1848.] and on its Coal and other Minerals. 503 



colored limestone on which rest the variegated sandstones and conglo- 

 merates interlaminated, with their beds of a blnish green indurated clay, 

 nodules of the same being abundantly diffused throughout the strata. 

 This limestone, though in appearance resembling magnesian ore, does 

 not contain a trace of that earth, and is, as far as we could ascertain, de- 

 void of organic remains. 



Saline efflorescence. — Up to the highest point to which the variegated 

 strata extend, their surface, as well as that of the rocks inferior to them, 

 are incrusted with a saline efflorescence, which by solution in the water 

 which flows down the valleys, renders it a perfect brine. 



Absence of Organic Remains. — Ripple marks are by no means uncom- 

 mon in the sandstones which, with the exception of what probably may 

 be Fuci, are particularly free of fossils, a fact quite in conformity with 

 what is usually observed in other countries in the red strata of the varie- 

 gated sandstones. Whether these originally contained organic remains 

 is a question which it is impossible to solve, but the same action, proba- 

 bly igneous in its origin, which has caused the peroxidation of so much 

 iron in the strata, and to which they owe their color, may have destroyed 

 any traces of organisms which at the period of their deposition they 

 may have contained. That the rocks composing the salt range have been 

 exposed to violent disturbing agencies is evident from the contorted and 

 confused appearance which in many places they present, and from the 

 general dip of the strata to the N. at angles varying from 40 to 50 

 degrees. What the elevating power may have been which has raised 

 these to the position they are now in we will not presume to offer a 

 conjecture, but the absence of Plutonic rocks in situ among those of the 

 salt range, might lead us to seek for an explanation different from the 

 usual one which these afford of the elevated position of strata. Much 

 of the disturbed appearance which the red marl and sandstones present, 

 is the result of ordinary causes, the most important of which are the 

 periodic rains which in tropical climates produce such extraordinary 

 effects, and in the salt range by undermining the rocks, cause immense 

 slips, which give rise to a state of confusion among the strata often 

 most embarrassing to the observer. 



Calcareous strata with Fossils. — Above the variegated sandstones 

 are others of a lighter tint alternating with light yellow sandstones, cal- 

 careous conglomerates and coarse limestones. These are well seen in 



