OF (ENINGEN, 



249 



** From the intermixture of species undistingiiishable from those now 

 existing, with others decidedly extinct, tins deposit may be consider- 

 ed as an important link in the history of the earth's structure; indi- 

 cating an intimate connection between the ancient state of nature, 

 and that which now prevails. 



" The deposit differs essentially in its organic remains, from any 

 other freshwater formation, either in France or in the adjacent re- 

 gions of Gerjiiany : from its superposition over tertiary sandstone 

 (molasse,) this formation must be regarded as one of the most re- 

 cent. Yet recent as must have been the (geological) epoch of this 

 formation, the basin in which it was deposited has subsequently been 

 re-excavated to a considerable depth : the proof of which is, that 

 horizontal beds still present escarpments several hundred feet above 

 the Rhine, without any barrier between them and that river." 



As no bones of elephants or mastodons have been discovered in 

 the strata of CEningen, and as the plants and animals, for the most 

 part, resemble existing species, it is reasonable to believe that the 

 mean temperature of this part of the globe had considerably decreas- 

 ed, and that the country round CEningen could no longer, support 

 the plants and animals of tropical climates. 



The strata of CEningen may be regarded as posterior to many of 

 the beds or accumulations of clay, sand, and gravel, in England and 

 other countries, that contain the remains of elephants, hippopotami, 

 and other inhabitants of warm regions. These beds (called diluvial 

 and alluvial,) together with vast tracts of movable sand, cover no 

 small portion of our present continents : they may be regarded as 

 the loose vestments of the globe. Their description will be deferred 

 till we complete the account of the fixed and solid parts, presented 

 to observation by volcanoes, and the repositories of metallic ores. 



The county of Norfolk appears to be the Ultima Thule of Eng- 

 lish geologists, who know less of the crag of that county and of Suf- 

 folk than would probably have been the case, had its locality been 

 beyond the Carpathian mountains. I have never had an opportuni- 

 ty of examining this singular formation, and scarcely any thing was 

 known respecting it before Mr. Taylor's account was published in 

 1827. We may, however, soon expect a more full and satisfactory 

 description of the crag, in Mr. Samuel Woodward's forthcoming vol- 

 ume on the Geology of Norfolk. While the present sheet was pass- 

 ing through the press, I received from that gentleman the following 

 account of the extent of the crag : — Its western boundary may be 

 traced from near Weyborn, on the northern coast, to Norwich, and 

 from thence to Bungay ; and from this place a line drawn along the 

 map of Suffolk to Halesworih, Wickham-market, Woodbridge, and 

 Ipswich, gives its western outline in that county. The eastern boun- 

 dary of the crag trends off to the sea. 



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