110 Prof. Sedgwick and Mr. Murchison on the 



and we have shown, that the youngest tertiary shells of Lower 

 Styria are sometimes associated with a beautiful oolite, undis- 

 tinguishable in hand specimens from the great oolite of Bath. 

 On these accounts we think that mineral character alone is 

 nearly useless in comparing the ages of tertiary formations 

 widely separated from each other. 



6. He appears to identify the two deposits of iron ore at 

 Sonthofen and Kressenberg. They both occur in a ferrugi- 

 nous green-sand with many Nummulites, and their mineralo- 

 gical resemblance is nearly complete. But Nummulites by 

 themselves prove nothing ; and it may be asked whether all 

 the circumstances of these two deposits are such as to justify 

 this identification. We think not. For the Sonthofen iron 

 ores contain Ammonites and Belemnites, and (if we rightly 

 understood the plans of the works) are interlaced with the 

 secondary system of the Alps. On the contrary, the Kressen- 

 berg deposit contains no Ammonites or Belemnites, and is en- 

 tirely on the outskirts of the secondary system ; so that its age 

 can only be made out by its internal structure and its fossils. 

 Now there is nothing in the mere structure of the Kressenberg 

 beds to prove that they are secondary ; and an elaborate ex- 

 amination of their fossils by Count Munster gave the follow- 

 ing results. 



(1st.) Of 172 species of these fossils, 42 exist in, and are 

 characteristic of, the tertiary formations of Germany, England, 

 France, and Italy. 



(2nd.) There are 3 species, 2 of which resemble, and one 

 of which (Ostrea semiplana) is identical with, certain fossils of 

 the chalk. 



(3rd.) Of the remaining 126 species, some are new and 

 others indeterminable ; but for the most part they belong to 

 such genera as are commonly found in tertiary formations. 



(4th.) Of the characteristic chalk-fossils, (viz. Ammonites, 

 Belemnites, Hamites, Scaphites, Turrilites, &c. &c.,) there is 

 not the least trace. Neither are there any traces of the Gry- 

 phaea columba, of Inocerami, plicated Terebratulae, &c. &c. 



(5th.) The only fossils (excepting the three above men- 

 tioned) which at the first glance seem to belong to the chalk, 

 are a Plagiostoma and a Gryphaea. But on a closer examina- 

 tion, they not only differ from fossils of the chalk, but are of 

 the same species with certain fossils found in the tertiary for- 

 mations of Ortenburg and Sternberg. 



Such are the statements of Count Munster. And no re- 

 ply has been, or can be, given to them ; unless it can be shown 

 that the fossil species have been erroneously determined. But 

 this has not been attempted. We therefore adopt the con- 

 clusion 



