THE MIOCENE PERIOD. 307 



Molasse has yielded about the same number of plants, with 

 about 900 species of Insects, such as wood-eating Beetles 

 Water-beetles, White Ants, Dragon-flies, &c. 



In Belgium, strata of both Lower and Upper Miocene age 

 are known, — the former {Rupelian Clays) containing numerous 

 marine fossils ; whilst the latter (Bolderberg Sands) have 

 yielded numerous shells corresponding with those of the 

 Faluns. 



In Austria, Miocene strata are largely developed, marine 

 beds belonging to both the Lower and Upper division of the 

 formation occurring extensively in the Vienna basin. The 

 well-known Brown Coals of Radaboj, in Croatia, with numer- 

 ous plants and insects, are also of Lower Miocene age. 



In Germany, deposits belonging to both the Lower and 

 Upper division of the Miocene formation are extensively de- 

 veloped. To the former belong the marine strata of the May- 

 ence basin, and the marine Rupelian Clay near Berlin ; whilst 

 a celebrated group of strata belonging to the Upper Miocene 

 occurs near Epplesheim, in Hesse-Darmstadt, and is well 

 known for the number of its Mammalian remains. 



In Greece^ at Pikerme, near Athens, there occurs a celebrated 

 deposit of Upper Miocene age, well known to palaeontologists 

 through the researches of M.M. Wagner, Roth, and Gaudry 

 upon the numerous Mammalia which it contains. In Italy, 

 also, strata of both Lower and Upper Miocene age are well 

 developed in the neighbourhood of Turin. 



In the Siwdlik Hills, in India, at the southern foot of the 

 Himalayas, occurs a series of Upper Miocene strata, which 

 have become widely celebrated through the researches of Dr 

 Falconer and Sir Proby Cautley upon the numerous remains 

 of Mammals and Reptiles which they contain. Beds of corre- 

 sponding age, with similar fossils, are known to occur in the 

 island of Perim in the Gulf of Cambay. 



Lastly, Miocene deposits are found in North America, in 

 New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Missouri, California, Oregon, 

 &c., attaining a thickness of 1500 feet or more. They consist 

 principally of clays, sands, and sandstones, sometimes of 

 marine and sometimes of fresh-water origin. Near Richmond, 

 in Virginia, there occurs a remarkable stratum, wrongly called 

 " Infusorial Earth," which is occasionally 30 feet in thickness, 

 and consists almost wholly of the siliceous envelopes of cer- 

 tain low forms of plants (Diatoms), along with the spicules of 

 Sponges and other siliceous organisms (see fig. 16). The 

 White River Group of Hayden occurs in the Upper Missouri 

 region, and is largely exposed over the barren and desolate 



