ST.  CASSIAN  STEATA  IN  SOUTHERN  TYROL. 
33 
Yol.  49-] 
full  of  corals  and  sponges,  and  larger  blocks  from  these,  weathering 
to  a  bright  yellow  colour,  are  strewn  across  the  yalley.  The  fossils 
in  the  marly  beds  weather  out  loose,  and  are  found,  as  at  Stuores,  in 
a  perfectly  preserved  state.  If  the  ground  here  be  carefully  studied 
and  the  fossils  collected  in  the  individual  beds,  the  extent  and 
distribution  of  the  various  horizons  may  be  clearly  marked,  and  it 
is  found  that  the  confusion  complained  of  in  the  Seeland  Yalley  is 
largely  owing  to  two  small  cross-faults  which  have  brought  the 
fossiliferous  strata  in  immediate  contact  with  less  fossiliferous  beds. 
I  have  attempted  to  represent  these  relations  in  Section  9  by 
drawing  parallel  sections  in  perspective  through  different  heights  of 
the  Seeland  Yalley,  from  the  Ampezzo  road  (at  a  height  of  about 
4600  feet)  to  the  prominent  rock  on  wThich  the  new  fort  is  built 
(height  about  6600  feet). 
The  interest  of  the  Seeland  Yalley  centres  in  the  fauna,  and, 
referring  to  the  List  of  Fossils  (pp.  48  et  seqq.),  it  becomes  at  once 
clear  that,  as  in  the  case  of  Cortina,  the  greater  number  of  species 
agree  with  the  true  Stuores  fauna,  but  a  certain  number  are  new. 
To  accept  the  Seeland  Yalley  strata  as  a  facies  of  Baibl  Beds  would 
be  difficult  on  stratigraphical  grounds,  for  they  unquestionably  dip 
under  the  Schlern  Dolomite  of  the  Diirrenstein.  As  St.  Cassian 
fossils  occur  in  greater  or  lesser  number  throughout  the  whole  series 
of  strata  exposed  in  the  valley,  I  have  mapped  these  as  St.  Cassian, 
distinguishing  the  higher  horizons,  containing  many  new  species,  as 
Upper  St.  Cassian  Beds.  In  recent  palaeontological  work  this  view 
is  already  gaining  ground.  For  example,  Bittner1  says,  with  re¬ 
ference  to  the  brachiopods  which  he  describes  from  Falzarego, 
Misurina,  and  the  Seeland  Yalley  : — “  The  strata  of  these  three 
localities  belong  apparently  to  the  same  horizon,  which,  if  not 
identical  with  that  of  St.  Cassian,  stands,  as  regards  fauna  and 
stratigraphical  position,  at  any  rate  very  near  [to  it].” 
Kittl2  says  : — “Judging  from  the  position  of  the  St.  Cassian  strata 
on  the  Seeland  Alpe,  these  seem  to  answer  to  the  upper  part  of  the 
Aon- zone  of  the  Stuores-Wiese  St.  Cassian  Beds,  with  which  they 
agree  in  lithological  characters.” 
In  the  second  part  of  the  same  paper,  Kittl,  influenced  by  the 
occurrence  of  the  same  species  in  all  three  localities  (Stuores 
Wiese,  Heiligkreuz,  and  the  Seeland  Yalley),  says  in  a  short  note 
that  probably,  after  all,  the  Heiligkreuz  strata  may  not  be  far 
removed  from  the  Trachyceras  Aon  -  zone.  The  specimens  in 
question  were  of  Ptychostoma  pleurotomoides :  this  species,  and 
also  the  characteristic  Naticopsis  neritacea ,  I  found  on  the  Cortina 
meadows.  Without  doubt,  the  further  examination  of  the  fauna 
in  all  four  localities  will  supply  corroborative  evidence  of  their  close 
relationship. 
1  ‘  Brackiopoden  der  Alpinen  Trias,’  Verhandl.  d.  k.  k.  geol.  Reichsanstalt, 
toI.  xh.  (1890)  p.  112. 
2  ‘  Die  Gastropoaen  der  Schichten  von  St.  Cassian  der  siidalpinen  Trias,’ 
Anna!,  d.  k.  k.  Naturhist.  Hof  museums,  vol.  vi.  pp.  166-262,  Vienna,  1891. 
Q.  J.  G.  S.  Ho.  193.  d 
