158 GEOGNOSY AND GEOLOGY. 
sandstones, the former predominating, and generally of red color; also marl, 
limestone, and dolomite, mostly bituminous; gypsum and karstenite, all of 
which, although not principal masses, are yet very conspicuous. Carbonate of 
iron and oxyde of iron are subordinates. Veins are much less in number 
than in the carboniferous system; a few inconsiderable beds of copper, 
cobalt nickel, bismuth, and molybdenum ores also occur. This first 
formation possesses the fewest fossil remains of all the floetz. The 
diminutive Flora approximates to that of the carboniferous, but differs in the 
decided presence of dicotyledons. Orthoceratites and trilobites here find 
their limit; fishes of the ganoid type become more abundant, as also 
reptiles. This copper slate formation is, on the whole, not abundant, and 
only in few cases takes a high stand among rocks. {t is divisible into two 
groups; an under, the red sandstone, and an upper, the old floetz 
limestone. 
a. Red Sandstone (Todtliegende). This consists of coarse and fine 
conglomerates and sandstones of red or reddish-brown color. White or 
grey sandstones sometimes occur, which then occupy the upper regions of 
the group. Upon this distinction of color rests the distinction made by the 
German miners into red, grey, and white sandstone (liegende) which are 
found to exist in this order. 
The conglomerates met with are granitic, argillaceo-ferruginous, silicious, 
porphyritic conglomerates, and grauwacke. The sandstones: iron-clay, 
clay, and marl sandstones. An accompanying deposit is formed by red or 
srey limestone, which not rarely alternates with iron clay. 
The conglomerates and sandstones in general present nothing remarkable 
in their exterior; where deep valleys or ravines intersect the mountain 
ridges, they produce the most singular rock forms. 
The stratification is generally very decided and of great extent in the 
coarse conglomerates. The cleavage, not very regular, often produces a 
columnar structure. The situation of the strata is generally horizontal, 
although sometimes inclined, especially in the vicinity of abnormal 
masses. 
The grey sandstone is noticeable for sometimes containing ores of 
copper ; these are the copper sand ores mined on the west side of the Ural. 
Fossils are rare. and limited to a few dicotyledonous trees, which occur in 
the form of silicified wood, whole trunks being sometimes found. 
The soil arising from the red sandstones of this group is reddish-brown, 
ferruginous clayey, and very fertile. This property is sometimes increased 
by the abundance of springs. 
The new red sandstone in the Hartz ( pl. 46, fig. 9) lies immediately on 
the strata of the Devonian system, and is covered by the Zechstein. It 
occurs in greater masses in Scotland, in England, in Thuringia, near 
Richelsdorf in the electorate of Hesse, in the Wetterau. the Spessart, the 
trans-rhenish Palatinate. the Black Forest, in Saxony. the Tyrol, the Vosges, 
in Russia, in the Caucasus, and in North and South America. 
b. Old Floetz Limestone. The principal rock species are bituminous 
war] shale, compact limestone, magnesian limestone, dolomite, and feetid 
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