Durnten, 

 and "Wetzikon deposits were parts of a former continuous lignite- 

 bed, probably formed in an extensive lake. There is, however, no 

 trace of continuity ; moreover, the distance of about 20 miles 

 between the two deposits and the difference of level (over 100 feet) 

 between them militate against Heer's assumption. There can be no 

 doubt that these deposits, as also those near the Lake of Constance, 

 were simply local and isolated peat-mosses formed on boulder-clay, 1 



1 The term ' boulder-clay ' denotes throughout this paper the comparatively 

 thin layer of clay which, in the Swiss Alps, generally forms the lowest parts of 

 glacial deposits. It is essentially a product of abrasion, and corresponds to the 

 ' Geschiebe-Lehm ' of Swiss geologists, this term being, in fact, simply a trans- 



